Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

”...” ’Maybe I should consider moving to another planet,’ Wu Bao thought. ’I hear the development zones on other planets are quite nice...’

”It’s not that crazy... Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s get to sleep.”

”SMOOCH~”

After a flurry of shameless activity, the room fell silent.

Before long, the sound of snoring filled the air.

Wu Bao poked his head out furtively. *Secretly observing.jpg*

Wang Sujuan and Su Mao were indeed fast asleep. Through the outline of the covers, Wu Bao could vaguely make out one of Wang Sujuan’s legs and an arm draped over Su Mao, a smug look on her face. Su Mao, for his part, wore an expression of someone who had accepted their fate...

But that wasn’t the point.

Wu Bao scanned his surroundings. The Black Fighting Emperor’s unique night vision quickly helped him lock onto his target—the ID card on the nightstand.

Wu Bao slowed his movements, gently poking the front half of his body through the window. The frame was very narrow; even with the boost from a partial Doubling, it was still a tight squeeze.

’But it should be fine... N-no...’

”...”

He was stuck.

Wu Bao was exasperated. His two hind legs dangled in the air, flailing uselessly, unable to get any purchase.

’If only Yu Bao were here,’ he thought. ’He could give me a push...’

After struggling for what felt like an eternity, Wu Bao grew anxious. He pushed with his front and middle pairs of legs, trying to force himself forward.

”SNAP!”

The window frame seemed to suddenly give way, and Wu Bao shot into the bedroom.

His momentum sent him flying, and his long, elegant horns poked the thigh Wang Sujuan had draped over Su Mao.

”Ah!”

Wang Sujuan cried out in surprise.

”!!!” Wu Bao’s pupils contracted in sheer terror.

”...What is it? What happened?”

Hearing his wife’s cry, Su Mao quickly rubbed his eyes and sat up, fumbling to turn on the bedside lamp.

The bedroom was quiet. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Wang Sujuan was sitting cross-legged on the bed, hugging the covers, and glaring at him reproachfully, her face flushed.

”You... you big pervert! You poked me so hard it hurt!”

THUMP! THUMP! She landed two punches on his chest.

”???” Su Mao stared blankly into space.

’What kind of outrageous thing is she saying?!’

Wang Sujuan’s gaze drifted downward, but her expression only grew more disappointed, her mouth turning down in a deep frown.

”That’s it? You’re just a one-second-wonder?”

Su Mao’s head was about to explode. ”No, seriously, are you even listening to yourself?”

”Oh, right, right. I’m the unreasonable one, I’m the one throwing a tantrum.”

With a huff, Wang Sujuan wrapped herself in the covers, turned her back to him, and ignored him completely.

”Go to sleep.”

The bedside lamp was switched off again.

’She’s lost her mind...’ Su Mao thought, suppressing a bellyful of curses as he lay back down, utterly baffled. ’Women are so weird. She was perfectly fine before bed, and then she just snapped.’

’And what was that about me poking her so hard it hurt...? We’ve been married for years, it’s not like we have the same urges as when we were young... Not that I wasn’t a fierce warrior in my day, mind you.’

The bedroom fell silent once more.

Wu Bao lay flat on the floor at the foot of the bed, not daring to even breathe.

’So intense! Good thing I was quick to hide...’

’Huh? Wait a second.’

It was only then that Wu Bao realized the space under the bed wasn’t nearly high enough to conceal him. If things were normal, he should have been discovered long ago.

’The things around me seem... bigger...’

’No, I’ve gotten smaller!’

Wu Bao discovered with excitement that he was now only about one-fifth of his normal size, almost as small as when he’d first met Su Zhi.

Wu Bao tested it out on the spot. His Power and other abilities hadn’t diminished. ’Seems it’s true what they say,’ he thought, ’the best things are concentrated.’

’How did I do that, anyway? I practiced until I was dead tired before with only limited results, but now I’ve made such a huge breakthrough in an instant...’

Wu Bao curiously scratched his head, but he had more important things to do right now, so he didn’t dwell on it.

Find the nightstand. Open it.

Find the ID card. Take it out!

Now that he was one-fifth of his original size, none of his previous problems were problems anymore.

Wu Bao grabbed the ID card and, quick as a flash, finished submitting the contract information. Then, he crept back, returned the card to its original spot, and restored the scene, leaving no trace behind.

After ”committing the crime,” Wu Bao returned to the garage and tried to control the Doubling with his mind. As expected, reverting was much easier. With a single thought, Wu Bao returned to his tall and mighty Black Fighting Emperor form.

”Hee~”

Wu Bao put away his tablet and lay down, feeling quite pleased with himself.

You ask what happened tonight? Nothing happened at all. Su Mao just poked Wang Sujuan and got an earful for it, that’s all.

