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

as his eyes

quite apparent that he

secure 1033 points on

responded. In response, Mark's

saying that we are 47 points

score is a whole 80 points higher than their last

only the

his

do is continue

Perry spoke, his

irritated about the fact that he had

and

a deep breath, Ebonie tried

If there is any chance that we might

in the end, you wasted our time for this useless

Perry abruptly stood up.

from his body as the students next to him

Even then, I probably wouldn't have been affected much due to my

reminded me of the orcs

"This is not nons'”"

that this was something important. You're

slightly, he

he walked, everyone stepped to the

"Wait lis'”"

to have to agree with the

Mark similarly stood up.

Ebonie to finish her sentence he followed Mark out of the room. Behind him, a row of students followed him out of the

the people attending the meeting left, leaving behind Ebonie and what seemed to

back to me later telling me

leaving the room, Ebonie, shook her head

pricks. Why can't they

as her fists

'...As expected'

from afar, I secretly shook

reason that the Lock nearly ended

for Kevin's intervention, the overall winners would've been Theodora's

the way I saw things, the situation was progressing

longer in control of the plot, the chances of the Lock

could not work

their decisions and their decisions only. It was because of their ego

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

a slight touch on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw

he

wondered as I

What do

the way I

bit, I shared my

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

third years was

as bad last year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this was the scene

have a game to be preparing

I checked

better get

Kevin waved and left the waiting room. I followed him

least I managed to escape

was good about the meeting it was that I didn't attract

that, I didn't have to worry about joining the conflicts between

***

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

'”Click!

inside of a room illuminated by bright

with large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground

"Huuu..."

a deep breath, I subtly touched the small bracelet

"This feels weird."

still couldn't get used to my rank getting suppressed. It felt as though I woke up after a few hours of sleep as my body didn't move as

fact, because of this factor, I almost missed a couple of

time

'”Beep!

the last dummy fell, a beeping sound resounded across the room, and my score was

Time ➤

Smirk.

my timer, a smirk invertedly appeared on