Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Zhang Lan muttered a few words to herself, then left the cliff edge and headed towards the jungle behind it. Soon she spotted something crucial and quickly walked deeper into the forest. Wang Kai didn't dare delay and immediately followed…

The two arrived at a circular patch of grass, and in the center of the circle, a patch of blackened, charred soil caught Zhang Lan's attention. She squatted down and took a brief look, appearing somewhat incredulous.

Wang Kai, who had come closer, glanced at it and then said, "Could someone have dropped a bomb here...?"

"It's not a bomb, it's magic!"

Zhang Lan drew a conclusion.

"These marks were created in the same way as the fire magic I used before, but there's no comparison in terms of power... Describing my previous spell as a 'skyrocket' might be an exaggeration. But judging from these magical marks, they're about as powerful as a hand grenade, just like what you described. And didn't you see? There are similar marks on that big tree not far away, and in the bushes nearby..."

Zhang Lan casually pointed her small hand into the depths of the dense forest, and only then did Wang Kai see the fallen tree trunks, as thick as bowls, and a large amount of fresh soil scattered in all directions by the explosion.

Seeing this wasn't so bad, but not far away, on the trunk of a large tree with a diameter of two meters, there was a crack the size of a head. The crack revealed the pitch blackness caused by being scorched by flames, and a creepy feeling slowly spread from the feet up the body.

Wang Kai snapped out of his daze and could only swallow hard. As Zhang Lan had said, if one were hit by a spell of that power, at best one would lose an arm or a leg, and at worst one would be instantly killed, let alone if it was fired repeatedly...

He had previously thought magic was just a figment of his imagination, but now that he realized how terrifying its power was, coupled with his previous deductions, a fantasy that he dared not imagine yet could already sense emerged in his mind.

And at that very moment, his imagination materialized into a series of moving images, like those from an animated film of the 70s or 80s, complete with clear audio, instantly assaulting his brain cells…

"...Leaves and grass kept sweeping past them, but the boy paid no attention to them. He still held onto a small hand tightly and ran wildly through the dense, pathless forest. He would occasionally turn his head to look behind him, but the random fireballs kept exploding behind him, covering up the girl's screams."

The boy knew that if they were even a step too slow, they would both vanish without a trace into the forest...

Suddenly, their view opened up ahead, and a strong wind swept through the sunlight. The boy fixed his gaze and desperately stopped in his tracks...

The girl was exhausted and wanted to fight to the death, but she didn't even have the strength to grip the staff tightly.

After looking down from the edge of the cliff, despair filled the boy's face...

"Alice, what did you just see? Who is chasing us?!"

"I...I, I don't know, I don't know...what should I do?"

Before he could finish speaking, a series of footsteps approached from the forest, accompanied by the clattering of metal armor.

Knowing there was no way out, the boy pulled the girl behind him. In this situation, the only thing left for the boy, as a man, to do was act like a true man.

Death showed no mercy; faced with the two boys' desperate gazes, it only unleashed an even more intense fireball...

The fireball struck the ground, the shockwave radiating outwards. The boy barely managed to regain his footing, but a scream came from behind him, from a girl who was already unsteady on her feet, forcing him to turn around...

"Alice!"

A white figure was already disappearing off the cliff edge when the boy, without any hesitation, leaped forward. In the instant he missed his step, he grasped the girl's outstretched hand and pulled her tightly into his arms. After exchanging a glance, the fear on their faces vanished instantly, and they embraced tightly…

……

"Huhuhu~"

Under the impact of what could truly be called "post-death memories," Wang Kai seemed to have become an idiot, standing still and panting heavily.

After Zhang Lanzhan got up, she also noticed something was wrong. She waved her small hand in front of him a few times, but there was still no reaction. She could only vaguely hear him whispering "Alice".

