Succubus Kim Rina

Beep-beep! Beep-bee-beep!

An alarm blared from Kim Nari's body — from the receiver she carried. It was picking up signals from each of the team leaders. And this particular tone meant only one thing: emergency.

"Unnie, that's Jungmin's side! Something must have happened!"

Nayeon recognized whose signal it was instantly. Each team leader's receiver had a distinct sound.

"We have to go. If Garam hyung pressed that..."

Nayeon's face was already on the verge of tears. She was clearly imagining the worst.

"Stay calm, Nayeon."

"How am I supposed to stay calm? Jungmin and Garam hyung are—"

Nari fixed her with a steady look. In this group, Nayeon was the strongest. If the strongest among them fell apart, everyone else would follow.

"...Fine. So what do we do?"

Nayeon composed her expression. Now she looked more like GGC's ace.

"We go."

"...What? That's the same conclusion."

"It's different."

Nari offered a small smile to her sister's indignantly frustrated face, then turned to address the crew.

"We'll also send signals to the other two teams. Since we're in the center, we need to relay the alert so both teams can follow the signal to Garam's team. May I have a spare signal beacon?"

Nari took a spare beacon from a crew member and drove it into the ground.

Woom-woom.

The beacon activated cleanly. The two teams ahead would pick up the signal and head this way. She pulled out a scrap of paper and left a note on top of the beacon describing the situation.

Moments like this always made Nari miss her phone. Communication inside a Gate was notoriously difficult. At close range, walkie-talkies worked fine enough — but each search team was at least a kilometer apart. That was well beyond walkie-talkie range. On top of that, this Gate wasn't open terrain; it was dense forest. Simple signals could get through, but anything more complex became unreliable. Setting up repeaters would have been more trouble than it was worth — though some teams did exactly that on massive expeditions.

"We'll move out as well. Our comrades are in danger, so we go as fast as we can. Team Leader Nayeon?"

"...Yes!"

"Will you take point?"

"Yes, Captain!"

With a spirited shout that put force into every word, Nayeon grabbed the receiver and took off after the signal. Her speed matched her intensity. She covered roughly two kilometers of dense forest in under five minutes. Even the Keepers were gasping for air.

"There!"

Still fresh, Nayeon pointed to a cave at the base of the mountain. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary cave with nothing wrong.

"Nayeon, stop!"

Nari called out just as her sister was about to charge in.

"Why?"

"Get a grip. You're a team leader, not a vanguard."

"Ah..."

"Catch your breath first. And..."

Getting here fast was good, but they'd come so hard that everyone was winded. With no idea what waited inside, they needed at least a moment to recover.

"Okay. What next?"

"Chaeryeong stays behind. Chaeryeong?"

Nari called her over. Chaeryeong was the owner of this Ogre Gate — not a member of the GGC Crew.

"Hah... hah... Nari-nim?"

"Please wait here. Just in case, I'll leave one crew member with you as well. Sarang?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Sarang, stay here with Chaeryeong and wait for the other two teams. What happens after that is up to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the two team leaders. Remember — Chaeryeong's safety is the absolute priority."

If a Gate's owner died, the Gate itself vanished. Every Gate expedition began with protecting the owner.

"All right. Let's go."

"Wait, Unnie."

"What?"

"You stay too. Same reason."

Nari looked at Nayeon. This time her sister's eyes were set and firm. Nari glanced around. The other crew members seemed to share the same opinion.

"...Understood. Then be careful out there."

"Yes, Captain!"

Nayeon answered and turned toward the cave.

"I'll take the lead. Everyone ready?"

"Yes!"

Nari could only watch as her crew disappeared into the cave. Times like this, she hated being captain. Everyone else was putting their lives on the line, and she couldn't. Normally she could shrug it off because it was her own Gate — but this time, letting it go was hard.

If I were just a little stronger...

Even B-class — never mind A-class — and she wouldn't be stuck back here.

"Captain... they'll be okay, right?"

"Nothing will go wrong. I trust our crew."

Nari's voice was as calm as always. No matter what churned inside, the surface stayed serene. It was the first thing she'd learned after becoming captain.

But something that tested that trust arrived in less than a minute.

Beep-bee-beep!

This time it was Nayeon's emergency signal.

"...Captain?"

Hansarang was asking what they should do. Nari thought it through. Should she treat this as a retreat signal, or a rescue request? Either interpretation was possible. And either way, one fact was undeniable: Nayeon was in danger.

Crack.

A captain's composure shattered under the weight of her twin sister's peril.

"I'm going in. I'll assess the situation and report back. Sarang, stay here and protect Chaeryeong. If I don't come out, leave the Gate with the other two teams. Understood?"

"What? How can you—"

"Understood?"

"...Yes!"

Nari knew Hansarang's answer had been forced. But this way, at least Chaeryeong would be safe. Rationalizing it to herself, she stepped into the cave.

