The steps of Yan Shuo felt lighter as he walked down the long corridor of the west block dormitory. After an exhausting day—from the energy-draining intercity journey to the incident of being struck by lightning in class—all he wanted was to lie down on a bed. He held the magnetic key in his pocket, searching for room number 402.
The dormitory building was no less magnificent than the classroom earlier. Its walls were covered with dark wooden panels engraved with geometric patterns that occasionally glowed blue. When he reached his door, Yan Shuo pressed his magnetic card against it.
Click.
The door opened automatically, sliding to the side with a soft hiss. Yan Shuo stepped in, but his movement immediately halted. The sharp scent of ozone—the same smell from the class earlier—stabbed his sense of smell.
In the middle of the room that was supposed to be his alone, a man was sitting casually on a polished wooden study chair. The man leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, and his hand was busy spinning a silver coin that moved nimbly between his fingers.
Vat Diante.
"You're five minutes late from the standard return schedule, Dizzy Kid," Vat said without turning. His voice was flat, yet full of threatening emphasis.
Yan Shuo frowned, his fatigue replaced by caution. He observed his room. It was extremely clean. The bed was neatly arranged, the notebooks he had left carelessly were now lined up on the shelf, even the dust on the table seemed to have vanished. In contrast to his rough attitude, Vat seemed to have a strange obsession with order.
"How did you get in here? This is my room," Yan Shuo asked while closing the door behind him.
Vat stopped spinning the coin. He turned, staring at Yan Shuo with his cold black eyes. "In Noxward, privacy is a luxury for those who have power. To me, this door is nothing more than a sheet of paper."
Vat stood up. His movement was graceful yet dangerous, like a predator that had just awakened from its sleep. He walked toward Yan Shuo, closing the distance until Yan Shuo could feel the static heat radiating from his body.
"About earlier in class…" Vat began, his voice lowering. "That disappearing aura. Explain it to me. How can the legendary 'Moon Chess' Stellar awaken in a scrap body like yours, then vanish just like that?"
Yan Shuo stepped back. "I already told you, I don't know. Everything just happened. I didn't even know what Moon Chess was until Instructor Haoran mentioned it."
BZZZT!
In an instant, a blue spark of electricity leaped from Vat's shoulder, striking the edge of Yan Shuo's clothes and leaving a small burn mark.
"Don't lie to me!" Vat snapped. His explosive emotions rose to the surface again. "A Stellar type that manipulates everything like that cannot fall into the hands of someone who doesn't even know how to breathe properly. You must be hiding something. Are you trying to manipulate us? Pretending to be weak so you can stab from behind?"
"I'm not pretending!" Yan Shuo shouted back, his voice rising with frustration. "I was just a factory worker yesterday! I didn't ask for this power, and I don't know how to control it!"
Vat snorted harshly. "Then let's see how far your battle instinct goes."
Without warning, Vat launched a right punch wrapped in lightning. Yan Shuo couldn't fully dodge; he could only tilt his head. The punch grazed his cheek, leaving a burning sensation and making his head spin.
Yan Shuo fell to the side, crashing into the wardrobe. Before he could get up, Vat had already grabbed his collar and slammed him back against the wall.
"Come on! Bring it out!" Vat shouted. "Use your chessboard! Change this room! Do something!"
Yan Shuo tried to hit Vat's hand, but every time his skin touched the man, small electric shocks weakened his muscles. His cheek began to bruise, the corner of his lips split and released a bit of blood. He was truly beaten badly by the elite student.
Vat raised his hand again, ready to release a stronger attack. However, he saw Yan Shuo's eyes. There was no glimmer of Stellar there. Only pain, exhaustion, and bitter honesty.
Vat let out a rough breath, then released his grip. Yan Shuo slumped to the floor, coughing while holding his tight chest.
"Tch. You really are trash right now," Vat muttered while fixing his collar, which wasn't even messy. He walked to the window, looking at the night view of Seroin that was starting to be filled with neon lights.
