CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 9.8: THIS UNIFORM DOESN’T MAKE ME A HERO. BUT I’LL TRY ANYWAY PART 5

"But you won’t," Jin said casually, his confidence so effortless it took her by surprise. "You’re super smart and genuinely care about people. That’s exactly why you’ll make the right calls."

"You don’t know that," Sera said quietly, but her rigid posture was starting to soften.

"Of course I do," Jin said casually. "You’ve done a great job keeping us safe so far, right? And your plan for tomorrow is really good. I don’t understand most of it, but I can tell it’s good because Clara got super hyped about the technical stuff and Rosa actually stopped joking around when you were explaining."

Sera felt something warm and uncomfortable flutter in her chest. "You’re... you’re actually pretty sharp for someone who doesn’t get the basic tactics."

"Is that so?" Jin asked, tilting his head.

"It’s..." Sera struggled with the compliment. "It’s not completely terrible."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the tactical displays cycle through different sensor sweeps.

"Jin," Sera said eventually, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me something."

"Okay!"

"If everything goes south tomorrow.....and the plan doesn’t work out... j-just promise me you’ll look out for yourself first. There’s no need to play the hero if it puts you in danger."

Jin’s face turned serious, "I’ll definitely do my best not to do anything too dumb," he said cautiously. "But honestly, I can’t guarantee I won’t take some risks to keep you all safe. It’s just part of who I am."

Sera closed her eyes briefly. "I was afraid you’d say something like that."

"Is that bad?" Jin asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"It’s..." Sera struggled with her emotions, her tsundere nature warring with her growing feelings. "It’s infuriating. And reckless. And completely idiotic."

Jin’s face fell. "Oh."

"And..." Sera’s voice got very quiet. "And it’s one of the reasons why I... why we can’t afford to lose you."

"Really?" Jin’s face lit up like she’d given him the greatest gift in the world.

"Don’t let it go to your head," Sera said quickly, her cheeks burning. "I just meant that tactically speaking—"

"Hey, lovebirds!" Rosa’s voice carried from across the room as she took a peek at them, saving Sera from having to finish that sentence. "Stop making googly eyes at each other and come look at this!"

"We are NOT making googly eyes!" Sera shouted back, her face now completely red. "And mind your own business!"

Rosa’s laughter echoed through the lounge. "Sure you’re not! That’s why you’re both blushing!"

"I am not blushing!" Sera protested.

"You’re kinda blushing," Jin said helpfully.

"Shut up!" Sera snapped, but there was no real anger in.

Jin stood up, still smiling. "Thanks for talking with me, Sera. I feel a lot better now."

Sera touched her still-warm cheeks and muttered, "Stupid..."

Both Jin and Sera turned to see Rosa emerging from the weapons storage area, her arms full of equipment that definitely hadn’t been there before.

Jin approached the table, eyes widening at the array of equipment. There were tactical vests, modified weapons, compact tools, and what looked like enough gear to outfit a small military unit.

"How did you even find this?" Sera asked, examining a sleek tactical scope.

Rosa grinned and performed an exaggerated bow. "Well, you see, I was practicing my combat acrobatics. You know, in case we need emergency evasive maneuvers tomorrow."

She demonstrated a small flip, landing with a theatrical flourish. "I figured if Jin can charge headfirst into danger, the least I can do is dodge in style while shooting at stuff."

"Rosa," Sera said with a chuckle, "you didn’t actually stumble upon a stash of weapons while doing gymnastics, did you?

"Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away with my backflip practice," Rosa admitted, scratching her head sheepishly. "I was trying to see if I could do a wall-bounce maneuver—you know, kick off the wall and land in a shooting stance—and instead of looking cool, I kind of... crashed into the wall panel."

She gestured toward the storage area. "There was this really loud THUNK, and then the wall just... opened up. Like I’d found some kind of secret knock, except instead of knocking, I face-planted."

Jin blinked. "You found a hidden weapons stash by accident while doing backflips?"

"Hey, it worked out!" Rosa protested. "And now we’re all better armed for tomorrow’s suicide mission.."

Sera puts her hand on her head, looking defeated.

Rosa picked up a compact tactical pistol, checking its weight and balance with practice ease. "This is military grade. Way better than the standard Vault security weapons."

"You know how to use that?" Jin asked, impressed.

Rosa smirked a bit mischievously. "Dad made sure I could hit a target from fifty yards away by the time I was fourteen. He called it ’crucial training for presidential family security.’" She showed off a quick aiming position, shifting into a stance that seemed pretty expert. "Guess all those dull security briefings taught me a thing or two after all."

