usatvline Ch. 40 - Chapter 40: I Hope My Hard Work Is Something You'll Never Have to Understand
Ch. 40 - Chapter 40: I Hope My Hard Work Is Something You'll Never Have to Understand
One contract spirit after another stepped forward to attack, but not a single one achieved an A-rank score. Even B-rank belonged to extremely few."Chen Shu, your turn." Anticipation flickered in Fang Ke's eyes.
He'd originally thought this kid was just another workhorse¹, but who knew he'd been hiding so deep.
Chen Shu walked forward and summoned his golden slime.
Among all the contract spirits present, the golden slime stood in a tier of its own—because it was the only F-rank.
"What a waste of a Level 5 Beast Tamer."
"Yeah, even with just a D-rank contract spirit, it would probably have decent attack power."
The golden slime had low potential, and its various attributes were equally mediocre. The only thing worth praising was its vitality, but in exams, this advantage was completely useless.
Moreover, slimes attacked at a snail's pace. In five seconds, it could probably only launch a single attack.
"Goo-ji! Goo-ji!"
The golden slime bounced around energetically, its big eyes brimming with curiosity as it examined the surrounding contract spirits.
"Go get 'em! Second High's Yellow Flash!"
The slime's eyes bulged wide, clearly feeling incredibly fierce—though to everyone watching, it just looked impossibly adorable.
From a distance, the slime and the testing orb looked remarkably similar—just that the slime was considerably smaller.
"Goo-ji!"
The slime wiggled its rear end, then charged forward at full tilt.
Activating its Level 3 Charge skill, its speed instantly skyrocketed, truly capturing a bit of that Yellow Flash essence.
"Don't tell me it's just going to ram straight into it?" Everyone stared at the golden slime with curiosity.
But when it reached ten meters from the yellow orb, the slime suddenly launched itself upward, its body instantaneously ballooning to four times its original size.
"Another active skill?!"
The crowd erupted in shock. First the speed burst, and now this size transformation—realizing the slime possessed two active combat skills, they knew it had already surpassed the vast majority of students.
In reality though, the slime's jumping ability also came from a skill: Violent Sitting Kill.
The four-meter golden slime resembled a gigantic golden turd, its massive bottom plummeting toward the yellow orb like a falling mountain.
BANG!
The collision of the two nearly identical yellow spheres created an utterly ridiculous scene.
"Goo-ji! Goo-ji!"
The golden slime's eyes strained with effort, its expression resembling severe constipation as it pressed down on the yellow orb with all its might.
Your Master had given the orders—squash this fellow sphere!
The yellow orb showed an enormous dent, but ultimately refused to collapse.
Forget a Level 5 Beast Tamer—even a Level 9 Beast Tamer couldn't destroy this thing.
"Goo-ji!"
The yellow orb suddenly rebounded with tremendous force, catapulting the golden slime straight toward the ceiling.
"Recall it immediately!" Director Liu barked out.
He wasn't concerned about the slime's safety—he was terrified the Beast Taming Arena's ceiling would get demolished.
A creature that massive had weight everyone could see.
Chen Shu focused his thoughts and recalled the golden slime. As long as they stayed within range, contract spirits could be recalled instantly, though summoning them back required some preparation time.
Attack Strength: B!
Finally, an evaluation materialized on the display screen.
The other Beast Taming students gasped in astonishment.
Chen Shu showed no surprise. If the golden slime couldn't even achieve B-rank attack strength, it wouldn't have been capable of injuring Zheng Nan's Green Feathered Eagle.
As for A-rank, that was definitely beyond reach.
In the entire grade, only Xu Xiaoyu had achieved it. She was the sole Level 7 Beast Tamer with an A-rank contract spirit. Her combat power vastly exceeded the slime's.
"B-rank! It's actually B-rank! Another seedling for the third-year special training class?"
Fang Ke's fists clenched slightly, excitement blazing in his eyes.
