"Nurse Shen, are you asking me out right now?" A young man around twenty years old asked with a playful grin.
His black hair danced in the wind, and his dark grey eyes sparkled with mischief. He dared to flirt with the university nurse because their relationship had gotten much closer lately.
"Student Ling, I want to pinch your cheeks so badly right now." Ling Tian kept teasing her, so Shen Yueyan suddenly felt the urge to pinch him.
"Here, go ahead." He leaned in slightly, offering his cheeks with a cheeky smile.
Since he had challenged her, she pinched his cheeks right away.
"Hehe." Her long purple hair fell forward, and her beautiful purple eyes gleamed with delight.
Shen Yueyan didn't hold back herself because he was the one who started it first.
"Ouch!" he cried out in pain when her pinch grew stronger. "Nurse Shen, please do it gently."
"I don't want to." She giggled happily. "This is the price for teasing me."
Once she removed her hands from his face, Ling Tian asked, "Are you happy now?"
"I'm thrilled," she replied cheerfully.
The elderly couple who sat on the nearby wooden bench smiled softly at their playful interactions.
"Watching that young couple reminds me of our younger days," the elderly man said with a smile.
The elderly woman held his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Yeah. They really look like us."
Ling Tian glanced at them briefly before returning his attention to Shen Yueyan. "Nurse Shen, the elderly couple said they looked like us when they were younger. Does that mean we will get married and grow old together?"
Instead of answering his question immediately, she asked with a playful tone, "What makes you think I will marry you in the future?"
"Because we are like a puzzle," he answered. "We won't be complete without each other."
"Glib tongue!" Even though she said that, she was thrilled deep inside her.
"Hehe." He chuckled softly.
As they were chatting happily, a magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground.
The duo was stunned and instantly stopped their footsteps.
'What is this?'
They exchanged a glance with each other.
When they returned their gaze to it, the magic circle gleamed red, and in the next second, both of them vanished from their spots.
----
Unknown Place, Forest.
"Ouch!" Ling Tian pressed his palm against his head as he sat up.
'Hmm?'
The expression of deep shock blossomed on his face when he saw countless tall trees around him.
'Forest? Weren't we just near campus earlier? What's going on here?'
Countless questions popped up in his mind.
'Nurse Shen… where is she?'
He turned his head left and right, looking for her.
The moment he saw her lying beside him, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Nurse Shen, wake up." He gently tapped her shoulder.
"Ouch!" She felt dizzy as she sat up.
'Hmm?'
She was stunned after opening her eyes.
"Student Ling, where are we?" she asked with a puzzled expression.
"I don't know." He shook his head.
"Is this some kind of TV prank?" she thought like this because it was one of the most plausible reasons why they were suddenly in the forest.
"Maybe." He rose to his feet and helped her up. "Let's check this place first."
When he was about to explore the forest, an artificial intelligence voice rang in his head.
[Gene analysis in progress… Integumentary system analysis in progress…97% compatibility. Criteria met. System binding initiated.]
Ling Tian was stunned once more, but said nothing.
"Student Ling, I'm hearing a robotic voice in my head." She informed him. "Does the AI voice appear in your mind too?"
"Yes." His expression changed slightly.
"What did it say?" she wanted to know if the AI said the same thing or not.
"Gene analysis in progress… Integumentary system analysis in progress…97% compatibility. Criteria met. System binding initiated." He gave an honest answer.
"It's different from mine." Her expression darkened as she thought of the possibility of what had happened to them. "Don't tell me… someone put an AI chip into our bodies when we were unconscious?"
As they were checking their bodies, a notification popped up.
[Ding! System binding successful. Please open the system display.]
"Student Ling, I'm seeing a glowing blue box floating before me." She didn't open the system display right away because she was still in a state of shock.
"Me too." Since he was curious, he clicked it right away.
----
Host: Ling Tian
Race: Human
Age: 20
System Level: 1
System Exp: 1/100
Bloodline: None
Cultivation Rank: None
Cultivation Exp: None
Talent: D
Inventory: Empty
Binding Partner(s): None. Empty slot (1)
Binding Authority: Locked.
