UNLIKELY COORDINATION

Glasses stepped between them before Riku could continue.

“Red and Emo Girl create pressure on left and right lanes. Blue Eyes and Smiley draw central targeting away from Ice-Cold’s route.”

Riku blinked.

“Wait, why am I included in that sentence?”

“Because you adapt quickly under pressure.”

“…In other words I'm a good target.”

“Thank you.”

“Wow.”

Pretty Face raised her hand slightly.

“…What about us?”

Everyone looked toward her and Sleepy Girl.

Sleepy Girl was still resting against the wall with her eyes closed like none of this concerned her.

Glasses answered calmly.

“You remain in cover.”

Pretty Face looked relieved.

Then Sleepy Girl raised one hand lazily.

“Boring.”

Riku pointed at her.

“You have been asleep through ninety percent of this.”

“Resting.”

“That's NO better!”

Another burst of rounds slammed into the barrier hard enough to shake the entire section.

Ice-Cold moved immediately.

“Move.”

He grabbed Nervous Dude by the arm and dragged him into the center lane before anyone could argue further.

Rounds instantly screamed toward them.

Ice-Cold dodged left.

Then right.

Minimal movement.

No wasted motion.

Like his body already knew where the shots would land before they fired.

Nervous Dude nearly died three separate times in five seconds.

“STOP PULLING ME LIKE LUGGAGE—”

“Then move faster.”

“I’M TRYING—”

Red burst into laughter before launching herself toward the left firing lane.

Rounds immediately redirected toward her.

“HEY!” she screamed at the turret systems. “YEAH THAT’S RIGHT YOU UGLY SCRAP METAL LOOKING THINGS!”

“…We should get her checked after this; maybe she got shot in the head,” Riku said quietly.

“She’s coping,” Emo Girl replied.

Then she vanished into motion herself.

Unlike Red’s aggressive movement, Emo Girl moved with sharp efficiency. Every step looked calculated. Every pause intentional.

She wasn’t reacting to the firing.

She was reading it.

Glasses tracked everything rapidly through her datapad.

“Center lane adjusting trajectory.”

“Obviously,” Riku muttered.

“No,” Glasses replied calmly. “Faster than expected.”

That was bad.

Smiley looked toward Riku.

“Well, Blue Eyes?”

Riku groaned.

“Remind me why I can't just sit back with Pretty Face and Sleepy Kid?”

“Because if the plan fails we all lose and probably end up in a hospital.”

“…Hard to argue with.”

Smiley grinned.

“Let’s go.”

They burst from cover together.

Rounds immediately redirected toward them.

Riku grabbed a slab of broken metal and used it like a shield as shots hammered against it violently enough to rattle his entire arm numb.

“This is insane!”

Smiley laughed while dodging sideways.

“You say that a lot!”

“BECAUSE EVERYTHING HERE IS INSANE!”

A round clipped his sleeve.

Another nearly tore through Riku’s shoulder.

The firing systems were adapting now.

Tracking.

Predicting.

Learning movement rhythm.

Glasses noticed first.

“Don’t repeat directional patterns, you idiots!” she shouted. “It’s memorizing movement flow!”

“…EXCUSE ME?!” Riku yelled back.

Smiley abruptly shoved him downward.

A round passed through the exact space Riku’s head had occupied.

“…Okay, what kind of technology even IS THIS?!”

At the maintenance panel, Nervous Dude’s hands were flying across the interface while Ice-Cold guarded him.

“It’s encrypted,” Nervous Dude gasped. “I need more time!”

“Take time,” Ice-Cold replied flatly.

Nervous Dude shot a glare from the side at Ice-Cold that seemed to read:

Why don't you do it yourself?

A round came from above.

Ice-Cold leaned slightly sideways.

The shot missed by centimeters.

Riku watched in disbelief from across the lane.

“He moves like the bullets offended him personally.”

Then Glasses shouted:

“Left lane reloading in three seconds!”

Red heard instantly.

Despite her injured leg, she launched herself directly toward the firing housing.

Rounds chased her.

She ignored them completely.

“OVER HERE, YOU OVERRATED MICROWAVES!”

“She definitely has brain damage,” Riku said.

Red slammed a chunk of metal into the firing housing hard enough to rupture the casing.

Sparks exploded outward.

LEFT LANE OFFLINE

“One down!” Red screamed triumphantly.

Then immediately got shot in the ribs.

Her body folded sideways.

Pretty Face screamed.

Without hesitation, she ran directly into open fire and caught Red before she hit the ground.