"Listen to me, Yan Shuo," Vat said without turning. "Tomorrow in field practice, the situation will be very different. The Outer Sector is not a campus playground. There are 'Residues'—creatures that failed to transform into Stellar and became insane energy monsters."
Yan Shuo wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand. "Why are you telling me this?"
Vat turned, showing a terrifying smile. "Because I don't want you to die stupidly being eaten by those monsters. I want you to survive long enough until you can consciously use your power."
He slowly walked toward the exit door, passing Yan Shuo who was still sitting weakly on the floor.
"Remember one thing," Vat stopped right at the doorway. "Tomorrow, I will be the one hunting you first. If you can't awaken Moon Chess to fight me, I will personally make sure your heart stops before sunset. It's better for you to die by my hand than to become fertilizer in the Outer Sector."
Vat opened the door, but before actually stepping out, he glanced at Yan Shuo's neatly arranged bookshelf.
"You have a talent that not just anyone possesses, Yan Shuo. The kind of power that can shake the order of this world," Vat said, his voice sounding deeper. "But… no matter how great the talent is, it won't be useful if the one using it is an idiot who has no will to fight."
Click.
The door closed tightly, leaving Yan Shuo in the silence of his clean room.
Yan Shuo leaned his head against the cold wall, staring at the white ceiling of his room. His head throbbed, and his whole body felt sore, yet Vat's words kept spinning in his mind.
An idiot with no will to fight.
He laughed bitterly. All this time, his life had only been about surviving, not fighting. He was used to lowering his head to avoid being hit, used to apologizing so he wouldn't get fired. But in this world, in Noxward University, lowering his head seemed to be the fastest way to die.
He got up with difficulty, walking toward the mirror in the bathroom in the corner of the room. He looked at his reflection. A young man in a white shirt that was now dirty and torn in several places, a bruised cheek, and eyes that held years of exhaustion.
"Fight, huh?" he whispered to the mirror.
He washed his face with cold water. The pain on his lips throbbed again, but it actually made him feel more aware. He remembered the feeling when those light particles appeared in his darkness earlier that afternoon. A feeling so powerful, as if he held control over every atom around him.
He returned to the main room, looking at the neatly made bed. Vat might be rough and insane, but at least the man gave him a warning. Tomorrow's field practice would not be a simulation. It was a bloody initiation.
Yan Shuo opened his black bag, taking out the thick notebook that Kiro said was useless earlier. He opened it, took a pen, and started writing. Not Haoran's chemical formulas, but his own observations about the light particles within himself.
He had to learn quickly. If he was a "container," then he had to know how to withstand the pressure of the "water" inside it before that container shattered like what the girl named Miora had said.
The night grew deeper in Seroin. In the distance, the roar of aerial vehicles passing by could be heard, and occasionally flashes of light from Noxward's observation towers swept across his room window.
Yan Shuo lay on the bed, staring into the darkness. He tried to meditate as Haoran had suggested. Close your eyes. Feel the flow of blood. Don't search with your eyes, search with your instincts.
In that darkness, the light particles appeared again. Small, distant, yet glowing with a unique monochromatic color—black and white spinning like chess pieces dancing.
This time, Yan Shuo did not rush to reach for it. He simply observed it. Keeping it there.
"Tomorrow," he murmured softly before his consciousness was pulled by overwhelming drowsiness. "Tomorrow, I will show that this idiot can do more than just survive."
Outside the dormitory building, on a branch of a glowing-leaf tree, Haoran stood silently while observing the window of room 402 whose light had just gone out. He smiled faintly, sipping coffee from his paper cup.
"Idiot, huh?" Haoran chuckled softly. "We'll see tomorrow, Vat. Sometimes, it is the idiot who is most capable of destroying the chessboard and creating his own game."
Haoran jumped down, disappearing into the electric night mist of Seroin, leaving the university that was preparing to welcome the bloodiest dawn for the new class of 1H.
The sun of Seroin had just touched the horizon when the warning siren at the main gate of Noxward University roared. Its sound was heavy, splitting the silence of dawn and triggering a surge of adrenaline in the chests of the students of class 1H.
