Tames Fierce Beastmen with A Brush

Chapter 1 Dumped on Arrival

"Break off the engagement, Susan. You don't deserve Blake." The shrill voice cut through Susan Thorn's cluttered thoughts like a venomous blade.

Susan's eyes snapped open. The harsh light made her tear up, and everything swam in double vision.

Before she could process that she wasn't giving a client's Ragdoll cat a bath but was instead lying on a cold medical bed, the voice came again, dripping with contempt and glee.

"Stop playing dead. Susan, do you really think you're still the genius with a 95% Gene Matching Degree to Blake? You're a zero-Spiritual-Force loser now. F-Tier trash," the voice went on.

Standing over Susan with arms crossed was a girl decked out in an overly flashy outfit, topped off with a pair of faux-fur cat ears.

It was Sandra Linden. Her brother, Blake Frost, was an A-tier Beastman, the student council president at the First Imperial Combat Academy, and the man Susan was now stuck being engaged to in this new body.

Susan's temples throbbed. As a tidal wave of unfamiliar memories surged into her mind, her head began to pound.

She had been transported to a place called the Beastmen Empire, a far cry from her life as a top pet groomer back in the 21st century.

Here, the population split into two kinds: Beastmen who could shift into animal forms, and Tamers, who possessed Spiritual Force to soothe and purify the feral rages caused by Gene Contamination.

The original Susan had been a once-in-a-century talent at the Academy. Her Spiritual Force potential was S-Tier. She'd been engaged to Blake, an A-Tier Snow Wolf Beastman.

Then, three days ago during a Spiritual Force awakening test, the instruments spiked and she lost everything. She fell from grace and became a laughingstock.

"Got it? Trash should know its place." Sandra smirked, mistaking Susan's silence for shock. "Blake is the Academy's strongest Snow Wolf, a future pillar of the empire. His partner must be a powerful Tamer, not a F-Tier who can't soothe a D-Tier Beastman."

Susan, the former top pet groomer and hardcore fluff enthusiast, couldn't care less. Her gaze was locked on Sandra's cat-ear accessories.

They were incredibly lifelike black cat ears with surprisingly decent fur, sleek and shiny.

But the left ear had a clump of tangled fur near the base, glued together by cheap adhesive, and the right ear's tips had stray guard hairs sticking up, ruining the smooth silhouette.

Susan's obsessive-compulsive instincts flared. Her fingers twitched. All she wanted was brushing its fur and giving it a smoothing treatment. 'How can anyone let fur mat like this? It's a crime against all things fluffy.'

Sandra shrank back under Susan's intense, almost predatory stare. "What are you looking at? Have you lost your mind?"

"Don't move." The words came out before Susan could stop them, in that gentle-but-commanding tone typical of someone deep in the throes of her profession. "Oh, your fur's all tangled. Come here. Let me get that for you."

Sandra froze. Her hangers-on froze. The entire medical room went silent.

Three full seconds later, Sandra burst into hysterical laughter. "Susan, you've really lost it. Did you fry your brain? Groom me? Who do you think you are?"

She laughed until tears nearly spilled. "You're a zero-Spiritual-Force failure who can't approach a docile C-Tier manul, and you're still running your mouth? Are you kidding me?"

Whispers rippled through the room.

"She's insane. Does she still think she's that genius Tamer?"

"Probably snapped. Too much pressure."

"Tragic. But honestly, she brought it on herself. She failed an awakening test."

Susan snapped out of her professional haze. She frowned at Sandra's twisted face and finally tore her gaze away from those god-awful cat ears.

"I don't deserve Blake?" She sat up slowly, rolling her stiff neck, her tone as flat as if she were discussing the weather. "Fine. Call off the engagement."

The laughter died in Sandra's throat. She'd expected tears, begging, hysterics, but not this. Not Susan acting like being dumped was nothing, like Sandra was tossing away junk.

The dismissiveness sent Sandra into a fury. "What... what's with that attitude? Don't you dare play hard to get. It won't work. Blake's already made his decision."

"Oh." Susan swung her legs off the bed. "Then move. I need to get through."

Her mind was spinning. She needed a quiet corner to sort through her new reality. Some fiancé or genius title meant absolutely nothing to her. Her dream was to open the galaxy's best grooming center for Beastmen.

Just then, the medical room door swung open. A tall, silver-haired young man strode in, his features sharp and cold. He wore a crisp academy combat uniform, and his ice-blue eyes held no warmth.

It was Blake, the Academy's top genius and an S-tier Snow Wolf Beastman.

"Blake, you're here." Sandra brightened and hurried to his side, already tattling. "Look at her. I told her about the engagement, and she didn't react. Must be playing games."

Blake's gaze landed on Susan, cold and distant as if she were a stranger.

"Susan," he spoke, his voice as frigid as his gaze. "Sandra is right about the engagement. We no longer walk the same path. Better to part cleanly than to drag things out."

Susan looked up at him. 'Good-looking. Tall. Nice build. But...'

Her eyes drifted to the top of his head.

Even in human form, as a Snow Wolf Beastman, he couldn't completely hide the pair of fluffy wolf ear tips peeking through his hair.

Their fur should have been pristine white, but recent overtraining and Spiritual Force depletion had left their tips yellowed and brittle, lacking any luster.

Susan's professional instincts kicked in.

'Oh my god,' she screamed internally. 'What a waste. Such an elite bloodline, such a gorgeous Snow Wolf, and his fur is in this condition?

'Those ears need a serious protein repair treatment, hydrotherapy, and deep clean. If this goes on, he'll shed, split, fade, and turn into a bald wolf.'

Blake caught her staring. His brow creased almost imperceptibly. 'At the end of her rope, she's still looking at me with that obsessed gaze. She just won't give up.'

Any lingering guilt evaporated. His voice chilled further. "See the gap between us now? Stop holding onto false hope."

He produced a crystal card from his spatial button and tossed it onto Susan's bedside. "There's 10,000 star coins here. Compensation for all these years. We're even now."

