Passepartout
Shin Sua sensed her defeat.
The key's tip hurtled toward her with enough force to shatter her heart. She tried to block it with her twin swords, but her body wouldn't obey. It was because she'd been staring into the eyes of the ancestor spirit that had been disguised as Kim Taeyang just moments before.
She'd fallen victim to sleep paralysis.
It was an ability that required sustained eye contact for a set duration, which made it less reliable than even a poltergeist—but she'd realized too late that her opponent was an ancestor spirit, and she'd gotten caught.
Why hadn't she noticed the ambush from behind? Hiding one's presence was one thing, but a Shangju in combat constantly leaked spirit power. Yet Kim Taeyang had approached without a trace of presence or even a hint of leaking spirit energy.
She couldn't even guess what method he'd used. With her trusted folding screen defense breached, there was no chance for a reversal.
I can't end like this. I have to dodge.
The oncoming blade tip left no room for such thoughts.
-Screeeeech!
Terror clouded her mind in a haze. Having forgotten about the artificial family heirloom that could nullify fatal wounds, Shin Sua was now experiencing the raw sensation humans felt when facing death.
In a world stripped of smells and sounds, time dragged on suffocatingly slow. This hyper-focus in her final moments was her consciousness desperately struggling for just a bit more time.
The key's body overlaid on the blade, its teeth's uneven heights etched clearly into her vision. Shin Sua's eyes followed the crude yet beautiful form—until she finally gave up resisting.
She hadn't prepared herself for defeat. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and pray the pain and humiliation would pass quickly.
"······."
But no matter how long she waited, no pain pierced her chest.
She cracked one eye open. Kim Taeyang's body had come to a complete halt. His sword hovered less than 10 cm from her chest. If her frame had been even slightly larger, she wouldn't have escaped unscathed.
-Thud!
The next instant, before she could react, Kim Taeyang's body—its eyes losing focus—crumpled limply to the ground.
"Huh?"
Shin Sua instinctively dropped to one knee and caught his falling form.
"······."
Silence blanketed the arena. The spectators held their breath, stunned by the unexpected outcome.
-Flutter!
The only sound was the wingbeats of drone cameras disguised as tropical birds with iridescent feathers, ascending toward the ceiling.
"···Time limit expired. Winner: Shin Sua."
Only after a long pause did Jang Han-nam's grudging voice echo from the speakers, declaring the match's end. But Shin Sua's expression was far from satisfied.
* * *
I opened my eyes to find myself in a tent. Probably a makeshift infirmary inside the second training ground. Lying on what resembled an army cot used by officers, I could guess what had happened.
<Oh. You're awake?>
Turning my head right, I saw Gemma savoring an ion drink.
"Kill me already, would ya?"
<Pfft! Knew it from the moment you struck that shitty pose.>
"Cut the crap and pull the knife already."
<Don't talk nonsense. I haven't even seen 30 seconds of you trying to die from embarrassment in afternoon class.>
I ignored Gemma's mockery and checked the time on my smartphone. I'd been out cold for about 15 minutes since the duel ended. Must be break time between third and fourth period.
"Where's Ms. Je-in?"
<That woman? She just—>
"Got badly hurt?!"
Artificial heirlooms block fatal wounds but not lesser injuries. I needed U Hyo-chung's abilities for club recruitment week next week—if she'd broken something and ended up hospitalized—
<Nah, the kid tripped over a branch and headbutted her duel opponent's face during first aid. She ran off to treat her.>
If U Hyo-chung was the perpetrator, no problem. Lucky bastard lives up to the name.
As I chuckled, Gemma sighed pityingly, shuffled over, squatted in front of the bed to meet my eyes, and kept poking my forehead with her index finger, smirking the whole time.
<What're you grinning about? You passed out after winning.>
"How was I supposed to know?"
Recalling every step I'd planned to beat Shin Sua, I sighed involuntarily. It had been a stretch, but who knew my spirit power would run dry at that exact moment?
My Spirit Lord Transformation, Passepartout, lived up to its name—as a key, it could open or lock anything.
I'd used it handily twice against Shin Sua.
The trick to fooling her was simple. I used Passepartout on myself to seal all my acupoints, temporarily halting spirit power leakage, then pretended to trip in panic. Right at the moment her stray dog burst through the bushes.
After that, it was easy. Gemma activated her disguise to impersonate me, stood up, and fled. The dogs chased "me" for a full five minutes.
That let me circle around from the opposite direction and sneak up behind Shin Sua.
Success so far meant victory was in sight. I hid in the bushes as planned, waiting for Gemma to catch Shin Sua's eye and trigger sleep paralysis, then charged.
As expected, Shin Sua couldn't react in time. Her folding screen moved on autopilot to protect her, but before Passepartout—which forcibly "unlocked" all obstacles—it was useless.
"Haa. Drives me nuts."
I could've won with one more second. Distance from the ancestor spirit spiked the spirit power drain to maintain the transformation, and I blacked out right before landing the decisive blow.
<What was it you said? 10% chance of losing?>
"I hit the jackpot on that 10%. Pretty impressive, right?"
<Always got a mouth on you.>
Gemma ruffled my hair messily.
<Anyway, how're you gonna face that kid now? Strutting like you'd won, then flop.>
Yeah. That's how you fall for cheap tricks, huh?
Gemma, using disguise to look exactly like me in an instant, struck a stabbing pose and said it.
"Don't copy me."