----
'Cultivation rank?'
His gaze stopped on it.
'What is this? Rank of martial artists? But why is it called cultivation rank?'
He suddenly remembered the magic circle.
'No, no! It's impossible. Something like that only happens in movies, not in the real world.'
He shook his head.
'But…'
He didn't know why, but his instincts told him that everything was related to that magic circle.
"Nurse Shen, try clicking the system display and read it." he told her to check whether her status window had a cultivation bar or not.
"Yes. There are two cultivation bars in it. But why do I have them?" She thought it was ranks for martial artists, so she was startled because she had never learned martial arts before.
"I have no idea." He didn't tell her about his instincts because he was not completely sure about it.
"We will think about it later. Let's find out what's going on first." From her point of view, this was more important because she wanted to know what had happened to them.
"Alright." He agreed.
The duo started exploring the forest.
A minute!
Five minutes!
Ten minutes!
They had been walking for around fifteen minutes, but all they saw were only two things.
Trees and mountains!
Shen Yueyan and Ling Tian stopped walking and skimmed their surroundings.
'Why haven't we met anyone? Just how big is this forest?'
They rested for five minutes before looking for anyone again.
At the same time, a lion and a tiger were fighting several meters from them.
Unlike normal lions and tigers, these two beasts were huge and had pairs of wings on their bodies.
They hadn't noticed Ling Tian and Shen Yueyan because they were focused on each other.
"Golden Lion, get lost from my territory!" the White Tiger roared angrily.
"White Tiger, you've ruled this place for a long time. It's time for you to hand it over to me." The Golden Lion refused instantly because its intention was to take the White Tiger's territory.
"You think you're worthy to challenge me?" Killing intent flashed through its eyes as the White Tiger showed its sharp fangs.
At this time, both Ling Tian and Shen Yueyan stopped their footsteps and turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
The moment they saw two huge magical beasts in the air, their bodies froze, and their pupils quivered in disbelief.
'What is this? A lion and a tiger? But why are they so big and have a pair of wings? Why can they fly and speak human language?'
They found it hard to believe what they were seeing and hearing because they previously thought they were still on Earth.
The White Tiger turned to them when their smell reached its nose.
'I smell human.'
He didn't chase them right away because Golden Lion was in front of him, and he wanted to take his territory.
"Let's leave this place now." He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of that area.
'My instincts were right. We are no longer on Earth.'
He felt like he was on the verge of death when he saw its face, especially its terrifying red eyes.
Shen Yueyan did not say anything, but her gaze constantly returned to the magical creatures in the sky.
'Two massive animals that can fly and speak human language… Could it be that this isn't a prank?'
Her eyes widened for a moment when she recalled the magic circle.
Once they were far from the White Lion and Golden Tiger, Ling Tian stopped.
"Student Ling, we… are we no longer on Earth?" she asked with a trembling voice.
"I think the magic cirl-" he stopped his words halfway when he saw a massive fireball flying toward them.
The fireball burned everything in its path into nothingness, and the fire spread in all directions like a tsunami.
Shen Yueyan turned around when the air suddenly turned hot.
"Why does it suddenly fe-" Terror overtook her face when she saw a massive fireball destroying everything.
'Are we going to die?'
This question popped into her mind because she thought it was impossible for them to survive from the fireball.
"Run!" he shouted as he dragged her away.
He would not just stand still and wait for death.
Even if their chance of survival was only 0.01%, he would not give up.
As long as there was still a chance to survive, he would try it, no matter how small it was.
'There has to be a way to survive! There has to be a way!'
He gritted his teeth when the distance between them was getting closer and closer.
The moment he spotted a cliff, a crazy idea flashed through his mind. "Nurse Shen, I can't promise we will survive. But I promise to protect you."
Shen Yueyan shifted her gaze to him.
'Student Ling…'
She didn't say anything when he led her to the cliff because she had entrusted her life to him.
When the fireball was close to them, he wrapped his arms around her and jumped off the cliff.