There were exactly three things Arjun Mehra knew with absolute certainty.
First, he worked at a zoo.
Second, the woman standing beside him was definitely a human being.
And third, his system was completely insane.
Unfortunately, only the first fact was supported by evidence.
“Mr.
Mehra?”
Arjun blinked.
Aisha Kapoor stood in front of him with her arms folded, a faint smile playing on her lips.
“If you’re planning to stare at me for the entire tour, I should probably start charging consultation fees.”
The employees gathered inside the break room burst into laughter.
Arjun wished the ground would swallow him.
“No!” he said quickly.
“I mean—yes.
No.
That’s not what I meant.”
Excellent.
A flawless recovery.
Aisha’s smile widened.
Interesting.
That was the first word that crossed her mind when she looked at the zoo keeper standing before her.
When she had entered the room moments ago, she had expected an ordinary employee.
Instead, she had found a man who looked genuinely terrified of her.
Not nervous.
Not shy.
Terrified.
As if she were some kind of monster.
She wasn’t sure whether to be offended or amused.
At the moment, she was leaning toward amused.
Director Wang cleared his throat.
“Excellent!
Since Arjun is our senior animal caretaker, he’ll be responsible for showing Miss Kapoor around the zoo.”
The system screamed.
WARNING!
THE HIDDEN IMMORTAL PATRIARCH HAS ISSUED A MANDATORY QUEST!
Arjun almost screamed back.
MYTHICAL QUEST ACCEPTED
Escort the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Princess through the Nine
Heavens Demon Realm.
Current Objective:
Protect the Fox Princess from hidden threats.
Failure:
Death.
Wonderful.
Apparently, his day had officially transitioned from “confusing” to “catastrophically insane.”
Aisha stepped toward him and extended her hand again.
“Lead the way.”
Arjun stared at it.
The system highlighted her hand in bright red.
WARNING!
THE FOX PRINCESS IS OFFERING A CELESTIAL CONTRACT.
“It’s a handshake,” Arjun whispered.
ANCIENT DEMON NOBILITY OFTEN USE DECEPTIVE TACTICS.
He took her hand anyway.
Nothing happened.
No explosions.
No heavenly tribulations.
No nine fox tails appearing behind her.
Her hand was simply warm.
And surprisingly soft.
“You’re sweating,” Aisha observed.
“I exercise.”
She blinked.
“Inside meetings?”
“Very aggressively.”
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then she laughed.
Actually laughed.
It wasn’t mocking.
It wasn’t cruel.
It was the kind of laugh that made people around her smile without realizing it.
Unfortunately, Arjun’s system had a different interpretation.
WARNING!
THE FOX PRINCESS HAS UTILIZED AN ANCIENT CHARM TECHNIQUE.
“Oh, shut up.”
Aisha tilted her head.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The tour began.
Unfortunately.
The first stop was the monkey enclosure.
Which, under normal circumstances, would have been fine.
Today was not normal circumstances.
As soon as Arjun approached, dozens of monkeys rushed toward the fence.
“Boss!”
“We’re hungry!”
“Steve stole my banana!”
“That’s because you’re ugly!”
“Fight me!”
Arjun nearly had a heart attack.
He had forgotten.
He could understand animals now.
Aisha noticed his expression.
“Something wrong?”
“No.”
A monkey climbed onto a rock.
“Human female detected!
Human female detected!”
Another monkey screamed.
“Boss found a mate!”
The entire enclosure erupted.
“Boss found a mate!”
“Boss found a mate!”
“Boss found a mate!”
Arjun wanted to die.
Aisha frowned.
“Why are they so excited?”
The system answered before Arjun could.
WARNING!
DESCENDANTS OF THE GREAT SAGE HAVE DETECTED THE FOX PRINCESS.
DIPLOMATIC INCIDENT POSSIBLE.
“Not helping.”
Aisha walked toward the enclosure.
“They’re actually quite cute.”
The monkeys froze.
Every single monkey turned to look at her.
Then they collectively lost their minds.
“DEMON!”
“FOX DEMON!”
“RUN!”
“THE BOSS IS DOOMED!”
Half the monkeys fled.
The other half pretended to be unconscious.
