[Synchronization failed] 'Error,' 'Error,' 'Error.'
Lin glanced at the blinking notification bar before him, then at his surroundings. He noticed goats of various sizes scattered across the endless grassland. Some grazed peacefully, some lay on the ground chewing something. Others leaped over each other and played joyfully.
However, what truly caught his attention was a single goat. A rope was tied around its neck, its hooves dug stubbornly into the ground, resisting every tug as a human pulled it away. What made the scene bizarre wasn't just the goat's stubbornness.
"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. Hahhhahah. 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, who doesn't understand goat languages, 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 all fools from the havens, if I ever return, don't worry, I won't forget about 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 would 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 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 was still a human with a human Nathan Lin. He had transmigrated not as a dragon, a young master of a mighty clan, or a helpless slave, but 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 proved he had truly transmigrated as a goat.
Yesterday, when he woke up, a message greeted him: 'Error,' 'Error,' 'Error.' No matter what he did, this was the same message the system kept showing over and over, like a broken alarm clock.
Lin let out a deep sigh. He had accepted his fate. 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 thinking 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.
Lin tried to reason calmly, though with frustration. "Listen, you'll want me to leave, I'll leave, but I just want to understand. Why am I being treated like this? What did I do wrong? What's up with this outsider title?"
His words hung in the air for a moment, but the cold stares from the young goats told him all he needed to know; they weren't interested in listening. Instead, they stepped forward as one, hostility clear. The lead goat, the one who had shouted first, snorted and stomped its hooves in frustration.
"You don't know? You don't know what you've done, outsider?" Its tone dripped with venom, as if Lin's very existence insulted nature itself. It kept going. "You don't belong here. You're just an abomination!"
Lin listened carefully; he tried to find out the reason behind their aggressiveness. But soon, he realized all the goat were slowly moving towards him, taking slow, menacing steps..
Well, this doesn't look too good. Looks like I'm about to get beaten by a bunch of yelping goats.
The tension in the air was almost unbearable. From the back of the herd, a smaller goat snickered and turned to the leader. "What's taking so long? Why are we wasting time talking? Why don't we deal with this outsider already?"
"Yeah," another goat grunted, " the faster we finish this, the faster I get my reward. The old man is always stingy. I don't want him to say we are late."
Reward?
Lin swallowed hard. Their words hit him like a punch.
Someone actually hired these goats to beat him up!
This wasn't just about being bullied; someone clearly wanted him gone. That was just perfect. Day one, and he was already on some hit list. He always wanted to be the star, but not in a goat version of a fight for dominance. Can goats even get insurance in this world?