DSMC Chapter 74.1

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The visitors in the instance all saw the big black panther walk up to the clever black cat that had been teasing the leopards. Not only were they worried that the little black cat would be bitten to death by the panther. Even some viewers in the livestream who admired violence and bloodshed grew tense as well.

If the cat were bitten to death, the livestream audience would feel like their lives had lost a great deal of fun.

Of course, there were also some who genuinely cared about whether the cat streamer would die.

The person involved, Yan Jiyun, was even more nervous than they were. He let go of the teaser toy and shuffled backward, trying to stay as far away from the black panther as possible. This kind of pressure was terrifying.

The black panther, however, continued to stride toward Yan Jiyun with domineering authority.

Everyone held their breath, Yan Jiyun included. Was the black panther going to bite him to death?

When the teaser wand stopped moving, the other leopards stared at the black panther walking onto the platform, their expressions clearly saying: “Don’t interrupt our game.”

At the moment of peak tension, they saw the black panther lie down right where Yan Jiyun had just been sitting, and push at the teaser wand stuck in the crevice.

It seemed it wasn’t trying to attack the cat.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. ‘You should have said so earlier. It turns out it also wants to tease leopards of a different color.’

He automatically gave up the spot and quietly backed away, preparing to slip off.

Little did he know that the black panther’s field of vision was much wider than his. With one paw it toyed with the teaser toy, and with the other it pressed down on Yan Jiyun’s neck, stopping him from moving around.

Yan Jiyun tucked in his neck and didn’t dare move, afraid it would extend its sharp claws and scratch him bloody.

Outside, cat-loving visitors cried out in alarm.

“Can a zookeeper go in and save the poor little cat?”

“Yeah, hurry and call for help! Don’t let a bloody incident happen! Big black cat, don’t bully the little black cat!”

Some visitors shouted at the guide.

“Guide, what are you still standing there for? Call the zookeepers! Have them rescue the little cat. We can’t let our kids see bloody violence. What if they’re traumatized afterward?”

It was also the guide’s first time encountering a usually solitary black panther interacting with another species. Under the visitors’ intense demands, she called the breeding center and requested nearby zookeepers to come rescue a black cat that had accidentally wandered into the leopards’ den.

Sightseeing cars gathered there, and the zookeepers who were feeding animals nearby rushed over after receiving the call.

Yan Jiyun was no longer held down by the black panther’s large paws, and his body was freed. He turned his head to meet the black panther’s eyes. 

The black panther’s eye color was very similar to his, and its head shape was also very cool. Even when it was just squatting, he could see its majestic and awe-inspiring presence. Yan Jiyun even wanted to possess its body.

Black panther is definitely more handsome; his black cat physique is simply pathetic in comparison.

Yan Jiyun glanced at it and then looked away. He couldn’t make eye contact with its own kind, for fear that the big black panther would misunderstand that he was trying to provoke it. Plus, Yan Jiyun couldn’t beat it.

The black panther didn’t seem to treat Yan Jiyun as an enemy. It brought its wet nose close to Yan Jiyun, sniffed his scent, and then snorted with a hint of disgust.

Yan Jiyun: “…”

The only thing to blame is his shampoo’s scent. 

Yan Jiyun could sense that it didn’t have much malice.

After many calls from the visitors, the zookeepers finally arrived. 

With so many leopards gathered together, no one dared to go in rashly.

The zookeepers didn’t go in alone; three of them came together. One was the zookeeper who had been there earlier in the morning, a familiar caretaker the leopards knew well.

However, when they saw the black panther, the zookeepers all shook their heads, not daring to step forward. As soon as the black panther heard their footsteps, it immediately became alert. It had been relaxed before, but now its entire body tensed up, the atmosphere shifting abruptly — even the other leopards that wanted to play with the teaser toy retreated a step.

The black panther was angry. It let out a low growl toward the approaching zookeepers.

The zookeepers didn’t dare move any closer.

One of them, well aware of the panther’s temperament, said, “It’s angry. What do we do? There’s no way to get close.”

“I don’t dare either. When we rescued it back then, the moment it woke up it almost bit my arm clean off. Luckily we sedated it in time, otherwise my arm would’ve been gone.” This zookeeper was still shaken by the black panther and kept retreating, no longer daring to take another step forward.

Seeing that the zookeepers weren’t approaching, the black panther prepared to retreat. Yan Jiyun looked at its paw, more than twice the size of his own, and didn’t dare resist. He just waited for the panther to leave.

But after backing up two steps, the black panther suddenly stepped toward Yan Jiyun. He reflexively tried to run, but was pinned down, and the panther quickly clamped its jaws around his neck.

Yan Jiyun: “……”

Oh my god, that scared the hell out of him!

Help!!!

Why was the big black panther carrying him in its mouth? He wasn’t even edible! 

As everyone knew, leopards ran at incredible speeds and were hard to catch. The black panther leapt across several platforms among the enrichment structures, then plunged into the low shrubs. Carrying the black cat, it vanished from everyone’s sight in an instant.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“First-person POV: Mom, I’ve been carried off by a big black panther! Help!”

“Did the big black panther mistake the Kitty Baby for its own kind?”

“Very possible. Look, they’re both black. Once they dive into the dark bushes, who could ever find them?”