Clara emerged from her workspace, drawn by the commotion. Her eyes went wide behind her engineering glasses when she saw the equipment spread across the table.

"W-Where did all this come from?" she asked, approaching cautiously.

"Rosa found a secret stash," Jin explained. "Want to see if there’s anything useful for your technical stuff?"

Clara’s nervousness evaporated as she spotted a collection of advanced diagnostic tools and circuit analyzers. "Oh! These are... these are really high-end components. I could use these to optimize the environmental systems much more precisely."

She grabbed a compact multi-tool that looked like it was buzzing with energy. "Whoa, this is a plasma cutter! I could totally use it to make precise access points, or even..." She paused, clearly lost in a whirlwind of ideas.

"Or even what?" Sera asked.

"Well," Clara said shyly, "if I connected it to the power grid, I could probably turn it into an improvised weapon. Not very big, um.. but it would cut through Crawler hide pretty effectively."

Rosa laughed delightedly. "Our shy little engineer wants to build weapons! I love it!"

"I-I’m not violent!" Clara protested, her face turning red. "I.. I just want to be useful! And..um if that means... adapting tools for defensive purposes..."

"Hey," Jin said gently, "Without you, we’d be sitting in the dark eating expired rations."

Clara’s blush deepened, but she smiled. "T-thank you, Jin."

Sera picked up the tactical scope Rosa had found, examining it with professional interest. "This will interface with my plasma rifle’s targeting system. Could improve accuracy by...a lot."

"We make sure the monster regrets starting trouble," Rosa finished. "Speaking of which..." She tossed Jin a reinforced tactical vest. "This should fit you. It’s not going to stop Crawler claws, but it might keep you from bleeding out if something goes wrong."

Jin held up the vest, looking confused. "How do I put this on?"

"Seriously?" Rosa asked. "You’ve never worn tactical gear?"

"I barely knew how to put on my school tie properly," Jin admitted.

Clara stepped forward. "H-here, let me help." Her hands were gentle but efficient as she helped him into the vest, adjusting straps and checking the fit. "It should be snug but not restrictive. You need to be able to move freely."

Jin couldn’t help but notice how close Clara was while she worked, focusing intently on getting everything just right, with a small crease of worry on her forehead.

"There," she said softly, stepping back. "How does it feel?"

"Good," Jin said, testing his range of motion. "Really good. Thank you."

"Affinity boost detected," Asha observed dryly. "Clara’s protective instincts toward you are registering at notably elevated levels."

"What does that mean?" Jin asked mentally.

"It indicates that her concern for your well-being transcends basic team interactions. Furthermore, your physiological responses significantly increased during her calibration of your gear. Shall I put together an in-depth report on—"

"No," Jin interrupted quickly. "No analysis needed."

Rosa was watching the interaction with obvious amusement. "You two are adorable," she announced. "Like watching baby animals figure out how to be cute."

"R-Rosa!" Clara squeaked, backing away from Jin like she’d been caught doing something inappropriate.

"What? I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking," Rosa said innocently. Then her expression turned more serious. "But really, this gear changes things. We’re not just improvising anymore—we actually have equipment that might keep us alive."

Sera nodded, her tactical mind clearly recalculating their odds. "Better armor, improved weapons, enhanced technical capabilities..." She looked at each of them. "Our survival probability just improved significantly."

Jin looked around at his three companions. "So," he said, "what do we do with the next eleven hours?"

Sera chimed in right away, saying, "Everyone should feel good in their new gear. After that, it’s all about chilling out, grabbing some food, and getting everything ready."

"I-I need to finish the baton modifications," Clara added. "With these new tools, I can make them even more effective."

"And I need to plan my trap placements," Rosa said, examining her new tactical pistol. "With this baby, I can cover more ground and set up better fallback positions."

Jin nodded, feeling the weight of the tactical vest and the responsibility it represented. "Asha, are you ready for this?"

"I’m prepared to provide tactical support, environmental analysis, and sarcastic commentary as needed. Whether that constitutes ’ready’ for a mission is inadvisable is debatable."

"I’ll take that as a yes," Jin said.

---

[QUEST PROGRESS UPDATE]**

□ Rest and Recovery (0/6 hours) - Next Priority

□ Memorize tactical routes with Asha - Ready to begin

□ Equipment familiarization and testing - Enhanced gear acquired

□ Final briefing and team coordination - Pending

Time Remaining: 11 hours, 23 minutes

Team Morale: High

Survival Probability: Recalculating...