Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The next morning.
Cao Yan opened his eyes to find himself in the boat’s cabin. After a light stretch, he looked around his sleeping bed.
Last night, before he was about to fall asleep, he was not sure if it was a dream, but it felt as though he had gone back to his home on Earth. However, when he saw the roof of the run-down cabin, he knew it was just his mind playing tricks. He was still floating around in an alien world.
The sun rose from the horizon and glimmered on the waves.
The harbor Cao Yan at was the smaller one out of the four harbors at Magic Metropolis. It was especially for fishing boats to dock at. The fishermen in other fishing boats all waved at Cao Yan when they saw him walk out of the cabin. It seemed that the original body had pretty good social skills.
Cao Yan was going to Magic Metropolis to complete his new mission. After washing up, he jumped off the “Influencer” and headed towards the city.
At the same time, in the forest near Magic Metropolis, Eggy was dashing deeper into the woods, further and further away from the city.
Very quickly, it got to a high area. After a night of hunting, its belly was round and full. It produced a silk thread and promptly spun out a huge web until its abdomen, which was the size of a basketball, had a slight dent. After that, it found a large tree to laze on and hide, waiting for its prey.
When Eggy was still, it appeared to have blended in with the darkness. It spat out a black gas and enveloped itself to become an indistinct shadow.
When it was completely hidden, the web slowly became transparent.
Spider webs were already difficult to notice, and it became even more so after blending in with the surroundings.
This was one of Eggy’s talents as a hybrid. It could make both its thread and itself blend into the shadows, significantly enhancing its ability to hunt. It was also how it could stay safe in a forest filled with danger at every step.
Soon, there was a prey in sight.
It was a strange multi-colored bird with two pairs of wings, one primary and one subsidiary. It circled in the sky majestically and stopped on a branch of the tallest tree in the vicinity. However, a tragedy befell it, for it was caught off-guard and got stuck in the web.
Eggy seemed to have a particular fondness for avians and loved killing birds.
The strange bird had obviously not encountered such a devious trap before. It screeched in fright and frantically flapped its wings to bring up invisible wind blades. At the same time, it used all its might to claw around with its talons. However, all these attacks proved to be ineffective against the web.
The web shook slightly as Eggy crawled out from its hiding spot, dashing on the web as though it was flying. It dragged the terrified bird back to its hiding spot and killed it by stabbing its throat.
After consuming the strange bird, the black gas coming out from Eggy became even denser.
In no time at all, the back gas returned back into Eggy’s body. The spider then started moving around the forest, searching for its next prey like a hardworking bee.
Very quickly, Eggy climbed to the top of a large tree, like a stealthy thief.
A giant bird’s nest was hidden in the dense foliage. Eggy spied for a while outside the nest and discovered that the bird was not at home. However, there were two round eggs in the nest.
Eggy did not like eggs. Still, it crouched down to stare at the two eggs, seemingly having other thoughts about them. It wanted to get the eggs out of the nest and bring them with it.
…
Magic Metropolis.
Cao Yan stepped into the city at the break of dawn.
The new mission required him to be acknowledged as an elementary trainer.
The structure of civilization in the Green Jungle was mature and perfect. Become a demon pet trainer was similar to driving. Before one could drive on the roads, they had to get a license first. Cao Yan had to get some kind of certification, and that would be at the Pet Trainer Association.
The Pet Trainer Association was a place many youngsters longed for in this world. The original body was not any different, also having a lingering desire in his memory. It was located in the central area of Magic Metropolis.
The Pet Trainer Association was a clean and white building in the shape of a pentagon. From the outside, it looked awe-inspiring and was quite similar to The Pentagon back on Earth. There was a square in front of the building, lined with statues of famous demon pet trainers and their demon pets. All of them exuded different auras.
The Pet Trainer Association had set up an examination department for the licensing. Due to the high benchmark, there weren’t many people, so one could easily take the examination any time. Therefore, it was not difficult to reserve a spot.
“Hello, how may I help you?”
The moment Cao Yan walked in through the association building’s huge main doors, a staff member sitting behind a long table in the lobby stood up and approached him.
She was a rather pretty girl in her early twenties. She had a tall body and was wearing the same uniform as the other ladies around her. They wore light, thin robes that looked like a dress. In front of her round and perky chest was a small picture of a demon ball, which showed her status as an employee of the association.
“How do I get an elementary trainer certificate?” asked Cao Yan.
The concierge lady replied, “You have to first pay $5000 to take part in the elementary certification.”
All Cao Yan had with him was whatever was left behind by the original body. When he heard the lady, he did a mental calculation. The certification fee would use up a third of everything he had.
It was extremely expensive.
The banknotes in Rainbow Nation, where Magic Metropolis was at, were exquisitely crafted. Bills with different values were printed with all kinds of demons on one side. The printed demons were life-like, and on the other side of the note was the never-ending forest. The bills were very characteristic of this world.
The highest denomination of the paper note was a thousand dollars. On one side was a large dragon, with a huge tree that seemed able to connect the sky and the earth on the other side.
Cao Yan pulled out the required amount and handed it over to the lady. She sweetly smiled before beckoning her hand. A five-colored organism resembling a butterfly appeared from above, as though it was magic.
“Follow this guiding butterfly. It will lead you to the room for your certification.”
Cao Yan clicked his tongue in amazement while following the butterfly. He watched as it silently flapped its wings and gracefully left the meeting hall.
The butterfly brought Cao Yan through the building and finally into a room.
The room was quite spacious with a classical interior. The walls and floor were made of thick stone. At the moment, there were two people in the room, a man and a woman.
The man was middle-aged with an ordinary appearance.
The woman was in her fifties. There were fine wrinkles at the corner of her eyes, and she was as thin as a bamboo. She wore a long, navy robe and had a solemn expression on her face.
When Cao Yan entered the room, he heard the woman say to the man, “…There are fewer and fewer talents trying to be a pet trainer in recent years. People are choosing martial arts, technological developments, or robotics because it’s not as difficult to pass. Those coming to attempt for a pet trainer certification are getting worse after each batch. There are six who came to get the certification, but none of them passed.”
When the woman finished speaking, the patterns of the butterfly, which had led Cao Yan over, started to glow slightly. The next moment, the voice of the concierge lady from earlier could be heard clearly. “Examiner Xu, the guiding butterfly has brought someone over to get the certification for an elementary trainer.”
Cao Yan was dumbfounded. So this guiding butterfly’s patterns also had the function of recording and saving voices like a mini sound recorder.
Just then, the interface suddenly leaped out in front of Cao Yan, giving him a shock. Although he knew that others couldn’t see the interface, its sudden appearance still made him feel as though he was cheating right in front of the examiners.
These words appeared on the screen:
[Species] Echo Butterfly
[Habit] Low-tiered insect demon. Does not attack actively. Graceful. Has admiring value.
[Characteristics] Magical patterns on its wings can naturally absorb sound. Through the vibration on the wings, it can absorb and release sound waves.
The organisms in this world are so bizarre. Thought Cao Yan to himself.