The civet cat inside practically scrambled and rolled its way out, its four legs moving in different directions as it landed, almost tripping over itself.
Cen Yao glanced at it.
Good.
It seemed she wasn't the only one who wasn't very bright upon first turning into a cat.
Once that player civet cat came to, it immediately turned back to look at her, its eyes filled with the pleasant surprise and gratitude of surviving a disaster.
【Gwah wen, gwah wen, gwah wen! Help, my head is completely filled with gwah wen now!】
【From now on, instead of saying “open the door,” I'm saying “gwah wen.”】
【What kind of cat-exclusive magic spell is this? Hahahahaha.】
【Witch Cat is so amazing! Even though the spell became cute, it actually unlocks things!】
【Lmao, if Lady Witch knew you guys kept calling her cat, cat, cat, she'd probably be angry enough to bite.】
【I wouldn't mind being bitten by her.】
【Pervert, get out!】
【The players' eyes are so easy to recognize—all of them filled with clear stupidity and a desire to cling to a thigh.】
【Hahahahaha, stop roasting them, stop roasting them. Rookie players need to save face too.】
【They might not all be rookies, right? Veteran players also enter C-rank dungeons.】
【Even veterans would be dazed turning into cats. What decent person starts a game locked in a cage, about to be fed coffee cherries?】
【Horror Game: Surprised?】
【Players: Do I look like I'm enjoying the surprise?】
Cen Yao didn't waste any time and looked up at her surroundings.
There were too many cages in the breeding area.
Row after row, densely packed, all of them locking up civet cats.
Some were poor animals that originally existed in the dungeon, while others were players.
But now the sky was growing darker and darker. Cen Yao had no way to distinguish them one by one, let alone rescue them all.
More importantly, there was no need for her to do so.
Those first few players might have just failed to react in time or were unaccustomed to suddenly turning into civet cats, which was why they panicked while trapped in the cages.
But this was a C-rank special dungeon, after all.
The vast majority of those who dared to enter were not inexperienced rookies.
Anyone without some strength and trump cards wouldn't dare step into such a special dungeon.
Cen Yao could help a bit because she happened to be able to.
But asking her to risk the sun setting just to fish all the players out of their cages was unrealistic.
She wasn't a babysitter.
Nor did she plan to be the sole savior of the entire field.
Cen Yao looked up at the horizon.
Only a thin, sliver edge of the sun remained. The orange-red light clung to the distant coffee tree tops, ready to be swallowed by the night at any moment.
That sense of danger grew even heavier.
Like icy water, it washed over her paws, tail, and back inch by inch, finally creeping up to the back of her neck.
Cen Yao perked up her ears, turned around, and jumped onto a slightly higher iron rack.
She took a deep breath and called out as loudly as she could.
“Meow!”
When the sound came out, it was still a cat's meow.
Soft and fluffy.
Without the slightest bit of deterrence.
Cen Yao: “...”
How annoying.
She gritted her teeth and slapped her paw directly against the iron rack.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out in the breeding area.
Many of the civet cats in the cages looked over at her.
The gazes belonging to the players were particularly obvious.
Shock, vigilance, doubt, and a touch of expectation after seeing her unlock the cage.
Cen Yao didn't care whether they could understand her meows.
She raised her paw, pointed at the sun setting on the horizon, pointed at the cages, and finally made a throat-slitting motion with her claw.
This action, performed by a civet cat, was actually a bit comical.
But in this environment, no one could laugh.
Cen Yao slapped the iron rack heavily again.
“Meow!”
Get out quickly.
You must leave the cages before sunset.
Otherwise, you will die.
She wasn't sure if the other players believed her words.
But she had already given the warning she needed to give.
Whether they could survive depended on their own abilities.
Soon, there was movement in the breeding area.
In the cage closest to Cen Yao, a civet cat had been dazing off. After hearing her warning, it suddenly seemed to snap out of it, and its gaze shifted sharply.
It lowered its head and bit a small metal piece hanging around its neck.
The next second, the metal piece glowed with a faint light.
With a click, the lock on the cage door opened.
The civet cat immediately squeezed out.
A bit further away, a rather large civet cat raised its paw and pressed it directly onto the lock.
A layer of pale green light spread from under its paw, and the lock snapped silently, as if corroded.
Another civet cat in a cage was even more straightforward.
Its figure suddenly blurred, passing through the cage bars like a ripple of water.
Cen Yao scanned the area.
As expected.
It wasn't that these people had no way of getting out.
It was just that upon entering the dungeon, everyone had been turned into civet cats and locked in electrified cages, so they hadn't fully adapted yet.
Additionally, the System had only given them the main quest and hadn't told them what would happen at night.
Many people's first reaction was to observe the environment and preserve their trump cards.
After all, in horror dungeons, moving recklessly sometimes led to a faster death.
But Cen Yao's warning broke this wait-and-see attitude.
No player who could make it this far would gamble with their life.
More and more players began to break out of their cages.
Some used items.
Some used Talents.
Others used some special skill to destroy the locks.
A few players who were clearly inexperienced and slower to react were also given a hand by nearby players who had already gotten out.
No one spoke.
Everyone was still in the form of civet cats, able to communicate only through eyes and gestures.
But under the pressure of the impending sunset, the atmosphere of the entire breeding area instantly stretched to its limit.
Night fell.
The entire breeding area felt as if a switch had suddenly been flipped.
In the originally quiet cage area, all the ordinary civet cats grew restless at the same time.
They began to crash against the cages.
Scratching the bars.
Letting out sharp, terrified cries.
Some desperately burrowed into the corners of their cages, as if wishing they could squeeze themselves into the gaps of the sheet metal.
Cen Yao took one last look at the System panel.
【Initial Players: 12, Currently Surviving Players: 12】
All twelve were still alive.
Good.
She jumped down from the iron rack, giving her tail a gentle flick as she landed, finally much steadier than at the very beginning.
The disabled civet cat was still standing not far away.
He cast a cold glance at Cen Yao but said nothing.
Cen Yao glanced back at him too.
Although this bad kitty had a toxic mouth, he hadn't stopped her from warning the other players just now.
He could barely be considered to have a bit of a conscience.
The next second, the sun completely sank.
The last sliver of orange-red disappeared from the horizon.
The night was like a heavy black cloth, suddenly draping over the entire Cat Cafe.
And at this very moment, almost all the players who had escaped their cages underwent a change at the same time.
Cen Yao only felt her body grow light.
Her perspective shot upward.
The tiny paws that had belonged to the civet cat turned back into hands. Her curled-up body stretched out once more, and the familiar sensation of her bones and limbs returned.
She looked down.
She had turned back into human form.
She was still wearing that gorgeous and mysterious Witch's robe. The deep purple hem fell to the ground, and the silver patterns flowed faintly in the night.
Only...
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