Hale had braced himself for impact, for his body to be flattened into paste…or maybe erased outright by the searing heat of impact.
But nothing happened.
There was only silence.
A strange weightlessness and emptiness, as if his thoughts had slipped loose, drifting in the void with no anchor.
And then…like Spider-dude's soul getting yanked back into his body by that Farmer Strange, everything slammed back.
"Haah… haaah… haaah…" Hale gasped, sucking in air greedily. His body was still crouched, fists clutching the grass.
But wait…why didn't it feel like grass? This was… damp leaves? and dirt?
He slowly lifted his head. His breath caught and his mind spun a full 360.
All around him stretched a wild jungle; towering trees, tangled vines, jagged rocks, Cockless…
Wait…Cockless? The damn cock was perched smugly on his shoulder.
The rooster tilted its head and opened its beak.
"Cock-a-dookhg—"
"Shut up, bitch." Hale's hand shot out, clamping its throat before it could announce their presence to half the forest.
He forced himself to stand, reaching for the nearest leaf. It was solid. This wasn't the farm anymore. Somehow… somehow he'd gone from crouching in the field to standing in a prehistoric jungle.
A dream? or a shitty webnovel setup? He could've accepted dying by Truck-kun, but getting isekai'd by a comet? With his clothes and his stupid chicken still intact?
"…Wait. Did I even die?"
"Kaawkghhh…" Cockless wheezed dramatically in his grip.
"Ah, right." Hale loosened his hand, and the bird flopped free.
"Kaaawk… kawk…" Cockless panted…or maybe just milked the moment like a bad actor.
* * *
Hale began moving cautiously, running his hands over the rough bark and damp leaves. Everything felt solid and real.
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind. Should he feel sad about leaving his old world? Meh…If anything, it felt like his wish for an "interesting life" had somehow come true.
The only thing that weighed on him was the thought of his chickens. There was no way they'd survived a meteor impact. Maybe they were gone forever. Or…was it possible that everyone who died in that blast ended up here too? Or was he… special?
Before he could finish the thought, a sharp chime echoed in his head, like a machine booting up.
— ✦ —
[ Corma Shard: Binding Initializing ]
[ Scanning host lifeform…]
[ Binding : 5%… 20%… 50%… 80%… 100% ]
[ Binding successful. Host synchronized.]
[ Lifeform Records Uploading…]
[ Activation Successful. ]
— ✦ —
Hale felt something stir within him, like a space awakening inside his soul.
Instantly, he knew: his "cheat" had arrived. He focused inward, trying to make sense of it all.
He found himself in a spherical world, his inner Soulspace maybe. The ground beneath him looked like a solidified lake he could walk on, and the sky above was patterned like a swirling galaxy.
"Wait a second…Why does the sky look exactly like that black gemstone?" Hale muttered, his eyes flicking between the swirling galaxy above and his white, floating soul form mirrored on the lake's surface.
"F*cking hell… it really was the gemstone. It called itself Corma Shard? That's my system?" He didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or both.
For a brief moment, he wondered if Poopy had been the real owner all along, and he had just stumbled upon it by accident. He imagined Poopy awakening a system and taking over the world…It was ridiculous.
Then his attention shifted and he froze for a second. Ahead of him, a still, white rooster shape floated; a soul projection of Cockless. A faint white line stretched from his own soul form directly to the unmoving Cockless.
"What the hell is happening?" he whispered.
Before he could process it further, the system chimed again. Panels…glowing, translucent, and filled with cryptic information, appeared in the Soul Space.
— ✦ —
[ SOUL RECORD ]
Name: Hale Cluckson
Race: Human
Tier: 0 [ Foundation ]
Level: 0 [ 0% ]
Class: Beastbound Tamer
[ — Core Stats — ]
Strength [STR] : F-
Agility [AGI] : F
Endurance [END] : F-
Vitality [VIT] : F-
Intelligence [INT] : E
Willpower [WIL] : E+
Mana [MP] : F-
[ Skills ]
Active Skills :
◆ Pacify [ Lvl - 1 ]
◆ Analyze [ Lvl - 1 ]
◆ Beastbond [ Lvl - 2 ]
◆ Call of the Bound [ Lvl - 1 ]
[ Soulbound ]
◆ Corma Shard [ ?? ]
[ Talents ]
◆ Primal Codex [ Unique ]
— ✦ —
Hale gawked at his Soul Record…or status panel. So, it really was my own system.
He scanned his class and stats. Honestly, he had no idea why he'd gotten a tamer class. Was it because he was… a poultry farmer?