Sandra's chin lifted in triumph. "Hear that, you trash? 10,000 star coins will last you a lifetime in the slums. Take the money and get out of the Academy."

Susan's gaze drifted from Blake's withered wolf ears to the crystal card, then back to his smug face.

She smiled. "Compensation?" She picked up the card and twirled it between her fingers. "Blake, did you get it wrong? To you, the Frost family's engagement is only worth 10,000 star coins?"

Blake's face darkened. "You're saying it's not enough?"

"No." Susan shook her head. Then, to everyone's shock, she stepped forward and slid the card back into Blake's jacket pocket.

Her fingertips brushed against his chest as she did, but her tone carried the gentle patience of someone coaxing a naughty pup. "Keep your money, sweetie. Don't waste it."

She rose on her tiptoes, leaned close to his ear, and whispered. "I'm not interested in you. I'm worried about your fur. Get it groomed regularly. Or when you go bald, you won't qualify for the premium VIP grooming pass I'd have given you."

With that, she turned and walked out, head held high, leaving Blake, Sandra, and everyone else in the room frozen like statues.

The moment the door closed behind her, Susan's composed expression crumbled.

'God. Being a badass is exhausting. I have no money. And the whole Academy thinks I'm trash. How am I supposed to survive? How do I build my dream grooming center for every fluffy creature in the universe?' Her heart sank.

Just as she was about to despair, a cold, mechanical voice rang out in her head. "Detected strong career aspiration from Host. God-like Pet Grooming System binding in progress. Binding successful. Newbie Gift Pack has been issued. Please check."

Susan froze mid-step. Her palm was suddenly warm, filled with a gentle, soothing heat.

Chapter 2 My Touch Can Purify Genes

"System? Newbie Gift Pack?" Susan stood frozen, pinching her cheek hard. The sting told her this wasn't a dream.

She swallowed her excitement and hurried back to her assigned dormitory, the smallest and shabbiest in the entire Academy.

The moment the door clicked shut, she let the thrill flood through her. "System? System, are you there?" She called out in her mind.

Nothing but silence followed. The mechanical voice had spoken those sentences and then gone completely dark. No matter how she called, nothing answered.

"What is this? Did I imagine it?" Susan murmured.

Disappointment crept in, but the lingering warmth in her palm told her it had been real. She opened her hand and studied it.

It was empty. But when she focused and thought of words like "groom," "bathe," and "massage," the warmth pulsed intensely, as if something was trying to break through her skin.

"Where's the Newbie Gift Pack?" She searched every corner of the room, down to the space under the bed, but found nothing resembling a gift.

'Could this warmth be it?' She lay down and started sorting through the memories of the past few days.

In this world, Beastmen possessed great power but were plagued by Gene Contamination. The stronger the Beastman, the more unstable their Gene Chain. Combat, emotional swings, even environmental changes could worsen the contamination.

Mild cases meant weakened strength and irritability. Severe cases meant losing all reason and turning into a mindless Corrupted Beast, ultimately "disposed of."

And the Spiritual Force of Tamers was the only known power capable of purifying Gene Contamination and soothing the beastmen.

A Tamer's rank determined their social standing. For someone like Susan, who'd fallen from S-Tier potential to zero Spiritual Force, being dumped and mocked was how the world worked.

"No Spiritual Force, but I've got a God-like Pet Grooming System." Susan murmured, her eyes growing brighter.

'Wait. What did the System say? God-like Pet Grooming? My cheat skill is my actual job? Giving pets makeovers? In a world where everyone can crush rocks with their bare hands, how is bathing supposed to help?'

Before she could figure it out, a knock came at her door.

She opened it cautiously. A small, timid girl stood outside holding a rabbit. Her name was Angel Hunson, a D-Tier Tamer who lived next door. She was quiet, timid, and barely noticeable.

"Susan..." Angel's voice quivered. The gray rabbit in her arms kicked restlessly, its throat rumbling with warning growls.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked.

"It's Ash, my Battle Pet. He's been unstable lately. His Gene Contamination is almost at the critical threshold. My Spiritual Force isn't strong enough to soothe him."

Angel's eyes were red-rimmed, her voice breaking. "The treatment center said if it gets any worse, Ash might... might be put down."

Susan's attention snapped to the rabbit.

It was a Grey Rabbit, the most common D-Tier Beastman in the empire, known for being docile and weak in combat. But right now, this little rabbit was anything but docile.

Dark patches had appeared on its once-smooth gray fur, the physical sign of severe Gene Contamination. Its coat was tangled from stress, and a small knot had formed at the nape of its neck.

Another knot.

Again, Susan's professional instincts kicked in hard.

Before she knew it, her hand was reaching out. "Let me try."

Angel blinked in confusion. "But you don't have any Spiritual Force."

Before she could finish, Susan had already taken the agitated rabbit from her arms.

Strangely enough, the rabbit, which had been scratching and kicking at Angel, froze the moment it landed in Susan's hands. Its body was still tense, but at least it stopped fighting.

"Easy. Don't be scared. Let me check you over." Susan's voice shifted into the soothing cadence of a master groomer, dripping with practiced gentleness.

Her fingertips, carrying that mysterious warmth, landed on the rabbit's nape. She didn't use any Spiritual Force. She relied solely on the massage techniques she'd honed over years of professional grooming, pressing and kneading with the right amount of pressure.

"Blocked glands at the back of the neck. Hormone imbalance. That's one source of the agitation." Susan muttered to herself as her fingertips found the key pressure points with precision.

Angel watched in stunned silence. She saw Ash's tense body slowly relaxing under Susan's touch. The threatening growls turned into soft purrs of contentment.

Then something more incredible happened.

A faint, golden light, visible only to Susan, seeped from her fingertips into the rabbit's skin as she massaged. The warm current coursed through the energy channels, spreading across the rabbit's entire body.

Right before Angel's eyes, the dark patches indicating Gene Contamination on the Grey Rabbit actually began to fade away. The change was subtle, but undeniable.

"Oh my..." Angel covered her mouth in sheer disbelief.

