As the sun began its ascent over the horizon, casting a warm glow across the meadow, a yearling goat stirred from his slumber, blinking sleepily as he was greeted by the new day.
The yearling, with a gentle rustle of dried grass beneath his hooves, lifted his body from its resting place and stretched his limbs, extending his forelegs forward as he gracefully arched his back—an unusual behavior rarely seen in goats.
The first thing the goat did was glance at the blinking notification before him.
Synchronisation failed. 'Error,' 'Error,' 'Error.'
"Ahh, system, how many times are you going to show this? Take a rest now, will you?" he muttered.
Then the goat shifted and glanced around. He noticed goats of various sizes scattered across the endless grassland. Some grazed peacefully, some lay on the ground chewing, while others leapt over one another and played joyfully.
However, what truly caught his attention was a single goat. A rope was tied around its neck, and its hooves dug stubbornly into the ground, resisting every tug as a human pulled it away. But what made the scene bizarre wasn't just the goat's resistance.
"Who is smiling now? I am the chosen one, I... cough, holy... oh my god, let me finish!" the goat bellowed, its voice echoing across the field.
Veins bulged with frustration as the human tugged harder on the rope and delivered a sharp kick to the goat's side.
"G-god has kicked me. Hahaha! Look at this, you fools—god has bestowed me with his mighty kick. He wants me to enter paradise as soon as possible."
The human, unable to understand goat language, only grumbled about the goat's stubbornness. Meanwhile, the goat continued shouting.
"Oh, almighty god, please let me finish, or else these fools will never understand this blessing! All of you fools, you will never have this privilege. I'll see you in the heavens. If I ever return, don't worry—I won't forget the love you all gave me. I'll return it with interest."
Lin looked at the goat, grumbling about Heaven's god and being chosen, as the clueless human dragged it away.
"Did that goat just talk? Can goats actually talk? Am I hallucinating? How can a goat speak?" Lin might have reacted like this if he hadn't already known that goats could talk. This wasn't his first encounter with a talking goat, and as for why this goat could converse, he already knew the answer well.
Slowly, Lin looked down. Instead of his own hands and feet, he saw only a pair of hairy goat legs.
Until yesterday, he had still been a human named Nathan Lin. He hadn't transmigrated as a dragon, a young master of a mighty clan, or even a helpless slave. Instead, he had woken up as a goat on a farm. At first, he had thought it might be a dream, but the scent in the air, the realistic objects around him, and other signs had proved that he had truly transmigrated as a goat.
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Yesterday—
[Error.]
[Error.]
[Error.]
"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU REPEATED THIS SAME SHIT? SYSTEM OR WHATEVER YOU ARE, STOP THIS BULLSHIT AND SEND ME TO HELL OR HEAVEN!"
Then a mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
[User, do you want to skip the waiting room? You will miss the chance to complete the tutorial (Y/N)]
"Finally. How long has it been?"
Lin could no longer remember how long he had been stuck in this dark place. The last thing he remembered before finding himself here was his grandmother crying, looking at him.
"Skip." Without hesitation, he chose the option.
[Warning: Once you skip the waiting room, you will forfeit bonuses. Do you still wish to continue? (Y/N)]
"Yes. Now hurry up and get me out of this place!"
[You have chosen to exit the waiting room.]
As the system's voice faded, a piercing light broke through the darkness, flooding Lin's vision. He kept his eyes open, wanting to see exactly where he was going. The light dimmed quickly, and distant voices began to echo in the air.
[Welcome to a world of boundless possibilities. Here, anything can happen. Hunters can become prey, and prey can become hunters in an instant. Danger lurks in every shadow while light offers only an illusion of safety. Friends can turn into foes, and foes into allies.]
"A world where everything is possible? A world with magic? Why should I believe any of this? You locked me away in darkness for who knows how long, without even giving me a choice."
[I am here to guide you through this unpredictable world. You may choose to trust me, or not. The decision is yours.]
Before Lin could celebrate, a heavy realization struck like a sledgehammer.
He noticed he did not have human vision. Could he be a dragon? But dragons don't have hairy legs so close to the ground.
"Wait, what the fuck is this? Where is my hand? System, answer me."
[The user wanted to leave the waiting room. User was warned.]
[Syncornization has started]
[1-10-95%]
[ Syncornization has failed]
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At present
Lin let out a deep sigh. He had accepted his fate. He wasn't worried about his grandmother; there were his cousins and uncle, auntie, they would look after her. But there was one thing he would always regret — just one. His parents' death. He was probably 7 or 8 at that time when they died. He still blames himself for their death; if only he hadn't insisted on buying an anime figurine, they might still have been alive.
As Lin was lost in thought about his past, a sudden shout snapped him out of his thoughts.
"You outsider, why haven't you left yet?"
Turning around, he saw a herd of young goats. Their bodies were marked with various shades of white and brown stripes. Their eyes shone with hostility, fixed on him like predators sizing up their prey.
Goat bullies!
This is the second time Lin had encountered this group of goat. The first time was yesterday. He tried to find the reason why these goats were after him. Unfortunately, he hadn't inherited memories of the real owner of this body.
Seriously, what now? Should I ram one and see what happens? That'd be a story: "Goat fights back, gets trampled immediately. News at six."
Taekwondo lessons—those late nights kicking the air, thinking he was impressive—now seemed useless. Let alone pull off a roundhouse kick, he couldn't even get these stubborn legs to move straight.