The Author's POV

"Is that him?"

"Did he really get injured over such a simple mission?"

"He really does look weak"

Aimlessly walking around the mansion, I ignored the whispers and stares coming from some of the students that I passed along the way.

Yesterday night, after completing the mission, I returned to the mansion all battered up. My whole arm was bleeding profusely and my clothes were all torn.

Though I didn't pass out, to the people who saw me return, it looked as if I had been through hell.

Because I had some notoriety, news of my battered state spread across all of the students...and soon I became the hot topic of the first years.

Because the missions that we got were not a secret from the other students, after a bit of digging, people immediately found out who my target was and news of me getting beat up by a ranked individual spread across the academy.

...in the end, this resulted in me becoming the butt of the jokes of the first years.

'Weakling'

'Loser'

'Trash'

Walking along the corridor, I was called all sorts of defamatory names by everyone that saw me.

On a normal day, I would've grumbled and cursed at the people talking crap about me, but today...

Staring at my hands, I recalled the moment when my sword reaped through the lives of multiple people at once.

'...I killed'

I didn't sleep throughout the whole night.

Right now to the people around me I probably looked like a lifeless corpse that was aimlessly wandering around the mansion.

My mind kept replaying the moments where I reaped through the lives of the four bodyguards.

...I could vividly recall Karl's pleading face as he begged for me to spare him.

"Fuuuuu..."

Letting out a long breath and staring at the ceiling of the corridor, I tried to calm my mind.

What had happened already happened.

...There was no going back.

I had killed and I needed to move on...

This wasn't going to be the only time, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be the last time.

This was the path that I had chosen for myself and thus had to take responsibility for my decisions.

Moreover, there was something more important I needed to worry about.

'The massacre of Hollberg'

The second big event in the first arc of the novel.

Tomorrow at 9:45 P.M, the last day of the trip, when everyone was sleeping, an organized attack will happen.

Though their primary targets were Kevin and the others, the other weaker students weren't spared from their pursuit.

...Meaning that I was also not safe.

Though I decided not to interfere, I needed to prepare myself for what was to come.

Placing my hand on my chin, I fell into deep thought.

First things first...I needed to memorize the whole building blueprint.

as attract the least amount of attention. The reason why I needed a good view of what was happening was so that I could overlook

didn't want another incident like the one with Amanda to

it, I could more or less tell if something outside of the norm

that deviated from the plotline happened, it was

I needed to quickly recover from

quickly. Especially since

still needed a full day

electrifying pain coursing through my body. Though I could tough it out, I'd still prefer if I was in top condition for

I needed to

to be put through another scenario that required me to reap

...I just couldn't.

causing my hands to tremble uncontrollably. I was not ready mentally

tomorrow I would use [Monarch's indifference] throughout the whole

after killing for the first time yesterday did I realize

I was too emotional.

to get over the fact that I had killed someone, the thought of what future lay ahead of me and how many more lives I would take made me question my

right? Was everything that I was doing

of my mind as

long way to go before being able to confidently stand up against demons

of all my distracting thoughts, I quickly headed to my room

the longest two

...

-Bang! -Bang! -Bang!

"Huff...huff..huff"

room filled with training dummies, an extremely handsome individual stood in the middle of the room heavily

in sweat, and his eyes were

-Gulp!

recovering some of his stamina, the young individual quickly dashed before one of the training dummies and punched it with all

"Die! Die! Die!"

-Bang! -Bang! -Bang!

throughout the room as

young individual laid on the floor heavily gasping

he clenched his jaw hard and he covered his eyes with

am

achievements on the first night the mission was assigned, Jin couldn't help

as if a wall that

much work he put in, he couldn't find any way to bridge the

much more talented than

he just accept the fact that Kevin was better than

"Damm it..."

-Bang!

Jin punched the floor

my talent is not as good as his, I have access to the best resources and facilities! This should be enough for me to

and had nothing managed to surpass him who was born with a

He couldn't accept it.

way he

-Gulp!

his energy, Jin immediately downed another potion and stood

you no

-Bang!

dummies he once again

his fists were both bloodied and

only after passing out from overworking

...

old wooden tables and boards, two

on some hot mocha, one of the two stunning girls that had short

notice something strange happening

Emma, Amanda frowned for

"No"

"Really?"

for a bit,

"Maybe it's just me..."

Emma had this sense of discomfort. She constantly felt as if someone was keeping an eye on

unsettling...but in the end, she could only think of