DSMC Chapter 83.2

He hadn’t seen any dormitory rules posted downstairs when he arrived. Could it be that his onboarding process had been too rushed and he hadn’t received the employee handbook?

There were still keepers running toward the dormitory. The closer it got to 5:30 PM., the more anxious their pace became, as if something were chasing them from behind.

After noting down the room of the two zookeepers who always bad-mouthed him, before 5:30 PM arrived, Yan Jiyun knocked on their door.

The keeper Ah Qiang, with a black mole on the right side of his upper lip, opened the door for him. Ah Qiang didn’t look very happy.

Ah Qiang said unpleasantly, “What do you want? At a time like this you’re still not back in your own dorm.”

It was said that you don’t hit a smiling face. Yan Jiyun put on a smile. “Qiang-ge, I came to borrow cigarettes and a lighter from you. I left mine in the cafeteria just now, and seeing that… it’s almost… I didn’t want to go out, so I shamelessly came to ask if you have any extra cigarettes and a lighter. Otherwise I don’t know how I’ll get through tonight.”

Another keeper, sitting shirtless inside, said, “You newcomers have to be on duty on your first night. You still have time to smoke?”

Yan Jiyun laughed. “Isn’t it that I’ve never been on night duty before? I also wanted to ask you guys for some advice. When I get paid later, I’ll buy each of you a carton of Zhonghua.”

He had long smelled cigarette smoke on the two of them and knew they were both heavy smokers. And they had always been wearing junior zookeeper uniforms, which meant that for some reason they hadn’t been promoted. So when he arrived and immediately got a senior zookeeper’s uniform, they must have felt extremely unbalanced.

If a colleague with a higher position suddenly tried to curry favor with them, their sense of satisfaction would be greatly boosted. Yan Jiyun had a firm grasp on their weakness. Judging by their reaction at this moment, there was an eighty percent chance he would get answers to what he wanted to know.

New zookeepers having to be on duty was very important information. Just as they said, it wasn’t even certain one could survive tonight.

He had no concept at all of “night duty” in the zoo. Since the staff were so afraid of nighttime, combined with the high salary of zookeepers, it could be guessed that this was truly a high-risk job for those not afraid of death.

Ah Qiang, standing by the door, looked left and right but still didn’t let Yan Jiyun in.

Yan Jiyun breathed a sigh of relief.

Ah Qiang lowered his voice and said, “This night duty might be different from what you used to know. The animals here are very strange. At night, they’ll change completely! Anyway, it’s extremely dangerous. You should be extra careful yourself, and it’s best to find a safe place to hide. Go out and look around again when it’s almost dawn, and the supervisor won’t say anything. Anyway, as long as you survive, you’ll basically pass probation. Our leaders will also give you a raise or rewards based on your performance.”

Yan Jiyun nodded vigorously. “Thank you for the reminder, Qiang-ge. I’ll remember it.”

Ah Sen took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from inside and said, “Here you go. Don’t forget to buy me Zhonghua when you get paid.”

Yan Jiyun continued nodding. “Thank you, Sen-ge.”

Of course he hoped the two NPCs would continue saying something, but after handing him the cigarettes and lighter, Ah Sen closed the door.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard Ah Qiang ask Ah Sen, “Why did you give him the lighter and cigarettes? Isn’t that sending him to his death?”

Yan Jiyun: ???

Ah Sen said disdainfully, “Heh, heh, just take it as seeing him off. With how weak he looks, he’ll definitely be dead long ago. Tsk, don’t play the good guy either. Telling him to hide is fake too. How could a newcomer on night duty have any place to hide?”

Ah Qiang also laughed. “Isn’t that just giving him a bit of hope to live? If he survives, I can smoke an extra carton of Zhonghua. If he doesn’t, it just means he didn’t have the fate.”

Yan Jiyun: ???

Holy shit, these two bastards!

Luckily he hadn’t gone far. Otherwise, if he had been thinking too intently, he really might not have heard this conversation. Thank heaven, you two not only love to mock people, but also live together.

Yan Jiyun glanced at the current instance time: 17h 29m 09s 

He rushed back to his dormitory in the last few seconds.

He sat on the chair, closed his eyes, and rested while thinking about the additional information Ah Qiang and Ah Sen had just provided.

First, new zookeepers must be on night duty.

Second, night duty is a high-risk job.

Third, smoking is not allowed during night duty.

Fourth, hiding during night duty is useless.

Fifth, night duty will last until dawn the next day.

After 05:30 arrived, the walkie-talkie he had been carrying in his pocket, waterproof and shockproof, was still very quiet. The supervisor had not issued him any missions.

Could it be that missions didn’t need to be issued?

Just then, his room door was suddenly knocked on.

Yan Jiyun jumped up from the chair in fright and lightly patted his chest.

He wasn’t familiar with any of the NPCs here. The two zookeepers he knew had both been sent out of the game by him already. Who would be looking for him?

Yan Jiyun brought back that extremely useful stick. He held the stick in one hand and pulled the door open a crack with the other.

The other party said, “Xiao Jiang, it’s me, Dr. Peng.”

Yan Jiyun quietly leaned the stick behind the door and said, “Dr. Peng, why are you here?”

