The HAUT Executive Committee and investors continued to watch the duels unfold.

The academy most often mentioned throughout the session was Gwangcheon.

When investors realized the potential of Lumina Cueva’s stealth Ability, they smacked their lips in greed. And when second-year Seo Yui defeated Jin Cheongryong of Martial God Academy—supposedly the strongest third-year in that school—the room rippled with the same shock they’d felt when Yein had toppled Iris Ahn.

The magic-track duels had brought yet another surprise, once again from Gwangcheon.

[The gap in skill is overwhelming.]

One remote viewer muttered, and all present silently agreed.

Between Chen Meiling and Rune Maya, the difference had been like child versus adult.

[The Gwangcheon candidates keep shocking us every day of this HAUT.]

[It’s not that the other academies’ students are weak either.]

[The more I see, the more incredible it is that such students exist at all.]

Hearing those voices over the tablet, Guildmaster Zeke thought of Abel.

On HAUT’s first and second day, after watching Gwangcheon’s performance, Zeke had immediately told Abel:

“Offer them positions in All-Around.”

That night, Abel had reported back.

“So, did you ask?”

“Yes. Two of them seemed open to it. But the other two… not so much.”

“Which two?”

“Seo Yui and Nam Yein. Seo Yui looked conflicted, but Yein barely reacted at all.”

To hear an invitation to All-Around and act indifferent…

Zeke’s jaw tightened just recalling it.

Yet the boy intrigued him.

Weak aptitudes. A fighter who battled like a pro. A natural leader. Top of the theory classes.

Yein was unlike any candidate he had ever seen.

I’ll have to make the offer myself on the last day of HAUT. Let’s see if he still refuses then.

He had already decided who would receive one of his “tickets.”

Among HAUT investors, those who contributed most were granted tickets—invitations.

Unlike sponsorships, which were indirect support, tickets were a direct contract. They allowed a guild, free or corporate-owned, to sign a candidate outright—effective upon graduation.

The candidate still had the final say, but once they accepted, the contract was signed immediately in front of the Committee.

It was worlds apart from sponsorships that could be canceled midway.

Only five organizations this year held tickets: All-Around, Crystal, Forward, and two others.

For a trainee, being chosen for a ticket was like winning the lottery—the highest honor imaginable.

The other ticket holders will surely spend theirs on the other three from Gwangcheon. No one will waste one on Yein, not with his F/F/C aptitudes. No one but me.

Zeke’s lips twitched.

After the duels, we were marched straight to lunch.

“It’s only eleven. Why are we eating so early?” Meiling asked, tray in hand, frowning.

“Probably because the schedule’s tight.” I set a fried fish cutlet on my plate with the tongs.

“Remember Abel said this morning? Curfew will be later, and there’ll be no free time in the evenings.”

“Then why not use this extra hour for training instead of eating?”

Her stubborn expression hadn’t changed.

“They’re sending us out. Better to feed us first.”

“Out? Where?”

“The dungeon. Where else would they take us?”

“…”

She fell silent, apparently out of arguments.

With trays full, our squad settled at a corner table.

“Last time, the task was teaming with another academy squad to clear a dungeon,” Seo Yui reminded us.

“Think it’ll be something similar?”

“Can’t say yet,” I answered honestly.

Would it be two squads? Three? Or each competing alone? No way to know until we saw which dungeon.

HAUT’s assignments varied wildly, but once we knew the dungeon, the task would reveal itself.

And a few dozen minutes later, when the bus rolled into Yeongdeungpo, the answer became clear.

This could go either way—team-based or solo competition.

“This time, your task is an extension of Applied Material Studies: scavenging.”

Abel waved a sheet of paper in front of us.

We were standing in Floor 4 of the Cloud Isles dungeon.

The ground was springy, like walking on a blanket of cotton. The sky stretched endlessly blue in every direction, the air sharp and biting cold.

Despite it being an open dungeon, no other adventurers were around. Clearly, the place had been cordoned off for HAUT practice.

“Bring back as many listed materials as you can. Each academy squad is a team. Competition is natural, but don’t attack each other. Do so and you’ll be expelled, and any credits you’ve earned will be voided.

“You’ll each get a drone for monitoring. If it shuts down or breaks, you’re disqualified. So keep it safe.”

As he spoke, I thought back to our midterms last semester.

The dungeon practicum exam had also been about gathering materials.

I glanced sideways—

“…What?”

Meiling was staring right at me.

She must have remembered the same thing.

Back then, we had wagered on the final score.

If I won, she would obey me without complaint.

If she won, I’d have to kneel and lick her shoes.

