Hamster Reserves

The fact that anyone with C-rank mental strength has a 99% chance of gaining a bonded beast upon reaching adulthood was something Zhuang Man, born in a remote star system, knew nothing about. All he knew was that he had grown up with two little pets by his side, and no one around him could see them.

To avoid being sent to a research institute to be dissected, he had his two little pets leave his mental space and hide back in his dorm during the military academy entrance exam. When the results came out, he was branded a useless A-rank mental-strength holder with no bonded beast.

The bonded beasts of people with bloodlines from their home planet, Huaguo, were said to be extraordinary. There was a prophecy that each time one appeared, it would bring change to the stars. Zhuang Man knew nothing about that, either. All he knew was that his mother had died of a genetic disease, and after his father found him a stepmother while he was still young, his father promptly ran off, showing no backbone at all.

To get enough to eat and avoid being kicked out, he tread carefully and struggled to survive under his stepmother's constant scolding.

Actually, it wasn't all that hard. When his stepmother arranged a blind date for him, Zhuang Man, who had no idea he'd gone to the wrong restaurant, happily took the other person by the hand and went to register their marriage.

*

A reserve soldier who was just coasting through an internship arrived at the chaotic Ninth Legion. He was handed the task of managing the legion's livestream room as if he were being tossed a piece of trash, and spent every day doing all sorts of odd jobs.

People across the stars who followed the livestream noticed that this reserve soldier was either sneaking along behind the Ninth Legion as they explored new territory, secretly stuffing unfamiliar plants into the storage pouches of bonded beasts,

or running to post-battle sites with his bonded beast, looking like a rat, and picking through the remains of the Zerg to dismember them.

People across the stars: Doesn't he know the legion's promotional livestream is on all the time? Why is he so suspiciously sneaky?

Later, when an alien race launched a massive invasion and the reserve soldier was urgently summoned to the front lines, Zhuang Man clutched his energy gun and fell into deep silence as he looked at the battlefield full of all kinds of animals.

Were these animals some kind of unique, specially trained legion troops? Where did they keep them when they weren't in battle?

The livestream drone followed Zhuang Man onto the battlefield. The people watching, getting their first close-up look at a battlefield, discovered one thing. No, many things.

"This reserve soldier seems to have incredibly high mental strength. His bonded beast hasn't gone back into his mental space even once!"

"Doesn't his bonded beast need to be nourished by mental strength? Since he went to the battlefield, that black-and-white fluffball has been right by his side without disappearing once!"

"Am I the only one wondering how a guy with such high mental strength is still just a reserve soldier who hasn't even been officially accepted into the Ninth Legion?"

"The Ninth Legion is terrifying!"

Zhuang Man clicked into the legion's livestream from his wrist terminal. Something seemed off. Why could the people in the livestream see his little pets?

Later, people across the stars realized that this suspiciously sneaky reserve soldier seemed to have more than one bonded beast.

People across the stars: Help! Someone's pretending to be useless just to slack off!

#Because the ordinary population on his home planet is so large, nobody knows that people with mental strength have bonded beasts#

#He thought having pets no one else could see meant he was abnormal, but the truth is that he's abnormal because he has too many pets#

#Has that sneaky reserve soldier figured out that the military's promotional livestream lets ordinary people with insufficient mental strength see bonded beasts?#

P.S. The various legions operate independently and are rivals outside of wartime. They are not like real-world military forces. This story is entirely fictional, so please don't confuse it with real military forces. Important!

1. The leads in this story are not based on real people. The gong calls the shou "little one" early on, so please don't read if that bothers you!!! (The gong's name comes from the phrase "unhurried and methodical." I have never played otome games, so please don't accuse me of anything just because the name happens to sound similar. Thank you.)

2. There is no logic, and the made-up setting is just a framework for the story. Read for fun. If you can't accept that, please stop reading in time. There's no need to politely inform me that you're dropping the story. Those who demand rigorous research really need to be extremely, extremely, extremely cautious about whether to start reading. I recommend reading chapter by chapter so you can stop in time if it isn't to your taste.

3. I only write the stories I want to write. I don't accept writing advice. Important!!!

4. Those reading pirated copies, behave yourselves. Anyone who comes to the comments to lecture me will be deleted, cursed out, and reported, all in one go!!!

Important notice: I hope everyone can read in harmony and enjoy the story. I only accept reasonable questions, not mindless venting. There's no need to tell me if you're dropping the story. If it's not to your taste, that's fine. Jinjiang has plenty of other great books for you to choose from~

Next up: The Little Money Lover Knows How to Make Money

Qiao Lin was so poor during the first half of his life it was suffocating. But on the day he graduated, he inherited his father's business and became the abbot of a small Taoist temple on Wangdu Mountain. Then his father's will left him completely dumbfounded.

He was supposed to take over his father's business in the underworld and make it bigger and stronger? Otherwise, his father would come running up to the world of the living in the middle of the night to kick him in the butt?

After thinking it over, he went straight down the mountain and rented a shop. If he had to do business and make money, then as the abbot of a Taoist temple, it was perfectly normal for him to take people's money in exchange for helping them, right?

A joss-stick and candle shop suddenly opened outside the film studio at the foot of Wangdu Mountain. The owner specialized in the shady business of holding opening ceremonies for film crews and warding off misfortune and evil. If the price was right, he could even be hired for weddings and funerals.

Though he sounded especially sincere when promoting his services, in truth, he didn't believe in any ghosts or gods. The only deity who could persuade him to reach into his pocket to buy incense as an offering was the God of Wealth.

Until one day, while visiting another Taoist temple for an exchange, he really did encounter a God of Wealth in front of the Matchmaker Temple.

-

Everyone in the entertainment industry knew that if anything strange and inexplicable happened, all they had to do was visit the joss-stick and candle shop outside the film studio and find the owner, who spent all day playing with a little golden statue.

As long as they were willing to pay, and then went to Wangdu Mountain's Taoist temple to offer a stick of incense with sincere devotion, there was nothing they couldn't resolve.

Those in the mystic arts world also knew about a young Taoist named Qiao Lin. He didn't believe in karma or reincarnation and preferred vulgar worldly wealth. Despite having the kind of talent that would earn him his ancestors' blessing, he looked down on superstition.

While others caught ghosts by drawing talismans, he caught them with nothing but his silver tongue. When others relied on brute strength to subdue demons, he started calling friends and gathering backup. Sometimes, not everyone he called was human.

Even Zhao Xuan, who sat high among the clouds of the Ninth Heaven, had heard that one of his Dragon Maidens had mixed up the registers. When he followed the register to bestow good fortune, a virtuous person who should have enjoyed a life of wealth and nobility was instead given the fate of a lonely and destitute life.

What he didn't know was that this kind little man loved him so much that, the moment they met, he pulled a red thread from the Matchmaker Temple and tied it around both their wrists.

A naturally gifted, money-loving shou x the wealthiest God of Wealth in all the heavens, the gong

Theme: Only by keeping your feet on the ground can you build a brighter tomorrow