Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 299 Daytime Work at the Zoo
Under the bright sunshine, the zoo appeared quiet and peaceful.

The number of visitors entering the park is quite small, with only one or two people occasionally coming in to shop.

Taking advantage of the temporary absence of tourists, Liu Yan spread out the zoo map on the counter and examined it carefully.

The entrance is prominently displayed at the bottom of the map, and the entire park is laid out around a lake depicted in blue.

In the upper left corner, the ape enclosure is marked as a reddish-brown area, right next to the edge of the central lake.

In the lower left corner, the lion enclosure is marked with a gray square, making it appear relatively isolated.

To the right of the lake is a large area of ​​deep green, which is the elephant enclosure.

On the far right of the entire map, another separate dark green area is the Rabbit Park, which is the most feared by the reincarnators.

Liu Yan is currently located between the elephant enclosure and the rabbit enclosure, closer to the rabbit enclosure.

The various areas are connected by roads. The beverage shops are represented by cups with straws, the security rooms by small houses, and restrooms are scattered throughout. It looks like a well-planned and well-serviced ordinary zoo, if you ignore the fact that the entire zoo only has four zoo areas.

However, Liu Yan's keen eyes spotted something amiss.

The rabbit enclosure and the elephant enclosure are located on opposite sides of the lake. Although they don't seem close in a straight line, the rules link them closely together—anyone wearing rabbit ears entering the elephant enclosure is considered extremely dangerous and must immediately abandon their visit.

This misalignment between the spatial arrangement and the rules made her wary.

Of course, there is no sign of aquarium on the map, not even an icon of an aquarium or large aquarium that might suggest its existence.

"Sister, I want to drink that red juice!"

A childish voice interrupted Liu Yan's thoughts.

Liu Yan looked up and saw a little boy, about seven or eight years old, with big eyes, leaning over the counter, staring longingly at the shelves. His mother stood behind him, looking at her phone, while in her other hand she held the zoo visitor rules, which had a dotted line indicating that it could be torn off.

Liu Yan immediately looked in the direction the boy was pointing, and her heart skipped a beat—in the far corner of the shelf, a dark red glass bottle without any label stood there quietly, exactly the same as the "rabbit blood" bottle in her backpack earlier.

According to the zoo's visitor guidelines: "The zoo's beverage shop does not offer 'rabbit blood,' please do not buy it if you see it."

This rule explicitly prohibits tourists from touching this item. And now, a young tourist not only saw it, but also actively wanted it?
Through various rules, a terrifying, unknown source of meme contamination exists behind the zoo.

A memetic contamination source has been identified as existing in the Interdimensional Realm! This contamination source is codenamed "It." Information about "It" is extremely limited, therefore, none of the reincarnators who have entered the Interdimensional Realm and come into contact with "It" have survived!

Is "it" testing children by taking advantage of their innocence and lack of suspicion? Children's SAN values ​​are prone to fluctuation but also easy to recover, and there are special provisions in the rules regarding minors.

"Excuse me, little friend, this is not for sale."

Liu Yan quickly suppressed the chill in her heart, forced a smile that looked as natural as possible, and deftly took the bottle of "rabbit blood" and put it into the storage box under the counter.

The movements were fluid and without the slightest hesitation, as if it were just a routine task.

Hearing this, the boy's mother muttered, "Why are you putting things out there that aren't for sale..."

Clearly, this mother hadn't read the visitor guidelines carefully at all.

Liu Yan wanted to remind the other party, but the mother had already left with her child.

Occasionally, tourists would pass by the beverage shop, and Liu Yan's outstanding appearance and figure caught the attention of several young male tourists who couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

Liu Yan looked at the storage box warily.

The United Nations has specifically analyzed the zoo ghost stories and concluded that the visitor rules and employee rules are a complementary defense system. The visitor rules are designed to allow ordinary people to avoid danger through "avoidance" and "denial" (such as not buying rabbit blood), while the employee rules require them to actively "handle" and "respond" to these anomalies (such as putting away rabbit blood and guiding those seeking help).

Together, they form a fragile defense against the invisible, pervasive power of meme contamination that distorts cognition.

Was that boy a medium used by chance, or some more dangerous entity? Beneath the seemingly normal layout of the map, how many mysterious paths defying the laws of spatial reasoning are hidden?
Meanwhile, Kyle and Leonor were sent to the elephant enclosure to help manage the flow of tourists.

During the day, the elephant park is still deserted, while the elephants in front of us seem perfectly normal in the sunlight, swinging their trunks and pacing with their pillar-like legs.

"Make sure that you see only elephants in the elephant enclosure."

Kyle's gaze swept over the signs and then looked into the park.

"Is the elephant normal in your eyes?" he asked Leonor in a low voice.

Leonor nodded solemnly, but cautioned, "The 'normal' here is just a facade; there may be a hidden distortion."

A little girl wearing rabbit ear hair clips skipped past them and ran towards the viewing platform in the elephant park.

The two immediately became alert.

If anyone wearing rabbit earrings is seen entering the elephant enclosure, staff must immediately disperse nearby visitors, following employee guidelines.