Susan didn't stop. She cradled the rabbit with one hand while the other, moving with a mind of its own, worked the small knot loose with a few deft movements.

Then she stroked the fur, following the direction of growth, over and over, smoothing it with gentle, rhythmic motions. Each stroke was precisely placed, each pass leaving the fur sleeker than before.

A few minutes later, Susan stopped. The once-restless Grey Rabbit had melted into a puddle of contentment in her arms, lying belly-up, eyes half-closed, and snoring softly.

The contamination patches hadn't vanished completely, but they'd faded by at least a third. Its tangled fur was now smooth and fluffy, gleaming with healthy luster.

"Done." Susan handed the rabbit back to Angel with a satisfied smile, as if she'd done nothing more than a small favor.

To Angel, it was nothing short of a miracle.

"Susan, how did you do that?" Angel cradled her restored Battle Pet, her voice trembling with disbelief. "You don't have Spiritual Force. But this is better than what an A-Tier Tamer can do."

Susan blinked. Her heart pounded. She understood that this was the true power of the God-like Pet Grooming System. Her hands and grooming techniques could actually purify Gene Contamination. It wasn't useless. It was a divine skill.

A bold idea took shape in her mind. 'Who says no Spiritual Force means you're worthless? Whatever Tamers can do, I can do. And I can do it better.'

She looked at Angel's awestruck face and smiled. "Trade secret. But I do offer paid services."

"Paid services?" Angel froze for a second.

"Yes." Susan's eyes sparkled. "A basic massage is 1,000 star coins. A deep clean with a fur-smoothing package will be 5,000. Gene Contamination purification starts at 10,000, depending on severity."

She'd found her way to survive and thrive in this world. 'Forget Blake. Forget the engagement. They can all go to hell. I'm going to open the biggest grooming center in the universe. Starting with a rabbit. Working my way up to a dragon.'

Just as Susan was daydreaming about becoming the universe's grooming queen, a sharp, urgent alarm blared across the entire Academy.

"Emergency alert. S-Tier Gene Corruption reaction detected in the back mountain restricted zone. Target identified as high-risk Corrupted Beast, Snow Leopard. All students are to return to their dormitories immediately. Do not approach the back mountain. Repeat. All students..."

The piercing alarm was punctuated by distant, anguished roars filled with pain and madness.

Angel turned pale, clutching Ash and trembling.

But Susan, at the words "Corrupted" and "Snow Leopard," snapped her head up. Her eyes held no fear. Only a professional's burning obsession.

'S-Tier Snow Leopard? Imagine how gorgeous that fur must be. And it's suffering from Gene Contamination. How badly matted must its coat be?' She couldn't let this go. 'This is a premium fluffy client. Leaving it unattended would be a crime.'

Chapter 3 Encountering the Corrupted Snow Leopard

The Academy's broadcast repeated the highest-level restriction over and over. The air was thick with tension and fear. Students hurried through the hallways, faces pale with panic.

"Move! It's the S-Tier Corrupted Beast from the back mountain. I heard even the instructors got hurt."

"Oh god. S-Tier Corruption. Isn't that thing contagious just to be near?"

"Mr. Frost already took the elite team over. Hope they can hold it off."

Against the tide of fleeing students, Susan stood out like a sore thumb. She wasn't heading back to her dorm. She was walking toward the back mountain, toward the source of the alarm.

"Susan, are you insane? Come back." Angel stomped her foot in frustration behind her. But Susan didn't seem to hear. She disappeared around the corner in seconds.

To her, those agonized roars weren't death knells. They were a cry for help from a fluffy client in desperate need.

The back mountain restricted zone was usually sealed by a high-energy force field, but now a massive gap had been torn through it.

Trees lay shattered and uprooted, and the ground was scarred with claw marks and scorched craters. The air reeked of blood, burnt flesh, and a thick, rank stench that made it hard not to gag.

The moment Susan stepped closer, a wave of violent, oppressive energy hit her, making her skin prickle with pain.

'So this is the pressure of S-Tier Gene Contamination. No wonder it's dangerous. But it also makes me feel worse for that poor creature.' She pressed on.

Following the source of that energy, she carefully stole deeper into the restricted zone.

She hadn't gone far before she spotted several students in premium combat uniforms staggering out, one of them clutching a broken arm that bled freely.

"No use. We can't get anywhere near it. It's completely lost its mind."

"Mr. Frost got injured too. Its contamination field is too strong. Our mental barriers can't hold."

"Fall back! Any longer and we'll all get corrupted."

'Blake's elite team. Even they got beaten this badly?' Susan's heart didn't sink. If anything, it burned hotter.

The more difficult the case, the sicker this fluffy client must be. And the more it needed a God-like Groomer's touch.

She skirted around the retreating students and pressed deeper. Finally, in a clearing that had been flattened to bare earth, she saw the S-Tier Corrupted Beast.

It was a massive Snow Leopard, far larger than any normal specimen.

This creature was meant to possess the most gorgeous, pristine coat in the world, with ink-black rosettes scattered across a snow-white canvas that draped over fluid muscles full of raw power and grace.

But right now, it was a wreck.

Its white fur was stained with blood and mud, caked into stiff, matted clumps. Those beautiful rosettes were now eroded by eerie, black Gene Scars that resembled flashes of dark lightning, writhing and spreading as they radiated an ominous dark energy.

Its limbs and belly bore deep, bone-deep wounds, clearly from the earlier fight.

What broke Susan's heart the most was its tail. Long, powerful, and normally the fluffiest part of its body, it was now tangled with thorns and gravel from its thrashing.

The fur was a knotted mess, and patches had been torn clean off, leaving raw, bloody skin exposed.

Seemingly sensing a new intruder, the Snow Leopard let out a fierce roar and snapped its head around, its beastly eyes, stained scarlet with madness and pain, locking dead onto Susan.

A terrifying wave of killing intent and corruptive energy crashed over her like a tsunami.

Any ordinary student probably would have broken down on the spot. But Susan stood rooted to the ground. Her face held no fear. Instead, her expression was a mixture of heartbreak, fury, and the unmistakable fire of a professional's obsession.