This morning, there were no neat white shirts or polished leather shoes. They all wore dark gray tactical robes with a constellation emblem glowing dimly on the left shoulder—the standard uniform for field practice in the dangerous Outer Sector.
In an open area surrounded by high-voltage barbed wire fences, Haoran stood atop an anti-gravity military truck. He folded his arms across his chest, his sunglasses reflecting the line of students who looked tense yet full of ambition.
"Listen!" Haoran's voice thundered without the help of a loudspeaker. "Today's destination is Sector 7, an area not yet fully cleared of Residue. Your main target: Chimera Shadow, a high-level monster with a Class B threat classification. Pass through terrain obstacles, track the target, and destroy its energy core."
Haoran grinned, giving a chilling pause. "The team that destroys the energy core the fastest will get a two-day break. But for any team that fails or returns empty-handed… be prepared for four times additional practice hours for a full month. Understood?"
"Understood, Instructor!" most students replied, except Yan Shuo who could only swallow hard. His body still ached from Vat's blow last night, and the light particles of Moon Chess inside him still felt as distant as stars in the northern sky.
"Teams have been assigned based on the most 'problematic' Stellar synchronization," Haoran continued while pointing at a holographic list. "Team 4: Vat Diante, Elara, and Yan Shuo."
The world seemed to stop spinning for Yan Shuo. He slowly turned toward his teammates. Vat was leaning his shoulder against a concrete pillar, spinning his silver coin with a gaze that seemed to want to skin Yan Shuo alive. Meanwhile, Elara stood a little farther away, her silver eyes staring blankly toward the concrete jungle ahead. She looked like someone who could fall asleep at any moment, even though a faint cold aura was beginning to seep from her fingers.
"This is a disaster," Yan Shuo muttered.
One hour later, they had been dropped off at the edge of Sector 7. The environment was a labyrinth of ruined skyscrapers overgrown with purple-black vines that pulsed as if they had their own heartbeat. The air here felt heavy, humid, and smelled of copper.
Other teams immediately dashed forward. Miora's and Kiro's team moved in a neat formation, jumping across rooftops with perfect coordination. In contrast, Team 4 struggled just to step into the first obstacle zone.
"Listen, Dizzy Kid," Vat began, stepping closer to Yan Shuo as small sparks of electricity jumped from his shoulder. "I don't care about that two-day break. But I do care if my name gets stained because of a burden like you. Stay behind, don't touch anything, and don't breathe too loudly. Understood?"
"We're a team, Vat!" Yan Shuo shot back, gathering what little courage he had left. "Haoran said this is about synchronization. We won't be able to defeat Chimera Shadow if you keep moving alone!"
"Synchronize with you?" Vat laughed mockingly, his voice echoing between cracked walls. "That's like trying to sync a jet engine with a garbage cart. Elara, let's move!"
Elara did not respond verbally. She stepped forward gracefully, her movements very calm. In her hand, the hilt of a sword without a blade appeared. This was her Stellar: Sword Intent Manifestation. But for now, the blade only formed a few centimeters from distorted air, thin and unstable. Elara was still at an early stage, but the sharp aura she emitted was enough to cut the surrounding vines cleanly without touching them.
The first obstacle was The Gravity Well, a long corridor where gravity shifted randomly every few seconds. There, several Class E Residues resembling metal spiders were already waiting.
"Move!" Vat dashed forward.
Vat showed why he was elite. His lightning manipulation was highly efficient. Instead of wasting energy in large explosions, he focused small but dense currents at his fingertips, firing them precisely at the joints of the metal spiders. Zzt! Zzt! Two monsters collapsed instantly.
"Elara, clean up the rest!" Vat ordered arrogantly.
Elara swung her sword hilt. Invisible sword intent sliced through the air, creating thin white lines that cut the monsters. However, because her power was still weak, she had to strike multiple times to bring down one monster. She quickly grew tired, her breathing becoming slightly uneven.
