Hana gasped as air finally rushed back into her lungs.
She doubled over, breathing fast and uneven, her whole body trembling. The tears drying on her cheeks felt cold against her skin.
Why… Why did she have no control over this?
Moments ago she was unstoppable.
Limitless, powerful, untouchable, free.
Now, she was being strangled into obedience by a piece of paper. She had no choice but to do as the piece of paper had ordered. This cursed, sentient, tyrant piece of paper.
Miyu chirped softly on her shoulder, the sound small and worried.
"…Fine," Hana muttered, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Fine, I'll do this."
A surge of rage flared in her chest, hot, radioactive, and instinctive, but she forced it down. She couldn't afford to lose control. Not when the castle had already proven it could kill her with ease.
She approached the next door and peeked inside.
"Ooookay," she muttered. "I'll just kill all of them."
"..."
"Usually in things like video games, the first level is the easiest. So why does this castle feel like it's giving me harder stuff at the very start?"
She pushed the door open.
Darkness swallowed her.
The room was murky, thick with shadows. Dozens of red eyes gleamed from the darkness, unblinking, watching her.
"Ugh… This reminds me of that fear, Scopophobia," she muttered. "Being watched…"
The eyes crept closer.
She heard fast, sharp scurrying echoing across the walls.
"It's not really a nice feeling," she sighed. "I'm not used to it either, because revolutions are made up of many people. You're not the only one who's stared at."
A red‑tinged thread sliced past her neck, embedding itself in the wall behind her.
She tested it indirectly with a pulse of radioactivity.
Spiderweb. "Ah."
Her eyes lit up.
"This'll be a fun warm‑up."
She altered the air molecules around her wrists, forming her own threads, mimicking the spiders. They were thin, strong, and flexible.
She lowered her radioactivity, challenging herself.
A massive spider lunged at her, its legs long enough to wrap around her entire torso. They were huge!
She swung upward, kicking the spider square in the eye. It screeched, blood squelching out in a thick, dark stream. She twisted midair, narrowly avoiding getting blood on her clothes.
"Now, don't be like that," she chided.
She smiled.
"It makes me feel bad."
She sliced the spider apart with a flick of her radioactive thread. It dissolved instantly. "Hm. Anticlimactic."
"Any volunteers to make this more interesting?"
More shuffling.
"No? Suit yourselves."
She dashed toward the cluster of glowing eyes. Her threads sharpened, slicing through spider after spider. Each movement grew faster, smoother, more fluid.
A spider lunged towards her from her left. She snapped her head toward it and vaporized it with a single glare.
A slight sizzle sound came from it.
She moved as if she was dancing. Her hair flowed, steps light, every motion precise. She spun, whipping her radioactivity outward in a perfect arc. Her radioactivity spread out like a soundwave.
Silence.
Every spider in the room dissolved at once.
"There," she said, brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder. "That's done."
She swung her web toward the door, kicked it open, and stepped out. Miyu leapt onto her shoulder right on cue.
The door vanished behind her.
"Onto the next one."
Another scroll fell from above, but she dodged it this time. She snatched it midair and unrolled it.
[You survived an encounter with Blood Spiders!]
[You have killed 42 Blood Spiders!]
Miyu chirped. Hana froze.
The sound was wrong.
"Miyu?"
The little creature twitched.
Then spasmed.
Hana's voice rose.
"MIYU?"