"Hup."

I lifted up the pot and utensils from the ground and walked towards Rai with a smile.

"We're ready to go."

"Is it heavy?"

He asked with a stoic expression, but his voice was sounded concerned as he shifted his gaze to the heavy-looking items I was carrying.

"...Ah? No. I-It's fine." I denied politely. Huh, his words are surprisingly thoughtful even though he says them with such an emotionless face.

'Although he looks aloof and expressionless, he's actually a humane person...'

"...."

Meanwhile, Rai was looking at me with a doubtful face. He's definitely lying. He thought.

He suddenly pointed at the air with his index finger. Guess I'll have to do this.

"....Uh?" Puzzled by his strange reaction, I tilted my head slightly.

'What is he pointing at?'

I turned my head towards where he was pointing, but all I saw were the ruined buildings. Confused, I look back at Rai with my brow raised slightly. Then, Rai opened his mouth.

"[#### ####]"

After saying words that I couldn't understand, A black void as tall as a human instantly appeared in the direction he was pointing at.

'...Wait, what just—'

Before I could process what just happened, Rai interrupted my thoughts.

"Here. You can put your things here instead."

"A-ah...."

I stood there flabbergasted as he took the heavy items from my hands and threw them carelessly into the black void. I was so shocked that I couldn't even think straight.

After a short period of time though, I finally managed to regain my consciousness.

'W-was that an S-Rank skill I just saw...?!'

Although the words he chanted were different, I could tell from the appearance of it that it was definitely the [Spatial Storage] skill.

[Spatial Storage], or in simpler words, Dimensional Storage. If you put something in it, the item's state will be preserved until you take it out.

Let's say you put hot coffee in the dimensional storage. By the time you take it out of the storage, it will still be warm.

Even better, the storage is infinite, so you won't have to worry about saving space.

[Spatial Storage] is a skill that is only exclusive to S-Ranks, yet this guy was able to use it as well..!

'...Transmigrators are truly a dangerous existence.'

My body shivered at the thought of trying to fight this guy in a duel.

"Was that all you had?"

Rai's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Ah... Yes. That's all I have."

I nodded my head a few times.

"Alright."

Rai nodded back at me and blurted out some more indecipherable words, which made the black void vanish into thin air.

"Let's go now."

***

"...."

After an hour of walking, we soon realized that the entire city was actually covered by the forest. Considering how complicated the forest is, it'll be extremely hard to get out completely...

"This is going to be difficult..."

I took a glance at Rai, whose expression was still as expressionless as ever.

"Yeah..."

I replied back in agreement with a calm face. But in reality, my mind was currently a big mess.

'Agh... Just how do I lead him to the exit without him finding out that I know where it is?!'

As a matter of fact, yes, I already knew how to get out of this stinkin forest.

But if I told him that, Wouldn't he become suspicious of me? I did tell him that his city had poison fumes all over it... He'll wonder why I didn't leave even though it was dangerous. Fuck, why the hell did I do that?! I should've just left him in the apartment and ran for my life!

'Now I'm gonna be stuck with this dangerous man in a forest for a month!'

Imaginary tears fell down my face.

...Uh, where were we again?

Oh, right.

In order to avoid being stuck with this dude in a forest for a month, I decided to make a plan and just lead him out of the forest without him knowing. But the question is how the hell do I do that?

'...Do I just tell him my gut says east is where the exit is?'

...

I immediately scratched out that idea. 

'Then, what if I just make a path when he's sleeping? When he wakes up, I'll just say I found a weird trail of pebbles leading to something.'

Hm... Sounds like a solid plan.

I nodded my head without any objections. Considering his personality and all, he would probably most likely follow it to investigate. 

"...Johan."

Rai's voice cut off my thoughts.

"Yes?"

I answered out of habit, tilting my head to the side.

"Am I too fast for you?"

He asked as he stopped walking all of a sudden, as if to let me catch up to him.

"....???"

'.....???'

"Uh..." I wasn't quite sure how to answer that out-of-the-blue question.

"No... It's fine. I was just lost in my thoughts."

I quickly denied him and caught up to him. He must've been worried because I was walking so slowly...  Jeez, this guy is so thoughtful, what the heck.

I sighed internally. I wonder how many girlfriends he had in his previous life... Wait, now that I think about it, he really does look and seem like a harem protagonist...

I moved my eyes towards his handsome face. He's so lucky he was born a lady killer...

'Please bless me with girlfriends too...' I closed my eyes tightly and silently prayed.

....

"...?"

On the other hand, Rai, who noticed my obvious stare raised his brow in confusion. Am I walking too fast after all?  He thought worriedly.

"...Ehem."

Rai coughed lightly, catching my attention.

"...Hm?"

He opened his mouth slightly but paused afterward. 

"...."

After a bit of pausing, the words he wanted to say finally escaped out of his mouth.

"...Do you want a piggyback ride?"

'....?'

[...Dear Host, you did something to him last night didn't you?]

'No, I did not!'

I immediately denied the audacious claims from the system. Also, don't just assume that just because he asked me if I wanted a piggyback ride!

"...N-no need. I'm fine with walking."

I smiled awkwardly at Rai, whose doubtful stare once again enveloped me. 

...Mr. Transmigrator, could you at least not show your distrust so clearly?

"You can stop being humble now. Hop on."

He instructed as he squatted on the ground and gestured for me to jump on his back.

"I-I'm really fine!"

"You stutter when you lie."