“They’re both felines. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I haven’t seen this instance. What’s it about? Any big shots care to explain?”

“No spoilers!”

“No spoilers!”

“No spoilers!”

“I think spoilers are fun because you never know how it will reach the end. So you don’t know what the ending is anyway. Hahaha.”

Meanwhile, outside the leopard enclosure, a crowd of visitors was still gathered, all wanting to know what had happened to the black cat, whether it would be bitten to death by the panther.

A zookeeper, fitting for their job, gave them an explanation: the black panther had taken the black cat back to its territory as if it were its own cub, and they would continue monitoring the situation between the panther and the cat.

To prevent all the visitors from lingering in the leopard enclosure, the drivers finally drove the vehicles away.

Even so, the visitors remained worried.

“I saw on the official website that the black panther is male, and it doesn’t have any cubs. How could it mistake the black cat for its own young?”

“Male panthers are very solitary. Can it really take care of a cat? He won’t bring it back as a toy, will he? He’ll probably bite it to death in one go…”

Being carried by the scruff for the first time, Yan Jiyun now had a look of utter despair. He had only ever experienced this kind of flying speed in a car before. This posture made him completely afraid to move, terrified that the black panther might bite down and snap his neck, or drop him from a height midway.

His body swayed uncontrollably, his legs had nowhere to brace themselves, which was extremely unsettling. Please don’t suddenly let go and throw him down, he’d die!

He had grown up living with his pooper scooper since he was a kitten and had never experienced being carried by a mother cat. Not only that, this was also the first time he had felt a leopard’s speed. Even though he could feel the racecar-like rush of wind, he resisted it with all his heart!

This feeling of having no control at all was far too uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the zoo was not the wild, with limited area. After carrying Yan Jiyun back to its own territory, the black panther put him down.

When Yan Jiyun saw it preparing to lick his fur with its tongue, he instinctively jumped onto a nearby rock.

That tongue had barbs on it. What if it licked his fur bald? How ugly would that be?

Yan Jiyun stood on the high ground, staring at the black panther. The panther didn’t rush and didn’t come up to catch him either. It likely believed the surroundings were entirely its own territory, safe from humans or other animals intruding at will, and simply let Yan Jiyun hop around on the artificial rockeries.

In the end, Yan Jiyun found the highest rock and lay down on top. The space there was narrow enough for him to stand or lie down, but the black panther might not be able to stand steadily there.

The black panther suddenly turned and ran off in another direction. Yan Jiyun guessed it had gone to find food and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Yan Jiyun didn’t want to be groomed by the black panther and needed to find a way to get out of here first.

The remaining props couldn’t be used lightly for now. There were still four days left, and who knew what would happen next? He still hadn’t even figured out what the main “crisis” was.

This should be the deeper part of the zoo. Heading south would lead to a mountain, but there was a very wide road in between. He could clearly hear the sound of cars passing outside. It separated the zoo from the mountain. That direction could be ruled out and was likely not within the players’ activity range.

With the immediate danger gone, Yan Jiyun began to carefully arrange his next steps, one by one.

First, he had to obtain a complete map of the zoo. With a map, he would know which areas he could go to and which areas he needed to avoid. This would be the most helpful and also the most basic step for instance exploration.

Second, he needed to find the zoo’s administrative area and check the zoo’s accounts. If there were problems on the books, then it could be inferred that the zoo was facing an economic crisis, which could lead to animals going unfed or even the zoo shutting down.

Third, he had to clearly understand the rules prompted by the system. Of course, this wasn’t a problem for him right now. Being a fellow feline, he understood feline habits.

Fourth, if he turned back into a human, would he still need to obey the system’s rules? If not, that would greatly increase his freedom to explore the instance.

At present, his Human Form Time Card could only be used in reverse; turning into a cat was something he could control himself. But there were also inconveniences. While he was in cat form, he could crawl into narrow spaces, but if he suddenly reverted to human form, the space would be completely insufficient and he would get stuck. That was why he would rather stay on high ground on the rockery than crawl into holes. He was afraid that if he crawled in and the card expired, turning him back into a human, he would get stuck inside and possibly even provide the system with a brand-new way for players to die.

After suddenly switching forms, he was still a bit unaccustomed to it, but the system was still the same system. Just as frustrating as ever. 

He noticed the system interface suddenly popped up. Normally it only appeared when he wanted to see it, but now it displayed on its own.

[Player Popularity Ranking (as of now)]

[Note: This ranking refreshes once every hour. Please keep it up, players!]

1st place: Yan Jiyun

2nd place: Jiang Zhiyan

3rd place: Lin Ziqi

……

Seeing his own ranking, Yan Jiyun felt his hatred value being pulled to the max.

Below the leaderboard, there was also a real-time visitor count prompt.

[Visitor +1]

[Visitor +1]

[Visitor +3]

[The following are the zoo’s operating reward and punishment rules. If players violate the following five rules, they will receive corresponding penalties. Please pay attention and abide by them!] 

1. Players must not engage in behavior unrelated to their role;
2. The popularity value of the player’s habitat must meet the daily standard;
3. Players must not harm species within the same area;
4. Players must not move across habitats during operating hours;
5. Players must not attack zookeepers.