"A Novice Village?" he pondered, searching for words in the swirling sea of knowledge in his mind. "Am I really some kind of tutorial boss?"
The thought gnawed at him as he reviewed everything he knew about the players and the infamous Fourth Calamities.
He began trotting back and forth, feathers ruffling in stress as he connected the dots. The mysterious voice that had thundered in his mind about otherworlders decend, the sudden appearance of a new settlement, it all fit together too neatly. What else could this strange structure be if not a Novice Village? And he, self-proclaimed overlord of this area, standing so close to it…
Naturally, that made him the tutorial boss!
After all, no game in history would dare place the final boss next to a starter village. Even his chicken brain could figure that out.
The realization sank deep into his fluffy chest, making his tiny chicken heart shrivel like a dried raisin. His proud stance drooped.
"So… I wasn't invincible after all," he muttered, recalling his earlier arrogance demeanor. His little chicken cheeks (if chickens could blush) turned an even redder shade.
Then, like a spark, a ridiculous thought crossed his mind. Knowledge from games, anime, and novels flooded in.
"According to those stories, the protagonist always gets a cheat, right? Could I be one of those protagonist?" he whispered dramatically, puffing out his chest.
He reared up, wings raised like a divine prophet, and shouted, "Cheat! Activate!"
Silence.
Only the rustle of grass and a ghost of chicken ancestor, clearly disapproving of his life choices, responded. He froze, scanned the surrounding suspiciously, then sighed in relief. 'No witnesses. Good.'
After another moment of hesitation and a paranoid second check (just to be safe), he raised his wings again.
"System!" he cried. "Open!"
At last something flickered before his eyes. His tiny chicken heart nearly stopped.
"Wait… for real?" he gasped. But upon closer inspection, it was just his status panel.
A sigh deflated him like a popped balloon. Of course it wasn't a cheat. Every creature in Gaia had one. It seems he wasn't one of those protagonists after all.
He plopped down with dramatic exhaustion, gazing at the Novice Village shimmering faintly in the distance. Then his eyes drifted back to the glowing panel, where one word mocked him relentlessly: Common Creature.
"Common," he muttered bitterly. "Doesn't exactly scream 'apex predator.' Am I really destined to be just a player's punching bag?"
Another sigh escaped him as he squinted at the status panel.
"So what's the point of this thing, then?" he grumbled. "It doesn't even explain what any of this means!"
He slapped the panel with his wing, fully aware he couldn't physically touch it but the gesture made him feel better.
Suddenly, information flooded his mind, giving him an instinctive understanding of the categories before him.
Body: affects strength, durability, speed, and combat ability.
Mind: affects intelligence, perception, control, resistance, and magic capability.
Soul/Existence: affects your ability to suppress the powers and abilities of lower-tier beings and your effectiveness against them.
Taking in the information he nodded slowly, pretending to understand like a scholarly chicken. Then he frowned.
"Wait, what good is knowing all this if you don't tell me how to get stronger?!"
The status panel trembled faintly, as if acknowledging his outrage. Then, to his shock, it updated again.
Name: None
Title: Rooster Boss
Race: Chicken
Tier: Middle Stage Common Creature
Body: E
Mind: E-
Soul: E+
Path: None
Talent: Yet to awaken (95%)
"..."
His beak twitched as he looked at the successive changes on his status panel.
"This panel simply doesn't treat me like a proper chicken-being! Couldn't you have shown all that from the start?!"
He huffed, but curiosity got the better of him. He pondered the new sections Path and Talent and understanding dawned naturally.
Path seems to represent the direction his existence would evolve, how his Soul manifested through his Body and Mind, the foundation of all his future powers and abilities.
Talent was his innate, most powerful ability, which would grow depending on his actions and can be awakened through the absorption of life energy.
His eyes gleamed in excitement. "So that's how it works…"
Then came the crushing realization: he'd never even sensed this so-called life energy. How was he supposed to absorb it and awaken his talent?