Dr. Peng said, “I just saw you go back to the dormitory and came over to say hello. I just remembered, you’re on duty tonight, right?”

Yan Jiyun nodded, thinking: ‘Is rookie zookeepers having to go on night duty something all zoo staff tacitly know?’

He pretended not to understand very well and scratched his head. “I also don’t really know how to do night duty.”

Dr. Peng said, “I also happen to be scheduled for duty today. I came back to pack up a bit. Later, how about you go together with me?”

This was an initiative invitation from an NPC. Yan Jiyun quickly weighed in his heart whether Dr. Peng was reliable.

Dr. Peng had given the parrot Xixi a physical examination, and Xixi had safely come out of the infirmary.

Dr. Peng had treated the injured little wolf, and later the little wolf was fine too.

Although these two things couldn’t prove Dr. Peng’s character, at present there didn’t seem to be any problems. Hopefully he wasn’t like Uncle Man and Jiang Meiying, deliberately luring him to take the bait and then getting rid of him.

But then again, their professions didn’t conflict at all. There was no “you kill me, I kill you” situation. Who knows how the system arranged Dr. Peng’s character setting. It’s better to continue observing carefully.

“Sure, that’s perfect. You can also give me some pointers about night duty. It’s my first time too.”

Dr. Peng said, “Alright, wait for me a moment.”

After agreeing on the departure time, Yan Jiyun went back to his room to start preparing.

He had to bring the stick.

The lighter might come in handy too, so he had to bring that.

He checked the item bar once more. He would definitely need to use items tonight.

When Dr. Peng came out again, Yan Jiyun discovered that he was no longer wearing a white coat, but the same work uniform as him, only the color was dark blue.

Yan Jiyun’s eyelid twitched. He asked, “Dr. Peng, you’re not on duty in the infirmary today?”

Dr. Peng said, “You’re new, so you might not know our zoo’s rules. Every employee is scheduled for night duty once a month, veterinarians included. But don’t worry, my duty is also just to check on a few small animals that were injured or have recovered and been released back, observe their nighttime activity, and make records.”

Yan Jiyun put on a suddenly enlightened expression. “So that’s how it is.”

Dr. Peng’s explanation had no problems at all. Every time he got sick and recovered after treatment, the pet hospital would still regularly consult the owner about his condition. He hadn’t expected zoo doctors to be this responsible too. Of course, he still had a question mark over Dr. Peng. The issuer of this mission should be Dr. Peng.

The time had just reached 6 PM. 

Yan Jiyun heard the clicking sounds of locks engaging throughout the entire staff dormitory building.

6 PM was an important time.

The system notification that followed confirmed his guess.

[(Public Channel) Zoo rules lifted, all players may move freely.]

[(Public Channel) Please return to your designated living areas before the park opens.]

[Please begin patrolling inside the zoo at 6 PM. Patrol time is from 6 PM to 5 AM the next morning.]

[Employee duty regulations: Please complete the designated fixed-point patrol missions and do your best to survive until dawn. Wish you a pleasant work experience.]

Yan Jiyun: “……”

What the fuck is “pleasant work experience.”

What is a fixed-point patrol mission?

[Please finish inspecting the flamingo zone before 7 PM.]

Yan Jiyun: “……”

At this moment, Dr. Peng said, “Xiao Jiang, let’s go. We’ll go to the flamingo zone first.”

Yan Jiyun had no way not to follow Dr. Peng.

But what was strange was: why was the mission not related to Dr. Peng?

Could it be that Dr. Peng wasn’t an important NPC?

If following the logic of other instances, a mission like “protect Dr. Peng” would definitely have been issued. The daytime missions were also highly related to NPCs. But now, Dr. Peng had somehow become invisible to the system?

When he had time, he still had to go to Dr. Peng’s office to look for clues. This NPC had too many suspicious points.

A whole day had almost passed, yet he still hadn’t found where the instance’s zoo crisis lay.

However, now that all players could move freely, it meant he could turn back into a cat at any time without being restricted by the “job-hopping” rule. That was good news.

But why release the players at this time?

The two of them headed from the management area to the flamingo zone while it wasn’t completely dark yet.

As soon as they entered, Yan Jiyun saw a flock of birds with flame-like plumage.

His understanding of flamingos all came from a brief visit to the zoo years ago. Flamingos sleep during the day, preen their feathers, bathe, and nighttime is their feeding time. That’s how normal flamingos are.

But Yan Jiyun was puzzled by the flock in front of him. They weren’t pecking at each other, or flapping their wings at each other. It looked like they were fighting?

Dr. Peng put down the medical kit in his hand and rushed over. “You can’t fight, you guys just fought a few days ago!”

Yan Jiyun: “……” Aren’t animals supposed to dislike Dr. Peng? Wouldn’t him rushing over just add fuel to the fire?

[Side Mission: Please protect Dr. Peng.]

[Player has triggered Main Mission 1: Please resolve Xianghe Zoo’s first crisis.]

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Dr. Peng actually needs to be protected by players? Has anyone played this route before? I don’t get it, what does this mean? Isn’t there only one main mission? I’m so confused! Big shots, please help explain!”