“What are you DOING?!” Riku shouted.

Pretty Face looked terrified.

But she didn’t stop moving.

“She's clearly hurt!”

For a second, Red looked genuinely shocked.

Then embarrassed.

“…I could’ve handled it.”

“That's not what it looks like.”

“That’s not the point.”

Meanwhile Emo Girl had reached the right firing system.

Unlike Red, she didn’t smash it.

She connected her datapad directly into the housing.

Her eyes scanned lines of code rapidly.

Then—

RIGHT LANE OFFLINE

Nervous Dude stared from the maintenance panel.

“How did you do that?!”

“I watched your screen earlier.”

“…THERE'S NO WAY THAT COULD BE ENOUGH!”

“It was.”

“…I worked hard on that.”
“I'm grateful.”

Nervous Dude looked emotionally devastated.

Then Glasses’ expression changed sharply.

“…Problem.”

Nobody liked the tone of that word.

Riku turned back, gritting his teeth after blocking an impact from a round with the shrapnel shield.

“This isn't problem enough?”
Glasses continued.

“The center lane is adapting beyond expected parameters.”

The firing pattern suddenly changed.

Not randomly.

Intelligently.

Rounds started cutting off movement BEFORE people shifted position.

Riku’s stomach dropped.

“It’s predicting us.”

“Correct,” Glasses replied.

“At this point, is this even a test?”

A round suddenly redirected toward Nervous Dude’s exposed back.

Ice-Cold saw it instantly.

He moved faster than Riku had ever seen.

He shoved Nervous Dude sideways—

—and the round tore directly through Ice-Cold’s ribs.

The impact blasted him backward into the wall.

For the first time since meeting him, his expression broke.

Pain flashed across his face.

Real pain.

Pretty Face gasped.

Red swore loudly.

Even Emo Girl looked surprised.

Ice-Cold pushed himself upright anyway.

Blood spilled down his side.

Everyone turned to look at the clearing dust but Ice-Cold was already standing.

“F…Finish the override.”

Nervous Dude’s hands shook violently.

“I-I’m trying—”

“Try faster.”

“…YOU ARE ACTIVELY BLEEDING!”

“I... I'm aware.”

The pain was visible but somehow his face seemed to have reverted back to its default expression.

Riku stared at him.

“This dude definitely has to be a machine.”

Finally—

CENTER LANE TEMPORARILY DISABLED

The firing slowed.

But didn’t fully stop.

Nervous Dude looked horrified.

“The override only disabled the firing cycles temporarily?! Oh no.... This means.... Someone still has to stabilize the node cluster manually!”

Silence.

Everyone looked toward the center cluster.

Completely exposed.

No cover.

Forty meters.

Red tried standing again.

Her injured leg immediately collapsed.

Ice-Cold was bleeding from two major wounds now.

Riku’s side was barely holding together.

Pretty Face looked toward the cluster, then at everyone else.

Then slowly stood up.

Red grabbed her wrist immediately.

“No.”
“I can do it.”

“You’ll get shredded.”

Pretty Face looked terrified.

Actually terrified.

But she still nodded.

“…I know. And I don’t want to. But none of you here are in any shape to do it, or this will never end.... Let me go. I'm a part of this too.”

Then she stepped into open fire.

Rounds instantly screamed toward her.

She moved anyway.

Not efficiently.

Not gracefully.

Not fearlessly.

She moved because she had to.

A shot grazed her shoulder.

She cried out but kept moving.

Another clipped her leg.

She stumbled.

Almost fell.

But she kept going.

Riku watched in disbelief.

“She’s actually doing it… so she's not just a princess.”

Pretty Face reached the first node.

Her hand slammed against it.

NODE STABILIZED

One firing system shut down.

Then another shot tore into her leg.

She collapsed hard onto the floor.

Everyone froze.

Pretty Face trembled violently—

then forced herself back up.

Red looked shaken for the first time.

“…Idiot.”

Pretty Face limped toward the second node.

Blood trailing behind her.

NODE STABILIZED

Another firing system shut down.

Only the adaptive center remained now.

Its firing pattern had become completely unstable.

Almost angry.

The system was panicking.

And Pretty Face was directly in range.

A shot sounded behind her; she instinctively jumped to the left, but at that moment another one fired. Not enough time to react — it grazed her side.

Then Sleepy Girl stood up.

Riku stared.

“…Oh no.”

Sleepy Girl walked directly into the kill zone.

A round came toward her face.

She tilted her head lazily.