As if answering his thoughts, his status panel pulsed and delivered a mental note that every creature can passively absorb life energy while resting.
He froze. Then grinned wide enough to make his beak creak.
"That makes sense!" According to the panel, his awakening process was already at 95%. This explained everything.
"So I can grow stronger just by sleeping?!"
His excitement skyrocketed. Having a goal, a direction, and a way to get stronger while taking naps, what more could he ask for?
Without another thought, he puffed his chest, ruffled his feathers proudly, and declared,
"Then I shall rest with my beloved hen! Hmph! Players, just wait for this King is about to awaken!"
He trotted happily toward the part of the flower field where his precious hen usually spent her mornings, his confidence fully restored.
…
A while ago…
Shivaya glared from behind a clump of flowers as the rooster left for his patrol. Feathers ruffling, wings half-spread, she muttered,
"I will… definitely regain my power! Then I will definitely kill you!"
For now, she was a powerless chicken. An extremely angry chicken. She stomped her tiny feet in frustration, leaving small craters in the soil as she puffed and huffed.
Shaking her head resolutely, she calmed herself and focused on her status panel again, now that the distraction (the rooster) was gone. After studying it closely, a visible question mark appeared above her head.
'Where is my Path, Talent, Equipment, and Bloodline section?'
Instantly, the panel shifted as if answering to her question the missing sections appeared one by one.
Name: Shivaya (True name locked)
Title: Boss Rooster's Most Beloved Hen
Race: Chicken
Tier: Early Stage Common Creature
Body: F-
Mind: E+ (Limited by tiny chicken body)
Soul: E+ (True name locked, existence level mostly erased)
Path: None
Talent: Yet to awaken (55%)
Equipment: None
Bloodline: None
Noticing this, she considered the most likely explanation and exhaled softly.
"I see… having not awakened my talent, the Will of the World has not taken notice of me yet. So I must manually request guidance."
In her last life, she had been the daughter of a Legendary Creature, princess of the Phoenix Clan, with high-grade bloodlines and a Talent and Path already active at birth. The Will of the World had guided her every step like an overprotective mother, unlike now where she practically had to beg for guidance.
As memories of her past life surfaced, she trembled with silent rage at her betrayal before her miraculous rebirth as this hen. She took a deep sigh as she closed her panel.
"No use thinking about it," she muttered. "My priority is to awaken my talent and get stronger as soon as possible."
She closed her eyes slightly, focusing on trying to sense the life energy around her. If she could sense it, she could actively accelerate her awakening instead of relying solely on passive absorption. Using all her experience from her past life, she stood still, concentrating fully, until a faint hint of life energy tickled her awareness, making her chicken wings tremble in delight.
"The hardest step complete," she sighed in relief, sensing the life energy around her.
The life energy in this place was pitiful compared to her past, but she understood that this land belonged to common creatures. Even this small amount was valuable. At least the flower field she was currently in held more life energy than the surrounding forests. Now, she needed to find the spot with the highest concentration of life energy to progress faster and more efficiently.
Carefully, she trotted around, ready to flee at the first sign of a creature she couldn't handle. She felt no shame at the thought of running. After all, her life came first; revenge could wait until she was stronger. Fighting without understanding her opponent's strength could be fatal, especially if the creature was truly hostile, unlike the rooster earlier.
She was somewhat grateful it hadn't ended her life when she attacked in a fit of rage but of course, that didn't mean she would let it go.
As she walked, to her surprise, the common creatures chickens, rabbits, snakes, and lizards alike only glanced at her briefly and moved aside, as if acknowledging her importance.
Of course, she wasn't delusional enough to think they were afraid of her. With a grumble, she opened her status panel and focused on the section she had tried to ignore before.
Title: Boss Rooster's Most Beloved Hen
Description: As the most beloved hen of the overlord of the flower field, creatures within the territory of the Rooster Boss will treat you with respect and reverence.
"…Hmph." Her beak twitched in annoyance as she read the content, but she calmed herself.
