Some people die, but not completely...

After what felt like an endless coma, Herschel Lithe suddenly sat bolt upright in bed.

Gasping for air, his chest heaved rapidly as waves of confusion and bewilderment crashed over him.

Where... was this?

Instinctively, he scanned his surroundings, only to grow even more disoriented.

A single dorm room?

Even if he had been rescued, he should be in a hospital right now.

And his body... why wasn't there a single scratch on him?

Frowning, Herschel's gaze darted around the room before finally settling on a mirror perched on the bedside table.

The reflection staring back at him was that of a strikingly handsome boy, no older than seventeen or eighteen.

But that was the problem—it wasn't him.

The man he remembered was in his twenties, a dashing young professional with years of work under his belt.

Yet now, the face in the mirror unmistakably belonged to a high schooler...

The realization left Herschel frozen, his mind reeling.

Whatever you do, don't tell him the surgery was a success...

His entire body and appearance had changed—this was no mere medical procedure, but something straight out of magic. He'd become a completely different person!

Could it be... that he'd somehow traveled through time?

Aside from the conspicuously ill-placed feng shui mirror by the bed, Herschel Lithe spotted three books nearby.

Picking them up, the titles instantly rendered him speechless.

*Beginner Keeper's Essential Beast-Rearing Manual*

*Postpartum Care for Magical Creatures*

*The Definitive Guide to Evaluating Beast-Eared Girls of Different Species*

Herschel Lithe: "???"

The first two titles seemed normal enough, but what the hell was up with that last one?

"Ahem."

Herschel's expression turned serious as he reached out, only for his arm to freeze mid-motion.

Just as he was about to flip open the third book to see what it was all about, a sharp pain suddenly lanced through his skull. A flood of memories came rushing in like a tidal wave.

Frostfield City.

The Pet Beast Breeding Center.

Intern Pet Beast Breeder.

Beast Tamer?

What kind of nonsense is this...

It took Herschel Lithe a good ten minutes to process this sudden influx of memories.

Finally, he lifted his head with a complicated expression.

He’d guessed right—he really seemed to have crossed over.

It wasn’t just the memories. His looks alone were proof enough.

As everyone knew, ugly people didn’t qualify for transmigration—neither as travelers nor as hosts. That was practically a universal law.

And given how ridiculously handsome he was? Yeah, no doubt about it—he’d definitely crossed over.

After an untimely death, he’d somehow ended up in another world where beast taming was the norm.

Though this room looked like a modern single dorm, he was no longer on Earth. Instead, he’d landed on a planet called Blue Star.

This world was bizarre, its culture completely different from Earth’s.

Since ancient times, supernatural powers had existed here.

But these powers weren’t anything like the battle auras, magic, or immortal cultivation Herschel had seen in movies and TV shows...

Every living being now possessed the potential for extraordinary evolution.

Through continuous evolution, most animals and plants could awaken higher intelligence and formidable supernatural abilities.

Even more astonishingly, this phenomenon wasn’t limited to flora and fauna—mountains, lakes, wind, and snow could also evolve into sentient lifeforms. These transcendent beings wielded immense powers, commanding lightning, fire, hurricanes—no different from the mythical beasts of Earth’s legends.

Against this backdrop, in the ancient era of this world, weak and vulnerable humans could only survive by forming tribes under the protection of powerful creatures they worshipped as guardians.

However, after centuries of slow progress, humanity gradually developed its own form of supernatural power: beast taming.

Through deep meditation, some individuals could unlock a unique dimensional space within their minds—a prison-like realm capable of capturing these evolved creatures.

At first, humans forcibly enslaved only the weakest of these beings, using them as servants for labor and battle. Against the truly powerful, they remained helpless.

But then came a breakthrough: creatures confined within these taming spaces grew at rates several times faster than in the wild, and their evolutionary limits became far easier to surpass.

This discovery ignited humanity’s hope for ascendance. People devoted themselves to mastering the secrets of the taming dimension.

Soon, an entire system emerged—capturing, training, nurturing, and commanding. As humans refined their techniques, they cultivated an array of mighty battle companions. Thus, the profession of the Beast Tamer rose to prominence on the world stage.

With the rise of tamers, many supernatural beings began willingly forming pacts with humans, eager to harness their power for accelerated growth and to shatter the constraints of their species.

Now, millennia later, humanity has built a glorious beast-taming civilization, dominating the planet’s most resource-rich regions.

In this era, becoming a Beast Tamer is the ultimate mark of status and class.

No industry exists untouched by their influence. Only those who master this art can rise as elites in any field.

A renowned beastmaster's single match appearance fee could reach astronomical figures.

Having a powerful beastmaster stationed in a city could directly boost its economic growth.

In most industries, beastmasters occupied core positions, with the highest echelons of power firmly in their grasp...

Yet... despite humanity's rise, ferocious beasts still roamed freely across the land, untamed and frequently wreaking havoc on human settlements.

This was precisely why cities vied to recruit formidable beastmasters for protection.

And from his memories... his predecessor's family had perished in one such beast tide.

"A world ruled by beastmasters... got it."

"But why, even after transmigrating, am I still this unlucky?"

Herschel Lithe took a deep breath. Fine, transmigration it was—but in such a perilous world, wouldn’t it have been better to reincarnate as the privileged heir of a beastmaster family?

Ideally, with a dragon guardian since childhood and an elf companion by his side—now that would’ve made transmigration worthwhile.

