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

voice, it was quite apparent that

managed to secure 1033 points on the

In response, Mark's brows knit for

are 47 points behind

score is a whole 80 points higher than their last year's score on the first day.

only the first

as his voice couldn't help

now we're first. All we have to do is continue to be first. Simple as

Perry spoke, his face

he was extremely irritated about the fact that he had to wake up this

and listen to

breath, Ebonie tried to calm Perry

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

the end, you wasted our

Perry abruptly stood up.

exuded from his body as the

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

reminded me of the orcs I faced back

"This is not nons'”"

thought that this was something important. You're just

Stretching his neck slightly, he made his

stepped to the side to make a

"Wait lis'”"

going to have to agree with the brute over

Mark similarly stood up.

out of the

of the people attending the meeting left, leaving behind Ebonie and what

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

the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie,

pricks. Why can't they

cursed as her

'...As expected'

from afar,

reason that the Lock nearly ended up losing the

Kevin's intervention, the overall winners

the way I saw things, the situation was progressing exactly

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

talented, could

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

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Kevin standing next to

did he

I looked

do you

I see

musing for a bit, I

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

lack of unity between the third

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

a game to be preparing

Kevin as I

better get

and left the waiting room. I followed

managed to escape an unwanted

about the meeting it

that, I didn't have to worry about joining the

***

flew by and it was now Monday. During

'”Click!

inside of a room illuminated by bright

fell on

"Huuu..."

touched the small bracelet on

"This feels weird."

couldn't get used to my rank getting suppressed. It felt as though I woke up

couple of dummies that were coming at me from the

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

'”Beep!

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

Time ➤ 2:

Smirk.

my timer, a smirk invertedly appeared