Suzume's pencil scratched across her notebook, filling another page with cramped handwriting about cellular respiration.

  The desk lamp cast a yellow circle on her biology textbook while the rest of her room stayed dark.

  She sighed. Her short, black hair brushed against her shoulders as her blank, brown eyes fixed on the textbook. Every single muscle in her body begged her to cease this foolishness and leave the work for tomorrow, but Suzume wanted to go over it. No harm in a bit more revision, right?

  [Just two more chapters,] she told herself, inhaling deeply like she was trying to funnel energy into herself. [Two more chapters and I can sleep.]

  She rubbed her eyes behind her glasses. The clock on her phone showed 11:47 PM. Tomorrow's practice exam loomed, and she needed at least an 85 to keep her class rank for university applications.

  Before she could keep going, though, her door burst open.

  "Guess who's back!"

  Akane bounded into the room like some kind of overgrown puppy, her combat boots thudding against the wooden floor. The leather creaked as she moved, and Suzume caught a whiff of monster blood and dungeon mold.

  Her sister had clearly come straight from a run without bothering to change.

  "You're supposed to knock," Suzume said without looking up from her textbook.

  "Aw, come on. What're you hiding in here?" Akane threw herself onto Suzume's bed, making the springs protest loudly. "Secret boyfriend?" She propped herself up on her elbows, grinning. "Secret girlfriend?"

  Heat crept up Suzume's neck. She hunched her shoulders and kept her eyes firmly on the page about mitochondria.

  "I'm studying."

  "Biology again?" Akane swung her legs over the side of the bed, then promptly kicked her boots up onto Suzume's desk. Dried mud flaked off the soles, scattering across her carefully organized notes. "You know you don't have to try so hard, right? Once the guild contracts start rolling in, I'll buy you whatever university you want."

  "That's not how universities work."

  "Sure it is! Everything's for sale if you're a top Player." Akane's voice carried that insufferable confidence that came from being good at killing things. "Phoenix Guild's already sniffing around. Their scout said I've got 'exceptional potential' or whatever. Can you believe that? Me!"

  Suzume finally turned in her chair to look at her sister properly.

  Akane's Player gear clung to her athletic frame, reinforced leather panels that had taken more than a few hits, steel buckles, and the faint shimmer of enchantments that probably cost more than their parents' car. Her face was flushed with excitement, blue eyes bright with the high that always followed a successful dungeon run.

  Everything Suzume wasn't.

  Where Suzume was plain and forgettable, Akane blazed like a star. Where Suzume struggled to speak up in class presentations, Akane commanded attention just by existing. And where Suzume had to study until her eyes burned just to maintain decent grades, Akane had awakened to a System that promised wealth and fame.

  "When's your next dungeon?"

  "Tomorrow night. Some D-rank portal in Shibuya." Akane sat up straighter, her expression shifting to something softer. "Hey, after I get back, let's go drinking. You're turning eighteen soon, right? Time to live a little."

  "I don't drink."

  "You don't do anything fun." Akane leaned forward suddenly, planting a wet kiss on Suzume's cheek. "That's why you need your amazing big sister to corrupt you properly."

  "Ugh!" Suzume wiped her cheek with her sleeve, scowling. "You're disgusting."

  "Love you too, nerd." Akane laughed, that bright sound that always made Suzume feel both annoyed and fond. "But seriously, we should celebrate. I'll take you to that fancy place in Roppongi. The one with the, uh, glowing cocktails."

  "You always say things like that."

  "This time I mean it!" Akane bounced off the bed and headed for the door, pausing at the threshold with one hand on the frame. Her silhouette looked heroic for a moment, backlit by the hallway light. "After tomorrow's run, we'll paint the town red. My treat."

  "Sure."

  "I'm serious, Suzu. We never hang out anymore."

  [Because you're always in dungeons or at guild meetings or doing interviews,] Suzume thought but didn't say.

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

  "Okay. After your run."

  "Promise?"

  "I promise."

  Akane grinned, satisfied, and disappeared down the hall. Suzume heard her sister's door close, followed by the muffled sounds of her getting ready for bed.

  She stared at the mud on her notes for a long moment. With careful movements, she picked up each contaminated page and brushed the dirt into her small trash bin. The handwriting was still legible. Good enough.

  Suzume turned back to her textbook, but the words about cellular processes seemed to swim on the page. Her mind kept drifting to her sister's flushed face, the casual way she talked about guild scouts and contracts.

  [She really is going to be famous.]

  Her phone buzzed. A news notification popped up on the lock screen:

  "Shibuya D-Rank Portal Shows Unusual Energy Readings - Authorities Say No Cause for Concern."

  She frowned, opening the article. A photo showed the familiar intersection near Shibuya Crossing, now cordoned off with yellow tape. A swirling purple vortex hung in the air above the street, occasionally sparking with electric blue energy.

  The article quoted some government official: "These readings are within acceptable parameters. The scheduled clear will proceed as planned tomorrow evening."

  [That's the dungeon Akane's doing.]

  She closed the article and tried to focus on her studies again. Carbon fixation. ATP synthesis. The building blocks of life.

