The Author's POV

'”Bang!

The blaring sound of a table being pounded resounded across the room. Following this, an enraged roar echoed across the room.

"This is bullshit!"

Perry stood up.

"I shouldn't be responsible for our school's lackluster performances!"

"That's not the point"

Sitting next to Perry, Ebonie shouted back. Her voice contained all of the frustration she held back for the past week.

"I've repeatedly warned you about this at the beginning of the week yet none of you listened to me!"

Turning around, Ebonie pointed at the TV screen where the rankings were shown and once again raised her voice.

"Now, look! We're only fifty points ahead of Theodora academy who should've been two hundred points behind according to the initial forecast. Whose fault is it other than yours for this?"

「Rankings」 - 「Points」

Lock Academy - 11,089

Theodora Academy - 11,039

Lutwik Academy - 10,785

Vellon Academy - 10,467

SilverWing Academy - 9,803

Kukz Academy - 9,732

DeathSigil Academy – 9,311

Dusk of Dawn Academy - 8,953

Everlight Academy -8,824

PridedHorses Academy - 8,645

"What the fuc'”"

"Rather than voicing out your complaints, let's talk about the possible solutions to this problem."

Cutting Perry off before he could swear, was Mark. Compared to the first meeting, his face looked a lot more serious. He was no longer treating this as a joke.

He knew just how serious their current predicament was.

"...Right"

Finally, calming down a bit, Ebonie stood up. Biting her lower lip, she looked at everyone that had gathered in the room.

"From what I've gathered, in order for us to win, all we need is four first-years to win their respective games, followed by two by the second years."

Pausing, Ebonie took out a tablet. Tapping on the screen on the tablet, the TV screen behind her changed.

"If they somehow can achieve this, we should be able to widen the gap with Theodora Academy. If we can't achieve that then we have no choice but to..."

Ebonie paused.

"No choice but to...?"

Perry asked as he too seemed to have also calmed down from the previous outburst.

"Win one of the battle royale games..."

"..."

At her words, the room instantly became quiet.

If there was one game that no one could guarantee first place spot, it would be the battle royale game.

The reason was simple.

There was no rule that stated that the other academies couldn't form alliances with one another.

As a result of this rule, every year the Lock and the other larger academies would end up fighting at a numerical disadvantage. Making it much harder for them to win first place.

It was also because of this that the points awarded to the academies upon winning the game were much higher than singular games.

If two academies were neck and neck with each other in terms of points, they'd need to be able to win the battle royale in order to widen the gap.

"That shouldn't be a problem."

The first to speak up was Perry. A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Since we're already guaranteed first place in our battle royale, we don't really have to worry too much about it."

"That's easier said than done..."

Ebonie replied as she put her tablet down. From the way that she didn't deny Perry's statement, it seemed as though she agreed with him about the fact that the third year will win their battle royale.

to be completely confident about

it? I don't think so. It isn't right if the third years are the ones

it was

of the people that had gathered

aura started exuding from his body.

to Mark's glare, everyone in the room

followed their example and nodded my

cared about what they were saying. My mind was

specifically, regarding the Monolith

with him in his room to discuss more on the

was too lazy or anything like that, it was just that the book was

to Kevin, the book was filled with endless amounts of jibberish that

his body with the new soap that he had bought yesterday at the convenience store...''”Now why would I want to

remained the same size, the number of pages it had was scary.

useless stuff like that. This was why I just chose to directly ask him

same roof had its perks. Within a minute

how I had this vision that

I managed to get Kevin to spill

because he trusted me a lot, or just because he was still immature due to his young age, after

was no concrete evidence, it was enough to convince me that something was definitely going

talk pretty much confirmed that my worries weren't

was indeed planning

was going to

what I had gathered from Kevin, they were planning on doing something big during

good enough for

they were

had some time to work with.

all for

I was preoccupied with my thoughts, Ebonie's voice suddenly resounded across

in the room stood up. I too subconsciously

since the beginning of the meeting, and after coming up with a rough plan,

fail to win to get enough points in the individual matches, we will bet everything on the battle royale. I hope everyone tries their best till then. I will not let the technical staff brief some individuals on their upcoming games. Good

Not long after, Mark and Perry also

"Ren, come here"

about to also leave, Melissa called out for me

What do

without moving from

to

far

I shook my head.

previous experiences with Melissa, I wanted nothing more than to be as far away from her as

am I that

her mouth with her

replied.

didn't misunderstand, I repeated this

for god's sake. I'm not doing this because

Melissa was starting

contestant for the tournament, she wasn't actually participating in any

before, there was a

analyze the student's performances as well as the

she was part of the technical

coming

I'll stop joking. What

and when to back down, I gave

"Here"

handing me her tablet, Melissa pointed towards a

"What is this?"

I curiously asked.

is the time that you need to beat in

you the confidence that this

the tablet, I solemnly looked at the information

a rough estimate of her final score. Taking into account the worst-case scenario, I've shaven off ten seconds off of her

the time Melissa was

and twenty-eight

"Indeed."

her

from each game, this should be the target score that you should be aiming for when entering the finals.

my direction. With a soft voice, she asked.

"...Hmmm, maybe?"

side of my neck,

there was a possibility of me beating this score,

I had some confidence in beating the score, I wasn't arrogant to the point that I would think that my victory

I actually won, it was always best to remain a little

you can't do it

put her hands in her pocket and left. From the looks of it, she didn't want to stay any

about my

going to let her go like that. I needed to have

"What?"

Melissa's footsteps halted.

smile appeared

about you try the new potion

comes with the label

a meaningful

Melissa made a potion for me it wasn't even made from her. Just something she got off the

that I personally poured all of my love into. Trust me. You're going