What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

The night is deep.

The bedroom window was ajar, and the summer evening breeze quietly seeped in, ruffling the pages of the book "Basic Beast Taming Theory" open on the desk.

The desk lamp was turned to its dimmest setting, and the dim yellow light barely illuminated half of Lin Chen's face and the constantly popping message notifications on the screen.

The phone buzzed and vibrated on the wooden tabletop, the screen lighting up and then dimming, dimming and then lighting up again.

On the lock screen, message previews pop up one after another.

[Senior 3 (Class 3) Group (99+)]

[Wang Hao: Hahahaha, I successfully contracted it! Fire Hound! See that coat color? Purebred!]

[Zhao Qiang: @Wang Hao. The Stone-Armored Turtle has been contracted. This little fire-type pet kneels before me!]

[Wang Hao: See you at the club match tomorrow. The loser has to call me daddy.]

[Li Yue: Above is a picture of my water sparrow, isn't it cute?]

[Chen Yuan: The apprentice beast tamer goal has been achieved. Now it's time to aim for master-level beast tamer.]

[Li Yue: You've got material for your dream tonight.]

Lin Chen slowly slid his thumb across the screen, looking at the familiar or semi-familiar avatars and the excited text following them.

These past few days have been the unified initial pet contract period in Qinglan City. Students who have awakened into Beastmasters will go to the breeding house to select pets and sign contracts.

The excited students chatted non-stop in the group chat, while Lin Chen chose to go offline and continue studying the book "Basic Beast Taming Theory".

Just then, a new notification popped up at the top of the screen.

[“Xiaofeng Canyue” requests to add you as a friend]

[Verification message: Hello Lin Chen, I am Zhang Xiaoxiao]

Zhang Xiaoxiao?

Lin Chen hesitated for a moment, then clicked "accept".

The message arrived almost immediately after the approval process.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Good evening, Lin Chen! Did I disturb you? (｡･ω･｡)"

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "It's like this, I created a small group chat, which is full of students from Qinglan City who were admitted to Qiming Beast Taming Academy this year."

"I was thinking that we'd all be alumni and fellow townsmen from now on, so we could look out for each other and exchange information. Do you want to come in too? [Cute peek.jpg]"

Below is a link to a group chat invitation.

The group name is quite interesting: [Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base]

Lin Chen clicked on the link and glanced at the group member list.

Including Zhang Xiaoxiao, there are currently about twenty people.

He saw the name "Su Qingyuan," and the profile picture was a very delicate ink orchid.

The others didn't know much about it, but as students with similar grades, they had heard of it to some extent.

Hover your fingertip over the top of the screen for a few seconds.

Is it a hometown association?

In an unfamiliar city, sticking together with people from the same place is indeed a common choice.

Just to be on the safe side, Lin Chen still asked, "Is there a joining fee to join the group?"

In the previous life, the idea of ​​a group joining fee was obviously nonsense.

However, in this world, many beast tamers create various group chats to help each other and exchange beast taming knowledge, which leads to the rule of paying a group entry fee.

First, it prevents idle people and troublemakers from joining the group by setting up a small barrier through an entry fee;

Secondly, it helps beast tamers understand a principle—in this world, knowledge has a price.

Lin Chen is extremely sensitive to anything related to money.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "...Don't worry, joining the group is free."

Lin Chen promptly joined the group chat.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Welcome, Lin Chen! [Sprinkling flowers]"

The other group members welcomed him, and Lin Chen responded by choosing to remain in his usual lurking style.

There was also chatting in the group, but the topics were different from the pure excitement and boasting in the class group.

They mostly discussed the Qiming Academy, inquiring about accommodations and course schedules. Occasionally, someone would share the types and abilities of their contracted pets, and their tone was relatively restrained.

Lin Chen looked at it for a while, then put his phone face down on the table and continued studying the textbook on the table.

But after reading only two lines, my phone started vibrating in my palm again.

This is a new message from the hometown group, from a guy whose contact name is "Zhou Ming".

Zhou Ming: "By the way, I'd like to share some important news that I just heard."

"I heard that after we officially enroll, there will be a freshman competition, which is an unwavering tradition of Qiming Academy at the start of the semester."

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "My cousin, who is a junior in college, mentioned that it is held every year."

Zhou Ming: "Yes, the purpose is to test the results of the training and development of the new students during the holidays and to select the truly promising talents."

"The rewards for the freshman competition are very generous, including valuable learning resources and academic credits. I don't need to elaborate on how hard it is to earn credits and how useful they are, right?"

The group chat immediately became lively.

"Credits! We have to fight for these!"

"What's the specific format? A ring battle?"

Seeing this, Lin Chen secretly guessed, "This kind of freshman competition is definitely going to be a clichéd arena match."

The so-called arena battle is actually a one-on-one battle between two beast tamers in a fixed-rules and fixed-format arena.

The winner advances, the loser retreats, until the final victor is determined.

Zhou Ming: "That's the key point! I heard from the inside that our freshman competition might be reformed and won't use the old challenge format anymore."

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Huh? Then what should we use?"

Zhou Ming: "I heard from a senior student that the school might be going to do something big this time—put all the freshmen in a secret place for wilderness survival and combat competitions."

The group was silent for a few seconds, then it was flooded with question marks and exclamation marks.

"???"

"A secret realm?! Wilderness combat? Are you sure? That's too dangerous!"

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "How reliable is the news? If it's true, the preparations needed will be completely different."

Zhou Ming: "What my senior said is pretty much true. The school's higher-ups have long had this intention, feeling that the arena competition is too mild and cannot cultivate beast tamers who can truly cope with the risks in the wild. Our class just happens to be a pilot program. However, the specific rules and which secret realm it is are still being kept secret."

Lin Chen watched the rapidly scrolling discussions on the screen, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edges of the book pages.

Secret Realm, Wilderness Combat.

His eyes flickered slightly, which was somewhat unexpected.

He had previously guessed it would be a clichéd ring match, with one-on-one battles taking turns, which, while simple and direct, was indeed somewhat boring.

If it were truly a survival competition in a secret realm, the variables and risks would increase exponentially.

The wilderness of this world has never been a harmonious and beautiful natural paradise.

Beyond the city, countless wild and untamed pets live, including many ferocious species that are highly aggressive and territorial.

Mountains, forests, swamps, wastelands... every place may harbor deadly dangers.

Not to mention that there is a pet beast civilization outside the human federation, which is difficult for humans to reach.

That place is a paradise for wild animals.

Even experienced, formal beast tamers must travel in groups and proceed with extreme caution when venturing into the wild.

Throwing a group of newbies who have just contracted pets and have almost zero combat experience directly into the secret realm?

"We really need to prepare early," Lin Chen thought.

As the night deepened, the sounds of traffic outside the window gradually thinned out.

The discussion in the group gradually shifted from initial shock and excitement to what preparations to make and what supplies to bring. Then the topic spread out again, and finally came to a stop with Zhang Xiaoxiao's message, "Everyone, get some rest and we'll talk again tomorrow."

Lin Chen glanced one last time at the now quiet group chat and placed his phone on the bedside table to charge.

He stood up, stretched his stiff neck, and looked out the window.