Chen Yu appeared in a picturesque location, nestled among mountains with a bubbling stream flowing through. Just as he was about to take a breath of fresh air, he suddenly remembered something from the instance description about Daigo falling into water and being at death's door.
Realizing this, Chen Yu quickly made his way to the stream and scanned the area downstream.
Sure enough, a white figure was lying on the bank, barely alive.
It was Daigo, wearing the uniform of the Victory Team!
Chen Yu rushed over and immediately started performing CPR on Daigo.
After a while of chest compressions, Daigo began to cough up water, finally breathing smoothly again.
Chen Yu pulled out a towel from his storage space to dry Daigo's head, then lit a fire on the bank to prevent hypothermia.
The deviation in the world's trajectory had indeed been drastic. Not only was Daigo without the Light Stick, but he had also ended up in the water, victimized further.
Luckily, Chen Yu had arrived in time, or it would have been too late for Daigo.
This instance task seemed simple: defeat the evil Tiga.
A beginner task was essentially a break for Chen Yu.
And the reward was appealing too: a chance to transform into a dark form once.
Normally, transforming into a dark form, such as what Chen Yu had experienced once as Ultraman Tregear, was triggered under specific circumstances like the depletion of light power and invasion by dark forces.
Without those conditions, transforming into a dark form was nearly impossible.
Most importantly, the reward had no limitations, meaning any Ultraman form Chen Yu took on—be it Tiga, Tregear, or others—could use this feature to transform into a dark form.
"Why would such a reward appear in a beginner's instance? Could there be a catch?"
Sitting on a rock and tending to the fire, Chen Yu pondered.
He recalled his inability to control his actions when transformed into the dark form of Tregear...
"So, the catch in the reward lies here."
Realizing this, Chen Yu considered the yet-to-be-earned reward as something to avoid using unless absolutely necessary.
At that moment, Daigo, feeling the warmth, opened his eyes.
Seeing Chen Yu, he was clearly puzzled: "Who are you? And where am I?"
After asking two consecutive questions, Daigo looked around.
Memories from before he lost consciousness gradually returned, and he realized he must have fallen into the water and been rescued by the young man before him.
Chen Yu sighed softly, understanding that each game instance was independent; the Daigo before him didn't recognize him.
In other words, he had entered another separate game instance world.
"Hi, I'm Chen Yu." He introduced himself first and offered Daigo dry clothes. "Your clothes are soaked. I have clean ones here, all new. Do you want to change?"
Chen Yu's clothes were prepared in the real world, and Daigo felt uncomfortable in his wet and heavy outfit.
He accepted the clothes from Chen Yu and thanked him: "I'm Daigo Madoka, a member of the TPC Victory Team. Thank you for saving me!"
"You're welcome," Chen Yu replied, turning away as Daigo changed. "Make sure to change quickly so you don't catch a cold."
Though they were both men, it was appropriate to give each other some privacy.
Daigo quickly changed into the clothes. Realizing he had an important mission to complete, he asked Chen Yu, "Can I have your contact information? I need to continue my mission now, but let's stay in touch."
"I'm just a humble villager; I don't have a phone or contact."
Chen Yu shook his head.
Seeing Daigo in casual clothes, which suited him well thanks to his good looks, felt somewhat strange to Daigo.
"Then I'll leave you my contact," Daigo said, and on a flat stone, he carved his address.
Chen Yu was taken aback; the address was for the TPC deep-sea base.
Daigo, not fully grasping the situation, thanked Chen Yu again and set off to continue his search.
Chen Yu extinguished the fire with stream water and stored Daigo's wet Victory Team uniform in his storage space.
Following the direction Daigo had left, Chen Yu headed up the mountain, where a derelict temple lay. The path was not a mountain trail but an old stone staircase.
With his excellent physical condition, Chen Yu easily reached the temple's entrance.
Daigo was nowhere in sight, and Chen Yu didn't see the plot-relevant yellow-haired dog.
It was this dog that led Daigo into the cave with the giant statues and to Keigo Madoka.
"And the dog, Gedi, wasn't just any dog but the embodiment of the monster statues in the cave."
"I should be nearby; let's take a look."
After circling the temple, Chen Yu found a cave and entered without hesitation.
The cave led to a spacious underground chamber. Chen Yu didn't step out but listened quietly from the tunnel's end.
"You actually found this place. Hey, you and I are the same. Didn't I tell you, you're not the only special one?"
Chen Yu knew without guessing that the speaker was his target for this mission, Keigo Madoka!
But not entirely his target, as the task was to defeat the evil Tiga.
"Does that mean if Keigo Madoka doesn't transform into Tiga, I still have to lend a hand?"
Considering this, Chen Yu was somewhat taken aback.
However, if things proceeded as in the original story, Keigo Madoka would soon transform, rendering Chen Yu's help unnecessary.