Tuesday
Hikari arrived exactly on time.
They set up in the back training room with Suzume's collection of trap diagrams spread across the floor. Pressure plates, tripwires, sensor grids, magical triggers, every mechanism Suzume had catalogued over the last six months of obsessive research.
"This one's common in C-Rank dungeons," Suzume said, pointing at a sketch. "Pressure plate connected to a dart launcher. The trigger threshold is usually around forty kilograms, so you can't just toss a rock on it to disable it."
Hikari studied the diagram.
"How do you disarm it?"
"You don't, usually. You go around. But if you can't..." Suzume flipped to another page. "There's a release mechanism on the underside. Slide something thin underneath, a knife works, and wedge it between the plate and the spring."
They worked through two hours of trap identification. Hikari absorbed everything with sharp focus, asking precise questions, taking notes on her tablet.
When they finished, Suzume checked her status.
Nothing.
No XP notification. No progress.
"Huh." She frowned at the empty air where her HUD should have shown gains.
"Problem?"
"I didn't get any XP from this session."
Hikari considered it.
"Trap identification isn't directly related to rescue operations. It's useful, but it's not saving lives. It's dungeon navigation."
That tracked. It seemed like the System actually was specific about what counted toward her class growth. Teaching triage gave XP because it directly enabled life-saving. Teaching trap avoidance was just... general knowledge.
"Good to know," Suzume said. "Guess I need to stick to rescue-specific skills."
---
Wednesday
The VR simulation loaded around them.
Suzume and Rina stood at the base of a sheer cliff face. Above them, three "injured Players" were stranded on a narrow ledge. Below, a river churned with white rapids.
"Scenario parameters," the System announced. "Extract all casualties. Time limit: fifteen minutes. Complication: each casualty weighs approximately two hundred twenty-seven kilograms."
Rina looked at the cliff. Then at Suzume.
"Five hundred pounds each?"
"Worst case scenario training." Suzume pulled out her climbing gear from Toolkit. "Sometimes you're extracting someone in full plate armor. Or carrying two people at once. Or the injured Player is a seven-foot tank build."
Five hundred pounds wasn't impossible for an awakened Player—even a Level 1 could deadlift what would crush an ordinary human. But carrying that weight up a sheer cliff face while maintaining balance and protecting the casualty from further injury? That was the challenge.
"This is insane."
"Yep. Let's go."
They climbed.
Rina was fast, finding handholds Suzume would have missed and moving up in tiny dashes. Her fingers found cracks in the rock face that looked like nothing, feet bracing against ledges barely wide enough for her toes.
Suzume followed slower, methodically, conserving energy for what came next.
When they reached the first casualty, a dummy weighted with sandbags, even Rina's agility couldn't compensate for the sheer mass. She tried to lift it and barely got it off the ground.
"This is impossible."
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"Of course it's going to be impossible when you try to brute force it. Use this harness." Suzume pulled one from her Toolkit. "Distribute the weight across your shoulders and hips. Don't try to carry with your arms, let your back do the work."
She demonstrated the rigging, strapping the dummy to Rina's frame. Then she anchored a Rescue Line to a stable outcrop above them.
"We lower them down. Controlled descent. You manage the body, I manage the rope."
It was brutal work. The dummy swung with every gust of wind the simulation generated. Rina's arms shook from holding it steady. Suzume's MP drained with every use of Rescue Line to arrest sudden drops.
The second dummy was worse, positioned in an awkward spot that required them to traverse horizontally before they could descend.
The third was heaviest. Suzume's muscles screamed. Sweat dripped into her eyes and she couldn't wipe it away because both hands were occupied.
Thirteen minutes, forty-two seconds.
All three extracted.
[+45 XP - Training Session]
[+30 XP - Simulated Rescue]
Suzume dismissed the notifications and caught her breath.
"Again?" Rina asked.
"Again."
---
Thursday
Study day.
Suzume sat at her desk with three legal textbooks open, working through practice questions on dungeon liability law. Her hand cramped from writing notes. Her eyes burned from reading dense paragraphs about permit requirements and emergency protocol exceptions.
She needed a break.
She grabbed her phone and scrolled through social media. The usual feed. Player gossip, dungeon clips, guild drama.
A post caught her eye. Someone had made a compilation thread about the Dungeon Rescue Guild.
