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

his

voice, it was quite apparent that he did

we managed to secure

responded. In response, Mark's brows

that we are

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

only the first

spoke up Perry as his voice couldn't help

right now we're first. All we have to do is continue to be

Perry spoke, his

irritated about the fact that he had to wake up this early in the morning to talk about

and listen

breath, Ebonie

we shouldn't overlook this. If there is any chance that we might lose, we have

wasted our time for this

Perry abruptly stood up.

his body as the students next

pressure. Even then, I

of the orcs I

"This is not nons'”"

thought that this was something important. You're

Stretching his neck slightly, he made his way out of the waiting

he walked, everyone stepped to the side to make a path for

"Wait lis'”"

to have to agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

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

left, leaving behind Ebonie and what seemed

crawling back to me later telling me that I didn't warn

room, Ebonie, shook

pricks. Why

as her fists curled into

'...As expected'

at the scene from afar, I

was exactly because of this reason that the Lock nearly ended up losing the

been for Kevin's intervention, the

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

that things were now no longer in control of the plot, the chances of the Lock losing were even higher than

talented, could not work with each

and their decisions only. It was because of their ego that the chances of the Lock losing

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

my shoulder. Turning around,

did he

wondered as I looked at

What do you

way I

bit, I shared my honest

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

unity between the third

bad last year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this

a game to

as I checked

I better

waved and left the waiting room. I followed

I managed to escape an unwanted

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

have to worry about

***

During the past week, I did what I set out to do. Dominate my

'”Click!

bright lights, a

with large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground

"Huuu..."

subtly touched the small

"This feels weird."

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

couple

level-headed throughout the whole time and barely managed to defeat

'”Beep!

a beeping sound resounded across the room, and

Dover; Time ➤ 2: 02

Smirk.

smirk