DSMC Chapter 74.2

The game was telling players that there were strict rules, and at the same time tightly restricting their range of activity.

Why did the popularity value also have to meet a standard? What was the standard? What conditions had to be met?

The system was being vague again, failing to clarify anything. 

Yan Jiyun pondered carefully. These five rules severely restricted players who had turned into animals, forcing them to stay within their assigned areas during zoo operating hours, unable to go anywhere else.

Every area of the zoo was open to visitors. Places like the tiger zone and the leopard zone all carried a certain level of danger. Judging from the way visitors toured the zoo, Yan Jiyun guessed the zoo was quite large, and the number of species inside should be considerable.

This time, a total of fifty players had entered the instance. Each player had their own role, which meant every player could be playing a different species.

However, considering that it’s impossible for visitors to tour fifty exhibition areas in a single day, it’s also possible that some players are assigned to the same type of species.

Before entering the instance, the system repeatedly emphasized “maintaining fairness for all players,” so it’s more likely that each player received a species role. In that case, increases in popularity would depend on visitor preferences. Players would be passively operating rather than actively drawing crowds. If assigned to an unpopular species, their results might be very poor.

Perhaps the game has a balancing mechanism, such as placing unpopular animal exhibits near the areas with the highest visitor traffic at the entrance.

Yan Jiyun heard the black panther rummaging for food nearby. If he made any noise, he would be caught by the black panther very quickly.

He even envied players in other exhibit areas. They didn’t have to be herded into a native animal’s territory.

Yan Jiyun didn’t dare turn back into a human; he couldn’t outrun the black panther anyway.

After the last wave of “Visitors +1,” the system stopped giving notifications. His visitor count hadn’t budged at all.

It seemed the system had hidden more detailed rules: players had to be seen by visitors, otherwise their popularity wouldn’t increase.

Yan Jiyun was stuck between advancing and retreating, but he still decided to leave the black panther’s territory first. Staying here wasn’t good for exploring the instance!

For now, the black panther showed no intent to harm him, treating him only as a cub. Hopefully it would take his leaving as just part of play.

He couldn’t run toward the tiger zone. The area was too large, he might not find an exit, and he could run into a real tiger; he also couldn’t run south, where it was close to the road and blocked off by the zoo.

The game prompt said the role being played couldn’t leave its area, but it didn’t say humans couldn’t leave, so he could exploit that loophole.

At present, the game hadn’t progressed at all. Other players could squat in their habitat for five days and still gain popularity, but his “cat” form card only lasted a few hours. There was no way he could stay in the leopard zone for five days waiting for visitors to contribute. Besides, the game never said players couldn’t increase popularity through other means.

Yan Jiyun noticed that the distance between him and the black panther had increased!

He didn’t know whether it had strayed into another area, but he seized the opportunity, jumped down from the rockery, and sprinted south at full speed. He didn’t plan to run toward crowded areas. If he turned human on the spot, it would be a disaster.

Yan Jiyun didn’t want to be controlled by the black panther, so he had to run as fast as possible.

He could only temporarily betray the black panther’s goodwill. He’d take a look around outside first and come back later.

Right now, all he could do was run for his life, nonstop. If he stopped, the black panther would catch up.

There was no sound of the black panther chasing behind him, which eased his mind somewhat.

However, it seemed he still hadn’t run out of the leopard zone. When he first entered the instance, there had been a cross-area warning, but he hadn’t heard it yet after running for a while, meaning he still hadn’t left. He could only keep running.

He saw an amusement park zone sign hanging not far away!

Just then, Yan Jiyun heard the sound of rapid pursuit behind him.

Crap, it was the black panther!

Why did the black panther keep chasing him? He really wasn’t a panther cub, just a humble cat player in a game!

Yan Jiyun’s Human Form Time Card was about to expire. He had to find an exit fence. Once he got out, he could avoid the black panther.

The black panther probably wouldn’t treat him as a panther cub once he turned into a human.

He saw it! He saw it! Victory was just ahead!

Thanks to his owner’s training methods, not only had his physique improved, even his running speed was faster than before. He leaped over wooden stakes, bounded from obstructing rocks into the grass, then dashed through low shrubs toward the fence.

If he were human-sized, he couldn’t get out at all. But now it was different. He could squeeze through!

The footsteps chasing him from behind were getting closer and closer.

He could understand the black panther’s feelings. After finally finding a cub of the same kind, of course it would want to protect it. But he really wasn’t one.

Yan Jiyun ran until his heart felt like it was about to stop. If he failed to escape this time, the black panther would carry him back to its territory and keep a close watch on him. He might not get such a good chance to escape again. He absolutely couldn’t be caught!

He was almost at the fence. It was wide enough for him to squeeze through!

And at that moment, the black panther’s footsteps were even closer.

As the huge dark shadow behind him lunged toward Yan Jiyun, he rushed toward the fence he could pass through directly, hearing a massive crash.

