The Best Zoo in the Country

In the mountains of Oumagadoki City, there is a struggling zoo. During the day, the zoo operates as usual, and apart from a lion with a bad temper that strikes fear into the hearts of many, the other animals are quite docile. It is only when the zoo closes at 4:44 pm that its peculiar characteristics become apparent.

That is, these animals can all speak in a humanoid form.

"Jilan, is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me?" Jilan was holding a seal in his arms. He looked no different from an ordinary seal, but he had a butterfly-shaped tie around his neck, and his gray fur coat gave him a gentlemanly air.

"No, no, Mr. Igarashi." Jilan shook his head and continued walking towards the pool while carrying the seal.

The seal's name was Igarashi. After the miraculous smoke transformation, the zookeeper had Jilan and Aoi Hana bring out food and distribute it to the non-human creatures. Igarashi wanted to return to his pool after eating and drinking his fill, and Jilan was assigned by the zookeeper to help him.

"Haha, you're still shocked, aren't you? The animal you saw this morning could become human-like by evening! Even the zookeeper was shocked and screamed when he first arrived." The seal, lazily scooped up by Jilan, chuckled as he leaned back. "But you're quite calm; you quickly composed yourself and accepted the fact."

"It's like reading a book. Once you accept the initial premise, everything that follows is understandable, and it can even lead to different plot developments."

Although several tens of minutes had passed, Jilan was still processing what the principal had said.

What he said wasn't complicated. Simply put, his Quirk is the ability to anthropomorphize animals. He was once a human, and turning into a rabbit's head is a side effect of his Quirk. This is understandable. However, he keeps repeating one thing: his Quirk was given to him by others.

"That was when I was only four or five years old. I've long forgotten the name and face of the person who gave me this Quirk. But I've always remembered one thing—he said he wanted me to become famous using this Quirk, so that I could go back to normal!"

"So, I traveled the world, taking with me the animal companions I tamed along the way, and opened a zoo— the Oumagadoki Zoo!"

Although the headmaster had lived with a rabbit head since childhood, he had never been sad or desperate, nor did he resent the person who made him look like that. He didn't care about telling Jilan about this painful memory; he just showed off his hands, which had lost their rabbit fur, to Jilan like an innocent child.

After carrying Igarashi to the pool, Jilan Jiyu returned the way they came. The animals in front of the statue were still having a wild party, a scene that would normally seem utterly absurd.

A lion is arm wrestling with a gorilla, Werewolf and a birdman are playing chess, and elephants alone occupy half of the open space...

"Jilan, you're back." Aoi Hana didn't seem surprised by the situation. Holding a chicken leg, she waved at Jilan, then used the chicken leg as a road sign to point east. "The headmaster is looking for you."

Jilan looked around but didn't see the rabbit head that stood out in the darkness. She walked in the direction Aoi Hana pointed. A red cloth was loosely tied to a tree to the east, and she could vaguely see an animal with yellow spots running towards her at a speed that was too fast for the naked eye to see.

Jilan quickly realized that it was the cheetah whose face had been smeared with his own excrement that morning, and he was accelerating towards the red cloth on two legs at a speed far exceeding that of Bolt!

Just when Jilan thought he was about to cross the finish line, a white shadow rushed over. The rabbit zookeeper wasn't running, but flying close to the ground. In an instant, he swept past the cheetah who was running hard and crossed the finish line first!

The headmaster stopped speeding up, squatted down, and drew a circle on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. He stood up, stretched, and flashed a bright smile, "Cheetah, you still can't outrun me. You still need to lose weight!"

Cheetah, panting heavily, supported himself on his knees. Hearing this, he looked down at his stomach, which was so protruding that it looked like a human five months pregnant. This would make sense if it were a pregnant female animal anthropomorphized, but he was a male cheetah!

Even though seals have round, plump bodies, you can't bring yourself to dislike them. But why does this seal with its leopard-like head have such a beer belly?!... Indeed, sun-loving seals must die...

"Director, is there something you need?" Jilan asked as she walked up to the director.

The zoo director crossed his arms behind his head and spun around like a top, turning his body sharply. "Jilan, you asked me before why I invited you to our zoo, right?"

Jilan nodded, waiting for the principal to continue.

"Because... it's interesting!"

"Interesting, that's the reason..." Jilan said with a wry smile, "Director, don't you have so many interesting animal friends you can 'torture'?"

"Persecution? I like that word!" The headmaster's eyes lit up. "You're really interesting!"

I feel like I'm not communicating with the headmaster on the same timeline... Just as Jilan was having a headache, a Werewolf guy hooked his arm around Jilan's shoulder and said with a wry smile, "Well, you seem pretty troubled, right? Let me explain it to you."

"The headmaster told you when he introduced us, right? He Quirk how he turned us into humans. Each time he turns us into humans, it takes a lot of his energy, so he often sleeps in during the day."

"Your name is Ogami, right? Did you win that game of chess just now?" Jilan suddenly asked.

"Spare me, please. If I hadn't lost, I wouldn't be here explaining this to you right now." Ogami turned to look at the rhinoceros carefully holding a chess piece with his sharp fingernails, and sighed helplessly. "For the headmaster, as long as things are interesting enough, he won't care about anything else. But those of us who rely on his power know that his greatest hope is to become human again."

"You mean, you want to make this zoo famous? Do you believe what the person who gave the zookeeper his Quirk said?"

"Since the headmistress's hand has recovered, there's no question of belief or disbelief. Besides, relying solely on Sister Snake and the others won't be enough..."

"Sister Snake? Is she someone who works at a circus?"

"Huh?" Ogami was taken aback. "What do you mean by 'circus'? We mainly rely on Sister Snake, the Pro Hero Uwabami's, income in the entertainment industry."

The Pro Hero Uwabami! Jilan was genuinely surprised. Even someone like him who didn't watch much TV knew that the Pro Hero named Uwabami was very famous, frequently appearing on variety shows. Jilan remembered that Yaoyorozu had been specifically chosen by her for this Work-Study Program, but he never expected that the beautiful woman was also an animal in disguise...

"They use their earnings from the entertainment industry to make up for the zoo's losses? No wonder this zoo, which is completely unbalanced in its income and expenditure, can still keep going..."

"Therefore, we feel very sorry for Sister Snake. We've always relied on her support to have a comfortable life, while our zoo hasn't generated any revenue..." Ogami raised his wolf head and looked at the zoo director, who had somehow ended up fishing on the elephant's head, and gave a somewhat somber laugh. "I hope you can help us become the number one zoo in the country and help the director return to being human."