Nayeon. Nayeon!

The entrance was empty — just an ordinary natural cave. A little farther in, she saw lights. Headlamps from the people who'd gone ahead, she figured.

The lights are still on. That means they're still alive.

She ran straight toward them. The closer she got, the more she heard labored breathing. No sounds of fighting, though.

Are they hurt? Then I need to go faster!

She decided it was a rescue request after all and sprinted. Before long, she reached a cavern chamber.

...What the hell is this?

The scene inside was grotesque. Headlamps pointed every which way, and their owners stood rooted in place, hips rocking, gasping and panting. Nayeon was among them — legs spread wide, hands working frantically between her thighs.

"Nayeon! What happened! Snap out of—"

And the moment Nari reached for her sister, she too fell into sleep.

"Captain, what do you think of me?"

Nari looked at Jungmin. He was naked. She took in the solid chest and washboard abs and thought, somewhat abstractly, that he'd trained well. That was all.

"Captain, you're beautiful."

His voice was thick and oily — like those men in the adult videos her friends used to make her watch. She realized she was naked too. She hurriedly covered her chest and between her legs. Hands weren't nearly enough to hide her breasts, but she was embarrassed all the same.

"It's all right. No need to be shy. You're so beautiful."

That sticky voice again. It made her skin crawl. And that was how she realized this was a dream. The mere fact of being in a situation like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this with Jungmin was proof. In reality, she would never do something like this with him.

"Why am I dreaming? What was happening before I fell asleep..."

"Captain, come here. Or should I come to you..."

"Shut up! Jungmin does not have a greasy voice like yours!"

She shouted it clean and loud. It was a dream, after all. No one watching. No cameras.

"Huh? Wait... I..."

Dream-Jungmin wore a blank, dazed expression. Looking at it, she suddenly remembered Jungmin's real face from before the dream — brows furrowed, hips working hard. Inside a cave!

Only then could she recall what had been happening before she fell asleep.

"Nayeon! Nayeon!"

She wanted out of this dream. She knew how. Back in school, whenever she dozed off studying, she'd tried every method imaginable to force herself awake.

She clamped both hands around her own throat and squeezed. Until her face flushed red. Until her head went white. Normally it would have been impossible — but certain it was a dream, she could do it.

"Captain? Captain!"

Even dream-Jungmin's worried voice sounded slick with oil.

You're pissing me off to the very end. Get the hell out of my face...

She felt her consciousness fading.

Nari opened her eyes. She saw the cave ceiling, then pushed herself up. The surroundings were exactly as they'd been when she first entered. She widened her field of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠view — and spotted the Ogre's corpse deeper in the chamber, and the woman standing beside it.

...A demon? A Succubus?

Nari had always read fantasy novels carefully — not because they were fun, but because the kinds of things that only happened in fantasy novels were now happening in real life. She'd also studied most of the major myths and legends. As a captain, continuous learning was non-negotiable. So when she looked at Kim Rina, she recognized a Succubus. And with that, she roughly understood what everyone in the cave had been doing — and why she'd had that dream.

"Nayeon!"

Nari shouted loud enough to shake the cave and shook her sister's shoulders. Nayeon didn't wake. She just kept doing what she was doing. Nari's body turned, almost of its own accord, toward the Succubus.

If it's a Succubus, the odds that their lives are in immediate danger are low. Even if they are, I can't just drag them out of here. This is... a gamble.

With her little sister's life on the line, Nari decided even faster. If she stood around fretting about incomplete information, something far worse could happen. And if the worst came to pass — if it was something she herself had done — she was prepared to accept it and take responsibility. That resolve was what had brought her crew, GGC, this far.

She ran, drawing her sword as she went.

White light gathered along the blade — her only skill, White Striking (C).

Crack-zzzt.

"Kyaaah!"

The Succubus moved at the last second, so the blade only cut her shoulder. But that was fine. The heart was right in front of her. Nari put more force into the sword.

"Die."

White light carved through the Succubus's heart, and blue blood sprayed out. Nari shut her eyes and stepped back.

"Aaaagh!"

The Succubus screamed, body convulsing. At the same time, every person in the cave stopped moving. Their breathing, though, did not stop. Nari's gamble had paid off.

Good. Now if I finish her for certain...

She gauged the distance to cleanly take the Succubus's head.

Now!

She stepped in and swept the blade horizontally. White light separated the Succubus's head from her body — a clean enough cut that Garam would have praised her improvement if he'd seen it.

But Nari never expected a headless Succubus to still move her hands. More precisely: she saw the hand move, but couldn't react in time.

Grab.

The Succubus's left hand seized the wrist of Nari's sword hand. Nari jerked free in shock and put distance between them — but her wrist already burned as if pressed to open flame.

What is this...

And then Nari lost consciousness. The heat in her wrist had climbed all the way to her head.