Seti Andrews

The simulation combat room was located in the western section of the first floor of the Shatterdome, near the first corridor. As its name implied, it was where Jaeger pilots conducted simulation training. And it was not open solely to official pilots—reserve trainees like Rosen could also come test their skills, though they only had one pitiful chance per week.

Back when Rosen had still been full of vigor, he could stay here all day without eating or drinking. But now, he would never choose to go inside.

Because he knew that his foul temper had offended plenty of people in the past. There were countless people who held grudges against him, and Rosen had no desire to go looking for trouble.

"Excuse me, is Angie Beckett inside?"

Rosen asked the administrator seated inside through the window. To avoid being recognized too easily, he deliberately rested a hand against his chin.

"Miss Angie? Let me check..."

The administrator was a fat man. He seemed suspicious of Rosen's gesture, squinting his tiny eyes as he stared straight at Rosen, making Rosen feel uneasy.

Still, he entered Angie's name into the computer. A moment later, he regretfully shook his head. "No. There's no record of Miss Angie visiting."

"All right, thanks." Rosen did not linger and turned to leave.

But the sight he least wanted to see finally happened—

"Hey, you look... you look like Rosen, don't you?"

The administrator leaned half his body out of the window and shouted.

Though Rosen could hear nothing but pure surprise in his voice... unfortunately, that surprise had come at the worst possible time.

"Rosen?"

A chill ran down Rosen's back—he could feel countless gazes converging on him at once following that question.

This is bad.

Rosen thought.

"Well, well, it really is Rosen."

A voice sounded behind Rosen, drawing closer and closer. Then Rosen felt a weight settle on his right shoulder—a large hand had landed there.

As for the owner of that hand, Rosen had already known who it was the moment he heard that voice.

Even if he had turned to ashes, Rosen would still recognize him.

Seti Andrews.

Rosen silently repeated that name, the name of someone who was both his brother and his enemy.

Seti possessed a Sync Rate on par with his own—92%. They had been born in the same year, even the same month, and had both trained under Beckett. Aside from one being Chinese and the other a German Jew, there was almost no difference between them.

They had known each other since childhood. They ate together, slept together, studied together, and dreamed together of fighting monsters. Their identical paths of growth had given them nearly the same temperament.

Proud, arrogant, ill-mannered, and utterly contemptuous of everyone else.

Back then, people jokingly called them the "Twin Shadows."

But fate was unpredictable. Two years ago, they had both competed for the right to pilot Kunlun. Their personalities made it impossible for either of them to tolerate the other's existence, and their relationship had shattered. They had been fighting ever since.

Even now, Rosen remembered the last conversation they had before becoming enemies.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll be enemies."

"Just like before. For the rest of our lives."

But things were different now.

Seti was still heaven's favored son, while Rosen had already fallen into the dust.

So the instant Seti called Rosen's name, Rosen felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if the scene after Kunlun's simulation startup failure was about to repeat itself.

"Long time no see... How long has it been? Two years? Or three? Hahaha, it's been too long. I can't remember!" Seti laughed.

What a stupid question.

"Seven months, to be precise." Rosen still answered, though. He did not turn around, and his face remained calm.

"Right, right, seven months!" Seti's tone grew aggressive. "What have you been doing all this time? I imagine it must have been something incredible, right?"

Rosen turned his head slightly and looked at Seti.

Seti was roughly the same height as him. His brown hair stood high on end, making him especially conspicuous. He wore a gray athletic shirt, and his face openly displayed defiance and arrogance.

Rosen found that expression familiar. If he and Seti had traded places, perhaps he would have been the one looking at the other with that same expression.

"I... researched monsters." Rosen answered at last.

Originally, Rosen had not wanted to say much. But as the crowd of spectators gradually grew, he felt the last of his restraint being tested.

"Oh, really?" Seti looked around, intending to incite everyone into mocking Rosen. But Rosen's flawless answer completely ruined his plan.

Seti spat and decided to stop playing games.

"Rosen, I've already obtained the right to pilot Changbai." Seti took a step forward and deliberately stopped slightly ahead of Rosen on his right, with his back to him. "And that was six months ago. But what about you?"

The mockery in his tone could not have been more obvious. Even some of the onlookers showed indignant expressions.

"I don't know why you still have the nerve to come back, thinking you still have a chance to make a comeback. Give it up." Seti turned around and continued facing Rosen with open contempt. "Rosen, you haven't touched a Jaeger in seven months. All your skills are already obsolete. How about this? Do everyone a favor and disappear. Just like what happened seven months ago."

Seti's eyes flickered as he issued Rosen his final ultimatum.

(He'll definitely lose his temper and hit me. Then I can charge him with assaulting a pilot and have him kicked out for good.)

Seti sneered inwardly.

He was no less intelligent than Rosen. If their positions had been equal as before, he would never have said something so deserving of a beating.

But Rosen was only a reserve trainee now. Seti felt that crushing him would be easier than crushing an ant.

What he had not expected was... his carefully laid plan would fall through once again.

Though Rosen's hand trembled for a moment, it soon became still again.

He first closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then calmly asked, "Are you finished?"

Rosen's reaction was beyond Seti's expectations, and he froze.

"In a few months, or a few weeks, perhaps even a few days, the monster tide will arrive." Rosen neither flinched nor avoided Seti's gaze. "I have no interest in arguing with a dying man like you. When the time comes, I hope you survive."

"You?!"

Rosen's response left Seti speechless. By the time he had paused and gathered his words to retaliate, Rosen had already turned and left.

"Fxxk."

Seti glared at Rosen's retreating back and cursed under his breath, but he did not choose to chase after him.

"He said... the monster tide?"

Seti frowned and muttered to himself.

Rosen's words had been deeply etched into his mind. This concerned his life, and Seti would not allow himself the slightest carelessness.

"What are you looking at? Get lost!"

After driving away the crowd, he immediately left the simulation area and headed for the second floor.