Back during that dungeon practicum exam, Meiling and I had burned with rivalry—only to be blindsided by a transfer phenomenon that dumped us onto the 7th Floor of the Spirit Forest.

Looking back, it had been a hair-raising ordeal.

If I hadn’t prepared a Potion of Reconciliation in advance, that would’ve been the end of me.

In the end, our midterm duel had closed in a draw, and the top spot went not to either of us, but to Lumina.

“Nothing,” I muttered, then turned back to Abel.

“Squad leaders, come forward to receive your material lists and drones.”

I stepped toward him. The leaders of the other squads gathered around as well.

And there—my eyes met Iris’s.

“….”

Huh?

She quickly averted her gaze.

Head lowered, eyes downcast. A demeanor completely at odds with the proud attitude she had always shown.

Could it be… because she lost that duel earlier?

It was a side of her I had never seen in the game.

And unlike those moments in the Subterranean Temple or while exploring HAUT’s facilities, my heart wasn’t racing.

It just felt… oddly out of place.

“Here you go.”

Abel distributed a drone and a material list to each leader.

I skimmed mine quickly.

Twenty Normal materials. Fifteen Magic. Seven Rare. A total of forty-two types.

Abel’s voice rang out.

“Normals are one point each. Magics are two. Rares are five. You’ll have thirty minutes to gather as many types as you can.”

Gasps and murmurs spread among the leaders.

“All this… in thirty minutes?”

“…”

Rio studied his list with a look of disbelief. Jang Taeil’s face was openly flustered.

Even Ao, Iris, and Rune stiffened as their eyes flicked between their sheets and Abel.

He simply grinned—

“Start! Drones on!”

No preparation time. The task had already begun.

While the others froze at the sudden announcement, I rushed back to my squad.

“What kind of materials?” Seo Yui asked.

“I’ll explain as we move.”

They nodded, and I signaled them to follow.

Once we moved, the others scrambled to catch up.

I led my team at a run—destination: the tallest nearby hill.

“Here’s the breakdown: Normals twenty, Magics fifteen, Rares seven. Scoring is one, two, five points respectively. And only thirty minutes.”

I rattled off the rules while climbing.

“Then isn’t it better to just focus on gathering Normals and Magics first?” Lumina suggested.

“Every other squad will think the same,” I replied as we ran uphill.

“That means paths will overlap. Especially with gathering nodes. Which is why our first target is the boss.

“Elites and bosses drop both Normal and Magic mats in bulk. Kill them, and we’ll get plenty automatically.”

“So it’s about avoiding traffic while aiming for higher-value drops.” Seo Yui nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Then where’s the boss?” Meiling demanded.

“That’s what we’re finding out.”

From the hilltop, I scanned the surroundings.

Where is it? Not visible from here…

I strained my eyes, impatience mounting.

And then—I spotted it. A faint rainbow shimmer.

Not in the sky, but glimmering beyond a distant ridge.

“See that rainbow?” I asked.

Meiling nodded.

“That’s where the boss is. Let’s hurry, before anyone else catches on.”

We descended the far slope and sprinted toward the rainbow glow.

“Hey! You’re too slow!”

Meiling was already ahead, shouting back at me.

“Not my fault!” I gritted my teeth. Damn my cursed aptitudes.

“Yein, want a lift?” Seo Yui ran up beside me.

“…Please.”

She crouched slightly.

Once I climbed onto her back, she took off again—effortlessly surging to the lead as if I weighed nothing.

I think I understand now why Meiling refused to fight while riding on Seo Yui’s back.

It wasn’t about efficiency—it was just too embarrassing.

But pride meant nothing here. Better to look foolish than waste time.

The task itself isn’t difficult. I already know where everything spawns, what mobs drop what. That’s all in my head.

The real variables were twofold.

First: the drop rate of Rare materials.

If luck turned against us, even a string of elite kills might yield nothing. Or if fortune smiled, they could drop right away.

Magics and Normals were certain. Boss-hunting gave the best expected score. Gathering could wait until ten minutes remained—by then, most squads would be done with nodes and moving on to elites, so paths wouldn’t overlap.

Second: whether other squads thought the same way I did.

There were multiple bosses in an open dungeon, but the closest was the rainbow we’d just spotted.

If others had the same idea, they’d be converging on it too.

And that would all come down to whether they had understood the hidden meaning behind Abel’s warning:

“Competition is inevitable. But if you attack another candidate, you’ll be expelled from HAUT, and their credits nullified.”

I tilted my head back, gazing upward.

The drone assigned to us hovered overhead, its lens fixed squarely on our squad.

The ever-watchful eye, ready to catch any foul play.

(End of Chapter)