The worse you are, the stronger you become: My summoned beast is a photographer.

Ming Luochen felt he should consult the Chinese almanac before going out today.

No, looking at anything was useless—because an out-of-control truck was hurtling towards him at 80 miles per hour.

The screeching sound of brakes was like fingernails scraping a blackboard. He instinctively looked up, only to see a massive steel wall rapidly approaching.

"boom--"

Excruciating pain exploded in every bone of my body; my consciousness felt like it had been thrown into a blender, shattering into countless pieces. The last lingering thought wasn't "my life flashing before my eyes," but rather—

"I haven't spent all my money yet..."

Then, everything returned to darkness.

When Ming Luochen opened his eyes again, he saw the starry sky.

No, not the starry sky. It was a dome—a towering, arched dome inlaid with luminous crystals, casting a cold, white light like stars. He lay on the ground, his back against the cold stone, the air filled with… the smell of incense? Or some kind of herbal scent?

He propped himself up on his arms and sat up, then froze.

He was sitting in the center of a huge circular pattern. The lines were as intricate as the cover of an advanced mathematics textbook, emitting a faint blue glow, spreading outwards in concentric circles. Was it a magic circle? He had only ever seen such things in cartoons.

The surrounding buildings were unfamiliar—towering columns, pointed towers, colorful stained glass windows, and intricate carvings and reliefs everywhere, exuding a strong European classical style, as if stepping into a medieval church.

No, it's more magical than a church.

Because the area around it was crowded...

Orcs?

Ming Luochen rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Closest to him was a girl with cat ears, her pupils slits, covering her mouth, her bright eyes fixed on him. Next to her was a young man with ram's horns, holding a thick book, his eyes behind his glasses wide like saucers. Further away, there were creatures with dog ears, deer antlers, and even one with a bushy fox tail trailing behind it…

What they have in common is that they are all incredibly good-looking.

With a high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and exquisitely detailed features, she looked like she was sculpted from a model. Even the old lady with a face full of wrinkles standing in the last row had the air of someone who must have been a goddess in her youth.

Ming Luochen looked down at his round belly, his 1.6-meter height, and his chubby, round face.

...Am I the only one who's ugly?

His gaze finally settled on the front—at the edge of the magic circle, stood a… centaur.

The upper body is that of a woman, and the lower body is that of a horse.

And she was an absolutely stunning woman. Her long black hair cascaded down to her waist, her features were both striking and delicate, and her skin was as white as the finest porcelain. Her "horse body" was covered in glossy black fur, and her four long, powerful legs were firmly planted on the ground. She was estimated to be over two and a half meters tall.

She was staring at Ming Luochen with an almost fanatical gaze.

He had seen that look before—the same look children gave to limited-edition toys in shop windows.

"A humanoid summoned beast! It's a humanoid summon!" Many orcs exclaimed, their voices spreading like ripples on a lake. "The first humanoid summoned beast in history!"

The centaur girl spoke, her voice clear and bright, her tone rising with obvious excitement. But Ming Luochen couldn't understand a single word she said. Her language sounded like a variant of some Slavic language, with heavy retroflex consonants and fluctuating pitch at the end.

He could only tell from her tone that she seemed very happy.

The girl took a few quick steps into the magic circle, bent down—no, she knelt down directly—and scooped Ming Luochen into her arms.

Large breasts being squeezed.

Ming Luochen's face was buried in softness, almost suffocating him. Before his brain could process the information, a series of kisses rained down on his head. The girl buried her face in his hair, took a deep breath, and let out a satisfied sigh.

Ming Luochen: ? ? ?

What's going on? He hasn't washed his hair in three days! He was filming outdoors all day yesterday, and his hair is full of sweat and grime; even he finds the smell disgusting. Has this centaur lost his sense of smell?

He struggled to push her away, but the girl's arms were like iron clamps, and he couldn't break free at all.

The surrounding beastmen began to whisper among themselves. Ming Luochen caught some repeated syllables, as if they were discussing something. Some covered their mouths and laughed, some widened their eyes, and some wore ambiguous expressions—although he couldn't understand them, that "oh~" tone was universal.

No, you've misunderstood! I was forced!

A bespectacled man with ram horns stepped forward and spoke a few words, his tone gentle but with a hint of urging. The centaur girl reluctantly let go of Kaiming Luochen, but immediately took his hand, their fingers intertwined tightly, as if afraid he would run away.

