Kana ended up sleeping in again. Despite promising herself that she would be up on time and be better than Jina, she went downstairs to find more breakfast waiting in the oven. This time, it was a sunny-side up with some toast. It was like this girl knew nothing except how to cook eggs in different ways. She wondered if being late to wake up tomorrow would lead to scrambled eggs and milk.

  Regardless, she took what she had been given and got some of the apple juice that was in the fridge. She checked on Emi’s apartment once more, in hopes of maybe seeing her once, but got nothing. As she was leaving, though, she did catch a few men walking in with supplies to restock her fridge. They explained that this was being paid for by Sakai for now, and then she would have to get her own stuff after her first payment.

  All the well, then. She had her best dress ready for the competition and was mentally prepared to kill some more demons. Her grenade launcher was at Level 10, which not only meant more damage, but also more points along with it. Mentally, she expected them to double, but she knew that would not be the case. Even with twice the levels, the Coalition would find some way to keep them down.

  Arriving at Sakai Entertainment, she found Yamazaki and Jina in the practice room once more. The goth bitch had to keep her training up because of her class. Melee users were not just controlled by their levels, but also their own physical prowess and skills. Kana could blast everyone to oblivion, but Jina actually had to push herself further. What a genuine waste of time – all that effort to make the Coalition stronger and richer.

  So, she just rested on a chair nearby and tried to come up with some more ideas for the lyrics to their debut song. Kana wanted it to be something quirky, but also provocative. Things that you wouldn’t usually say or words nobody else would use. She wanted the song to be a clear callout to Ruby Passion and their eternal reign, too. But that was only going to happen when she figured out how to write in the first place.

  Kana was bad at writing, and she had no issues with that. She didn’t need to write everything. That was what Jina and Yamazaki were here for.

  In the end, after some dance practice that helped them loosen up their bodies and warm up, the two got ready for the Battle Royale and got into a car with Yamazaki. Tonight, Kana had decided to go with a red dress with black lace patterns and a pair of matching gloves. Jina had, like the copycat that she was, decided to go with the exact opposite of her colors. A black dress with red lace. And her ugly wig was back on, too.

  “The A Team won’t be able to make it.” Yamazaki mentioned as they got closer to the venue.

  “Why, why, why?” Jina leaned in, already sinking into the act she would have to keep up during the fight.

  Yamazaki confirmed on his screen once more and answered.

  “There were some technical issues at the airport in Brazil, and their flight has been delayed. They will be here by the time we come back, but they will not be helping out today.”

  “We don’t need them either way. What rank are they?”

  “One more than you. Rank 3. Sakai Entertainment has placed in fifth position only once, and then never again. They usually swap between sixth and last, which is seventh.” He explained, “So, their weapons are better than yours in all metrics.”

  Kana laughed as the car stopped and they reached their destination, “Hasn’t stopped us yet, and it won’t stop us now, Yamazaki-san. We’re not going for points right now anyway. We don’t have the luxury. For now, we’re just going to make friends.”

  “You’re gonna make friends, Kana-chan? Like how you made friends with Nobuko-chan?” Jina opened the door with a tongue-in-cheek tone. Then, she came back and opened the door for Kana, too.

  She stepped out and ignored her, walking straight to the burnt farmhouse that had been designated as their entry point for the day. Sometimes it was best not to let yourself get provoked by childish remarks. She had made that mistake during the audition and almost ruined her career. Not anymore.

  Yamazaki got out with a key in his hand and walked to the middle of the farmhouse. There, albeit way, way smaller than the one at the audition ceremony, was a single door. Pristine white and gold, it was standing right there amidst the blackened wood and concrete. He pushed the key into the lock and opened it.

  As it swung inwards, the dust of the Monster Dimension, along with its red hellscape, greeted them once more. Kana opened up her inventory and walked in with Jina following. Then, switching to her weapon, she prepared for the fight to begin.

  Weapon Selected

  Grenade Launcher

  Level 10

  As the purple cubes came together to form her weapon, Kana had already found her first target. In the distance, she could see one of the crawling demons looking up at the sky, completely still. She slowly walked forward and aimed her weapon to figure out what it was doing. Jina ran forward with her sword, looking up to try to figure out the same thing.

  The moment Kana noticed her, though, she sighed and shot. Pushed back just a little, she caused the dirt below her feet to fly up as the bomb hit the demon in the distance and blew it up. Jina stopped in her tracks and looked back at her with a sour expression. Kana smiled as the sounds of the helicopter blades got louder over the horizon.

  Monster Kill +50

  Explosion Kill +20

  From forty-five points for 1 kill and 1 explosion, it had gone up to seventy. As expected, not the double that she should have logically gotten, but rather a more controlled expansion of points. If she had to guess, Ruby Passion was probably getting somewhere close to seven or eight hundred points to kill a single demon, and then their specialized class points on top of that.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “So, you feel happy now?” Jina asked, sword resting on shoulder, “You killed some poor guy just looking at the sky. How rude, Minami-san.”

  “Oh, come on, Jina-chan.” Kana laughed, “Do you want all the presidents to think you are taking the side of the demons? Just because our seniors aren’t here doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want…”

  Once Jina noticed that the helicopter had already started capturing them, she loosened her posture and apologized for her words. Then, the two of them started running to find more of these monsters.

  Surprisingly, they were running at almost the same speed. Kana’s grenade launcher was heavy, which she had expected would slow her down. But it seemed like Jina’s sword wasn’t very light either, since the muscles in her arm also tensed every time she took a step forward. Added to this, all of that dance training earlier had clearly taken its toll on them.

