Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Hearing the slightly teasing yet worried words, Zhang Lan didn't know how to respond. With a blank expression, she quickly recalled what had just happened, then stood up again and said.

"Where's the notebook?"

"Huh? You mean that tattered pink notebook? It's been stuck in your hand the whole time, and we can't get it off..."

Zhang Lan was startled. The notebook was still being held tightly in her right hand. She was stunned for a few seconds and asked in a low voice.

"You didn't peek inside, did you...?"

"It's not like it's some kind of game cheat code, so I'm not interested in looking at it. At first, I thought it was some kind of book with cursed magic that made you look like this. Luckily, Martha took one look and said that it originally belonged to Alice... yours, so I didn't bother with it."

Hearing this, Zhang Lan breathed a sigh of relief, put the notebook under her pillow and lay down again, staring at the top of the tent with a somewhat solemn expression.

Wang Kai also found it strange. This was the first time he had seen Zhang Lan so flustered in a long time. Usually, even if she encountered any major changes, she could quickly adjust her mindset. But just now, she didn't even try to hide the notebook, letting me see it directly. Wasn't she afraid of arousing my curiosity and making me peek?

"Wang Kai, I just..."

"Wait, don't say anything more. Your health is the most important thing. If you faint again, it won't be like before when you can just call '120' anywhere. Martha will boil some hot water for you to wash up right away. You should rest first, and we can talk about everything tomorrow."

Zhang Lan had barely uttered a few words that revealed her exhaustion when Wang Kai interrupted her.

After all, the sudden fainting of a young person should not be taken lightly. Although Wang Kai brushed it off with a few simple words, he was actually a little puzzled. After Zhang Lan came over with him, she seemed to be able to handle everything with ease and was very calm. She could also deal with chaotic situations with composure. Now she seemed to be a completely different person. Could it be that she was really "possessed" or something?

Moreover, when Wang Kai went to find Zhang Lan near the church, he felt a strange sense of panic as he passed through that area, as if an unexpected and terrifying event had broken out nearby.

Stepping out of the tent, Wang Kai said something to Masha, who was boiling water over there.

"I'll leave her in your care for now. I'll excuse myself for a moment. By the way, where is that lake?"

Martha stood up, looked at Wang Kai suspiciously, and asked in return.

"Huh? Brother Kai, why aren't you taking care of Sister Lan yourself? Aren't you two a couple... no, aren't you a married couple?"

Wang Kai almost lost his balance. Looking at Martha's wide, serious eyes, he shook his head helplessly and said...

"I knew there must be some misunderstanding, but I didn't expect it to be so deep. As of now, she and I are just adventure partners. Although we lived together since childhood, that's about it..."

“Childhood sweethearts!” Martha blinked her big eyes. “No wonder people were guessing for so long. Your relationship, which goes beyond ‘lovers’ but stays just outside the ‘husband and wife’ line, was so unpredictable. Oh, I see. Go on, Kai-gege. That lake is at the foot of the mountain, not far…”

……

Wow, this little lake under the moonlight is simply paradise! A light mist hangs over the clear water, revealing a pale yellow lakebed where you can even see a few fish swimming around occasionally...

Wang Kai stood there for a long time before he came to his senses. Without saying a word, he stripped naked and jumped in.

As a ripple spread across the lake, the water temperature wasn't as low as I'd expected; it felt cool but didn't give me goosebumps.

It wasn't until Wang Kai stood in the shallow water not far from the lake that the soft sand beneath his feet gave him the answer.

The temperature difference between day and night is significant here. The warmth from the sunlight during the day is retained by the fine sand at the bottom of the lake, which explains why Masha highly recommends this wonderful place.

Hmm, not bad. I'll catch two more plump fish later, clean them, coat them with flour or breadcrumbs, and fry, pan-fry, or grill them—it'll be absolutely delicious...

But Wang Kai forgot that most humans' hunting skills had long since degenerated. After swimming around like a dog, he didn't even touch a single fish scale. Giving up, he leaned back by the lake, looked up at the starry sky, and gazed at this dazzling starry sky that he had almost never seen in his previous world, his thoughts filled with countless emotions.

"To be honest, if I hadn't always treated this bizarre 'transmigration to another world' as a game, I would have been overwhelmed with homesickness long ago."

At the same time, I have to admit that Zhang Lan is right. What kind of chosen one am I, Wang Kai? I'm just an ordinary person. I used to think that I had a college degree and was complacent and ambitious, but in the end, I still ended up as a low-level worker.

