He's Just Pretending to Be Dumb

The second day of the simulation began with a light mist and an atmosphere that felt... odd.There were no digital bird sounds. No extra instructions from the system. Even the usual notification showing the remaining time appeared only as a static text message on our HUDs.

"Time remaining: 24 hours. Surveillance zone expanded.""It feels like the quiet before a boss spawns in a dungeon," Kael muttered.I nodded in agreement, though what I was thinking was more along the lines of: this kind of atmosphere usually means peaceful times are about to end.

We moved to a hilly zone with rock formations that didn't exist on the original simulation map. Ryn confirmed that some parts of the terrain had been expanded in real-time by the central system. Nala looked even more alert than usual—she hadn't said a word since morning.

I had just sat down to open my snack when Nala silently approached and placed an object in front of me."Kael found this behind a rock just now."

A small, lightweight pistol with a streamlined design. But it wasn't academy-issued. Not even a commercial model. I recognized it instantly.It was one of Clarice's prototypes I had once thought was a total failure due to a chamber overload.

"There's no way this thing made it out here," I murmured.

Ryn and Nala stared at me in silence. Kael, sitting not far away, just raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"This device... wasn't supposed to leave the lab. Even Clarice said its internal safety system wasn't stable."

Nala narrowed her eyes. "So you do know it."

"I know it, yeah. Still using it? Definitely not supposed to."

[Clarice – Eidolon HQ, Research Room]Clarice stared at three blueprints projected on the table. All of them belonged to Deren. None of them were ever approved for distribution. But two out of the three had already appeared in the Nova Academy trial field.

The research room glowed in blue light from the data projections. On the wall, a digital strategy board displayed distribution maps, tracking logs, and footage sent by the field observer team.

Clarice stepped forward. Her right hand traced the projection's surface, zooming in on the internal code of the recovered device. A sequence of numbers only she and Deren were supposed to know—had now shown up in the trial field.

"This is getting out of control," she muttered, her face serious. "Faster than we predicted."

A tech staffer entered with a tablet."We detected a distribution pattern from one of our old contacts... through a cross-sector black market channel."

Clarice took the tablet, her eyes scanning the data. Familiar names. Old routes that were supposed to be shut down. Delivery patterns suggesting an infiltration into their own system.

"Whoever smuggled this out—they're not amateurs."

She swiped the screen and zoomed into the underground distribution network map."Activate the tracking protocol for all products with Deren's source code. Sync it with Nova's surveillance system and the Underworld's info network. Prioritize stealth."

She walked to the back wall and tapped a metal panel that opened with a mechanical sound—revealing a secret cabinet containing several other prototypes that hadn't been activated.

"And..."

She turned to another screen showing turret footage and murmured coldly,"Make sure Deren doesn't find out. If he decides to run from all this... things will get way messier."

[Simulation – Silent Evaluation]By midday, evaluation drones were back maneuvering across the artificial skies of the simulation. The light fog from the morning had lifted, revealing a clearer view of the hilly terrain where Team 17 was located.

Tessan and her team continued recording our every move. Every gesture, every tool touched, even the pattern of our footsteps—everything was collected and analyzed in real time by the academy's monitoring system.

On the main observation screen, Deren appeared relaxed, sitting under the shade of a synthetic tree, dismantling an emergency communicator. But his movements weren't random. He reassembled wires, removed panels, and began fusing them with scrap metal and leftover circuits from the Core scanner he had secretly taken apart earlier.

One evaluator raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing. "What is he doing? Improvisation... or sabotage?"

Tessan crossed her arms, watching the screen intently. "I'd like to know that myself," she replied flatly, though her eyes never left Deren's hands—too skilled for a student who supposedly hadn't passed a full practical exam.

She typed something on her personal tablet. Her new password was just two letters: DV.

[Team Moment – Honest Talk]Under the shadow of a large rock, we finally rested. For the first time since the exam started, there were no alarms, no new illegal weapons detected, and no instant noodles exploding spontaneously. Even the simulated air felt cooler, as if the system knew we needed to breathe.

Ryn sat beside me. His voice was quiet, but serious. "Can I ask you something real?"

I turned to him, staring at the artificial sky that for some reason looked too peaceful. "As long as it's not about my tragic hidden past, go ahead."

"Why do you never take things seriously? I mean, you're smart. That's obvious. But you always try to seem... average."

I looked down, rotating a part of the small device still in my hand. The click of metal was the only sound for a few seconds.

Then I replied, slow but steady,"Because the moment you look extraordinary, everyone starts expecting things. Expectations are... exhausting. Slip up just once, and everyone's eyes are on you. I'd rather be someone no one notices, than be the center of attention who's not allowed to fail."

Nala added from a distance, her tone still flat but heavy,"But you're not ordinary, Deren. And the more you try to hide it... the more obvious it becomes."

Kael jumped in with a proud grin,"He's definitely not ordinary. He's a nap-time legend! The guy who can find the comfiest spot in the middle of a battlefield!"

Everyone laughed. Even Nala cracked a small smile.Including me.Somehow, that simple moment felt... light.Like for once, expectations didn't matter so much.

[End of Chapter – The World Moves Outside]Outside the simulation, word of the appearance of illegal weaponry at the academy spread like sparks in a gas-filled room. Within less than 24 hours, reports from various military divisions and civilian intelligence started referencing similarities between the devices appearing in the exam and designs of blacklisted tech confiscated years ago.

In government meeting rooms, voices were rising. High-ranking officials stared at each other with a mix of fear and frustration—not just because the weapons appeared, but because they had no idea where they came from.

Meanwhile, in the underworld, weapon dealers and syndicate leaders scrambled to reorganize their networks. Many began to realize one thing: they'd been selling products they didn't fully understand.

And now, one name started to circulate in whispers—spoken with respect, fear, and curiosity.Not the name Deren.

But the name of the company behind those dangerous prototypes.A company only ever mentioned in secret codes.A company believed to be a myth among black market elites.

EIDOLON.