Did this even need consideration?
Chen Shu immediately spoke up: "Uncle Zhou, can you take me along?"
"You?" Zhou Cheng's expression froze. After looking Chen Shu up and down, he said somewhat awkwardly, "Entering Alternate Dimensions requires buying entrance tickets..."
"No problem, I'll pay for my own ticket," Chen Shu replied, "I just want to tag along and broaden my horizons." He hadn't reached Black Iron rank yet, so he couldn't enter Alternate Dimensions alone.
Zhou Cheng pondered for a moment, then nodded. "In that case, come to the company in three days. Xiaoyu will be going too. Just make sure your contract spirit can protect itself."
Clearly, he knew about Chen Shu's final exam performance; for a golden slime to surpass Xu Xiaoyu's Fire Bird in defense obviously showed it had merit.
"Thank you, Uncle Zhou!" Chen Shu looked delighted. Although he couldn't make any more Power Flower preparations, getting to experience an Alternate Dimension was still a worthwhile opportunity.
He used up the last three Power Flowers, then left carrying thirteen bottles of Medium-Grade Strength Potion.
The black market bustled with people coming and going.
Chen Shu had already become a glorious Level 5 Beast Tamer and could freely enter and exit the black market.
He arrived at his personal turf, spread out a blue cloth, and laid out the extra potions from his system space.
"Little Chen, here to rake in money again?"
"Brother Wang Ba¹, how's business today?"
Chen Shu lounged leisurely without any intention of hawking his wares. His reputation was already established.
Who in the black market didn't know the Number One Strength Brother?
Old Wang sighed. "Terrible. If I don't sell something soon, I'll be eating dirt."
Chen Shu said, "Perfect timing - you can eat those 'Earth Dragon King Beast Cores' from your stall directly. Waste not, want not."
Old Wang ignored Chen Shu's jab and leaned in close, speaking quietly: "But seriously, Little Chen, where exactly do these potions come from? Hook a brother up with your supplier."
"No supplier. I make them all myself," Chen Shu said with a straight face.
"Oh, piss off."
Old Wang rolled his eyes and returned to his own stall.
Chen Shu sighed. These days, nobody believes in the truth anymore.
"Boss, I want one Medium-Grade Strength Potion!"
While they were chatting, a line had already formed at Chen Shu's stall. At eight thousand yuan per bottle, the Medium-Grade Strength Potion was obviously dirt cheap, even disrupting market prices somewhat. Although the lack of branding meant they couldn't be resold, they were perfect for strengthening one's own contract spirit.
Chen Shu grinned and handed over the potion while his ChaoXin collected the 8,000 yuan payment.
Another day, another harvest.
Suddenly, a young man in line spoke up: "Excuse me auntie, mind queuing up? You know, first come first served?"
A middle-aged woman trying to cut in line looked displeased but returned to the back of the queue, muttering: "Young people these days, no respect for elders. What's the world coming to?"
The young man glanced back and snorted coldly before asking Chen Shu: "Boss, how many potions do you have left?"
"Twelve bottles of Medium-Grade Strength Potion, fifteen bottles of Low-Grade Strength Potion."
Chen Shu's eyes lit up. Could he actually close up shop this early today?
"Ahem... just asking for the brothers behind me." The young man coughed. "I'll take one Medium-Grade Strength Potion."
Chen Shu: "..."
"Hah, what a tool²," the middle-aged woman mocked.
The short line of just a few people quickly finished. The woman had planned to buy one of each type, but the college student in front of her bought out all the remaining potions. "Young man, can you even drink all those?" the woman said anxiously. She'd heard for the first time that the black market had cheap potions and wanted to buy some for her grandson, but hadn't expected them to be this popular.
"Why would I drink this stuff? It's for my contract spirit, obviously." The college student rolled his eyes and left the black market with his potions.
Chen Shu also packed up his stall, heading home in high spirits.
But just then, his phone started pinging with notifications.
"Have the final exam results come out?" Chen Shu looked at his phone expectantly.
Name: Chen Shu
Liberal Arts: 396
Beast Taming: 215
Total Score: 611
Class Rank: 2
Grade Rank: 20
Chen Shu grinned widely. Exactly 20th place - now that was living on the edge!
Actually, it was about what Chen Shu had estimated. His liberal arts score was undoubtedly first in the grade, but his Beast Taming score was mediocre at best.
Although his defense was grade-first and his attack power equally excellent, his Beast Tamer level was just average. Most critically, his contract spirit's potential rating and speed test scores were devastating.
Two F ratings would definitely drag down his total score considerably.
It was like in his previous world: even if you excelled in every subject but could only score fifty or sixty in English, no matter how brilliant you were otherwise, you'd never rank at the top of the grade. Good thing Chen Shu's liberal arts score was absolutely godly.
"No matter how I fly, can't escape this colorful world..."³
Suddenly, Chen Shu's newly set ringtone started playing.
The caller ID clearly showed 'Fang Uptight'.
Chen Shu was surprised it was his homeroom teacher, but answered without hesitation.
"Hello? Teacher Fang."
"Chen Shu, you made it into the Grade 3 Special Training Class!" Fang Ke's voice trembled with barely contained excitement.
Chen Shu curled his lip. "Old Fang, stay calm! Wasn't this completely expected?"
Such a grown man without an ounce of composure.
Fang Ke took a deep breath, then said: "Chen Shu, I really misjudged you before. I never imagined you were actually gold wrapped in big shit!"
"Of course, I was always just... wait, what? What do you mean by 'big shit'?" Chen Shu's smile suddenly froze as he immediately sensed something was off. What the hell did he mean by gold wrapped in big shit?
Fang Ke said: "Don't worry about these minor details. Having a student like you makes me very proud as a teacher."
"The school bonus must be pretty good, right?" Chen Shu asked.
"Definitely... ahem, as a teacher, educating students is both duty and mission. How vulgar it is to talk about money!"
Chen Shu: "..."
Could you be any faker?
They chatted briefly before Chen Shu took the initiative to hang up.
Making such a fuss all the time - besides, did he think Chen Shu had time for idle chatter?
Chen Shu headed home in high spirits, whistling as he left the black market.
Although he hadn't paid much attention to the Grade 3 Special Training Class, getting in was naturally best - it proved his worth after all.
Once home, Chen Shu immediately shared the good news.
His parents were delighted and began calling all their friends and relatives to share their joy.
Chen Shu returned to his room to prepare for the Alternate Dimension trip.
"Let's see... phone, power bank, playing cards for entertainment, sunglasses to look cool, instant noodles, snacks, more snacks..."
Without any wilderness survival experience, Chen Shu prepared like he was going on vacation rather than entering a dimension full of fierce beasts.
Too bad the system space couldn't store real-world items - only system rewards or potions made through the system.
Twenty minutes later, his large military backpack was stuffed to bursting.
"That should about do it."
Chen Shu clapped his hands with satisfaction. I'm such a freaking genius!
The habitually lazy Chen Shu felt waves of ambition surging through him. Although he didn't want to work hard, he genuinely loved the thrill of battle.
"Conquering my first Alternate Dimension will mark the beginning of Chen Shu's rise to greatness!"
But he'd forgotten that he was already famous. Though being known as the "Public Toilet Potion Master" wasn't exactly the glory he'd imagined, he was definitely a celebrity, and his infamy had even caused the factory producing those alpaca t-shirts to make a killing.