Kimiko Hayabayashi stirred her bowl of ramen with her chopsticks and fished up a halved egg. The screen in front of her bathed her in bright light. Except for that, her mess of an apartment was as dark as night.

“It all happened right here, at Penrose University. The tragic incident which claimed 76 lives last Friday has left parents, friends, and staff baffled and stricken with grief.”

She munched on the egg. When she first heard the news of the American portal bust, she realized that it hadn’t all been a dream after all. The monsters. Her powers. It was real.

“I am standing here with Ryan M. Green. Mr. Green, can you tell the viewers what you just told me?”

“Sure. I have warned the public for weeks. Gates to hell are opening, all around the planet. I made videos. Dozens of them. No one would listen. They thought I was just some nut. But I was right. It happened just like I predicted.”

A YouTube clip played, in which the man thumped a Bible to his chest while yelling something about demons and hell. Kimiko smiled. She liked his passion.

“How did you learn about these alleged gates?”

“Huh? Well, I stumbled upon one. Climbed inside. I don’t know why. Guess I just thought it was some kind of optical illusion. Didn’t expect to wind up in hell. Didn’t expect to be fighting demons.”

“You are claiming to have visited hell?”

“It’s funny, you know. My mother always used to tell me to go to hell. Well … Been there, done that. What now, mom?”

Kimiko cheered. The aesthetics of Christianity had fascinated her ever since she was a little girl. Angels and demons and resurrection and forbidden fruit—it was so cool. She wanted to dive into the screen as if it were a portal and kiss this man. Then she turned her head toward the actual portal hovering in the middle of her bedroom.

It was a dark swirl of dancing eddies, a vertical pool of water. Pulsating, it called to her. Enter me, it seemed to say.

“Soon, portal-san. Let me just finish my meal.”

She slurped up her last noodles and tossed the bowl into the pile next to her bed. Then she squinted at the pile and back up at the portal.

“Do you love trash, portal-san?”

She hopped off her bed and grabbed a bowl, then she chucked it into the portal. It made a pleasing gurgle and waves rippled across its surface.

“Of course you do. You love me after all, don’t you?”

Giggling, she sent bowl after bowl like frisbees into the shadowy abyss. How fortunate that a portal had appeared in her bedroom. It was a gift. A great treasure. A flexible disposal mechanism.

Kimiko clapped her hands together. “What now, mom?” she said, in her best imitation of the interview man, and she leapt across the room, diving headfirst into the portal.

“How interesting.”

It was a tropical jungle, wet and green, with dense vegetation blocking out the skies. The trees rose as high as Shinjuku skyscrapers.

A black beetle scuttled past her, and Kimiko crushed it under her shoe.

[You have killed an Obsidian Scarab. You have gained 3 SP.]

“Only three survival points? Well I suppose it was just a small insect after all.”

As she explored the forest, she had the thrilling sensation of being watched. Was the boss monitoring her from up above in the canopy?

Kimiko craned her neck and inspected the scene branch by branch. No sign of a boss. But there was a yellow fruit with a golden tinge to it, and it reminded her of the necklace. When she stumbled across it on her last adventure it had the same aura to it, a halo of sorts. She picked it up because it was beautiful, and a message appeared: ‘You have discovered a Special Item’. The feeling reminded her of a crow friend she had had as a child. She fed it rice balls and every now and then it would visit her, bringing various shiny objects as thanks. Treasures. Mr. Crow was the best friend she’d ever had.

Climbing the tree proved to be a bit of a challenge because it was covered with some kind of sticky slime. “Is this sap?” It had a foul smell.

Once she had made it almost all the way to the fruit, she heard a frothing sound. She turned to look and it was a spider the size of a duck. Its six eyes were all black and sparkly. She gasped. “Why are you so cute!?”

From its mouth a thick fluid bubbled. It was the same slime as that covering the tree, she realized. “Huh?” she said. “I’m feeling sleepy all of a sudden.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

[Status effect: drowsiness. You have been poisoned by a Sandman Spider.]

The spider rubbed its front legs together, in anticipation of an easy meal.

She scrunched up her face. “This is awkward …”

Kimiko’s necklace glowed bright for a second and the feeling of drowsiness vanished.

[Necklace of the Goddess has been activated. Status effects have been negated.]

Just as the spider went in for the kill, Kimiko held out her palm and unleashed a ball of fire. “Even cute monsters must die …”

The spider blackened and curled up before bursting into smoke.

[You have killed a Sandman Spider. You have gained 531 SP. You have leveled up. You have reached level 7.]

“I got that many points for a cute, little spider?”

She kept climbing and eventually made it to the yellow fruit. It was oblong with a bumpy surface. She grabbed it.

