It was late morning, the kind that felt stuck in permanent twilight.
The sky above Lyers Mand was a bruised, burnt hue, tinged orange around the edges, but the sun never showed itself here. Not in this part of Erae. The clouds always hung low and thick like regret. And in front of it, standing at the massive platform that led toward the mission portal gates, were thirty of us all geared up, all grim-faced and pretending we weren't silently judging every single person in the crowd.
I walked in slowly, hands in the pockets of my armor jacket, backpack slung over one shoulder. My boots echoed against the tiles as I joined the assembly, a few heads already swiveling my way.
Whispers. Of course.
"Periwinkle's here," one of them muttered.
I stopped at the foot of the ramp and immediately saw the four I'd been assigned with. Five to a team, and somehow, fate—or sabotage—threw me into the toxic sludge pit.
Three men. One woman.
The moment they saw me, all three men gave the kind of smiles that looked more like sneers, as if my presence alone was an insult to their existence. They didn't even try to hide it.
One of them was bald and built like a retired brawler. The other had a buzzcut and sharp eyes like a crow. The third was the smirking, arrogant type with sunglasses even though there was no real sunlight here.
The fourth member… was hunched.
Shoulders folded inward, eyes downcast. A thin, quiet woman with short, jet-black hair and an angular face marred by a bruise that hadn't fully healed. Her armor looked secondhand. Her boots didn't match.
And they were shoving her. Literally.
Not even subtle. The bald one nudged her shoulder hard enough to make her stumble forward, and Buzzcut followed up with a smack against the back of her head.
"Pick up the pace, Zero. You're slowing us down and we haven't even left yet."
"You're a goddamn liability. Gonna get us all killed," said Sunglasses with a grin, then spit near her boot.
In my head, I just called then Buzzcut, Sunglasses and Baldie.
She didn't even respond. She just clenched her fists, stood back up, and tried not to shake.
I stood maybe ten meters away, watching.
Because the rule was clear: internal conflicts would result in immediate expulsion from the mission. Physical fights were only tolerated in self-defense or sanctioned sparring.
And while I wanted to bash their skulls in, I couldn't. Not until one of them threw first.
That's when they turned to me. It was like a switch flipped. They had used up their fill on the weaker target and now locked onto their favorite public enemy.
Sunglasses tilted his head. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Chosen One. How's it feel getting spoon-fed elite serum and handjobs from the higher-ups?"
My expression didn't even flicker.
"Is that projection or just jealousy wrapped in your usual daddy issues?"
Buzzcut snorted. "You've got some mouth on you for someone who barely knows what the hell she's doing."
"And you've got some balls for someone who spent the last three days perfecting that ridiculous hairstyle that makes you look like a rat's ass."
That hit. I could see it hit. His jaw clenched. I was just getting warmed up.
Baldie grunted, taking a step closer. "Let's see how smart your mouth is when we're neck-deep in Lurkers and you're the first one begging to be saved."
"Let's see how brave you are when I'm the only one dragging your intestines back to camp while humming a lullaby."
The tension crackled. They couldn't touch me. Not yet. They wanted to. They really wanted to. But Ennéa Rank meant I could toss them like lawn chairs if they came at me, and they knew it. Plus, Phaser's training wasn't exactly subtle. Everyone knew I'd been surviving against him, and that put me leagues above these sad sacks.
"You're just a joke, Periwinkle. A charity case with good looks and a flux rating that doesn't belong to her," Sunglasses spat, venom dripping from every syllable.
I took a slow step forward. Just one, enough to make him instinctively shift his weight back.
"Maybe. But even if I am a charity case, I'm still breathing. You can't say the same about your dignity, your career prospects, or your dick."
The snort that escaped from the bullied woman's mouth was barely audible, but I caught it. That did it.
The boys backed off with snickers and threats muttered under breath, but they knew better than to push further. For now.
Once they turned away, I stepped next to the woman.
"Hey," I said softly.
She flinched and looked at me like I was going to slap her too.
"I'm not here to bully you," I added, more gently now. "I'm here to survive. Just like you. Well, not like you sibe you live here but..."
She hesitated, eyes narrowing slightly. "…Why didn't you stop them?"
I sighed.
