"Rescue Girl, you've got three Hobgoblins coming up on your left."
Suzume ducked behind a stone pillar, adjusting the earpiece Yumi had given her. The journalist's voice crackled through, oddly cheerful for someone watching a life-or-death situation.
"Copy that."
[This is so weird.]
The body camera strapped to her chest transmitted everything to Yumi's laptop.
"Exclusive Rescue Girl footage," the journalist had called it, practically drooling at the thought of the ratings. Suzume had whined that it would be impractical to carry, but, much to her chagrin, it actually wasn't, so she had no excuse not to let Yumi put it on her.
"Oh! And there's a rookie cowering behind that overturned cart about twenty meters ahead. Can you see him?"
Suzume peeked around the pillar.
A young, level 7 man in starter mage robes clutched a broken staff, tears streaming down his face. Behind him, three more Players huddled together. All rookies, judging by their cheap equipment.
[First guild mission gone wrong. Classic.]
This was supposed to be a D-rank dungeon. Nice and safe for newbies. But the System had other plans, and now C-rank monsters roamed the corridors.
"I see them. Four total."
"Perfect! This is going to look amazing on the evening news!"
"Yumi, people could die here."
"Not on your watch! Now, the Hobgoblins are moving toward the rookies. You've got maybe thirty seconds before they become little Player puddles. Good luck."
Suzume pulled out a concussion grenade.
[Toolkit's still on cooldown for another ten minutes. Have to make this count.]
She sprinted from cover, lobbing the grenade between the Hobgoblins and the Players.
BANG!
The monsters stumbled, disoriented. Suzume slid past them, tactical gear scraping against stone.
"Hey! You four! Move your asses!"
The crying mage looked up, confused.
"W-who are you?"
"Your ticket out! Now MOVE!"
She hauled him to his feet. The other three scrambled up, a tank with a cracked shield, an archer with no arrows, and a healer who'd clearly run out of mana.
"Follow me and don't stop!"
"But the monsters—"
"Are confused for exactly ten more seconds, so RUN!"
They ran. The healer tripped. Suzume caught her arm.
[Skill Activated: Rescue Line]
[MP: 45 → 40]
The glowing rope wrapped around the healer's waist, yanking her forward just as a Hobgoblin's club smashed where she'd been.
"Ooh, nice save!" Yumi cheered in her ear. "The rope effect looks great on camera!"
"Not. The. Time!"
They rounded a corner. Dead end.
"We're trapped!" The tank's voice cracked.
"No, we're not." Suzume pulled out her phone, checking the dungeon map she'd sketched earlier. "There's a hidden passage here."
"How could you possibly know that?"
"Because I actually prepare for dungeons instead of rushing in for loot!"
Granted, most dungeons could accurately be referred to as "procedurally generated", but there were commonalities between them that Suzume had already learned. She felt along the wall.
There. A loose stone.
She pressed it.
The wall groaned and shifted, revealing a narrow tunnel.
"In! Now!"
The rookies squeezed through. Suzume went last, sealing the passage behind them.
They emerged in a larger chamber. The portal shimmered on the far side.
"Oh thank god!" The archer started running.
"WAIT!"
Too late. The archer stepped on a pressure plate.
Spikes shot from the walls.
[Skill Activated: Guardian Light]
[MP: 40 → 30]
The golden barrier materialized around the archer. Spikes bounced off harmlessly.
"Rescue Girl, that trap wasn't in the original dungeon layout," Yumi said. "The destabilization added it."
[That name is so cheesy.]
She guided them around the trap, checking every step.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Listen up! Single file, step exactly where I step, don't touch anything!"
They made it halfway across when the Hobgoblins burst through the wall.
[Of course they found another way.]
"Keep going!" Suzume turned, pulling out iceball scrolls she'd bought with some of her maid cafe money. "I'll slow them down!"
She activated three scrolls simultaneously. Ice spread across the floor, and the Hobgoblins slipped, crashing into each other.
Yumi laughed.
