Chapter 37
Chapter 37
After reading all the rules, Su Chen was visibly moved.
They contained an astonishing amount of information.
For example, why could the map be fed to rabbits?
And why was the Aquarium safe at night?
One mystery after another unfolded in Su Chen’s mind.
Of all the rules, Rule Eight affected him most deeply.
[The office lights must remain on from 1:15 a.m. until 6:00 a.m., even if no one is inside.]
Since “It” was attracted to light,
leaving the lights on in the pitch-black night was practically a deliberate attempt to draw “Its” hostility.
After confronting “It” several times, Su Chen understood exactly how powerful his opponent was.
The director’s actions in the face of such an enemy astonished him.
And that was not all. The other rules also revealed danger.
Take Rule Eleven:
[You may take a nap at noon, but if you decide to work the night shift, use any means necessary to stay alert. Do not doze. If you cannot guarantee your mental alertness, do not work the night shift.]
This rule instantly reminded Su Chen of his nightmare.
Perhaps anyone on duty in the director’s office was more likely to enter that dream.
In other words, the director could accidentally fall into the Otherworld and suffer cognitive contamination.
That was still not all. The rules revealed
that animals sometimes burst into the director’s office to cause havoc.
One moment of carelessness could allow those bizarre animals to lure the director into a trap.
But beyond all this, the most dangerous situation was a power outage.
According to the rules, the director’s office possessed a powerful electrical system. Logically, its power could not fail.
If an outage still occurred under those conditions, there was only one explanation.
The director’s office had sunk into the Otherworld, or at the very least into the space between the surface world and the Otherworld, just like the Aquarium.
That bizarre displacement caused the circuits to become misaligned and the power to fail.
“This is fucking risking your life.”
Su Chen frowned.
In his view, the Zoo Director Rules were designed entirely to create a safe period for everyone else by sending the director to their death.
But that left one point he could not understand at all.
If the zoo was so dangerous, why continue operating it?
Wouldn’t the best outcome be to shut it down and leave “It” inside to fend for itself?
Why drag so many people into walking a tightrope over a supernatural abyss?
Su Chen thought for a long time but still could not understand.
Finally, he sighed and decided to stop thinking about it.
He was powerless to change any of this.
The most important thing now was escaping successfully.
As for everything else, he no longer cared. It had nothing to do with him.
Su Chen lit his phone screen again, preparing to use its glow to return the paper and box to their original places.
But his body suddenly stiffened.
Earlier, he had spread the sheet across the bed. Objects beneath it had obscured its reverse side, and the light had been dim, so he noticed nothing unusual.
Now, when he lifted it to put it away, nothing blocked the back, and the phone’s light shone across it.
The outlines of writing appeared.
He hurriedly turned the sheet over.
Dense lines of text covered the reverse side.
He spread the paper across the bed again and leaned closer in confusion.
The phone’s faint light first illuminated several paragraphs at the top.
Dear Visitor,
Hello. First, please allow me to extend my sincere greetings.
If you were able to discover this letter during this particular period, then you must be clever, cautious, and courageous. Someone as perceptive as you has surely noticed that something is wrong with this zoo. You are correct: this zoo is extraordinarily dangerous, and below I will reveal its entire truth.
Before that, I must warn you that keeping a light on during this period is extremely dangerous and may place you in peril. If you are too afraid, you may choose to stop reading. Doing so will not prevent you from escaping this bizarre zoo.
Su Chen paused upon reaching this point and immediately turned off his phone screen.
He felt conflicted.
Since the letter said that its contents would not affect his escape,
was there really any need to continue reading?
Wasn’t safely escaping the zoo what mattered most?
The viewers in Longguo’s livestream felt far less conflicted. When Su Chen turned off his phone, they rejoiced.
“I was dying of anxiety! I was terrified Su Chen’s curiosity would make him keep reading. Everything is ready now, and all he needs is the final opportunity. There’s no reason to take another risk. Wouldn’t it be better to wait obediently until morning and escape?”
“Exactly. Fortunately, Su Chen turned off the screen. He must have realized that too!”
“Curiosity killed the cat. Su Chen, please don’t court death again. I’m begging you to play it safe!”
“Um, brothers, did anyone with good eyesight make out the writing below? I’m actually rather curious.”
“It’s too dark to see anything, but I’m also curious about what secret this zoo is hiding.”
…
Su Chen thought in the darkness for a long time.
In the end, he disappointed Longguo’s viewers.
He turned his phone screen on again.
He had originally intended to give up.
But as he stared into the darkness, images of the security guard and the various staff members kept surfacing in his mind.
What kind of secret could be worth their voluntary sacrifice?
Those figures ultimately moved Su Chen.
“Since I’ve come this far, I have to uncover every secret! The more of the Horror World I decipher, the greater the system’s reward will be after I clear the scenario.”
“Besides, I still have my save point as a safety net. With everything I know now, I could definitely clear this scenario perfectly if I went through it again.”
Su Chen finally persuaded himself.
By the phone’s faint glow, he looked at the text that followed.