Well... I did bring Zixuan in her cat form to defeat the Demon King, but I don’t even know where he is. Thinking about it, bringing someone who doesn’t know the way and can’t communicate at all was such a blunder. Though, not entirely unable to communicate—

After all, there’s that weird NPC popping up randomly in my head. I’ll just treat it as my assistant. So I set off with a cat and a bodiless NPC living only in my mind.

First, I needed to escape this forest. I chose a narrow path trampled by some unknown beast. But it was unusually wide—as if the creature was enormous. Could it be a hidden boss? Since I’m in another world now, could there be dragons?

If possible, I’d love to see a dragon. Preferably one that doesn’t attack me—just standing there for me to admire. But that’s impossible, right? Even a dragon willing to chat as equals wouldn’t stand still for staring. Unless it had a screw loose.

Anyway—the girl behind me hadn’t made a sound. I slowly turned my head, sneaking a peek. She walked quietly, head down, on two legs. Seriously, could you at least act more like a cat?

That said, Zixuan’s two tails swaying between her legs kept catching my eye. They swayed constantly as she moved. Not just that—the fluffy black cat ears on her head were casting a spell, making it impossible to look away.

If I could, I really wanted to test if those tails and ears were real—

“Meow?”

She must have noticed my stare—anyone would. Zixuan lifted her head, looking at my face. I don’t know why, but I wanted to hide. I immediately looked at the sky, cold sweat beading on my forehead. I stammered out the lamest lie—

“Ha... nice weather today... hahaha...”

After that, I turned away, too guilty to look back. I resumed walking at my usual pace, but matched her steps. I stayed just a step ahead of her.

“Meow meow meow...”

‘What’s wrong?’ the cat spirit said.

A sound like she was on high alert came from behind. She grabbed my sleeve, trying to stop me. I saw her frightened face—her gray eyes wide with caution. What was she wary of? Had I just arrived in this world, without levels or gear, only to meet my first monster?

We froze. But the rustling footsteps in the grass didn’t stop. Something was approaching from the bushes. We stood in the path’s center, woods on both sides. There was a 50% chance: guarding one side left the other exposed. It was a gamble. Guess wrong, and we’d be ambushed!

I had no intention of dying so soon after arriving here—

“Meow meow meow!”

‘Something is approaching. Be extremely careful. Do not move!’ the cat spirit said.

That emotionless system voice echoed in my head. But how was this different from those three meows? Seriously, how did you parse all that? Are you cheating? Or does this system have a massive bug?

Still, just as that absurd NPC said—or rather, cat-form Zixuan—something was closing in. The rustling grew louder. My heart leapt. An ominous aura thickened the air—

Wind suddenly roared fiercely. Branches swayed violently. Grass flattened under the gust. Was this how a boss makes its entrance?!

This presence felt strong—a formidable opponent. But I had no weapons. My only companion was a cat-like person—or human-shaped cat. My understanding of her was still ambiguous. I wasn’t counting on a cat to protect her. I should run. But waiting felt necessary. Running now might get us caught—

Those footsteps seemed to come from all directions. Maybe the wind spread the sound. But this was another world—you couldn’t rule out clone techniques.

“Thou! How dare thou trespass on my territory—are thou some brainless creature?! I give thee ten seconds to kneel and repent, or vanish! Otherwise, face divine retribution!”

What’s with this archaic speech? Where did it come from? This is another world—use the local language! Or romanized gibberish I can’t understand! Even in a language I know, I can’t grasp your meaning!

It’s like seeing familiar Chinese characters but failing to form a sentence—even a two-word phrase. Let alone speaking Chinese yet making zero sense!

But from her words, I understood one thing—the voice. I’d never mistake it. Never. Never. (Important things three times.) If wrong, I wouldn’t be her childhood friend! I was certain it was Mengxiang. But this mindset could never be hers!

I stood frozen for nearly a minute. Even when the girl tugged my clothes, I didn’t move. Zixuan, unable to pull my stubborn self, slowly released my sleeve. She stood beside me. I admired her brave spirit—but we wouldn’t die. The one appearing before us was just a girl under 1.5 meters tall.

“Thou! Art thou not afraid of thy doom?!”

Next second, a foot stepping through grass came into view. A girl emerged from behind a tree. Unmistakably my childhood friend, Mengxiang. But she questioned us in a tone and words I’d never heard—

“Thou! Who art thou, unafraid before our almighty god? Art thou the hero from the Eastern Continent?!”

How to describe it? Her flaxen hair unchanged. Her petite frame as usual. Her delicate face etched in my memory. But Mengxiang’s outfit was hard to accept—

Can you imagine someone under 1.5 meters dressed as a warrior? She wore a sphinx mask covering half her face. Three random red, white, and green streaks painted her exposed cheek. In her left hand, a staff. Her robe bared her navel and shoulders. Was this the legendary otherworldly mage?! Seriously?!

“Hey, you’re not Xu Mengxiang, are you?”

“What a rustic name! I am the strongest warrior! Remember my name well—I am Nasus! Now, state thine own!”

She declared proudly, making me cringe. Seriously, do you love jackal heads that much? I mean, what about Haman? Though unrelated, what thick skin lets you say such embarrassing things? I could barely stand it.

Though Egyptian pyramids were far off—this was just a forest—Mengxiang’s anachronistic outfit was still hard to swallow—

“Uh... um... well...”

I scrambled for words. Such a sudden question was tough. I should’ve planned my identity before slaying the Demon King. But my feline companion never brought it up—and couldn’t. So I forgot—

“Simply put... I, I, I’m on my way to slay the Demon King—”

Crap. Panic made me blurt it out. No way she’d believe it. Besides, I wasn’t actually going to fight him!

“Is that so! May I join thee? If a powerful enemy like the Demon King awaits—as this world’s guardian god, I must stop him!”

The girl suddenly got excited. Seriously, could you pick a flimsier reason? Even if you say that, how could I just take you along? Better to refuse—