"HOLY MOLY! The footage is incredible!"
The rookies reached the portal.
"Go through! Now!"
"What about you?" The mage had stopped crying at least.
"I do this for a living! GO!"
They went. Suzume backed toward the portal, throwing her last flashbang.
The Hobgoblins covered their eyes, roaring.
She dove through.
In an instant, sunlight. Grass. The sound of reporters who somehow already managed to arrive at the scene, shouting questions.
Suzume rolled to her feet, immediately pulling her hood up and adjusting her face mask.
[Holy crap, if I hadn't decided to make this disguise, I'd be screwed!]
"And there they are! Four Players successfully extracted from the destabilized dungeon!" A reporter shoved a microphone at the crying mage. "How does it feel to be saved by the mysterious Rescue Girl?"
"I... she just... appeared! Like an angel!"
"More like a really prepared tourist," Suzume muttered, slipping through the crowd and pushing past ravenous reporters trying to keep her around.
Her phone buzzed.
"Beautiful work!" Yumi's text read. "Meet me at the van."
The van was parked two blocks away.
Suzume climbed in the back, pulling off her hood.
Yumi sat surrounded by monitors, editing footage on her laptop.
"Look at this!" She gestured to the screen. "Crystal clear footage of you saving those rookies, but I've already blurred your face and altered your voice. You sound very mysterious and heroic!"
She heard herself say:
"Because I actually prepare for dungeons instead of rushing in for loot!"
"I sound like I smoked forty cigarettes."
"Exactly! Very cool!" Yumi pulled out an envelope. "And, very much distinct from what you actually sound like. You're welcome. Here, your cut from last week's exclusive coverage. Forty percent, as agreed."
Suzume opened it. Enough for new body armor and maybe some decent healing potions.
"Thanks."
"Thank YOU for the content!" Yumi's eyes gleamed. "Speaking of which, check this out."
She pulled up a news aggregator. Seven different channels were covering today's rescue.
"They're all scrambling for footage, but guess who has the exclusive body cam perspective?" Yumi grinned. "Channel 7 is going to destroy them in ratings!"
Suzume sighed.
"Glad my near-death experiences are profitable."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. You were never in real danger."
"Excuse you? The Hobgoblins were Level 21!"
"Details, details. Anyway," Yumi winked, "what matters is that you did very well and my boss will be very happy."
"And no one died."
"That too."
"Right. I should go. Shift starts in an hour."
"The maid cafe?" Yumi shuddered. "I still can't believe you're still gonna work there."
"Perfect alibi, remember? Your idea."
"Of course. I just can't believe a girl like you tolerates saying 'nya' all day."
"Practice." Suzume climbed out. "Same time next week?"
"Unless another dungeon destabilizes sooner. I'll text you."
Suzume took three steps before her System window popped up.
[Mission Complete!]
[Players Extracted: 4/4]
[Calculating Rewards...]
[EXP Gained:]
[4 Rookie Players Saved: +32 EXP]
[Perfect Extraction (No Casualties): +15 EXP]
[Total: +47 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[Rescuer Level 2 → Level 3]
[HP: 50 → 60]
[MP: 60 → 75]
[Attribute Points Gained: 5]
[Skill Point Gained: 1]
She glanced around. Nobody was watching. Good.
[Status Window]
[Name: Aoi Suzume]
[Class: Rescuer (Level 3)]
[HP: 60/60]
[MP: 75/75]
[EXP: 5/200]
[Civilians Saved (Lifetime): 15]
[Players Saved (Lifetime): 7]
[Not bad for someone who says 'nya' for a living.]
She quickly allocated her points. Three to Intelligence for more mana, two to Endurance because getting stabbed hurt.
[Attributes:]
[Strength: 3]
[Dexterity: 10.1]
[Intelligence: 21]
[Endurance: 7]
[Luck: 7]
[MP: 90/90]
The skill point was trickier. She pulled up her options.
