Ves's world crumbled under the weight of his father's disappearance and the colossal 330 million credit debt, demanding a 5 million credit interest payment within three months. With only 1200 credits to his name, he faced imminent financial ruin. The Mech Designer System, a mysterious gift from his missing father, emerged from a self-destructing data chip, offering a lifeline but immediately disparaging Ves as a "good-for-nothing loser" with a paltry 0.3 Creativity score. Its welcome package proved equally underwhelming: 10 Design Points (DP) that couldn't buy a soda, and three copper lottery tickets that all failed. Just as Ves considered shutting down the "useless app," the System revealed Lucky, a real, gold-ranked mechanical gem cat capable of excreting valuable gemstones weekly, offering a glimmer of hope. Ves's immediate goal was to earn credits by designing virtual mechs in Iron Spirit, a realistic mech simulator, but he was quickly stymied by prohibitive licensing fees. The System responded with "Tutorial Part 1," tasking him to customize a provided 1-star mech, the Fantasia 2R, with a minimum 10% deviance and 2% performance improvement. It also supplied virtual licenses for the Fantasia 2R and an absurdly oversized Gemini twin rear ejection energy booster. The challenge seemed insurmountable: attaching the colossal Gemini to the slim, feminine Fantasia 2R was like "putting a stuffed backpack onto a clueless toddler." After three days of frustrating jury-rigging, Ves produced the "Fantasia 2R-E," a comically ugly variant with a disproportionately large rear, redeemed only by increased straight-line speed and an accidental dual-cockpit ejection system. To his astonishment, the mech sold to Shifter66, a young pilot who, oblivious to its flaws, loved its "gigantic rear" and inadvertently weaponized its ejection system for face-slapping victories. This unexpected success earned Ves 1000 DP and a crucial 100,000 credit bonus, along with a new mission: sell 100 virtual mechs within a month.

To meet the daunting mission of selling 100 virtual mechs in a month, Ves strategically invested his newfound DP into core skills like Creativity and Lightweight Armor Optimization, turning his mediocre abilities into a competitive edge. His next design, the Fantasia 2R Seraphim, an aerial marksman, utilized licensed flight systems and ECM to achieve a significant 17% performance improvement, earning 50 DP plus an additional 100 DP for exhibiting an "F" rank in the elusive X-Factor. Shameless online promotion and family support from his cousin Melinda boosted sales of his Fantasia variants (Seraphim, Phantasm, Nomad) to 24 units. Melinda then revealed the Young Tigers Exhibition (YTE), a prestigious mech design contest offering cash prizes and industry exposure, igniting Ves's ambition. The System, in its "tough love" approach, then granted him a 10-year combat mech production license lottery ticket. After a mystical pagoda test that pressed his consciousness, Ves qualified for a 5th-tier prize: the production license for the National Aeromotives Caesar Augustus CA-1. This was a "white elephant" of a mech—a notoriously complex, expensive, and impractical last-gen design, famous for its internal "spaghetti" and reliance on proprietary armor that Ves's workshop couldn't produce. This unexpected burden threatened to derail his YTE aspirations and impending debt payment, leaving him with a license for a mech he couldn't build.

Stuck with the unbuildable Caesar Augustus CA-1, Ves plunged into Iron Spirit, using technician's notes from Melinda to optimize its chaotic internals. His first attempt, the Nero, was a minor improvement, selling for 60,000 credits. The System then issued a B-rank mission: design a mech with a prominent X-Factor (E- or higher). Extensive research into pilot testimonials, scientific skepticism, and his own "living" gem cat, Lucky, led Ves to a bold theory: the X-Factor was tied to the designer's and pilot's aligned emotions and intent. Applying this, he refined the Nero into the Nero Redivivus, imbuing it with the CA-1's original "arrogant" intent, achieving an E- X-Factor rating and 100 bonus DP. The YTE's new Fusion Cup paired designers with eliminated pilots to repair and modify mechs for a 2v2 tournament. Ves (6th designer) partnered with Charlotte Hoffmeister, a "leopard" pilot with a heavily damaged Turbofire RTF-581 (Kirby), against rival Patricia Schneider (2nd designer) and Miranda del Ray (2nd pilot). With only six hours, Charlotte insisted on firepower over melee. Ves jury-rigged rear-facing rocket launchers and an improvised booster for rapid turns. In Round 1, Charlotte surprised Miranda by detaching a laser mount as a shield and using rockets, ultimately winning by crushing Miranda's mech. In the semi-finals against Alexander Steel's skirmisher (Michael Dumont's secretly enhanced shields), Charlotte's booster-turn and rocket salvo crippled Alexander, leading to another victory by pinning his mech. The finals pitted them against Christopher Yang and Edwin McKinney. Edwin's striker was incredibly durable, its armor defying all damage. Charlotte's weapons failed, and the Kirby, cooked from within, finally succumbed. Despite the loss, Ves and Charlotte secured second place, earning 250,000 credits each and "preferable treatment" from the Republic, offering looser regulations and better tax rates—a crucial boost for his struggling business.

Despite Fusion Cup success, Ves faced immediate pressure: sell his Marc Antony variant to meet the bank's 5 million credit interest payment. Mercenaries and military pilots rejected his "untested" design, and even a direct pitch to retired Colonel Ares Huntington failed. Desperate, Ves accepted Marcella Bollinger's offer to be his broker—a steep 20% commission and 10-year exclusivity, but a guaranteed 7 million credit advance and a sale within 24 hours. Using the advance and the System's gifted 200 tons of HRF armor, Ves meticulously hand-fabricated his first real mech, the "Phoenix Cry," in nine days, infusing it with his "love" and "intent" to activate its X-Factor. The MTA's cranky senior technician, Gertrude Samuelson, put the Phoenix Cry through rigorous tests, but it passed, even earning praise from the test pilot for its "living" feel. Marcella confirmed the sale for 28 million credits, allowing Ves to pay off his 5 million credit debt, leaving a substantial 19 million credit profit. With financial stability, Ves charted a 10-year goal: accumulate 2 billion credits for next-gen equipment (armor fabricator, 3D printer, assembler) and develop original mech designs, specializing in medium armor optimization. He considered hiring a fabricator but feared compromising the System's secret and diluting the X-Factor. Marcella suggested offering "premium handmade" variants. He then designed new virtual mechs: the Mist Prowler (O-225CM), an agile urban hunter with modular armor and particle ejector, earning an E X-Factor. Joshua (TheSeventhSnake) bought it, loving its "hunter" feel and dominating Silver League battles. A mysterious metal box, made of exotic modular armor, appeared at his workshop, its liquid contents devoured by Lucky, hinting at an unknown benefactor watching Ves. His next design, the Speed Demon (O-225CS), an "extreme medium-light" anti-light mech, fell short, impacting its X-Factor and reinforcing his need to focus. Ves invested in SASS security (500k credits) and secured "protection" from local gang boss Dietrich (Walter's Whalers), acknowledging his vulnerability as a designer. The road ahead was long, but Ves, with the System's aid and newfound purpose, was prepared to carve his own path to mech design mastery.