Rookie Pioneer

Humid heat—that was Bei Bei's first sensation upon regaining consciousness.

Then came the weight.

Looking down, he found that his Shrek Academy uniform was gone, replaced by a crudely made but sturdy suit of chainmail.

Two sharp iron daggers hung heavily from his back.

Beside him stood a girl in leather armor with a longbow on her back. It was Tang Ya.

"Bei Bei? Why are you dressed like that?" Tang Ya asked, somewhat surprised as she touched her hunter outfit. "This fabric... it feels so real! Is this really an illusion?"

"Quit talking! That big guy's coming!"

A rough roar interrupted their conversation.

A red-haired muscular man, Scarlet King, carried a bone hammer larger than a person over his shoulder as he angrily pointed ahead.

Beside him, a blonde girl, the Auspicious Beast, held a long Long Sword, her face full of eager anticipation.

And in the grass at the very back, Huo Yuhao crouched trembling with a Light Bowgun in his arms.

Roar—

The ground trembled.

A giant pink tyrannosaur with a bony spike on its nose crashed through layer after layer of trees, bringing a stench-laden gust as it appeared before them.

Anjanath!

The visual impact at such close range was far more terrifying than seeing it on a screen.

Chunks of flesh hung from its fangs, and a foul stench washed over them.

"Get moving! You new lightning brat, go draw its aggro!" Scarlet King roared, taking a crafty step backward.

Bei Bei was displeased by the red-haired man's orders, but the monster before him gave him no time to think. His instincts as one of Shrek's finest students made him charge straight forward.

"Beast! Don't you dare run wild!"

Bei Bei shouted and instinctively mobilized the Soul Power within him.

Thunderclaw!

He swung his right hand hard, but the blue-violet lightning he expected did not appear.

The air fell silent.

Bei Bei had swung at nothing.

Bei Bei: ???

Bei Bei froze in place, his expression changing drastically.

His Soul Power... was gone? His body felt empty, and he could not even sense his martial soul!

In the second he was stunned, Anjanath's thick tail had already swept toward him with a howling gale.

Bang!

Without Soul Power protecting him, Bei Bei was sent flying more than ten meters and slammed hard into a tree.

[HP Remaining: 60%]

"Cough, cough..." Bei Bei bared his teeth in pain. The realistic sensation instantly sobered him up. "My Soul Power... is gone?"

"No shit!" Scarlet King cursed as he charged forward, swinging his huge hammer. "I told you this is a trial for mortals! If you don't want to die, use those pieces of iron in your hands to chop it! Stop posing there and firing off those useless light waves!"

"Bei Bei! Are you okay?" Tang Ya shouted anxiously from afar.

She instinctively tried to release Blue Silver Grass Entanglement, but when she raised her hands, nothing happened either.

"Ah! My Blue Silver Grass is gone too!" Tang Ya stomped her feet anxiously. Looking at the heavy hunting bow in her hands, she had no idea how to use it. "How am I supposed to use this stupid bow?!"

The situation descended into complete chaos.

Soul masters without soul skills were like tigers with their fangs pulled.

Bei Bei had extensive combat experience, after all. He quickly adjusted his mindset and drew the twin blades from his back.

"No Soul Power... then I'll rely on skill!"

He rolled aside to dodge Anjanath's bite, crossed his twin blades, and slashed hard at Anjanath's lower leg.

Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere.

"So hard!" Bei Bei felt his palms go numb.

This monster's hide was tougher than that of a ten-thousand-year soul beast!

"Idiot! Don't hit its legs! Hit its head! Its head is the weak point!" Scarlet King screamed in frustration. It swung its hammer, trying to smash Anjanath's head, but Anjanath turned around. Scarlet King's hammer struck the ground instead, numbing its own hands from the impact.

On the other side, although the Auspicious Beast held a Long Sword, her fighting style was completely feral.

Relying on her agility, she rushed in and began slashing wildly. But because she got greedy, Anjanath kicked her away, sending her rolling several times across the ground.

"Ah! My hair! I'm going to kill you!" the Auspicious Beast shrieked as she scrambled to her feet.

Five minutes passed.

This "mixed human-and-beast squad" was beaten until they fled in every direction.

Bei Bei was hanging on by a thread, Scarlet King had been knocked flying three times, every arrow Tang Ya fired was stuck in a tree, and Huo Yuhao... Huo Yuhao still did not dare come out of the grass.

