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

said as his

voice, it was quite apparent that he did

to secure 1033 points

response, Mark's brows knit

saying that we are 47

"Furthermore, Theodora academy's score is

only the

spoke up Perry as his voice couldn't

is 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 why we need to

Perry spoke, his face gradually

the fact that he had to wake up this

down and

Ebonie tried to

is any chance that we might lose,

wasted our time for this

Perry abruptly stood up.

exuded from his body as the students

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

me of the orcs I faced

"This is not nons'”"

You're just wasting my time

slightly, he made his way

he walked, everyone stepped to the side to

"Wait lis'”"

to have to agree with

Mark similarly stood up.

waiting for Ebonie to finish her sentence he followed Mark out of the room. Behind him, a row of students followed him out of

and what seemed to be her followers which included

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

individuals leaving the room,

arrogant pricks. Why

as her fists

'...As expected'

the scene from afar,

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

for Kevin's intervention, the overall winners

things, the situation was

now no longer in control of the

talented, could

their decisions only. It was because of their ego that

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

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

he get

as I looked

do

way I see things, she's

musing for a bit, I

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

between the third years was

was just as bad last year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this was the scene that had

a game to

asked Kevin as I checked today's

I better get

and left

managed to escape

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

worry about joining the

***

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

'”Click!

inside of a room illuminated by bright lights, a subtle clicking sound

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

"Huuu..."

deep breath, I subtly touched

"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

I almost missed a couple of dummies that were

was able to remain level-headed throughout the whole time and barely

'”Beep!

across the room,

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 2:

Smirk.

my timer, a smirk