Joining a New Team and Reuniting with Familiar Faces
The stove league articles were everywhere. The headline read: «Kang Cheong-hyeon – Neptune, Contract with RTH Crown Terminated»
“Isn’t she the player Cheong-bi really liked? The one who was basically the face of RTH… why would unnie leave?”
Kang Cheong-hyeon had been with original team RTH Crown since their very first season. Her robot, the vertical drum spinner Neptune, was famous for shredding any opponent in its path. It was like watching an elite chef flipping pancakes with effortless precision. (I used to be a fan too. She’ll probably join a strong team, right?)
How on earth had her contract renewal fallen through?
«Lycodon – Na Sau, Contract with Honeycomb Greenwich Terminated, Returning to RCLK»
“Who’s going to pick up the big-game troller Lycodon? Some weak team going all-in?”
Na Sau’s horizontal blade spinner robot Lycodon boasted a wide attack range, devastating power, and solid mobility. In the regular season, it was easily S-tier. It could go toe-to-toe with top-class machines. Most opponents got sliced apart like a cactus under a surgeon’s scalpel. In the big matches, however, the roles reversed—the opponent became the surgeon, and Lycodon turned into the cactus.
«New RCLK Team: ‘This Airline’ That Flies Across the Entire Continent Announces Franchise Launch»
“Looks pretty decent…”
Reading the full article revealed it was Space Airlines. The third-largest carrier under Korean International Airlines and Wizard Air.
“Space Airlines…? There’s no way they fly to every continent… oh!”
The “entire continent” referred to Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, and Oceania. In extremely simplified terms, just flying to those three regions would be enough to satisfy them. Tokyo (Afro-Eurasia), New York (Americas), Sydney (Oceania).
Then a message arrived on Naru’s SNS account. The sender’s handle?
“What the…? Scouted as a target player?!?!”
@diafle_monarch_2024: Greetings. We are Diafle Monarch, the new pillar of RCLK, the butterfly that crosses oceans. You have been selected as a scouting target for our club. Please review the attached contract and decide whether to join.
@moonlightsaber: No additional testing required?
@diafle_monarch_2024: Your performance at the national tournament was verification enough.
@diafle_monarch_2024: Neptune–Kang Cheong-hyeon and Lycodon–Na Sau have already signed as well.
@moonlightsaber: Lycodon? That robot infamous for choking in big matches?
@diafle_monarch_2024: Right now our first goal is simply to reach the big matches. Whether we’re strong or weak in them comes after that.
@moonlightsaber: Starting in the second team?
@diafle_monarch_2024: No, you’ll start in the first team. We plan to inherit an existing second team later. We still need to observe more.
Using an AI chatbot as her agent, Moon Naru negotiated the contract and signed it with a heavily protected electronic signature.
@moonlightsaber: Let’s go with this contract.
@diafle_monarch_2024: Thank you. See you tomorrow at the Wangsimni Battle Center. We’ll bring your robot. If you’re curious, we can show you the transport footage too.
V-Killer was loaded onto Diafle Monarch’s truck and sent to the Wangsimni Battle Center. Naru took the subway to Sangwangsimni Station.
(So it’s being transported right now. They packed it up nicely…)
[This stop is Sangwangsimni, Sangwangsimni. The doors are on your right.]
[The heart of Korean battle robotics, Wangsimni Battle Center.]
[Passengers heading to Wangsimni Battle Center, please exit through Exit 4 at Sangwangsimni Station.]
Sangwangsimni Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 used to be a quiet stop. At least by Line 2 standards. That changed dramatically in 2022 when the Wangsimni Battle Center opened. The venue wasn’t just for battle robot matches—it also hosted medium and small-scale concerts. As a result, it became one of the busier stations on the line. These days it ranks comfortably inside the top fifteen on the main Line 2 route.
(I’ve only been to the stands a few times… never managed to go often.)
Since 2022, RCLK’s popularity had skyrocketed. The 7,000-seat Wangsimni Battle Center sold out regularly.
Naru had come to meet the other players. From a distance, a familiar face caught her eye.
“Hey, Cheong-bi! You joined here too!”
“Naru! We’re debuting as pros on the same team?”
“How’d you get the contract?”
“They slid into my DMs right after the match~!”
“What did it say?”
“Verification complete, Senior Cheong-hyeon and Senior Sau are coming too. Stuff like that~!”
“You two must be best friends, huh?”
The voice calling out to Naru and Cheong-bi had the sharp tone of a neighborhood big sister, yet the actual wording carried the warm affection of a caring older relative.
