The Celestial Pivot Chessboard: Guarding All Under Heaven

Lin Yan has a clear life goal: awaken a good-for-nothing crest, get into the outer academy, collect his family's subsistence allowance, and coast until retirement.

That is, until his awakening ceremony at age six, when he awakens the rarest core crest in a century, the Heavenly Pivot Chessboard, a crest that leads the command corps.

Even worse, the family elders force him into a death squad called “Unit C-7”:

His offensive teammate is a tsundere ice queen, all bark and secretly soft-hearted, who refuses to admit she cares about anyone.

His defensive teammate is a hot-blooded musclehead, always ready to die for the team.

His strategist teammate is a devious schemer who will even manipulate his own teammates, and may have an antisocial personality.

Looking at this bunch of oddballs, any one of whom could tear the sky open at any moment, Lin Yan sighs and quietly picks up the baton.

“Fine. I chose these teammates, so I'll protect them to the bitter end, even if I have to crawl.”

Years later, Lin Yan stands atop the continent, with the corpses of countless foreign races and powerful foes beneath his feet. A reporter asks what he thinks of it all.

Lin Yan smiles warmly. “Honestly, I really just wanted to help them lie flat.”