"It's over, it's over, we're going to lose again!" Scarlet King's heart sank as it saw flames glow in Anjanath's throat. "It's about to breathe fire! Run!"

It was a fire breath powerful enough to instantly wipe out everyone present.

At that critical moment.

Huo Yuhao, who had been hiding in the grass the whole time, suddenly heard a lazy voice in his mind.

"Man, these teammates are so bad that even I'm getting anxious watching them."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind.

"Yuhao, looks like it's up to us brothers to save the day! Let these bumpkins see what support from a million-year soul beast looks like!"

"Brother Sky Dream? But my Soul Power..."

"Your Soul Power is sealed here, but your spiritual power isn't!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm laughed smugly. "And I've discovered that this world is very interesting... as long as I analyze it a little..."

[System Notification: A high-level spiritual entity has been detected. Support cheat activated.]

[Skill Loaded: Map-Wide Spirit Detection Sharing (Modified Version).]

Buzz—!

An invisible spiritual wave instantly covered the entire battlefield.

Bei Bei, Tang Ya, Scarlet King, and the Auspicious Beast, who were fleeing for their lives, all shuddered violently.

Their vision changed.

The originally dark and complicated forest suddenly became a three-dimensional model formed from countless lines.

Countless red dots and streams of data appeared over Anjanath's massive body.

Its every movement, every contraction of muscle, even the trajectory of its next attack, was clearly marked on everyone's retinas by pale golden dotted lines!

[Warning: In 1.5 seconds, cone-shaped flame breath! Safe zone: Behind the rock on the left.]

A line of glaring text appeared directly before Bei Bei's eyes.

"This is..." Bei Bei's pupils contracted. "Mental Detection? But this precision... how is that possible?"

Before he had time to think, his body reacted before his mind did.

Bei Bei slid forward, precisely reaching the cover behind the rock on the left.

Boom—

Towering flames swept past the edge of the rock, turning the spot where Bei Bei had stood moments earlier into scorched earth.

He was completely unharmed!

"We dodged it?" Scarlet King had also escaped disaster according to the prompt. It looked excitedly toward the grass. "Nice one, kid! Great job! This cheat is amazing!"

A new prompt appeared in their vision.

[Anjanath is in a post-fire-breath stagger state!]

[Weakness Exposed: Throat!]

[Recommendation: Tang Ya fires an arrow into its throat to trigger an explosion; Scarlet King charges a hammer strike on its head; Bei Bei attacks its legs with twin blades.]

Was this even a battle? This was practically a babysitter-level strategy guide!

"Xiao Ya! Shoot its throat!" Bei Bei shouted.

Tang Ya had never used a bow before, but a red crosshair appeared in her vision. As long as she drew the bow, the crosshair automatically locked on.

"Take this!" Tang Ya released the bowstring.

This arrow seemed to carry the law of inevitable destiny.

Pfft!

The arrow drilled precisely into Anjanath's still-open throat.

Boom!

Anjanath threw its head back and roared in agony, its massive body staggering backward.

"Now! You dumb dog! Smash it!" the Auspicious Beast shouted over the voice channel.

"You're the dumb dog! Watch this king's Windmill!"

Scarlet King charged forward excitedly. Using the slope to slide, its body spun under the momentum of its huge hammer before it smashed the weapon brutally into Anjanath's forehead.

Bang!

A crisp crack of bone rang out.

Anjanath, which had been acting so arrogantly moments ago, was knocked straight onto its back by that hammer blow. Its four legs pointed skyward as stars spun in its eyes.

"It's down! It's down!" Tang Ya jumped excitedly.

"Don't just stand there! Go all out!" Bei Bei's eyes gleamed. By now, he was completely immersed in the thrill of fighting without Soul Power, relying purely on coordination and attacks on weak points.

His twin blades entered Demon Mode. Although he had no Soul Power, the red aura around him made him feel filled with strength.

Blade Dance!

Blade light poured down like a waterfall onto Anjanath's vulnerable abdomen.

The Auspicious Beast was even more excited. Carrying her Long Sword, she charged at the tail and began attacking it wildly. "Tail cut! Tail cut! I want that Outrage!"

In the grass, Huo Yuhao held up his Light Bowgun. With Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's assistance, every shot landed precisely on Anjanath's wounds, interrupting its attempts to stand.

Ten minutes later.

As Scarlet King's final hammer descended.

The ruler of the jungle let out one final mournful cry before its enormous body crashed to the ground.