Just as Kyle was about to approach, another staff member in a blue uniform quickly walked towards the little girl's family and exchanged a few words in hushed tones. Then, the family quickly led the girl away from the edge of the elephant enclosure. The blue-uniformed staff member glanced back at Kyle and Leonor, his gaze calm yet carrying a tacit understanding.

They are not alone here. Many "veteran employees" are well aware of the horrific inside story of the zoo and are silently enforcing the rules, defending the fragile defenses of the materialistic layer.

Jack was assigned to patrol the park, handling inquiries from visitors. Although his Witcher senses were suppressed, they were still sharper than normal.

He noticed that certain routes within the park were more crowded with visitors, especially the forks leading to the rabbit and elephant enclosures, while the lion enclosure was relatively quiet.

This doesn't align with the typical interests of tourists. Could it be because the protective measures in the lion enclosure seem too perfunctory?
On a bench near the ape enclosure, Jack suddenly spotted an abandoned rabbit doll.

The doll looks new, but one of its button eyes has fallen off; the remaining eye still looks incredibly lifelike.

Remembering the rules, Jack didn't touch it directly with his hands, but instead picked it up with the clips he carried with him.

The moment he picked up the doll, a cold, malicious gaze came from behind him!
He turned around abruptly, only to see the swaying shadows of trees and the backs of a few tourists hurrying past.

The last reincarnator, Victor, was tasked with "data organization," checking inventory lists in a cramped logistics office.

The list mostly consisted of ordinary office supplies and park maintenance tools, but a few items caught his attention:

"Special cleaning agent (for the ape enclosure)," "High-intensity light bulb (for the lion enclosure)," "Audio recorder (for the rabbit enclosure perimeter)."

The last item, in particular, is noted: Check the recordings daily and look for abnormal audio frequencies.

Victor's finger traced the words "Rabbit Park," and a slight smile played at the corners of his mouth beneath his hood.

The afternoon sun gradually became scorching, and the number of visitors to the zoo dwindled.

The five people met in the staff break room.

Liu Yan recounted in a low voice the story of how "rabbit blood" had mysteriously appeared on the shelf.

"It's testing us," Kyle, the second son of the Duncan Club, concluded, "or trying to corrupt us. Strictly following the rules is the only protection."

Jack described the abandoned rabbit doll and the cold, icy gaze: “I felt ‘it’ was everywhere, even on the material level.”

This is a meme contamination originating from the Infinite Layer. It is the most terrifying known meme, surpassing even India's "Mound of the Dead" and Japan's "Whirlpool"!
They were merely pioneers sent in; none of them had the courage to confront "it" directly, otherwise, no number of lives would be enough to fill the void.

Leonor remained silent, his face somewhat pale.

"Have you... felt that the feeling of being suppressed is getting worse as time goes by? And the response from the Holy Light is getting weaker and weaker."

After his reminder, the others also vaguely realized it.

A sense of "presence" is gradually increasing, and what they are currently experiencing is only the tip of the iceberg.

The door to the break room was pushed open, and Team Leader Wang walked in, holding a stack of forms.

"This is the work schedule for the afternoon. Liu Yan, you're being transferred to the entrance of the ape enclosure to assist with ticket checking and guidance. Kyle and Leonor, go help trim the bushes in the rabbit enclosure—remember, only the outer perimeter, in pairs, don't go in alone, and don't stay for more than fifteen minutes. Jack, you continue patrolling, focusing on the area around the rabbit enclosure. Victor... go to the warehouse and take stock of the inventory."

His gaze swept over the five men, lingering for a moment, especially on Leonor's slightly pale face.

“Leonor, if you’re feeling unwell, you can go to the area near the lion enclosure for a while. It’s… cleaner there.”

After he left, the five looked at the new work arrangements.

“Prune the bushes in the rabbit enclosure…” Kyle pondered. “The rules mention that they should be pruned regularly to avoid creating shady areas.”

“We still don’t have a way to fully understand the true meaning of this rule,” Leonor said, his face grim. “We have to be extremely careful, as the zoo’s contamination layer could open its doors to us at any time.”

“I’ll lend you some Gu worms,” a gray worm crawled out of Liu Yan’s sleeve, “just in case… especially when you encounter an unusual rabbit.”

In the afternoon, Kyle and Leonor stood with their trimming tools in front of the overly dense bushes on the outskirts of the rabbit enclosure. They felt as if the shadows of the bushes were writhing beneath their feet, as if they possessed a life of their own.

Kyle took a deep breath and was the first to lift the trimmer.

"Stay alert, Leonor. Remember the time, not a quarter of an hour, not a second more."

The scissors snapped shut with a crisp sound. Both of them were now extremely cautious, as if walking on thin ice.

From the distant ape enclosure, the calls of monkeys could be heard from time to time.

Liu Yan stood on the street in front of the ape enclosure, guiding the few visitors. She kept the staff rules firmly in mind: if a visitor reported that there were two streets in the ape enclosure and that rabbits were on display, she had to immediately guide them to the left street and close the enclosure.

She gripped the walkie-talkie tightly, her gaze fixed ahead. The appearance of a second street would signify the activation of the contamination layer…

(End of this chapter)