Chapter 17
Lin Yan chose to become a magical beast harvester for one harsh reason—the scholarship examination was not meant for the weak.
This was not an exam where writing well or being smart could save you.
The scholarship tested everything.
Strength.
Endurance.
Reaction speed.
Talent.
Combat ability.
There would be real fighting during the examination. Not friendly matches, but battles designed to expose weakness. Family background meant nothing. Powerful allies meant nothing. Even having a martial arts teacher did not guarantee survival.
If you were not strong enough, you would fail.
And sometimes, failure meant death.
Lin Yan understood this clearly.
That was why he decided to spend the remaining days before the exam working as a magical beast harvester—one of the most dangerous jobs in the city.
He had five days.
The harvesting zone was worse than Lin Yan had imagined.
The air burned his lungs. Toxic mist clung to his skin like invisible needles. The blood of magical beasts soaked into the ground, releasing radiation and unstable energy that caused nausea, dizziness, and hallucinations.
Even with Star suppressing toxins, Lin Yan could not work for more than three hours a day.
After that, his hands trembled uncontrollably. His vision blurred. Sometimes he tasted blood.
The beasts were worse.
Fresh corpses still twitched. Muscles spasmed as if refusing to accept death. Some beasts released sudden bursts of energy, cracking bones nearby. Others leaked corrosive fluids that ate through metal and flesh alike.
More than once, Lin Yan vomited inside his mask.
"Star," he muttered once, staring at a half-dissected beast whose heart was still beating weakly, "if I die here, erase my browser history."
"…Understood," Star replied after a pause.
Each time Lin Yan placed his hand on a freshly killed beast, agony rushed through him. His bones felt like they were being rewritten. His muscles burned, tore, and rebuilt themselves. Blackened blood oozed from his pores before evaporating into mist.
By the end of the first day, he collapsed unconscious.
By the third day, pain no longer shocked him.
By the fifth day, fear had turned into determination.
In those five days, Lin Yan absorbed the genetic essence of five different magical beasts.
Each absorption pushed his body closer to its limit.
Each one brought him closer to death.
On the night before the scholarship exam, Star finally spoke.
"Genetic absorption complete," Star reported calmly.
"Total gene compatibility absorbed: 52% to 65%."
Lin Yan lay on the floor, breathing heavily, his body aching in ways he could not describe.
He laughed weakly.
"So… I survived."
"Yes," Star replied. "Barely."
Lin Yan closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, he would face the scholarship exam.
And this time—
He would not be the weakest one in the room.