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

year we managed to secure

response, Mark's brows

we are

Theodora academy's score is a whole 80 points higher

only the

his voice couldn't

the end result, and right now we're first. All we have to do is continue to be first. Simple as that. I don't see

spoke, his face

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

a deep breath, Ebonie tried

is only the first day, I believe that we shouldn't overlook this. If there is any

wasted

Perry abruptly stood up.

pressure exuded from his body as the students

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

me of

"This is not nons'”"

something important. You're just wasting my time with your overly cautious

Perry turned around. Stretching his neck slightly, he made his way out

walked, everyone stepped to the side

"Wait lis'”"

going to have to agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

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

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

to me later telling me

the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie, shook her head and sat

Why can't they listen

as her fists

'...As expected'

the scene from afar,

because of this reason that the

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

was progressing exactly as

longer in control of the plot, the chances of the Lock losing were even higher

leaders although talented, could not

decisions only. It was because of their ego that the

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

on my shoulder. Turning

did he get near

wondered as I

do

I see things, she's

bit,

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

third years

became even more apparent. Portraying this was

game to

Kevin as I checked

better

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

I managed to

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

have to worry about joining the conflicts between the

***

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

'”Click!

inside of a room illuminated by bright

multiple dummies fell on the ground

"Huuu..."

subtly touched the small bracelet on

"This feels weird."

I woke up after a few hours of sleep as my

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

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

'”Beep!

a beeping sound resounded across the room, and my score

Dover; Time ➤ 2:

Smirk.

a smirk invertedly appeared on