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.

sacrificing his body to reduce the

their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much torture? Was it worth

Everyone wanted to know.

see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand drooped

was either

...yet.

didn't seem to care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge,

breathless. They couldn't remove their eyes off of the

'”Beep!

coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the end of

Ren's figure who was indifferently looking at the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the arena

Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

this day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted

***

finals ended. Inside of a

why I don't use this

the side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt

barely keep my eyes focused as everything

roamed around

after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from

it, I overdid

influence of Monarch's indifference throughout the whole game,

on its own to achieve the goal that I

overlooked the fact that

achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything

over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to

to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was the most appropriate

what resulted in

game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not

that I only sacrificed the areas

aim for the goal, my

felt immeasurable amounts

body

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

how much damage

everything was over, my overall time ended up being one minute

than my target

got out and felt countless

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

I had gotten from Melissa

was much higher than it

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

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

"Ah, shit..."

underneath my breath. My vision soon

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

the other hand, Aerin returned to her academy's waiting

thought that

muttered as her voice

was confident that she could win the match. She really did think

saw her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the best score she could've possibly

Yet...

found out that her opponent's time

by a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster

completely crushed

I'm not

the head,

rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a

towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted

opponent put his body on

"What do you mean?"

her head

the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren chose a more reckless

"More reckless approach?"

was a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she

chose to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his

her brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her attention towards

watched as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

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

paused for a second

it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss

"I see..."

appeared on Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights displayed on the

'Brother's right.'

how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did not have time

lost. It was because she put it her all like Ren

If he was willing to go that far

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

that would even risk getting injured severely to win.

"Understood"

replied as her mood

nothing's lost

this game didn't mean that everything was over. There

redeem

to herself as her fists clenched

them what we are really made of when we are working

looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of her previous

because of Aerin's amazing performances, but

No.

at her best when she was

no one

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth. My

my nostril as

the hell