It didn't take long for Hikari's recommendation to make sense.

  In a short amount of time, the headquarters looked almost unrecognizable.

  Suzume stood in the main room, taking it all in. The water stains had vanished. Fresh white paint covered the walls. New LED panels replaced the flickering fluorescents that used to give her headaches. Desks lined one wall, a proper conference table sat in the center, and actual file cabinets stood where cardboard boxes used to be scattered.

  "It looks real," she said.

  Emiko glanced up from her laptop at the main desk.

  "It is real. That's the point."

  Two days since the Azure Tempest meeting. Two days since Emiko unofficially (they had to wait those two weeks out, after all) joined as their strategist. She'd hit the ground running—contractors swarmed the building within hours of her accepting the position. Now the place actually looked like a guild headquarters instead of an abandoned gym where someone got murdered.

  "Everyone's here." Yumi gestured from the conference table. "Let's get started."

  Suzume took a seat. Kasumi slouched to her left, already looking bored. Hikari sat across the table with her tablet, purple eyes scanning something on screen. Honoka fidgeted beside her, fingers drumming against the table. Rina leaned against the wall near the door, arms crossed. Emiko stayed at her desk but swiveled her chair to face them.

  "First official strategy meeting." Yumi grinned. "Let's make it count."

  Emiko pulled up a spreadsheet on the wall-mounted monitor they'd installed yesterday.

  "Budget first. Current operating funds are forty-two million yen. Monthly expenses including rent, utilities, insurance, and salaries total approximately three million. We're solvent for fourteen months assuming no additional income."

  "Donations are still coming in," Yumi added. "Slower than the initial wave, but steady. About half a million per week."

  "Good." Emiko switched slides. "Equipment next. Rina, you submitted a request for advanced lockpicking tools. Approved. Honoka, you needed better mana potions. Also approved. Kasumi, you requested..." She squinted at the screen. "A custom spear with gemstone inlay?"

  "It'd look amazing."

  "Denied."

  "What? Why?"

  "Because you already have a perfectly functional weapon and we're not made of money." Emiko's tone left no room for argument. "Functional comes before aesthetic."

  Kasumi crossed her arms and pouted.

  Emiko continued through the list. Maintenance schedules, mission rotation protocols, emergency contact procedures. She was terrifyingly organized—every question had an answer, every problem had a solution already in progress. Suzume was starting to understand why Azure Tempest was so sad to see her go.

  "Last item." Emiko looked directly at Suzume. "Your certification exam has been scheduled."

  "Oh? When do I have to take it?"

  "In two weeks. Hikari will help you study. I've already ordered the preparation materials. They'll arrive tomorrow."

  "Thanks."

  "Don't thank me. Just pass."

  Hikari cleared her throat, setting her tablet down.

  "Actually, there's something else we need to discuss."

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  "Suzume's level."

  Suzume blinked.

  "What about it?"

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  "You're Level 6. D-Rank. That's a massive liability for a guild leader."

  The room went quiet.

  "I mean, I know I'm not strong," Suzume said slowly. "But I'm a support class. I'm not supposed to—"

  "It's not about combat strength. It's about survival." Hikari's tone was clinical, matter-of-fact. "If we encounter anything actually strong and neither Kasumi nor I are present, you're defenseless. You can't fight. You can't even run fast enough to escape most monsters."

  "I've survived this long."

  "Through luck and good planning. Luck runs out. Planning can only carry you so far when your base stats are that low."

  Suzume felt heat crawl up her neck.

  "My class only gains XP from saving people. I can't just grind monsters in a dungeon like normal Players."

  "Hm... But there's no class in the System that has zero growth potential outside of dungeons. Sounds to me like you just haven't figured out your methods yet."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  Hikari leaned forward, fingers steepled.

  "Every class has multiple XP sources. Fighters gain XP from combat, yes. But they also gain it from training, from perfecting techniques, from pushing their physical limits, from sparring. Mages gain XP from studying complex spell theory, from casting high-level magic, from expanding their mana pools through meditation." She gestured at Rina. "Rogues?"

  Rina pushed off the wall.

  "We get minor XP from successfully picking locks, sneaking, and disarming traps. Even in safe environments. Every practice run counts for something, even if it's small."

  "Exactly." Hikari turned back to Suzume. "So the question is: what gives Rescuers XP besides actual rescue missions?"

