After five days of spending every second I could near the gate, I had gathered a grand total of zero helpful clues as to which story I was in. The gate being black should have given me something to work with since I felt like they were usually drawn as blue, but I couldn’t remember any dungeon stories where the gate was black.

It was also super weird that this was apparently the first gate to appear on Earth (although I’d heard on the news that there were several of these black portals across the country now, and the government was recommending the populace not to approach them). I mean, aren’t the first gates that appear on Earth supposed to suddenly have monsters bursting out of them, trying to destroy things willy-nilly? Not that I wanted monsters to destroy my home city, of course, but I was a little disappointed that I still hadn’t received a notification that we were in a game or that a constellation had chosen me as their hero. 

Heaving a sigh, I looked up at the sky, a little surprised to see a few wispy clouds when usually it was super clear. I heard several surprised yelps in the distance, but when I turned to look at their source, a wave of what I could only describe as clean energy washed over me. I blinked rapidly, pressing my hands against my heart, arms, and legs to make sure that I was all still there. Weirdly enough, I felt great. It was as if I'd just woken up from a power nap and was filled with energy down to a cellular level. I squeezed my little hands into fists, but my attention was soon turned away from my unexpected energy levels by shouts of fear.

The gate, which had previously been rather benign and unobtrusive, was beginning to swell as a multitude of colors began to race from the center of the portal out to its edges. Everyone inside the barricade was tripping over themselves in their haste to back away from the gate that looked like it was about to explode.

Not wasting a second, I tugged my backpack on and quickly took shelter behind a parked car. Peeking from behind my lackluster shelter, I focused on the gate. The center of the swirling portal looked like a shower of colorful stars was shooting from it before suddenly becoming still. I held my breath as a bright white crack formed on the black surface of the gate. One crack splintered into five, and before I could gasp, the gate shattered.

For a moment, all was still as everyone in the vicinity stared at the gaping hole in the air where a grassland that looked like it was in the middle of the worst drought imaginable could be seen. For a few seconds, nothing happened. I was wondering if I should maybe slink away when a sound somewhere between a heavy buzz and rapid thumps caught my ear. I turned back to look at the gate and saw a fuzzy figure begin to move out of the gate and into the California sun.

My heart leaped to my throat as I recognized the shape of what one would typically think of as a hornet with thick wings, a fuzzy body divided into three distinct sections, and six spindly legs. The only minor differences were that its stinger was almost a third the length of its body, and then there was the fact that it was the size of a grown human. Poor choices have been made, I thought to myself as a shudder went through my entire body at the grotesque sight, and I realized how exposed and vulnerable I was. 

Before anyone could grasp the sight of the monster hornet, the black antenna jutting from its forehead reached out as if smelling the air. Then, with the sound of a hundred hummingbirds, it shot through the air and sank its sword-like stinger into the nearest researcher who hadn’t left the confines of the police barrier.

Screams rang out from the people nearby, and the sound of guns being fired punctuated the screams with their deadly blasts. Unfortunately, this story seemed to be following the trope that normal weapons were ineffective against dungeon monsters because the hornet’s exoskeleton barely dented under the force of the bullets peppering it. 

With a heartless yank, the monster hornet extricated its stinger from the dead scientist and flew up to the opening of the gate. It then began buzzing its wings in what kind of sounded like Morse code. After letting out a few rhythmic buzzes, dozens of the giant hornets appeared and flew through the gate into our world.

Chaos reigned as people desperately tried to flee for their lives. I huddled behind a car and watched as the monster hornets chased after anything that moved to either stab them with their stingers or use their creepy, horizontally opening jaws to chomp onto people.

Why did I think it was a good idea to hang around a gate? I scolded myself internally as I tried to figure out what I could do while in an eleven-year-old’s body. If this had been my third life when I was a magic swordswoman, I could have taken out these pests with my eyes closed. Or if I had access to my qi from my fourth life, I could have used dozens of different martial arts techniques to destroy the enemy. But I didn’t have qi, or a sword, or even my trusty taser from my eighth life… so how was I going to survive this?

Instinct honed over 200 years of life kicked in, and when I felt a tingle go down my spine, I didn’t question it. Throwing myself to the side, I yelped as a massive fuzzy figure slammed into the car I'd been hiding behind. The sound of creaking metal rang out as the hornet wiggled its abdomen to try to remove its serrated stinger from the mangled car door.

Having no desire to stick around until it freed itself, I scrambled to my feet and dashed away. The loud thumping buzz of another hornet’s wings came from behind me. I desperately swung my backpack off one shoulder and spun around, using the force of my spin to make the backpack slide into my waiting hand before hurling it with all the strength my little arms could muster.

The hornet pursuing me stabbed toward the projectile, giving me a moment to dive to the side and roll underneath a pickup truck. The horrid screech of metal rending sounded above me, and I army-crawled underneath the violently shaking truck as I tried to formulate a semblance of a plan.

“Last chance to sponsor me, Mr. or Mrs. Constellation!” I called out frantically as I wriggled toward the far end of the truck and desperately searched for somewhere else to hide. “Status window? System? Come on!” I cried out in frustration. 

Suddenly, the truck rocked onto just the wheels next to the sidewalk. The sound of multiple hornets' wings buzzed above me, and I quickly rolled over just before a barbed stinger scraped against the pavement towards me. The truck fell back onto all four wheels, but I knew it wouldn’t be long until the monsters figured out how to tip it over.

Sounds of gunshots rang out again, and I thought I heard a pinging sound as the bullets ricocheted off the hornets. However, one of the monsters suddenly let out a strange guttural squeal. Gathering my courage, I scooted out so I could see better and saw that one of the hornets had dropped to the pavement with one of its gossamer wings peppered with holes. Gnashing its strange jaw/teeth in obvious anger, it turned away from me and headed in the direction I assumed the bullets had come from.

My mind was racing as I tried to decide what my next move was supposed to be. Did I stay low and hope the hornet that was after me didn’t come back? Or should I make a break for a nearby building and try to find some actual shelter? 

Shouldn’t we get more warning of a gate break than just a few minutes?! If I had known the monsters were coming out today I wouldn’t have come! Even as I inwardly shouted at the gate, I knew this was my own stupid fault. I was so focused on figuring out what story I was in, I'd completely ignored the risks of hanging around a gate that no one even knew how to clear. 

I smacked my palms against my cheeks to snap myself out of my unhelpful thoughts and took stock of my situation. This was when I made the unwelcome realization that not only could I smell gas, but a small puddle of the rank liquid was spreading towards me. Oh, that’s good. I can add “burning to death” to my Fatalities Bingo card, I thought darkly to myself. 

Contrary to my morbid humor, though, I really had no desire to experience such an end. So I wriggled out of my hiding spot and quickly tried to figure out where I could go for shelter. What I saw made my heart sink. All of the nearby businesses had their windows smashed, and the monster hornets were pursuing every human in sight.

A familiar tingle went up my spine, and once again I dove forward, narrowly avoiding the stinger of a hornet. With the flexibility of a child’s body, I tucked and rolled myself a few more feet before I popped up to face my enemy. The hornet that was pursuing me was waving its antenna towards me, and I could see its huge compound eyes regarding me without emotion. The narrow waist that connected its thorax and abdomen crinkled, lining up its stinger for another attack. 

Even as I haphazardly threw myself to the side in a desperate dodge, I knew I couldn’t keep this up. The hornet was bigger, faster, and with its annoying compound eyes, it would be able to track my movements almost perfectly.

How exactly am I supposed to survive this?!