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 to

couldn't help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much

Everyone wanted to know.

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

was either broken

...yet.

unfazed throughout the whole time.

of the screen. They watched the

'”Beep!

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

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

name was deeply imprinted

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and secluded

is why I don't use

repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs

my best to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes

a drunken person, I roamed around the corridor of the

game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from

I overdid

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

its own to achieve the goal that I had set

had completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's

achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything

dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them

of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given the time

also what resulted in me sustaining

where it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough to stop

likely stemmed from the fact that I only sacrificed

aim for

amounts of pain being transmitted all

my body completely

if the pain was only the fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies

how much damage I was

the end, after everything was over, my overall time ended up being one minute and

than

got out and felt countless

I turned around and saw Aerin's score, one minute and forty-eight seconds,

had gotten from

doubt, the difficulty was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

speaking, I felt something sweet going up my

"Ah, shit..."

cursed underneath my breath. My

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

returned to her academy's waiting room. Standing before her brother,

really thought that I could

muttered as her

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

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

Yet...

completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's

close margin. A whopping seventeen

crushed

I'm not

the head, Nicholas

the same rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple opponents

nearby TV. Displayed on it

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she lifted her head

put his body on the line

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head

screen displaying

watch the replay of the match, compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged

"More reckless approach?"

a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she

dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield. Take a

head and directed her attention towards

to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her side, Nicholas

been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting a high

for a

for victory explains the huge gap

"I see..."

look appeared on Aerin's face as she looked

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin did not have time

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

highlights now, Aerin found a whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head

Someone that would even risk getting injured severely

"Understood"

as her

nothing's

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

definitely redeem

to herself as

we are really

as he looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some

have forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin

No.

her best when

one

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my

of alcohol invaded my nostril

what the