Kisou Academy is one of the oldest academies in existence, dating back to the birth of the academic city Hinotsuchi.

Having continuously received support from various corporations outside the city, Kisou Academy’s influence has held significant sway over Hinotsuchi to this day.

Kirara Clam was one of the students dissatisfied with the current state of Kisou Academy.

Evil deeds were the norm, plunder was justice.
Power dictated all reason.

She loathed the corrupt, meritocratic decay that had spread throughout the entire academy.
Thus, it could be said that her decision to take action against Kisou Academy was inevitable in a way.

In her case, that action took the form of livestreaming.

Plenty of students streamed their dungeon explorations.
To the general public, dungeons were unknown spaces, and even just seeing them as footage held enough appeal.

“Purifying everyone’s hearts in an instant! —It’s Purification-chan here!”

Striking a pose in front of the livestream camera for dungeon exploration, Clam was captured by the lens of the autonomous drone, designed not to interfere even in combat.

She operated as an exclusive exposé streamer targeting Kisou Academy.

Soon, comments began flowing in on the semi-transparent small window projected by her Dive Gear.

: Been waiting
: Look who’s here, the fugitive
: Heya, Puri-chan!

“Alright, alright, everyone’s lively as usual today! So, as I teased the other day, today we’re exposing the negative legacy left behind by Kisou Academy! Yayyy, Student Council President, you watching? …I’ll drag you down from that seat sooner or later.”

: Yikes
: How is this girl still free?
: A maniac who attends Kisou Academy while trying to destroy it

The comments seemed somewhat fearful of Clam’s demeanor, but she paid them no mind.

“So, this is the fourth installment of the ‘Crush Kisou Academy’ project, and today’s the day we succeed! Every time, the Disciplinary Committee or the Enforcers show up to silence me, and I lose the evidence at the last second.”

: So close (blew up one illegal research lab)
: Just escaping the Enforcers is insane

“Anyway, that got me thinking. What if I went somewhere those academy dogs can’t reach so easily? Sounds good, right?”

: Genius

“Right, right? So, I’ve invited myself to a certain academy. Oh, I won’t say which one! If I do, that academy’s Disciplinary Committee will come after me too.”

: She’s trespassing
: Disciplinary Committee, this girl right here
: Go get her!
: Hope she visits our place next time

The comments were, as always, oddly cheerful.
Once Clam confirmed her viewer count had surpassed ten thousand, she began moving.

Through the dense, overgrown forest, she followed the path she had researched beforehand without getting lost, eventually arriving in front of a certain facility.

It was the northernmost point of Fectom Comprehensive Academy’s beginner dungeon—the remains of a facility once used to manage the dungeon.

“Up until ten years ago, this was a facility for controlling the dungeon, but apparently, it was abandoned after an accident. Pfft, what a lame cover-up.”

Saying that, Clam walked around the ruins for a while before zeroing in on a specific spot on the ground.

“Alright, go get ’em, Man-Eating Murder Frog!”

A frog-shaped machine emerged from her Dive Gear.
That was Clam’s weapon of choice.

The frog hopped toward the marked spot—and the moment it arrived, it exploded.

“Whew! Another great job by Maa-chan!”

: Inhumane weaponry
: Hmm, classic Kisou Academy student

The explosion blew away the ground, revealing a large staircase beneath.
Pointing at it, Clam grinned.

“Take a look. That’s the entrance to the secretly built experimental facility. Alright, folks, this is gonna be an all-time-great stream! Oh, and the archive’ll probably get wiped by Kisou Academy again, so record and share it yourselves, ‘kay?”

: Hurry, hurry!
: Which academy’s dungeon is this?
: You always lose the evidence at the last second!
: It’s probably dark in there, be careful!

Ignoring the rapidly scrolling comments fixated on the staircase, Clam ventured deeper inside.

The interior of the experimental facility was lightly grimy, as expected of a place left abandoned for ten years.
Emergency lights, faintly glowing, provided the only illumination in the hallway—likely powered by some remaining energy source.

Clam advanced, lighting her way with her Dive Gear’s built-in lamp.

“Lots of cages here… Seems like they really were conducting that experiment here.”

: That experiment?
: Tell us about it!

Noticing the comments, Clam rummaged through a cage as she spoke.

“There was once a plan to create a next-gen Gear far superior to the Dive Gears explorers use now. Originally proposed by an off-city corporation, Kisou Academy supposedly provided massive funding, personnel, and the location for it.”

The plan itself had already fallen through, or so Clam had heard.
But she’d also caught rumors that a few completed units existed.

“A Gear based on the bodies of girls with high compatibility. The Demonsgear. By utilizing human souls as programs, users could draw out performance far beyond standard Dive Gears.”

: Heard about it in urban legends
: No way it’s real
: Scary
: How can you chase after something this dangerous?

Skimming through the mixed reactions, Clam silently continued her search.
Around her, multiple frogs hopped about, as if guarding their master.

About thirty minutes after entering the facility, having found nothing noteworthy, Clam had unknowingly reached the deepest part.

“Thought there’d at least be some research documents. Well, this is disappointing.”

: Isn’t the facility’s existence alone solid evidence?

“It is evidence, sure, but not enough to prove Kisou Academy’s involvement.”

Clam’s goal was the complete eradication of the corrupt power plaguing Kisou Academy. She showed little interest in anything else.

“Alright, last room! Pretty big, sturdy-looking door here. …Maa-chans, do your thing!”

: Ah, her signature move
: Explosion-brained girl
: This is why alarms go off

“Ugh, so noisy! This facility’s already scrapped! Who cares if alarms blare? Not me!”

With that, she sent frogs leaping at the door.
The moment several stuck to it, the door exploded with a deafening blast.