[Mission Complete!]

[Hunting Target: Anjanath!]

[Reward Settlement: Anjanath Outrage x1, Mega Potion x5.]

"We won..."

Bei Bei dropped onto the ground, gasping heavily.

His entire body ached and he was drenched in sweat, yet he felt more exhilarated than ever before.

This kind of battle, walking the line between life and death and relying completely on trust in his teammates and his own reactions, was ten thousand times more exciting than the turn-based fighting in the Soul Arena, where "you throw out a skill, then I throw out a skill"!

"Awesome! That was incredible!" Scarlet King tossed its hammer to the ground, ran over, grabbed Huo Yuhao as he emerged from the grass, and vigorously patted his back.

"Good kid! This king knew I wasn't wrong about you! Your map-wide vision was incredible! Without you, we'd have been roasted meat by now!"

Huo Yuhao was nearly patted to the point of coughing blood, but a foolish grin spread across his face.

This was the first time he had received such recognition from a powerhouse of this level, even if it was a soul beast.

"Little Yuhao, you did great!" Tang Ya ran over too and rubbed Huo Yuhao's hair. "Even I didn't expect that arrow to be so accurate!"

In the real world, Origin Internet Cafe.

The three humans and two beasts removed their helmets at the same time.

Bei Bei took a deep breath, still immersed in the battle from moments ago.

He instinctively circulated his Soul Power, then suddenly froze.

"My Soul Power..."

To his shock, the level-thirty bottleneck that had once been incomparably solid had actually loosened slightly!

Not only that, his spiritual power was clearly much more condensed than before. His sharp perception of the surrounding environment was the lingering aftereffect of Mental Detection from the game.

"So this is... the effect of the internet cafe?"

Bei Bei abruptly turned his head toward Lu Yuan behind the counter.

Lu Yuan leaned back in his chair, watching them with a faint smile. "So? Was two Gold Soul Coins a loss?"

"Not at all! It was absolutely worth it!" Bei Bei sprang to his feet. "Senior, this is practically a miracle! Even in Shrek Inner Court, it would be impossible to receive this kind of training for combat awareness!"

"Boss!" Scarlet King shouted as well. "Can we bring out the Outrage that Anjanath dropped just now? It looked like excellent material for making weapons!"

"That's game material. You can't bring it out." Lu Yuan mercilessly shattered its fantasy. "But equipment crafted in the game can still be used the next time you log in."

Scarlet King was somewhat disappointed, but when it thought about wearing a full "Anjanath set" next time it logged in to crush other monsters, it immediately grew excited again.

"Boss, top me up for another ten hours! I'm going to kill that Rathalos too!" Scarlet King slapped down another chunk of ore.

"Me too!" the Auspicious Beast refused to be outdone.

Watching this group of humans and beasts succumb to gaming addiction, Bei Bei gave a bitter smile and touched his flat money pouch.

Although Tang Ya and he were soul masters, they had not yet graduated from the academy, so they did not have much money on hand.

What they had just spent was already their living expenses for the next several days.

"Xiao Ya, we..."

"We'll come again tomorrow!" Although reluctant, Tang Ya knew they had to be prudent. "Bei Bei, we need to hurry back to the academy and tell... uh, who should we tell this good news to?"

A glint flashed through Bei Bei's eyes.

"We won't tell anyone! If those old fossils at the academy find out about this place, they'll definitely shut it down." Bei Bei said gravely. "We'll come here quietly ourselves! Besides... this place can serve as our special training base!"

Lu Yuan watched the scene, secretly chuckling to himself.

Not tell the academy?

Heh heh, once your strength skyrocketed and you crushed your peers, did you think those teachers were blind?

Especially that freakish old hag named Zhou Yi.

Lu Yuan glanced at the system panel.

[Today's revenue: 200 Gold Soul Coins.]

[Received commission from all things: Lightning Control (Beginner), Mental Detection (Beginner), Plant Affinity (Trace).]

[Host's Soul Power Level increased: Level 12.]

[Next-stage mission triggered: Make a name for yourself in Shrek!]

[Mission requirement: Make at least one Shrek Academy teacher a member.]

Lu Yuan felt the power that had appeared out of nowhere within him, and the corners of his mouth rose.

The first batch of leeks... no, seed users, had been cultivated!

Lu Yuan shook the cola in his hand and waved toward the entrance of the internet café. "Take care, no need to see you out. Remember to bring enough money tomorrow!"