Footsteps were resounding on the solid ground as if something heavy kept hitting again and again, and Yue Yue felt her head spinning with dizzy, splitting headaches.

She could not understand anything. Her whole body felt like it was in pain; every part was aching and burning.

And why… why did she feel like she was actually dangling from a tree?

Her head was hanging downwards, and with every movement her whole body jerked slightly. For a stupid second she even thought, did the tree start walking? Did she get injured so badly that she can't even tell what is happening?

Her eyes were still tightly closed, but the shaking wasn't stopping. Every jolt made her arm bump against something hard, and with each impact she heard more thump-thump-thump.

Soon rough and loud voices drifted around her.

"This is the fourth time the Duke had a spiritual riot. What are we going to do? He's already having so many episodes. I'm afraid that in no time, he will really become an Degenerade Beast," one man said anxiously.

Degenerade Beast? She tried to wrap her mind around those words, but everything was foggy, floating. And also...how could a tree talk?

Another man sighed and replied, "But what can we do? He is one of the most powerful beastmen, but he still doesn't have a female. It's inevitable he will have episodes, showing signs of degeneration. There's no one to comfort his spiritual sea."

The first one sighed louder. "It's true. But what can we say? The future of males is always like this. They can do nothing without females. But there are so few females in our whole empire that even our Duke, already at the top level, still can't find one, let alone us."

Both of them sighed at that cruel reality.

Another voice suddenly whispered, "But still… the Duke is an SSS-rank beastman; he could at least afford this F-level female." His finger pointed at the girl lying unconscious on the man's shoulder.

"Right. We poor Orcs can't even afford that," the first replied.

"Ah! The Winged Serpent Clan is so rich," another man said bitterly. "They couldn't get a high-level female, but they can still afford this one. It's such a pity for such a beautiful girl to die like this. They're sending her to him when he's still in a frenzy. I'm sure he will definitely kill her."

"Such a beautiful girl too…" they sighed together.

Yue Yue felt her heart freeze. What are they saying? Why are these words so unfamiliar? Where is she? Did she get kidnapped? And what is SSS rank? What are these new terms? Not new...everything is new!

Why was her head lifting and dropping like this...did they beat her?

Before she could think further, she heard a long sliding sound. It didn't sound like a door she knew. It was a strange sliding sound.

The two men started arguing again.

"I'm not going further inside," one said firmly. "The entire zone is dangerous, filled with polluted beasts. Let's drop her here."

"But we're ordered to deliver this female right in front of the Duke," the man carrying her complained.

"Are you stupid?" The other snapped. "Do you actually want to go in front of him? Just by looking, he could rip us apart in a second before we even realize it. I'm telling you, the best idea is to leave her here on the 19th floor. The Duke is already on the 20th floor. I'm not going upward!"

The man carrying her sighed cowardly. "Fine, but I'm not going alone if you're not going. But what if this female gets devoured by the polluted beasts?"

"That's not our fault," the other insisted coldly. "We delivered her. Whether she dies from mutated beasts or in his hands, it's her fate. Just drop her."

The man carrying her hesitated; he was truly conflicted. But then...

A deep thumping sounded nearby. Followed by a faint roar.

"That's a polluted beast roar!" one of them shouted. "It's far but coming closer...let's hurry!"

"Okay, okay!" the carrier panicked, dropping Yue Yue on the cold floor hurriedly.

The door slid again with a loud metallic scrape.

Footsteps ran away in terror, fading quickly.

Yue Yue wanted to look...wanted to scream at them to stop, to take her back, to not leave her here, but she couldn't even lift a finger. Her body was like stone. Her eyelids felt glued shut.

She tried to sense her surroundings, tried to feel anything, but everything was heavy and numb.

But the place she was lying on… it didn't feel like hard dirt. It wasn't the forest floor she remembered before she died. There were no leaves, no wet soil, and no branches. The surface was smooth, icy, and unfamiliar.

Then where was she? Who were those people who carried her here? What happened after she got injured?

Her thoughts were messy and weak.

Just then...

Ding!

[Sucessfully Binding with the host]

A clear mechanical sound echoed inside her skull.

[Congratulations, Host, for successfully arriving in the Interstellar Beast World.]

Yue Yue's mind went completely blank.

What? Instant what? Beast world? Host?

Before she could even process that line, another notification blasted her thoughts.

Ding!

Mission Panel Activated!

Main Quest:

Survive for 24 hours inside the Skyscraper Tower.

Current Floor: 19

Danger Zone Rating: 86% lethal

Yue Yue's pulse jumped even though her body couldn't move.