I stared at him with widened eyes, offended deep inside. No, I do not! Why the hell do these guys keep assuming things about me?

"...Please, I'm really fine."

I refused him again, this time without stuttering.

"Just hop on."

"I'm really fine though..."

"Let's not waste another second. Hop on my back."

'Urgh... This guy really doesn't know when to give up...' I tutted inwardly. Why the hell is this dude so stubborn? 

"...I'm really—"

"If you're not going to hop on my back, then I guess I'll just have to carry you in my arms then?"

"....?"

[....] The blue screen was speechless as well.

'...What the heck?!' 

I blushed slightly. How did he say that so casually? What is he? Some kind of smooth criminal? (hahaha... ok nvm i'll just leave—)

Is this some kind of recessive gene? Were his parents harem protagonists as well?

[You are truly shameless, Dear Host... To seduce someone from another world...] The silent blue screen finally spoke up, only to slander me instead.

'.....'

A small vein popped on my forehead. Say that to him, not me!

"So?"

Rai turned his head to face me, anticipating my answer.

"Err...."

I wanted to tell him I was fine, but I knew very well that he would stay stubborn till the end.

'In this case... I really have no escape, huh...'

I stared blankly at the squatting man in front of me. He was definitely 10x stronger than me right now. Escaping would be as futile as hitting a tree with a stick.

"....."

After a moment of silence, I finally gave him my answer.

"...Okay."

***

"Aren't I heavy?"

I asked the man who was currently carrying me with a blank expression as if I was just a bag of feathers. I guess this is the power of a transmigrator, huh? Wait, why am I even surprised at this point?

"No. This much is just warm-ups to me."

Rai said confidently, hoping it would lessen the other's worries.

"...Okay."

'Jeez. Weird flex, man.'

I furrowed my brows in envy. These damn harem protagonists... Were they always this boastful of themselves? 

Unfortunately, I failed to realize the other's good intentions.

'I guess only protagonists get preferential treatment. Tch.'

After cursing his protagonist genes even more, I suddenly remembered something. Ah.

I forgot about trying to lead him out of the forest... My face went pale instantly. Fuck, what if we're even farther from the exit?!

We've been walking for 2 hours now... It's possible we may have already accidentally strayed away from the exit.

"Um... Can you put me down for a bit?" This was the fifth time I've asked him the same question.

I tried to tell him many times before it was fine to let me down now but he just responded with "You really are stubborn, haha."  It was a little bit infuriating, to be honest.

Rai stopped for a moment and sighed lightly.

"Alright."

He nodded a few times before putting me down on the ground carefully. Ah, finally, he agreed to put me down! I rejoiced deep inside. 

"...Are you sure you're going to be able to catch up with me?" He suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"...?"

Oh, he thinks I'm being humble again.

"Ah, no. It's not that. It's... I'm going to... The restroom."

Obviously, there's no way a toilet would be in a forest.

"Oh, okay then..."

As if he understood the meaning of my words, his worried mood quickly changed into his normal stoic mood. 

"I'll be right back."

I said with a reassuring tone as I quickly fled to a slightly faraway tree.

***

I warily looked around me and confirmed that there was no one in sight.

'Coast is clear.' 

"Popo, come out."

I called out to the blue screen, but for some reason, no response came.

"...."

"Popo?"

....

Still no response.

"Hello? Popo? You there?"

....

Fwooosh—  Only the voice of the wind answered back.

'...Why isn't it—Oh.'

Ah, how could I forget something so important? I sighed lightly.

"...Moderator, come out."

[Yes, Dear Host?]

"...." Knew it.

"...Pull out [1,525]."

[Why didn't you do that earlier?]

My eyebrows scrunched up a little. "I got distracted. Hurry up."

[Fine... Initiating transfer... Beep boop.] I widened my eyes slightly to the sudden "beep boop" sound. You know, you don't have to roleplay a robot just because you have a robotic voice...

'This old system is really bored to its bones.'

I sighed again.

[1,525th life, [Marker] has been chosen.]

"...."

...Shouldn't you say that before "Initiating transfer"? 

Spark—  A sudden spark of electricity struck on my forehead.

"Ow."

I closed my eyes reflexively as I felt a slight pain intruding my brain. It stung a little, but after a few seconds, the pain disappeared completely. Like a passing-by headache.

"...."

When I opened my eyes again, a strange square grid had spread to my surroundings, as if I was in virtual reality.

(like this but imagine the background is the forest)

[Marker]. My previous life's skill.

[Marker] allows me to fill in a square on the grid, marking it. It's very useful when marking landmarks or important places, especially like the exit. In fact, this was the first-ever memory I pulled out from the [Memory Archive].

What's even better is that it can go through everything, therefore it is visible at any time unless I'm too far away from it. I can also change the colors of a marked square, making it easy to distinguish one place from another. And, last but not the least, It even shows me how close I am to the square! Pretty swell, right?

Currently, the only places I've marked are the city, the exit, and a spot inside the forest where wolves usually appear.

....

I immediately shifted my head side to side, looking for a red-colored square. But surprisingly, I found it much closer to me, leaving me dumbfounded.

"Eh...?"

...So was pulling out [1,525] pointless?

I stood there, motionless for a few minutes.

'Damnit, it was all useless! We were only a few meters away from it!'

I felt cheated. Did Rai already know where the exit was and didn't tell me? Or maybe it's just pure luck? How did he even get here in 2 hours?

...Either way, all my efforts have now fallen down in the gutter.

"...."

So much for acting cool...