Every day, I'm summoned by the property management of several residential communities, forced to crawl into those narrow electrical shafts to check the wiring, sometimes for hours at a time. I come out either soaked in sweat or completely exhausted—it's truly a grueling experience! Sigh, isn't the phrase "serves me right" a perfect description of my situation?

"So what's Zhang Lan thinking? Putting aside the fact that she's become a girl, how does she plan to live from now on? She doesn't seem very interested in things like adventure, leveling up, and fighting monsters."

There's no way around it; a person's character determines their future. After graduating from university and struggling for nearly ten years, I came back looking much darker and thinner.

For a few coins, they risk damaging their health; most graduates are like that.

She spent almost every month conducting surveying in the mountains. If she was lucky, she could go back to the base to eat and sleep, but if she was unlucky, she often had to sleep outdoors.

Moreover, those construction bosses are all shrewd and calculating. If you can't speak to people in a certain way, it's really hard to make a living in that industry... Sigh, life is just that tough.

"But will it be any better if I'm inexplicably transported to this other world?"

Although it is full of various "RPG game" elements, it is also a different world where you can get thirsty, hungry, injured, in pain, and even die.

For this unfamiliar world that we only know a tiny fraction of, even with "divine favor" or other cheat-like skills, can we still smoothly and perfectly complete the game like before by simply moving the mouse and keyboard?

Though unwilling, it must be admitted that this is a "realistic game" where there is no saving, and once it ends, there is no going back.

"Crash..."

A ripple sounded in Wang Kai's ear, and he thought it was the fish that he had been unable to catch for a while gathering up and leaping out of the water to mock him.

So he smiled, preparing to pounce on the fish when it wasn't looking and try to grab it a few times, hoping to "catch a fish in troubled waters." But as soon as he took a deep breath and turned over, his next move abruptly stopped halfway through.

Because, a white figure appeared beside them at some unknown time... It was Zhang Lan!

The pristine white body of the young girl, with only half of her body submerged in the water and no attempt at concealment, was laid bare before our eyes.

Through the misty spray, the flawless beauty could only be described as "sacred," and the scene before him instantly captivated Wang Kai, leaving him completely mesmerized...

"You have absolutely no sense of awareness. I've been in the water for a while now, and you're only just realizing it. With such a slow-witted mind, forget about going on adventures to fight monsters and level up; you probably won't even be able to leave the starting village..."

As Zhang Lan spoke softly and her body drew closer, Wang Kai no longer harbored any "wicked" thoughts as before. Instead, his face was filled with surprise and awe at the most beautiful scene in the world. His eyes were wide open, recording the beautiful scenery before him without reservation, leaving no detail unrecorded...

Soon, Zhang Lan came to Wang Kai's side and sat down in the water less than a body length away, with only half of her shoulder and head showing. Seeing Wang Kai's dazed expression, she couldn't help but splash some water on him to "bring him back to his senses."

"You're staring in a daze again, aren't you? Are you thinking how wonderful it would be if the soul beneath that beautiful exterior were really a girl, right?!"

"Ah, right... Ah, no, no!" Wang Kai shook his head, slightly averting his gaze. "You, how did you get here? You just woke up after fainting and you're taking a bath? What if you faint again..."

"Yes, thanks to you, I didn't have to spend a night in the 'mass graveyard'."

"Well... alright, after all, only you know your own physical condition. Why didn't Martha advise you to be more careful?"

“She’s resting now. I feel that wiping myself with a hot towel won’t help much with all this sweat and stench. Only a shower can get rid of the smell and fatigue. Besides, as I said before, I need to take good care of this body. Otherwise, I’ll be letting down Alice, and even more so, Kyle, who risked his life to protect her even if it meant falling off a cliff… You agree, right?”

"Well, look at what you're saying. By the way, you also mentioned that you wanted to find some time to talk to me alone soon, which is one of the reasons you came here, right..."

Zhang Lan smiled after hearing this.

"I told you you weren't stupid. Okay, so which do you want to hear first, the bad news or the good news?"

Wang Kai said it without even thinking.

"The saying 'no pain, no gain' was a 'truth' in my original world, but after nearly ten years of living in a daze, I've started to doubt it. So I want to hear the good news first!"

"The good news is... I've figured out the real relationship between 'Kyle' and 'Alice'."

"Really? That's good news, which means..."