"Rescue Girl is literally saving the industry. Finally someone who gives a shit about trapped Players instead of just loot."
"My cousin was in that Meguro dungeon. She'd be dead without these people."
"When are they opening applications?? I want to join so bad"
Suzume smiled.
It was stupid, probably. Getting warm feelings from strangers on the internet. But after months of working in the dark, preparing alone, being told she was crazy for even trying—seeing people believe in what she was building meant something.
She screenshot the thread and saved it to a folder she'd never admit existed.
Back to studying.
---
Friday
Honoka had improved.
They ran through advanced scenarios, multiple casualties with conflicting needs, limited supplies, environmental hazards. Each situation more complex than the last.
"Dungeon is flooding," Suzume announced. "You have three patients. One has a broken leg, one is unconscious, one is bleeding from a chest wound. Water is rising. You can only carry one at a time. Go."
Honoka didn't freeze this time.
"Chest wound first. They'll drown fastest if they can't move. Unconscious second, same reason. Broken leg last because they can keep their head above water longest."
"Good. Execute."
Honoka moved through the simulated scenario with growing confidence. Her hands were steady. Her decisions were fast. She grabbed the chest wound patient, applied a waterproof seal to the injury, and hauled them toward higher ground.
When she came back for the unconscious patient, the water was at her waist.
She didn't panic. She lifted, she moved, she placed them safely beside the first.
The broken leg patient was standing in water up to their chin by the time Honoka reached them. She grabbed them under the arms and pulled.
"Time," Suzume called. "All three extracted. No casualties."
Honoka exhaled hard, hands on her knees.
[+60 XP - Training Session]
Suzume watched her catch her breath and felt something like pride.
---
The Following Week
A knock at her apartment door.
Suzume opened it to find Kasumi leaning against the doorframe, workout bag slung over one shoulder.
"Ready to train me?"
The way she said it made Suzume's face heat up immediately.
"You're making it sound weird."
"What?" Kasumi's smirk widened. "Good girls need some training every now and then."
"Please stop."
"Never."
They set up in Suzume's living room, furniture pushed against the walls. The VR simulator hummed in the corner, but today they were doing practical work—hands-on combat medicine.
"Scenario," Suzume said, trying to keep her voice professional. "Your teammate goes down mid-fight. Gut wound. You're still engaged with enemies. What do you do?"
"Kill everything first, then heal?"
"Wrong. They'll bleed out in ninety seconds and Honoka's unable to help. You need to stabilize while fighting."
Kasumi raised an eyebrow.
"Show me."
Suzume demonstrated the technique—a one-handed pressure hold that could be maintained while the other arm stayed free for combat. She used a dummy as the "patient" and walked through the positioning.
"Your turn."
Kasumi knelt beside the dummy. Her form was wrong immediately.
"No, you're putting pressure in the wrong spot." Suzume moved closer. "Here, let me—"
She reached out to adjust Kasumi's hands.
The position put them very close together. Suzume's chest nearly pressed against Kasumi's back. Her arms bracketed Kasumi's body as she guided her hands to the correct placement.
Kasumi turned her head.
Their faces were inches apart.
Suzume forgot how to breathe. Those green eyes were right there, and Kasumi's lips were slightly parted, and the room felt very small and very warm.
"Like this?" Kasumi's voice was low.
"Y-yeah." Suzume didn't move. "Just... like that."
The moment stretched.
Kasumi's gaze dropped to Suzume's mouth.
Suzume's heart slammed against her ribs.
Then her phone buzzed loudly from across the room—Emiko with a scheduling reminder—and they both jerked apart like they'd been shocked.
"Right!" Suzume scrambled backward. "Good form. Let's, uh, let's try the next technique."
Kasumi's expression was unreadable for a moment. Then she smiled, something soft beneath the usual sharpness.
"Sure. What's next, sensei?"
They continued the lesson.
Suzume's hands only shook a little.
[+85 XP - Training Session]
When Kasumi left that evening, she paused at the door.
"Same time next week?"
"Yeah. Definitely."
Kasumi reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Suzume's ear. Her fingers lingered for just a moment.
"Looking forward to it."
She walked away.
Suzume closed the door and pressed her back against it, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor.
[... Goodness.]