"Calm down, Shivaya. This makes things easier, use that title as much as you can. You can't beat him yet. Remember: a phoenix takes its revenge, and ten years is not too late."
With her title's effect and the understanding that no threats of the rooster's caliber existed nearby, she trotted openly with minimal caution, speeding up her search for the highest concentration of life energy.
Soon, she spotted a small, flower-covered hill with the densest concentration of life energy. As she approached, she noticed that the number of common creatures in the area had dwindled drastically. Undeterred and ready to face anything that might come her way, she climbed the hill. At the top, she found a pond surrounded by small trees, with a patch of land at its center.
Without hesitation, she bent her chicken legs and leapt gracefully to the center. A black lizard, much larger than the others, lay lazily there. 'Weaker than that rooster,' she thought, though she noted that its body tier was higher than hers. Still, it posed no real threat thanks to her superior level of existence. Emboldened by her title and eager to test its limits, she stepped closer.
Blue pupils glowing, she looked down at the oblivious lizard and swiftly kicked it into the pond with a resounding plop.
The startled creature let out an indignant cry, glaring at the spot where it had been seconds ago, trying to identify the culprit. Then, realizing who had kicked it, silent indignation replaced its anger. It swam to shore and trotted away in resignation. 'What else could I do? Chase her away? The boss would definitely beat me if I dared' it seemed to think. 'Luckily, the boss wouldn't return until evening there was still time for another nap.'
Watching the black lizard leave without a fight, she nodded in appreciation. The sight reminded her of her past life. This title was similar to her former one as the Phoenix Princess, where she had provoked similar reactions with her mischief in her parents' territory, though on a far grander scale. Back then, she had kicked Epic Creatures. Still, this gave her a slight fondness for her current title.
'WAIT! Shivaya, what are you thinking?!'
Shaking off such useless thoughts, she settled into a lotus position as best she could in her chicken body. 'Not being able to freely switch to humanoid form sure is inconvenient,' she thought. Closing her eyes, she focused on drawing life energy into her body.
…
Meanwhile, the rooster wandered happily through the field, searching for his beloved hen. But as time passed with no sign of her, confusion and frustration began to gnaw at him. He checked every nook and cranny, even grabbing poor rabbits from their burrows for integration, but to no avail. Sighing heavily, he decided to give up searching for her for the day. After all, it wasn't the first time he couldn't find her.
He then headed to the heart of the flower field, the small hill he usually rested on at day's end. As he climbed, he noticed a familiar figure sleeping peacefully near the top. Coupled with his earlier frustration, irritation flared. 'Damn lizard! What kind of guard sleeps on the job? Wouldn't every Tom, Dick, and Harry invade my resting spot like this?'
Swiftly, he closed the distance. His red pupils glared down at the oblivious lizard. Sensing déjà vu, the creature abruptly opened its eyes but it was already too late. A swift kick sent the poor thing flying yet again, tumbling down the hill with a wronged cry. Its fate remained unknown.
With the obstacle gone, the rooster walked to the hilltop and, to his surprise, spotted his beloved hen at the center of the pond, resting in a completely un-chickenlike lotus position.
All irritation and frustration melted away like morning mist; his mood soared to cloud nine.
As he moved closer, he felt shy and slightly flustered. 'Was she always this bold, moving in after the first day?'
Bending his legs, he leapt to the center, landing beside her and sitting quietly so as not to disturb her "rest." He closed his eyes, content just to be near her.
Naturally, Shivaya noticed the rooster landing beside her, causing her to tense as her anger flared, remembering her earlier humiliation. But when she realized he wasn't trying anything mischievous and was simply resting, she suppressed her rising irritation and connected the dots.
'I see… the reason there are so few common creatures nearby must be him. This must be his resting spot.'
With that thought, she paid him no more attention, relaxed, and refocused on drawing life energy into her body, planning to awaken her talent as swiftly as possible so she could finally enact her revenge for that humiliation. A small corner of her beak lifted in a determined smirk as she poured even more effort into her task.