Three days into the jungle, the squad started noticing things.

Strange markings on trees that didn't match any known Special Region language. Paths through the undergrowth that were too deliberate to be animal trails but too unusual to be human. Bones of large predators — arranged, not scattered. As if something had killed them and organized the remains.

Lelei was the first to notice the magical residue. Faint traces of an energy signature she had never encountered in any textbook, any archive, any scroll. She told Itami quietly. His hand went to his rifle. Not in fear — in readiness.

Rory noticed something else. She stopped walking, her halberd resting on her shoulder, her crimson eyes narrowing. In 961 years, she had encountered almost every race in the Special Region. She had fought alongside elves, killed demons, spoken with dragons, and served a god.

She had never sensed anything like this before.

"...Interesting," she murmured, her lips curving into a smile that was equal parts curiosity and hunger.

Tuka's elven ears picked up sounds from deeper in the jungle — not animal sounds, not wind, not water. Something else. Something deliberate. Something alive.

Kuribayashi gripped her rifle tighter. Kuwabara found a vantage point and scoped through his sniper rifle. Kurata fumbled for his camera.

Itami raised his hand. The squad stopped.

"Easy," he said calmly. "Whatever it is, we approach carefully. Nobody fires unless I say so."

They pushed through the final wall of vegetation — thick vines, ancient trees, air heavy with moisture and the smell of earth — and entered a clearing.

And there, in the heart of the jungle, surrounded by a life built from solitude and survival...

They found You.