Another line appeared in her mind slowly, like a horror movie subtitle:

Mission Details: Handle the First Villain..."Han Soi."

Objective: Bring the SSS-rank Beastman out of his Frenzied State without dying.

Time Limit: 24 Hours

Reward: Temporary Life Stabilization + memories of this world

Failure Punishment: Death (Permanent)

Yue Yue wanted to scream. She wanted to ask who Han Soi even was.

Villain? Frenzy? Beastman? Stress… what? Is this some kind of joke?!

She tried to lift her hand, even a little, but her arm felt like a rock weighing her down.

The system beeped again, mercilessly.

Warning: Polluted Bee Swarm approaching. Estimated arrival: 8 minutes.

Host Status: Completely helpless. Body Paralysis Level...97%.

...

Yue Yue was still in shock. Her head was already splitting apart, and now the system kept throwing one notification after another. Her brain felt like it was going to explode.

The warnings didn't stop.

Warning: Polluted Bee Swarm approaching… Estimated arrival: 7 minutes.

She wanted to cry.

Why me? Why here? What even is this place?

She immediately shouted in her mind: "Hey! System! Help me! Do something!"

But no one answered. Not even a slight response, and she felt like she was the insane one for talking to someone she couldn't even see.

Her anger shot straight to the sky.

"You dead idiot! Are you dead or what?! At least give me some strength to stand up! Why am I even in this condition?!"

She yelled inside her mind so loudly it hurt.

Finally, the system responded, but not with words. A cold mechanical panel opened in her mind like a drone flickering to life.

Strength Restoration: +30 Points

Cost: 10 Affection Points

Note: Points will be deducted from the Host.

Yue Yue almost fainted.

"Then just give it to me! I need it right now!" she shouted urgently.

She didn't care about costs, repayment, anything. Something horrible was coming, and if she stayed lying like a dead corpse, she really would die.

The system calmly responded:

Current Points: 0

Yue Yue's whole soul froze.

"Then lend me! I will repay it back!" she screamed desperately.

There was a short pause.

Then:

Loan Approved.

Right after that message, something small and round suddenly appeared in her mouth. It was a pill judging by its shape. It melted instantly, turning into a warm wave flowing through her veins.

Instantly her numb muscles twitched. Her fingers trembled. Her chest finally expanded with a strong breath.

Strength returned to her body like a sudden spark of life. She gasped, and finally, finally, her eyes snapped open.

The sight stunned her.

She wasn't in a forest. She wasn't on the ground she remembered injuring herself on.

She was inside a strange… chamber?

The walls were made of some unknown material. They were smooth, hard, glowing faintly from inside. There was no sunlight, no windows, yet the whole place shone brightly. The light had no source. It was just there, floating in the air.

"What kind of place is this…" she muttered.

Before she could think further, another sound echoed.

Buzz! Buzz!

It was so loud that it made her skull ache; she nearly jumped in fright.

Something was coming. Ahh! It must be those damn beasts.

She scrambled up from the ground instantly. Her legs were shaky, but she forced herself to move. Thinking could wait. Crying could wait. Understanding this insane world could wait.

Right now… she had to survive.

She didn't doubt the system even for a second. This wasn't the first time she had heard of systems… her mother had one too. Except her mother's system was pretty good… not like hers… a loudspeaker that only knew how to shout warnings and nothing else.

But that didn't matter now.

Yue Yue quickly scanned the area, remembering the direction the men had come from. She hurried toward that side, half-limping, half-stumbling.

But there was no opening in sight. She was pretty sure they had come from this direction; it was directly facing her back.

"How did those two even get out?" she whispered in frustration.

She pushed forward until she reached something… a tall, smooth surface with strange lines running through it. A giant panel.

She didn't know it was a high-tech automatic gate.

She reached out to touch it, and then her skin crawled with fear.

A loud, terrifying buzzing sound came from behind her.

When she turned around…

A storm of Polluted Bees with black bodies, metal-like wings, and glowing red eyes was rushing straight toward her like a dark tornado.

Her whole soul almost left her body.

Yue Yue really wanted to cry.

She felt like… what kind of scene had she actually come into?!

If her mommy and daddy were here, she would have already grabbed their clothes and whispered:

"Mommy… Daddy… please help me once… then she will never do anything mischievous…"

As she looked around again, she confirmed it. Yes. This place was strange. So strange that she doubted her own life.

And those Polluted Bees, those horrifying flying monsters, were even worse. Just one look at them made her legs weaken like jelly. It wasn't like she had never seen ferocious beasts before, but these ones were… different. They were way huge and terrifying. And covered in some hard rock shield.

