As the group finished their upgrades, Benzo eyed his luminescent display warily before shutting it down. "Guys, are we in a video game?"

"Be serious." Natsuki quipped.

"I am. Look, aliens suddenly invade our planet."

"Or emerged from the core." Sakura pointed out.

"We have these weird tattoo things now. And a holographic interface that pops up every time we kill."

"Really just when we level up" Taki shrugged.

"Sure. but you get how weird that is, right? Only video game characters level up."

The group started walking again, Sakura leading them with the glow of the light-stick.

"The government has strongarmed us, a bunch of teenage schoolkids, into fighting these monsters with little to no information."

"That is true," Sakura nodded.

"And the voice in our heads."

"Yes. It's all very weird. But you've been watching too much anime, Benzo," Natsuki said. "How would we be trapped in a video game? Nothing out of the ordinary happened until that meteor crash. We didn't go anywhere, like through a portal or anything."

"In that case, perhaps we've always been in a game. Like, since birth."

The group collectively groaned.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Sakura looked unnerved, her face odd in the light of the glow stick.

"Okay, okay." Benzo raised his arms. "But we need to start thinking outside the box. And we need to figure out what's really going on."

They pressed on, further into the darkness, guided by the map emanating from Sakura's arm. A cluster of red dots shone on the map in the tunnel ahead.

"Baddies?" Taki asked.

Sakura nodded.

The next few minutes were a near repeat from the previous encounter, excepting that they slew this group with relative ease thanks to Benzo and Sakura's new powers. As she had said, Sakura was now able to fire off more than one arrow at a time. Benzo's approach was more subtle - he just seemed generally better at combat in general, moving between enemies with relative ease.

Unsurprisingly, no one leveled up. Unsettled by the video game conversation, the group pressed on in relative silence toward the next cluster of red dots.

Natsuki fell in beside Taki as they walked. "You didn't choose your new power?"

Taki shrugged, "I didn't know what to choose. it's just kinda overwhelming. I don't know what's going to be useful. I don't even know if I can pull up that menu again."

"Well, Sakura seems to have the hang of it. Why don't you ask her?"

"I guess I could. Don't you know how to do it, though?"

"I...err...I haven't quite got the hang of it just yet." She seemed embarrassed. considering the circumstances, Taki wasn't quite sure why. They were definitely learning as they went and there was no instruction manual.

"Okay - well, we can both ask her. Deal?"

"Deal." She said, rather seriously.

The two caught up with Sakura as she walked.

"Sakura, can you help me with this. I can't get that weird menu thing to open again."

Their guide paused for a moment. "Sure," her face brightened, happy to have something other than the existential crisis Benzo had just introduced to the group. "Just will it to happen."

"Will it to happen?"

"Yeah, think about it happening. Imagine you're opening a file on a computer, right where your tattoo is."

"Okay..." Taki envisioned the #5 on his arm as a file folder and imagined himself opening it.

It worked!

Class abilities unlocked. Please choose.

a. Improved Reflexes

b. Defensive Training

c. Critical damage up

"Awesome," he looked over at Natsuki. "Do you wanna try yours out?"

"I'm good," she replied. "I'll try it again later."

Taki looked back at the menu and frowned. There was no description. And critical damage? That definitely sounded like a video game. Was Benzo right?

"We should probably get a move on..." Natsuki pressed.

Before Taki could further consider, there was a rumbling noise that reverberated throughout the tunnel. The ground began to quake, and they all fell to their hands and knees.

"What is happening!?" Benzo was panicked.

There were cracks forming below them, spreading under the glowing light like veins in the earth.

"Oh shit! I think the floor is collapsing!" Taki yelled.

C-Team tried to get to their feet and run but it was too late. The ground crumbled and they tumbled down into the depths of the unknown.