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 eyes squinted

his voice, it was quite apparent that he did

managed to secure 1033 points on the

Mark's brows knit for

you're saying that we are 47 points behind last year's

Ebonie nodded her head, and once pointed at the TV screen, "Furthermore, Theodora academy's score is a whole 80 points higher

only

as his voice couldn't help but

continue to be first. Simple

his face gradually

the fact that he had to wake up this

down and listen to

deep breath, Ebonie tried to calm Perry

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

in the end, you wasted

Perry abruptly stood up.

domineering pressure exuded from his body as the students next to him

I was far, I wasn't affected by his pressure. Even then, I probably wouldn't have been affected much due to my experience

of the

"This is not nons'”"

this was something important. You're just wasting my

Ebonie off, Perry turned around. Stretching his neck slightly, he made his

to the side to make a

"Wait lis'”"

agree with

Mark similarly stood up.

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

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

back to me later telling me

leaving the room, Ebonie,

pricks. Why can't they

cursed as her

'...As expected'

scene from afar, I secretly

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

Kevin's intervention,

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

of the

leaders although talented, could not

only. It was because of their ego that the

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

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

he

I

do you

from the way I

musing for a bit, I

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

third years was quite clear

became even more apparent. Portraying this was the

a game to be

asked Kevin as I checked

better

waved and left the waiting room. I followed him

least I managed to

thing that was good about the meeting it was that I

didn't have to worry

***

meeting, a week eventually flew by and it was now Monday. During the past week, I did what I set out

'”Click!

Thud. Thud, inside of a room illuminated by bright

multiple dummies fell on the ground

"Huuu..."

a deep breath, I subtly touched the

"This feels weird."

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

of this factor, I almost missed a couple of dummies that were coming at me

able to remain level-headed throughout the whole time and barely

'”Beep!

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

Time ➤ 2:

Smirk.

timer, a smirk