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 reduce the

stand. Just how could anyone

Everyone wanted to know.

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

either broken

...yet.

unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill.

couldn't remove their eyes off of the screen. They watched the fight as though they

'”Beep!

beep coming from the

looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across

Time ➤

Ren's name was deeply imprinted into

***

Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and

don't

wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They felt like they were

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

a drunken person, I roamed around

I tried my best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at

I

the influence of Monarch's indifference throughout the whole

body moved on its own to achieve the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating

that under Monarch's

I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in

could still vividly remember feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me before using the second movement

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

also what resulted

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

likely stemmed from the fact that I only

as my body continued to aim

felt immeasurable amounts of pain being

my body completely ignored

only the fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill

of how much damage I

everything was over, my overall time ended up

slower than

got out and

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

that I had gotten from Melissa was

was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

sweet going up my throat. Not long after,

"Ah, shit..."

my breath. My vision soon darkened and I

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

that

muttered as her

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

one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the best score

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even

by a close margin. A whopping

completely crushed her

okay. I'm not

on the head,

just as skillful 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

he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted

know this, but your opponent put

"What do you mean?"

head

pointed at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

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

"More reckless approach?"

a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she

chose to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his

turned her head and directed her attention towards a nearby

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

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

for a second before

for victory explains the huge gap between you

"I see..."

as she looked at the

'Brother's right.'

her loss, Aerin did

It was because she put

opponent. If he was willing to go that far

satisfyingly nodded his head as he

injured severely to win. You

"Understood"

her mood

nothing's lost

she lost this game didn't mean that everything was over. There were still the battle royale

redeem myself

as

Let's show them what we are really made of when we

Aerin who seemed to have regained some of her previous

have forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when

No.

was only at her best when she

no one could

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my

smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids slowly opened

what the