The subway platform buzzes faintly with the hum of trains. Touko leans against a pillar, shards hovering in a loose circle around her. The air is tight, charged.

The higher-ups had assigned her a duo mission: a restricted-grade cursed womb had been spotted in the abandoned maintenance tunnels beneath this part of Osaka. Residual fear from decades of accidents and suicides had fed it, and earlier surveillance teams never reported back.

Normally, her partner would be someone local. Instead, they’d sent someone from overseas—recalled mid-mission specifically for this operation.

Touko checks the cracked digital clock.

8:04 PM

"Tch… late already," she mutters.

"Hope you’re worth the inconvenience," she adds, her gaze fixed on the dark tunnel ahead waiting for you to arrive.