This is my chance to make friends, Kai thought.
Quinn was thinking something similar—but for very different reasons.
For Kai, friendship was rare. Almost mythical. In all his memories, there was only one person who'd ever earned that title: Alus.
Quinn, on the other hand, had learned early that people weren't kind by default. At his previous school, kindness had been a currency he never had enough of. Bullying wasn't an incident—it was routine.
Kai's gaze drifted to the glasses sitting crookedly on Quinn's face. A strip of tape clung desperately to the metal frame, doing a terrible job at pretending things were fine.
"What happened to your glasses?" Kai asked. "They look… out of condition."
Quinn paused.
Just for a second.
"Ah—nothing," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, a practiced gesture. "Broke them a few days ago. Guess I was careless."
A small laugh followed. Light. Harmless. Convincing enough.
"I was busy training for DMI's entrance test."
It was a lie.
Or rather—an edited version of the truth.
The glasses hadn't broken by accident. Not really. It was something that happened often. Too often. And Quinn was done pretending it didn't bother him.
Done being shoved. Done lowering his eyes. Done surviving instead of living.
So he chose change.
DMI wasn't just a school—it was a reset button. One he could barely afford.
And affordable didn't mean forgiving.
The test was ruthless. Competitive. Unapologetic.
Quinn had trained harder than he ever had in his life.
The only mercy?
Math being optional.
Kai shifted, smiling awkwardly. "Ha ha… yeah. I get that. So—what about the other two?"
Quinn glanced at his black ID, then looked up.
"Oh. They're already here."
"Wow," a lazy voice cut in. "Glass guy and a… jungle boy? We're already doomed."
Kai turned.
A boy roughly his height strolled toward them, hands buried in his pockets, shirt half-untucked like rules were suggestions. His grin didn't belong in a survival assessment—or anywhere serious.
He tapped his ID without looking at it.
"Player one-ninety. Call me Valen."
(ART here)
Quinn straightened instantly. "I'm Quinn Talen, player one—"
"Yeah, yeah," Valen waved him off. "I can read. Relax. If I needed your résumé, I'd skim it."
Kai frowned. "Why aren't you worried?"
Valen tilted his head, eyes roaming the arena.
"Worried?" He shrugged. "About the beasts? Rankings? Or the dramatic lighting?"
A beat.
"Oh. You mean dying." His grin widened. "I usually pencil that in for later."
Kai felt a bead of metaphorical sweat slide down his temple.
Quinn swallowed. "We should probably discuss strategies. Roles. Positioning."
Before Kai could answer, someone stepped into their space.
She was quiet.
Slim build. Straight posture. Shiny white hair cascading nearly to her waist. Her purple eyes—deep, reflective—held a restrained nervousness. The kind that didn't leak outward.
Her skin was unmarked. Untouched.
(AI art here)
At her side rested a sheath.
'A beast weapon?
No… a bloodcore weapon?'
The thought hit Kai and Quinn at the same time.
Those weren't things you casually owned. They were expensive.
Valen exhaled.
"Nice. Someone here actually looks like they understand what fear is."
He stepped forward. "Let's move—before the lights decide to get creative once again."
Right on cue, their IDs buzzed red.
"Our turn," Quinn said, already walking.
They followed Valen toward the teleportation station, Ren falling in behind them without a word.
It took nearly five minutes to reach the far side of the arena. Squads vanished one after another into the station, swallowed whole.
The chamber itself was massive—white metallic walls, sterile and cold.
But what caught Kai's attention were the floating blue panels lining the walls.
They reminded him uncomfortably of his own trial system.
He forced the thought down. Now wasn't the time.
After ID verification, they stepped onto the platform—a raised slab of metallic black. Their squad name shimmered across its surface.
Squad AO.
"Wow," Valen muttered. "They really committed to the branding."
The edges of the platform glowed.
Then came the sensation.
Their bodies stretched—pulled in every direction at once.
Joints screamed. Stomachs flipped. Thoughts blurred.
Then—release.
Reality snapped back into place.
Kai and Quinn shook their heads, clearing the haze. Ren didn't react at all.
The room was smaller than expected. Fewer squads. Same walls. Same panels. Same oppressive cleanliness.
Valen stepped off first, hands still in his pockets, eyes scanning like a bored reviewer.
"Cozy," he said. "I was hoping for chandeliers and a red carpet. But hey—ambience is ambience."
After allotment, they boarded an escalator and selected the tenth floor.
"The highest floor," Quinn noted quietly.
Four identical rooms awaited them.
Efficient. Cold. No choices required.
"We'll meet in the dining area in thirty minutes," Ren said at last, already opening her door. "We'll plan then."
She disappeared inside.
Valen smirked.
"And here I thought she was mute."