Miss.

Another came from behind.

Small side-step.

Miss.

No panic.

No effort.Like she already knew where every shot would land.

“What even is this kid?!” Riku yelled.

“Can't let you guys have all the fun,” Sleepy Girl replied.

“That doesn’t answer ANYTHING!”

She reached Pretty Face and casually pulled her upright.

“Birdie, you focus on the tapping glowy thingies. I'll deflect all the flying thingies.”

Pretty Face looked even more horrified.

“Deflect? Don't you mean dodge?”

Sleepy Girl stopped listening; she had already turned to start moving.

Pretty Face just had to nod and follow her.

Together they moved toward the final node.

The firing intensified violently.

Randomized trajectories.

Impossible angles.

Sleepy Girl dodged through all of it, deflecting any rounds that headed toward Pretty Face with her bare hands by changing their directions with the littlest motion, all while looking half-asleep, as Pretty Face limped beside her covered in blood.

Then—

FINAL NODE STABILIZED

Silence.

The entire dead zone powered down at once.

No firing.

No alarms.

Just ringing ears and heavy breathing.

They had survived.

It was over. The dead zone was neutralized... It seemed like even time took a break to breathe.

Medical teams rushed into the dead zone almost immediately.

White-coated personnel moved with terrifying efficiency through the ruined sector, stepping over debris and spent rounds like this was routine.

Which honestly… it probably was.

“Candidate 513, severe leg trauma.”

“Candidate 512, rib penetration and blood loss.”

“Candidate 514, multiple lacerations.”

“Candidate 516—”

“I’m fine,” Riku interrupted immediately.

The medic looked at the blood running down his side.

“…You are visibly leaking.”

“Still standing.”

“Barely.”

“Counts.”

The medic stared at him for a second before spraying regeneration foam directly into the wound anyway.

Riku nearly screamed.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!”

“Stop moving.”

“It burns!”

“It means it’s working.”

“You’re not the one with wounds from your death cannons.”

Nearby, Ice-Cold was refusing treatment with the same expression he used for literally everything.

“Candidate 512, you need extraction.”

“No.”

“You have two penetrating wounds.”

“I’m aware.”

The medic’s eye twitched.

“You could collapse.”

“I haven’t.”

“…Now I understand why your psychological score was concerning.”

Riku pointed immediately.

“HA. See? Even they think you’re weird.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“That phrase should be illegal.”

Red was sitting against a broken barrier while Pretty Face desperately tried helping hold compression foam against her ribs.

“I told you I was fine,” Red muttered.

“You got shot!”

“That's nothing new.”

Pretty Face froze.

“…What?”

Red blinked once.

“……It's nothing.”

“Of course it's normal for him,” Riku said.

Red shot a glare at Riku that told him immediately that if she weren't injured, she would personally send him to the hospital.

Meanwhile Nervous Dude was still hyperventilating beside the maintenance panel.

Glasses crouched beside him calmly.

“Inhale four seconds. Exhale four seconds.”

“I ALMOST DIED.”

“Yes.”

“THAT’S NOT HELPING.”

Glasses adjusted her glasses slightly.

“You are still alive.”

“…How are you so calm? You're terrifying.”

“Thank you.”

“No, I meant that negatively.”

“Oh.”

Emo Girl walked past all of them holding her datapad.

Completely calm.

Not even slightly shaken.

Riku stared.

“Did anything about what just happened even bother you?”

She turned her eyes, giving off a look like she had bigger things to deal with than anything here.

“Why does it matter?”

Riku shrugged.

“That is deeply concerning.”

Riku turned back to Red.

“To be honest, the most crazy out of all of you has to be you.”

Red flared up immediately, wincing slightly at the injuries.

“What the hell is crazy about me?!”

“You screamed at automated weapons.”

“THAT WAS STRESS.”

“You called one an overrated microwave.”

“It deserved it.”

Smiley burst out laughing nearby.

Actually laughing.

Despite the cuts across his arms and the blood still running down one side of his face.

Riku pointed at him immediately.

“And you! Why are YOU always smiling?!”

“Because we survived.”

“We almost died!”

“Details.”

“You people are insane.”

Sleepy Girl walked over lazily and stopped directly in front of Riku.

Then stared upward at him silently for several seconds.

“…What.”

“You’re loud.”

“You almost got shot in the face while smiling.”

“Mm.... That was for suspense.”

“That is not a valid response.”

Sleepy Girl tilted her head slightly.

“You smell like blood.”

“…I HAVE BEEN SHOT.”

