As I stepped into the Dimension Gate, the first thing I saw was an entire hillside bathed in a yellow hue.
ZZZTT…
And then there was the Lightning Chicken.
COCK-A-DOODLE—!
“!”
The Lightning Chicken meandered near the Dimension Gate, saw me, and charged forward, scattering lightning in the process.
It was charging at me with such force that any ordinary living creature would have likely been electrocuted on the spot. But…
“How interesting.”
Snap!
Yeah, trying to electrocute me was definitely too much to ask.
[Muya]
[It’s a chicken!]
[What’s happening out of nowhere? LOL]
[Hahahahahaha]
[Chicken for dinner tonight!]
[This is awesome, haha!]
[Got it by the neck, now it can’t do anything.]
[Let’s eat chicken, Lily.]
[Why is it so yellow?]
COCK-A-DOODLE!!
The Lightning Chicken, caught by the neck, flailed around trying to escape my grip.
But I was too busy to care, inspecting the area while holding the Lightning Chicken.
First of all, the Lightning Chicken was quite similar to the chickens I was used to back on Earth or in Deoen.
Aside from having slightly bigger eyes, a rounder body, and all that yellow feathers, it looked quite similar.
ZZZTT!
Ah, of course, the fact that it emitted lightning was another difference.
I could imagine that any ordinary user would have been pretty shocked by something like this…
[Not too hot?]
“This much is just a cute gesture.”
Thanks to the Dragon Heart of my Thunder Dragon (totally not bragging here), I was resistant to most elemental attacks, so a bit of lightning like this didn’t bother me.
You’d need at least the malice of the Infinite Completion from the Main Temple to feel a jolt.
“Now, what’s around… huh?”
[Why?]
[So yellow]
[???]
[Why does it feel familiar?]
[Feels like I’ve seen this place before.]
[What do you see?]
Still holding onto the chicken, I sprinted and leaped over the yellow hillside.
The world that had been hidden behind the hillside surrounding the Dimension Gate was now revealed, and I looked up at the sky.
“Huh?”
COCK-A-DOODLE—!
A giant golden chicken was soaring in the sky.
It was so far away that I couldn’t guess its exact size, but it looked like it was comparable to an entire continent.
The golden chicken was flying through clouds that shimmered like auroras, and many large and small creatures soared alongside it.
Just a slight look downward revealed numerous towers boldly standing against the sky’s backdrop.
From the golden towers, various forms of aura were erupting…
“Golden Sky?”
Why is this popping up here?
Ding!
[Golden Sky – You have entered the world of the Golden Chicken.]
[The Golden Sky is a collective realm that records numerous trials.]
[No Holy Seal is needed to enter the Golden Sky, but you must earn the ‘qualification’ to enter the main areas through specific trials.]
[You don’t need a holy seal, but you must earn the ‘qualification’ to enter the main area through a specific trial.]
[Shall we proceed with the Golden Chicken’s trial?]
“…I can’t believe it.”
I had a hunch that the energy flowing from the Dimension Gate and seeing the Lightning Chicken would somehow relate to the Golden Sky.
But I didn’t expect it to be so blatant.
The Golden Sky is suspected to be the most challenging place among the multi-dimensions.
I anticipated that acquiring the holy seal would only appear after the disaster of next year was resolved.
Coo-woom─!
Flap! Flap!
“Hmm…”
I pondered.
‘Is it right to proceed with the Golden Sky now?’
Since the Golden Sky is the land of the raccoon administrators of this game, progressing at my current level felt a bit daunting.
It’s easy to take on lower-ranked administrators, but anything above that could be pushing my luck.
If ‘Hwanggak’ or ‘Cheongsu,’ who seem to be key executives of the raccoons, appear, it could get pretty dicey.
They are presumed to possess at least the strength of top-tier celestial or demon races.
On par with next year’s disaster or even stronger.
‘But it’s not the main area.’
According to the system message, I need to clear several trials to enter the main destination.
It seems the Golden Chicken’s trial is one of the early trials, and upper-tier administrators probably wouldn’t show up there.
After my contemplation, I looked at the camera pointing at me.
“Shall we go?”
[Let’s gooooo]
[The Golden Sky is rising here, lol]
[Isn’t it awesome?]
[Oh]
[Are the raccoons coming out?]
[Let’s do it~ Let’s do it~ Let’s do it~]
[Wait, is this really happening here?]
[Let’s gooooo]
Of course the viewers were all in favor.
I placed the captured Lightning Chicken down on the ground.
Coo-coo~
The Lightning Chicken, seemingly angry, pecked at me with its beak infused with lightning, but couldn’t even scratch my body.
Coo-coo!
Realizing there was no way to win, the Lightning Chicken scrambled away.
“Yes.”
[Starting the trial.]
[Trial Record – 4910C / Bigon (★★☆☆☆☆)]
[Mutation is starting.]
My vision darkens…
■
My kin were falling left and right.
An endless war, hunger, and the continuous disasters raining down from the sky.
Hope seemed nonexistent.
‘Please.’
So I prayed.
‘Oh, God. No, Mother of all beings who might exist somewhere in the world.’
