HTLCCBFT Chapter 46

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 46

After checking the chicken coop to confirm the chicks had returned to their nests, Oliver decided to end the day’s work early and take a bath to rest.

When he changed into his pajamas and stepped out of the bathroom, the first thing he did was take the God of Wealth statue out of his game backpack and hold it in his arms as usual.

But this time, the action gave him a huge fright.

—How had it become so heavy after just one day?!

The lucky cat statue, which he could previously hold with one hand, was now so heavy that he barely managed to lift it with both hands.

Oliver stared at the suddenly heavier statue with shock and suspicion.

No matter how closely he examined it, its appearance remained unchanged.

“How strange.”

Oliver no longer dared to hold it like a toy, instead carefully placing it on the wooden table and continuing to observe it warily.

Come to think of it, he had noticed before… it seemed to be gradually getting heavier.

Now it appeared that wasn’t his imagination at all—it was really happening.

“What’s going on?”

Oliver stared seriously at the lucky cat, whose expression remained aloof.

Although more and more oddities were emerging from it, perhaps due to its cute appearance and the fact that it came from the game system under his control, Oliver found it difficult to feel afraid of such a golden, adorable object.

Should he just put the cat statue back in his backpack and never take it out again?

That would be an absolute waste.

Unable to make a decision, Oliver fell into deep thought.

…..

….. ah…..

….. Oliver….. Oliver …..

….. he…..

….. was….. afraid…..

…..

Through tonight’s celebration, the distant divine realm suddenly received a massive influx of joy, faith, and devotion.

Unlike the inferior energy other deities received—which, though assigned high value in human life, was tainted by impure desires—

this power of faith was of the purest kind, most capable of nurturing the divine sense of a newborn deity.

The newborn deity, who had not yet taken a concrete form and had been drifting in and out of a chaotic state between dreaming and waking, began to awaken more and more consciousness ahead of time due to this large concentration of refined faith energy.

…..

….. Oliver…..

….. because of Him[mfn]deity is referring to himself here[/mfn]…..

….. felt fear…..

…..

Having just gained a bit of thinking ability but far from enough to devise a solution, its first instinct was to slowly open its “eyes” and take a careful look at the beautiful believer who was caught in anxiety and unease.

Coincidentally, Oliver, who had been staring at the cat god statue for a long time without reaching any conclusion, was now uneasily checking his game backpack.

He was intently studying the [Ring of the Cat God], which might symbolize the signs of all these anomalies, and thus completely missed the moment when the golden lucky cat statue’s dull round eyes briefly shifted into shimmering vertical pupils before quickly returning to normal.

After repeatedly examining the [Ring of the Cat God] to no avail, Oliver had no choice but to turn his gaze back to the lucky cat statue. It still appeared expressionless, or could be interpreted as looking utterly innocent.

Why was it getting heavier?

Oliver mentally prepared himself, reached out his hand, and carefully stroked the smooth, rounded statue.

The fortune cat statue remained standing dumbly, completely motionless.

Oliver slowly stroked it, from the tip of its ears to its round head, sliding down to the slightly plump paw pad that usually held the metal ingot, then continued downward along its bent leg, finally reaching the short tail.

As he stroked, he cautiously tested the waters while holding his breath to observe any movement.

The result?

—Of course, nothing happened.

Oliver fell into thought.

His hand returned to that smooth, slightly bulging paw pad, thinking about how generous this adorable-looking statue had been to him on ordinary days.

How could such a cute little cat possibly have any ill intentions?

…Oliver gradually grew bolder again.

He now felt that his earlier panic seemed somewhat ridiculous.

How could he have forgotten? This was, after all, an item produced by the game system.

It was only natural for it to have extraordinary, magical qualities unlike ordinary objects.

Whether it was the fishing rod, hoe, or axe provided by the system, when transformed from the game world to the real world, they all exhibited completely different characteristics from other real-world items.

The hoe and axe felt weightless when swung, yet they could cut through iron like mud and sink deep into the soil… And how could a real fishing rod guarantee a catch every single time?

This statue of the God of Wealth, which still provided him with rare metal ingots daily, must be the same.

Looking at the harmless, cute, and innocent appearance of the cat statue, Oliver gradually convinced himself.

He thought that among all his game items, only the Cat God was taken out every night and placed for a fixed period.

Perhaps it was because it stayed in the real world for too long that it slowly regained the weight a real golden statue should have?

If that were truly the case, then he would need to carefully control the duration when using other game items in the future.

—He certainly didn’t want to end up swinging a heavy axe or hoe one day.

After a false alarm (probably), Oliver, having found a reason that satisfied himself, completely calmed down.

That being said… he still didn’t dare to boldly place the cat statue by his bedside tonight and continue sleeping with it facing him.

Holding onto the thought, “I’m not being timid, just testing something,” Oliver decisively stored the statue back into his game backpack before lying down on the bed.

It was just the loss of one metal ingot.

If the cat statue’s weight didn’t continue to increase tomorrow, it would confirm his hypothesis: “The longer it stays in contact with the real world, the more its weight approaches that of a real object.”

Slightly reassured, Oliver closed his eyes.