I sat up, snatched the staff from her hand.
Process aside, I'd lost fair and square, so I'd eat the embarrassment. What choice did I have?
Still, confirming my skills could compete with Shin Sua—a transfer admittee and one of the protagonists—satisfied me.
"···Knowing Shin Sua's personality, she'll bitch about this duel result for a while."
No. Truth was, imagining her strutting around pissed me off more.
"What'd you say?"
Muttering to myself as I left the infirmary, I locked eyes with Shin Sua.
"Uh···Nothing?"
This was our first real exchange since a few words before the duel started.
"Hmm···."
Shin Sua hesitated, like she had something to say. What was she planning? Bragging about her win?
Hands behind her back, she balanced on one tiptoe, twirling her ankle like some army buddy asking for a guarantee. Looking around, I saw other Class A students who'd come down for break watching us—Gong In-myeong, Seol Romi, U Hyo-chung, and Mun Hee-jeong from our group among them.
I could guess Shin Sua's angle. How harsh was she planning to get that she was agonizing like that? Maximum humiliation for me, while managing her image with onlookers.
If so, better strike first.
"If I'd slept a bit more last night, I'd have won. Whatever—conditioning's part of skill. I'll take the L."
I swept back my hair with an awkward grin, but her face soured. Not satisfied even after I bowed that low?
As I pondered slipping away slowly, she spoke.
"One more round."
Figures. No way she'd pass up smashing my morale...
Huh?
"Say that again?"
Army speech slipped out in shock.
"Rematch! We'll call it a draw today!"
She bit her lip hard. Fists clenched, trembling with barely contained rage.
"No, seriously, I didn't catch that. Say it again—"
"Enough! You win this time! Happy?!"
Shin Sua yelled, voice cracking with tears. Her tiny frame chirping like a chick—it was so cute I chuckled unwittingly.
"Go die!!"
-Whack!
"Ow!"
She kicked my shin hard and bolted from the scene at full speed. Where she'd stood lingered big teardrop stains and a new shampoo scent.
Turning back, I saw her far off, raising both hands in a gesture toward me. Sibling sign language, right?
<···Bro. Classic tanned blond delinquent move. How many days since you met, and you're already making a girl cry.>
"Shut it."
I flicked Gemma's forehead, then headed to the stands, where I met Gong In-myeong's eyes. He nodded solemnly at me, like we shared the same plight. You've suffered too. His face said.
No···it wasn't an intentional throw like yours.
"What, bro? Since when you and Shin Sua been flirting?"
As I relayed her gesture to Gong In-myeong, U Hyo-chung barged in cluelessly with nonsense. Maybe I should buy those noise-canceling headphones he always wears.
Mun Hee-jeong, leaning against the wall, eyed us pitifully. No clue why, but she was getting lumped in with U Hyo-chung. I'd ambushed and still got her to admit defeat—deserved better treatment.
"Anyway, how'd you pull it off? Landing a hit on that Shin Sua. Her face when the screen broke? Priceless."
Uh···not from U Hyo-chung, anyone else.
<Ahem, mic test. Kim Taeyang, report to the teacher lounge on the fifth floor of the second training ground immediately.>
As if answering my wish, Jeong Da-un's voice came over the speakers.
Here it comes.
"Be right back."
The students' stares—stunned by the sudden teacher summons—held no more contempt.
* * *
One minute later, I sat facing three teachers on the dome's fifth floor: grade chair Jeong Da-un, Class A homeroom Jang Han-nam, and health teacher Baek Je-in, who'd finished aiding another student and come to check on me.
Jeong Da-un smiled, while Baek Je-in looked uneasy. Odd vibe, but I could guess why they'd called me.
This interpersonal training wasn't about scoring wins or losses from the start. The goal was to gauge students' Spirit Lord Transformations early and match them with suitable instructors.
Passepartout was a special ability defying standard classification. A conceptual manipulation Spirit Lord Transformation—one that appeared in only two or three cadets per year at Argo. For Jeong Da-un, who made teaching the oddballs his life's work, I'd be tempting bait.
Cozying up to him wasn't a bad move. My Argo life could change drastically based on this chat.
"No need to tense up. Not planning any tough questions."
Jeong Da-un spoke first. Jang Han-nam sat stone-faced, silent—probably pre-briefed.
"The ancestor spirit you're contracted to now isn't the one from the entrance exam."
The expected question. I gave my prepared answer.
"As you know, I'm an orphan. Bought a genealogy and contracted an ancestor spirit from it."
"And?"
"One genealogy has multiple ancestors. After the exam, I just contracted a better match."
Gemma materialized beside me, nodding brightly. Extra: petting my head or rubbing cheeks like a doting elder. Sure, fool the teachers, but no need for method acting like a real great-aunt—I'll tell her later.
"I see. Next question, then···."
Jeong Da-un proceeded cautiously.
"It's only been months since the entrance exam. How'd you develop a new Spirit Lord Transformation so quickly?"
At his second question, I realized why Baek Je-in was here. Spirit Lord Transformations required long communion and soul resonance with the ancestor spirit—barring exceptions.
Checking my condition was an excuse. She was here to confirm her suspicions about me.
One wrong word, and she'd peg me as the incense thief who'd shortcut to the transformation. Couldn't let that happen.
"Nothing special. It's true I mastered it in months—"
Hiding my tension, I spun another "exceptional circumstance"—not the incense cheat—in a calm tone.