The Butterfly Crosses the Sea
The opening match delivered a result that defied all expectations.
[3!! 2!! 1!!! The match— is now begiiiiiiinning!!!]
In their very first game as a newly formed team, Diafle Monarch’s Pacifism stood on the verge of their inaugural victory. They faced Team ORASTY, long considered the weakest among RCLK’s powerhouses. The once-mighty ORS_Kicker now risked becoming the sacrificial lamb for a rookie squad’s first win. For ORS_Kicker, avoiding the humiliation of an opening-match defeat was non-negotiable.
“It’s a clash of shields, but you can still swing one like a club, you know?”
“Pacifism looks surprisingly sleek and sharp.”
“Despite the name, its power is no joke! There’s no such thing as powerless peace!”
The two flippers tested each other, edge against edge. One wrong move and it was an instant flip. In the first contact, ORS_Kicker slipped underneath.
“Kicker dives in from below!! But it can’t quite get the throw!!”
This time Pacifism took the lower position.
“Now Pacifism digs in from underneath!!”
“Perfect throw!!! ORS Kicker spins once in the air before crashing down!!”
ORS_Kicker tumbled several times mid-air before slamming into the arena floor. The trajectory looked like a baseball pitch caught in extreme slow motion.
“It just hurled the Kicker away!! Shields can hit too, after all!!”
ORS_Kicker’s counterattack sent Pacifism soaring high before it traced a graceful arc back down.
“Is ORS Kicker going to throw the moment it lands?!!”
The Kicker moved to the predicted landing spot, hoping to fling its opponent again immediately for maximum damage—like a ball bouncing off the floor and rebounding. But the timing was slightly off.
“It missed!!! ORS Kicker has already used half its flips!!”
Because the prediction was just a hair off, the throw failed to connect properly.
“A Kicker can only use its flipper up to eight times per match.”
“On the other hand, Pacifism uses a linear motor, so it has unlimited flips!”
> ORS_Kicker’s flipper operates on a pneumatic circuit using compressed air. In reality, low-reactivity gases like carbon dioxide or nitrogen are used. For simplicity, we call it “compressed air.” Because it’s a gas, overcharging can cause physical rupture. Usable flips are therefore severely limited.
> In contrast, Pacifism’s flipper uses a linear motor. Since the fundamental mechanism is the same as its drive system, it can be used indefinitely as long as the battery holds out.
With a flawless entry, Pacifism hurled ORS_Kicker straight into the arena wall. It looked like a basketball player smashing a powerful three-pointer against the backboard.
“It didn’t go out of bounds, but it’s already stopped! What does that mean?!!”
10! 9! 8! 7!! 6!!! 5!!! 4!!! 3!!! 2!!! 1!!!
ORS KICKER KO!
PACIFISM WINS!!!!
“Match over!! Three to—!!! Zero!!!!”
“In their very first match as a team, they faced the traditional powerhouse ORS.”
“Everyone predicted an overwhelming 7-to-3 defeat.”
“Yet they found a path to victory no one else could see.”
“Diafle Monarch achieves their first win in their debut match!!”
“This butterfly just might cross the sea after all!!!”
Surprisingly, many species of butterflies migrate across oceans.
The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of them.
It is the namesake of the Diafle Monarch team and even symbolizes butterflies themselves in the United States.
Somehow a “Monarch” representing the republican symbol of America feels strangely fitting.
“Ah… so it’s still the weakest of the strong this year too…”
The Suwon Art&Fight Stadium, which had been roaring with the cheers of nine hundred ORS fans, fell deathly silent the moment Diafle’s overwhelming victory was confirmed. It was as if the twenty-four-hundred-seat venue had instantly transformed into a library.
Kang Cheong-hyeon, pilot of Neptune, gave a winner’s interview. If you cut straight to the highlight:
Joo Si-ah, pilot of ORS_Hound, gave a loser’s interview. The highlight was equally memorable:
From the very first game of the season, the result had shattered all predictions.
ORS | 0 | XXX | : | OOO | 3 | DFL
SET 1 — ORS_Blade — LOSS — 0:43 KO — WIN — V-Killer
SET 2 — ORS_Hound — LOSS — 1:13 Out-of-Bounds — WIN — Neptune
SET 3 — ORS_Kicker — LOSS — 1:47 KO — WIN — Pacifism
Team ORASTY, known in RCLK as “the weakest of the strong,” had been crushed 3-0 by Diafle Monarch in the opening match. The 73-to-27 prediction of total dominance lay in shattered pieces. It looked like a rookie team’s storm might swell into a super typhoon—at least based on this single game. Still, it was only the first match of the season. It was too early to draw firm conclusions.