Ming Luochen looked down at his hand being held tightly, then looked up at the girl's face, which was flushed with excitement.

Time travel is a given, but now it's not a matter of being a hero? A demon king? Or a villain...

While he was still lost in thought, the girl pulled him toward a huge blue crystal monument. The monument was two meters tall, crystal clear, with a faint halo flowing across its surface, like an oversized sapphire.

The girl placed his hand on hers.

A cool sensation came from my palm, like touching an iron railing in winter. The next second—

light.

It's not ordinary light; it's rainbow light.

A thick beam of light shot into the sky from the top of the crystal monument, piercing the clouds and turning the sky a brilliant rainbow. The entire tower trembled, and the air was filled with scorching energy fluctuations.

The onlookers, all beastmen, took a step back in unison, exclamations rising and falling. "Wow! The Awakening Stone unleashed such power! Could it be an S-rank summoned beast?"

Amidst those exclamations, Ming Luochen heard several repeated words—though he didn't understand them, he could sense that they were things like "Oh my god" or "How is this possible?"

Teacher Yangjiao pushed up his glasses, his hands trembling. He had never seen such a strong awakening reaction before, ten thousand times stronger than the reaction of summoning an S-rank summon beast. In particular, the pillar of light emitted a dazzling seven-colored light—this was very likely the legendary SSR-rank awakening pillar of light.

The entire city of Herma saw this outrageous beam of light and simultaneously stopped what they were doing to look in that direction.

On the highest platform, an old man with an elephant-like head suddenly stood up, his long trunk trembling slightly, and a terrifying light flashing in his cloudy eyes. He had seen records of such pillars of light in ancient books—a phenomenon that had occurred thousands of years ago, a sign of a supreme god's awakening.

Although Ming Luochen couldn't understand, he could see everyone's expressions—shock, awe, and disbelief.

A thought crossed his mind: I think I'm... pretty good?

The corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up in a smile. Is this the perk of being a time traveler?

The beam of light lasted for more than ten seconds, then suddenly disappeared.

As if all its energy had been drained, the crystal tablet's luster dimmed somewhat.

But Ming Luochen didn't notice any of this.

Because he had something extra in his hand.

A single-lens reflex camera.

The black body, the silver lens ring, the weighty feel—it was exactly the top-of-the-line model he'd been dreaming of but had always hesitated to buy. He even remembered reading reviews online no less than twenty times, each time adding it to his cart, then deleting it, then adding it again…

But how did this thing appear?

He instinctively pressed the shutter. With a "click," the flash went off, and the image froze on the camera screen—it was the crystal tablet in front of him, with even the patterns on it clearly visible.

Before Ming Luochen could figure out what was going on, he noticed that everyone's attention had shifted from the crystal tablet to him.

No, it was transferred to the camera in his arms.

Those gazes held curiosity, doubt, and even a hint of...greed?

He instinctively hugged the camera a little tighter.

The girl leaned closer, tilted her head, looked at the camera screen with wide eyes, reached out to touch it but then pulled back, and mumbled a string of words.

Ming Luochen only heard one recurring word. Meeting the girl's gaze, he realized it must be related to his DSLR camera—but he didn't know if it was a "magical tool" or a "divine artifact." He could only guess.

Immediately afterwards, everyone's attention turned back to the crystal monument.

The girl looked over as well, and Ming Luochen followed her gaze and finally saw the words that appeared on the monument.

He didn't recognize any of those crooked symbols.

Aura was afraid of missing any information about her summoned beast's attributes. When a large "F" appeared in the talent level section—the entire room was stunned into silence. Everyone stared at the awakening stone in disbelief, repeatedly checking it. The principal even rubbed his eyes: "F?"

"F-rank talent: Photographer".

Level 1.

Strength 3, Intelligence 112, Stamina 3, Spirit 10.

"Talent Skill, Photography: Pick up the camera and shout 1, 2, 3, Cheese! Keep the camera still and everything within the camera lens will freeze for 1 second. Note: Each level increases the freeze duration by one second."

A gentle breeze swept through the silent summoning site, dispelling the deathly silence...

"Hahahaha—it's actually an F-rank summon! That beam of light was so huge, I thought it was an SSS-rank! This is hilarious!"