He turned and headed into his room.
Once the door closed, Kai looked around.
It was small, barely enough space to move freely, but clean. A single bed sat against the wall, layered with blankets far softer than he expected.
Cool air hummed softly from the AC overhead, keeping the room at a steady, comfortable temperature.
There wasn't much else—just a narrow locker and a desk bolted to the floor. A compact bathroom was attached to the side, separated by a frosted sliding door.
With nothing else to kill time, he decided to shower.
"Damn… this is relaxing."
He sank into the bathtub, foam rising around him.
His eyes drifted to the shampoo bottle.
"Looks expensive."
The comfort nearly made him forget about the meeting.
"Wait—what? Twenty-eight minutes already?"
He jumped out, rinsed off quickly, and toweled himself dry.
Opening the wooden almirah, he found rows of identical uniforms, each stamped with D.M.I across the back.
He pulled one out.
It was a dark-blue combat uniform—lighter at the chest, heavier along the limbs, threaded with faint cyan glow-nodes. The boots and lower trousers were a deeper shade, giving it a solid, battle-ready feel.
He slipped it on, grabbed his ID card, and opened the map. Just as he turned to leave, he paused.
Quinn was still inside his room,
Kai let out a quiet breath. At least I'm not alone.
He knocked.
"Just a second!" Quinn replied immediately.
A few moments later, Quinn stepped out, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.
"Sorry. I made you late."
"No, it's fine," Kai said. "Let's go. They're waiting."
The dining area was in the basement, so they took the escalator down.
"Oh? Two owls in our squad," Valen remarked with a grin.
Ren didn't react—she was too focused on whatever she was reading on her ID.
They took their seats, deliberately ignoring the annoying comments from the crazy boy.
"So, what's the strategy?" Quinn asked, leaning forward.
"Do you think strategies grow on trees?" Valen scoffed.
Quinn sighed, feeling oddly comforted by the insult.
Kai's shoulders shook slightly. He covered his mouth just in time.
Fortunately, Quinn didn't notice.
"Alright. I've gone through all the rules," Ren finally spoke. "I'll explain them. Interrupt me if you have any questions."
She placed her silver ID card at the center of the white metallic table and activated hologram mode.
'A silver card…'
Both Kai and Quinn noticed it instantly.
"You should read the ranking and point system yourselves," Ren said as she opened the rules tab.
Quinn adjusted his glasses and leaned in again.
< Ranking System
1–10 : S Rank
11–30 : A Rank
31–50 : B Rank
51–70 : C Rank
71–90 : D Rank >
"Ninety?" Quinn muttered, pointing. "These are squad ranks, right?"
"Yes," Ren nodded. "Top ten squads receive S-rank. Individual ranks are calculated separately, based on how many points each member contributes. That way, no one can coast on others' work."
"Haaaah…" Valen yawned. "This is boring. I'm sleeping."
He dropped his head onto the table, arms folded as a pillow.
The others frowned but said nothing. None of them wanted to deal with him.
Ren swiped her card again.
< Point System
Basic-tier crystal: 2 points
Intermediate-tier crystal: 10 points >
"What about advanced-tier?" Quinn asked.
"I don't think they expect any of us to beat one," Kai said, glancing at Ren. "Or if we do… the game's basically over."
Ren nodded. "Exactly. If they revealed the points for advanced-tier crystals—probably a hundred or more—squads would rush them and get wiped out."
"What if they're lying?" Quinn said. "What if advanced-tier beasts don't even exist? Why send students into something this dangerous?"
"It's possible," Kai agreed. "We can't rule it out."
"But we shouldn't rely on that," Ren said calmly. "Assuming safety is how people die."
They both nodded.
Ren switched slides again.
"There's an additional rule."
She paused.
"Extra points are awarded per kill for squads with unawakened members."
"Oh, that's fair," Quinn smiled.
"It's not," Kai said flatly.
Quinn blinked. So did Ren.
"You don't see it yet," Kai said, eyes narrowing slightly. "That rule discourages awakenings. Why helping someone awake while keeping them weak is more rewarding."
"No," Ren said, shaking her head. "If a team has more awakened members, they can farm crystals faster anyway. This rule just balances that out."
Kai didn't answer immediately.
"That would be true," he said slowly, "if farming speed was the only thing that mattered."
He tapped the table once.
"But this rule doesn't reward speed. It rewards composition."
Ren frowned slightly.
"A squad with strong soulmarks and unawakened members gets the best of both worlds," Kai continued. "They clear areas safely, then let the weaker ones finish kills for bonus points."
Quinn's expression shifted. "So the unawakened become… leverage."
"Exactly," Kai said. "they will be treated like a multiplier rather than a teammate."
"Let's hope there will be rules to balance things out." Quinn added.