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

casualness of his voice, it was quite apparent that he did not take this

we managed to secure 1033

responded. In response, Mark's brows knit

you're saying that we are 47

Ebonie nodded her head, 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

his voice couldn't help but

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

Perry spoke, his

extremely irritated about the fact that he had to wake up this

and

breath, Ebonie tried to

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

wasted our time for

Perry abruptly stood up.

from his body as the students next to him backed

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

much reminded me of the

"This is not nons'”"

thought that this was something important. You're just

Stretching his neck slightly, he made

to the side

"Wait lis'”"

agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

finish her sentence he followed Mark out of the room. Behind

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

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

the room, Ebonie, shook her head and sat

pricks. Why

her fists curled

'...As expected'

afar,

reason that the Lock nearly ended

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

situation was progressing exactly as

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

could not work with

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

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

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

he get

wondered as I

do you

way I see things,

a bit, I shared my honest

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

the third years was

bad last year, this year it became even more

a game to

Kevin as I checked today's

I better

left the waiting room. I followed him shortly

managed to escape

there was one thing that was good about the meeting it was that I didn't attract the attention

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

***

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

'”Click!

bright lights, a subtle clicking sound resounded

fell on the

"Huuu..."

I subtly touched

"This feels weird."

rank getting suppressed. It felt as though I woke up after a few hours

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

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

'”Beep!

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

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 2: 02

Smirk.

smirk invertedly appeared on my