The news vans had arrived before dawn.

  Suzume counted five of them, cameras already set up, reporters doing sound checks. The portal shimmered in the middle of an empty lot in Nakano ward, purple and unstable.

  [Another C-Rank destabilized to B-Rank. Geez. That is... surprisingly common.]

  "This is insane." Honoka stood next to her, wearing borrowed armor that was too big in the shoulders. Her hands shook as she adjusted the straps. "We're really doing this."

  "You don't have to." Suzume checked her gear. Rope, first aid kit, flares, her combat knife. Everything in its place. "You can wait outside if you'd rather do your trial some other day."

  "No! I mean—no. I'm here to help."

  Kasumi arrived like she was walking a runway. Camera flashes went off immediately. She ignored them all and headed straight for Suzume and Honoka.

  "Morning." She looked Honoka up and down. "You're the healer?"

  "Y-Yes! Nakamura Honoka! Level 3! I'll do my best!"

  "Level 3, huh." Kasumi's expression was unreadable. Then she put a hand on Honoka's shoulder, firm and grounding. "Stay behind me, kid. I'll keep the scary monsters away."

  Honoka nodded so hard her glasses slipped.

  Suzume felt something warm spread through her chest watching Kasumi go into protective mode. The arrogant, spotlight-loving Valkyrie Lancer, being gentle with a nervous teenager.

  "Stop looking at me like that," Kasumi said without turning around.

  "I'm not—"

  "You are." Kasumi grinned over her shoulder.

  Suzume's face went nuclear. Honoka glanced between them, confused but smart enough to stay quiet.

  A reporter shoved a microphone toward them.

  "Rescue Girl! Is it true you're taking an untested healer into a destabilized dungeon?"

  "No comment," Suzume said.

  "The Players trapped inside have been there for six hours. Do you think they're still alive?"

  "... We're about to find out."

  She pushed past the cameras and into the portal. The world lurched, reality bending as the dungeon pulled them through.

  The other side smelled like copper and rot.

  They stood in a tunnel carved from black stone, walls slick with moisture that might have been water or something worse. Dim light filtered from cracks in the ceiling. The air tasted stale.

  Honoka made a small sound.

  "Breathe," Suzume said. "In through your nose, out through your mouth."

  "O-Okay."

  Kasumi summoned her spear, that beautiful weapon of light and steel that materialized in her hand. She twirled it once, getting a feel for the space.

  "Formation," Suzume said. "Kasumi rear, Honoka middle, me front. Honoka, stay within ten meters of both of us at all times. If something happens, yell."

  "Got it."

  Suzume activated Detect Life. The skill pulsed out from her chest, invisible waves of energy spreading through the dungeon. Two signatures appeared in her mind, faint and flickering, about two hundred meters deeper.

  "Found them. This way."

  They moved through the tunnel. Kasumi's boots made no sound despite the armor. Professional. Honoka tried to match her silence but stumbled every few steps, breathing too loud.

  "Kid," Kasumi said without looking back. "You sound like a drum line."

  "Sorry!"

  "Don't apologize. Just quiet down."

  The first monster appeared at the fifty-meter mark.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  It crawled along the ceiling, something between a spider and a centipede, each leg ending in a blade. Level 34. B-Rank. Its eyes reflected their light like marbles.

  Honoka froze.

  "Uh... Kasumi," Suzume said calmly.

  "I see it, don't worry."

  Kasumi moved. One moment she was standing, the next her spear had punched through the creature's head and pinned it to the stone. It screeched once, legs spasming, then went still.

  She yanked her weapon free. Purple blood dripped from the blade.

  "All good. Keep moving."

  They encountered three more in the next hundred meters. Kasumi handled them like she was swatting flies. Perfect aim, devastating power, area attacks that caught multiple enemies. She made B-Rank monsters look like tutorial enemies.

  [God, she's good.]

  Honoka stayed silent, eyes huge behind her glasses.

  The tunnel opened into a chamber. And that's when things got complicated.

  Five monsters this time. Blade-spine Wolves, all Level 36, circling something in the center of the room. Two Players, huddled together. A man and a woman, both wearing Mage robes. The man's robes were torn, his leg bent at a wrong angle. The woman held a broken staff, trying to maintain a barrier that flickered with every breath.

  "There," Suzume said.

  The wolves noticed them. All five heads turned at once.

  "Honoka, stay close to the wall." Kasumi stepped forward, spear ready. "Suzume, get to the Players when I give the opening."

  "Got it."

  "Don't die."

  "Same to you."

  Kasumi charged.

  She was beautiful in combat. Every movement precise, efficient, deadly. Her spear became a blur of light, catching three wolves before they could react. The fourth tried to flank her. She spun, caught it mid-leap, and slammed it into the ground so hard the stone cracked.

  The fifth wolf went for Honoka.

