* Birds chirping*

" Where... am I?"

Ray woke up and looked around at his surrounding. It was in the middle of the rainforest with many strange florae growing on it.

He was still in a bit hazy situation, the last thing he remembered was he and Rena was chilling at the beach when suddenly a portal appeared and dragged the two of them into it.

" Right, Rena. Where is she?"

Ray was panicked for a bit. If the two of them were dragged into this strange place, and Rena was separated from him. Things would really get ugly for Rena.

" Meow"

Ray looked around and followed the source of the sound. It was at the end of the source, which he found Rena laying there like in a sleeping state with Schwarz on its side.

" Meow"

" Hehe, I know. Schwarz is really dependable."

Ray took Schwarz into his embrace and gave her some nice pats. With the whereabouts of Rena has been found, now his priority is to figure out where he currently is.

.

[ DING!!! Congratulations to the host for unlocking special dungeon Tropical island.]

[ Objectives: ]

[ - Find the hidden ruins and finish the trial of guardian (0/1)]

[ - Find the boss monster and defeat it (0/1)]

[ Rewards: {Secret}, {Secret}, {Secret}]

[ Please finish all the objectives before leaving the special dungeon.]

.

[ DING!!! A new mission has been issued to the host.]

[ Please finish those objectives before the main protagonist.]

[ Reward: Unlock dungeon system.]

[ Penalty: The main protagonist would sever one of your limbs.]

.

Looking at the information panel, Ray got some clues about what this place is. Looks like this place is a special trial ground that was designed to increase the strength of the protagonist. But, because of some interference from Ray's arrival, Ray and Rena have been also dragged here.

' Hey, Aina. Could you give us some clues on which direction we should go?'

*Silence*

" Ainaaa."

*Silence*

Ray kept trying to communicate with Aina, but there was no result. Aina didn't reply to any of Ray's words.

[ DING!!! New messages have been received, read? Y/N]

' Hmm, what is this? Is this another of Aina's pranks?'

[ Host, if you read this message. Then probably Aina has been gone. During the world transfer process, the world will detect the angularity in the host and tried to remove it. Aina has tried her best to protect the host from the world's will, but it also comes with a consequence.

In the system guide, The system should have never interfered with the host's progress in any way, either by protecting them or endangering them. Thus Aina protecting the host has violated the system guide and will be terminated from this world.

It was not a long time, since our meeting. Still, Aina really enjoyed our journey together. Please keep your head straight and never look behind. Aina believes that the host will soon stand at the peak of this universe]

Tears slowly gather in Ray's eyes while reading the messages. Suddenly being told like this by Aina, there's no way he could hold back his feeling. He still remembers their everyday bickering or even Aina's trick on him. Now she suddenly left him, it left a strange taste on his heart.

'Aina...'

[ PS: Hahahahahaha, don't cry, host. Aina was just joking. I'm sorry but you still get stuck with Aina here. However, the consequences part still have some truth in it. Aina now is in her energy charging mode and will enter the sleeping period for at least a month. The system function will still work normally though, so please keep doing your best ^_^.]

Ray didn't know whether to cry or laugh at this message. Aina really successfully manage to play her trick well.

' *Sigh* I'm starting to regret that I had shed a tear for you.'

Knowing that Aina was only sleeping, Ray's mood increased once again. Now he only needs to finish his mission and leave this special dungeon.

To finish this mission, it was easier said rather than done. He was stuck in the middle of a rainforest, with no shelter and food on him. He need to woke Rena first and find some shelter to protect them during the night.

" Rena, wake up." Ray shook Rena vigorously.

" 5 more minutes.."

" No time to delay Rena. Quickly wake up and take a look at your surroundings."

Hearing Ray's words, Rena slowly opens her eyes and she was shocked at what she saw.

" Ray, where are we? Why are we in the middle of a Rainforest?"

" I'll explain later Rena, let's look for some shelter."

Rena didn't ask any more questions and followed Ray away. She was still confused, but she knows there is time and place for everything.

They explored the Rainforest for 2 hours before they finally found a small cave suitable for housing them tonight.

" Here, let's go inside and get some rest first."

Ray and Rena then proceed to went into the small cave. They change their clothes with the item Ray got in the item gacha, and Ray took out the miraculous water bottle for them to drink.

" Okay Rena, now we are here. Did you have any questions to ask me?"

Ray was the first to start the topic. He knew he couldn't hide about the spirit beast nor some system ability to Rena, so it's better to explain it.

" Ray, who are you?"

Rena's question was one of the most basic questions, but it was also the hardest to answer for Ray. It would be easier if she asked things like where are we or where did the clothes came from, but this question. This question requires ray to explain things carefully to Rena.

" *Sigh* Among all the questions, why should you ask that the first. But nevermind. Rena, if told you, I was not a normal human, would you believe me?"

Ray then took 1 hour to explain most of the things to Rena. He told her many things, from how he suddenly gain some special ability, how he met a special entity called spirit beast to how the two of them were dragged and stranded on this Rainforest.

Of course, Ray hides some things, like the existent of Aina, the fact of their world was just a game, and how Skye was supposed to be the main protagonist of the game.

Knowing them would only do harm to Rena, and could give her some identity crisis.

" So, you're saying that in our world, humans live alongside the hidden spirit beast, and this strange place was a sacred place for spirit beast?"

Rena asked Ray with still a little bit of disbelief. The information from Ray really changes the way she looks at the world, especially the fact about the spirit beasts and Daoists.

Ray only nodded and didn't give any more explanation. He gestured to Rena to take some rest, and they would continue their exploration tomorrow after the sunrise.