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.

body

help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their

Everyone wanted to know.

plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his

was either

...yet.

the whole time.

eyes off of the

'”Beep!

from the speaker of the arena's marking the

Ren's figure who was indifferently looking at the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

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

***

finals ended. Inside of

is why I don't

coughed as I felt my

to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything

around the corridor

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

it, I overdid

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

own to achieve the goal that I had

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

about anything else. Even if it resulted in

still vividly remember feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely

of the dummies. It

what resulted in me sustaining

game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how

stemmed from the fact that I only

my body continued to aim for the

immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted all over my

body completely ignored

ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies in the fastest

how much damage

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

slower than my target

thought that I had failed, but once I got out and felt countless stares coming

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

information that I had

was much

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

stopping myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my

"Ah, shit..."

my breath. My vision soon darkened

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

really thought that

as

she could win the match.

and forty-eight seconds. It

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even faster

even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds

completely crushed her

I'm

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 at once. This outcome was to be

towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of Aerin's

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she

know this, but your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to

TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

replay of the match, compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren

"More reckless approach?"

in Aerin's voice as she

directly used his

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

defend some of the attacks

gone wrong as he could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well,

for a second

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

"I see..."

as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin

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

respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game,

next to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's

"Understood"

replied as her

nothing's lost

game didn't mean that everything was over. There were still the battle

redeem myself

swore to herself as her fists

really made of

he looked at Aerin who seemed to have

performances, but Aerin was not at her best when

No.

her best when she was working

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth. My body

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my

what the