YingJue woke with a start. She was still on the train to Beijing where she will take her flight to Tokyo for the competition. She stared wistfully out the window, wondering what challenges await her. She had performed phenomenally at the beginning, but as she rose into prominence, she had encountered more opponents who were able to deal with her all-out all-range attack, either with reflexes that could dodge the endless beam fire from her DRAGOONS, accuracy to shoot them down with, or some other specific counter. She had managed to pull through and secured her spot in the tournament, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy. Despite the fact that she was representing her country in an internationally recognized sport, she still had had a tough time convincing her professors to give her leave to participate in the competition. It was thus even more impossible for any of her club-mates to come with her as they were held back by their studies and research projects. YingJue's mother would also be busy with work, so YingJue was going alone. She realized that she wasn't that familiar with the logistics of the tournament, which countries participated, or how many from each country were allowed to compete. She wondered if any of her fellow countrymen would be there. She sat back and closed here eyes again, praying silently that she would be able to take the hopes, dreams, and wishes of those left behind to victory.