Bojo sighed, glancing around nervously, ears flicking at every sound. He kept watch, worry and a little fear flickering in his eyes.
Lin, sprawled on the soft earth, felt like he was sinking into the world’s most comfortable bed. Normally, he’d never dare to nap out in the open , but desperate times called for desperate measures. Most of the males shouldn’t be around right now. If they were, I’d have already run into trouble. Maybe I’ll get lucky for once.
"System, please don’t act broken. Wake me up with a good reward for once, yeah?"
—-------------------------------
"Meh meh meh meeeeh."
Lin woke up to several voices. Looking up, he noticed a few kid goats running away, looking back from time to time.
At that moment, an unpleasant stench hit him. Then he noticed something—his body was wet. It didn’t take him long to realize it wasn’t water but pee. And the unpleasant sect was the proof of it. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ n0velfire.net
As he was thinking whether he should run after them and give them a good beating, a realization hit, those yealings hadn’t talked! They hadn’t talked like the rest of the goats he had encountered. As he was thinking about this anomaly, a notification appeared before him.
───────────[Mission Complete]────────────
Forager’s Eye (Skill, 7 days)Instantly spot rare or high-nutrition plants. Occasionally reveals hidden or magical herbs.
Ruminant’s Blessing (Trait, 7 days)+10% energy from all grass eaten. Grants immunity to common plant toxins.
Pilpil Grass ×4 (Consumable)A bundle of rare, sweet grass. Restores stamina, soothes hunger, regenerates minor injuries, and can be shared or saved for later.
Pilpil Seed ×4 (Rare Item)Plant anywhere to grow a food source that regenerates daily. Can be shared with others.
Choose your reward. Unselected options will disappear.
The choice was clear, even though the first two were good but had a time limit; the third one is consumable, and the fourth one is rare, which can be used repeatedly. Without hesitation, Lin chose the Pilpil Seed. Not just because it was rare, but because it was a type of grass that could regrow every day. A renewable resource. That’s real power.
[You have selected Pilpil Seed. Please confirm: Y/N]
He didn’t hesitate. Yes. A second later, another notification popped up.
[Pilpil Seed has been delivered to your inventory.]
Lin opened his inventory and double-checked. Sure enough, four black seeds sat next to the cursed bandage, waiting. He exhaled, closed the menu, and finally looked around.
That’s when he realized something’s off. Where’s Bojo? Lin stood, looking left and right. No matter where he searched, Bojo was nowhere to be found. Don’t tell me he ran off.
With a sigh, Lin glanced around. The world was nearly dark, but hey, he was a goat now. Night vision came with the package. It wasn’t daylight, but it was good enough to get by.
We were friends. How could he leave me like that? Lin couldn’t help but feel a pang of grief. If he’d just waited one more day, maybe things would be different. Now, what would happen to his "make a friend" mission? The thought made him clench his jaw in frustration. He trudged back to the tree grove and took a bite of grass.
Damn it. So much time wasted. Sigh, let’s not waste time on useless stuff. Since he left, I’ll have to find another goat. Not sure if that’ll even work, though. The progress is still there. Maybe I won’t have to start from scratch. But that’s for tomorrow.
"Right. I’ve got another mission to finish, and it’s my daily quest - Annoying." He opened his mission panel and checked his current progress. Only one option tracked his growth: chewing grass. As for the others, they are still at zero.
Chew grass: 276/20,000
He stared at the numbers, feeling a wave of disbelief wash over him. After all that walking, his step count was still at zero. Chewing? Only 276! If things keep going , there’s no way I’ll ever finish this. He slowly stood up and decided to try some exercise. He jumped toward the sky, then checked the panel. Still zero. What’s happening? Why isn’t it increasing? Lin stared at the panel for a few more seconds, then jumped again. Nothing. Come on, system. Why aren’t you registering my jumps?
Frustrated, he jumped with all his strength, and finally, when he checked the panel, the jump count had gone up by one.
"You’re kidding me, system? You seriously want to give me a hernia? "All those thoughts he’d been having were a waste of time. He could’ve been thinking about something else—anything else. Maybe even about that time with his ex-menegger’s wife. (Not that he’d ever admit it out loud.
With a sigh, Lin leapt again, summoning every ounce of strength. He kept going, jumping after jump, until he finally collapsed to the ground, panting and drained. "Oh, goat god, please, if you’re up there, don’t let anyone find me now. I can’t even move, let alone run. If another goat shows up, I’m finished."
He looked up at the sky and prayed, hoping the goat god would grant this one small wish. After a few seconds, Lin finally regained enough stamina to move. "Damn, I should do something else."
Thinking this, Lin started eating grass again, the only thing that seemed to work without issue. All he had to do was sit and chew. But as he chewed, the number didn’t increase at all. Frustrated, Lin shouted at the system, "You fucking broken system, why isn’t this thing going up?"
Perhaps because of Lin’s outburst, a notification finally appeared before him.
[System Notice] Chewing grass won’t be counted if you’re not actually eating. The host’s belly is full; no further eating detected. Unless you swallowed, it doesn’t count. ────────────────────
"Fine, I get it. But what about the step counter? I walked more than a kilometre, how come none of it registered?"