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

as his eyes

quite apparent that he did not take

to secure 1033 points

In response, Mark's brows knit for a

are 47 points behind last year's

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

It's only the

Perry as his

matters is the end result, and right now we're first. All we have to do is continue to be first. Simple as

his face gradually

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

and

a deep breath, Ebonie tried

the first day, I believe that we shouldn't overlook this. If there is any chance that we might lose, we have to crush it before

end, you wasted

Perry abruptly stood up.

from his body as the students next

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

of

"This is not nons'”"

thought that this was something important. You're just wasting my time with your overly

slightly, he made his

the side to make a

"Wait lis'”"

to agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

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

the meeting left, leaving behind Ebonie and what seemed to be her followers

crawling back to me later telling

at the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie, shook her

Why

cursed as her

'...As expected'

afar, I secretly

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

been for Kevin's intervention, the overall

was

of the plot, the

although talented, could not

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

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

shoulder. Turning

he

as I looked

do you

the way I see things, she's

a bit, I shared my honest

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

lack of unity between the third years

year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this was

a game to be preparing

I checked today's

better

left the waiting room. I followed

to escape an

meeting it was that

didn't have to worry about joining

***

flew by and it was now Monday. During the past week, I did what

'”Click!

by bright lights, a

dummies fell on the ground as

"Huuu..."

subtly touched the small bracelet on

"This feels weird."

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

a couple of dummies that were coming at

time and barely managed to defeat them without

'”Beep!

sound resounded across the room, and my score was displayed on

Ren Dover; Time

Smirk.

smirk