Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

"boom--!!!"

The ground trembled, and smoke and dust filled the sky.

Chickens, tigers, bears, wolves, and dogs have been successfully defeated!

Cheng Cheng knelt on one knee, panting heavily.

Freya descended from the sky, placed her hands on his back, and activated water-based healing magic. Cool energy surged into his body, and the ruptured wounds began to heal slowly.

“Mr. Mambo,” Sylvia’s voice echoed in his mind, “we won!”

Cheng Cheng twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, we won."

He struggled to his feet and walked toward the enormous corpse that had begun to turn to ashes.

A few things remained in the ashes—

A pair of fist-sized golden eyes, and a heart that shines like platinum and is still beating.

And a platinum key, with an antique design and intricate patterns engraved on it.

Cheng Cheng picked up the materials.

"Obtained: Eye of Chicken, Tiger, Bear, Wolf, and Dog x1"

"Obtained: Heart of Chicken, Tiger, Bear, Wolf, Dog ×1"

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Breakthrough in materials, all done.

Within two days, Sylvia and Freya can both be promoted to Gold rank, and then they can participate in the Royal Selection to vie for the legendary throne.

As for the last item...

He bent down and picked up the platinum key.

The next moment, he felt his mind being drawn to the key. After a flash of light and shadow, Cheng Cheng was shocked to find that the world had changed drastically. It was as if he had put on a virtual reality headset in a game and entered another world.

When Cheng Cheng came to his senses, he found himself standing in the center of a narrow room.

The room was very small.

A wooden plank bed stood against the wall, next to which was an old writing desk piled high with books. A poster on the wall depicted a majestic giant wolf, with the words "Divine Beast Warrior, Choice of Glory" written beside it.

Besides that, there is nothing.

Sunlight streamed through the window, revealing streets, old residential buildings, and colorful clothes hanging on clotheslines. Children played in the distance, their laughter faintly audible.

Cheng Cheng stood there, stunned.

"This is……"

He looked down at himself—Sylvia's body was still there, but he couldn't move, as if he were nailed to the ground.

"Sylvia?"

“I’m here,” Sylvia’s voice echoed in his mind. “Mr. Mambo, where is this…”

"I don't know."

Cheng Cheng tried to move, but failed again.

Just then, the door opened and a boy walked in.

He looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, tall and thin, wearing a faded T-shirt and school uniform pants, his hair a little messy. He walked to the desk, plopped down in the chair, looked at the pile of books on the table, and sighed deeply.

Then he began to talk to himself:

"I finally got into high school... but my family doesn't have the money to support my continued education..."

He slumped onto the table, burying his face in his arms:

"How can I, Zhang Yu, get into university, realize my dream, and become a glorious divine beast warrior in this way?"

Cheng Cheng stood aside, looking at the boy named Zhang Yu, his mind a complete mess.

Get into university? Become a mythical beast warrior?

What am I doing here? Is this still an underground city?

As he was thinking, the phone on the boy's desk suddenly rang.

It was a very old smartphone, the screen was cracked in one corner, but it still worked. The boy picked it up, glanced at it, and saw it was a text message.

"Dear student, are you worried about tuition fees? Shenshou Finance can make your university dream come true! No collateral required, instant funds, and interest-free for the first six months! Click the link to apply now, limited spots available, first come, first served!"

The boy stared at the text message for a long time.

Finally, he reached out his hand...

"Application successful! 50000 credits have been credited to your account. Please check!"

The boy put down his phone, buried his face in his arms, and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

Cheng Cheng stood to the side, unable to utter a single word.

The light and shadow began to shift.

Like a fast-forwarded slideshow, scenes flashed before my eyes—

Zhang Yu went to school with his schoolbag on his back, listened to lectures in the classroom, and stayed up all night in the library...

Zhang Yu received a new loan notification and clicked to confirm.

Received it again, and confirmed it again.

Confirmed again and again, funds arrived again and again.

The numbers kept growing larger and larger, but Cheng Cheng couldn't make out the total. He only saw the boy's brows furrowing more and more and his smiles becoming fewer and fewer.

Finally, the image freezes on an acceptance letter.

"Mythical Beast University - Admission Notice"

"Dear Zhang Yu, congratulations on your admission to our school's Mythical Beast Warrior major with excellent grades! Please bring this admission notice and your personal identification documents to the school for registration before September 1st."

Holding the notice, Zhang Yu stood under the old residential building, looking up as the sunlight shone on his smiling face.

That was the first smile Cheng Cheng had ever seen.

The scene shifts again.

Mythical Beast University.

The huge playground was filled with new students.

In the center of the playground was a high platform with a huge crystal on it. The freshmen lined up and walked forward one by one, placing their hands on the crystal.

Each time you press it, a different animal phantom will appear in the crystal. This is the crystal automatically selecting the mythical beast that is most suitable for the student.

In university, every student must contract a mythical beast, nurture it, merge with it to become a mythical beast warrior, and then fight against demons to become a hero—this is everyone's dream.

Some chose the fierce wolf, some chose the tiger that guards the mountain, and some chose the far-sighted eagle...

Others chose the mad snake, the hissing cat, the bad horse, the scapegoat sheep, the incessant deer...

It was finally Zhang Yu's turn.

He stepped forward, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on the crystal.

The crystal lit up.

A chicken emerged from within—its entire body engulfed in flames.

The flames were orange-red and burned continuously on the chicken, hence the name "the ever-burning chicken".

There was a moment of silence in the audience, followed by a burst of laughter.

"Chicken hahahahahaha!"

"He chose the weakest chicken!"

"He treats a chicken like a treasure, he has completely disgraced the Zhang family for eighteen generations!"

"A divine beast warrior? A divine chicken warrior, perhaps!"

Zhang Yu stood on the stage, his face flushed red, but he did not bow his head.

He just looked at the chicken, and the chicken looked at him.

The images flow.

Zhang Yu trained hard on the training field, running, fighting, eating, and sleeping with the chicken, practicing Iron Mountain Lean, Susan's Six Styles, and Swift Kick together...

Zhang Yu fought his way through the college league, his burning chicken like a moving flame, turning all his opponents to ashes.

Two and a half years later, Zhang Yu graduated first in his class.

Zhang Yu passed the postgraduate entrance examination.

Zhang Yu successfully passed the civil service exam.

Zhang Yu put on the uniform representing the national mythical beast team, stood in the queue, and saluted the national flag with his teammates.

Cheng Cheng watched Zhang Yu and his teammates train, fight, and slay the demons that crawled out of the abyss together...

Let's survive together.

Let's laugh together.

The people in the picture are young and radiant, like heroes who can never be defeated.

until that day.

The sky cracked open.

A black torrent surged from the cracks, a torrent of steel and fire—chariots, endless chariots, their tracks crushing the earth, their cannons aimed at the sky.

The first demon lord, the "Chariot" demon, has descended.

In the scene, the human mythical beast warriors are harvested like wheat.

Those once-shining heroes were no match for the steel torrent. Zhang Yu's teammates fell one after another, and Zhang Yu himself was covered in blood. The burning chicken was almost extinguished.

On humanity's last sanctuary, only five of the strongest divine beast warriors remain: Zhang Yu the Roasted Chicken, Bai Zhenzhen the White Tiger, Bu Yingshu the Giant Bear, Zhang Pianpian the Hungry Wolf, and Le Mulan the Loyal Dog.