Peering through the smoke at the newly made hole, Clam nodded.

“This method never fails.”

: It’s the only method she knows
: That smug face is cute

Before the smoke cleared, Clam slipped through the hole into the room.

Inside, it seemed a significant power supply still remained.
Dimly lit, multiple monitors and a massive computation device embedded in the wall emitted an eerie glow.

“…Looks like we hit the jackpot.”

Her gaze fell on what sat at the room’s center.

A massive cylindrical glass capsule.
Filled with an orange liquid, inside floated a girl curled up in a fetal position.

That thing was alive.
She didn’t know why, but her intuition screamed it.

“A girl’s form… Could this be a Demonsgear?”

: The real deal!?
: Legendary stream incoming!
: You did it, Puri-chan!
: Find proof linking it to Kisou Academy!

“Y-Yeah. Let’s look for evidence. Still, I never thought the real thing would still be here. …What do I do? This is way beyond what I expected—Ghk!?”

An explosion echoed from behind.

Clam instantly understood—her Gear had self-destructed to protect her.

“Maa-chan moved on its own!? Which means… something hostile’s here.”

The hole she’d entered through.
Beyond it, something flesh-colored, like a lump of meat, was visible.

Parts of it were charred, but it showed no signs of slowing.

“Trapped in this room…? Is its purpose to kill intruders?”

With her only exit blocked, Clam reached a decision within a second.

“Alright, let’s blow everything up and run!”

: Escape sequence initiated
: As usual
: Here we go again
: She’s insane
: You’re blowing up the girl too?

“Obviously I’m not blowing up the room! This Demonsgear’s body is priceless evidence. With this, other schools can intervene with Kisou Academy under the pretext of recovering it. It’s worth a fortune!”

Saying that, she unleashed a barrage of frogs toward the hole.
The frogs latched onto the flesh-colored thing and detonated.

Yet, it still showed no signs of damage.

“These bombs can turn 50cm steel plates to splinters… Fine then.”

She stuck frogs to the door instead.
They exploded, collapsing it further.

Now, the opening was wide enough to escape through.

The flesh-colored mass slowly entered the room.

: Gross!
: What is that!?
: Not… human
: A dungeon boss? Doesn’t match any known types, though

The comments accelerated.

It was a humanoid monster.
Faceless, as if molded from clay into a crude human shape.

With clear intent, it advanced toward Clam.

“What is this thing? —Behind me!?”

The monster vanished.

The next instant, Clam lunged forward purely on instinct.
A second later, something razor-fast tore through the space she’d just occupied.

“Tch, lures you in with sluggishness, then switches to high-speed combat? I don’t hate bluffing types. But I can’t die here. Maa-chans!”

More frogs spawned from her Dive Gear than ever before.
Clam detonated them indiscriminately before bolting through the doorway.

“Whew! Close one! Too close!”

: The whole room’s rubble now
: She did blow it up after all
: What about the girl!?

“Oh, she’s fine. My Man-Eating Frogs have directional blasts. Only the monster got well-done.”

: That’s a terrifying thing to say
: Did we win?

Clam shook her head at the comments.

“Nope. If the first blast only charred it, this one won’t kill it either. So, we run—Whoa, incoming!”

The monster emerged from the explosions.
Clam sprinted away, frogs in tow.

“We’ll keep bombing periodically and make a break for the exit!”

: Scarier than the Enforcers?

“The Enforcers, obviously!”

: Weirdly calm lol
: Yeah, she’ll probably escape again

While Clam was desperate, the comments treated this as routine entertainment. Suppressing the urge to curse internally, she kept running.

(At this rate, it’ll catch up…! The frog bombs are hitting. I’ve blown off its limbs a few times. But—)

A glance backward.
The left leg, just vaporized by an explosion, was already regenerating from the stump.

A question surfaced.

(This regeneration doesn’t match a defense mechanism. Was it really made just to catch intruders?)

Once doubt took root, countless questions followed.
But Clam forcibly shook them off.

“Either way, I gotta move!”

Twenty minutes had passed since the chase began.

Even for an explorer with physical abilities ten times beyond a normal human’s, a life-or-death sprint was exhausting.

If not for Clam’s experience in fleeing, she’d have been caught already.

“Hahh… Hahh… Almost—”

She was out of frogs.

(Full regeneration takes about two seconds. It’s been five since the last bomb. This’ll be really close…!)

: This is bad
: Run, Puri-chan!
: Call the Enforcers! Forget getting caught!
: We can’t even report for help without knowing which academy’s dungeon this is!

The comments, finally grasping the severity, begged her to reveal the academy’s name.

But Clam refused.

“Not this time. This evidence is too important. If those Kisou Academy scum find it, it’s over!”

Destroying Kisou Academy.
For that, Clam was willing to stake her life without hesitation.

“Just past this room—!”

The moment she stepped through the door into the final chamber before the exit—

The ceiling collapsed.

“Wha—!? What now!?”

The monster was closing in from behind.
A second monster crossed her mind.

But what she saw next was nothing like a monster.

“That’s—”

Moonlight flooded the dim room alongside the falling debris.

At its center stood a girl.

Dressed in something mystically elegant, like she’d stepped out of a moonlit soirée.
Her silver-blue hair shimmered, and her eyes, like still water, gazed languidly at the world.

She landed soundlessly, as if the world adored only her.
A breathtakingly beautiful girl.

“———Uh, who are you?”

Before she realized it, Clam had spoken.
The girl turned, as if noticing her for the first time.

A strange tension gripped Clam.
The pursuing monster no longer mattered.

“You just… fell from the ceiling. Uh, miss, your name is…?”
“…Miss?”

The girl’s blue eyes fixed on Clam, as if questioning the term.

With a bored, cold sigh, the listless girl exhaled.