Her fists clenched, not out of fear, but anger.

'What a waste. This is a crime. How could anyone let this gorgeous big cat get into this state? Look at these mats, this skin damage, and this tail. No. Absolutely not,' Susan screamed inwardly.

'This needs the full treatment. Deep clean. Gene repair. Coat conditioning. Paw care. Every last step.'

In the face of a roar that could shatter steel, in the presence of a contamination field that would make S-Tier Tamers tremble, only one thought dominated Susan's mind. She needed to give this leopard a bath right now.

The Snow Leopard's patience had run out. Sensing zero spiritual force from the fragile human, it felt only that its territory had been violated once again.

A low, rumbling growl rolled from its throat. Its body crouched low, muscles coiling, ready to strike. The air around it warped and twisted as energy gathered. It would tear this clueless intruder to shreds.

In that split second, Susan moved.

She ignored the crushing pressure and the blood-red eyes full of murderous intent.

A smile, almost tender, spread across her face. She murmured softly, "Easy, big guy. I'm not here to hurt you. Look at you. You're filthy. Your fur's all tangled. Let me get that for you."

In the instant before the Snow Leopard could attack, Susan walked toward it, straight into the jaws of death.

Slowly, with almost ceremonial reverence, she reached into the pocket of her plain Academy uniform and pulled something out.

In the dim forest light, illuminated by moonlight filtering through the leaves, it gleamed with a warm, steady glow.

It wasn't a high-tech weapon or a powerful energy crystal. It was the most ordinary object imaginable.

It was a grooming rake, the kind every pet groomer knew by heart.

Chapter 4 You Call That Grooming?

"Easy, big guy. I'm not here to hurt you. Look at you. You're filthy. Your fur's all tangled. Let me get that for you." Susan's voice was soft and soothing, as if she were coaxing a frightened kitten.

But the creature before her was an S-Tier Corrupted Snow Leopard capable of tearing her apart with ease. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto her with murderous intent.

The suffocating pressure made the air feel thick and heavy, as if it might solidify at any moment.

A deep growl rumbled from its throat, muscles coiling tight. The ground beneath its paws cracked. It was ready to strike.

Yet Susan didn't slow down for a second.

Yes, she was terrified. The crushing pressure nearly shattered her soul, every nerve in her body screaming in protest. But her professional obsession and the ache in her heart overrode her survival instinct.

"Detected Host entering "God-like Pet Grooming" focus state. Passive skill "All-Creature Affinity Aura" activated.

"All-Creature Affinity Aura: While the Host is grooming, it continuously emits a subtle, soothing presence that reduces the target's aggression and wariness, especially toward furry creatures. Note: This aura is not Spiritual Force and can't be detected by conventional means."

The moment Susan stepped within attack range, a faint, barely perceptible warmth radiated from her body.

The massive Snow Leopard, ready to lunge and kill, faltered. A flicker of confusion passed through its crimson eyes.

This tiny human had no Spiritual Force and seemed as weak as an insect. But something about the warmth she emitted sent a faint, strange calm through its fracturing Gene Chain. Like catching a whiff of sunlight in the middle of a nightmare.

That brief hesitation gave Susan a window. She was now face to face with the leopard, less than ten feet from its gleaming claws. "Don't move. It might tickle a little. I'll be done in a moment."

In Susan's eyes, there was no S-Tier Corrupted Beast. There was only a poor, suffering big cat whose irresponsible owner had left it matted and wounded.

The grooming rake in her hand wasn't just any brush. It was her most trusted tool from her previous life, designed specifically for the toughest knots.

Now, the mysterious warmth from the System flowed steadily into the rake's teeth. To anyone else, it looked ordinary. But to Susan, it shimmered with a faint golden glow.

She didn't go for its head or its injured limbs. She targeted a patch on its back, the hardest, filthiest matted clump. A spot it couldn't reach itself, a hidden source of constant misery.

With a flick of her wrist, the rake's tip slipped precisely into the edge of the rock-hard mat.

The touch reignited the leopard's fury. It let out a deafening roar and raised a massive paw.

The force of the wind stung Susan's cheeks. It was about to crush her into pulp.

"Susan, move!" A shout rang out from nearby.

Blake and his surviving team had regrouped and returned. They'd only fallen back to reorganize. They never expected to find Susan here, walking to her death.

Blake's face went pale. Without a second thought, he forced his few remaining drops of beast energy to rush forward to her rescue.

It was too late. But the bloody scene never came.

The lethal claws closed in by the millimeter, but Susan's hands never stopped moving. She didn't yank or pull. Instead, with the precision of a master, she used the brush's tips to tease, separate, and divide the hair, working along the grain.

With a soft ripping sound, the knot that had tormented the leopard for so long, making its skin itch and burn, loosened by a few strands.

A cool, soothing sensation spread from that patch of freed skin through the Snow Leopard's entire body. It was an indescribable wave of sheer comfort.

The raised paw stopped less than two feet above Susan's head. The leopard's crimson eyes swirled with madness and confusion. It didn't understand why this human's touch felt like both an provocation and comfort unlike anything it had ever known.

Susan didn't even notice the death claw hovering above her. She was fully absorbed in her battle with the mother of all matted knots.

"See? Doesn't hurt." She murmured as her hands moved faster.

Her fingers danced like she was playing a piano. The grooming rake came alive in her grip, each stroke loosening another strand of matted hair, each pass sweeping away years of dead fur and grime.

The warm golden light seeped from the rake's teeth into the leopard's skin, soothing its inflamed, irritated follicles.

Minutes passed. Under the stunned gaze of Blake and his team, Susan stood there, utterly absorbed, grooming an S-Tier Corrupted Snow Leopard as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

The monstrous beast that should have been a force of destruction stayed frozen in its raised-paw pose, letting this insignificant human do whatever she wanted to its back.

The growls in its throat faded, replaced by a low, complex whimper caught between pain and pleasure.