“Warm.”

Before Riku could process what that meant—

Sleepy Girl climbed directly onto his back.

“GAH—!”

Pain exploded through his injured ribs.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck lazily.

“Tired.”

“You were asleep through half the test!”

“Resting is exhausting.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I guess surviving a literal dead zone doesn't count as exhausting.”

Pretty Face rushed over immediately.

“P-please get off him, he’s injured—”

Sleepy Girl rested her chin on Riku’s shoulder.

“He’s warm.”

“I AM BLEEDING.”

“Same thing.”

Smiley nearly collapsed laughing.

Red snorted painfully from her seat.

Even Emo Girl looked mildly amused now.

Riku stared at the ceiling in disbelief.

“I hate this team already.”

“Team?” Glasses said.

“We are not a team.”

As if on cue—

A loud system tone echoed throughout the chamber.

ATTENTION CANDIDATES

FINAL PHASE TEAM REGISTRATION WILL LOCK IN THREE MINUTES

UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATES WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED

Silence hit the group instantly.

The mood changed.

Not joking now.

Not theoretical anymore.

Real.

Riku slowly looked around.

At the injuries.

At the exhaustion.

At the people who had somehow dragged each other through a literal kill zone.

Smiley folded his arms.

“Well…”

He looked around at them.

“We kinda already function like a team.”

“No we don’t,” Red replied immediately.

“Pretty Face literally took a shot for you.”

“I didn't ask her to.”

“Exactly.”

Red opened her mouth—

then stopped.

Pretty Face looked down quietly.

Smiley turned toward Riku.

“And Blue Eyes ran into the center lane to help me distract adaptive targeting.”

“To be honest, I only ran in there because I figured you would cover me from any round that would hit me. Helping you was just the bonus.”

Smiley looked at Riku with a slightly irritated face.

“Still counts.”

“If you say so...”

Glasses adjusted her datapad.

“Statistically, survival probability increases significantly in coordinated groups.”

“Thank you, calculator,” Riku muttered.

“You’re welcome.”

“That wasn’t sincere.”

“I know.”

Nervous Dude slowly raised his hand.

“…I really don’t want to do another dead zone alone.”

Nobody argued with that.

Even Ice-Cold stayed silent.

Which honestly felt louder than talking.

Smiley noticed immediately.

Then grinned slightly.

“And...... There it is.”

Ice-Cold looked at him.

“…There is what?”

“The fact you haven’t left.”

Silence.

Ice-Cold glanced toward the remaining active sectors visible beyond the ruined zone.

Then toward his own injuries.

“…Going in alone would be inefficient.”

Riku blinked.

“Was that your version of agreeing?”

“It was my version of acknowledging reality.”

Smiley pointed triumphantly.

“I’m counting it.”

Emo Girl closed her datapad.

“I dislike groups.”

“But?” Smiley asked.

She looked toward the destroyed dead zone.

“…But fighting reality is stupid.”

“ANOTHER YES.”

“I didn’t say yes.”

“You basically did.”

Red sighed heavily.

“…Fine.”

Pretty Face looked relieved immediately.

Nervous Dude nodded so hard his glasses almost fell off.

Glasses simply tapped her screen.

“Team registration probability confirmed.”

“That is the least emotional acceptance of friendship I’ve ever heard,” Riku said.

“We are not friends,” Emo Girl replied instantly.

“THANK YOU.”

Sleepy Girl tightened her grip around Riku’s neck.

“You're all funny though.”

“No, we are traumatized.”

“Funny and traumatized. I'M IN!”

Before Riku could answer—

another system tone echoed through the chamber.

TEAM REGISTRATION OPEN

Smiley looked around at all of them one last time.

The cold genius.

The screaming maniac.

The terrified loyal girl.

The emotionally dead hacker.

The sleepy monster child.

The nervous tech specialist.

The living calculator.

And Riku.

A bleeding idiot somehow standing in the middle of all of them.

He smiled softly.
“Well.”

He held his wrist device outward.

“Let’s do this.”

One by one—

they all connected their devices.

TEAM REGISTERED

9 MEMBERS CONFIRMED
CANDIDATES:
516

512

520

513

511

510

514

525

515

Riku stared at the screen for a second.

Nine strangers.

Zero trust.

Maximum psychological damage.

“…This is going to end horribly.”

“Probably,” Smiley admitted.

Sleepy Girl yawned against his shoulder.

“Exciting.”

“I think I miss being unemployed.”

No one disagreed.
---