This was also one of the reasons why I wanted to actively jump into this movie plot—not just to toughen myself up, but to gear up for whatever crazy special movie scenarios might pop up later, so I'd actually have the chops to handle the crises.

I couldn't do it all by myself, though; it'd take the whole gang of five to pull it off.

And the Time Patrol? Forget about them. They're like those cops in the movies who only show up after everything's gone to hell to mop up the mess.

Totally unreliable.

That's why I was feeling pretty stressed about it all.

Sigh! Protecting this world was turning into a real headache for me.

Didn't that mean I deserved some serious rewards? Like, maybe finding a few more cute girls to keep me company? I could already picture it—soft curves pressing against me, their warm breaths on my neck, whispering sweet nothings while we tangled up in bed. Hell, why stop at a few? A whole harem of them, taking turns pleasuring me, their bodies glistening with sweat as they moaned my name. It wasn't like I was aiming to be some playboy building a harem; no, this was just fair compensation for all the world-saving heroics I was putting in. Yeah, that sounded right. Excuses, excuses—I knew I was being a total scumbag, but damn, thinking about it got me all worked up again.

Snapping out of it, I saw that with my agreement, Suneo had no choice but to go along with it too.

Shizuka, of course, was totally on board with whatever I said.

But unlike the original story, I made sure Doraemon packed the gadgets. No way were we ditching them like in the anime—that'd be suicidal.

After all, training myself didn't mean rushing headfirst into death.

"Alright, let's go!" Doraemon said, twisting his round hand to open the Anywhere Door.

We all stepped through in order.

"Wow!"

The tropical rainforest was insane—trees so thick they blocked out the sky, with only bits of sunlight spotting the ground. It was quiet, except for the occasional weird bird calls echoing through what felt like an endless valley.

The view blew everyone's minds, including mine.

"It's so spectacular!" Gian exclaimed, pumped up.

"This is the real Africa. We've all come to the real Africa," Suneo muttered.

Right then, the Dog Prince bolted ahead, probably dying to get back home.

"Look, Spot must be urging us to hurry up and go!" Doraemon said with a laugh.

"Okay!" We all cheered and pushed forward in a noisy group.

As we trekked on, I wasn't sure if Doraemon had picked an easy path ahead of time, or if this part of the jungle had been hiked before, or maybe it was just the right season in Africa. Either way, it wasn't the muddy nightmare I'd imagined; it felt more like a casual mountain climb.

We spotted all sorts of cool stuff: a huge swarm of butterflies drinking water together, trees blooming with flowers, even this one super colorful blossom that caught my eye.

Then there was this weird animal that looked like a deer but had zebra stripes on its legs. Doraemon grinned and explained, "That's an okapi, the only non-extinct close relative of the deer. It's a rare animal!"

We kept going and saw pangolins, lemurs, and more.

...

But even the coolest scenery gets old after a while. Once the initial thrill wore off, the hike turned boring—nothing but trees, trees, and more trees stretching forever.

"I'm so bored! There's no sense of tension or excitement at all!" Suneo whined.

"In the jungle, no matter where you go, it's just trees. That's only natural!" Doraemon replied, sounding a bit helpless.

"Why are you complaining so much, Suneo? Look at Spot—even a dog is better than you!" Gian teased, looking like he was about to grab and pinch him.

"Alright, alright!" Suneo dodged fast. I could tell he was pissed about being compared to a dog.

"Okay, okay! Since everyone's tired, let's take a break and then continue!" Doraemon said soothingly.

"It's about lunchtime anyway," he added, pulling something from his pocket.

"Plant Re-modeler."

He held up a box of colorful potions and a syringe.

"Alright, tell me what you want to eat!" Doraemon asked with a smile.

We all shouted out our favorites—I went for some curry rice, I think.

Doraemon noted it all down, picked a solid-looking tree, loaded the syringe with potion, and injected it.

Right before my eyes, the tree bloomed and grew these massive fruits.

We cracked them open, and bam—hot, steaming meals inside.

It never failed to amaze me, and Spot looked totally floored, like he'd never seen tech that felt like straight-up magic.

"Since we're eating, let's find a place with a beautiful view!" Doraemon said, grabbing another gadget.

"Instant Elevator!"

It looked like a starting pistol. He fired it at the treetop, and a rope shot out, wrapping around the top.

Up there, he used the Plant Re-modeler again to make a big platform.

Just like that, we had a rooftop terrace with an actual elevator to the treetop.

We all rode up excitedly, one by one.

From up high, overlooking the whole rainforest, we dug into our meals happily.

I glanced at Spot squatting there, staring out at the endless view. I could almost sense him thinking, "With these people's help, I can definitely get back to my kingdom."

...

The rainforest trek wasn't all smooth sailing, though.

Suddenly, Spot started barking like crazy at a tree.

I knew if he was on alert, there had to be real danger.

I tensed up, secretly prepping my superpowers just in case.

"Spot, what are you doing? You've been barking, and I can't understand you!" Gian griped.

Then, a random drop of water hit Gian's face.

He looked up curiously.

Out of nowhere, there was this yellow leopard with its huge jaws open, staring him down like prey.

"It's a leopard!" Suneo yelled in shock.

The thing saw us starting to bolt and lunged right at us.

"Help! Mommy!" Suneo screamed.

Just as it pounced with its mouth wide, Doraemon chucked a white rice ball straight into its maw.

"Momotaro Jirushi's Millet Dumplings!" he shouted.

The leopard went all dopey, crisis over. I quietly powered down my superabilities—no need now.

After that close call, I figured Gian and Suneo might bail like usual, wanting to head home. But nope, they were actually digging the adventure vibe this time.

As for the original story's whole "go home" drama, I'd already gotten Doraemon to slap a Time Differential Dial on the Anywhere Door.

Twist it, and we'd pop back to whenever we left—way handier than the Time Machine.

So, no need for all that convincing and pep talks like in the anime. Our last couple of adventures had toughened them up mentally, I guess.

We kept pushing on, hitting more dangers: a massive python that Gian shrunk with the Small Light and took out; a charging rhino that Suneo blasted with the Shock Gun; even a raging gorilla that Shizuka straight-up floored with the Super Gloves.

It was like leveling up in a game, fighting our way through.

Sure, some might argue using Doraemon's gadgets isn't real training. But hey, isn't mastering those tools a skill in itself? We didn't have to go bare-knuckle boxing everything. Flexibly using props while staring down danger without flinching—that was plenty for me.

After all, in the adventures ahead, being a bare-handed badass wouldn't cut it. We'd still need Doraemon's gadgets to save the day.

Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz

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