She leaned her head back against the seat, but not on my shoulder this time. "I’m nervous about today."

"Don’t be. We’ve got this."

"But what if Blair’s team—"

"Blair’s team has five individual powerhouses with no teamwork and massive egos. We have actual coordination."

"And you," Naomi added softly.

"And me," I agreed, not bothering with false modesty. Three weeks ago, I’d been dead weight. Now I was an asset. The difference mattered.

Naomi fell silent, watching the scenery roll past. The coastline had given way to rolling hills dotted with vineyards and small towns. In a few hours, we’d reach a restricted area cordoned off by the FGRA, enter a tear in reality, and fight for our lives against monsters from another dimension.

Just another Friday.

Belle snorted in her sleep, then jerked awake, blinking rapidly. "What? Where—"

"Still on the bus," I told her. "Still headed to the gate."

She wiped a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth, looking embarrassed. "I wasn’t sleeping." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Sure, and that’s not drool on my shirt."

She punched my arm. "Shut up."

"Children, behave," Misato called from the front. "We have four hours left. Save your energy for the gate."

Belle ignored her, fishing her tablet from her bag and powering it up. "I need to review the swamp gate patterns."

"I thought you did that last night," Naomi said, all innocence.

Belle’s eyes flicked to me, a silent promise of retribution for my lie. "Just a final check."

"Good idea," I said, happy to change the subject. "What are we looking at? Giant frogs? Poisonous lizards?"

"Both, plus snakes and something called a ’mire crawler’ that’s basically a centipede the size of a car." Belle pulled up a file showing a horrific multi-legged creature with pincers. "They burrow through the muck and grab you from below."

"Lovely."

"The good news is, they’re slow on land. The bad news is, the whole place is basically muck."

"So we stay on solid ground and watch our feet," Naomi summarized.

"If we can find solid ground." Belle swiped through more images. "According to the briefing, there are stone paths and some tree roots we can use as walkways. But they’re scattered and not always connected."

"Awesome. So we’re playing the floor is lava, except the lava is mud filled with giant centipedes."

"Pretty much." Belle zoomed in on a map. "The gate spawns us here, at the edge of the swamp. We need to make our way to the center, where the briefing suggests we’ll find the boss—likely a giant frog or snake variant based on previous swamp gates."

Jordan’s snores hitched, then resumed at an even higher volume.

"Someone wake him up before he swallows a fly," Belle said.

I reached across the aisle and shook Jordan’s shoulder. "Yo, Sleeping Beauty. Rise and shine."

He batted my hand away without opening his eyes. "Five more minutes."

"We’re reviewing gate intel."

"Wake me when we get there."

Belle leaned across me, reached into her bag, and pulled out a water bottle. Without hesitation, she uncapped it and flicked water onto Jordan’s face.

His eyes snapped open. "What the hell?"

"Gate briefing," Belle said sweetly. "Pay attention or the next one’s a whole bottle."

Jordan sat up, wiping his face with his sleeve. "You’re a demon."

"Correct. Now look at this." She held up her tablet, showing the mire crawler. "This is what wants to eat you today."

Jordan groaned. "Why couldn’t we get a nice beach gate? Or a forest? Why is it always the worst environments?"

"Because we’re unlucky," Belle replied.

"Or because the universe hates us specifically," I added.

"Or because the FGRA assigns gates based on team capability," Misato called back. "They think you can handle it."

"Great." Jordan slumped in his seat. "So our reward for not dying last time is a harder gate this time."

"Welcome to hunter life," Misato said, no sympathy in her voice. "You want easy, go be an accountant."

Jordan muttered something about reconsidering his career choices before pulling out his own tablet to review the gate information.

I turned my attention back to my status screen, checking the time remaining on Belle and Naomi’s buffs. Both showed just over forty-seven hours—plenty of time for today’s gate and then some. If we cleared this gate, maintained our ranking, and got back safely, maybe—just maybe—I could take a day off from the constant grind of extraction and training.

Who was I kidding? In this life, there were no days off. Only borrowed time.

"What’s the first objective when we enter?" I asked, pulling myself back to the present.

"Survey the terrain," Belle replied automatically. "Map the stone paths, locate high ground if possible, and establish a defensible position while I scan for signatures."

"Then we move in sections," Naomi continued. "Five hundred meters at a time, clearing as we go. No rushing, no splitting up."

"And no heroics," Misato added pointedly.

That last bit was definitely aimed at me. Last gate, I’d broken formation to handle the Reaper. It had worked out, but only barely.

"Standard formation?" I asked.

Belle nodded. "Misato and I in front for detection and point defense. You and Jordan in the middle for area control and mobility. Naomi in the rear for ranged support."

"What about mire crawlers?" Jordan asked, still staring at the image on his tablet with obvious disgust.

"They detect vibration," Belle said. "So we move carefully, distribute our weight on the stone paths as much as possible, and keep our eyes on the mud at all times."

"If one attacks, I can handle it," I said. "Wave Motion should punch right through their carapace."

"Save your stamina for the boss," Misato warned. "We don’t know what we’ll find at the center."

The bus hit a pothole, jolting all of us. Belle’s tablet went flying, and I caught it before it could hit the floor.

"Nice catch." She took it back, her fingers brushing mine. "Those reflexes will come in handy today."

"Let’s hope so."

The conversation lulled as everyone reviewed their materials and mentally prepared for what lay ahead. I closed my eyes again, focusing on my breathing. Eleven days of life in the bank. Three Bronze-rank stolen abilities. A full Essence Vault for emergencies. Two buffed teammates.

We were as ready as we could be.

The sun climbed higher in the sky as our bus rumbled toward the gate location. Misato kept her eyes on the road, occasionally checking on us in the mirror. Belle and Naomi whispered strategy between themselves. Jordan stared out the window, probably imagining all the ways a giant centipede could kill him.

And me? I kept my breathing steady and tried not to think about Blair’s team arriving at their own gate at the exact same time, competing with us for ranking even though we wouldn’t see them directly.

Today wasn’t about beating Blair.

It was about surviving.

But if we could do both? Even better.