Back home, her family always protected her like a little princess. She was the youngest in the entire family, the apple of everyone's eye. She never needed to fight, never needed to struggle for life, never needed to deal with monsters bigger than a buffalo.

And now she was actually here alone.

The first Polluted Bee swooped toward her…

And Yue Yue did the only thing her panicking soul could think of. She immediately dodged… but the damn huge bee was hell-bent on eating her.

And why was it opening its mouth? Did it directly want to gobble her up? Just looking at the countless tiny razor-sharp teeth in its mouth as strange saliva dropped on the ground, she shuddered in disgust.

But the Polluted Beast didn't care about her disgust; its eyes were shining, and finally, it could have a delicious meal. It opened its mouth wider, wanting to directly bite her neck.

Crunch!

Ahh! But it only bit air as the delivery meat disappeared from its mouth.

Poof!

On the other hand, her body suddenly shrank and turned into a small white snake.

A very small snake.

The bees froze. Their food had suddenly disappeared. All the giant bees looked left, right, up, down.

But Yue Yue was gone.

Or rather, she was crawling like a tiny noodle near the corner of the wall.

Her tiny white body wriggled quickly, hiding between fallen debris, strange items, shattered metallic pieces, and cracked floor tiles. She squeezed under a big chunk of metal, her new snake tail trembling with fear.

Above her, the bees went crazy.

Since the "food" vanished, they buzzed angrily, spinning in circles. Some of them crashed into each other. Some started fighting like children fighting over snacks. Others rammed into the walls, sending sparks everywhere.

They were furious, thinking someone had eaten the food before them.

Yue Yue looked out from her hiding place with wide snake eyes.

Their savage fighting skills terrified her.

Just watching them made her swallow hard, her tiny pink tongue flickering nervously.

If one of them landed on me… I won't even have a whole body left…

She shuddered hard.

Not wanting to become bee snacks, she crawled faster, her tiny snake form slithering as quickly as she could.

She had to get away. She had to find a safe corner.

Those two men said this inside place was dangerous. Maybe the outside was safer. Maybe she could escape.

She slid along the wall, trying to find any kind of opening. A crack… a hole… a hidden door… anything.

She didn't know where she was. She didn't know what she had become. But she knew one thing: She needed to get out of this terrifying place.

...

Yue Yue crawled further and further, wriggling through every tiny space she could squeeze her little snake body into. She didn't stop. She didn't dare. 

If she stopped even once, she felt those polluted bees would suddenly find her again and treat her like a tasty snack. And she really did not want to become the food of those horrible giant buzzing monsters.

Luckily, after a while, the frenzied bees finally dispersed. They flew everywhere, buzzing like mad creatures, trying to find the food that "suddenly disappeared" from their sight. But after a minute of searching, they gave up. 

They could not find anything. And soon, their attention flew away somewhere else.

Yue Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But she still didn't stop.

Just because they stopped searching didn't mean they would not come back. So she continued crawling, her small white snake body wiggling, squeezing, and sliding under broken metal pieces, through cracks, behind strange machinery, and under all kinds of weird items scattered everywhere.

She didn't know how far she actually crawled. Or how long she had been crawling. Everything looked the same. Those same broken, strange, glowing, metallic items.

But her tiny snake body was starting to feel tired.

She finally stopped to pant a little and lift her head. And when she did, she suddenly noticed a little clock panel floating in front of her eyes.

When she saw the time, her entire snake face froze.

Only half an hour had passed. Half an hour. And she was already exhausted. She almost fainted.

How… how am I supposed to survive 24 hours like this…!?

Her system told her she must survive for 24 hours in this terrifying skyscraper tower full of dangerous beasts, traps, polluted monsters, and a frenzied villain on the floor above.

But she, Yue Yue, was still a weak female.

Yes, she had a beast crystal core. That made her different from normal females. Normal females didn't have a beast core. But she only awakened it one month ago. She still couldn't control it. She couldn't even fight properly yet.

She was still in the "learning" stage.

And suddenly she opened her eyes in this type of dangerous place.

She really wanted to curse her luck.

But she forced herself to hold it back. She could not die here. She still had a mommy and daddy waiting for her. She still had her warm family. She didn't want to die alone in a broken metal room.

So, she crawled again. Crawling and crawling, her tiny body shaking, her mind shouting for survival.

But suddenly…her entire body stiffened. A terrifying sound echoed above her.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Heavy fighting noises, loud crashes, and even walls were shaking.

Yue Yue froze in horror as the entire building started trembling violently. It was shaking so hard she felt like the whole place was collapsing.

