Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Study the Coldest Major, Make the Most Money

Chen Miao Miao’s thoughts seemed to steady her spine. “Qian Qi, I let it go when you stole and used our stuff, but coming back covered in blood and scaring me—especially like that—isn’t that too much?”

Qian Qi turned her head and stared at her.

The look must’ve hit something tender, because Chen Miao Miao’s voice faltered. “W-why are you looking at me like that?”

Qian Qi blinked, then corrected her with painstaking patience. “It’s morning, not the middle of the night.”

“Huh?”

Chen Miao Miao froze, then exploded. “That’s not the point! The point is you scared me on purpose!”

“I wasn’t trying to scare you.” Qian Qi rolled her neck carefully. “I’m injured. It hurts. I wanted to vent, and you just… took it personally.”

That was when the other roommates finally noticed the blood soaking Qian Qi’s neck. Their faces drained.

“Qian Qi, are you okay?”

“Why aren’t you going to the hospital?!”

They didn’t like her. They were scared of her. But a torn neck was a torn neck. Nobody wanted another corpse in their dorm.

It was a six-person room, but only five beds were filled now. The empty one had belonged to a student killed by a magic plant a few months ago—one mistake in an operation, and that was it.

Qian Qi spread her hands. “I’d love to.”

She paused.

“No money.”

The room went dead.

After a long beat, the long-haired girl with glasses finally stepped up. Liang Yu Ting swallowed hard. “Um… I can lend you a hundred.”

Qian Qi launched off the bed like a rocket and grabbed Liang Yu Ting’s hands with watery eyes. “Thank you. You’re a good person.”

Liang Yu Ting immediately regretted her entire existence. This money was never coming back.

“Just… go to the hospital first,” Liang Yu Ting said, trying not to stare at the shredded flesh. “Were you bitten by a magic plant?”

“Yeah.” Qian Qi nodded like she was admitting she ate the last dumpling. “I went to steal a senior’s magic plant fruit.”

Every roommate visibly flinched.

Qian Qi added, sincerely, “I was starving. I passed by and couldn’t help myself.”

The whole dorm: …!

She really was a lunatic.

Who ate magic plant fruit? Was she trying to speedrun death?

Liang Yu Ting took two steps back on instinct. “Okay. Hospital. Now.”

Her eyes clung to the hundred in Qian Qi’s hand like she could pull it back by force of will. She wasn’t rich either. A hundred was a lot.

Qian Qi noticed, waved the bill, and smiled. “Relax. I’ll pay you back.”

She only needed emergency money because she’d discovered something truly tragic about this world:

She was broke. Like, zero. Not one cent.

Liang Yu Ting nodded, but her eyes said: Sure. Totally.

Qian Qi dug through her closet and found… one old leather jacket. She frowned, not because it was old, but because the whole outfit was a crime.

Oversized brown jacket with peeling patches. Sleeveless white T-shirt that would never be clean again. Loose black men’s shorts. Flip-flops that looked like they’d survived a war.

And that messy bird’s-nest hair…

Even street punks would probably salute her with, “Big brother.”

She dragged a hand down her face and put the jacket on anyway.

After leaving the dorm, she hit the cafeteria and ate until she couldn’t see straight. Magic Plant Studies students had free tuition, but living expenses were still on you. Thankfully, the cafeteria had a “cheap” floor and an “expensive” floor, and the first floor was merciful.

Biting into a bun, Qian Qi narrowed her eyes.

She needed money.

Her first instinct after waking up in this world had been to check her account. Reality had rewarded her with a cold slap.

Poor. Poor-poor. The kind of poor that echoed.

She’d assumed she could scrape by thanks to her major, but this major wasn’t just unpopular—it was a financial dead end.

Unpopular was one thing. No money future was unacceptable.

“I need to transfer majors.”

She opened her lightbrain and searched Awakeners University majors.

Awakeners University had five academies: Beast-Taming College, Commander Department, Skills Academy, Magic Beast College, and Magic Plant College.

Skills Academy only accepted students with awakened skills. It split into Elementalist, Long-Range Shooter, and Support.

Magic Beast Studies was popular. You learned about magic beasts and did research assignments. After graduation, you could enter the Magic Beast Research Institute, where the pay was great and the side benefits were even better. Just selling scraps of magic beast materials to awakeners could bring in real money.

Magic Plant Studies didn’t need explanation. It was so cold only the broke and the unhinged chose it.

And Beast-Taming Studies…

That was the hottest, most prestigious major in Awakeners University. Its entry bar was even higher than Commander or Skills: you had to have beast-taming talent to apply. Tuition was free, food and housing were top quality and covered, and if you managed to contract a magic beast, your future basically turned into a shiny gold road.

Of course, contracting wasn’t easy. Even students with beast-taming talent could send out a contract request, but most magic beasts rejected it without mercy—and the backlash could be brutal.

You had to build a relationship, earn the magic beast’s approval, and only then could you form a master-servant bond. After that, a beast tamer could gain derived skills from the magic beast and fight alongside it.

Qian Qi stabbed at her lightbrain with a finger and bit her bun like it had personally offended her. “This Beast-Taming major is insane.”

Then she leaned closer to the empty air like she was sharing secrets. “Hey, System. What’s the key action to trigger a beast-taming skill? Come on. Tell me.”

[^_^ Dear, sleep less during the day. You’ll stop having daydreams.]

Qian Qi’s smile twitched. “So you’re not telling me because you won’t, or because you can’t?”

[No such function.]

“Oh!” Qian Qi brightened, delighted. “So you really are useless.”

[…]

The System went quiet.

That counted as a win.

Qian Qi wiped her mouth. “Beast-Taming, Commander, Skills—too high a bar. I’ve only got farming skill. No chance.”

She scrolled again. “Magic Beast Studies, though… that’s doable.”

Magic Beast Studies didn’t require awakened skills. You just had to pay tuition.

“Let me see what transferring majors needs.”

Qian Qi had farming skill now, but she had zero intention of staying in Magic Plant Studies. First, she couldn’t even beat the magic plants she might grow. Second, it didn’t pay. At this rate, she’d starve before she succeeded.

Then she saw the requirements, and her face went flat.

“This is ridiculous.”

Just like in her old life, to transfer majors you had to rank top three in your major at the end of your first academic year. Fine. She could live with that.

The next part? Absolutely not.

“A transfer fee of 30,000? And Magic Beast Department tuition is 15,000 a year? Housing is 1,000? Books are 500?”

She did the math once and felt a headache bloom.

“So I need 46,500.”

As the saying went, one coin could choke a hero.

Qian Qi stared into the middle distance for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

Her face turned solemn. “Magic Plant Studies isn’t that unpopular.”

Then she slammed her bun down like a declaration of war. “There’s no money that’s hard to earn—only people who don’t use their brains!”

“Even if I’m stuck in the coldest major, I’m going to make the most money!”

Qian Qi lifted her chin. “There’s no money I can’t earn. If there is… it’s the money in my own pocket.”

Because there wasn’t any.

The System flicked up a tiny cartoon figure in her vision—hands on hips, radiating judgment.