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 to

their hairs stand. Just how could anyone

Everyone wanted to know.

see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the

either

...yet.

to care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill. He

off of the screen. They watched the fight

'”Beep!

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

Ren's figure who was indifferently looking at the last dummy

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across

Time ➤ 1: 31

name was deeply imprinted

***

ended. Inside

why I don't use

as I felt my lungs burning. They

best to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything around me looked

a drunken person, I roamed around the

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

it, I overdid

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

own to achieve the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating one minute

completely overlooked the fact that

from achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything

as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me before using the second movement of

one swift movement, I managed to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was

what resulted

up a system where it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely

that I only sacrificed the areas that were less

as my body continued to aim for the goal, my

game, I felt immeasurable amounts of

body

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

how much damage I

my overall time ended up being one

than my target

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

Aerin's score, one

I had gotten

was much higher than it

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my

"Ah, shit..."

cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened and I slowly

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

hand, Aerin returned to her academy's waiting room.

that I

muttered as

she could win the match. She really

and forty-eight seconds. It was the

Yet...

crushed once she found out that

a close margin. A

crushed her

I'm

Aerin on the head,

as you. You're both 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

squinted as he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

this, but your opponent put his body on the line during

"What do you mean?"

head to

the TV screen displaying

directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and

"More reckless approach?"

hint of confusion in Aerin's voice

dummies attacks and directly used his

Aerin turned her head and

watched as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks

wrong as he could've been eliminated for

for a

everything he's got for victory explains the

"I see..."

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

'Brother's right.'

frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did not

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

whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go

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"

her mood

nothing's

that everything was over. There were still the battle

definitely redeem myself

to herself as her fists clenched

really made of when we are working

at Aerin who seemed

Aerin's amazing performances, but

No.

was only at her best when she was working with

no one

***

"Ah..."

groan left my

smell of alcohol invaded my

what the