With a soft thump, the entire armor-like clump of matted fur separated cleanly from the leopard's back and fell to the ground. A huge patch of skin, long suffocated, finally saw the light of day.

The Snow Leopard exhaled a long, heavy breath. It seemed to carry away endless agitation and suffering. Its raised paw slowly lowered, landing beside Susan's feet without harming her.

Gazing at the newly exposed skin, a patch that was raw and inflamed yet blissfully clean at last, a faint, satisfied smile played across Susan's lips.

She reached out, intending to pat the leopard's back in encouragement, just as she used to do with the dogs and cats she had groomed, and say, "Good job. Such a good boy."

As Blake watched Susan reach out to touch that creature, Blake's heart nearly leaped right out of his throat.

"Don't touch it!" he shouted.

But his warning came too late.

Susan's soft hand, radiating no energy at all, landed gently on the Corrupted Snow Leopard's powerful, muscle-corded back.

The world seemed to go silent. Time stopped.

Blake and his team stared, eyes bulging, mouths hanging open. They forgot to breathe.

They saw Susan, the worthless zero-Spiritual-Force failure, stop an S-Tier Corrupted Beast's attack with a brush. And now she was petting it.

Blake's mind went blank. Everything he'd ever believed about power, about rank, about Spiritual Force, was shattered by the absurdity before him.

He watched Susan's gentle, focused expression and the Snow Leopard's wary but non-aggressive posture under her touch.

A thought, utterly insane, rose unbidden in his mind. 'She wasn't here to get herself killed? She really did come here just to groom the leopard? Has the world gone mad? Or have I?'

"Susan, what... what are you doing?"

Chapter 5 That's an S-Tier Corrupted Beast

"What... what are you doing?" Blake's voice cut through the dead silence of the forest.

Susan didn't bother turning around.

'What am I doing? Prepping for the main event, obviously. This big fluffy baby's got more than one knot to deal with. I need to check every inch before I can come up with the perfect grooming plan.' She rolled her eyes internally.

Her palm pressed against the Snow Leopard's warm fur. The mysterious warmth flowed steadily through her skin, seeping deeper into the leopard's body.

The massive creature shuddered slightly. A low, ambiguous rumble came from its throat. It sounded like resistance, but also like longing.

"Easy. This is just the beginning." Susan's tone was patient, like she was talking to a child.

Her eyes scanned the leopard's entire body quickly.

The fur at the back of its neck was singed and curled from the earlier battle. Its belly fur was caked with dried blood and mud, hard as stone.

Worst of all was that long, beautiful tail, twisted into a mess of thorns and gravel, with patches of raw, bloody skin exposed in several places.

Susan's frown deepened. "You really don't take care of yourself." She muttered under her breath, but her hands kept moving.

She circled around the leopard's massive forelimbs and moved to its side, targeting the hardened blood clots on its belly.

"Susan, are you crazy? Get back here!" One of Blake's teammates finally snapped out of his shock and screamed at the top of his lungs.

The belly was the most vulnerable spot on any animal. For an S-Tier Corrupted Beast, touching its belly was suicide. Even the gentlest house cat could turn violent if you touched its stomach.

And Susan was about to work on fur matted with blood from open wounds. It was like sticking her head into a tiger's mouth.

Blake snapped back to reality. His heart pounded.

His ice-blue eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. "Susan, stop right now. This isn't something you can handle. This isn't a pet. It's a monster. A killer." His voice was urgent, carrying a note of panic he didn't recognize in himself.

He couldn't understand what he was seeing. But he knew Susan's next move was dancing on the edge of death.

Susan glanced at him briefly, her eyes calm and unbothered, like she was looking at a clueless amateur.

"Shh. Quiet." She raised a finger to her lips. "Can't you see? My client is resting. Needs a calm environment."

'Client? Resting?' Blake and his teammates felt like their brains had been hit with a sledgehammer.

They followed Susan's gaze. The S-Tier Corrupted Snow Leopard's muscles were tensed again, its throat rumbling with a low warning growl as Susan approached its belly.

But Susan simply reached out and gently, tentatively, touched the hardened blood clots with the back of her hand.

At the same time, she made the soft, soothing sounds she'd used in her previous life to calm the most anxious cats.

The leopard's growl dropped again. It seemed to sense that her touch carried no ill intent.

"I know it hurts here. Bear with it. It'll be quick." Susan crouched down, grooming rake in hand again.

This time, her movements were gentler, more careful. She didn't try to brush the fur stuck to the wounds. Instead, she used the rake's handle to tap and chip away at the dried mud and blood, piece by piece, with endless patience.

A rhythmic tapping echoed through the forest. Each tap made Blake and his team flinch.

They watched Susan work like a battlefield medic handling the most delicate wounds. Her focus was absolute. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but her hands were steady as stone.

As the filth fell away piece by piece, the Snow Leopard's body visibly relaxed.

Its massive head lowered slowly. Its blood-red eyes stayed fixed on Susan's hands. The madness and violence in them were receding at an impossible speed, replaced by confusion and growing trust.

When Susan finally cleared the largest wound on its belly and gently brushed the surrounding clean fur, something unbelievable happened.

The leopard slowly rolled onto its side. It exposed its most vulnerable spot, the freshly cleaned belly, completely to Susan.

A low, rumbling sound rose from its chest. It was deep and continuous, like an engine idling.

The sound cut through the silent air, reaching every ear clearly.

Blake's eyes snapped into an ultra-sharp, lethal focus. Behind him, his teammates went utterly stone-still in jaw-dropping shock.

"Purring? Did... did I hear that right?" One teammate stammered, nearly biting his tongue.

"It's purring. Exactly like the recordings in the beast encyclopedia." Another muttered, eyes glazed over like his soul had left his body.

The S-Tier Corrupted Beast that had torn their elite squad apart, the embodiment of destruction and madness, was now lying on the ground like a satisfied cat, purring at a zero-Spiritual-Force loser in a display of absolute comfort and trust.

Their worldviews were completely shattered.

Blake stared at Susan. The woman he'd dismissed as beneath him, the one he'd cast aside with 10,000 star coins like she was nothing, was doing something even the Empire's top S-Tier Tamers couldn't achieve.