"Because if I had, it woulld have become about me. And then you'd still be hurting and kicked off the mission, and they'd just move on to someone weaker next time. I'm playing the long game, not some hero cosplay."
Her mouth twitched at that.
"I'm Periwinkle, by the way," I added with a smirk. "Apparently."
She blinked. "That's not your real name."
"Nope. But it pisses people off when I own it."
A small smile touched her lips. It was fleeting, but real.
"Name's Rythe," she said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.
We stood in silence for a moment before she murmured.
"They hate you."
"Oh, they do. Passionately."
"…Why don't you care?"
I looked out toward the dark horizon, at the portal to the Basin waiting to swallow us whole.
"Because I didn't come here to be loved. I came here to live."
Rythe nodded once, slowly. And just like that, I wasn't entirely alone in the group anymore. Maybe I can use her...
The moment Shannon appeared, it was like the temperature dropped. She didn't need to shout or wave her arms or posture. She just walked out from the far platform, her all-black tactical coat swaying with every step, and everyone fell into attention.
The chatter cut off immediately. The bullies stiffened. Even the cockiest ones straightened like soldiers facing judgment.
Her eyes scanned us. She didn't climb a podium or speak through a mic. Shannon spoke directly, her voice magnified through the small static buzz of the bracelets on our wrists, activating a tiny comm-holo projection. Each one of us saw her face in miniature.
"You have seven days in the Basin. No portal access. No recall codes. You enter, and you survive."
I heard someone gulp behind me.
"This isn't a drill.Once you're inside, the environment will isolate the area from inter-realm transport with no external help. If you die, your Flux fades and your body disintegrates with the storm."
She gave us a full second for that to sink in.
"Your bracelets contain a week's worth of rationed food, water, and medipacks. That's all you get. If you lose it, you starve. If you let it break, you bleed out. This is your inventory. This is your life."
I looked down at the bracelet on my left wrist. It looked more like a fashion accessory than a survival tool, but it glowed faintly when touched. I tapped it twice and instantly, a small display flared open in front of me: food supply count, hydration levels, med stock, and even heat sensors.
This thing was advanced. Phaser probably got it customized. Again. I wasn't sure how many more blatant signs of favoritism people could tolerate before they actually rioted.
"Each team will be deployed across different edges of the storm zone. Your objective is to mine Synsiline and return with measurable payload. That's your baseline mission. Anything extra you attempt likedeeper zones, hunting, tech salvage, is optional. And suicidal."
Shannon's voice turned razor sharp.
"If you choose to go beyond the safe perimeter, you do so at your own risk. We will not retrieve your bodies. The survival rate for the unknown zone remains zero percent."
The map flared into view above our bracelets. The Cursed Basin laid out in fractured quadrants: the endless storm zone, the bare plains, the spooky forest, and the dreaded unknown region. We were being dropped into the storm with 75% survival odds. Higher than the others.
"But remember," Shannon added. "The deeper you go, the richer the Synsiline. If you want power, rewards, or upgrades, that's where they're hiding. But if you die, you die. This isn't a hero's mission. This is survival."
She paused for just a second.
"…Now. Go."
The portal opened.
It wasn't subtle.
A massive oval of crackling dark blue light tore open behind her with a thunderous vacuum noise, wind whipping past us. It was pulling already, its gravity tugged at our hair and clothes and instincts. Some people jumped forward without hesitation. Others waited. Me? I took a step, ready to walk in with the rest of my group...
Then I heard it. A voice in my head and not my thoughts.
"Periwinkle."
I blinked. It was Shannon in my head.
"Don't react. Just listen."
I didn't move and focused on keeping my steps casual as I walked forward.
"Rythe. The woman on your team. Keep her alive."
I nearly flinched but didn't.
"She looks wea but she isn't. You want an ally in the Basin? It's her. She won't look it. She won't ask for it. But if you protect her… you might just walk out alive."
I tried to mentally reply but Shannon's voice was gone already, like she'd dropped a psychic smoke bomb and vanished.
"What the hell was that about?" I muttered aloud to myself, but the portal surged, crackling, and then, the wind sucked me forward.
My body hit the light like it was water and I was in it. Everything bent and warped. My stomach flipped inside out. Light shattered and reformed around me.
The mission had begun.