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 to reduce the

how could anyone put their body

Everyone wanted to know.

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

was either broken or

...yet.

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

breathless. They couldn't remove their eyes off of the screen. They watched

'”Beep!

from the speaker of

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Dover; Time ➤

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

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a

don't use this skill

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

I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything around me

roamed around the corridor of the arena

look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from everyone's eyes,

it, I

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

on its own to achieve the goal that I had set in

the fact that

nothing about anything

the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me before

to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given the time frame

was also what resulted in me sustaining serious internal

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

I only sacrificed the areas that were

my body continued to aim for the

amounts of pain

body completely

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

of how much damage

over, my overall

than my target

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

and saw Aerin's score, one

I had

doubt, the difficulty was much higher than it was supposed to

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

sweet going up my throat. Not

"Ah, shit..."

breath.

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

that I

as her

match, she was confident that she could win

of one minute and forty-eight seconds.

Yet...

found out that her opponent's

margin. A whopping seventeen

completely crushed

I'm

Aerin on the head, Nicholas

opponent was 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 that I presume specializes

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

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted

your opponent put his body on the line

"What do you mean?"

head to

pointed at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights and

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

"More reckless approach?"

in Aerin's voice as she wondered what her brother

he chose to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body

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

some of the attacks coming

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 the most optimal for getting a

paused for a

it everything he's got for victory explains the

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin did not have time to see Ren's

lost. It was because she

opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then she could only accept her

Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his

injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem

"Understood"

replied as her

right, nothing's lost

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

definitely redeem

herself as her

show them what we are really made of

he looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of her previous

people may have forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was

No.

at her best when she

one

***

"Ah..."

my mouth. My body

my nostril as

what the hell