Sadly, transmigration seemed just as much a gamble as reincarnation.

He was still named Herschel Lithe, but no longer the mythologist from Earth. Instead, he was now an utterly ordinary intern beastkeeper at the Frostfield City Beast Nursery.

Not a beastmaster... more like a glorified assistant to one.

This was a facility dedicated to raising tamed beasts... and his current role involved learning the ropes of beast care.

His daily tasks? Feeding the young beasts, cleaning up after them, and maintaining their living quarters.

A textbook case of a struggling worker at the bottom rung of society.

But this explained why {{Herschel Lithe}} had been poring over those books—he was studying.

The original owner of this body had worked so hard in hopes of becoming a Beast Tamer, but reality had other plans. An orphan barely scraping by could hardly afford to raise a battle pet, let alone dream of taming one.

Given {{Herschel Lithe}}’s circumstances, becoming a Beast Tamer was next to impossible.

Yet, he was also lucky. A dash of talent and a sprinkle of effort had landed him a job tangentially related to the profession. There was still a slim chance he could make it someday.

He’d even gone as far as preparing to take out a loan to buy a high-quality pet cub, determined to claw his way into the ranks of Beast Tamers.

Here he was, barely out of his teens, already resigned to saddling himself with a "pet loan."

{{Herschel Lithe}} felt a pang of despair. Damn, this was rough.

As someone already drowning in mortgage and car payments, he couldn’t help but empathize. Who’d have thought he’d still be shackled by debt even after transmigrating?

But enough digressing. Right now, {{Herschel Lithe}} was just another lowly wage slave.

And in a few moments, his tasks for the day would begin—strictly governed by the grueling "996" work schedule.

Honestly, aside from his high school days, it had been ages since he’d dragged himself out of bed at six in the morning…

Rubbing his temples with a groan, {{Herschel Lithe}} shuffled over to a wall plastered with a work schedule.

It was the weekly task list, freshly issued yesterday. As an intern at the breeding facility, his daily duties were meticulously mapped out.

Today’s assignment was… His eyes trailed down to the entry under Monday.

Morning: Feeding the Snow Wolf Pack

Solo Mission

... Transporting Feed

Group Task

...

Afternoon: Recording Growth Data of Green Silkworms

Group Task

...

Hmm...

If his memory served him right, snow wolves were pack-dwelling, extremely ferocious carnivorous beasts, weren't they?

A task that dangerous... and it's assigned as a solo mission? Seriously?

Herschel Lithe fell into deep thought.

He had been bitten by a dog as a child, leaving him with an innate wariness of canine creatures. This mission felt like a personal attack.

"But it shouldn't be a big deal..."

Herschel suddenly remembered—he possessed the "Telepathy" ability, allowing him to communicate freely with any living creature. Surely nothing could go wrong...

The reason he had secured this internship wasn't just due to his stellar academic performance in theoretical courses but also because of his unique Beast Taming talent: Telepathy.

When humans successfully unlocked their Beast Taming Space through meditation, they would also awaken a corresponding Beast Taming talent.

Though Herschel hadn’t yet contracted his first beast companion, he had already unlocked his Beast Taming Space and awakened his talent.

This was largely thanks to modern national policies. To cultivate talented Beast Tamers, the government had incorporated the meditation method for unlocking Beast Taming Space into compulsory education. It was during that phase that Herschel had been identified as having the potential.

Beast Taming talents varied widely but were broadly categorized into two types: Enhancement and Special, with an approximate ratio of 9:1.

Enhancement-type talents, such as Flame Boost, were best suited for Beast Tamers who sought to raise fire-attribute beasts.

During battles, a Beastmaster can utilize their innate talents to amplify the power of their contracted beasts' fire-based skills.

Unlike enhancement-type talents, special-type talents are far more complex and unpredictable, with vastly different manifestations across individuals.

Take the special talent "Shared Power," for example—it allows a Beastmaster to inherit one ability from their contracted beast, granting themselves a supernatural skill. Typically, Beastmasters with such talents possess significantly stronger self-defense and combat capabilities than ordinary ones.

Then there’s the rare talent "Fusion," which enables a Beastmaster to temporarily merge with their beast, transforming into a new hybrid form. Who knows? Maybe catgirls really do exist.

As for Herschel Lithe’s "Telepathy" talent, though also classified as special-type, it’s far more common—one of the most widespread special talents in existence.

A Beastmaster who masters telepathy can communicate with any intelligent being, transcending language barriers. Normally, Beastmasters can only understand the thoughts of their own contracted beasts, but those with telepathy can even converse with others' beasts or wild creatures to some extent.

In the history of the Beastmaster profession, while telepathy doesn’t directly enhance combat strength, its importance is undeniable. After all, the ability to communicate across species can prevent unnecessary conflicts altogether.

Key roles in fields like Beastmaster healthcare, education, research, and animal husbandry are often held by telepaths—it’s an all-purpose talent.

With such a practical ability, Herschel should have no trouble getting along with wild creatures…

The thought eased his mind.

Though not a master of telepathy, Herschel was at least proficient. Instinctively, he attempted to activate his talent, listening intently to his surroundings to refresh his skills—better safe than sorry.

But just then, something unexpected happened…

A tremor rippled through the Beastmaster space in his mind, and his vision blurred. Suddenly, a black stone tome materialized in his consciousness.

It seemed… he had awakened a second Beastmaster talent!