Ningnan City, Blue Star Dragon Country, Xihong Zoo.
Looking at the listless animals before him, Yang Lin was filled with a sense of hopelessness.
He was, after all, a proud graduate of a 211 university, destined for a bright future.
But fate had other plans. His unreliable parents had thrust this zoo, inherited from his grandfather, into his hands.
They themselves had then retired abroad for their golden years.
If it were a normal zoo, it wouldn't be so bad. The earnings would at least surpass those of a regular job.
The problem was that this zoo, from its facilities to its animals, was anything but normal.
The park's facilities were older than he was, and the animals had all been rescued by his father and grandfather from various circuses.
There was a lion with missing teeth, a tiger with no fur, a blind Asiatic black bear, a leopard with a missing hand.
A chimpanzee with severe hemorrhoids, a gibbon suffering from depression, and then there were the common animals seen everywhere: pigs, cows, sheep, and a large Golden Retriever.
A zoo like this was bound to have no visitors, let alone any profit.
If his father hadn't issued a stern command before leaving the country, Yang Lin would have happily released all these animals.
"It seems I'll have to trick some out-of-town tourists online for ticket money, otherwise, we won't even have food for tomorrow," he muttered.
Sighing, Yang Lin opened his Douyin live stream.
As soon as the stream began, a few netizens were pushed into the room by the system.
Seeing someone enter, Yang Lin quickly started his sales pitch.
"Newcomers, welcome to Xihong Zoo's year-end grand giveaway!"
"One ticket, plus a snack gift pack, plus an animal snack gift pack, all for just 49.9!"
"Here, you can take photos with the majestic Siberian tiger, play with the amiable pirate bear, and enjoy the entire park with one ticket, no time limit!"
"Purchase now and you might even randomly receive some animal merchandise."
As soon as he finished his spiel, a netizen posted a comment.
"49.9, that's so cheap, I'm actually going to Ningnan this week, I might buy one."
"Yeah, it sounds pretty good."
Before Yang Lin could celebrate, another comment appeared.
"Don't fall for it, everyone. I visited this Xihong Zoo last year. It was a total rip-off, rundown and old."
"There were hardly any animals. They had a stray dog tied up and claimed it was a wolf from the grasslands. The gorilla was bald and wouldn't even acknowledge people."
"The worst was that tiger. If they hadn't put up a sign, I would have thought it was someone's scrawny pet dog."
Following this comment, the two netizens who had been considering a purchase immediately abandoned the idea.
"Damn, I almost fell for the streamer's scam. Thanks to this hero."
"Thanks, 'Avoider of Pitfalls,' you saved my wallet's life."
Seeing these comments, Yang Lin was furious. He was so close to snagging two unsuspecting customers, only for them to back out. How could he not be angry?
"Kicking the lame man's good leg, are we? I've noted your name. How dare you ruin my business."
As he spoke, he clicked on the profile of the netizen named "猛踹瘸子那条好腿" (Meng Chui Que Zi Na Tiao Hao Tui - Fiercely Kicking the Lame Man's Good Leg).
But the next second, his anger evaporated. The user's likes list was too… stimulating. If his willpower had been any weaker, he wouldn't have been able to look away.
After a considerable while, he closed his phone with a lingering sense of unfinished business.
"No, no, I can't just slack off like this. If I keep being so lazy, the animals won't have food money tomorrow."
"I need to film a video to attract some traffic."
With that, he walked towards the park enclosure.
After walking less than ten meters, he came across a fenced-off area.
Inside this area, a bald chimpanzee sat with its back to him.
"Ah Wei, turn around, I'm going to film a short video for you. After this, we'll have bananas."
Ah Wei was the name of this adult chimpanzee. He had no idea what his grandfather had been thinking, giving all these animals human names.
This great ape's full name was actually Li Wei.
Whether Ah Wei didn't hear Yang Lin or was deliberately ignoring him, he didn't turn around even after Yang Lin called him a few times.
Helpless, Yang Lin went to the gibbon next door, Li Qiang.
As a gibbon suffering from depression, Li Qiang's attitude was no better than Li Wei's.
Seeing that not a single animal was willing to cooperate with him for a video, Yang Lin felt utterly despaired.
However, at that very moment, a system prompt suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Ding! Talent Cultivation System activated."
"Initializing initial skills."
"Skill One: Beast Language Mastery. With this skill, you can communicate without barriers with all creatures in the world."
"Skill Two: Talent Insight. With this skill, you can arbitrarily perceive the hidden talents of animals."
"Skill Three: Talent Points Allocation. With this skill, you can activate the hidden talents of animals through point allocation."
"As this is your first system binding, you receive a complimentary Talent Gift Pack, containing three beginner talents, along with three Talent Points."
Listening to the system prompts in his mind, Yang Lin, after a moment of confusion, quickly realized what was happening.
"Holy shit, a cheat!"
"No, a golden finger!"
Having been thoroughly influenced by online culture, he immediately recognized this as his cheat code for this lifetime.
With a surge of excitement, he quickly located the so-called system in his mind.
After some research, he understood how the system worked.
In essence, it allowed him to cultivate animals by allocating points, thereby awakening their hidden talents.
Talent Points required for allocation were, besides those gifted by the system, only obtainable through missions.
Of course, he could also purchase them from the system's Talent Mall.
However, after glancing at the prices, he immediately gave up on that idea.
At the same time, the system prompt sounded again.
"Ding! Host, please choose three animals to awaken their talents as soon as possible. You will receive one Talent Point upon mission completion."
Hearing this mission prompt, Yang Lin immediately understood that this was the beginner's mission.
Without hesitation, he turned and looked at the chimpanzee Li Wei, who was sitting there doing who-knows-what.
He was very curious to know what hidden talents this bald old ape possessed.
With a hint of curiosity, he cast an Insight Ray at Li Wei.
The next second, a detailed list appeared before him.
"Talent 1: Tool Crafting (Gold Talent) - Requires five Talent Points to activate."
"Talent 2: Super Brain (Gold Talent) - Requires five Talent Points to activate."
"Talent 3: Throwing Mastery (Green Talent) - Requires one Talent Point to activate."
"Talent 4: ?"
"Talent 5: ?"
Looking at the list of talents, Yang Lin clicked on Throwing Mastery without a second thought.
There was no other reason; it was simply the only talent he could afford.
As soon as he finished allocating the point, a subtle change occurred in Li Wei.
Li Wei, who had been facing away from Yang Lin, suddenly turned around.