Wu Bao is a good boy. Wu Bao was sleeping. Wu Bao knows nothing~

·

Qi Dian Editor Department.

A few of the younger staff were packing up their desks. ”Boss Er Shang, it’s past eleven. Still not heading home?”

The middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses shook his head gently. ”You all go ahead. I want to finish reviewing these internal submissions first.”

”Even a Gold Medal Editor is grinding this hard. That’s Boss Er Shang for you...”

”Well, he is the Boss Er Shang who’s on track to retire thirty years early~”

The office quieted down. Er Shang took a sip of coffee, glanced at the manuscripts in his inbox, and hit Ctrl+V—

[Does not meet our criteria for a contract]

In truth, he rejected thousands of manuscripts like this every day. Only a few dozen, at best, would ever get signed... and even those were often a stretch. After all, an editor’s job is to pan for gold in a mountain of shit.

’My head hurts,’ he thought. ’I don’t even want to look anymore. Maybe I should just call it a night...’

Just as he was about to shut down his computer, a chat window from a contract editor suddenly popped up.

[Tang Yuan]: Boss Er Shang! Are you still there, Boss Er Shang?

—The editors at Qi Dian have a division of labor. The ones who review manuscripts and schedule promotional features are the managing editors; they’re the ones authors usually interact with. There is another type, the contract editors, who handle the signing process and have a relatively lower profile.—

[Er Shang]: Was just about to leave. What’s up?

[Tang Yuan]: This author, ”Wu Bao,” are they one of yours?

[Er Shang]: That’s right.

Just the mention of Wu Bao’s name seemed to soothe Er Shang’s brain, which felt like it had been violated by a flood of trash manuscripts.

He was a new author Er Shang had just signed—and unlike all those veteran authors ”reincarnated” under new pen names, Wu Bao’s writing was genuinely that of a rookie. You could tell it was still quite unpolished.

However, his grasp of pacing, payoff moments, and plot was simply innate. He completely outclassed even many veteran authors... It could only be called a gift from the heavens—the kind of talent that’s effortlessly spoon-fed.

On top of that, he was an absolute monster of a writer, churning out ten thousand words a day as if it were the easiest thing in the world...

Er Shang had a hunch that one of his authors might just become a Heavenly King this year.

If he played his cards right, this author could even become a Platinum God with a single book!

[Tang Yuan]: There seems to be a problem with this author’s contract information...

”?”

Er Shang’s butthole clenched instantly.

[Er Shang]: What kind of problem? Is there something that violates the platform’s rules?

[Tang Yuan]: Not exactly.

[Tang Yuan]: You know what, it’s easier if I just show you.

[Tang Yuan]: [Long Screenshot]

”...” When his eyes landed on the ID photo—at the sight of Su Mao’s gentle, unassuming face—Er Shang’s lips twitched. He felt that familiar, nagging frustration.

’Isn’t this, for fuck’s sake... the Platinum God ”Gou of Gou Mao”?’

’What’s going on? Is he using an alt to write under me?’

’But that doesn’t seem right...’

’This unpolished prose, these ridiculously cringey paragraphs... You could beat him to death and he’d never believe this was something a traditional, old-school author could produce...’

Besides, wasn’t Su Mao famous for being the biggest slacker in the entire web novel industry? His own book was constantly on hiatus. How could his alt account possibly manage a stable ten thousand words a day?

For a moment, a string of question marks floated above Er Shang’s head.

[Tang Yuan]: So what do we do, Boss Er Shang? Do we sign him or not?

’Good question. I’d like to know, too...’ Er Shang felt a headache coming on. Gou Mao was one of his Editor-in-Chief’s authors.

If he signed him, wouldn’t that be a form of NTR?

And yet, in this new book, Gou Mao had displayed a style so completely different from his main account that even a seasoned editor like Er Shang hadn’t recognized it. Even now, he found it hard to believe.

For a full-time author, changing genres is the single riskiest move they can make. Bar none.

Most authors struggle just to find their comfort zone; stepping out of it to embark on a new journey into the unknown is another thing entirely.

Perhaps...

’Is this the stubborn pride of a master, refusing to be put out to pasture?’

In a daze, Er Shang felt as if he had just glimpsed the true mindset of the master, Gou Mao.

Never satisfied, always breaking new ground. Constantly challenging himself, surpassing himself, trying new styles.

Even if the writing was cringey, even if it could easily tarnish his legacy.

Yes. Isn’t this the most precious quality an author can have?

Human courage is a hymn to life!

He was fired up!

’Senior Gou Mao, since you chose to put your faith in me... I will choose to put my faith in you!’

[Er Shang]: Sign him!

·

·