The worst part about your parents driving you to potentially get arrested is that they insist on talking about it.

  "So you've been... fighting monsters," her mother said from the passenger seat, twisting around to stare at Suzume like she'd grown a second head. Which, honestly, might've been less shocking.

  "Not fighting them. Usually. More like... aggressively avoiding them while dragging people to safety."

  "With that equipment we thought was for camping." Her father's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The Toyota Corolla had never been driven this carefully in its entire existence.

  "I mean, technically dungeons are underground camping?"

  "Suzume."

  "Sorry."

  They'd shown up at her apartment that morning, having apparently seen the news like everyone else in Japan.

  The conversation had gone about as well as expected—crying, shouting, her mother clutching Akane's photo while demanding to know if Suzume had a death wish, her father just sitting there looking like someone had punched him in the stomach repeatedly.

  Now they were driving her to the Player Association headquarters because, as her mother put it, "If our daughter is going to prison, we're going to be there."

  [Great. Family bonding over potential incarceration.]

  The Association building rose up ahead like a glass middle finger to the Tokyo skyline. Forty stories of tinted windows and architectural smugness. Camera crews had already assembled outside, turning the whole thing into a circus.

  "There's so many people," her mother whispered.

  "It's fine. I have a plan."

  "Is it a good plan?"

  "It's... a plan."

  Her father pulled into visitor parking. For a moment, they all just sat there, engine ticking as it cooled.

  "Your sister would be proud," her father said quietly.

  Suzume's throat closed up. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  The conference room was exactly what she'd expected—all polished wood and leather chairs that probably cost more than her yearly rent. Cameras lined the walls, red lights blinking like predatory eyes. The whole setup screamed 'we're the important people and you're not.'

  Takeshi Yagami sat at the head of the table, flanked by two other Association bigwigs whose names she hadn't bothered learning. He looked like he'd been carved from marble.

  "Miss Aoi. Thank you for coming."

  [Like I had a choice.]

  She sat down across from him, hyperaware of her jeans and hoodie combo. Her parents had been regulated to a viewing room, probably watching this on a screen somewhere. Good. She didn't need them seeing her hands shake.

  "Director Takeshi." She managed to keep her voice steady. "Thanks for the invitation."

  His smile could've frozen hell.

  "I believe you understand why you're here."

  "Because I saved people without filling out the proper forms?"

  "Because you've been operating as an unregistered awakened, entering restricted areas, and endangering yourself and others."

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  "The only people I've endangered are already safe at home instead of dead in dungeons."

  One of the other suits—a woman with silver hair pulled so tight it looked painful—leaned forward.

  "Your intentions are admirable, Miss Aoi, but the law is clear. All awakened individuals must register with the Association."

  "About that." Suzume pulled out her phone, scrolling to the documents she'd screenshotted. "I've been doing some reading."

  Takeshi's eye twitched. Just barely, but she caught it.

  "The Awakened Citizens Act, Section 7, Subsection 4-A." She set the phone on the table. "Guild formation protocols. Specifically, the part about guild leadership requirements."

  "What about them?"

  "Guild leaders aren't classified as individual awakened. They're organizational representatives. Different category, different rules."

  The room went quiet. One of the cameras whirred as it zoomed in on her face.

  "You're not seriously suggesting—"

  "I'm starting a guild."

  The words hung in the air like a grenade with the pin pulled.

  Takeshi's face did something complicated, cycling through disbelief, anger, and landing on a kind of constipated rage.

  "You can't just declare yourself a guild. There are requirements. Paperwork. Multiple members—"

  "Actually, you can." She pulled out another phone—Yumi's, borrowed for the dramatic reveal—and slid it across the table. "I filed the paperwork this morning. The Dungeon Rescue Guild. Officially recognized as of..." she checked her watch, "forty-three minutes ago."

  "This is ridiculous. A guild needs at least three awakened members—"

  "No, it needs three members. The law doesn't specify they need to be awakened. I have myself, a journalist I know, and a very enthusiastic lawyer who thinks this whole thing is hilarious."

  The silver-haired woman snatched the phone, scrolling through the documentation. Her face got progressively paler.

  "This... this is technically legal, but it's clearly not the intent of the law—"

  "Funny how the law matters when it's convenient for you." Suzume leaned back in her chair, trying to project confidence she didn't feel. "For six months, I've watched the Association talk about protecting people while letting them die in dungeons. You wait for portals to stabilize. You write off trapped Players as casualties. You treat rescues as unprofitable inconveniences."

  "We follow safety protocols—"

  "You follow profit margins."

  Takeshi stood up, his chair scraping against the floor.

  "You think you're clever? You think this technicality will protect you? Guilds have regulations too. Oversight. Requirements—"

  "Which I'll follow. When they make sense. When they don't get people killed." She stood too, meeting his glare. "I'm not trying to fight you. I'm trying to save lives. If you want to make that illegal, go ahead. Explain to everyone watching why you'd rather arrest me than let me pull people out of dungeons."

  She gestured to the cameras. Several operators had the decency to look uncomfortable.

  "The Dungeon Rescue Guild will specialize in extraction operations. We'll enter unstable dungeons, locate survivors, and get them out. No glory hunting, no treasure stealing, no stepping on other guilds' toes. Just rescue."

  "And when you die? When your little pretend guild gets someone killed?"

  "Then at least we tried. Which is more than the Association's ever done."

  [That might have been too far but I'm already 50 feet over the line. What's a few more?]

  Takeshi's face had gone red. The silver-haired woman put a hand on his arm, murmuring something about cameras and public opinion.

  "You want to play guild leader?" His voice was deadly quiet. "Fine. But guilds operate under Association oversight. You'll submit to regular inspections. You'll file reports. You'll follow every regulation to the letter."

  "Sure. As long as those regulations don't prevent me from saving lives."

  "And recruitment? You really think anyone will join this suicide mission?"

  Suzume looked directly at the nearest camera, knowing this would be clipped and shared within minutes.

  "If you're watching this and you're tired of the system that lets people die for no reason—join me. If you're a healer who wants to actually heal, a tank who wants to actually protect, a scout who wants to guide people home instead of to treasure—join me. The Dungeon Rescue Guild is officially recruiting."

  She pulled out her own phone, checking the time.

  "Speaking of which, there are still three Players trapped in Saitama. They've been there for four hours now. So unless you're planning to arrest me, I have work to do."

  The silence stretched out, taut as a bowstring.

  Finally, Takeshi sat back down.

  "Get out."

  "Is that official Association approval?"

  "That's me telling you to leave before I find a reason to arrest you anyway."

  [Good enough.]

  Suzume grabbed both phones and headed for the door. She paused at the threshold, looking back at the table of suits and their barely contained fury.

  "Oh, and Director? When those Players in Saitama walk out alive, and reporters ask how it happened? I'll make sure they know the Association was too busy with paperwork to help."

  She left before he could respond, the sound of cameras clicking following her out.

  Her parents were waiting in the hallway, her mother already crying again.

  "That was insane," her father said.

  "Yeah."

  "Are you really going to Saitama?"

  "Yeah."

  He pulled her into a hug, surprising them both.

  "Be careful."

  "I'll try."

  [No promises though.]

  Because three Players were waiting in the dark, and now she had a guild to represent.