A Deal, A Drag, and A Crybaby Snake

In the village chief's house…

"Hey, you old berg! Why did you summon me? I'm not your slave—you can't order me around!"

The young white serpent, Sneaky, slithered in with a lazy expression, his golden eyes filled with annoyance.

The village chief let out a deep sigh. "Sneaky, I am your father. You can't talk to me like this—at least not in front of a guest. Show some respect."

Sneaky raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "A guest? And what does that have to do with me? I don't care about some random visitor. I am a king! I was born to rule, not to entertain guests!"

The village chief let out a long sigh, disappointment evident in his eyes.

"Friend, are you really sure you can become strong with my useless son? And that he can grow stronger as well?" He shook his head. "I've changed my mind… If you want his spirit stone, you can have it. He's so useless that sacrificing him for a potential ally might actually be worth it."

Sneaky's eyes widened in shock. "H-Hey, old man! What the hell?! You're selling me off just like that?!"

Lan Tian chuckled, pulling out his phone. With a smirk, he swiped through a few images of gorgeous women and casually held the screen up for Sneaky to see.

Sneaky's eyes widened instantly, his face turning bright red. "W-What the—?!" A second later, a massive nosebleed erupted from him.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?!" Sneaky yelled, quickly wiping his face. "I—I'm not a pervert!"

Lan Tian burst into laughter. "Oh really? Well, if you come with me, you'll get to see beautiful girls like this every single day."

Sneaky's expression changed in an instant. His eyes sparkled with excitement, but he quickly forced himself to act serious again. Crossing his arms, he scoffed, "Hmph! Who do you think I am? I don't care about such trivial things!"

A second later, he stole another glance at the phone.

Lan Tian smirked. "Okay, okay, don't act tough. I know exactly what kind of guy you are."

Sneaky's face twitched with embarrassment, and in frustration, he lashed out. With a flick of his tail, a poisonous mist shot toward Lan Tian, intending to shut him up.

But that was exactly what Lan Tian wanted.

A system notification instantly popped up.

[A low-level sneak attack has been detected! Your Poison Resistance has been activated.]

Then, another unexpected message followed.

[Host has no profession detected. Initiating forced contract between Host and the attacker...]

[Congratulations! Binding successful.]

[Congratulations! Host has obtained the most hidden class—Beast Master.]

Lan Tian's grin widened. He had just pulled off something that should have been impossible.

Lan Tian chuckled to himself, shaking his head as the absurd memory from his past life played out in his mind.

"Back then, one of my dumbest friends came running to me, practically crying. 'Bro, please help me grind XP! I can't even kill a goblin properly!' Since he was one of the few who stuck by me during my hardest times, I sighed and agreed. I carried that fool all the way to level 15… and then, like the absolute genius he was, he dumped ALL his skill points into Poison Resistance.

I still remember his face when he realized what he had done. It was the look of a man who had just accidentally deleted his save file after 100 hours of grinding.

He grabbed my collar, shaking me like a ragdoll. 'Bro, what do I do?! I can't choose a profession now! I'm doomed!'

I smacked his hands off and sighed. 'Congratulations, you've officially become the most useless hunter in existence.'

With no other choice, I added him to my party, hoping I could carry his dead weight until we found a solution. But no amount of grinding could fix stupidity.

Then, fate decided to play along with his nonsense.

A few days later, the Familiar Dungeon Break incident happened. And this fool—by sheer dumb luck—ran into a runaway Familiar. Not just any Familiar, but this same annoying, drunken white snake right in front of me now.

Sneaky, being the menace that he is, decided to attack him. And instead of getting poisoned to death, my friend suddenly received an unexpected system notification.

[Congratulations! You have forcefully bonded with the Familiar, unlocking the Hidden Class: Beast Master!]

I still remember how he stood there, staring at the system window like an NPC that had just malfunctioned. Meanwhile, I was screaming, 'WHAT?!'

That idiot fumbled his way into one of the rarest classes in the world, all because he was too dumb to spend his points correctly. He even had the audacity to turn to me and say, 'See? I told you my luck was insane.'

I nearly punched him."*

Lan Tian smirked as he returned to the present, glancing at the newly appeared system window.

"Well, dumb luck or not… this time, it's my turn."

Lan Tian sighed, feeling a strange mix of emotions. "I kinda feel bad for my dumb friend now… In my past life, he was the one who became the Beast Master. But now, since I took it first, he won't get the chance."

He leaned back, lost in thought. "That idiot actually reached S-rank somehow, but he was too dumb to go any further. If he wasn't so bad at making decisions, he could've become even stronger… But I'm not like him. I have the knowledge of my past life. I won't waste this power."

His mind drifted back to his past life.

Lan Tian's Past Life – Final Moments of His Friend

"Captain! Please run! Just go!"

Lan Tian stood frozen as his old friend blocked the monstrous enemy before him. The same idiot who had once dumped all his skill points into Poison Resistance by mistake was now standing between him and death.

"Captain… You're humanity's last hope. If you die, it's over. So… run!"

Tears welled up in Lan Tian's eyes. He wanted to stay. He wanted to fight. But he knew—if he fell here, everything would be for nothing.

So, clenching his teeth, he turned and ran.

Behind him, he heard the final, desperate struggle of his friend… and then silence.

Sneaky, the serpent that had once been bound to his friend, had fought to the last moment, but neither had stood a chance. They both died.

Back to the Present

Lan Tian shook his head, forcing the memory away. He clenched his fists.

"This time… I won't let history repeat itself."

The village chief sighed. "Friend, you seem too upset."

Lan Tian snapped back to reality. "Umm… sorry. I just remembered something horrible."

The village chief then pointed at his son. "So, what is this notification in front of him?"

Lan Tian smirked. "That's my profession… Now, both your son and I can grow stronger together."

He thought to himself: In the future, humanity will discover that monsters can level up just like us by killing hunters. But because familiars never attacked humans, they remained weak. That is… until they became our enemies. With the same leveling system as us, they grew terrifyingly strong in just a short amount of time, becoming humanity's greatest threat.

"The Beast Master profession allows my contracted beasts to get stronger by consuming spirit stones from other monsters," Lan Tian explained. Then he looked at the village chief. "So… can I take your son with me?"

The village chief squinted at Lan Tian, then at Sneaky. Then at Lan Tian again. Then back at Sneaky.

Sigh… "If this idiot can actually become strong, then fine. I'll allow it."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, OLD BERG?!" Sneaky snapped, stomping his tail.

"Do you see anyone else here?" the chief deadpanned.

Before Sneaky could protest, Lan Tian grabbed his tail. "Alright, see you soon, Village Chief!"

"HEY! OLD BERG! SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Sneaky screamed, flailing his tiny arms like a child throwing a tantrum.

The village chief didn't even look at him.

Sneaky's eyes watered. "Father… please… save me… please!"

The village chief sighed inwardly. I know you're just acting tough, but deep down, you're a complete idiot. I don't want to send you away either… but if I don't, you'll just stay here drinking and running your mouth all day. This is for your own good, my foolish son. Go forth… and be someone else's problem for a while.....