Once it became clear where the two were headed—
the livestream audience, the studio panel, even Dragon Nation's higher-ups—
all fell into the same panic.
But Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw ignored every warning and kept marching toward the forbidden forest.
All the desperate pleas scrolling across the barrage went unanswered…
because the two of them had the barrage blocked.
Time passed.
The yellow sand beneath their feet gradually thinned out. Patches of green began to appear ahead.
And then—
the forest came into view.
That forest.
The forbidden forest—the name alone was enough to make people's scalps tighten.
At that sight, everyone finally gave up.
They weren't listening.
So what could anyone do?
Wait for death?
No—Dragon Nation's netizens began coping at full speed.
"I'm finished. He just won't listen!"
"This is straight-up suicide."
"N-No—don't panic! At least we still have Raven Shaw!"
"Exactly! And Eat-Stream Adrian Vale definitely isn't simple either. Trust them!"
"Raven Shaw, carry us!!"
"If they secure a resource here, Dragon Nation becomes untouchable!"
"But… that A-rank monster… the Giant Thousand-Hand Centipede… can Raven Shaw really handle it…?"
Of course, Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw couldn't see any of that.
They were already standing at the edge of the forbidden forest.
And Adrian Vale could feel it clearly now—
that scent… that presence… the thing that had been calling to him this whole time.
The moment he realized how close it was, the RC cells in his body stirred violently, like something waking up hungry.
"So… it's here."
He exhaled.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped into the forest.
"Wait." Raven Shaw's voice sharpened. "Something's off—"
But she didn't stop him.
Because in the next instant—
something bizarre happened right in front of everyone watching.
The moment Adrian Vale crossed the boundary, the air around him warped.
It twisted like rippling glass, wrapped around his body—
and swallowed him whole.
And then—
Adrian Vale vanished.
Completely.
Gone from the frame.
The livestream erupted.
"Huh?! Where'd he go?!"
"Eat-Stream Adrian Vale—what the hell?! He's GONE?!"
"Did the AIR just… eat him?!"
"We literally just said 'Raven Shaw's here, it'll be fine'—and he gets deleted instantly?"
"I'm actually speechless…"
Of course, "air eating people" wasn't what was happening.
From Adrian Vale's perspective, it was a single moment of vertigo—his world flipping end over end.
When he snapped back to awareness…
he was deep inside the forest.
He spun around.
No Raven Shaw.
No desert.
Not even the forest edge.
Only towering trees—thick trunks, canopies so high they blotted out the sky—stretching endlessly in every direction.
It wasn't subtle.
This place was wrong.
This place was twisted.
And yet Adrian Vale didn't panic.
If anything, his first thought wasn't for himself.
It was for Raven Shaw.
But after a brief pause, he let the worry go.
With Raven Shaw's strength, even if she'd been separated… she could protect herself.
He clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath, almost on instinct:
"…Old lady."
Back outside—
Raven Shaw stood there, staring at the empty space where Adrian Vale had been.
Her expression darkened.
With her experience, she recognized the "air" immediately.
Spatial distortion.
A warped boundary.
Something like forced displacement—an invisible threshold that bends distance.
Human technology couldn't do this.
But this was the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone.
The impossible was routine here.
What irritated her was simpler:
Adrian Vale hadn't listened.
He'd walked straight in.
Raven Shaw exhaled, pinched the bridge of her nose, and muttered,
"Tch… brat…"
Then, after a brief silence, she added—quietly, as if convincing herself:
"…He'll be fine."
But the viewers weren't fine at all.
Because the moment Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw separated—
the single Dragon Nation stream split into two.
Two livestream windows.
Two perspectives.
And as soon as the news spread, Dragon Nation's audience flooded into Adrian Vale's feed.
"What the hell—there's a Stream #2?!"
"The Will of Blue Star is insane…"
"Bro these trees are massive."
"Now's not the time for that! Forget manifestation—Raven Shaw isn't here anymore. Adrian Vale looks like a skinny 'normal student.' Can he even survive?"
"He should be okay… right? Even if he got separated, his luck can't be that awful. He's not going to run into that centipede immediately… right?"
"Yes! My husband Adrian Vale's luck can't be that bad!"
"Uh… after remembering his lootbox luck… why do I suddenly feel a really, really bad premonition…"
They were still trying to comfort themselves—
when a familiar, ugly voice cut through the forest like a blade.
"Dragon Nationcompetitor… Adrian Vale…?!!"
The chat went dead.
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