The Author's POV

It was early in the morning, and following what was sent in the email yesterday, I made my way towards the Lock private area.

As I entered the room, the first thing I noticed was three individuals sitting at a round table.

I could instantly feel a deep and oppressive aura emanating from their body.

'Ebonie Wills, Mark Mendez, Perry Crossley...', I muttered underneath my breath as I looked at the three individuals sitting on the round table.

The three strongest students in the academy, and the heads of the three major factions in the Lock.

Calmly walking forward, I joined the small crowd of students that had gathered around them.

None of them dared to sit down with them as they just stood and watched them.

At the moment, a solemn atmosphere shrouded the room.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tapping on the table, a burly individual with short brown hair and green eyes spoke up, disrupting the silence. His voice contained hints of annoyance.

"Let's get this over with. I don't have much time to spare for the likes of this childish gathering."

"Shut up you brute. It's because of people like you that we have to hold these kinds of discussions"

Sitting opposite to him was an elegant youth with bright blue eyes and brown hair.

A look of disgust appeared on his face as he looked at the burly man opposite to him.

"Mark, Perry, can you guys shut up for five minutes?"

Standing up was a beautiful girl with tanned skin, black eyes, and dirt blonde hair.

Glaring at Mark, who was the elegant youth, and Perry who was the burly individual, the tanned girl, Ebonie Wills, walked towards one of the TVs and picked up the remote.

'”Clink!

Turning on the TV, Ebonie pressed a couple of buttons before a large data table appeared on the TV screen.

「Rankings」 - 「Points」

Lock Academy - 986

Theodora Academy - 904

Lutwik Academy - 888

Vellon Academy - 867

SilverWing Academy - 803

Kukz Academy - 745

DeathSigil Academy – 711

Dusk of Dawn Academy - 657

Everlight Academy - 656

PridedHorses Academy - 640

Looking at the TV screen I thought, 'Those numbers seem similar to the ones I wrote in the novel...'

Though I couldn't remember the exact numbers that I wrote in the novel, I remembered that on the first day the Lock did not surpass 1,000 points.

This was a very important piece of information to take note of since it suggested that as of right now the tournament arc was progressing just as it did in the novel.

Not sure how long this would last, but for now I could more or less be able to infer a little bit of what was to come in the future.

"Let's talk about serious matters."

Putting the TV remote down, Ebonie pointed at the scoreboard projected on the TV screen.

"As you can see, as of right now we are overall in the first place."

"Indeed. But I don't think we need to hold a meeting to point this out, no?"

Perry, the burly individual, spoke up as he crossed his large arms. Ebonie nodded her head in response.

"True, but there is a problem"

"What problem?"

"...According to the data, we're slightly behind last year's first-day record."

Ebonie gravely said as she looked at everyone in the room.

was last year's

said as his eyes

was quite

year we managed to secure 1033

In response, Mark's brows knit for a

saying that we are 47 points

the TV screen, "Furthermore, Theodora academy's score is a whole 80 points higher than their

It's only

up Perry as his voice

have to do is continue to be first. Simple as that. I

Perry spoke, his face

of it, he was extremely irritated about the fact that he had to wake up

and listen

breath, Ebonie tried to calm

I believe that we shouldn't overlook this. If there is any chance that we might

in the end, you wasted our

Perry abruptly stood up.

domineering pressure exuded from his body as the students next to

affected by his pressure. Even then, I

reminded me of the orcs I faced back

"This is not nons'”"

You're just wasting my time with your overly cautious

neck slightly, he made his way out of

stepped to the side to make a path for

"Wait lis'”"

to agree with

Mark similarly stood up.

sentence he followed Mark out of the room. Behind him, a row of students followed

the people attending the meeting left, leaving behind Ebonie and what seemed to be her followers which included the likes

don't come crawling back to me later

room, Ebonie, shook her head and sat

arrogant pricks. Why

cursed as her

'...As expected'

afar, I

exactly because of this reason that the Lock nearly ended up

for Kevin's intervention, the overall winners

the way I saw things, the situation was progressing exactly as it

given that things were now no longer in control of the plot, the chances of the Lock losing were

although talented, could

decisions only. It was because

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

a slight touch on my shoulder. Turning around, I

he get

I

do

I see things, she's

bit, I shared my

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

third years

last year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this was the scene that had just

have a game

Kevin as I checked today's games

better

left the waiting room. I followed

managed to

meeting it was that I didn't attract the attention of the

to worry about joining the

***

a week eventually flew by and it was now Monday. During the past

'”Click!

Thud. Thud, inside of a room illuminated by bright lights,

multiple dummies fell on the ground

"Huuu..."

deep breath, I subtly touched the small bracelet

"This feels weird."

It felt as though I woke up after a few hours of sleep as my body didn't move as fast as I wanted it

couple of dummies that were coming at

level-headed throughout the whole time and barely managed to

'”Beep!

a minute after the last dummy fell, a beeping sound resounded across the room, and

Time ➤ 2: 02

Smirk.

smirk invertedly appeared on my