And Yan Shuo? He could only run behind them, trying to avoid falling debris caused by shifting gravity. When a small spider leaped toward him, Yan Shuo tried to close his eyes, calling for the Moon Chess board in his mind.
Come on… appear… please!
Nothing. Empty. All he felt was his own frightened heartbeat. He was forced to hit the monster with his backpack, sending it flying but not injuring it at all.
"Trash!" Vat shouted while firing a small bolt that destroyed the spider in front of Yan Shuo. "You're only slowing us down! Look at the other teams, they're almost at the sector's center!"
"If you didn't keep yelling at me, maybe I could focus!" Yan Shuo snapped back, his emotions rising.
"Focus? For what? Waiting for a miracle that will never come?" Vat stopped abruptly, causing Yan Shuo to almost crash into him. Vat grabbed Yan Shuo's tactical robe collar. "I worked hard since childhood to control this lightning. Elara honed her sword intent until her hands bled every day. And you? You come with a legendary Stellar but can't even summon a single pawn? You insult us!"
"I didn't ask for any of this!" Yan Shuo shook off Vat's hand. "Do you think I enjoy being an easy target here?"
In the middle of their argument, Elara suddenly raised her hand. "Quiet… it's here."
A low growl that shook the spine echoed from within the fog. Chimera Shadow appeared. The monster was a horrifying fusion of a giant lion, a hissing snake tail, and rotting bat wings. Its energy pressure was so immense that Yan Shuo felt his knees weaken.
"Finally," Vat grinned, though cold sweat ran down his forehead. "Elara, attack its wings with your sword intent. I'll electrify its heart."
"Wait, Vat! That's too risky, it has an energy shield in the front!" Yan Shuo tried to warn them based on his observations from his notebook yesterday about monster anatomy.
"Shut up, Burden! Don't act like you know!" Vat ignored him. He dashed forward, his entire body wrapped in dazzling blue lightning.
Elara tried to keep up, swinging her sword intent repeatedly, trying to cut the Chimera's wing membranes. However, her intent was too weak to pierce the tough hide of the Class B monster. Her attacks only left shallow scratches.
Chimera Shadow roared, whipping its snake tail. Elara was thrown into a building wall. Vat, who tried to strike the heart, was instead hit by a dark energy counterattack from the monster's mouth.
Blar!
Vat was thrown toward Yan Shuo, slamming hard onto the ground. His lightning efficiency collapsed because he was too eager to attack alone.
"Vat! Elara!" Yan Shuo ran toward them.
"Don't… touch me…" Vat coughed, blood seeping from the corner of his lips. The electricity in his body dimmed.
Chimera Shadow walked slowly toward them, its red eyes staring at prey that was now helpless. Team 4 was completely destroyed. Not because the enemy was too strong, but because they were never truly a team.
Yan Shuo stood in front of his injured teammates. He spread his arms, staring at the giant monster with eyes filled with desperation and anger. Inside his chest, he tried to scream into the darkness.
If you really exist in there… Moon Chess… awaken now! Or we'll all die here!
But there was no explosion of light. No chessboard appeared. Yan Shuo remained standing as an ordinary human without a Stellar, challenging death with nothing but reckless courage.
In the distance, through a surveillance camera, Haoran sipped his coffee calmly. "That idiot… he really still can't pour water out of his container. But at least he didn't run."
In Sector 7, the shadow of Chimera Shadow swallowed Yan Shuo's body. The monster raised its massive claw, ready to deliver the final blow. Yan Shuo closed his eyes, waiting for the pain that would end his life as a miserable factory worker.
"Burden…" Vat whispered with his remaining strength, staring at Yan Shuo's trembling yet unmoving back.
Silence. Death was only one inch away from Yan Shuo's forehead. Other teams might already be celebrating their break, while Team 4 now had to face a bitter reality: death, or a month of hellish quadruple practice. And for Yan Shuo, this failure felt far more painful than being struck by Vat's lightning last night. He remained an empty burden.