She'd done it without Spiritual Force, instruments, or any potions. Just a brush and hands that moved in ways no one could understand.

Blake didn't know what kind of sorcery this was.

Susan, oblivious to the chaos around her, looked at the Snow Leopard's exposed belly and nodded in satisfaction. "That's a good boy."

She reached out and gave its soft, fluffy belly a firm rub. The texture was perfect. Plush, soft, thick, and springy. It was everything a fur-lover's dreams were made of.

The Snow Leopard's purring instantly grew several notches louder. That thick, massive tail gave a helpless, gentle wag, snapping a nearby small tree completely in half with a blunt crack.

Susan worked her way up from the belly, checking the wounds on its forelimbs and neck. Her touches grew bolder. From cautious probing to firm kneading, pressing, and massaging, she treated this S-Tier giant like an oversized plush toy.

The beast, once wary, had fully surrendered. Its eyes grew heavy-lidded. Its massive head leaned over to nuzzle against Susan's arm.

The intimate display made Blake's eye twitch violently. He remembered his sister Sandra calling Susan a zero-Spiritual-Force loser, someone who couldn't get close to the gentlest C-Tier manul.

Watching the S-Tier Corrupted Beast turn into a completely helpless, pampered cat, Blake felt a savage, burning slap to his pride that left his entire face stinging.

Susan's grooming was almost complete. Except for the tail, the worst of the knots and grime had been cleared from the Snow Leopard's body. Its fur, still marked with scars and blood, at least looked smoother than before.

"Alright. The initial grooming is done." Susan straightened up, brushed the loose fur off her hands, and let out a long breath.

She looked at the Snow Leopard sprawled on the ground, looking thoroughly content, rolling onto its back with all four paws in the air, and made a professional assessment.

"The coat quality is excellent. But the upkeep has been terrible. Brushing alone isn't enough. A lot of deep grime and Gene Contamination has worked its way into the skin."

Susan turned to Blake and his team, who had completely lost their minds, and announced in a matter-of-fact tone. "No. I have to give it a bath and a deep clean."

The statement was met with absolute silence. Even the Snow Leopard's purring hitched for half a heartbeat.

One of Blake's teammates finally broke. He pointed at Susan, staring at her like she was insane, and screamed, "A bath? Are you crazy? Giving an S-Tier Corrupted Beast a bath? Are you trying to get us all killed?"

Chapter 6 Genesis Purifying Body Wash

"A bath? Are you crazy? Giving an S-Tier Corrupted Beast a bath? Are you trying to get us all killed?" The teammate's shrill voice was practically piercing, thick with the terror of barely surviving and the sheer incomprehension of Susan's insanity.

He thought the idea of bathing it was the biggest joke. Even a healthy A-Tier Beastman could have a stress reaction during a bath, a state of extreme relaxation and vulnerability.

Giving a bath to an emotionally unstable Corrupted Beast was the same as handing the monster a loaded gun and pressing one's own forehead against the barrel.

Blake's face had turned grim. He stared at Susan, his voice cold enough to freeze water. "Susan, stop this ridiculous farce right now. Do you have any idea what you're saying?

"It's only calm because you've used some unknown method to soothe it temporarily. The moment water hits it, its Gene Contamination will spike instantly. When that happens, no one here will survive."

He admitted he was thoroughly shaken by what she'd done. But he refused to believe this grooming sorcery could extend to bathing a Corrupted Beast. That crossed the line into the realm of myth.

Susan gave him a look that practically screamed 'You're telling me how to do my job?' "The common sense of you beastmen doesn't hold true for a professional pet groomer."

Her tone was calm and assured. "The dirt, oils, and parasitic bacteria trapped in the fur are major triggers for skin inflammation and genetic instability. Brushing without washing only treats the symptoms. If you want a permanent fix, a deep clean is a must."

She paused, eyeing the Snow Leopard's detangled but still grimy coat. Her brow furrowed as her perfectionist instincts kicked in. "Besides, don't you think it looks filthy right now?"

Blake fell silent. So did his elite team. What they were thinking was, 'We only care that it's lethal. Who the hell has time to worry about whether it's dirty?'

Susan stopped paying attention to the group that had begun questioning their own existence.

She scanned the area. This battle-torn clearing was completely trashed, with no water, no tubs, no power, and certainly no professional drying equipment. It was far from an ideal grooming station.

"The setup is pretty rough." Susan muttered, running through her options.

'I can't exactly carry this big guy back to my dorm. Even if I could, dragging an S-Tier Corrupted Beast through campus would probably trigger a full-scale red alert and get the military sent after me.'

Just as she was hitting a wall, the cold mechanical voice rang in her head again. "Congratulations. Hidden newbie mission First Encounter with S-Rank Fluff completed.

"Mission Objective: Successfully soothe an S-Tier Corrupted Beast and earn its initial trust.

"Mission Rating: Perfect. The Host exceeded all expectations through fearless professionalism, masterful technique, and a deep-rooted love for all furry creatures.

"Settling mission rewards.

"Rewards Issued: Genesis Purifying Body Wash (Concentrated Essence Version) x1, All-Terrain Multifunctional Portable Grooming Station x1, System Points +1000."

The string of notifications lifted Susan's spirits. Her logistical support had arrived.

In the next instant, a Virtual Storage Slot appeared in Susan's mind, visible only to her.

Inside it sat two items. One was an elegant crystal bottle no larger than her palm, filled with a liquid that shimmered like molten starlight, radiating a rainbow-hued, dreamy glow.

The bottle was marked with ancient-style script: [Genesis Purifying Body Wash.

[Item Description: Contains a trace of the Genesis Law of purification. Can wash away all filth and cleanse all genetic-level contamination and trauma.

[Concentrated Essence Version: One drop can be diluted into over 26 gallons of high-efficacy bath solution. Reminder: Use with caution on non-genetic beings, as there is a small chance of memory loss.]