  "Maybe studying dungeon layouts?" Honoka suggested. "You do that constantly."

  "Or practicing your skills," Yumi added. "You use Rescue Line for training, right?"

  "Sometimes, yeah."

  Kasumi grinned.

  "Sounds to me like you need someone to really test your limits. Physical training, combat drills, endurance exercises. I volunteer."

  "Of course you do."

  "I'm serious. If your class is built around saving people, maybe we can get you more XP through... more stressful rescue scenarios. Time limits, environmental obstacles." Kasumi's grin widened. "We can make that happen."

  Suzume did not like that smile at all.

  "We should experiment systematically," Hikari said. "Try different activities and track what generates the most XP. Knowledge acquisition, physical training, skill usage under pressure, base stat improvement through conditioning."

  "My base stats are terrible," Suzume muttered.

  "What's your Strength?" Kasumi asked.

  "Three."

  "Three?" Kasumi laughed. "My grandma has higher Strength than that, and she's seventy."

  "I'm a support class!"

  "That's not an excuse. Even support classes need basic physical capability." Hikari pulled up Suzume's stat screen on her tablet—Suzume had shared it with the team after Meguro. "Strength 3, Dexterity 14, Intelligence 27, Endurance 9, Luck 8. Your Intelligence is excellent. Dexterity is decent. But Strength and Endurance are abysmal for someone who regularly enters life-threatening dungeons."

  "I can do everything I need to do."

  "Until you need to pull up someone who weighs more than you can carry. Or carry an injured Player for more than thirty seconds. Or hold a rope while someone climbs." Hikari's purple eyes were firm. "You need structured training."

  "I-I already train."

  "Not enough. Or not correctly."

  Suzume looked around the table. Everyone was watching her with varying degrees of concern. Even Yumi had that worried expression she usually hid behind her reporter's mask.

  "Fine. I'll train more. Figure out what gives me the most XP. Happy?"

  "Thrilled." Kasumi leaned closer, her shoulder brushing Suzume's. "I'll help. Starting tomorrow."

  "Don't you have that dinner thing with your parents?"

  "After dinner. Or before. We'll make it work."

  The meeting wrapped up shortly after. Emiko returned to her laptop, already typing furiously. Rina disappeared into one of the back rooms to inventory equipment. Honoka left to meet friends for lunch. Hikari stayed behind to go over exam materials with Suzume.

  "The certification test covers five sections." Hikari spread printouts across the conference table. "Dungeon law, Player regulations, ethical standards, guild management, and crisis protocols. Each section is weighted equally. You need seventy percent overall to pass."

  Suzume stared at the mountain of papers.

  "This is a lot."

  "It's comprehensive. But you're smart—smarter than most guild leaders I've worked with. You'll manage."

  "When did you take it?"

  "Two years ago when I formed my first official team at Azure Tempest. Passed with eighty-four percent."

  "Great. No pressure then."

  Hikari's lips curved slightly.

  "You'll do fine. We'll study together. Daily sessions, one hour minimum."

  "Okay."

  "Starting today."

  "Now?"

  "Yes."

  They spent the next hour on dungeon law. Liability clauses for guild-sanctioned missions. Permit requirements for D-Rank and above dungeons. Penalties for unauthorized entries into government-sealed portals. Suzume's head throbbed by the end.

  "This is worse than my biology exams," she said, rubbing her temples.

  Hikari gathered the papers into neat stacks.

  "Read chapters one through three tonight. We'll review tomorrow after your session with Kasumi."

  "After Kasumi tries to murder me with physical training, you mean?"

  "Exactly."

  Suzume groaned.

  By the time she got home, it was dark. She dropped onto her couch, exhausted. The apartment felt quiet—too quiet, the kind of silence that made her thoughts too loud.

  Her phone buzzed.

  Kasumi: Still on for tomorrow?

  She meant their "fancy" thing. Suzume had felt a little bit overwhelmed by the negotiations with Azure Tempest and had pushed it back a couple of days but now...

  [I guess I really am gonna be putting on a dress.]

  Suzume: Yeah

  Kasumi: Good. Wear that dress I mentioned. I promise you'll like where we're going.

  Kasumi: See you at 7. Don't be late.

  Suzume stared at that message. At the kiss emoji. At the word "adorable."

  Her face felt hotter than ever.