Proof of Qualification
The faces of the four top first- and second-year students watching the duel on the waiting room TV were a mix of joy and sorrow.
The 42nd class, hailed as the generation of kings and showered with every privilege imaginable. Among them, the duo praised as the strongest had fallen to a first-year. This wasn't just a friendly spar. The introductory duel was Argo's most famous annual event, the pinnacle of the world's top Shangju training institution. Even though they'd lost to the runner-up, the fallout was predictable.
Concerns arose that the funding trickle-down effect benefiting the entire second-year class through their star cadets might now change.
Igabi and Xantia might be jokingly called by lofty titles among friends due to their royal bloodlines, but they'd volunteered with a sense of responsibility to represent the 42nd class and secure victory, regardless of status or lineage. It was only natural they'd feel a pang of regret watching Seo Jeon-jeom and Almira fight for utterly selfish reasons and still lose.
"I told you not to get complacent how many times?"
Xantia, arms crossed and legs folded, muttered in disdain. She seemed thoroughly disappointed in her roommate Almira, with whom she shared the second-year dorm room.
"Tonight, I'll give her a proper Turkish oil wrestling beatdown."
Displeased, Xantia slapped her firm thigh with her palm and laughed. Greeks laugh not just when happy, but when angry too. Knowing this well, Igabi tucked his coffee cup into its case and chided her.
"It's my fault for only watching Shin Sua and skimping on intel. Almira fought well, so don't go too hard on her."
The opponent was just too good, Igabi muttered. His face was impassive, but the tension he was hiding was obvious.
Meanwhile, Seol Romi, watching the second-year tops, was revising her assessment of Kim Taeyang upward.
Separate from creating the opportunity to mend things with Mun Hee-jeong or negotiating with Shin Sua to let her perform the Grand Offering at the Spirit Vein—she hadn't expected Kim Taeyang to be this strong.
This was only the second time she'd seen him fight other Shangju properly. Last time in class against Shin Sua, he'd used some weird ability to break her screen defense, but that was it. She'd pegged him as just another Shangju with asymmetric power.
But that was a big mistake. Even accounting for his ancestor spirit's boost from the Grand Offering, Kim Taeyang's growth rate was unbelievable. No way steady rituals alone maxed out his spirit power like that. There had to be some secret.
"What, you tense or something?"
Gong In-myeong asked Seol Romi, lost in thought, with his usual laid-back expression.
"Nah."
At times like this, Seol Romi envied Gong In-myeong's ability to drift through life without a care. Kim Taeyang had shown such versatility against Shin Sua that she wondered if he'd been holding back then. He'd punched holes in Seo Jeon-jeom and Almira's barrage with special-lineage Spirit Lord Transformation and new support armaments. And he'd crushed Seo Jeon-jeom's final move with some bizarre power she'd never seen.
"……."
Shin Sua throwing herself in harm's way to protect Kim Taeyang in that crisis wasn't just emotional impulse. Having trained with him for days, she knew exactly what ability he had that Seol Romi didn't. Shin Sua was emotional, sure, but she calculated pragmatism in key moments. She'd judged that even if she took the hit, Kim Taeyang surviving meant victory.
In that sense, Seol Romi held Shin Sua in high regard.
Since 'that incident,' she'd clawed her way here fueled by rage at her sister's killers and inferiority from losing the chance to surpass her dead sibling. But Shin Sua was different. Shin Sua wisely built her own faction and moved with it. She even had the boldness to win over someone who'd humiliated her if needed.
And the result? That absurd comeback they'd just witnessed.
Seol Romi had always believed solo grit was the only way. But now...
"Was I wrong?"
Witnessing Shin Sua and Kim Taeyang's synergy, a tiny doubt sprouted in Seol Romi's heart. Maybe raw solo power wasn't enough to climb higher.
Seol Romi recalled the day of her Grand Offering at the Spirit Vein. The scent of the handkerchief Kim Taeyang offered her as she drooled in shock came back vividly. Without his help, she'd have lost that precious chance.
And it wasn't just him. If Gong In-myeong, Shin Sua, Kim Yun-ju, and the others hadn't agreed. If Mun Hee-jeong hadn't grabbed her when she tried to back out.
"...Ah."
Then it hit her. Somehow, many people had started extending helping hands without her permission.
Seol Romi repeated it inwardly, reflecting on her accumulated training days. This had never happened before. She didn't know if she should accept straying from her pre-Argo path as shameful compromise or new beginning. Clutching her head, she agonized.
"My head hurts."
Head bowed, she muttered in a voice too small for anyone to hear.
Change was already happening. She'd just realized it too late.
Gulp.
She grabbed the nearby water bottle and poured a swig of cold water into her mouth. Calming emotional turmoil was simple: find something solid and focus.
Seol Romi closed her eyes and looked inward. Amid the tangled feelings, she spotlighted the sharpest one.
