Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan

Ren and Altair walked closely behind the nervous snake guards as they navigated the sweeping, dark corridors of the obsidian castle.

Ren couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over her shoulder. Altair’s head was currently on a swivel. He looked left, then right, then left again, then straight up at the vaulted ceiling, and back down to the floor. The golden eagle currently looked exactly like a bewildered tourist trying to process everything all at once.

Ren turned her attention back to her surroundings, genuinely marveling at Syris’ palace as she walked. She had always thought it gave off incredibly imposing, spooky Dracula’s castle vibes from the outside, but the interior was a breathtaking display of primitive grandeur.

The sprawling corridors were carved from massive, seamless blocks of glossy black obsidian. Towering archways were constructed from the giant, bleached rib cages of ancient swamp leviathans. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The walls were adorned with intricate, hand-chiseled carvings depicting giant serpents and the phases of the moon.

Ren simply couldn’t wrap her head around how it was built. The beastmen back in the forest literally lived in damp caves and primitive mud-and-stick huts. Yet Syris had a sprawling castle complete with a functioning kitchen and an actual hot water bath!

’Are there different levels of primitive in this world?’ Ren wondered silently, trailing her fingers along a smooth obsidian pillar.

[System: Precisely, Host. Not all of the Beast World is as incredibly primitive as the backwater forest you arrived in. It is a simple rule of geography: The closer a territory is to the Moon Goddess, the more technologically and culturally advanced it is.]

Ren’s brows furrowed in deep thought. ’Why? And is the Moon Goddess close to the swamp then?’

[System: Ah, you always have so many wonderful questions! And since I am an incredibly generous system, I propose a deal. I will issue you new quests, and the reward for completing each one will be a Golden Pass to answer absolutely any one of your questions.]

Ren’s steps faltered slightly. Her eyebrows shot all the way up into her hairline. ’Are you serious? You would answer any question?’

[System: Any question. No censorship. If you asked, I could tell you exactly how to permanently get rid of the feral madness once and for all. I could tell you the absolute truth about who Vex really is. I could even tell you the complete history of the humans who were transmigrated into this world before you. Did they die? Did they magically return to their world? Or are they still here? It is all something I know.]

Ren was definitely intrigued.

She always knew, but it still bothered her that this was all just a grand, theatrical game of entertainment for the System. If it genuinely wanted to help her, it could have just told her everything long ago just like that!

Her heart did a complicated little flip in her chest.

Now she was certain there were other humans in this world before her... but, if there really was a way to go back to her world, would she actually want to go?

She had already said goodbye to her previous life and started anew here, but what about her mother? Ren aggressively shook her head. She didn’t want to dwell on any of that right now. There were far too many other pressing things she wanted to ask first.

Besides, she felt pretty confident. She had miraculously managed to survive and finish all the other ridiculous quests so far!

[System: Since you have successfully completed all of the previous main quests in your log, it is time for the new generation! Downloading...]

Ding!

Three distinct, glowing blue holographic panels materialized in her vision. They shimmered with a daunting golden border, indicating a high-tier difficulty level. The System meticulously outlined her new objectives in bold, glowing text:

[Main Quest 1: The Heir] [Objective: Conceive a child with one of your beast husbands.]

[Main Quest 2: Sins of the Mother] [Objective: Save Vara’s unborn cub from the feral madness.]

[Main Quest 3: The Silent Prince] [Objective: Get Altair to verbally reveal the absolute truth about who he is.]

Ren’s face went completely, ghostly pale. A deeply exasperated sigh left her lips, creating a cloud of frost.

’These are basically impossible!’ Ren screamed internally.

The most feasible one on the list was getting pregnant, but the terrifying fact that the System had literally made it a high-tier quest must mean that getting pregnant wasn’t going to be easy for her.

Still, a tiny wave of relief washed over her panic. The quest’s existence meant she wasn’t completely infertile; the expired implant hadn’t damaged her body that badly.

But the second quest? Save Vara’s cub?! How in the world could she even do that? She didn’t even know where the treacherous white tigress was! And more importantly, why on earth should she have to risk her life to save the cub of someone who had actively wanted to torture and kill her?!

Ren rubbed her temples, feeling a massive migraine blooming.

And the last quest... that one might have been the hardest one of all.

Ren looked over her shoulder at Altair. The giant golden eagle was currently staring intensely at a snake carving, tilting his head with innocent curiosity.

He was, without a single doubt, the most stubborn, completely closed-off person she had ever met in her entire life. Getting him to tell her how he was feeling would be a miracle, let alone getting him to voluntarily spill his deepest, darkest secrets! She was entirely certain she wouldn’t get a single word out of him.

’I should just give up on that bird’s quest entirely and focus on the other two,’ Ren decided, shaking her head.

Just as the snake guards finally came to a halt in front of Syris’ nest, the System chimed one last time.

Ding!

[Side Quest: The Cold-Blooded King] [Objective: Improve the terrible, sulking mood of the Snake King.] [Reward: Swamp Ingredients Log Book.]

[System: For your culinary reference, Host, this log book is an incredibly valuable, comprehensive encyclopedia. It is a magical book detailing every single edible root, hidden spice, medicinal herb, and deadly poison naturally growing in the massive swamp biome!]