[Available Skills:]
[Smoke Screen - Creates obscuring smoke in 10m radius | Cost: 15 MP]
[Quick Step - Increases movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds | Cost: 20 MP]
[Danger Sense - Passive: Alerts user to hidden threats]
[Danger Sense. Definitely Danger Sense.]
The skill clicked into place. Immediately, she felt... different. Like the world had gained an extra layer. A faint tingling at the edge of her perception.
[This is going to save my life someday.]
She checked her full skill list:
[Active Skills:]
[Rescue Line - Range: 20m | Cost: 5 MP]
[Guardian Light - Duration: 10 seconds | Cost: 10 MP | Cooldown: 30 seconds]
[Escape Route - Duration: 30 seconds | Cost: 15 MP]
[Emergency Treatment - Heals 30 HP over 10 seconds | Cost: 20 MP | Cooldown: 60 seconds]
[Toolkit - Level 2 | Spawns basic rescue gear | Duration: 10 minutes | Cooldown: 1 hour]
[Passive Skills:]
[Living Aegis - Those under your protection receive 25% damage reduction]
[Danger Sense - Alerts user to hidden threats]
Not bad. She was actually becoming somewhat competent at this whole rescue thing.
Her phone buzzed. Yumi again.
"Forgot to mention - picked up some new body armor with my share. Military surplus store in Akihabara. Want the address?"
Suzume smiled.
[Having a sugar mama journalist has its perks.]
---
{Yumi}
Yumi watched Suzume disappear into the crowd, then turned back to her monitors.
Three other news vans had arrived at the scene. Channel 4, NHK, and some streaming news startup.
[Oh no you don't.]
She grabbed her phone, calling her contact at the Player Association.
"Takumi? It's Yumi. Yeah, about that destabilized dungeon. I need you to redirect any questions about Rescue Girl to Channel 7. Why? Because we're the only ones she talks to."
She hung up and called her editor.
"Sir? I've got exclusive body cam footage from today's rescue. Twenty minutes of pure gold... Yes, sir. Rescue Girl delivered again... No, still maintaining anonymity. The mystery is part of the appeal!"
Her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
"I represent certain interests who would like to discuss Rescue Girl. We can make it worth your while."
Yumi deleted it immediately.
[Nice try.]
Another text, different number.
"The Player Association requests all information regarding the unregistered awakened individual known as Rescue Girl."
Delete.
[This girl belongs to me.]
A third.
"Phoenix Guild would like to extend an offer—"
[Phoenix Guild?]
That one actually made Yumi pause.
[Isn't that the same guild her sister was applying to? Hm... She might actually want to know about that. I'll tell her later.]
She opened her laptop, typing up her exclusive report. The headline wrote itself:
"RESCUE GIRL STRIKES AGAIN: Exclusive Footage of Daring Dungeon Rescue!"
Her phone rang. The producer.
"Nakashima! Is it true you have body cam footage?"
"Every second of it, sir."
"This is going prime time! Can you get an interview?"
"She doesn't do interviews. That's the deal."
"Then get more footage! This Rescue Girl story could be the biggest thing we've had all year!"
"Already on it."
She hung up and looked at the other news vans. Their reporters were interviewing the rookies, trying to piece together what happened.
[Good luck with that.]
Her phone buzzed again. This time it was Suzume.
"Made it to work. The manager says I look tired. If only he knew."
Yumi laughed, typing back:
"Your shift ends at 6, right? There's a D-rank dungeon showing instability signs in Meguro. Might destabilize by 7."
"I'll bring extra grenades."
"That's my girl."
Yumi started editing the footage, adding dramatic music and her trademark narration. In the corner of her screen, she kept an eye on the competition's broadcasts.
Channel 4 had nothing. NHK had blurry security footage. The streaming startup was just replaying witness interviews.
[Amateurs.]
She uploaded the exclusive to Channel 7's servers, then leaned back in her chair.
Rescue Girl was hers. The story, the footage, the exclusive rights to the only person successfully pulling off rescue operations.
[I'm going to make us famous.]
