The Author's POV

'My goal is one minute and twenty-eight seconds...'

Setting a goal in his mind, Ren watched as the world around him lost color and his emotions disappeared alongside it.

Fear, nervousness, confidence, any and all emotions just disappeared.

In his mind, there was only one goal.

Reach one minute and twenty-eight seconds.

Regardless of the costs.

'”Beep!

Following the beeping sound, Ren closed his eyes.

Ta.Ta.Ta. Fiddling with a small ring on his finger, Ren calmly stood rooted in his spot. Within seconds the dummies were already upon him.

Lifting his head slightly, Ren opened his eyes and placed his hand on the sheat of his sword.

A second passed and over thirty dummies appeared within inches of his body.

'”Shuaa! '”Shuaa! '”Shuaa!

The sound of the air splitting reverberated across the space as each dummy swung their dulled weapon in Ren's direction.

To those that were spectating, it looked as though Ren had just given up.

Even as all of the dummies were attacking him at the same time, Ren stood still.

Some of the spectators couldn't watch anymore and turned their eyes away.

Although they knew that the contestants were going to be safe, just the visual impact of Ren getting attacked from all sides caused them to turn their heads away.

"Move!"

"What are you doing!"

"Gyaaaa'”!"

Screams echoed across the stands as some spectators stood up and shouted at the large monitor above.

The screams intensified even more once everyone could no longer see Ren's figure displayed on the screen.

All they could see at the moment were a pile of dummies on the same spot he was standing before.

'It's over.'

Everyone thought.

It was then that something shocking happened...

'”Click!

Following a subtle clicking sound, the volume of the arena grounds decreased.

The spectators who were watching Ren's match couldn't find any words to say as their mouth's hung wide open. Some even started stuttering as they pointed at the monitor above

"W-what just happened?"

"How is...this possible?"

"My god..."

Murmurs and discussions echoed across the arena grounds as everyone stared at the large monitor above.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Standing in the middle of the room was Ren's apathetic figure. His calm and indifferent eyes were displayed for the whole world to see.

From his demenour, it looked as though this was nothing to him.

Most shockingly, around him, over half of the dummies present in the room had turned red as they formed a small circle around him.

This scene was deeply etched in the spectator's eyes as they all stood up and cheered.

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

The spectator's blood was boiling. How could it not?

Watching as Ren singlehandedly dispatched over half of the dummies in a single move caused almost everyone to be shocked.

Furthermore, no one knew how he did it as the cameras were blocked by the dummies.

The battle was still not over though.

Ren had only gotten rid of half of the dummies. Everyone also noticed this as they quickly stopped cheering and kept their eyes glued on the large screen.

They didn't want to miss a single second of what was about to come.

...and they were glad they didn't.

Without even letting Ren take a breather, the remaining dummies attacked him from all sides.

Click. Click. Click. Subtle clicking sound resounded across the arena grounds as more and more dummies fell on the ground.

No one could see Ren's movements, but his cold and indifferent image was deeply imprinted in their minds.

He looked like an awe-inspiring general that reaped through the lives of all of the enemies that got in his path.

Every second a dummy turned red. Such a shocking scene repeated over and over again as the dummies around Ren turned red without him even moving.

It was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, even though Ren had taken down half of the dummies, there were still a lot of dummies left that relentlessly attacked him from all sides.

Most of the time there would be rings around Ren to block their attacks, but sometimes an attack would make it past his defense and hit him directly.

At first, they thought it was because Ren's defense wasn't that great.

But it was then that people began to realize...

Ren was doing it on purpose.

He was purposely using his body to absorb the impact coming from some of the attacks so that he could make a quick counterattack.

his body

their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much

Everyone wanted to know.

Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand drooped

either broken or

...yet.

throughout the whole

couldn't remove their eyes off of the screen.

'”Beep!

everyone out of their stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the end of the

was indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd went into

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Time ➤

this day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted into every's

***

Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and secluded

is why I don't use

side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They felt like

to move forward, I could barely keep

a drunken person, I roamed around

my game, once I arrived

I overdid

the whole game, I was unable to properly control what I

I had set in my mind beforehand.

that under Monarch's indifference, I

from achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything else.

feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me

managed to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given the time frame I

it was also what resulted in me sustaining serious

contestant was too severely injured, from how I was

most likely stemmed from the fact that I only sacrificed

as my body continued to aim

whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted all

my body completely ignored

my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies in the

how much damage

over, my overall time ended up being

slower than my

once I got out and felt countless stares coming from the spectators, I

Aerin's score, one minute and forty-eight seconds, reality

information that I had gotten

a doubt, the difficulty was much higher than

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

stopping myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long

"Ah, shit..."

breath. My vision soon darkened and I

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

other hand, Aerin returned to her academy's waiting

that I could

as her

she could

her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It

Yet...

completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's time

close margin.

crushed

I'm not

on the

it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple

his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted

but your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

head

the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

you directly avoided and

"More reckless approach?"

of confusion in Aerin's

not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield.

turned her head and directed her attention towards

used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from

precious seconds that you used on dodging some of the attacks. Though it could've gone wrong as he could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting a

a second

victory explains the huge gap

"I see..."

as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

loss,

now, Aerin finally understood why she lost. It was because she put it her all like Ren had

new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win.

"Understood"

her

nothing's

this game didn't mean that everything

redeem myself

as

them what we are really made of when we

looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of

amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when she was by

No.

at her best when she was working with

no one

***

"Ah..."

my mouth. My body

of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids slowly opened

what the hell