Midnight Zoo

Ch. Midnight Zoo 6 Midnight Zoo 6

The other players watched with cold amusement.

The middle–aged man chuckled. “Let’s be clear. When she’s dead, that manual is fair game. First one to grab it keeps it. May the best man win.”

Leo, the programmer, pushed his glasses up. “And you’re so sure you’ll be the one to get it?”

Behind me, they were already planning how to divide my belongings.

But as the monkey swung its axe, an idea sparked in my mind. I swiftly snatched the axe from its grasp. In the same motion, I pulled a squeaky

chicken from my bag and thrust it into the monkey’s hands.

The crazed monkey was still frozen in its attack pose, only now it was holding a bright yellow rubber chicken instead of a bloody axe. The scene

was suddenly, bizarrely, comical.

I reached out and patted its little head. “What’s with all the mugging, little guy? You’re just feeding the stereotype. Be a good boy. This squeaky

chicken is for you. I’ll just hold onto this axe for you. It’s far too dangerous.”

The The monkey bared its teeth, staring at me in disbelief. Its claws tightened, and the chicken let out a strangled squawk. The monkey’s expression

was a complex mix of fury and confusion. It squeezed the chicken again, shot me one last, resentful glare, and then sulked away.

More animals appeared throughout the night, but they all seemed to keep their distance from the dorms. I casually strolled back inside, axe slung

over my shoulder. The other players silently made way for me.

I overheard their hushed whispers.

“Is this woman for real, or is this all an act? Could she be a top–tier player pretending to be a rookie?”

Mia, the student, chimed in. “I don’t know, I think she’s kind of amazing.”

“It’s like she has no idea these things are supposed to kill us. The way she treats them… it’s like they’re her pets.”

“She’s playing dumb,” Marcus concluded, his voice laced with the same old disdain. “Don’t fall for it. The rules say the animals only kill one player

per day. The monkey let her go because its kill quota was already met.”

Since my hearing was so unreliable, I decided to just skip the whole ‘making friends‘ thing. It would probably just lead to more misunderstandings.

I tossed the axe into a corner and noticed Elias, the ever–present warden, materialize in the room.

“Nighttime is when the animals are active,” he announced. “The dorms will guarantee your absolute safety. However, valuable items will randomly appear throughout the zoo at night. A friendly tip: if you want to survive the full seven days, you’ll need these items.”

He turned to leave, but his eyes caught the axe in the corner. He glanced at me, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. “Hold onto your items. Once an item has bonded to a player, it cannot be changed or used by anyone else for the duration of the game.”

An item? The monkey’s axe is an item?

I nodded, pretending to understand. For some reason, while I struggled to hear anyone else, the warden’s voice always came through crystal clear.

As soon as he left, Mia, the student, came over and linked her arm with mine.

What she said was: “Wow, you’re so cool! You must be a high–level player, right? You’ve cleared tons of these instances, haven’t you? This is only

my second one, so I’m still a newb. Can you maybe… show me the ropes?”

What I heard was: “Hey, newb here. Show me the ropes, you old pro.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. Taking care of animals is easy. If you’re sincere with them, they’ll be friendly back. Some of them are just a little mischievo- us and like to play rough with their keepers.”

Mia’s expression froze. After a long moment, she let go of my arm. “Okay… well, can I see that manual item of yours?”

“Sure, no problem.”

I pulled it out of my backpack without a second thought. I was a real zookeeper; I didn’t need a manual anyway.

Mia’s face lit up as she took it. But three seconds later, her expression soured, and she angrily threw the book back at me. “What is wrong with

you? If you didn’t want to show me, you could have just said so! Why trick me like that?”

She stormed off, leaving me frowning. I must have had some good luck, because everyone else in this game seemed to be completely unhinged.

16:46

Chapter 1

She stormed off, leaving me frowning. I must have had some good luck, because everyone else in this game seemed to be completely unhinged.