“Senior Kang Cheong-hyeon? You left RTH—why come to this team?”
“I’ve earned enough money. After leaving RTH I wanted to try something adventurous.”
RTH Crown is a team in the Korean professional battle robot league RCLK. After struggling in the first half of 2020 through the first half of 2021, they rebuilt into a powerhouse. In the 2022 season they reached the semifinals, and in 2023 they achieved RCLK’s first-ever trip to the finals.
“Anyway, just call me ‘Cheong-hyeon unnie’ comfortably.”
“Unnie, aren’t you basically an aunt to these kids? There’s an eleven-year age gap.”
“Sau-ya, what’s eleven years between us to call someone an aunt? You need to help me guide these two~!”
“Why did you come here, Senior Na Sau?”
“Yeah, unnie… I mean, Senior, why leave the prestigious Honeycomb?”
“Call me ‘Sau unnie’ comfortably. The current state of Honeycomb is… not great.”
“You mean Honeycomb Greenwich, right?”
(Honeycomb, Honeycomb… it sounds like an idol agency.)
“Of course. The entertainment company Honeycomb is in pretty rough shape too.”
“Sau-ya, that’s our brothers’ agency. If anyone’s going to badmouth it, it should be me, right?”
“Weren’t you the older one, unnie?”
“GTS debuted ages ago. How could I possibly be the younger sister?”
Honeycomb Greenwich / HGW. A prestigious team in America’s NARC professional battle robot league. Once known as the “Empresses Without Titles,” but since 2022 even that nickname had become embarrassing. The original team name was GreenWitch Robotics / GWR. Honeycomb, the entertainment agency, became the naming sponsor in 2022. “A global corporation has become our sponsor.” That was the story of the Greenwich club during the 2021 stove league. It was only natural for the agency behind the world-famous idol group Steel Boys / GTS to be global. The problem was they lacked even the capital of a mid-tier tech company under a big-tech umbrella.
“Where are the other players? Are only you unnies here right now?”
“It’s still stove league season. We’ll sign more. Want to head to the team headquarters?”
“Where is it?”
“Sejong City. You know RCLK introduced home territories this year, right?”
“Ours is Daejeon. So the headquarters is in nearby Sejong City.”
“At least we won’t be releasing swallowtails into Africa.”
● Africa → Sub-Saharan Africa
● Swallowtail (Papilio xuthus) → Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)
The original phrase was “releasing Old World swallowtails into sub-Saharan Africa.” There was an error, but the nuance remains the same. Sub-Saharan Africa, even more underdeveloped than North Korea. It differs greatly from North Africa. One difference is that Old World swallowtails do not inhabit the region. Releasing them there would not bring greater prosperity.
“If it’s Daejeon, it’d be nice for buying bread, so why Sejong City?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because Daejeon is already too crowded?”
“Let’s take the team bus to the headquarters. The facilities are seriously impressive.”
“Kyaa! The bus seats have outlets and tables!!”
“These days that’s basic for pro teams~! We have to be able to design on the move.”
They arrived at the headquarters located in Sejong City.
“KyaAAAAA!! So this is how good a pro headquarters can be!!”
It had robot design facilities, manufacturing facilities, maintenance facilities, and testing facilities—all of them top-notch. Plus comfortable dorms. An incredibly impressive headquarters.
“RCLK has come a long way. This is on par with Honeycomb’s headquarters.”
“Sau-ya, it’s Honeycomb Greenwich! Call your old team’s name properly.”
Kang Cheong-hyeon had been a fan of Steel Boys / GTS since they were a mid-tier idol group. No matter how much she disliked Honeycomb, she apparently hated hearing other people badmouth it even more.
“There’s even a bathhouse in the basement. Want to wash up and try on the uniforms?”
“Y-yes…? Shower together? From our very first meeting?”
“Why? What’s weird about girls showering together?”
“C-Cheong-hyeon unnie, th-that’s…”
“Naru-ya, it feels so refreshing after a good wash~!”
(This is so embarrassing and weird… showering with a player I admired…)
“Naru-ya, why is your face so red? We’re all girls—what’s there to be shy about?”
(I have to be the only one who knows Naru’s secret…)
“I-I have a secret I can’t talk about. Only Cheong-bi and I know it…”
(Come to think of it, I basically showed everything to my year-long male best friend.)
For Moon Naru, even looking at her own transformed body was overwhelming. Seeing the body of Kang Cheong-hyeon—the player she had always admired? It would feel like looking at the private form of a great historical figure from a textbook.