Divine Milking System

I grabbed my bag. Headed for the door. Paused with my hand on the handle.

The apartment felt different now. Less like a temporary assignment and more like. Something else. A base of operations maybe. The place where I returned after missions. Where I showered off gate blood and reviewed my stats and made plans for the next target.

Where Naomi had stayed overnight. Where Belle had come at midnight looking for what I’d promised her. Where Hikaru heard everything and never said a word.

I left. Locked the door behind me. Took the stairs because my Endurance was one segment from D-rank and every bit of movement mattered.

The campus was alive now. Students everywhere. Heading to late breakfast. Walking to libraries. Sitting on benches studying or stressing about results.

I passed a group of Sapphire girls. One of them looked at me. Did a double take. Whispered something to her friend.

They were talking about me.

The fat lottery kid who killed an alpha Crawler. Who bet against Blair Davenport. Who somehow had Naomi Love following him around like he was worth something. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

My reputation was. Changing. Spreading. Becoming something other than invisible.

Good and bad. Attention meant opportunities. But attention also meant scrutiny. People asking questions I couldn’t answer. Like how my stats were climbing so fast. Why multiple girls seemed interested. What my actual ability did.

I reached the arena at 10:57. Early for once.

Misato stood near the entrance. Arms crossed. Her lime green ponytail caught the late morning sun. She saw me coming and her expression shifted. Something almost like approval.

"You’re early."

"Miracles happen."

"Don’t get used to it. You’re still last in conditioning."

"Working on it."

"Work faster."

Belle appeared next. Then Jordan stumbling behind her looking half-dead. Naomi arrived last with her staff slung across her back. She met my eyes for exactly one second before looking away.

Progress. Yesterday she wouldn’t look at me at all.

Misato led us inside to a viewing room with a massive screen and uncomfortable metal chairs. She pulled up the gate footage from yesterday. Our entire run from entry to exit.

"Sit. Watch. Learn why you almost died."

The video started playing. I watched myself step through the portal for the first time. Saw my face go pale when the real gate feeling hit. Saw the squad spread into formation.

Then the Crawlers appeared. And everything became violence and coordination and Belle’s voice calling positions while Naomi’s blasts lit up the screen in blue-white spirals.

I watched myself move. Slower than everyone else. Clumsier. But still moving forward. Still fighting.

When the alpha charged at the end I saw what I’d done. That single moment of. Something. Instinct maybe. Or just desperation wearing a brave mask.

But I’d stood my ground. Angled the spear. Let the monster kill itself on the blade.

The video froze on my face. Covered in black blood. Eyes wide with shock. Still alive.

Misato paused the playback.

"That. Right there. That’s why we’re getting an A-rank."

She looked at each of us in turn.

"Not because we were perfect. We weren’t. Formation broke twice. Belle almost got flanked. Jordan held shadows on three targets when he should’ve released and repositioned. Naomi burned stamina too fast at the start."

Her eyes landed on me.

"And you. You broke formation to play hero. Could’ve gotten Belle killed. Could’ve gotten yourself killed. Did get yourself bitten."

I opened my mouth to defend the decision but she kept going.

"But. You saw Belle needed help. And you moved. Without thinking about your rank or your stats or whether you were qualified. You just moved."

She stood. Walked to the screen. Tapped the frozen image of my blood-covered face.

"That’s what squads are. Moving when your team needs it. Even if you’re scared. Even if you’re weak. Even if you probably shouldn’t."

Jordan raised his hand like we were in class.

"Wait. Are you actually complimenting him right now?"

"I’m acknowledging competence when I see it. There’s a difference."

"That’s just a compliment with extra steps."

"It’s an objective observation based on tactical assessment."

"Still sounds like you’re saying nice things about him."

"Jordan. Shut up."

Belle’s amber eyes stayed on the screen. On the frozen moment of me standing over the alpha’s corpse with the spear still buried in its throat.

"You looked. Different there."

"Covered in monster blood?"

"No. Like you knew what you were doing. For exactly one second. Then you went back to looking confused."

"That’s just my face."

"Your face is improving though. You’re losing the. Soft look."

"Thanks?"

"It’s an observation," Belle said. Mimicking Misato’s flat tone perfectly.

Misato pulled up the final stats screen. Clear time. Core count. Coordination rating. Zero casualties. The metrics lined up in neat rows.

"Preliminary rating is A-rank. Final confirmation comes when they review all squad footage and compare performance metrics. Results post at noon."

She closed the laptop. Turned to face us properly.

"If we made top five. Good. If we didn’t. We train harder and hit it next month."

"And if Blair’s squad ranked higher than us?" Jordan asked.

"Then Blair gets to gloat for thirty seconds before winter evaluation proves we’re better."

"That’s not very reassuring."

"It’s realistic."

Belle checked her phone, then her eyes flicked for a second toward a Ruby student across the hall, the one with the platinum watch. A flicker of appraisal, maybe. Whatever was happening with her buff, it was clearly still active.Belle checked her phone. The enhanced Treasure Sense was probably still active from last night.

She could detect everything.

"It’s eleven forty-three. Seventeen minutes."

"I can read a clock," Misato said.

"Just making sure you’re aware."

"I’m always aware."

"Are you aware that you’ve been checking your phone every thirty seconds since we sat down?"

Misato’s jaw tightened. Her fingers curled slightly. Like she wanted to make a fist but restrained herself.

"Blair wants to know how we did."

"And you haven’t told her?"

"I told her we cleared. Not the rank."

"Why not?"

"Because." Misato’s voice went quiet. Dangerous. "Because I want to see her face when the results post and we’re top five. When she realizes Monroe didn’t roll over. That we actually did it."