Chapter Summaries

The Strange Tales Department debated whether Su Chen should risk taking over the Zoo, while Elder Qin suspected the people in the Horror Story World might be real. Su Chen chose to head for the Zoo Director's Office, and a message from “it” challenged him to come.

• Elder Qin asked Xiao Li and the others whether Su Chen should prioritize Dragon Country or try to save the people in the Zoo, and they urged him not to take the risk.
• Elder Qin pointed out that the Horror Story World's staff, rules, and names were in Chinese, raising the possibility that its people were real or even from Dragon Country.
• Su Chen decided to go to the Zoo Director's Office because he believed he would regret not trying to change the Zoo.
• The writing on Su Chen's letter rearranged into a message from “it” inviting him to come over.
• Su Chen calmly put his belongings away, switched on his jellyfish night-light, and headed for the Aquarium's main entrance.

Su Chen entered the Zoo Director's Office and found the badge the black shadow wanted him to destroy. He realized the shadow had lured him there to eliminate the badge, and stood his ground as their confrontation continued.

• A staff member in red warned Su Chen not to leave the Aquarium, then told him where the Zoo Director's Office was after Su Chen asked.
• The staff member in red thanked Su Chen in his thoughts and believed he might be the person Old Zhou had been waiting for, while viewers argued in the livestream chat.
• Su Chen found the Zoo Director's Office in the woods and entered, where animal dolls turned toward him and a black shadow filled the room.
• Su Chen endured the dolls' cries, moved them aside, and found a bronze badge pinned to a White Lion doll.
• The black shadow used the dolls to demand that Su Chen destroy the badge, but Su Chen realized it wanted to remove the badge as a threat to its control of the Zoo and faced it without fear.

Su Chen learned that the shadow tried to kill him because wearing the badge would make him appear to be a white lion, then faced the problem of inheriting the Zoo Director Position without protection. Four white lions arrived to confront the shadow and urged him to take the badge, giving him a chance to break the deadlock.

• Su Chen provoked the shadow with the badge, but stopped when its killing intent caused the security office to grow dangerously cold.
• Su Chen asked why the shadow could attack him despite seeing him as a monkey, and it explained that the badge would make him a white lion in its eyes.
• Su Chen realized taking the Zoo Director Position would put him in danger because the shadow would attack him as a white lion.
• Su Chen turned around and found four white lions had left their enclosure and were approaching the shadow.
• The lead white lion nudged Su Chen's pocket, urging him to wear the badge, while the other lions stood ready to protect him.

Su Chen used the standoff between the four white lions and the black shadow to plan his next move, confirmed he could keep system rewards after reloading a save, and prepared to transform the Zoo. After securing the organization’s promise to reimburse supernatural-related expenses, he stopped the battle and faced both sides.

• Su Chen learned that deciphering 98% of the rules would earn him 1,000 points and found a useful item in the System Mall.
• Su Chen pinned the badge to his chest, provoking the black shadow to attack, and the four white lions fought it off.
• Su Chen searched the Zoo Director’s Office for a telephone directory and texted the department directors to report his appointment and ask about funding.
• Jiang Tian confirmed that the organization would verify Su Chen’s identity and do its utmost to reimburse expenses related to the Zoo’s supernatural problems.
• Su Chen returned to the battlefield and called for the fighting to stop, and the white lions and black shadow turned to look at him.

Su Chen secured the white lions’ support and struck a deal with the black shadow to help remove the badge from the Zoo in exchange for being escorted to the exit. As he left, the livestream audience argued over his choices and spotted Pickle Country’s transformed contestant behaving like a rabbit in the Rabbit Zone.

• Su Chen demanded the leading white lion’s absolute trust, and the lion agreed to support his methods.
• Su Chen promised the black shadow he would take the badge out of the Zoo, and the shadow agreed to guide him to the exit.
• The white lions suppressed their anger and returned to the Lion Enclosure while Su Chen retrieved a flashlight.
• The black shadow told Su Chen it had come up from below and that having no shadow took a heavy toll, then led him toward the entrance.
• Su Chen followed the shadow’s directions, shining his flashlight into the roadside woods as they headed for the exit.
• Viewers debated Su Chen’s actions, then saw Kim Xiba, transformed into a rabbit, mechanically thrusting against a tree in the Rabbit Zone.

