"Zombies?!" Kana's face twisted like she'd swallowed a fistful of flies. She spun on her heel and bolted. "Nope. I'm out. S-Class exam? Hard pass."
"Bye—hell, make it a permanent goodbye, you nasty-ass illusion!"
"Wait—KANA!!" Lucy lunged, grabbing her arm like a lifeline. "Don't bail yet! Give it a shot! If we crush this, boom—you're S-Class!"
Kana stopped, glaring back with pure disgust. "But zombies, Lucy. You know how fugly and rank they are?"
"This illusion's cranked to eleven. One gets in your face? You'll smell the rot. You sure you wanna dive in?"
"Uh—" Lucy pictured it—gag city. But Kana's promise of fat commissions post-S-Class flashed. She steeled up, nodding like a soldier. "Y-Yeah! Locked in!"
Kana eyed her shaking resolve, smirking like a cat with a laser. "Your funeral, kid."
"Don't come crying or tapping out later—I warned ya~"
Lucy's hype deflated like a popped balloon, but Kana yanked her to Roger before she could nope out.
Roger's eyes flashed purple.
Next blink—purple haze swallowed them. Consciousness yanked free.
Eyes open: cramped apartment, dusty furniture, stale air.
"This… the illusion?" Lucy rubbed her eyes, poking the couch—finger gray with dust. "Feels abandoned for years."
She sniffed, frowned, whispered: "Wait—something's off. No magic particles in the air?"
"Knew that the second we landed," Kana said, flipping a glowing card. "Good news: our magic works fine."
"No ambient recharge, though. Means recovery spots are hidden—we gotta hunt 'em."
Lucy's eyes popped. "You already tested?!"
"Duh." Kana flicked her hair. "Unknown turf? Step one: check powers. Step two: scan for threats."
She side-eyed Lucy. "Yapping loud like you did? Rookie mistake. Draws heat."
Lucy shrank. "== Aye, aye. Noted."
Kana crept to the window, peeked through curtains. Below: streets crawling with twisted humanoids—blackened blood, rags, guts dragging, half-skulls sloshing brain-sludge.
"Zombie count: stupid high."
She dropped the curtain, face green. "Roger called it 'Zombie Siege.' Whole town's probably infested."
A zombie below twitched upward—she ducked fully behind the wall.
She scanned the room. "Furniture… straight outta manga."
"Fridge? TV?" First time seeing the real deal.
She yanked the fridge: empty but two clean water bottles in the corner.
"Sweet. Besides capping zombies, we gotta scavenge chow and H2O or starve before credits roll."
Kana smirked bitterly. "Roger's 'thoughtful' as ever."
"Food?" Lucy tilted her head. "Your cards got stockpiles, right?"
"Nope." Kana opened her bulging deck—battle and utility only. "Storage cards? Vanished. Even the nuke I begged from Dad—poof."
She sighed. "Real 'thorough,' huh, Roger?"
Lucy sweat-dropped, remembering Kana blasting Gajeel. "== You brought that to the exam?!"
"Leaving it would've been weirder!"
"Wait!" Lucy's brain clicked. "Illusion—no Spirit World link. Can I summon?"
"Theory: yes," Kana said, rummaging. "Roger's illusions pull from our minds. Your spirits? Exactly how you picture 'em—powers, personality, the works. Fancy hallucinations."
Pause. "But Roger's leveled up. Masters Celestial too. Might yank real spirit fragments in. Test a low-cost one."
"On it!" Lucy whipped a silver key.
[Open the Gate of the Puppy—Nikora!]
Array flashed—Plue popped with a "Puu puu?"
Lucy exhaled, grinning. "It works! This illusion's nuts!"
She patted Plue. "Thanks, buddy. Chill mode—back you go."
"Puu?" Plue vanished in sparkles.
"NAILED IT!" Kana whooped from the corner. A black rectangle—phone—lit up. She fed golden light from a card into its port.
"Lightning card?" Lucy leaned in. "You're… charging it?"
"Bingo!" Kana snapped. "This world's tech-based—runs on 'electricity,' not magic."
"S-Class tradition: clues in the environment. Phone's prime suspect!"
"WHOA—" Lucy's jaw dropped, clapping like a stan. "Kana, you're a beast! Veteran vibes—experience on lock!!"
Kana chin-up, smug. "Damn right. Failed a bunch, but stacked knowledge."
Swipe—screen flickered. Haggard dude with old-school mic in a bunker studio.
"Evening, survivors. This is Dawn Radio—your pal, Watcher."
"Y'all seen the crazies attacking anything that moves. Folks call 'em zombies, but intel—paid in scout blood—says Desire Beasts fits better."
"Not undead. Just folks swallowed by raw, dark urges."
"Ears and nose like bloodhounds. No fatigue. Worst: they learn. They evolve."
"Special ones mutating—speed demons, car-flipping brutes."
"Nightmare fuel: 'Lord' types commanding packs."
"Non-lethal hits? Useless. Smash the brain—or they keep coming."
"Don't fall for flashes of old memories. That's just—"
ZZZT— Phone hissed, scalding hot!
Kana yeeted it, flinging a rune card—BOOM muffled in a bubble shield.
"Why'd it blow?!" She glared at the charred husk. "My magic overload?"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Door-rattling like a death knell.
Lucy jumped, swallowing hard. She tiptoed, peeked through the peephole.
Bloody, mangled face SLAMMED the glass—eye sockets crawling with fat white maggots, wriggling, dropping.
"BLEGH—" Lucy rocket-backed, hand over mouth, bile rising, vision spotting. "SO GROSS!! NIGHTMARE FUEL!!"
Old punishment trauma hit. She spun to Kana's shit-eating grin, voice cracking: "L-Let's quit? Still time to bail?"
Kana arms-crossed, eyebrow arched. "Try it, coward. Face 'em head-on—fear vanishes."
Maggot-face flashback—Lucy gagged harder. "NOPE! One look and I'm puking yesterday's lunch!"
She X'd her arms. "Quit! You were right!"
"Dead end, Lil' Lucy." Kana strolled to the banging door, grinning wicked. "Roger's trials: pass or die—kicked out."
"Wanna be zombie chow?"
She slid a wind-rune card under the door.
Outside: zombie sniffed the 'live bait' card—SHNK— wind blades erupted, one slicing clean through the neck.
Thud.
Before relief: air warped—transparent panel popped:
[B-Rank Zombies: 199]
[A-Rank: 100]
[S-Rank: 10]
[SS-Rank: 5]
[SSS-Rank: 1]
"Kill counter?" Lucy read, shocked.
"Wait!" Numbers jumped—B down 5, A up 1. "Why?!"
Kana stared, grim. "Watcher's warning. Desire Beasts evolve by eating each other."
Lucy's eyes bugged, voice shrill: "So if we slack, they guzzle buddies and level up—like bug-fighting? More bosses?!"
"Even multiple SSS?!"
"Likely." Kana rubbed her temples. "Now you get why passing Roger's hell = instant S-Class."
"Strength, brains, speed, guts—ultimate gut-check."
She slapped an 'Eye of Truth' card to her forehead. Eyes reopened—black-white vision piercing walls: five gray blobs flanking the hallway, energy pulsing.
"Called it—" Kana's smile went ice-cold.