Director Chae Ju-myeong was celebrating the victory together with the players.
“It looks like we can definitely achieve our first goal this season.”
Diafle Monarch’s first objective: escape last place. Judging by today’s performance, it seemed entirely possible.
“Even though ORS is called the weakest of the strong in RCLK, they’re still a strong team, Coach.”
“You’re talking about the league’s definition, right?”
“That’s right, Naru. In terms of global power, they’re way past that level.”
└ Narrow: Last team to barely make playoffs
└ Broad: Teams just above or just missing the playoff cutoff
└ Narrow: World Power Ranking #32
└ Broad: World Power Ranking 30–34
The exact threshold for “strongest of the weak” varies slightly by league, but the six major leagues are roughly aligned. The global standard has gradually shifted over time, following the growth of the IRCA World Endfight Championship (commonly called “Ends”).
12 teams (2009–2013) → 16 teams (2014–2020) → 24 teams (2020–2022) → 32 teams (2023–present).
The benchmark has lowered in proportion to the number of teams reaching the finals. In the six major leagues, the first definition easily surpasses the second. Teams that qualify under the global standard receive vastly different treatment depending on whether they’re in a major or minor league. A major-league team at that level can only dream of reaching Ends. Most finish mid-to-lower tier. Even with incredible luck, making the playoffs as the final seed is their ceiling, and without further miracles they are eliminated almost instantly. Minor-league teams at that level, however, can reach Ends fairly regularly—provided they are the absolute best in their minor league.
As Moon Naru was about to head back to the team bus, someone called out to her. It was a female college student who had come to the arena with her boyfriend but had just become a Diafle fan.
“Excuse me, are you Moon Naru? The one who looks like a wildcat?”
“Huh?”
(I really do look like a wildcat, don’t I…)
“I totally fell for how tough you were in the first set!! Could you sign my phone case?”
(What should I even sign…)
Naru, who had rarely had the chance to give autographs before, improvised on the spot.
(Okay, wildcat plus Moon!!)
She drew a signature that combined her surname “Moon” with a wildcat silhouette.
“Wow!!! Oppa!! I got an autograph!!!!”
The college girl happily ran off toward home.
(She’s dating that guy? I’m kinda jealous…)
Whether as a boy or as a girl, Moon Naru remained a natural-born solo.
On the team bus heading back to headquarters, Moon Naru and Lee Cheong-bi chatted away.
“So that girl also thinks you look like a wildcat, Naru?”
“What about you, Cheong-bi? A cheetah?”
“How about a Ragdoll?”
“Yeah, just looking at the face, definitely a Ragdoll.”
(Ragdolls are big while Cheong-bi is tiny, but their faces are pretty similar.)
Ragdolls are one of the larger cat breeds. Lee Cheong-bi, at 154 cm, was the shortest pilot in all of RCLK.
(Naru’s a wildcat, Cheong-bi’s a cat. They don’t look alike at all, yet they ended up with similar animals.)
“Cheong-hyeon unnie, why was your face so red while you were fighting?”
“Because our uniform is way too cute for someone like me.”
“What’s wrong with our uniform?”
“You’re an adorable little Ragdoll so you wouldn’t notice, but unnie here has a pretty fierce face.”
“I wore it just fine, Senior Cheong-hyeon. Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, Jae-hyeon, you’re actually handsome, so it suits you.”
When they returned to headquarters and checked the robots, their condition was surprisingly good. It made sense; the three matches had totaled only three minutes and forty-three seconds of one-sided domination.
V-Killer had only a few moderately sized scratches.
“It’s amazing. Even after facing ORS Blade, it still looks this clean.”
“Unnie… I’m surprised too. I didn’t realize this kid was tough enough for the pro stage.”
“When I fought it, the drum got crushed and nearly ripped out entirely.”
Kang Cheong-hyeon’s Neptune looked fairly clean on top, but the lower armor was badly dented.
“Your robot held up pretty well too, unnie? It got pretty smashed, though.”
“It took more damage than yours. The drum is so heavy that the armor has to be thinner.”
Vertical spinning drums are among the heaviest weapons in combat robotics. That weight penalty means less mass available for armor. No matter how much slope you add, if the base armor is thin, the limit is obvious.
Jang Jae-hyeon’s Pacifism had finished the match in nearly perfect condition.
“Even though it was defender versus defender, can it really come out this unscathed?”
“Right…?”
“Our next opponent is Se-yeong’s Volcanoes. Since the current Se-yeong team is weak, we should win easily.”
Director Chae Ju-myeong warned them not to let their guard down just because the next opponent was weak.
“Kids, even weak teams can land a lucky shot, so stay sharp.”