Seeing this, Zhang Lan felt a little annoyed for some reason. They were talking about serious business, but this guy was muttering "Alice" and such. She originally intended to slap him like before, but her raised hand stopped mid-air. Instead, she changed her grip and slapped him across the waist...

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Unfortunately, Wang Kai was wearing a breastplate and backplate, and Zhang Lan's slap hurt so much that tears almost welled up in her eyes. She tried her best to hold back her cries, but her big eyes still filled with tears. Fortunately, the slap brought Wang Kai back to his senses, and he stared blankly in her direction...

"Alice... wait, Zhang Lan, what are you doing!?"

"I didn't do anything, I really didn't do anything!"

"But you look like you're in a lot of pain. Hey, why is your hand behind your back?"

"I... I squatted down for too long, and when I stood up suddenly, I unfortunately strained my back. It does hurt a bit, and I'm rubbing it now..."

"Really? Should I cast some kind of 'healing spell' or something..."

"No need, no need. Don't use magic to solve every little problem. What if you encounter something that even magic can't solve one day? By the way, you looked so dumbfounded just now. I thought you were possessed."

Wang Kai took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and thought for a few seconds. Although he wasn't sure if this was the "memory before death" of this body, he still carefully recalled it and told the other person about it...

Zhang Lan was skeptical after hearing this, seemingly not believing in the mysterious matter of "memory inheritance." However, the situation she was facing today was mysterious enough. She quickly grasped the key point after a brief analysis and said...

"According to your 'recollection' just now, that Alice, she saw something that she 'didn't understand' or 'didn't know,' which led to her being hunted down, and the pursuers were high-ranking knights or warriors? And Kyle chose to fall off the cliff with her to protect her. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes!"

Wang Kai shook his head, feeling unwell as if the merging of different memories had caused a stroke, and rubbed his temples as he spoke.

"If you ask me how credible this is, I just vaguely received this information in my mind. If I really want to find the reason, I can only start with you."

"On me?"

Zhang Lan was stunned for a moment...

"It's not you, it's Alice, the original owner of this body. Only she knows the truth."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lan suddenly became angry for some reason, pouted, and said in a strange tone.

"Are you still upset that your good brother has taken over the body of the woman you like, and you keep mentioning Alice and stuff like that... Since magic exists in this world, there must be professions like fortune tellers, necromancers, and so on, right? How about we find a town and go ask around to see if we can ask a necromancer to help us summon Alice's seven souls and eight spirits so you can have a proper questioning, okay?"

Wang Kai didn't know what he had stepped on, but guessed that the other party might not like things related to "ghosts and superstitions," since some people are quite taboo about such things, and it was also related to Zhang Lan herself, so it was no wonder she was angry.

Forget it, maybe it was just an illusion. It looked so real, but it was practically useless for the main quest at hand. So he spread his arms, indicating that this topic was off-limits...

"Alright, I was just rambling. What should we do next? The sun is starting to set. Should we continue wandering aimlessly through the forest, or find a safe place to spend the night?"

Zhang Lan shook her head, looked around, picked out the big tree in front of her, tossed her staff aside, and took off her long robe, turning into a "cool outfit" of a fitted vest and knee-length capri pants.

She walked to the tree, rubbed her two little hands together a few times, then took off her boots, and barefoot, she started climbing the tree after shouting a few times...

By the time he realized what was happening, the other person had already climbed nearly ten meters high. Wang Kai immediately ran to the foot of the tree and shouted up.

"What are you doing? We haven't climbed trees to steal bird eggs in almost 20 years. Do you want to use them for dinner? Please, we have food in our backpacks..."

"What the hell? Hmph... I'm asking you, what should you do if you get lost in the forest?"

"How do I do it? It's just pressing the 'M' key to bring up the minimap... Wait, what does getting lost have to do with climbing a tree?"

"Phew... Forget it, I won't argue with someone like you whose head is only focused on games. I climbed up here just to see... Yes, yes! I see it! I see a lot of wisps of smoke in the direction of the setting sun..."