  It happened fast. The creature broke from the pack, low and fast, jaws open. Honoka screamed. Suzume didn't think.

  "[Rescue Line]!"

  The glowing rope wrapped around Honoka's waist and yanked her backward, hard. She hit the wall next to Suzume just as the wolf's teeth snapped on empty air.

  Kasumi's spear went through its skull before it could turn around.

  "Honoka!" Suzume grabbed her shoulders. "You okay?"

  "I—yes—I think—"

  "Look at me. Are you hurt?"

  "N-No."

  "Good. Stay here."

  Suzume ran to the Players. The woman's barrier was failing, her MP probably in single digits. The man was unconscious, his breathing shallow.

  "Help is here," Suzume said. "Hang on."

  "He's poisoned," the woman gasped. "Some kind of venom. I tried Purify but it's not working, it's too strong, I don't have enough MP—"

  Suzume checked the man's status. His HP was dropping, 47... 45... 43. The poison was killing him slowly.

  "Honoka! I need you!"

  The girl didn't move. She stood against the wall, shaking, staring at the dead wolf next to her feet.

  "Honoka!"

  Still nothing.

  Suzume ran back, grabbed her by the shoulders.

  "I need you to heal him. Now."

  "I—I can't—"

  "Yes, you can."

  "What if I mess up? What if—"

  "You won't." Suzume kept her voice steady, the same tone she'd used explaining calculus problems to classmates back in high school. Calm. Certain. "Listen to me. You know what to do. You've studied this. You're certified."

  "But—"

  "Honoka." Suzume waited until the girl met her eyes. "He's dying. You're the only one who can save him."

  Honoka's breathing was ragged. But she nodded.

  They moved to the Players together. Kasumi took position between them and the rest of the chamber, watching for more threats.

  Honoka knelt beside the man. Her hands hovered over his chest, trembling so badly Suzume thought she might pass out.

  "Start with assessment," Suzume said. "What do you see?"

  "His HP is at 41. Dropping. Purple veins around the wound on his leg."

  "What does purple veining indicate?"

  "Necrotic poison. Advanced stage."

  "Can you cure it?"

  "I—I don't know—"

  "Can you cure it?"

  Honoka closed her eyes. Took a breath. Opened them again.

  "Yes."

  "Then do it."

  "[Purify]."

  Blue light washed over the man's body. The purple veins darkened, resisting. Honoka's face went tight with concentration. She pushed more MP into the spell, sweat beading on her forehead.

  The veins faded. Slowly. Millimeter by millimeter.

  "It's working," the girl said. "Oh god, it's working."

  The purple disappeared. The man's HP stopped dropping.

  "Now the wound," Suzume said. "He's still critical."

  Honoka didn't hesitate this time.

  "[Healing Touch]."

  The gash on his leg sealed. Muscle knit back together, skin closing over it until only a scar remained. His HP climbed—45, 50, 58, 63.

  He gasped, eyes opening.

  "You're okay," Honoka said. Her voice shook but the words were clear. "You're safe now."

  "My wife—"

  "She's fine. We're getting you both out."

  Suzume helped the man to his feet. He leaned on his wife, both of them exhausted but alive. Kasumi kept watch as they moved back through the tunnels, past the corpses of the monsters she'd killed.

  No more enemies appeared. The dungeon was quiet except for their footsteps and the man's labored breathing.

  They emerged into sunlight and camera flashes.

  Reporters swarmed immediately. Questions came from every direction. Suzume ignored them all and helped the couple to the paramedics waiting at the perimeter.

  "Thank you," the wife said, gripping Suzume's hand. "Thank you so much."

  "Don't mention it."

  Honoka stood a few meters away, staring at nothing. Then her face crumpled and she started crying.

  Not quiet tears. Full sobbing, the kind that came from deep in the chest and couldn't be stopped.

  Kasumi walked over and patted her head, awkward and stiff like she was petting a cat for the first time.

  "You did good, kid."

  "I was so scared!" Honoka wailed. "I thought I was going to die! I thought I was going to mess up and he'd die and—"

  "But you didn't." Suzume moved to her other side. "You saved his life."

  "I almost didn't! I froze!"

  "Yeah. And then you didn't." Suzume squeezed her shoulder. "That's what matters. Not that you were scared. That you did it anyway."

  Honoka wiped her eyes, smearing tears and snot across her face.

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  "You were great," Kasumi added. She still looked uncomfortable with the whole comforting thing, but she was trying. "Better than some healers I've worked with, and they were Level 20."

  "You mean it?"

  "I NEVER say things I don't mean."

  Honoka cried harder, but this time it sounded different. Relief. Pride. The kind of tears that came after surviving something you didn't think you could.

  The cameras kept flashing. Reporters kept shouting questions. Suzume saw Yumi in the crowd, filming everything, grinning like a wolf.

  "Come on," Suzume said. "Let's get out of here."