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

how could anyone put their body under so much torture? Was it worth

Everyone wanted to know.

seconds passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand drooped

either

...yet.

the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill. He

off of the screen. They watched the fight as though they were

'”Beep!

stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's

the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across the arena

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

was

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of

why I don't use

I felt my lungs burning. They felt like they

could barely keep my eyes focused as everything

roamed around the corridor

game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from everyone's eyes, I started coughing

I

I was under the influence of Monarch's indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable

on its own to achieve the goal that I

fact that under Monarch's indifference, I wasn't the same

anything else. Even if

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

rid of about half of the dummies. It was the

was also what resulted in me

would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my

that I

as my body continued to aim for the goal, my internal

felt immeasurable amounts of

body completely ignored

was only the fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything and

how much damage I

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

than my target

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

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

that I had gotten

the difficulty was much higher than it was

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

sweet going up my throat. Not long after,

"Ah, shit..."

blood-stained hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened and I slowly lost

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

Aerin returned to her academy's waiting

really thought that I could

muttered as

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

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

Yet...

she found out that her opponent's time was even

close margin. A whopping seventeen

crushed

okay. I'm

Aerin on the head, Nicholas

it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had

eyes squinted as he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she

opponent put his body on the line during the

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to

pointed at the TV screen displaying Ren's

match, compared to you where you directly avoided and

"More reckless approach?"

confusion in Aerin's voice

dummies attacks and directly used his body

instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her attention

to defend some of the attacks

body, he was essentially saving 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

a

to give it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you

"I see..."

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

'Brother's right.'

how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin

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

her opponent. If he was willing to go

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his

up against someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem ourselves

"Understood"

as her mood improved

right, nothing's

that everything was over. There were still

definitely redeem myself

herself as her fists clenched

we are really made of when we

at Aerin who seemed to have

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

No.

was only at her best when she was working with

one

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth.

invaded my nostril

the