Susan's eyes lit up. 'Cleanse genetic-level contamination? That's exactly what I need. It's tailor-made for this Snow Leopard.' Her heart raced with excitement.

Her gaze shifted to the second item. It was a silver metal case, about the size of a suitcase, radiating futuristic technology vibes.

[Item Description: All-Terrain Multifunctional Portable Grooming Station (Newbie Version). Built-in high-energy compressed crystal core. Can be expanded into a full-sized grooming tub with one touch. Features include constant temperature heating, water circulation filtration, ion drying, UV sterilization, and more.]

Susan's heart pounded. It was like her dream top-tier pet grooming studio from her previous life had been packed into a box and handed to her.

With these two items, she'd be ready to bathe a dragon in a volcano, let alone a Snow Leopard in the back mountain.

"Susan, stop spacing out. I'm talking to you. Are you listening?" Blake's voice was sharp with frustration.

Susan hadn't responded for a while, just standing there with a dazed, glittery-eyed smile. He felt like a clown punching air. She was so absorbed in her own world that she'd completely ignored his warnings and his presence.

This dismissiveness stung more than when she'd agreed to call off the engagement so easily.

"Oh, I heard you." Susan finally snapped out of her fascination with the miraculous items.

She flashed Blake a brilliant smile. "Great suggestion. But I'm not taking it."

Before Blake and his team could process that, Susan did something they'd remember for the rest of their lives.

She raised her hand and snapped her fingers at the empty space in front of her. "Come out, my bathtub."

As her dramatic words faded, the silver metal case materialized at her feet out of thin air.

Then came a series of precision mechanical clicks and whirs. The case expanded and unfolded like a Transformer.

Within seconds, a massive metal tub gleamed before them, spacious enough to hold the Snow Leopard. A control panel with a digital display extended from one side, reading "Filling Water."

Clear water bubbled up from the intake port, rapidly filling the tub.

Blake and his elite teammates stood frozen, like they'd been struck by lightning. Their brains had short-circuited. Their eyes bulged.

At first, they thought it was a spatial device, but that didn't add up.

The Empire's spatial tech, while advanced, could only store objects with no life or energy signatures. A complex mechanical device with its own energy core couldn't possibly fit in a spatial button.

And Susan hadn't touched anything resembling a spatial button. The thing had appeared from nowhere.

"You..." Blake pointed at Susan, his finger trembling from sheer shock.

Feeling as though his command of language had completely shattered, he stammered, "What... what is this? Who are you?"

Blake looked at Susan, the "loser" he'd thought he could discard and define at will. Now, she felt utterly unrecognizable, veiled in a shroud of mystery he couldn't pierce. He had no clue how many more secrets she was hiding.

Susan had no intention of answering his questions. She walked over to the control panel and set the temperature to exactly 101.3°F. The ideal temperature for large felines.

Then she carefully uncapped the Genesis Purifying Body Wash and tilted the bottle.

A single drop of the rainbow-hued liquid fell into the full tub of water. In that instant, the water came alive. A radiant glow burst from the depths, illuminating the entire clearing like daylight.

An indescribable fragrance, like the scent of life itself, filled the air. Just one breath of it felt like a soul-cleansing experience. The fatigue and stress of days of battle seemed to melt away.

The Snow Leopard lifted its head sharply. Its eyes, already losing their feral crimson, locked onto the tub of water radiating sacred energy. A desperate, longing whimper escaped its throat. It could sense that within those waters lay the cure for all its pain.

Susan surveyed the scene with satisfaction, then turned to the utterly dumbfounded Blake with a polished, professional smile, looking exactly like a high-end lounge manager greeting a VIP guest.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but this is exclusive VIP grooming time for my client." Her voice was warm and polite, but carried an unmistakable edge.

"For the best service experience, I'll need you to step back." She extended her hand, gesturing for them to leave.

"Of course, if you'd like to observe, there's a viewing fee. 10,000 star coins per person. Thank you for your business."

Chapter 7 A Masterclass in Grooming

"If you'd like to observe, there's a viewing fee. 10,000 star coins per person. Thank you for your business." Susan's polished smile echoed through the dead-quiet forest.

Each word landed like a slap across the faces of Blake and his entire team.

They were the elite of the First Imperial Combat Academy. The top squad led by the student council president. Everywhere they went, people looked up to them. And now, a "loser" was treating them like paying spectators at a sideshow.

What stung more was that they couldn't argue with her.

Nothing happening here fit into anything they knew, whether it was the grooming station that had appeared out of thin air, the bath liquid radiating a sacred aura, or the madwoman currently preparing to give an S-tier Corrupted Beast a bath.

For this, even a million star coins would be a bargain. Taming masters and gene scholars would fight each other for a front-row seat.

Blake's face cycled through shades of pale and red as his chest heaved violently.

He wanted to lash out, to demand answers, and to force Susan to reveal her secrets by any means necessary. But when his gaze clashed with Susan's quiet, unbothered eyes that seemed to read his every thought, every single word choked in his throat.

A strong instinct told him that if he tried anything now, the one lying in that tub wouldn't be the Snow Leopard.

Finally, Blake ground out through clenched teeth. "Fine."

He chose to watch. His teammates also stepped back, but their eyes stayed locked on Susan, refusing to miss a single detail.

They all wanted to see what miracle this woman who'd shattered their worldview would perform next.

Susan paid them no mind. Her focus was entirely on her client. "Alright, sweetheart. Time for a bath."

She crouched beside the Snow Leopard, her voice soft and coaxing.

She patted its massive, fluffy head and pointed to the tub, which glowed with a warm, inviting light and a tantalizing scent.

The leopard let out a low rumble and rose to its feet. Standing, its sheer size was overwhelming. Every muscle rippled beneath its battle-scarred coat, a perfect blend of power and grace.

Step by step, it approached the tub. With each step, Blake and his team held their breath.

But the Snow Leopard showed no signs of agitation. It reached the tub's edge, lowered its head, and tentatively extended its tongue to lap at the shimmering water.

As if a jolt of electricity was surging through its entire body, the leopard shuddered and squinted in bliss.