Her snake heart almost jumped out.

"Beast god… is this an earthquake or what?!" she cried inside her mind.

Pieces of ceiling started falling. Metal debris rained down like deadly stones. Sharp fragments fell everywhere.

Yue Yue was hiding between some items, but she knew if something heavy fell directly on her tiny body, she would be squeezed to death instantly.

So she panicked and stumbled out from her hiding spot.

Another heavy piece of ceiling slammed into the floor right in front of her…

BANG!

Yue Yue's scales almost jumped off her body. She shrieked silently and scrambled even faster, her snake tail flapping behind her in pure fear.

She crawled like a headless chicken, not knowing which direction was safe, which was dangerous, or which was absolutely suicidal. But she knew one thing:

If she stayed still, she would absolutely die.

So she crawled. Dashing left. Then right. Then squeezing under a crack. Then slipping out again. She was like a little snake desperately trying to avoid flying debris and death from above.

"What is this?! What kind of monsters are fighting like this?!" she cried inside, her voice trembling.

"Are they trying to kill me too?! I'm literally cannon fodder who has done NOTHING wrong!"

She was genuinely outraged at fate.

The entire building shook again.

And then, she heard a roar. A very powerful, terrifying, soul-crushing roar.

The aura that followed made her whole snake body tremble uncontrollably. Her instincts screamed at her to run far, far away. This was a natural beast instinct, and it is never wrong.

This wasn't an earthquake.

It was the sound of two extremely powerful beastmen fighting each other with all their strength.

Yue Yue felt like she was going to faint.

She slithered faster, almost crying, her tiny body exhausted but refusing to stop.

But then…CRASH!!!

The sky ceiling above her shattered.

A massive explosion of debris fell down, and with it…two enormous bodies fell from the broken ceiling and slammed right in front of her.

Yue Yue's eyes grew as big as plates. Her scales stood up straight. She froze on the spot, unable to move even a centimeter.

Right in front of her…a huge beast, incredibly tall and terrifying, lay on the ground struggling.

But even more terrifying was that a giant black snake was wrapped tightly around the beast's body, strangling it with unbelievable force. Its scales were dark as night, shining with a chilling aura. Its body was thick, long, powerful, and dripping with killing intent.

The other beast tried to fight back. It bit the snake, clawed the snake, and struggled with all its strength.

But the black snake didn't let go.

It tightened and tightened until the light slowly faded from the beast's eyes.

Its red frenzy glow dimmed. And its body became still.

Yue Yue almost screamed.

Holy moly… Did she just witness a live battle-to-death scene right in front of her!?

She stared at the black snake with awe and pure terror mixing inside her tiny body. His aura was cold, dangerous, and dominating. He killed that huge beast with one move like it was nothing.

Then she noticed something else. The black snake…had wings. Actual wings folded neatly against his back.

Yue Yue forgot her fear for a second.

"What… what clan is he from…?" she wondered. Her father never mentioned any snake clan that had wings.

She stared like a curious little idiot, even lifting her tiny head to see his wings better.

But then…she froze again.

She felt something…no, someone was staring at her.

Her body began trembling like crazy as she slowly lifted her gaze. Her tiny snake eyes met the giant black snake's dark, dangerous eyes.

He hissed loudly at her.

Yue Yue's soul left her body for 3 seconds.

How did he even see me?! I am so tiny! And he is so big! Why did he bother?! Just ignore me and go away!!

Her whole body curled into a tiny pile of poop as she trembled violently.

Big brother, please don't care about me. We are the same species, right? You cannot commit cannibalism! Spare me!!

She curled tighter, trying to disappear into the shadows, pretending to be a useless pebble.

But the giant snake didn't move. He just kept staring at her. Yue Yue felt like crying loudly.

But suddenly the giant snake twisted and, with a poof, transformed into a dangerously handsome man.

"Ohh! My…ahh, her poor eyes. Where did this handsome one come from?"

...

Yue Yue felt her tiny heart skipping a beat as she looked around again and again.

The giant black snake with wings was completely gone, as if it had never existed, and now there was only one man standing in front of her.

A man so tall, so dangerously handsome, so unreal-looking that her brain almost stopped working for a second.

He stood straight, his tall body like a mountain, blocking the strange broken lights behind him. He was wearing an extremely strange outfit she had never seen before in her entire life. His entire appearance looked too advanced, too clean, cold, and beautiful, like he was some ancient god.

Yue Yue stared at him, and her little snake heart thumped loudly inside her chest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

She immediately realized he was actually a beastman. A real beastman. And finally, hope lit inside her eyes like a tiny candle in a storm.