Thank God it didn't say "Chicken Tamer"—that would've been way too embarrassing.
His stats were pitiful. Physically, he was average at best…maybe slightly above average. He'd hit the gym during college days and worked at the farm for a year, yet his physical stats were still in the F range. Well… at least they weren't in Z, he consoled himself.
Then he noticed an arrow-like symbol under his class. Curious, he focused on it, and it expanded into a sub-panel.
— ✦ —
[ CLASS STATUS ]
Class : Beastbound Tamer [ Tier 0 ]
Class Slots : [ 1 / 3 ]
◆ Cockless
Species : Rooster
Status : Soulbound
Tier : 0
Level : 0 [ 0% ]
[ – Beast Stats – ]
Attack [ P.ATK | M.ATK ] : G- | G-
Defense [ P.DEF | M.DEF ] : G- | G-
Mana [ MP ] : –
[ Beast Skills ]
◆ —
— ✦ —
"You've gotta be shitting me… why the hell is Cockless my soulbound beast? That bird, only good for its meat, is considered a beast?" Hale was losing his mind. There were only three class slots, and one was already taken by Cockless.
"Sigh… whatever. At least it's useful as bait," he muttered.
Hale closed the sub-panel and was about to check his skills when a rustling in the nearby bushes made him freeze. Instantly, he snapped out of his Soul Space and back into the real world.
He instantly went on guard, ready to sprint if some predator…like wolf or tiger appeared.
But what came into view made his eyes bulge. It was a fucking velociraptor.
Krik-krik-krik
The raptor tilted its head, studying this strange creature, claws tapping against the dirt with a metallic scrape.
Hale's breath caught. He forced himself to stand perfectly still, like a statue—just like in those Jurassic movies. Truth was, he wasn't fooling anyone; he was simply frozen in place.
Then—
Sssskrreeee!
The raptor shrieked, the sound tearing through the jungle and sending leaves scattering from the canopy, and charged.
"Cockless! Fly towards it and bait it out!" Hale shouted as he sprinted, only to realize the bird had already bolted, fleeing before he even did.
"You fucking cock!"
Kawk… kawkk… Cockless flapped desperately for its life.
It was a full-blown jungle marathon. A chicken racing through the undergrowth, a human sprinting behind it without daring to look back, and a raptor in hot pursuit—though it almost seemed like it was playing.
Branches snapped under Hale's boots, the humid air burning in his lungs. Behind him, the raptor's claws pounded the earth in a steady, thunderous rhythm.
Hale skidded under a fallen tree, dirt scraping his back, and rolled to his feet in one fluid motion, running again through the maze of trees. The raptor leapt over the obstacle with ease, its guttural hiss close enough for Hale to smell its hot, rank breath.
As he ran through the trees, Hale reached the edge of a slope. Cockless had already flapped over it, vanishing to god knows where.
He didn't even care whether the slope ended in solid ground or a sheer drop—he just ran and hurled himself forward.
The raptor lunged after him.
Midair, Hale twisted his head back—
—and what he saw seared itself into his soul, he would never forget it for the rest of his life.
From the left, a colossal shadow surged out of the treeline. A T.Rex, a literal Tyrannosaurus…its maw splitting wide, rows of jagged teeth glinting. Time seemed to slow. The raptor screeched, thrashing in panic—
—and the T. rex clamped down midair at the raptor.
Crunch.
Kree-kreeeee—
The sound reverberated through Hale's bones. His eyes went wide just before he smashed into the slope, rolling through mud, dirt, leaves, and branches…until a tree stopped him dead.
Thud.
Barely breathing, sprawled like a ragdoll, he heard it: A low, guttural rumble rolled down from above, vibrating through the trees and into Hale's chest.
"Hrrruuuuummmhhh—grroouuhhhhh—"
Then the ground trembled beneath the heavy rhythm of retreating steps.
Thud. Thud.
Hale wheezed, laughter and tears mixing. "Haa… haaa… hahahah… Dad, I think I'll be seeing you soon."
He wasn't sure where the hell he was—Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous period, or even if this was really Earth. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. One thing was certain: if dinosaurs filled this place, he and Cockless were already doomed. He'd probably die a virgin.
But—
"At least I saw a T. rex…" His laugh came cracked and deranged, the sound of someone who'd just lost it all.
Above, the sky darkened. Thunder rolled faintly, like it was agreeing with his madness.
And Hale swore; the last thing he'd do before dying was fry that bastard Cockless and eat it.