Su Chen cleared the Zoo horror story with an S rating, boosting Dragon Country’s national fortune and earning points. He stayed in the Horror Story World, bought a Subconscious Amplification Device, won a mental-power increase in a prize draw, and went to sleep before returning to the Zoo.

• Su Chen used the dark shadow’s help to leave the Zoo and earned an S rating with 1,000 points for clearing the instance.
• The Supreme Rule announced that Dragon Country’s national fortune rose by 10 points, citizens gained 10% more lifespan, and farmed meat production increased by 10% for one year.
• Su Chen chose to stay in the Horror Story World during the three-day break and appeared in a five-star hotel room.
• Su Chen spent 500 points on a Subconscious Amplification Device and stored it in his system space.
• Su Chen spent his remaining 500 points on a prize draw, gained three mental-power points, and unlocked his attribute panel.
• Su Chen finished preparing for his next Zoo run and fell asleep.

Su Chen loaded a save to return to the Zoo with his memories intact, while the rest of the world was rolled back for a second attempt. The supreme rule revoked the Lake Kingdom’s extra chance after its protest, bringing back the country’s drought and sparking unrest.

• After waking from a long sleep, Su Chen told the system to load his save and returned to the Horror Story World’s waiting area with his memories intact.
• Su Chen and the other Chosen Ones were teleported back to the Zoo, and the livestreams reopened, confusing officials who believed the next round was days away.
• The supreme rule announced that every country would receive another chance, while Dragon Country kept its lifespan bonus and Su Chen kept his memories; no country would receive hints.
• The Lake Kingdom protested the rollback, so the supreme rule revoked its reward, erased its Chosen One, and brought back the drought.
• The Lake Kingdom’s citizens blamed their leaders and began gathering to rebel.

After the rollback, Su Chen used his knowledge of the previous run to keep events on course, sending Kim Xiba into the Zoo first before beginning a plan to save allies. He asked Iron Pakistan’s contestant to wait outside, and the contestant agreed to trust him.

• Other countries’ leaders decided not to give their Chosen Ones hints, while Dragon Country’s viewers speculated that Su Chen had anticipated the rollback.
• Kim Xiba approached Su Chen and offered to reveal the correct Zoo rule, but Su Chen angrily dismissed him.
• Kim Xiba hurried into the Zoo first, unaware that he was repeating the mistake that had killed him before.
• After Kim Xiba disappeared inside, Su Chen approached Iron Pakistan’s contestant and asked him to wait before entering the Zoo.
• Iron Pakistan’s contestant agreed to trust Su Chen and delay entering.

Su Chen warned contestants from friendly countries about the Zoo’s hidden danger, prompting grateful nations to pledge support for Dragon Country. Italy became the first major country to switch sides, offering restitution and trade cooperation in exchange for help in future scenarios, and its cultural artifacts began returning to Dragon Country.

• Su Chen gathered contestants from friendly countries and led them away from the crowd, while others who doubted him entered the Zoo.
• Countries whose contestants Su Chen had helped issued fervent statements of gratitude and support for Dragon Country.
• Western powers grew alarmed as countries openly aligned themselves with Dragon Country and canceled planned condemnations.
• Italy’s leader offered to return looted cultural artifacts, pay compensation, and serve as a trade hub in exchange for Dragon Country’s help in a future horror scenario.
• Dragon Country accepted Italy’s proposal, and Italy sent Dragon Country’s cultural artifacts home by plane the next day.

Su Chen entered the Zoo during a calculated safe window, took the Zoo Director's Badge from the Director's Office, and gained the white lions' support as the new director. He began gathering the employees and ordered them to seal off the dangerous Elephant Enclosure.

• Su Chen noticed that the contestants' actions had changed after the rollback, while Yamashita Kenichiro obtained a rabbit and grew rabbit ears.
• Su Chen told his group to stay outside, then entered the Zoo and took the shortest route through the woods to the Director's Office.
• Su Chen kept his eyes shut against the plush toys' cognitive pollution, found the badge and white lion plush toy, and ran to the Lion Enclosure.
• Su Chen pinned on the badge and declared himself the Zoo's director, winning the trust of the four white lions.
• Su Chen asked a staff member to gather the employees and ordered the staff near the Elephant Enclosure to seal it off.