CHAPTER 11: EAT

Lin closed his eyes and lowered his head, checking the grass. A sweet, honey-like scent hit his nose, mixed with something he couldn’t name. It was fresh and invigorating. Without a second thought, he took a bite. The grass was unbelievably tender, chewy, sweet, and melting in his mouth.

Why is this so good? he wondered, savoring the taste. Is grass always like this, or am I just starving?

He kept eating. As he did, he suddenly noticed something odd: he could sense four separate storage areas in his body. Huh. Not surprised. Goat anatomy is wild. Animals really are built differently.

Even as he thought this, Lin didn’t stop eating grass. Bite after bite, he was so caught up in the taste and the relief of a full belly that he barely noticed anything else. The grass was sweet, almost buttery, and every mouthful made him feel more alive.

Bojo, meanwhile, was a bundle of nerves. He kept glancing left and right, ears twitching, his body tense as if expecting trouble at any moment. Lin caught the worried look on Bojo’s face but shrugged it off. He didn’t have time to waste worrying about other goats’ nerves; he was on a mission.

Thinking about the mission, Lin couldn’t help but summon the mission window. He knew he’d already completed the first objective when he left his previous resting place; all that was left were the last two. With a sigh, he looked at the mission interface, the familiar sterile blue glow flickering over his fur.

───[ SYSTEM NOTICE ]─────────────

[Mission: First Bite – Progress]

Find grass without help — Complete

Eat until full — In Progress

Take a refreshing nap — Pending

─────────────────────────────

Damn, this is good. If I’d known grass tasted like this, I would’ve opened a restaurant on Earth. "Premium grass, this way! Only ten fifty!" Lin grinned to himself, picturing a line of people outside his imaginary shop, all desperate for a taste of his "exclusive" grass.

He kept eating, jaws working through the bitter stems. The taste was sharp, almost metallic, but he barely noticed. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered his injuries: scrapes, bruises, maybe worse. He’d taken a beating. But honestly? He wasn’t worried.

That skill, Blood Resilience, had his back. Or so he assumed. Lin didn’t really get how it worked. Hell, he barely thought about it at all. It was passive, always running in the background, like an invisible safety net. For his current condition, it was a lifesaver. Without even realizing it, most of his wounds from the last mission were almost gone. The aches faded, the scabs shrinking, as the skin knit together. Magic, apparently.

His stamina was coming back, too, albeit slowly and steadily, which made no sense. How am I recovering without food? He chewed, swallowed, and frowned. In the old world, that’d be impossible. No calories in, no energy out. But this was a magical world. Physics, biology, all those rules from Earth? Maybe they didn’t apply here. Maybe goats got a free pass.

Doesn’t matter, he thought, shaking off the useless speculation. As long as I survive, I don’t give a shit about any rules; surviving is all that matters.

He shoved aside the stray worries and focused on the most important job he had right now: eating more grass.

However, there was a problem: it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay standing. However, at this moment, a brilliant idea came into his mind. Damn it, why didn’t this brilliant idea hit me earlier? No time to waste.

Lin flopped down, his chin hitting the ground, and his belly pressed against the earth, his jaws working as he grazed and started munching grass right where he lay. Peak goat laziness unlocked, he thought, chewing contentedly. Eating grass while completely flat on the ground. If there’s a goat achievement for this, no one but I deserves it.

Time passed, and he kept eating. With his belly nearly full, Lin figured the second objective would be done soon. But the third? How am I supposed to nap after stuffing myself? He had no idea. The thought alone made him slow down, chewing more deliberately, savoring each bite. If he kept eating fast, his belly might be satisfied, but his heart wouldn’t be. To fill your heart, you have to savor the moment, but his thoughts were interrupted by the floating notification before.

───[ SYSTEM NOTICE ]─────────────

[Mission: First Bite – Objective Complete]

You are regaining your strength. To return to the optimal state, you need sleep. Complete the last objective to receive your reward.

─────────────────────────────

Lin cursed under his breath. Motherf—system. If I still have to finish the last objective, why say the mission is complete? Just say it’s in progress!

He ignored the system and checked the remaining time. Twenty minutes left. Can I really get a good, refreshing nap in twenty minutes? But then, the timer vanished—no notification, no ding, just gone.

This broken system... But soon he realized what had happened: the system only gave him a timer for eating, not for sleeping. Makes sense, I guess. Nobody gets a truly refreshing nap in three hours, let alone twenty minutes. Some people need eight hours just to feel human. Me? I’m a night owl; I need at most 4 hours.

As he was thinking about this, he noticed Bojo watching him, eyes wide, tail flicking with nervous energy. Bojo glanced over his shoulder, then back at Lin, as if checking for danger one last time.

Lin paused, finally tuning in to his friend’s tension. "What happened?" he asked, voice low.

"Nothing, I was just watching you eat. How can you eat so much?" Bojo finally blurted out, eyes wide.

Lin glanced at the grass, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. If you were in my place, you’d eat the grass, even with droppings and piss, without a second thought. He kept that thought to himself. The more Bojo learned, the more questions he asked. Sometimes, a kid should stay a little uneducated. Less clever, fewer problems down the road.

Bojo watched him, curiosity flickering in his eyes, but Lin just kept eating, pretending not to notice. Let the kid wonder. Some lessons are best learned by living through them, not by asking questions.

"I’m feeling sleepy. I’ll take a quick nap. How about you stand guard? If anyone comes, wake me up." His eyelids were already drooping, heavy as stones. No matter how hard he tried, they wouldn’t stay open.

Bojo tried to stop him, mouth opening as if to protest, but before he could get a word out, Lin just let himself collapse onto the ground. Even as he landed flat, he managed to take one last lazy bite of grass and mumble, "Grass, oh grass, where have you been..."