Maybe… maybe this big brother could save her.

Maybe he could protect her from those evil ferocious beasts everywhere who wanted to snack on her like she was dessert.

Hope shining in her crystallized blue eyes, she started crawling toward him, not even knowing she was actually crawling straight toward death itself. She didn't know. She just knew she was scared, and he was the only beastman she could see right now.

She looked at him pitifully and cried in her soft female voice, "B–Big brother save me… I-I accidentally came here… I don't know anyone… please help me…"

Her little voice trembled like a crying kitten.

But the man only stared at her with a very strange expression on his face. He didn't say anything at all. He didn't even blink. The red in his eyes was so strong that just looking at it made her feel even more scared.

But she still forced herself to continue crawling because he was her only hope. She had no other choice. If he left her alone here, she would surely die.

When she came closer and lifted her head to look at him with her big blue jewel-like eyes, tears gathered in them. And right at that moment, the man finally moved.

He lowered his hand.

Then with just two fingers, he picked up her tiny snake body and lifted her up, dangling her right in front of his eyes.

Yue Yue froze.

Her entire small snake body stiffened. Her mind blanked out.

Now that she was caught in his fingers… Was it too late to run away?

She stared at him speechlessly.

Why was he looking at her with such a strange expression? Did he not hear her begging? Was he a bad beastman? Did she just land herself in another trouble?

Her thoughts were going wild.

And then something even more shocking happened.

The man lifted her by her tiny snake tail and brought her right in front of his face. He looked up, down, left, and right, inspecting every inch of her snake body with a very serious expression.

Yue Yue suddenly felt a wave of heat attack her entire face.

Then…he tilted her tiny tail upwards… and looked at her private area.

Her entire snake face burned bright red.

"H-He is checking THAT place?!" she screamed in her mind.

"Is he a pervert?! We just met!" she yelled internally.

She immediately tried to curl her snake tail to hide that area, but his grip was so strong she couldn't even wiggle. She wanted to whip his face with her tail, but she couldn't even move.

The man, after looking so seriously and so calmly, suddenly said one single word.

"…Female."

Yue Yue's expression collapsed on the spot.

So he really did check her private area!

What kind of beastman needed to confirm like that?!

Could he not tell from her voice she was a female snake?

Was he dumb or what?

Anger filled her tiny heart, and she glared at him furiously with her big eyes.

Just wait! she thought angrily.

When I get out of here, I will definitely teach you a very good lesson! You pervert! You rude idiot! She has never been molested like this in her entire 18 years of life.

But she didn't show any expression on her face because she was too scared he would throw her away like trash.

And then, without saying anything else, the man simply dropped…no, stuffed her into a deep pocket located on the front of his strange suit.

Yue Yue was speechless.

"W-What kind of male is he?!" she screamed in her mind again.

He just shoved her into his pocket like she was some random worm he picked up from the ground! He hadn't even asked her name! He didn't even say hello!

She was so angry she wanted to bite his clothes. And make a huge hole in it.

But at the same time… she was relieved he didn't abandon her. Even if he was rude and strange and scary, he was still a beastman. And she would rather be with him than be eaten alive by those ferocious beasts.

So she popped her little snake head out of the pocket and looked around while he walked.

The entire place was extremely strange.

It was huge and endless, filled with broken pieces of strange objects everywhere. Some places had bright lights; some places were dark like caves. The roof was too high in some areas and too low in others, like the whole place was broken and twisted.

Dead bodies of beasts were lying here and there. Broken items were scattered all around, like someone had destroyed everything.

Yue Yue swallowed nervously.

Just what kind of place was this?

Was it a cave?

A ruin?

A monster's nest?

She had no idea at all.

Suddenly, one beast came charging straight at the man.

Yue Yue panicked and quickly shrunk her head, trembling so hard that her scales shook.

But the man didn't even flinch.

He simply stretched out his hand… and crushed the beast's skull in one go.

CRACK!

Yue Yue almost fainted.

He didn't just crush its skull; he smashed the entire skull with his hands alone. Right in front of her eyes! Blood splattered everywhere, and she felt like vomiting.

"Oh my god…" she whispered weakly as her tiny snake body trembled from fear.

He was so ruthless. She felt like she was traveling with the final boss of all final bosses.

Her energy was already low. Her body was drained. She couldn't even peek properly anymore.

And just like that, inside the warmth of his pocket, Yue Yue's eyes slowly closed.

Her tiny snake body was too tired, and she was nauseous after that disgusting scene. She finally fell asleep.