  But something nagged at her. She opened her streaming app and searched for players scheduled for the Shibuya run. A few had posted preview videos, hyping up their viewers for tomorrow's "easy clear."

  One thumbnail caught her eye. Tanaka Jun, a mid-tier Player with a decent following. His preview video showed him going over the raid composition.

  "We've got a solid team! Tank, two DPS, healer, and our newest addition—" The camera panned to show a familiar figure. "Akane Aoi, from the rookie rankings! Girl's an absolute beast with those twin daggers."

  Akane waved at the camera, all confidence and charm.

  "Looking forward to working with you all!"

  Suzume's chest tightened. Her sister looked so alive, so sure of herself.

  She closed the app and forced herself back to her textbook. Tomorrow would be fine. D-rank dungeons were routine. Akane had cleared dozens of them.

  Everything would be fine.

  ---

  The next evening, Suzume sat at her desk again. Same lamp, same textbook, different chapter. Photosynthesis this time.

  Her phone lit up with a text.

  Akane: heading in now! wish me luck nerd ??

  Suzume: Good luck. Be careful.

  Akane: always am ??

  Akane: glowing cocktails when i get back, remember?

  Suzume: I remember.

  Suzume set her phone aside and tried to focus on chlorophyll molecules. But her eyes kept drifting to the screen.

  Ten minutes later, she gave up and opened the streaming app. Several players from the Shibuya team were already live. She clicked on Tanaka Jun's stream.

  "—and we're entering now! Look at this turnout, chat!"

  The camera showed the Shibuya intersection packed with spectators behind police barriers. Players in full gear stood before the swirling portal, waving to their fans. Suzume spotted Akane near the back, adjusting her dagger sheaths.

  "Let's get this bread!" Tanaka shouted, and the team stepped through.

  The transition was jarring. One moment they were in modern Tokyo, the next in a stone corridor that looked ancient. Bioluminescent moss provided dim lighting between iron torch brackets.

  "Standard formation, people!" The tank, a massive man in plate armor, took point. "Akane, you're with me up front. Miku takes left flank."

  Suzume minimized the stream to a corner of her phone and went back to her notes. She could listen while studying.

  For twenty minutes, everything was routine. The party encountered slimes, translucent blobs that died in one or two hits. Some low-level goblins that barely qualified as threats. Standard D-rank fodder.

  "See chat? I told you this would be easy money!" Tanaka's voice was casual, joking with his viewers about what he'd spend his share on.

  In the corner of the video, Suzume caught glimpses of Akane. Her sister moved with practiced grace, twin daggers flashing as she carved through enemies. She was laughing at something the healer said, that bright smile visible even in the dungeon's gloom.

  [She really does love this.]

  "Hold up." The tank raised a fist. "You guys hear that?"

  The party stopped. In the sudden quiet, Suzume heard it too, a rhythmic scraping, like metal on stone.

  "Probably just rats," someone said, but their voice was uncertain.

  "Since when do rats sound like—"

  The wall exploded.

  Stone fragments shot across the corridor as something massive burst through. Suzume's notebook fell from her hands as she grabbed her phone, expanding the stream to fullscreen.

  It wasn't any monster from the briefing. This thing had too many joints, too many teeth, chitin that glistened with some kind of acidic secretion. It moved wrong, segments rotating independently as it oriented on the party.

  "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" someone screamed.

  "Formation's breaking! Stay together!" The tank tried to rally them, but panic had already set in.

  The monster moved faster than anything that size should. One moment it was at the wall, the next it had the scout, Miku, pinned to the ground. Her scream cut off with a squelch.

  "MIKU!" The healer rushed forward, golden light gathering at her hands.

  "No, stay back!" Akane darted between them, daggers raised. She slashed at the creature's limbs, trying to force it to release their teammate.

  Black ichor sprayed from the wounds, sizzling where it hit the stone. The monster reeled back, that grinding-metal shriek making everyone clutch their ears.

  More creatures poured from the hole in the wall. Different sizes, different configurations of limbs and teeth. Like someone had tried to build monsters from a child's nightmare sketches.

  "SCATTER!" The tank's order came too late.

  The party broke in different directions. Tanaka's stream became chaos. Running feet, labored breathing, flashes of movement too quick to track. In the background, that horrible metal-on-metal laughter echoed off the walls.

  Suzume saw her sister for just a moment. Akane had grabbed the injured Miku, half-carrying her while fending off pursuing creatures. Blood ran down her face from a gash on her forehead, but her expression was focused, determined.

  "I've got you," Akane was saying. "Just hold on, we'll find another way—"

  The ceiling collapsed.

  Tons of stone crashed down, and Tanaka's camera caught the dust cloud billowing out before—

  Static.

  The stream froze. Error messages popped up. Connection lost.

  Suzume stared at the black screen, her hands shaking so badly she could barely hold the phone.

  She refreshed frantically. Nothing. Checked other streams. All dark. Social media exploded with panicked posts, theories, prayers.

  Her phone slipped from numb fingers.

  The last image burned in her mind: Akane, blood on her face, trying to save someone even as the dungeon came apart around them.

  Something had gone terribly wrong in that dungeon.

  And her sister was still inside.