Suzume's legs burned as she led the group through another twisting corridor. The golden thread from Escape Route had faded ten minutes ago, but she could still feel the pull. Like a compass needle pointing toward safety.

  [MP at 15/45. Need to conserve.]

  "How much further?" Jin limped beside her, face pale from blood loss.

  "I don't know." She checked another intersection. Left felt right. "But we're getting closer."

  "Closer to what?" The archer, she'd said her name was Yuki, kept glancing back. "The entrance is sealed!"

  "There's always another way." Suzume tried to sound confident. "Dungeons follow patterns. Even destabilized ones."

  [... I hope, anyway.]

  Behind them, distant roars echoed. The monsters had given up on the chamber but hadn't given up on them.

  "This is insane," Shin muttered. "Following an unawakened girl who just—"

  "I'm not unawakened anymore! Now, shut up!" Suzume pulled up her status for the first time since awakening.

  [Status Window]

  Name: Aoi Suzume

  Class: Rescuer (Level 1)

  HP: 48/50

  MP: 15/45

  EXP: 45/100

  Attributes:

  Strength: 3

  Dexterity: 8

  Intelligence: 15

  Endurance: 5

  Luck: 7

  [Three Strength?]

  The System had optimized her for support, not combat. High Intelligence for skill usage, decent Dexterity for dodging, but the Strength of a wet noodle.

  And yet, her pack felt half as heavy as it did before.

  [Being awakened is no joke.]

  "Watch out!"

  Yuki's warning came just as the floor crumbled beneath Jin's feet.

  Time slowed. Jin's eyes widened as he fell. Suzume's hand shot out.

  [Skill Activated: Rescue Line]

  [MP: 15 → 10]

  The glowing rope wrapped around his waist and contracted. She braced herself, but even with just 3 Strength, pulling him wasn't quite as difficult as she expected it to be.

  "Got you!" She hauled him up, muscles screaming. "Everyone jump across! Now!"

  They leaped over the pit trap. Behind them, chittering sounds grew closer.

  "My turn." Shin raised his staff. "One spell left."

  "Save it!" Suzume grabbed his arm. "We might need—"

  Stone golems rounded the corner. Three of them, each one ducking to fit through the passage.

  "Never mind, use it!"

  Shin's final spell erupted in a wave of fire. The lead golem staggered but kept coming.

  [10 MP left. Two Rescue Lines.]

  "Run!"

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  They ran. Through passages that narrowed and widened rapidly. Past rooms filled with monster corpses from other parties. Around traps that had already been triggered.

  Jin stumbled. His bandage was soaked through.

  "I can't..." He dropped to one knee. "Just leave me."

  "Like hell I will!" Suzume threw his arm over her shoulder. "Nobody dies on my watch!"

  The passage opened into a massive cavern. Stalactites hung like teeth from the ceiling. And there, on the far wall—

  "Light!" Shin pointed. "Real sunlight!"

  An exit. A portal, but one so small it looked like a crack in the stone, barely wide enough for people to squeeze through, daylight streaming in from the "real world".

  [An alternate exit, YES!]

  The golems burst into the cavern behind them.

  "Go go go!" Suzume pushed the others forward. "I'll hold them!"

  "With what!?" Yuki screamed. "You're a support class!"

  Good point. But Suzume had one trick left.

  She grabbed her backpack and hurled it at the nearest golem. It barely even made the golem pause. Then she pulled out her last flare and struck it.

  Red light exploded across the cavern. The golems stopped, confused by the brightness.

  Harsh lights like this produced a micro-stun against them, Suzume had learned.

  "NOW!"

  They ran for the crack. Yuki went first, squeezing through. Then Shin.

  Jin was too weak. Suzume used her last MP.

  [Skill Activated: Rescue Line]

  [MP: 10 → 5]

  [Warning: Low Mana]

  The rope pulled Jin through the gap just as the golems recovered. They charged.

  Suzume dove through the crack. Stone fingers scraped her boot as she tumbled into sunlight.

  Into safety.

  Into the real world.

  Before she could even tell what was happening, she lay on grass, gasping. Above her was the blue sky.

  Around her, the sounds of Tokyo. Traffic in the distance. Birds singing.

  "We made it." Yuki stared at her hands like she couldn't believe it. "We actually made it."

  "The exit's in Harajuku?" Shin looked around, bewildered. "But we entered in Shinjuku!"

  "It was an alternate exit we took." Suzume sat up. Every muscle hurt. "So, it dropped us through the alternate opening."

  Alternate openings were smaller portals like this that often allowed players to "spawn" near treasure in the dungeon. Though, of course, this time they used it to leave instead.

  She checked on Jin. Still breathing. Still bleeding, but alive.

  [I did it. I actually saved them.]

  No crowd waited.

  No reporters.

  No other Players.

  Just three survivors and one newly awakened Rescuer sitting in a park, probably looking like disaster victims.

  Which they were.

  [Mission Complete!]

  [Survivors Extracted: 3/5]

  [Calculating Rewards...]

  [EXP Gained:]

  [Jin Rescued from Pit Trap: +15 EXP]

  [Yuki Protected from Shadow Wolf: +10 EXP]

  [Shin Protected from Golem: +10 EXP]

  [Successful Extraction: +30 EXP]

  [Total: +65 EXP]

  [Level Up!]

  [Rescuer Level 1 → Level 2]

  [HP: 50 → 60]

  [MP: 45 → 55]

  [Attribute Points Gained: 5]

  [Skill Unlocked: Emergency Treatment]

  [Heals 30 HP over 10 seconds and cures Bleeding | Cost: 20 MP | Cooldown: 60 seconds]

  Suzume stared at the notifications. Unlike normal Players who leveled by killing monsters, she gained EXP by saving people. Every rescue, every protection, every life preserved.

  She smiled.

  [This is it,] she thought, staring up at the sky. [This is what I can do.]

  Maybe some would say she didn't do anything at all. That saving three people was like putting a single drop of water in a bucket meant to save someone dying of thirst.

  But, these were three human beings. People just like her sister, people who, if she hadn't come around, would have had funerals made for them. Would have broken their families' hearts with the news of their demise.

  And she stopped that from happening.

  [Wait, they're still injured though.]

  "We need to get Jin to a hospital." She forced herself to stand. "Can someone call—"

  "Already on it." Yuki had her phone out. "Ambulance is coming." She looked at Suzume. "You saved us. A Level 1 civilian saved three Players from a destabilized dungeon."

  Suzume scratched the back of her head.

  "Well... I'm Level 2 now, hehe."

  The three adventurers looked at each other, almost as if to confirm that this had actually happened and the person who saved them was actually this dorky.

  It had, and she was.

  "Alright," Suzume stood up. "If you're all good, then... I guess I should get going."

  "What?"

  "W-Wait-"

  "But..."

  All three players protested. Suzume, who'd already started walking, paused for a moment, turning back toward them.

  "Yeah?"

  They paused again.

  "H-How do we repay you? I mean, you just went through all that... Can we-"

  Something about the question made Suzume smile, a bit embarrassed.

  "It's enough for me to know that you're all okay. Wanna pay me back? Try not to get yourselves into trouble! Next time you hear a dungeon is becoming unstable, don't go in!" She turned away again. "Until next time."

  With that, they watched her go.

  Suzume smelled like death and ass.

  Her head was pounding like her brain was short-circuiting from overuse. And, she was fairly certain she'd be going to sleep for two whole days as soon as she got back into bed.

  But, she'd done it.

  She'd saved people.