Aisha blinked.
“That was strange.”
Arjun laughed nervously.
“Haha.
Monkeys.”
For the first time since arriving, Aisha gave him a suspicious look.
Very suspicious.
Before she could ask another question, a loud voice echoed from nearby.
“ARJUN!”
He turned.
And immediately regretted it.
A tall man wearing expensive outdoor gear strode toward them.
He was handsome.
Confident.
And looked like the type of person who exercised voluntarily.
Karan Malhotra.
Celebrity wildlife expert.
Social media star.
Professional pain in Arjun’s existence.
“Karan?” Aisha asked.
The man grinned.
“Aisha.”
He ignored Arjun entirely.
Which honestly would have been preferable.
“I heard you were visiting,” Karan said.
“I thought I’d help inspect this place.”
Aisha raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t work for Kapoor Wildlife.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Karan smiled.
“Because we’re friends.”
The smile Aisha gave him was polite.
The smile Arjun gave him was the smile of a man who had just discovered another life-threatening situation.
Because the system had activated.
Again.
WARNING!
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ENTITY DETECTED.
A red box appeared over Karan’s head.
NAME: UNKNOWN
TITLE: GOLDEN FEATHER YOUNG MASTER
CULTIVATION: CORE FORMATION REALM
THREAT LEVEL: HIGH
Arjun blinked.
Then blinked again.
“Wait.”
This was new.
Everyone else had ridiculous titles.
This one actually sounded believable.
“You can see him too?” Arjun whispered.
THE HOST SHOULD FLEE IMMEDIATELY.
For the first time all day, Arjun felt genuine fear.
Not because of the title.
Because of the possibility that his system might actually be right.
Karan finally looked at him.
“Oh.”
Just “oh.”
Not hello.
Not nice to meet you.
Just oh.
“You still work here?”
Arjun smiled.
“I still breathe too.”
Aisha coughed, hiding a laugh.
Karan’s smile stiffened.
“I heard there were problems with animal management.”
“There are.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Arjun pointed at the monkey enclosure.
“Steve stole everyone’s bananas.”
The monkeys erupted.
“LIAR!”
“STEVE IS INNOCENT!”
“JUSTICE FOR STEVE!”
Karan stared.
Aisha stared.
Arjun stared.
Thankfully, neither of them could understand monkey language.
Probably.
Karan recovered quickly.
“Actually, I was hoping to demonstrate proper animal handling techniques.”
Oh no.
Arjun knew that tone.
It was the tone used by people who had watched three documentaries and believed they were experts.
“What animal?” he asked carefully.
Karan smiled.
“The tigers.”
The system nearly detonated.
WARNING!
WARNING!
THE GOLDEN FEATHER YOUNG MASTER HAS CHALLENGED THE BLOOD MOON DEMON KING.
Arjun’s face drained of color.
“No.”
“What?”
“No.”
Karan frowned.
“You don’t think I can handle a tiger?”
“No.”
Aisha looked between them.
“Is there a problem?”
Yes.
Several.
The biggest one being that the tiger enclosure contained Raja.
And Raja was not having a good week.
Three days ago, someone had accidentally fed him the wrong meat.
Yesterday, he had destroyed two enrichment toys and terrified a maintenance worker.
This morning, he had tried to attack a lawnmower.
Arjun had never seen Raja angrier.
The system displayed a status window.
NAME: RAJA
TITLE: BLOOD MOON DEMON KING
STATUS: EXTREMELY IRRITATED
THREAT LEVEL: CATASTROPHIC
“Absolutely not,” Arjun said.
Karan laughed.
“Relax.
I’ve worked with predators before.”
That was exactly what worried Arjun.
Aisha folded her arms.
“You seem unusually concerned.”
Because, according to the voice in his head, a young master cultivator was about to challenge a demon king while standing beside a sealed fox princess.
Normal Tuesday.
Very normal.
Before Arjun could stop him, Karan had already started walking.
Toward the tiger enclosure.
The system began playing funeral music again.
This time, it was louder.
Much louder.
Arjun closed his eyes.
He had a terrible feeling that someone was about to do something incredibly stupid.
And unfortunately, experience told him that someone was probably not him.
To Be Continue….