This was the exact scent and sensation it remembered. Without hesitation, it lifted its front leg and stepped into the bathtub with extreme caution, as if performing a holy ritual.

The moment its body sank into the warm, miraculous bath, a deep, contented sigh escaped its throat.

Warm water enveloped every inch of its skin. The purifying power containing the Genesis Law, like countless soothing hands, began to heal its broken form ravaged by Gene Contamination.

Susan nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Step one: wet the entire coat."

She picked up the pressure washer attached to the tub and adjusted it to the gentlest setting. She began evenly wetting the Snow Leopard's fur.

The dried blood and grime that had caked its coat dissolved on contact, melting away like snow in sunlight. Beneath it, fresh pink skin was revealed.

The wounds, soaked in the bath, didn't sting. Instead, a cool, soothing tingle spread through them, as if they were healing at a visible pace.

Next came the lathering. Susan rolled up her sleeves. Her hands, coated in the sacred bath solution, pressed firmly onto the leopard's back. "We'll start with the back. The fur is thickest here, so it needs the most attention."

Her hands, moving with a peculiar rhythm, began to knead the leopard's broad back. Her technique was flawlessly professional, sometimes circling with the pads of her fingers and other times pressing with the heels of her palms.

She worked the solution into a rich lather, all while incorporating lymphatic drainage massage into every stroke.

As she worked, thick, shimmering foam enveloped the leopard's massive frame.

And that was when the most breathtaking moment occurred.

Beneath the Snow Leopard's fur, the black, lightning-like Gene Scars that had writhed and pulsed across its body began to hiss.

Dark, foul-smelling mist rose from the scars, but the moment it touched the foam, it was dissolved and cleansed, melting away without a trace.

The Gene Contamination that had plagued the leopard, the very affliction that even the Spiritual Force of an S-Tier Tamers could only suppress but never erase, was being scrubbed away like a stubborn stain.

"No... no way." One of the team members whispered, rubbing his eyes like he was seeing things. "The Gene Scars are washing off?"

Blake stood frozen. His ice-blue eyes reflected the impossible scene, a storm raging beneath their calm surface.

This wasn't suppression or soothing. This was eradication. A complete removal of an incurable plague at its root.

If Susan's grooming had shattered his understanding of reality, this was far worse. She was taking his entire worldview and grinding it into the dirt with nothing more than a basin of soapy water.

Centuries of Tamer traditions and the fundamental rule that Spiritual Force reigned supreme were crumbling before a tub full of bubbles.

Susan's grooming show continued. She was meticulous. She worked from the Snow Leopard's back to its belly, from neck to paws, leaving no patch of fur untouched.

She put on professional finger protectors and carefully cleaned the dirt from between its claws. "The paw pads are too thick. Minor cracking. Need a foot treatment later. Some paw balm will fix that.

"Some ear mites in here. Needs a proper ear-cleaning solution.

"The tail wound is the worst. Hair follicles are damaged. Need a growth essence to help it recover."

She muttered to herself the entire time, like any conscientious groomer giving a full-body checkup to a beloved pet.

The leopard was melting into the water in pure bliss.

It lay flat on its back with its paws in the air, submitting completely to Susan's scrubbing. Its purrs rumbled incessantly from the depths of its throat, and it looked as happy as a child.

Its eyes, once blood-red, had cleared completely, now a beautiful amethyst hue.

Half an hour passed.

"Alright. Foam rinse is done. Time to wash it off." Susan pressed the "Rinse" button on the control panel. Clear water flowed again, washing away the remaining bubbles.

As the foam faded, a brand-new Snow Leopard appeared before everyone.

Its coat was pure white, flawless like fresh-fallen snow, shimmering with a sacred glow in the moonlight. The black rosette patterns stood out with stunning clarity and mysterious beauty.

And most importantly, the Gene Scars were gone. Not a single trace remained.

Its wounds had all healed, leaving behind only faint pink marks that would soon fade completely.

If not for the ruined battlefield around them, no one would believe that this gorgeous, divine creature had been a Corrupted Beast on the verge of total collapse half an hour ago.

"Perfect." Susan beamed at her work, the satisfied look of an artist admiring a completed masterpiece.

She pressed the "Dry" button. Warm, gentle ionized air flowed from the tub's sides, fluffing and drying the Snow Leopard's coat to a soft, cloud-like finish.

"Final step: coat conditioning." Susan produced a small bottle of lightly scented oil from out of nowhere, warmed it between her palms, and spread it evenly over the leopard's already silky fur for one final touch of care.

"Done. That's a wrap." Susan clapped her hands, announcing the successful completion of this S-Tier Grooming Session.

The Snow Leopard leaped out of the tub. It stretched, feeling the newfound purity and power flowing through its body.

Then, it lowered its head and rubbed its sleek, soft cheek against Susan's leg in a gesture of deepest gratitude.

Susan laughed and ruffled its head. "Stay clean from now on, alright?"

Just as the duo basked in their perfect moment, something shifted.

The Snow Leopard's body suddenly erupted in a blinding white light.

The radiance was so intense it was like a miniature sun exploding before them. Everyone instinctively squeezed their eyes shut and raised their arms to shield themselves.

Then, a surge of energy, pure, vast, and far more terrifying than anything witnessed during its S-tier Corruption, swept across the entire clearing.

"Not good." Blake's instincts screamed. He forced his eyes open against the glare and stared through his fingers at the center of the light, his voice cracking. "That energy... It's not corrupting. It's evolving. Susan, get away from there!"

In heart of the light, the Snow Leopard's massive form began to shift and blur, as if undergoing a total transformation from the inside out.

Blake's warning was swallowed by the roar of energy.

Standing at the very center of the radiance, Susan didn't flinch. She blinked curiously at the spectacle before her. 'Evolving? Did I scrub it so clean that it's leveling up?' Her mind wandered. 'If it evolves, will its fur get even better?'

As she was lost in thought, Blake's voice cut through again, this time filled with horror and disbelief unlike anything he had ever felt. "Wait, is it taking on a human form?"