Ch. Midnight Zoo 9 Midnight Zoo 9

9 

That morning, the five of us were given matching uniforms. The zoo was already creepy enough; I couldn’t imagine anyone actually wanting to 

visit. 

All the performance animals and the remaining keepers were herded into a large, empty arena. The others were trembling with fear. The arena itself was surrounded by strange, shadowy humanoid figures. They had no faces, just dark silhouettes, all murmuring amongst themselves. 

Countless text comments floated above their heads like a livestream chat. 

[LOL, finally got a ticket, this instance is always sold out!] 

[SSS–rank horror survival instance, man. You have no idea how many players these animals have eaten.] 

[Heard there’s a special surprise in this final show. You think the mysterious Warden NPC will make an appearance?] 

J‘ 

saw the stream earlier. There’s some clueless rookie this time. Can’t wait to see how she dies.] 

My hearing might be spotty, but my eyesight is perfect. I saw every single one of those comments. My face paled. 

What do they mean, ‘survival instance‘? And ‘how she dies‘? Isn’t this an animal care game? Did they wander into the wrong show? 

Before I could process it, Elias stepped into the center of the arena to announce the rules. 

“Our zoo has recently welcomed some outstanding new keepers,” he announced, his voice echoing. “They have all formed deep bonds of friendsh- ip with our animals. Now, please enjoy the show they have prepared for us!” 

[Mission 1: Time limit 30 minutes. The animals will be unleashed and will attack the players with all their might. Players who survive the onslaught will be considered to have completed the mission and cleared the instance.] 

[Mission 2: Once an animal has marked a player, that player must endure one full–force attack from that animal. Failure to do so will be a violation of the rules.] 

[There is a hidden secret among the animals. Players are encouraged to discover it for themselves.] 

After the rules were announced, Elias’s gaze fell on me, and a faint smile touched his lips. “Good luck to you all.” 

The tiger, gorilla, black bear, alligator, giraffe, hippo… all of them slowly emerged from their cages. Their jaws were dripping with saliva. Their bodi- es swelled to twice their normal size, wreathed in black mist, their eyes burning with malice. 

The other players turned ghost–white. The animals were the very ones they had been in charge of. 

The tiger made the first move. It walked slowly towards a ring of fire, then started shooting me frantic looks. I blinked, confused. It took a massive leap, sailing through the flames, and pounced, pinning me to the ground. From the outside, it looked like a savage attack. 

But only I could hear the tiger’s urgent whisper, its face mashed against mine. “You gotta at least try to look scared! Scream a little! The bosses are watching, and I’ve got a quota to meet.” 

Oh, it’s for dramatic effect!l immediately let out a few convincing shrieks. 

The tiger nodded, satisfied. “And don’t forget the items me and the monkey gave you,” it added. “I’m not holding back from here on out. You’re on 

your own.” 

For a split second, I saw a flicker of something human, something sad, in its eyes. 

Then, the tiger spun around and launched itself at Marcus. The arena was no longer a stage; it was a slaughterhouse. The animals were hunting the humans without mercy. 

It was only then that I finally realized this was no animal care game. And I didn’t just have to worry about the animals. I had to worry about the other players. 

cautiously pulled the safety helmet from my backpack and put it on. 

Sure enough, seeing my item, the others scrambled to pull out their own. They’d all been lying. 

Chapter 2 

The shadow–people’s comments floated above again.