[You have discovered a Special Item: Forbidden Fruit.]

“I knew it! Oh, is it like the one in the Garden of Eden?”

Was it really okay to eat it? It was a special item, so you’d think it was safe. But then why was it ‘forbidden’? She put it in her inventory for safekeeping.

Back down at ground level, she kept exploring the forest and searched for hidden treasure. She looked behind bushes and ferns, overturned rocks, and dug in the soil at random with her hands. It was all to no avail. She let out a deep sigh. This location was not at all like the first one. It was an open landscape, not a dungeon. Birds sang cheerfully above. She wished her fire magic was strong enough to roast them alive.

Then, just as she had lost hope, she heard something.

“You dare intrude upon my realm?”

A silverback gorilla garbed in a plain, red cape stood before her. He was a giant, blocking out the sun. Kimiko gulped. She had not expected to encounter King Kong.

“Are you the boss?” she asked.

“Boss? What a quaint expression. The forest bows before no master but mother nature herself. I am its humble protector. A noble guardian. A—”

“—Gorilla.”

The gorilla blinked. “You mock me?” His baritone voice struck her like a wave.

“You’re the strongest one here, right?”

“... That is correct.”

“Ah. In that case, you must be the boss.”

The gorilla scoffed. “You have entered my realm without permission. You have disturbed the peace of the forest. For these sins, you must die.”

“Challenge accepted, dear Mr. King Kong.”

He edged his head sideways, apparently confused, and right then Kimiko sent a fireball his way. He lifted his cape absentmindedly and deflected the flames entirely. “I am no king. Anarchy is the way of the jungle.”

Before she could fire off another one, the gorilla struck a blow. As his fist met the ground, it shook violently. Grass and dirt exploded into the air. She barely dodged it in time. Her heart went wild. There was no way she would have survived that. What was this strength? Hadn’t she just reached level 7?

“Please remain still as I deliver unto you your proper punishment.”

“Stop talking so weirdly!”

She fled. This King Kong was overpowered. It wasn’t fair.

“Where do you think you are going, impudent imp?”

He was fast. Would she even be able to escape back to the portal?

She had an agility of 27, so why was he able to keep up with her? It dawned on her that his agility must be higher still. Was it really just like that? If your stats were higher you just won? Of course it was like that. It was always like that. Your parents have more money, so you get into a better school. You have higher intelligence, so you get better grades. You have better grades, so you get a better-paying job. You get more money. All because of your stats.

To hell with it.

She turned around to face the gorilla. “Your cape is really red!”

He stopped. “Indeed. It is the very same crimson with which you will water the soil of the forest.”

There was a mentalist Kimiko had seen on the television once. Derren Violet. He did this trick where he confused people. He said you could defuse a tense situation by telling people something absurd in a serious way. They’d short-circuit.

“Your cape came across the plain in the light of day, three inches higher than normal. Isn’t that so?”

“What?”

“Your cape. It came across the plain in the light of day. Three inches higher than normal.”

The gorilla lifted up his cape and inspected it. “Across the plain …? What are you talking about?”

Kimiko did her best to appear as if she was saying something obvious. “Your cape came across the plain in the light of day. It did, didn’t it? Three inches higher than normal. I can see it clearly.”

“... It is the same length as always.” He scratched his hairy chin. “Is this an attempt at filling my mind with nonsense in the hopes that I will leave an opening?”

Kimiko froze. “N-No. It’s, well, it’s just—”

“Enough. I will spare you any further embarrassment.”

With a swift motion, he grabbed her with his enormous hand. He squeezed the air right out of her lungs. As she gasped, he studied her with a pitiful look.

He held her in front of his face, his nostrils blowing hot air over her. “The forest thanks you for your gift of nutrients.”

It was just then that she remembered. The Forbidden Fruit. She squirmed, trying to at least get one hand free. It was no use. His grip was too strong.

“W-What now, m-mom?” she coughed.

The gorilla frowned. “You call me a boss, then a king, and now a mother? I am neither of these things. I am a humble protector. A noble guardian. A—”

“—Gowijjah.”

She flew through the air and crashed against something hard.

[Warning: Health critically low.]

The gorilla had tossed her at a tree. She slid down and hit her head against a rock. Her vision was blurred. Before her, a giant creature lurched forward.

With shivering hands, she accessed the inventory. She felt the world around her rumble. As she retrieved the Forbidden Fruit, she heard a loud thump. She ate the item as quickly as she could.

[You have eaten the Forbidden Fruit. You have gained the Special Ability Snakeskin.]

Just as the blurry creature reached her, she felt a strange sensation. It was as if she was slithering like a snake.