Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 74: Lightning Rat Craze

Su Ping swept up the floor, tossed the remains into a “recyclable materials” dustbin, put on his slightly wet clothes and opened the shop again. If no customers came, he would just perfect his augmentation skills.

Between his study sessions, he would also check his computer for the latest news. This was more or less his daily habit ever since he came to this world.

[Stricken by severe depression, this beautiful lady did unspeakable things to her pet!]

[The shores of Whale Lift City were bashed by terrible tidal waves as high-rank beasts showed up.]

[A renowned school in Longjiang became infested with rats…]

Just like the article titles in his old world, everything on the “Internet” was also written in eye-catching and incomplete ways to attract more viewers. Although Su Ping knew better and would not fall for the seemingly interesting expression that suggested dirty business between a woman and a beast. The actual content of the news was probably something way less enticing.

Or, he would gladly take a peek to prove whether he was right, and was both happy and frustrated to know that his suspicion was right on the money.

“Damned media. They never change, using fake stuff to get more users, not caring how they would affect their readers.”

After closing the news about the problematic idol, he began checking the more productive ones, such as the beast hazard in Whale Lift City. This was another base city built along the seashore and was constantly having safety problems because many sea monsters kept coming to shore and causing trouble to inland structures by following the river.

As for the next piece of news, which was about invading rats…

Su Ping thought he saw something familiar when he skimmed through the headlines. Once he read more carefully, he found out the “renowned school” was Phoenix Peak Academy—the one his sister was studying in.

The “rat infestation” was not an actual vermin problem. The thing was, the students began raising a lot of Lightning Rats as their pets for some reason. When walking around, one would see these rats everywhere.

As for the reason for this new pet choice, it seemed this was because of a certain powerful Lightning Rat which helped its master go all the way to the finals the other day. According to the article, this Lightning Rat amazingly disposed of a good number of Astral Pets who were of superior aptitudes. It even learned one of the ten strongest thunder-type moves.

Su Ping watched the video in surprise.

“This little guy started it??”

There was more in the “related news” section, such as “Click here to watch what a Lightning Rat can really do!”, “Secrets revealed! A Lightning Rat is NOT a low-rank pet!”, “All hail this king hidden among peasants. If you don’t have it, get one NOW!”

The cameraman of the video perfectly captured Su Yanying’s image along with her small partner. The Lightning Rat still had that cocky look on its tiny face.

As soon as the judge blew the whistle, the Lightning Rat disappeared into a flash of lightning and slammed into its opponent.

Instant KO.

Then the next match ended in a similar way.

In other matches, the creature dealt with many popular mid-rank Astral Pets, and even some of the high-rank ones usually loved by nobility. No matter how powerful or graceful they looked, the Lightning Rat would always slap them away with ease.

The comments of the video below attested to the Lightning Rat’s rising fame.

Su Ping wondered how many passionate shoppers he would get if people learned he was the one who made this possible. But he then saw the advertisements of other pet shops claiming credit for getting the Lightning Rat in shape. They even had photos that showed their cooperation with Su Yanying. Forged ones, of course.

The nerve of these people!

However, Su Ping was not much of a keyboard warrior. His attempt to clarify his work was soon overwhelmed by other messages.

“Wait, I have Su Yanying’s number. Should I tell her to make everything clear instead?”

With this in mind, he quickly found Su Yanying’s receipt where he kept the number and dialed it.

“Hello?” Her voice came. The girl sounded confused.

“It’s me, the caretaker of Pixie Pet,” Su Ping used the cold tone he normally used when talking to customers.

“Hey mister.” Su Yanying had just recognized Su Ping’s voice and seemed happy about it. “Is there something you need?”

“Got any time? Can you come over and help me make a short video?”

“…” Su Yanying didn’t answer as she wondered whether she heard it right.

“Still there?”

“Oh, um, what kind of video?”

“Me and you. And remember to bring your rat.”

“My Lightning Rat? Are you going to help me train it further?”

“You’ll have to pay for that. You see, your pet became famous, and I kinda need the video to tell everyone that it came from my shop.”

“I see…” Su Yanying blushed. “Good timing, I happen to need to talk to you. Thank you, really. If not for your work, I would have never made it to the finals. Well, I didn’t win in the end, but that’s enough for me!”

Su Ping hung up and realized he just learned something interesting.

“She lost in the final match. If something can beat the Lightning Rat, it must be of the seventh rank or higher. The students in the academy have such powerful pets? If they take their pets to the settler base, they can form teams and lead them!”

The final match of the academy was not as popular as those of a professional league. Still, Su Ping found videos captured by the audience that involved a lot of shaking and unwanted noises.