"Father! I know we're in a pinch, but how could you buy a hairless monkey to be my bride?!"
A rumbling voice of a man—though not quite a man—thundered through the shabby hut, his booming words filling every crack and crevice with indignation.
A towering figure, broad-shouldered and covered in thick crimson-red fur, loomed over the room. His eyes, slit, like a predator's, glinted with contempt as he glared at someone cruelly tossed in the corner.
Cloud looked like someone who could snap a tree in half without breaking a sweat, yet here he was, whining about his arranged marriage to a hairless monkey.
'Hairless monkey?!'
Qin Yan's mind nearly exploded in fury. Still tied up in wooden cuffs that made her feel like an oversized Christmas ham, she almost spat a mouthful of blood from the sheer indignity. She glared at the absurd man with her brown eyes practically shooting daggers.
What the heck—?! Who does this blind fool think he's calling a hairless monkey?!
Back on Earth, she had been a peerless beauty—sought after by countless idol companies before she voluntarily joined the military and was dragged into this ridiculous nightmare of a beast world. She had been a model, too, gracing the covers of high-end fashion magazines, advertising luxury brands, perfumes, clothing, jewelry—the works.
People used to line up just to look at her!
But this hairy bastard dares to call her a bald monkey?!
'It's your balls that are bald! Your entire family's balls are bald!' she fumed internally.
But still, she swallowed her words when Cloud's sharp, narrowed eyes met hers, his glowing amber irises practically glowing like twin suns. His teeth, impossibly sharp, gleamed with a dangerous future.
Yeah, she was definitely not in a position to be sassing him, even if it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.
Qin Yan wouldn't dare gamble her life, alright? This freakish being may be hot and handsome, but he was still a massive bear beastman—imposing, muscular, and covered in a deep red pelt, with fluffy-looking ears that she had been meaning to touch but thought otherwise.
'Fine, you jerk! I… I will definitely note this one down and make you pay later!' she solemnly swore.
Regardless of how it was, damn!
Qin Yan was still perplexed at this turn of events.
Did she really transmigrate into an animal kingdom after stepping on a landmine while trying to escape enemy troops?
Of all the places to end up, it had to be here!
"Enough!"
The voice of Cloud's father, Rouge, a massive crimson-red bear beastman—bigger, burlier, and older, with a deep growl that vibrated the floor—roared across the room. He was the definition of 'bear dad' but not the kind Qin Yan would compare with those silly costumes and mascots during mall shows and kid parties.
This was the man who purchased her from that suspicious market with just a bag of salt. Yes, her beauty and body, which were valued at millions of dollars on earth, were only worth a bag of unrefined salt here that wouldn't even cost her a dollar to buy from the grocery store!
'Ah, fuck! I don't even know whether to cry or laugh that I'm still alive and did not blow up.'
Right now, her nineteen-year-old mentality was already on the verge of collapse. Even her pride was cruelly smashed and crushed by these two beastmen!
"Why are you being so picky? You're to be an adult in the next few days and you must have a wife to register, otherwise, you'll be thrown into the quarry with the other useless ones!"
In this world, the ratio of females to males was so skewed that it could be likened to searching for a needle in a haystack. To maintain balance despite the overwhelming disparity in population, a strict rule was enforced that greatly upheld the pride of the beastmen.
Males who fail to secure a bride by the time they reach adulthood are considered incapable. As punishment, they are stripped of their right to mate and reproduce, and forced instead to work in a turbulent zone near the edge of the feral beasts' territory, which they all call Quarry.
There, they must contribute to the prosperity of the beast kingdom through physical labor since their efforts are seen as their only means of serving the community.
Cloud, still glaring with disdain, crossed his muscular arms and huffed in frustration. The bear father sighed, exasperated, and patted his son's thick shoulder as if he were a child.
"Cloud, you know our situation. Be thankful I got you a healthy wife!"
The father glanced sideways at Qin Yan like she was an errant piece of furniture he had haggled for at a market.
Had it not been for those picky eaters who didn't want a sickly and odd-looking female, would his son be able to have a bride in a few days? Even if they both sell their organs, no normal female would take a bag of salt in for a dowry.
Who cares if she would be a cripple and has no beast mark? She's still a female that would save her son from being thrown away! As a father, Rouge wouldn't want to send his only son to work his bones at the quarry! So, it was already a miracle that he chanced upon a female that no one wants to deal with.
Alas, this ungrateful brat who can't distinguish what was good and bad for him!
"This girl's skinny, sure, and pale, but compared to other primates in the tribe, she's easy to handle. She didn't even make a fuss during our travels back home from the black market. She only ate one fruit a meal and only drank a few mouthfuls of clean water. No spousal mark, no glaring flaws. She won't demand much!"
Hearing this, Qin Yan gnashed her teeth wanting to protest. It's not that she was being timid and docile, she was just too scared to move a muscle being carried like a bag of rice in father bear's bone-crushing hug!
'I still feel sick whenever I'm reminded how this guy eats raw meat and fish in front of me. Those bone-crushing noises felt like he was going to chump my bones next! How I swallowed my food without vomiting, shit, I don't even know. Okay?'
But one thing's for sure, she certainly suffered from indigestion during those daunting and traumatic three days!
Cloud raised an eyebrow, casting a long, skeptical look at Qin Yan. He sized her up like a man assessing the last leftovers at a picnic.
'She's small. Too small. No muscle, no meat to squeeze! Is she even an adult?!' Cloud felt a rush of frustration scraping through his scalp. What was his father thinking?
'Of course, there's no way any other male would be after her. Only my foolish father would think this was a great deal!'
Looking at her frail stature, his stubborn eyes grew dimmer and menacing, "Father, I'd rather you forsake me, but you cannot forsake my future cubs by giving such a lousy female to me otherwise I won't stay still!"
"Why you—!"
"No matter what, that female can't be my wife! Just look at her! Her edges are all wrong, I could even mistake her for a man without milk jugs! Who would be blind?" he roared, pointing rudely at the stiffened, dumbfounded Qin Yan.
'No... No milk jugs??? Why don't you just marry a cow you freaking pervert! Ah! I'm just a late bloomer these will grow melons lateeeer! You hateful bear, argh!' Qin Yan held her breath, furious and boiling red from anger.
"Father, my future bear cubs will only suffer with an incompetent female! She's just a pinkish-white stick with no appeal. What kind of wife will that make her?" Cloud muttered disdainfully before continuing with a finality.