Li Yuan had truly delivered him a genius. In just one brief month, he'd grown to this extent.
Wait, no! Chen Shu had most likely been playing pig to eat tiger² all along.
Though he didn't understand the reason, this was Chen Shu after all!
Did his actions ever require logic?
If Fang Ke could comprehend him, he should probably schedule a brain scan.
The Beast Taming Class 5 students all wore complicated expressions as they stared at their class's supposed 'academic failure.'
Good heavens, this is just unfair!
"Ahem..." Chen Shu cleared his throat and declared with utmost seriousness: "There are no geniuses in this world. Only through relentless effort can one become powerful."
Everyone froze momentarily. Was he... trying to motivate them?
"Look at me—toiling away for an entire month, I barely managed to advance from a Level 1 Beast Tamer to Level 5."
Chen Shu heaved a profound sigh. "I hope my hard work is something you'll never have to understand."
Dead silence filled the venue.
Advancing from Level 1 to Level 5 Beast Tamer in a single month—were those words even fit for human ears?
Everyone present had trained diligently for two years, yet most remained stuck at Level 3.
"Why do I suddenly feel this overwhelming urge to pound him into the ground?"
"Same wavelength here. This guy's ability to draw aggro is off the charts!"
Even Xu Xiaoyu's lips twitched involuntarily as she fought the urge to summon her Fire Bird.
Director Liu hastily intervened, "Enough! Everyone continues the examination. We must complete all Beast Taming assessments today!"
If an all-out brawl erupted here, the consequences would be unthinkable.
He also shot Chen Shu a penetrating look. That was an F-rank slime, yet it had comprehended two combat skills.
Did you save the entire galaxy in your previous life?
The attack test swiftly concluded, ushering in the speed test.
Speed encompassed more than just physical movement—it included neural reaction time as well.
The yellow orb in the testing area suddenly morphed. A Gatling gun materialized, its multiple barrels rotating ominously, radiating intimidation.
"This is ridiculously high-tech!"
Chen Shu's heart jolted. He'd assumed this world's technology paralleled his previous world, given that household appliances were still TVs and refrigerators.
But apparently, there was quite a substantial gap.
"Commencing speed test!" Director Liu announced.
The Gatling naturally didn't fire live ammunition but rubber bullets coated with marking dye. Contract spirits wouldn't sustain injuries even if hit.
The speed test primarily evaluated contract spirits' evasion capabilities and reaction times.
Chen Shu's golden slime once again delivered a performance that left everyone slack-jawed.
Not from excellence—but from sheer incompetence.
Other contract spirits, regardless of speed, would at least make symbolic dodging attempts.
But the golden slime simply conked out and started snoring. Bullets pelted down like raindrops, and it absorbed every single one without missing a beat.
In a certain sense, this qualified as a reverse perfect score.
Speed Rating: F!
Predictably, Chen Shu claimed the absolute worst evaluation.
This allowed numerous people to exhale in relief. Apparently, the slime was an extremely lopsided contract spirit.
Chen Shu had now accumulated two F ratings. His overall score would suffer dramatically. Entering the special training class was essentially impossible now.
The speed test wrapped up quickly, leading to the final assessment—testing contract spirits' defensive capabilities.
Despite earning an F rating, Chen Shu remained utterly unperturbed.
The defense test would determine his ultimate score. Plus, he still had the liberal arts subjects³ to boost his grades.
¹ 牛馬 (niúmǎ) - Internet slang literally meaning "ox and horse," used to describe mediocre or ordinary people who work hard but achieve little, similar to calling someone a "wage slave" or "average joe"
² 扮豬吃老虎 (playing pig to eat tiger) - A Chinese idiom meaning to feign weakness while possessing hidden strength, like a pig that turns out to be capable of devouring tigers
³ Liberal arts subjects - In Chinese education, written examinations carry tremendous weight and can compensate for poor practical performance, reflecting the cultural emphasis on academic knowledge