To the absolute transcendent beyond that sky.
‘Do not forsake us, and grant me the strength to overcome this hardship. I shall endure whatever trial may come.’
I prayed and prayed again.
I prayed until my hands became raw, forcing my heavy eyelids to stay open as I pleaded.
I prayed.
Someone said such pleas were pointless, but I didn’t care.
‘Bigon’ just prayed.
I hoped that this wind would reach someone in heaven.
Like the history of the great ancestors, I earnestly prayed that I too could save my kind through trials.
And so Bigon’s prayer…
…was ‘fulfilled.’
It was fulfilled.
■
[Trial – The dilemma of sacrifice and salvation begins.]
[You will play as ‘Bigon’, the party involved in the trial, and you must clear the trial.]
[The physical specs are the same as those of ‘Bigon’ at the time, with most abilities and weapons sealed.]
[The more effectively you clear the trial, the greater the additional rewards.]
[There are 7 days until the extinction of the Golden Chicken.]
Cock-a-doodle-doo~!
“Hmm…”
Morning has arrived.
I slowly rose as I felt the sensation of the fluffy bed.
Still a bit dazed, but seeing the system message floating in the air, I roughly understood what was going on.
Raccoons grow stronger through ‘trials’, and I had heard that the upper class Hwanggak also went through various trials.
This is the place where a raccoon named ‘Bigon’ underwent a trial, and now I have to face the trial from Bigon’s perspective.
“Hmm.”
Considering my power is sealed, my body feels pretty good.
…Except for the fact that it feels strangely light.
Wiggle wiggle.
“I have no interest in turning into an animal.”
Clumsy hands and feet. And a tail.
The golden fur shimmered as if it contained lightning, and my view of the world was exceedingly tiny.
I had turned into a raccoon.
[???]
[Moo-ya]
[Hahaha!]
[Eh?]
[Lily, why are you a raccoon?]
[Legendary lol]
[So cute lol]
[Raccoon lol]
[Raccoon Lily]
[Kawaii]
“……”
I expected my powers to be sealed, but I didn’t think I would be transformed into a raccoon.
Compared to my usual viewpoint, I was so small.
Thump!
‘The power itself is well accepted by this body…’
I felt my lightly floating body and observed my surroundings.
I had transformed, and I needed to assess the situation first.
“With a time limit, I guess I should hurry up.”
[Okay okay]
[Got it, Raccoon Lily]
[Raccoon Lily is so cute lol]
[7 days is plenty of time, right?]
[Please just do a V once~]
…7 days seems like a long time, but this trial doesn’t feel like it would last a full 7 days.
It’s likely that the remaining time will pass after certain events or actions are completed.
While such dungeons aren’t unheard of, I could infer this to some extent.
For now, what I see outside the window is a golden field, and there are five golden chickens and about ten little chicks making a racket.
What you can see beyond the window is a golden field, where about five golden chickens and ten little chicks roam around.
Additionally, there was a sufficiently large house for one raccoon, furnished with appropriately sized furniture.
“Of course, for raccoon size.”
To a human, it was just furniture that resembled a child’s toy.
Creak—!
While rummaging through the furniture, I opened a drawer and discovered a small bag glowing with a golden light.
[Chicken Feed]
– Food made from special ingredients for golden chickens.
Golden chickens must eat ‘once a day without fail,’ or they will die.
(The same condition applies to golden chicks, but their meal quantity is half of that of the adults. They will become adults after two days.)
Quantity / 35 pieces
The item description kindly appeared.
“Chicken feed?”
So, I just need to feed the chickens with this?
However, including the chicks, there were a total of fifteen chickens, and only 35 pieces of feed…
“I can’t feed them all.”
[ㅇㅇㅇ]
[Let’s let a few starve, lol]
[Lily, let’s make some chicken]
[Hahahahahaha]
[Chicks are so cute]
[Chick looks sleepy, haha]
[Can’t we just make them all into chicken?]
[Oh, do I need to calculate?]
[Chickens usually eat anything, right?]
[Can’t I feed them something else?]
“Well, if it’s given as feed like this, they probably won’t eat anything else, right?”
If they could eat anything, they wouldn’t set up such a trial.
Just a simple calculation shows that to save all the chickens, I need a total of 10 pieces of feed daily.
5 chickens need 5 pieces + 10 chicks (at half price) need 5 pieces.
But starting from day three, the cost increases since the chicks will become adults and lose their half-price discount.
In other words, day one needs 10 pieces. Day two needs 20 pieces. By day three, it would use up to 35 pieces…
“Day three is the limit. From day four, they will inevitably have to starve.”
So, can I just save the ones I can afford to save?
I didn’t think so.
[Seven days until the extinction of the golden chicken.]
[By the end of day seven, I need to save a total of ‘seven or more’ chickens or chicks.]
The numbers don’t add up.
No matter how much I save, I couldn’t keep seven alive by the end of day seven.
Furthermore, they wouldn’t have made the trial just based on simple ‘number calculations.’
There must be another way to solve this besides just feed.
“First, let’s go outside.”
Let’s take a good look at the chickens.
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