It didn't take long to find the answer. She knew the name of the emotion she harbored.
She envied Shin Sua for mingling with others while relentlessly honing her skills. Jealousy boiled at how Shin Sua enjoyed things she'd never had, despite her dogged forward charge, and still chased close behind.
"Hoo."
Realizing the root of her inner demon, Seol Romi shook her head. Envying Shin Sua didn't prove her path was right. Facing a crucial duel, she had no desire to deny her past now.
She and Shin Sua were different people. No need for comparison.
Win this match, and the nagging doubts would scatter.
"Please prepare."
The staffer's voice as the door opened.
"Yes. Coming now."
Crushing the small, irritating tickle in her heart, Seol Romi stood. Her resolute face bore no trace of doubt.
"Fascinating."
In the VIP seats where Argo Foundation board members and key guests gathered, Alexis Zorbas—the founder of this event and chairman overseeing Argo's 42-year history—smiled down at the first-year rep being carried out on a stretcher.
"Yes. A fine duel showcasing Student Shin Sua's potential, I believe."
Was the young businessman nearby trying to curry favor with Alexis and the elderly Goryeo Group execs? He nodded in agreement.
"……."
Alexis returned only a meaningful smile instead of words.
Meanwhile, Vice-Chairwoman Kim Eul-nyeo, watching beside him, perfectly understood the chairman's thoughts. Alexis hadn't taken his eyes off her since earlier. Not promising first-year runner-up Shin Sua, but the unknown orphan Kim Taeyang from nowhere.
"Seems like we had the same talk this time last year, but this year's first-years exceed expectations."
Kim Eul-nyeo's eyes gleamed with anticipation. Confirming she too was focused on Kim Taeyang—not Shin Sua—Alexis nodded happily, pleased their thinking aligned.
"Unbowed before overwhelming foes, wielding wisdom to seize victory. A talent embodying Argo's founding principles."
Alexis's voice brimmed with excitement. To the uninformed, it might sound like empty flattery. But Kim Eul-nyeo grasped the hidden meaning.
"Agreed."
Only possible because she knew of the ancestor-spirit-powered androids secretly manufactured in the Lower Deck.
Argo's founding principles. Fitting talent.
'Argo's founding principles' meant the hidden true purpose of Argo, concealed from the world. The android weapons in development were the means to achieve it, and 'fitting talent' referred to test subjects providing data alongside the weapons.
Prototypes born from Project H, the android combat weapon development. The chairman sought to summon past heroes into the present.
To Alexis, a hero was one with both mighty power and wisdom, used rightly. Kim Taeyang, who thwarted spy Yeom Jin-gwan's 'Round Table' terror plot with other map club students, had proven his qualification again through this duel.
Not the strongest or wisest among first-years, but Kim Eul-nyeo knew no one more suited as a Project H tester.
"Let's contact the participants for a luncheon right after the duel ends. And individual meetings too..."
Alexis nodded at Kim Eul-nyeo's words. His perfect smile, evoking mythic heroes carved in marble, radiated deep satisfaction.
Haa, pushing yourself like that. I knew it'd end up like this.
Gemma sighed deeply, watching Kim Taeyang lie in the stadium first-floor infirmary bed.
The limited-time reversal activated in the stadium healed his injuries, but his depleted spirit power hadn't recovered. The medics had just hooked him to a soul stone-melted supplement pack, but since it wasn't his own spirit power, absorption was slow.
Right, this stuff's crazy expensive...
Gemma playfully shook the IV bag, then yanked her hand away. The doctor earlier said it was hard to make, but super effective. He'd wake in about 20 minutes, but worry gnawed anyway. Worse than the divine sickness on the first day of class.
Well, whatever. You were kinda cool today. I'll admit it.
Gemma sprawled by Kim Taeyang's side for a while, chin on the bed like a cat napping beside its sleeping butler.
Ah, bored.
But soon enough. Seeing him sleep soundly with a happy smile—like sweet dreams—she got annoyed at her needless fussing. If she had magic, she'd doodle all over his face.
Muttering, Gemma sat up. No TV in the infirmary to watch the duel. Shin Sua could've been here for teasing fun, but Goryeo Group staff whisked her away on a stretcher right after. Given her antics, her personal doc was probably waiting outside.
Unable to bear the boredom, Gemma pulled Kim Taeyang's smartphone from his bag and unlocked it.
Yoink.
She fired up the game immediately. A bright smile lit her delicate features seamlessly.
Ding-dong!
Ah, what now.
A poorly timed text soured Gemma's face.
Phishing? Outta nowhere.
What kinda scammer falls for this crap? Muttering, Gemma tapped the 'read' button at the top of the screen.
Time was short till Kim Taeyang woke. No time to block numbers if she wanted attendance rewards and a daily quest done. Max volume on, savoring the cringey voice actress post-login, Gemma dove into the smartphone game packed with beautiful girl illustrations.