The dorm was a co–ed, eight–bunk room with paper–thin walls. Sometime in the middle of the night, I was woken by voices. It sounded like Marcus.

“The animals already got their kill for today, so we should be safe tonight. You heard the warden: survival items only spawn at night. No risk, no reward. I say we send two people out to search.”

“Are you crazy? It’s crawling with monsters out there! Going out is a death sentence.”

They argued for a while longer. It seemed they couldn’t agree, and eventually, I heard several people leave the dorm. I closed my eyes, ready to go

back to sleep.

That’s when I heard it. A soft, scraping sound. Screeeech. Like fingernails on glass.

I sat up and saw a pair of glowing green eyes staring at me from outside the window.

I slid the window open, and a huge, furry head poked inside. I reached out and gave it a few scratches. Sure enough, fur started floating in the air.

The massive head lifted. It was the tiger.

He stared at me, his voice a low, threatening growl. “Woman. Are you going to make good on your promise from this morning? Tell me how to fix

my fur. Now. Or I’ll eat you.”

I was stunned. The tiger could talk. I did remember saying something about its coat.

wwwww

I rummaged through my backpack. The system had said my reward from earlier was in there. I pulled out 20 pounds of raw beef, found some

fruits and vegetables in the dorm fridge, chopped them up, and mixed them in. I presented the feast to the tiger.

He eyed it suspiciously, took one bite, and then devoured the rest in a frenzy. When he was done, he picked his teeth with a claw in a surprisingly

human–like gesture.

“Hmph. Not bad. I was getting tired of eating people, anyway. A little variety is nice. But if my fur doesn’t get shiny and smooth, I’m still going to

eat you.”

He pulled his huge head back out the window, then glanced at me with a hint of disdain. “You’re not so bad, for a human. Here. A little tip from

yours truly.”

He pushed a small, helmet–like object through the window with his paw.

[Item: Safety Helmet. Can withstand one fatal blow from a large animal. Effective on head only.]

My face lit up. This must be one of the items the warden was talking about! I had no idea what it was for, but I’d take it.

I had just happily stashed it away when the window was tapped again. A nimble figure leaped up onto the windowsill, landing silently on the tiger’s

back, accompanied by the squawk of a squeaky chicken. The monkey peered in, using the chicken like a cane.

“Hey, Big Cat,” it taunted. “You’re so cheap. That’s the best you can do for a gift?”

The tiger bristled. “Shut it, you little pest! What are you even doing here? Did you finish your player–killing quota for today? This one’s under my

protection. You can’t eat her.”

The monkey smirked. “Who said anything about eating her? Her squeaky cane is a big hit. Ljust out–squawked that old parrot from the aviary distr-

ict with it. He’s so hoarse he can’t even chirp now. He won’t be mouthing off to me again.”

The monkey then dragged a large sack up onto the windowsill and started emptying its contents onto my bed. A jumble of bizarre items tumbled

out.

The system notifications went wild.

[Congratulations! You have obtained: The Madcap Stone, The Elephant’s Dentures, The Gorilla’s Washboard, The Hippo’s Bath Mitt, The Giraffe’s

Neck Brace.]

[Player has obtained multiple items at once. Title awarded: King of Items. (Note: You have earned the favor of two animals. With these items, you

can walk through this instance like you own the place!)]

I had no clue how to use any of these things, so I just swept them all into my game inventory.

The tiger’s jaw twitched. “You little thief. You stole items from all the other animals? Are you insane? They’re going to hunt you down!”

Chapter 1

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Jཔསསཅ་་་་;

16:47

The monkey strutted along the windowsill. “They’ll have to catch me first!”

A strange warmth filled my chest. Sometimes, I really did prefer animals to people. They had given me so many gifts.

I was about to thank them when a loud bell suddenly rang through the night. The two animals exchanged a look of pure terror and vanished in a flash, as if they’d seen something far more frightening than themselves.