Museum of Deadly Beasts

Chapter 102: A New Chief

News of Lin Jin passing the Rank 2 beast appraiser exam spread like wildfire and they had now come up with a new nickname for him—the youngest Rank 2 beast appraiser in Maple City.

It goes without saying how noble a Rank 2 beast appraiser title was so it wasn’t surprising that many female appraisers grew increasingly interested in the man. They were in fact, so intrigued by Lin Jin that they did not hesitate to initiate a conversation with him.

Lin Jin could finally get a taste of ‘vanity’.

In their quest to appear as respectable as possible, many people would show some sort of disdain for being vain. However, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t quietly enjoy the attention they got from other people.

Lin Jin felt no such need to be pretentious. He liked being on the receiving end of so much attention from time to time, but it went no further than that.

Hence, after reaching his consultation hall, feeling unsatiated, he went all the way outside only to stroll back in again.

Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Han Dong had long arrived at the consultation hall. They fully understood what Lin Jin was doing as he sauntered around the association. Together, they held up a hand to their foreheads, feeling helpless at what their master was doing.

“Have you heard? Appraiser Lin’s tokens were all snapped up early this morning.”

“Duh, course I know! Only Wang Ji used to have this kind of privilege.”

“Don’t mention that person. For oppressing his subordinates and committing the grave sin of plagiarism, that man’s reputation is completely ruined. I heard that headquarters have started their investigation against him. If he isn’t clean, forget his chief position, even his beast appraiser certification might be revoked.”

“Right, now that the association chief’s position is empty, do you think headquarters will promote a candidate here or send someone over from headquarters?”

“Who knows? But the biggest possibility is to get one of the three elders to temporarily take up the position.”

Tan Lin had yet to return.

After such a huge incident in Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association, as an inspector from headquarters, how could she leave right now?

Wang Ji was dismissed by her and headquarters would make arrangements to investigate Wang Ji’s wrongdoings. Meanwhile, Tan Lin kept her promised and tendered her resignation yesterday as she was responsible for being negligent.

But to her surprise, while headquarters indeed revoked her position as an inspector, they gave her a new mission last night.

She was to act as temporary chief in Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association.

Despite her young age, Tan Lin was one of the youngest Rank 2 beast appraisers in headquarters and had considerable qualifications. However, she didn’t have any experience as an association’s chief.

But since it was an order from headquarters, she couldn’t possibly disobey. Tan Xun in particular was even rooting for her.

Besides this, Tan Lin had other intentions as well so staying at Maple City for the time being was somewhat advantageous for her. After all, it wasn’t like she’d come across such an opportunity every day. She could accumulate experience in management and also improve her qualifications while beefing up her beast appraisal skills.

As her new assignment came last night, no official announcement had been made at Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association yet. However, such matters couldn’t be delayed so she gathered all three association elders early in the morning and revealed it to them.

The three elders gave mixed reactions.

Elder Du remained indifferent. He didn’t care who became chief. With his aloof personality, Elder Mo too wasn’t interested in matters concerning authority. Only Nan Gongxian felt disturbed by headquarters’ arrangements.

He initially assumed that one of the three elders would temporarily take up the position since it was a customary practice.

He even prepared himself for this because he enjoyed yielding actual authority.

Although an elder’s status was prominent, they didn’t hold much practical authority. At the very least, they weren’t that significant when compared to a chief. But if he was an elder cum chief, that would mean he had a total reign over the association.

It was a pity his dreams had to be shattered so early in the morning.

Even if he was upset, Nan Gongxian couldn’t do anything about it. Although she was young, Tan Lin was a Rank 2 beast appraiser, making her qualified for the position. And more importantly, she had a Rank 3 beast appraiser for a father.

Nan Gongxian couldn’t compare to her in this sense.

Inside the main hall, Tan Lin took a deep breath before saying, “All three of you are my seniors. I hope that you can give me your guidance as we work together from here on out.”

Tan Lin was very experienced in formal situations like these as she practically grew up with them.

“Sure, sure!” Elder Du nodded, smiling.

“Work hard!” Elder Mo encouraged.

“Just let us know if you need anything, Chief Tan. We’ll definitely try our best to help you out.” Nan Gongxian’s tone sounded mildly reluctant.

Tan Lin could obviously tell how he was feeling about this, but she feigned ignorance.

After informing the three elders, it was now time to announce it to the entire Beast Appraisal Association.

Just as Lin Jin was insanely occupied with work, the announcement arrived at his place.

“Tan Lin? Chief?” Lin Jin was shocked.

From his perspective, that lass wasn’t that much older than he was. But she was appointed as their chief?

Speaking of Tan Lin, Lin Jin had a grudge against her at first. After all, the woman indiscriminately listened to Wang Ji’s nonsense and tried to kill his career.

Fortunately, he wasn’t a pushover and managed to retaliate with a successful counter-attack, turning the tables in his favor.

After that, she admitted that it was her fault and tried to compensate him, so Lin Jin’s impression of her improved slightly. So strictly speaking, Tan Lin wasn’t a bad character, just a little capricious and proud.

Carefully thinking it through, it was also a good thing for Tan Lin to become chief.

It was far better than letting Nan Gongxian take over the position.

“Appraiser Lin, now that all consultation halls are occupied, Chief Tan says to let everyone carry on with their work for now and that all appraisers are to gather at the main hall at noon instead for the official announcement from headquarters.” The messenger was rather polite to Lin Jin. Now, whoever had eyes would know that not only was Lin Jin an official beast appraiser, but he was also a Rank 2 appraiser at that. One could say that right below the chief on the hierarchy of appraisers was Lin Jin.

Once he passed the message, that person left.

Lin Jin continued treating and evaluating beasts.

Due to his rise in fame, the number of clients seeking Lin Jin’s appraisal and treatment services increased by tenfold compared to before. The reception area had also increased Lin Jin’s consultation tokens slightly in response to this spike in demand for his service.

The number of consultation tokens available was predetermined and would change after getting the relevant appraiser’s opinion.

Previously, no one sought Lin Jin’s help because no one bothered to take his consultation tokens.

Today, his tokens had been sold out in the morning so representatives from reception came to inquire if they could add on some more.

Had the question been directed to other appraisers, they would reject this request as appraising and treating beasts was taxing work. However, Lin Jin didn’t find this to be a problem at all. After checking the time, he had the representative double the amount of his initial number of tokens.

That representative thought she had misheard his words.

“Appraiser Lin, are you sure you want to double up the number of your tokens?” Holding a notebook in her hands, the female apprentice urged quietly, “Your current number of tokens is thirty-five. Wouldn’t doubling the amount be too much?”

She was clearly asking out of goodwill.

After all, evaluating or treating seventy pet beasts a day was incredibly exhausting. Appraiser Gao Jiang only hung thirty-five tokens a day while the former Chief Wang Ji hung even less, accepting only thirty clients a day.

“It’s alright. Double it!” Lin Jin answered firmly.

He appraised creatures using his Museum of Deadly Beasts so it was much faster than everyone else. If he put his mind to it, Lin Jin could even do one hundred a day, much less seventy.

The only troublesome part was having to write the evaluation reports because even the copies had to be personally written by him.

The female apprentice flashed a look of admiration, her respect for Lin Jin growing.

Of course, she was completely oblivious to why Lin Jin insisted on receiving more patients. With a larger number of visitors, the number of beasts recorded in his archives would increase, and that would give way to triggering a new reward.