He stopped two meters from the fence, panting heavily, and turned to see the black panther that had chased him out slam half its body into the barrier.

Just hearing it made him ache.

This drawn-out chase finally came to an end.

Yan Jiyun’s Human Form Time Card also ended right on time.

[Human Form Time Card Remaining Time: 3 seconds】

2 seconds—

1 second—

He jumped behind a large rock and turned back into a human.

Yan Jiyun appeared in human form in front of the black panther, waved at it, and said with a hint of smugness, “Little black panther, I’ll come see you again after I’m done with my business.”

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“That scared me to death. I thought the kitty would get pounced on by the big panther and carried back to its territory under strict supervision.”

“‘Strict supervision’? What the hell, the big panther isn’t the kitty’s dad.”

“But it really looks like the panther wants to be the kitty’s dad. Don’t male panthers usually just hunt and not raise cubs? That big panther clearly put the kitty under its protection. Why is it acting so abnormally?”

“Ah, I don’t want spoilers. I want to keep watching the kitty unravel the mystery bit by bit. Watching him solve puzzles is always fun. His way of thinking is completely different from other players. I’m super excited for this instance!” 

“I was going to give you a little spoiler, but some people don’t want to see them, I won’t. Just keep watching, everyone. This instance is really interesting.”

“Hilarious! Kitty Baby was panting and exhausted from running, almost collapsing. After turning human he still deliberately waved goodbye to the panther. Does he think he can really escape? He’ll have to go back sooner or later. The game won’t allow players to leave their species’ habitat.” 

“That’s not necessarily true. The kitty has already left the leopard area, and the system hasn’t punished him. He doesn’t seem to be heading back either.”

“Right, this isn’t the leopard zone anymore. Where is he going now?”

After turning human, Yan Jiyun’s viewpoint rose, letting him see the surrounding road signs.

After separating from the black panther, he headed straight for the zoo’s administrative office.

He looped back past the tiger zone, passing through the black bear zone and the primate zone. This was also the zoo’s north gate.

Fortunately, the zoo’s roads were well-connected and clearly marked, so it wasn’t hard to get around.

He deliberately checked the system again and received no warning about leaving the leopard zone. From this, he inferred that while in human form, he could move freely around the zoo without worrying about zone-exit warnings. Those warnings only applied to players in animal form. In other words, the system detected whether he was human or animal.

If he was both a player and in animal form, he’d be warned; if he was only in human form, he could exploit this bug and avoid warnings.

Nice, now he could choose to turn into a cat at critical moments and no longer worry about insufficient card time.

The instance’s gameplay was completely different from his main mission. It seemed players might be able to roam freely at certain times.

When he first arrived, he ran out of the leopard zone, but at that time the game hadn’t issued any reminders. Only as opening time approached did it remind players to return to their positions.

Staggering his clue-searching time from other players wasn’t a bad idea. Searching for clues was definitely more important than squatting in an area to operate.

Yan Jiyun obtained the zoo’s complete map. Following the roads, he headed toward the tiger zone, but not along the sightseeing vehicle route. Rather, along the other side of the tiger zone, which was entirely fenced off. This wasn’t the tigers’ activity area, so he couldn’t see them up close.

However, he was certain that one of the big white tigers in the tiger zone had been transformed from a player.

The system’s scoring criteria were still unknown. What did the popularity ranking represent? Did gaining more visitor attention mean more points?

He hadn’t seen the system announce any scoring standards.

The instance had only just begun. Players in an Easy instance weren’t necessarily all first-timers. Some might have entered many times already, so they probably wouldn’t make a big deal out of rankings. The first round of rankings likely wouldn’t draw much hostility.

As long as he didn’t participate in the rankings for the next few hours, his rank would gradually drop.

In the previous instance, he had been targeted constantly. This time, he decided to keep a low profile. Since he was human now, not returning to the leopard area meant no visitors would notice him, and without attention, there’d be no ranking. Being too high-profile would only attract attention.

For now, he’d just observe. If absolutely necessary, he could go back to the leopard zone and keep waving the teaser toy. He’d already gained plenty of attention that way earlier.

He successfully bypassed the tiger zone and, in the primate zone, saw several Eastern black-and-white colobus monkeys, each squatting on tree branches. He knew little about primates and couldn’t tell at a glance which, if any, were players.

At this point, Yan Jiyun arrived at the zoo’s administrative office building.

The office was very close to the visitor area, with crowds everywhere. He blended in with the visitors; no one knew he was a player.

As he stood in front of the administrative building, about to check if there was anything worth noting and preferably memorizing the route map. There, he spotted a recruitment notice posted at the entrance.

The notice was handwritten, backed with red paper. The positions listed were veterinarian, ticket seller, accountant, and zookeeper.

Yan Jiyun’s gaze landed on the recruitment requirements for the zookeeper role. 

[Zookeeper]

Recruitment Requirements: Age between 20 to 45, likes animals, not afraid of death.