Chapter 49
Chapter 49: I Don’t Have Any Hobbies, I Just Like Watching Pretty Streamers
Beast-Taming Plaza opened early.
After unlocking the gates, Grandpa Sun still felt yesterday’s roar lingering in his ears. Then he looked out at the empty plaza, all that noise replaced by clean, hollow quiet, and couldn’t help sighing.
“Sigh. Wonder when it’ll be lively again.”
He hung up his keyring, dragged a rosewood lounge chair out of the duty room, and rocked gently as he basked in the sun.
The old guys had been shouting about getting together for ages. He and Old Li were always busy, so it kept getting pushed back.
When Qian Qi announced she’d hold a competition in Beast-Taming Plaza, he invited them all over to watch.
And it had been worth it.
Yesterday, she’d shocked the pants off those old men. Sure, d-rank defense fruit was useless to a-rank strong ones like them, but Qian Qi’s shameless, fearless, social-terrorist style had them clicking their tongues in disbelief.
There had been at least three thousand students in the plaza. She was young, yet she dared to challenge a d-rank beast-taming fight that even experienced awakened fighters avoided—and she’d calmly orchestrated the entire duel and auction like she was conducting a show. That kind of nerve was rare.
Still… it used to be more common.
Back when instances had already existed for years and magic creatures prowled everywhere, the world had been a constant crisis. Young people with brains and blood had rallied countless ordinary people and awakened youths, forming one daring squad after another to take on missions their seniors couldn’t.
They’d fought magic beasts head-on, carving out a path with their bodies—then ended forever at the age they should’ve been living.
In Qian Qi, Grandpa Sun saw a flicker of that old shadow.
Only… she was slicker than any of them. Blink once, and no one knew what chaos she’d pull next.
He fanned himself, about to doze off, when a familiar sound came from the distance—flip-flops slapping the ground.
He tilted his head and spotted her immediately: a girl in a white undershirt, jogging toward him with several bulging bags of oranges. When she noticed him looking, she waved both hands enthusiastically.
“Grandpa! I came to see you!”
Grandpa Sun squinted. Those bags were full—heavy enough to make grown men complain—and she was hauling them with skinny arms like it was nothing.
Huh. Strong kid.
“You’re up early, Grandpa!” Qian Qi set the oranges in the duty room and leaned out. “What about your friends? Not here today?”
She’d assumed those old guys were dorm supervisors or security guards from other departments. Yesterday had been exhausting even for her, and they’d still shown up to help Grandpa Sun manage the crowd. He must’ve had good relationships.
Grandpa Sun laughed at her bright, innocent face. “Their arms and legs aren’t what they used to be. Too much walking wears them out. I’ll bring them some later.”
“All right.” Qian Qi nodded, then pulled up yesterday’s accounts on her lightbrain. “We made a lot yesterday. Your ten percent is 145,307.”
She transferred the money, then tilted her head and slid smoothly into her real question. “Grandpa Sun, you and Uncle Li—the one managing the Magic Beast Storage Room—you’re close, right? Do you know if they’re hiring employees?”
She flexed in a show of enthusiasm. “I want a part-time job. Feeding them, shoveling poop, that kind of thing.”
“Oh?” Grandpa Sun’s eyes lit with amused curiosity. This little girl was definitely up to something.
“I think they really are short-handed,” he said. Then he grabbed a bag of oranges. “I’m going to bring these to Old Li anyway. Want to come?”
Qian Qi’s face brightened. “That would be great!”
Yes. Starting with Grandpa Sun really was the correct infiltration strategy.
…
The Magic Beast Storage Room was one of Awakeners University’s true spectacles.
A pristine white cylindrical tower rose more than a hundred meters high, smooth and seamless, grand enough to look like a monument. You couldn’t hear a single magic beast roar from inside. There was only one entrance for humans, and every storage employee had to scan their iris to pass.
“Don’t be fooled by how impressive it looks,” Grandpa Sun said as he scanned in and led Qian Qi through. “Inside is mostly e-rank and d-rank, plus a few c-rank.”
He lowered his voice slightly. “b-rank and a-rank living magic beasts are kept somewhere else, guarded by high-level awakened ones. As for s-rank…”
He paused, then gave a humorless little chuckle. “A few have shown up before. It took losing hundreds of thousands of a-rank awakened ones and several thousand s-rank awakened ones to finally kill them.”
Lower ranks weren’t even worth counting.
That was why truly high-rank awakened ones were rare now. Back then, the ones most likely to become the next generation of strong ones had already bled out for humanity.
And the awakened clans who enjoyed the most power now…
Grandpa Sun didn’t continue.
Inside, he stopped by a white wall near the entrance and tapped the intercom unit embedded there. “Old Li! Look who I brought~”
Uncle Li, sipping tea in the duty room, glanced at the monitor—and sprang up like he’d been struck by lightning. A door that fit so tightly into the wall it was almost invisible slid open, and Uncle Li grinned wide.
“Oh! Isn’t that Little Qian? What brings you to my storage room?”
His eyes dropped to the oranges in Grandpa Sun’s hand. “Aiya, you didn’t have to bring gifts!”
Then he snatched the oranges.
Grandpa Sun stared at his empty hand. “…”
If you’re so polite, don’t take them.
“Come, come, sit.” Uncle Li rummaged and produced two small stools, pushing them toward Qian Qi and Grandpa Sun. “So… you two planning another competition?”
He looked delighted just asking it. “Yesterday’s was fantastic. Way more fun than those pretty streamers running already-cleared instances and killing e-rank magic beasts.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “When you fought that d-rank yesterday, you got beaten all over the place, but it was hilarious. I didn’t stop laughing the whole time.”
“And the way you flipped the bird, riding your bike and cursing…” He wheezed. “I almost laughed myself to death at home. Even my steward said it’s been a long time since he saw me laugh that hard.”
Qian Qi smiled sweetly.
Grandpa Sun watched her expression and quietly thought: trouble. Pure trouble.