  “Seven different entry points, and we somehow got the worst luck, didn’t we?” Jina complained even as she ran. The helicopter, deciding that there was nothing interesting going on with them, had already left to find different protagonists.

  “That means we’ll have good luck tomorrow. Shut the fuck up and pay attention to your surroundings. Kill every single one you find.”

  Kana said that, but she was slowly getting frustrated, too. After that one demon in the very beginning, they hadn’t found a single one. The groups rotated their entry points every day, but that was both a positive and a negative. While it ensured that everyone got a fair chance at the more population-dense areas, it also meant that if Ruby Passion had been through this door before them, they were going to be stuck with the worst luck.

  That was when Kana noticed a light flash to their right. Both of them turned and started to run towards the distraction. Finally, there was some action. This is what Kana needed. She had originally decided that she would rely on the A Team to help them understand the layout of the world. But since they were not here, her best bet was to rely on any other groups they found. And then take all of their points.

  As they got closer, a horde came into view. Kana readied her weapon and leaned in as she ran. Jina, on the other hand, put her weapon away to increase her speed. While she got increasingly closer, Kana prepped the gun and shot thrice. All three explosions lined up to create a symphony of destruction right as Jina reached them and took her sword out once more.

  Monster Kills + 1300

  Explosion Kills + 60

  The numbers might have been low, but she had only gotten twenty-four kills with three explosions. A hundred points for the twenty-kill streak had been added on top. Already, this was more than she had gotten back in the audition. She laughed and got closer, ready to shoot once more. Deeper in the horde, she could hear Jina slashing away, and accompanying her were the sounds of an assault rifle.

  Kana shot, and shot, and shot. As the numbers on her gun moved up and the streak grew, she felt a satisfying click in her heart. As if this was what she had been waiting for. The helicopter returned as the explosions created a visual treat, and she jumped up in celebration for them while shooting another explosion. It landed dangerously close to Jina, but she slid away and continued to massacre the demons herself.

  The closer Kana got, the easier it got to also see the group that had been fighting the demons before them. They were all dressed in bright neon dresses. One yellow, one green, and one blue. It was like they had stepped in with the 80s, complete with designer glasses with heart and star-shaped patterns.

  Except that in their case, one of them was holding a Howa Type 20, one had a silver axe twice the size of her head, and the final member held a Gatling gun. Around them was a blue circle that probably acted like a shield. An Assault Class, a Melee, and a Vanguard. It was a fairly balanced offense-based team.

  As the enemies thinned out, the numbers on her display started to stagnate, and the timer that announced the end of her streak appeared.

  With 82 kills and 14 explosions, she had gathered quite a high number of points. She had also managed to hit both the 20 and 50-kill streaks. Add Jina’s on top of that, and they weren’t doing bad at all.

  Monster Kills +4400

  Explosion Kills +280

  The girls in the middle sighed, and the barrier around them went down. They looked at the new girls and frowned. Unlike their still-beautiful neon dresses, Kana and Jina had been covered in ash, soot, dust, and blood. The latter waved at them with a smile as she put her sword away, but did not get any reply.

  “And who are you?” The one in the yellow clothes asked, “New blood?”

  “Kana Minami.” Kana walked forward with an outstretched hand, “And this is my partner, Jina Ohara. We’re under Sakai Entertainment. Nice to meet you.”

  “Ah, the double catch.” The blue dress girl scoffed while she maintained a smile, “It’s because of Sakai’s bullshit that we did not end up getting a new member. One of you was supposed to be ours.”

  “Ah…” Jina looked up at the helicopter and back at them, “Shouldn’t you be a bit careful with your words?”

  “As if.” Yellow Dress laughed, “They can read our lips, yes, but they aren’t going to put in that much effort. Just laugh and smile and jump once in a while. They’ll be more than pleased with your performance. Bet that bastard Sakai is watching us right now either way.”

  Kana kept walking forward with a smile even as her handshake went unreciprocated. She didn’t need any love from girls like them, but the fact that they hated Sakai was more than enough for her. Regardless of a partnership, she could use them if she wanted. The foundation for it was already present.

  The last girl, the one in green, decided to introduce them, “We’re the Fluorescent Angels, under HMC. I’m Atlas, the leader. The one in yellow is Saturn, and the one in blue is Neptune. Our stage names.”

  “Nice to meet you. We…don’t have a group name yet.”

  “That’s fine.” Saturn sat down in exhaustion, “You’re not gonna be performing anywhere that requires a good one either way. Sakai’s team is not exactly someone we even look at as a threat. But you girls aren’t half bad with those weapons.”

  Kana decided to sit down beside her, too. But right as she did, the ground began to rumble. She lost her balance, but pushed herself right back up and took out her grenade launcher. Saturn also jumped up and got closer to her group members. Using her Vanguard class, she formed a shield around the three, but left Kana and Jina all alone.

  They came closer to each other instead, which felt weird to Kana, but that was all she could do. The ground in front of them began to split and break into two. A single, massive spider leg erupted out of the opening and halted there for a while. The earthquake took a break, and then came back with more intensity.

  More cracks formed, and more legs came out, until there were eight of them in a proper elliptical pattern. The area between them crumbled into multiple pieces, and as all five of the girls were forced to retreat further, the spider’s body rose up. As ugly as it could be, it was covered in dust and had exposed, fleshy parts everywhere.

  Kana immediately guessed its height as she prepared to shoot. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be scared or happy. By all means, she hadn’t expected to fight a 30-foot spider today. But at the same time, she smiled. Just how many points was a thirty-foot spider worth?