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.

last

his eyes

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

year we managed to secure

Mark's

saying that we are 47 points behind

TV screen, "Furthermore, Theodora academy's score is a whole 80 points higher than their last year's

It's only

up Perry as his

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 became

irritated about the fact that he had to wake

down and listen

breath, Ebonie tried to

overlook this. If there is any chance that

the end, you wasted our time for this useless

Perry abruptly stood up.

exuded from his body as the students next

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

me of the orcs I faced back

"This is not nons'”"

leaving. I thought that this was something important. You're just wasting my time with

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

to the side to make a path for

"Wait lis'”"

going to have to agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

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

behind Ebonie and what seemed to be her followers which included the

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

room, Ebonie, shook her

arrogant pricks. Why can't they listen

her fists curled into

'...As expected'

the scene from afar, I secretly shook

reason that the Lock nearly ended up

Kevin's intervention, the overall

situation was progressing exactly as it did in the

of the plot, the

talented, could not work with

only. It was because of their ego that the chances of the Lock

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

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

he get near

I looked at

What do

from the way I see things, she's

a bit, I

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

between the third years was quite clear

year it became even

a game

as I checked

better get

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

managed to escape

it was that I didn't attract the attention

have to worry

***

During the past week, I did what

'”Click!

room illuminated by bright lights,

large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground as they

"Huuu..."

touched the

"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

a couple of dummies

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

'”Beep!

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

Dover; Time

Smirk.

timer, a smirk