Wearing the antler pendant and holding the Iron-Slaying Sword, Ryan Clark returned to the living room. At this moment, Mr. Harris had already finished a bowl of food and was lazily lying on the floor...

Seeing Ryan Clark come out, it glanced over, then got up, panting and showing a big smile.

"Woof!!"

Ryan Clark was speechless.

Because this guy was saying that the feeling just now was great—could he do it again for him!

It seemed... it wanted to become even stronger.

"You really are greedy. There’s no more for now, but you’ll have plenty of fights coming up."

"If you can defeat your opponents and return safely, maybe you’ll get even stronger."

"Woof?" Mr. Harris was stunned for a moment, then put on a sharp expression, walked a few steps, and put the sunglasses from under the coffee table on its face, starting to exude an air of dominance.

Chapter 5: Novice Trial Secret Realm

Ryan Clark ignored the excited, sunglasses-wearing Mr. Harris.

Besides weapons and the protective amulet, he also prepared some healing medicine, bottled water, snacks, and some wilderness survival tools.

He didn’t know if he’d need them, but it was better to be prepared.

It was a bit overweight... but that wasn’t a big problem. Worst case, he could just throw things away at a critical moment.

And so, as Ryan Clark kept preparing and kept lecturing Mr. Harris, time ticked by bit by bit.

"Did you really understand?"

"The contract strengthened your body, but why does it feel like your intelligence didn’t get boosted too?"

During this time, Ryan Clark looked at the impatient Mr. Harris with a weary heart and a headache.

For example, he said that the upcoming enemies might be creatures they’d never seen before and that they needed to be careful, but Mr. Harris just kept showing a disdainful expression.

What was that supposed to mean?

Ryan Clark felt a chill in his heart.

He had a bad feeling, but with only a few minutes left on the countdown, there was no time to think more.

"Alright, that’s it."

"You go back first." Ryan Clark summoned the black card. At this moment, he could store the black card inside his body or summon it at any time.

With the crossing about to happen, Ryan Clark first put Mr. Harris back into the black card, then put the card away. This way, at least he didn’t have to worry about being separated from Mr. Harris during the teleportation.

"Awoo!!" Mr. Harris entered the black card, and Ryan Clark began to rest with his eyes closed.

Even with his eyes shut, the countdown was still clearly visible before him.

Time kept passing...

Three... two... one... As the final second arrived, Ryan Clark couldn’t help but feel nervous.

No matter what, he was still just a high school student.

And at that very moment, spatial ripples appeared. The space where Ryan Clark was began to twist like a vortex, and with a rapid distortion, Ryan Clark's figure was swallowed up, disappearing from the room.

However, although Ryan Clark disappeared, the backpack he was carrying and the Iron-Slaying Sword he was gripping tightly were not teleported.

Except for the necessary clothes and the amulet hanging around his neck, everything else—even food and drink—was left behind.

...

Ryan Clark felt like his body was constantly experiencing both extreme gravity and weightlessness. He hadn’t expected the teleportation process to be so uncomfortable. As the dizzying sensation faded, Ryan Clark found that he had really arrived in a new place.

He opened his eyes.

What he saw was a dim, dense forest.

Before he could look around carefully, the familiar text and voice appeared again.

[Teleportation complete.]

[Current location: Forest of the Demon Cats (Novice Trial Secret Realm)]

[Difficulty: Easy]

[Trial mission: Survive for one day.]

[Secret Realm Introduction: The Forest of the Demon Cats is a natural labyrinth formed by a dense variety of trees, rich in resources, and once inhabited by many extraordinary creatures.

Twenty years ago, a strange black rainstorm caused the creatures in the forest to mutate and launch a beast tide against the surrounding towns.

The Empire’s Beastmaster Legion responded quickly, suppressed the beast tide, and eliminated the powerful mutated creatures in the forest.

After twenty years of recovery, only the demon cat clan and some weak extraordinary creatures remain active here, and the forest has been renamed the Forest of the Demon Cats.

As a new beastmaster, you have accidentally entered this place. Your greatest task now is to survive and wait for rescue.]

[Tip ①: This secret realm is a projection of the Forest of the Demon Cats. Internal resources and creatures cannot be taken out or contracted.]

[Tip ②: Based on the trial participant’s combat performance in the secret realm, different levels of rewards can be obtained after completing the mission.]

[Tip ③: If the trial participant falls into a near-death state, it will be judged as mission failure and forced return.]

[Tip ④: The trial participant temporarily gains the Eye of Data, which can investigate resources and creature information within the secret realm.]

[Wish you a pleasant adventure. The trial begins!]

"So that’s how it is." Seeing Tip ③, Ryan Clark felt that the creator of the black card seemed to have a bit of compassion.

But not much.

Although the trial participant would be forcibly teleported away when near death, which was considerate, the problem was, even after being sent back, they might not get treatment—just like that forum poster. And, there was an even greater chance that the participant wouldn’t even have the chance to enter a near-death state, but would be instantly killed.

The human body is really fragile.

Also, is this secret realm a projection of another world? Black rainstorm... beast tide... Damn, this doesn’t sound like a newbie dungeon at all.