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

was quite apparent that he did not take

managed to secure 1033 points on the

curtly responded. In response, Mark's brows knit for a

are

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

spoke up Perry as his voice couldn't

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

Perry spoke, his face gradually

extremely irritated about the fact that he had to wake up this early in the morning to talk about

and

Ebonie tried to calm Perry

overlook this. If there is any chance that we might lose, we have to

wasted our time

Perry abruptly stood up.

a domineering pressure exuded from his body as the

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

reminded me of the orcs I

"This is not nons'”"

thought that this was something important. You're just wasting my

turned around. Stretching his neck slightly, he made his way out of the waiting

stepped to the side to make

"Wait lis'”"

to agree

Mark similarly stood up.

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

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

the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie, shook

pricks. Why

cursed as her fists curled

'...As expected'

the scene from afar, I secretly

of this reason that the Lock nearly ended

for Kevin's intervention, the overall

was progressing exactly as it did

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

three leaders although talented, could not work

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

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

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

he get

I looked at

What do

I see

musing for a bit, I

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

third years was quite clear to

though it was just as bad last year, this year it became even

a game to be preparing

as I checked today's games

I better get

lightly, Kevin waved and left the waiting room. I followed

to escape

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

didn't have to worry about joining the conflicts

***

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

'”Click!

illuminated by bright lights, a subtle clicking

with large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground as

"Huuu..."

a deep breath, I subtly touched the small bracelet on my

"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 fast as I wanted it

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

throughout the whole time

'”Beep!

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

Dover; Time

Smirk.

my timer, a smirk invertedly