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

said as his eyes squinted

quite

year we managed to secure 1033 points

Mark's

we are 47

it.", 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

only

his voice couldn't help but

we have to do is continue to be first. Simple as that. I don't

Perry spoke, his face gradually

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

down and listen to

deep breath, Ebonie tried to

If there is any chance that we might lose, we have to crush it before the seed

the end, you wasted our time for

Perry abruptly stood up.

pressure exuded from his body as the students

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

of

"This is not nons'”"

You're

Perry turned around. Stretching his neck slightly,

stepped to the side to make a path for

"Wait lis'”"

have to agree with the brute

Mark similarly stood up.

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

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

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

the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie, shook her

Why

cursed as her fists curled into

'...As expected'

afar, I

of this reason that

Kevin's intervention, the overall winners

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

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

three leaders although talented, could not work with

It was because of their ego that the

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

my shoulder. Turning around, I

he get

wondered as I looked at

What do

way I see things,

for a bit, I shared my

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

between the third years was quite

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

have a game to be preparing

I

better

waved and left the waiting room. I followed him shortly

to escape an

it was that I

didn't have to worry

***

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

'”Click!

by bright lights, a subtle

which, with large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground as they turned

"Huuu..."

I subtly touched

"This feels weird."

up after a few hours of sleep

this factor, I almost missed a couple of

able to remain level-headed throughout the whole time and barely managed to defeat them without wasting any

'”Beep!

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

Dover; Time ➤ 2:

Smirk.

at my timer, a smirk invertedly appeared on