The last thing Bai Nuan remembered was the river. It hadn’t been a majestic, cinematic struggle—it was just a stupid, tactical error.

She had been navigating a standard Class II rapid for her survival segment, lecturing the lens about foot placement and center of gravity. She was the professional; the one who never broke a sweat or a nail.

"The key to crossing is momentum," she’d said, looking directly into the camera with her signature ’I know better than you’ smirk.

Then her boot slipped.

A wet rock, a split-second loss of balance, and a very ungraceful splash. Before she could even process the embarrassment, the current had dragged her under, tossing her through the darkness like a piece of laundry.

When she finally opened her eyes, she wasn’t in a hospital or even on the riverbank. She was lying on a slab of stone that felt suspiciously dry and far too warm.

Great. I’ve been washed downstream and my crew is probably still arguing about who’s responsible for the equipment insurance, she thought, rubbing her temples.

She sat up, expecting to see the familiar pine trees of her filming location. Instead, she saw... chaos.

The trees around her were massive—thick, gnarled giants that looked like they hadn’t seen a lumberjack in ten thousand years. Everything was scaled up, as if the world had been set to 200% zoom while she was unconscious.

Where the hell am I? This isn’t on the map.

She stood up, checking her pockets. Her gear was gone, her phone was likely at the bottom of a river, and her ankle was pulsing with a dull ache.

The fuck? Did the crew dump me in a prehistoric theme park and bail?

She turned around to look for a trail, only to have the breath punched out of her lungs.

A few meters away, a grey wolf stood perfectly still. Except "wolf" was an understatement. This thing was the size of a grizzly bear, with fur like hammered silver and eyes that held a terrifyingly human level of focus.

Bai Nuan didn’t scream. Screaming was a waste of calories and oxygen.

Instead, she just stared back, her mind already calculating the logistics of her survival. Well, At least the lighting is good for my final moments.

The wolf’s eyes stayed locked on hers, golden and starving. It started to prowl forward, a low, guttural growl vibrating through the air—a sound that felt like it was rattling her very ribcage.

’Urgh. If there’s one, there’s a pack. They never hunt alone.’

She desperately wanted to check her periphery, but she knew the rules. Breaking eye contact with an apex predator was an invitation to be lunch.

The wolf didn’t wait for a formal invitation. With a single, fluid spring, it jumped onto the rock slab, landing with a heavy thud that shook the stone.

"No, no, no... shit!"

Bai Nuan scrambled backward on her butt, her palms scraping against the grit.

"Zichen! Stop this! If this is some sick prank, you’re fired! I’ll sue the whole production!"

The only response was a snarl. The wolf moved closer, dark eyes fixed on her as it dipped its head to sniff her boots.

"Ack!" She yanked her legs back, hugging her knees to her chest. "Don’t eat me! I taste like trash and preservatives! You can do better! Back off!"

The beast ignored her, its wet, cold nose pressing against her boots again. Her body felt numb, a violent tremble taking over her limbs, but her hand crept toward the small of her back.

Her fingers closed around the hilt of her survival knife. If he wanted a taste, he was getting a face full of steel first.

But as the wolf raised its head toward her knees, its eyes suddenly rolled back. It swayed once, twice, and then collapsed sideways.

"Ahh!"

Bai Nuan flinched, bracing for the impact of a three-hundred-pound predator. Instead, a thick cloud of white smoke erupted from its fur, swallowing the beast entirely.

She coughed, squinting through the haze. The wolf was gone.

In its place lay a man. A massive, tall, and very naked man.

’Wait. Is he wearing... ears?’

Silver-grey fur ears poked through his messy hair, and a long, furry tail lay limp across the stone. This was some high-budget, 18-plus cosplay she hadn’t signed a waiver for.

Her eyes wandered over him, momentarily derailed by the sheer logistics of his physique.

Her gaze hit his chest, then she looked down at her own in a brief, silent moment of judgment.

’Okay, rude. Why is his chest better than mine?’

Her eyes traveled further down to his midsection.

’Eight abs? Calm down, sir. Pick a realistic body type.’

Then her eyes followed the prominent V-line a bit too far. She snapped her head away instantly, her face flushing a furious red.

’What in the 20x zoom lens was that?! Cover that up! Unprofessional! Totally unprofessional!’

"What kind of N*tflix-budget hallucination is this?"

She muttered the words to the empty forest, trying to scramble to her feet. The moment she put weight on her right leg, a lightning bolt of agony shot straight to her hip.

"Urgh!" She thudded back onto the stone with a pained grunt.

Gritting her teeth, she hiked up the hem of her cargo pants. Her right ankle was a mess—swollen, purple, and weeping blood from a nasty gash. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Seriously? Where is the crew?!" she snapped, glaring at the oversized trees.

"Director! Medic! Someone get me a damn ice pack!"

Ding!

A sharp, metallic chime echoed directly inside her skull. Before she could wonder if she’d developed a sudden brain hemorrhage, a translucent, blue glowing screen flickered into existence right in front of her nose.

[ System successfully activated. ]

The screen flickered like a cheap TV from the nineties.

"What the hell—"

[ Welcome, Host! ]

"Ack! What is this?!"

She flailed her hand, trying to swat the glowing rectangle away, but her fingers passed straight through the light.

’Great. I’m either dead, or I’ve finally had a psychotic break. Professional burnout is real.’

[ Nice to meet you, Host! ]

"Nice to meet you? No way. What even are you? An AI? A hologram? Did the production team finally buy that AR upgrade?"

[ No. I am your helper in this world. ]

’This world? Please tell me you’re a GPS and you know the way to the nearest Starb*cks.’

[ I am your Mate Collecting System. ]

Bai Nuan froze. The sarcasm died in her throat for exactly one second before being replaced by pure, unadulterated confusion.

"Huh? My what system? Collecting what now?"

[Mate collecting system, Host! Mate! Collecting! Mates!!]

"Ahh! I heard you the first time! I’m just checking to see if the universe has officially lost its mind!"

She massaged her temples, feeling a migraine forming to match her swollen ankle.

"What do you mean by ’this world’ anyway? And what is this naked cosplayer doing on my rock?"

[ This world? Well, it doesn’t have a name because there are no intelligent races like humans here. ]

"No humans? Wait—"

[ In simple words, this is the Beast World. ]

[ And in front of you is not a cosplayer, but a High-Quality Alpha Wolf Mate. ]

’Beast World? Alpha? Mates?’

Bai Nuan felt a chill that had nothing to do with her wet clothes.

’Wait... aren’t these the weird stories my niece is always obsessing over on her tablet? The ones with the shirtless guys on the covers?’

"Oh, now it makes sense. So I died? Well, not cool, but at least I’m alive here. This wolf hesitated to eat me because I’m injured. They avoid sick prey to avoid diseases. Phew! Thank you, broken ankle!"

She paused, narrowing her eyes at her ankle.

"Wait a minute! This all happened because you dragged me here, didn’t you? I could have swum out of that river! Wait... am I going crazy? Am I actually talking to my ankle?"

The screen flickered violently, the font turning bold and aggressive.

[ Task: Accept a mate. ]

[ Reward: Increased survival probability. ]

"No," she said, her voice flat and professional.

’I know how this goes. My niece’s books are basically just manuals for being a breeding machine. Do ’stuff’ with beastmen and raise a litter of cubs? In this economy? Absolutely not.’

"I can survive on my own! I’ve worked on Women vs. Wild for twelve years. I’m a logistics expert, not a labradoodle. I am not breeding or mating with these animals!"

The screen didn’t flicker this time. The text appeared slowly, ominous and cold.

[ Then You Die. ]