The day’s game settlement panel suddenly popped up, displaying the unremarkable experience gains for various professional skills.

Watering did not increase the experience for Farming at all; it only consumed energy.

Therefore, Oliver’s only gains for the day were the small amount of experience earned from petting the limited number of poultry.

Oliver only glanced at it before closing the panel disinterestedly and letting himself fall asleep.

Oddly enough, ever since arriving in this medieval-like world, Oliver had been bound by his game system’s setting: “When collapsing, he would fall into a deep sleep and not wake until 6:00 AM game time.”

He had a dream—a rare occurrence.

Stranger still, in this dream, he was fully aware that he was dreaming. Normally, the moment he thought, “Ah, this is a dream,” he would wake up immediately.

But this time, he didn’t.

Was it because of the shock he had experienced before bed due to the incident with the fortune cat statue?

Curious, Oliver decided not to rush waking up and instead began exploring the dream.

After just a short while of feeling around, he confirmed that this was definitely a place he had never been to before—it couldn’t possibly be based on any scene he had ever imagined.

The “ground” beneath his feet was like a soft, white mist, through which he could vaguely see mottled colors below.

The sun’s radiance still shone from far, far ahead, but strangely, he didn’t need to look up as he usually would—he could trace the source just by looking straight ahead.

Was he above the clouds?

Once this thought crossed Oliver’s mind, he found it even more amusing.

How could he not have known that he secretly harbored a desire to ride the clouds and mists, to have such a far-fetched dream?

Everything around him was a vast expanse of white. Apart from the sun, whose piercing light was blocked by thick fog, leaving only a gentler glow, there was nothing that could serve as a reference point.

Since he couldn’t wake up for the time being, Oliver simply continued walking forward.

He seemed to walk for a long time, yet it also felt like no time had passed at all… In this contradictory sense of time, Oliver suddenly saw a different sight.

—It was a magnificent temple, glowing with a brilliant golden light, unmistakably built entirely of gold!

Could it really be made of gold?

Oliver stared fixedly at the suddenly appearing temple and couldn’t help but sigh. His dream was clearly related to the cat god statue.

The Cat God was a golden fortune cat statue, symbolizing endless wealth.

So, the building he was dreaming of now had become this unheard-of golden temple.

…..

….. come in…..

….. come…..

….. my ….. follower…..

….. Oliver…..

….. enter…..

…..

Oliver stood outside the temple door for only a short while when a faint, hazy voice seemed to drift out from the depths of the temple.

Though the voice was very soft, it echoed clearly in Oliver’s ears, allowing him to hear the fragmented words distinctly.

Huh.

Had he actually conjured up a “God” out of thin air?

And even had the audacity to imagine that this “God” would call his name?

Oliver was genuinely surprised.

Wait, no—not entirely out of thin air.

Realizing something, he blinked, suddenly feeling an urge to laugh.

Come to think of it, given the strong connection between the golden temple and the golden statue…

Would what appeared before him next be an arrogantly meowing, adorable fortune cat?

Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle.

Perhaps because he was so acutely aware that he was in a bizarre dream, driven by curiosity about the “Cat God,” he quickly decided to go along with it.

Answering the “call of God,” he stepped through the temple gates.

Unlike the floating sensation of walking on clouds he had felt on the “ground” outside the temple, the moment Oliver’s boots touched the golden floor tiles, he immediately sensed a distinctly different texture beneath his soles.

Boots?

He had clearly taken off even his socks before going to bed… It really was a dream.

Oliver walked forward with calm composure, gazing at this unbelievably vast, extravagantly opulent golden temple, marveling at the richness of his own imagination.

Yes…

He didn’t know how long he had been walking when he finally caught a distant glimpse of the deepest part of the temple.

Contrary to his expectations of a luxurious and decadent divine throne, the innermost chamber of this overwhelmingly wealthy temple was actually—

Oliver’s eyes widened in astonishment.

It was clearly the sight of his own bedroom in Laina City’s castle!

Except on that familiar bed, there was no sleeping version of himself lying there.

In its place was a shimmering… cat-shaped shadow.

It was indeed his golden fortune cat statue.

…..

….. O….. Oliver…..

….. here…..

Oliver instinctively took a step forward, and the glowing cat shadow slowly began to change.

It gradually faded, becoming ethereal like morning mist dispersed by dawn’s light, scattering and stretching…

Oliver watched as the golden, glittering cat dissolved into gold, then quickly coalesced again, forming a human silhouette similar to his own… no, much taller than his.

As if finally finding its direction of transformation, the golden shadow solidified once more, its contours gradually becoming clearer.

Strange—though he had once been a cat lover who only wanted to pet adorable cats, he never wished for cats to turn into humans.

With slight confusion, Oliver couldn’t help but keep watching the slowly transforming figure.

Until his gaze accidentally fell upon the distinctly non-human cute cat ears and the fluffy long tail whose silhouette alone made one want to stroke it, and there it stayed…

“—Dong—Dong!”

The bells signaling the arrival of a new dawn rang out as scheduled.

But this time, it wasn’t just the sleeping citizens of Laina who were awakened.

Also roused was the golden-haired figure who usually woke up just moments before the bells, now startled awake with a look of astonishment.

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