A mocking laugh rang out, carried with a tone of relief.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

Then--

Laughter erupted.

The laughter was filled with undisguised mockery, contempt, and schadenfreude. Although Ming Luochen couldn't understand what they were saying, the tone of "Hahaha, look at that good-for-nothing" was so clear that even a deaf person could understand it without needing a translator.

Some people pointed at the crystal monument and laughed so hard they almost fell over; others patted their companions on the shoulder, their mouths opening and closing, clearly repeating a word—judging from the shape of their mouths, it looked like the letter "F".

The girl's expression changed; she didn't know which part had gone wrong.

In this near-medieval fantasy world, every orc can summon a beast once in their lifetime. The stronger the summoned beast, the greater the assistance it provides. Especially for the Raven Crest family, centaurs who have always been fearless charging heroes on the battlefield, earning their titles through sheer strength, powerful summoned beasts are even more essential to enhance their combat power.

In this world, strength is the only true measure of success. Even ordinary people can defy fate by summoning beasts.

She used the S-rank blessing crystal given to her by her family for this summoning ceremony, so there's no reason why she should only summon an F-rank summon.

From ecstasy to confusion, from confusion to loss, it finally settled into a complex solemnity.

As the legitimate daughter of an earl's family, the fact that she managed to summon an F-rank summon beast would surely make her a laughingstock among other nobles and could even bring shame upon her family.

Ming Luochen sensed that the atmosphere around him was off—the shock from everyone had turned into mockery—and although he couldn't understand the words on the crystal tablet, he could tell that it didn't say anything nice. Especially the centaur girl who was over two meters tall beside him, whose eyes had changed from affection to pale solemnity.

Socially anxious Ming Luochen wanted to leave, found the exit and walked out, but her hand was suddenly grabbed.

"Even if you are an F-rank, you are still my summoned beast, and I will not abandon you."

Aura whispered something, her tone very soft, as if she were comforting herself, or perhaps making a promise to him.

"Even if you are an F-rank, you are still my summoned beast, and I will never abandon you."

Ming Luochen couldn't understand what she was saying, but looking into her eyes—it wasn't disdain, but determination, a resolute resolve.

She seemed disgusted? Yet reluctant to give up on Lin Ran? She was the one who inexplicably ended up in this godforsaken place; did she really need Lin Ran's sympathy?

Ming Luochen's sensitive nerves were sharply touched.

He desperately wanted to escape, but he didn't even know where he was or where he could go.

The horned teacher who presided over the summoning ceremony had a solemn expression on his face.

He stared at one of the numbers on the crystal tablet, his pupils suddenly contracting. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but was drowned out by the continuous laughter behind him. He pushed up his glasses and looked at the short, stout human again, his gaze becoming complicated.

On the stands, the old headmaster slowly sat down.

His gaze didn't linger on the glaring "F," but instead fixed intently on the intelligence stat.

He had taught for fifty years and seen countless geniuses. But that three-digit number... shouldn't appear on an F-rank summoned beast.

He didn't laugh.

A glint of light flashed in his cloudy eyes, and he muttered something under his breath.

But no one heard it.

The laughter from the audience grew louder and louder.

Ming Luochen stood there, holding his camera, watching the girl's struggling back and her tightly gripping his hand.

He couldn't understand the mockery, but he could feel the malice of the orcs around him.

The force coming from his hand made him feel that the world wasn't so bad after all.

He might be the worst F-class.

The protagonist's role might just be to be ridiculed by everyone.

He can't even understand what people are saying now.

But at least one person didn't give up on him.

And that person needs him now.

Ming Luochen took a deep breath, hung the camera around his neck, and then—he didn't know what to do, so he could only stand up straight and try to look less cowardly.

Despite being surrounded by a group of orcs who were over two meters tall, he, at 1.6 meters, looked like a little puppy who had wandered into a pack of wolves.

In the distant stands, Principal Lao Xiangtou's gaze never left the camera in Ming Luochen's arms.

He muttered to himself, his voice so low that only he could hear it. If anyone could understand him, they would know he was saying:

"Intelligence 112, that number... it can't possibly be F-rank."

"And that talent skill, it increases the freeze time by one second with each level up."

"If he can reach level 60..."

He didn't continue, but his cloudy eyes were full of doubt.