I Got Possessed, But the Monster Beast Is Adorable - Chapter 83

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#83

Chapter 11. Goodbye, My Cute Friend Lulu

“Now, from today onwards, Zookeeper Kang Haneul will be taking full responsibility for Lulu.”

“Thank you. I’ll work hard!”

Before even graduating from college, I joined Ecoland at twenty-three and wandered around various places caring for different animals. Through blood, sweat, and tears, my abilities were recognized and I finally got my first assigned animal.

And that was…

“Ueong.”

It was Lulu, who had suffered terrible abuse at her previous location before being relocated to Ecoland.

“Lulu, can you stretch out your arm?”

“…”

“Lulu~ I have carrots here. Could you stretch it out just once? Please?”

“Ueong!”

“…You don’t want to right now? I understand. Then let’s try again tomorrow.”

To be honest, caring for Lulu was extremely difficult for someone like me who had just shed my rookie zookeeper status.

Lulu was born as a twin and abandoned by her parents, so she was raised by human hands.

But even those humans abused her, so Lulu’s wariness had already reached maximum levels.

“Zookeeper Kang! Lulu won’t come down from the tree!”

“Oh my… Yes, I’ll go take a look!”

Lulu showed abnormal behavior from the very first day she arrived here.

She would obsessively repeat behaviors like not eating anything all day and just rolling around, or climbing up trees and refusing to come down.

When I worried about Lulu, who would never let anyone near her, my senior zookeeper encouraged me, saying it was because Lulu hadn’t adapted yet…

But when it went on for one month, two months, over three months, Ecoland finally declared an emergency.

“Zookeeper Kang, are you sure you’ll be okay? Wouldn’t it be better to get assigned to a more manageable animal?”

“…Since Lulu is the first animal I’ve been put in charge of, I want to try my best until the end. So please trust me and give me just a little more time.”

Orders came down from above to assign a more experienced zookeeper, but I couldn’t give up on Lulu.

So I made a decisive resolution.

I decided to start a project to become friends with Lulu.

From that day on, I practically lived inside Ecoland’s dormitory.

“Lulu, what’s this~ I made wotou for you!”

“Lulu, look at this? I made a toy out of wood?”

Except for sleeping time, I studied about pandas and researched various things like foods pandas like, their habits, behaviors, and slowly approached Lulu for a month.

“Lulu, you’re not scared, right? Don’t worry. I’ll stay by Lulu’s side all night.”

That particular day, Lulu’s condition wasn’t good, so I ended up giving up going home and watching over Lulu’s condition all night until dawn.

When the faint light of dawn rose outside the window.

For some reason, Lulu, who had been sitting with her back turned in a daze no matter what I said to her, slowly got up and walked toward me.

“Lu, Lulu? What’s wrong, are you hurt somewhere?”

Though it was against protocol, I was worried, so I carefully opened the door to the inner room where Lulu was and went inside.

As I approached Lulu and sat down to check on her condition.

Thump.

Lulu came up to me and leaned her back against me.

Then she spoke to me for the first time.

“Ueong.”

That fleeting moment when Lulu completely entrusted her body to me… I can’t express how happy and overwhelmed I felt.

And after that day, Lulu began to open her heart to me.

“Lulu, let’s go into the inner room. You need to come down now~”

“Ueong-!”

“That’s right~ Let’s go inside and eat the carrots that our princess Lulu loves~”

“How strange… When we told her to come down, she wouldn’t budge. But Lulu only listens to Zookeeper Kang?”

“Ahaha, is that so? You should listen to the other zookeepers too, Lulu.”

Lulu and I had become Ecoland’s undisputed best friend duo.

“Zookeeper Kang, lately the sisterly chemistry between you and panda Lulu has been receiving tremendous love from EcoTV subscribers~”

└The chemistry and back-and-forth between Ruru and Haneul unnie is so genuine lol subscribing!

Did you see Ruru linking arms with Haneul unnie? This is real connection… so touching ㅠㅠ

└I had severe depression, but watching videos of Lulu and Haneul unnie helped me get much better. Thank you so much…❤

“Lulu, look here. All these people here love you.”

“Ueong-?”

Our video, accidentally filmed by visitors, became popular, and Lulu’s popularity skyrocketed while I also gained fame as a zookeeper.

…Was that the problem?

“What? You’re sending Lulu somewhere else! She just finished adapting to this place, what do you mean!”

“Orders came down from above. Because Lulu became so popular… This has become a headache.”

It was such a sudden transfer order.

Moreover, the place Lulu would be moved to was that very Crazy Base where she had been abused.

“How… How can you send our Lulu back to that place! I absolutely cannot accept this. As Lulu’s assigned zookeeper, I will protest directly.”

How could they send our Lulu back to that terrible place?

Even if tears of blood flowed from my eyes, I absolutely could not tolerate this.

I protested fiercely against the company, but all I got back was the cold response that a mere employee shouldn’t be concerned with such matters.

While I fought alone against the company and cried out desperately, preparations for Lulu’s transfer were steadily progressing.

And finally, the date for Lulu’s transfer was set.

I wanted Lulu to be loved by everyone.

That there were more people who cherished and loved her than those who hated her.

So now, be happy. That’s what I wanted to tell her.

But what is this?

What if I had hidden Lulu far away from everyone’s love instead?

What if I had kept her as a small secret that only I knew and only I could see?

If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have taken to heart what my senior said before I was assigned to Lulu.

Those words that every meeting has parting as its premise.

“Sob… I don’t want to say goodbye… I want to live happily forever with the animals…”

Before I possessed into Animal Park.

I think I muttered those words over and over while completely drunk.

* * *

“Miss, have you calmed down a bit?”

“Yes, thank you… I’m sorry for bothering you when you’re busy…”

After collapsing on the ground and pouring out ten years’ worth of tears, I wiped my eyes with the handkerchief the Panda Man handed me.

The Panda Man looked at me pitifully as I was a mess of tears and snot.

Sigh… Until now, I had been busy adapting to this place, and it hurt just to think about it, so I had tried to empty my thoughts…

But seeing the panda here, my longing for Lulu that I had been suppressing burst forth like a dam breaking.

“Kyuu… Zoe, are you okay-? Should I go catch that Lulu right now?!”

“Pfft, thanks just for the thought, Ruby.”

I hugged Ruby tightly as she fidgeted anxiously beside me.

Seeing this, the Panda Man asked me.

“Miss, do you know something?”

“…Yes?”

“Those baby pandas over there, once they go out into the wild, they never return to this place.”

“Ah… That must be very lonely for you.”

“No~ Even if the pandas forget me, the time I spent with them will remain in my heart forever. Just those memories are enough to make me happy~”

“Mister…”

The Panda Man said this while looking lovingly at the baby pandas playing in the meadow.

Watching him, I fell into contemplation again.

Yes, I have happy memories with Lulu.

But… I want to confirm that Lulu is doing well after returning to that place.

And, what if… what if Lulu thinks I abandoned her.

Just imagining that she might have such a misunderstanding makes my heart feel like it’s breaking.

I want to let her know that I didn’t abandon Lulu.

And I want to pet Lulu once more.

It was just as I was thinking that.

The Panda Beastman who had been counting the baby pandas muttered as if something was strange.

“Huh?! This is a panda I’ve never seen before…”

“Wueong-?!”

I hurriedly turned my head toward where I heard the familiar cry.

And there…

“…Lu, Lulu?”

My beloved little friend whom I had desperately longed for even in my dreams, Lulu, was standing there.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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