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

Just how could anyone put their body under

Everyone wanted to know.

everyone present that Ren's

was either broken or

...yet.

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

couldn't remove their eyes off of

'”Beep!

from the speaker of the arena's marking

at Ren's figure who was indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the arena

Ren Dover; Time ➤

day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted into

***

Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow

don't use

a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt

my best to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes

person, I roamed around the corridor

tried my best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away

I overdid

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

goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating one minute and twenty-eight

the fact that under Monarch's indifference, I

anything else. Even if it

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

about half of the dummies. It was the most appropriate

also what resulted in me sustaining serious internal

contestant was too severely

from the fact that I only sacrificed the areas that

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

amounts

body completely ignored

my body ignored everything and aimed

how much damage I was

my overall time ended up being one minute and

than

out and felt countless stares coming

I turned around and saw Aerin's score, one minute

I had

the difficulty was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

stopping myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

really thought that

as

she was confident that she could win the match.

forty-eight seconds. It was

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even

margin. A whopping seventeen seconds

completely crushed

I'm not

the head, Nicholas comforted

it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting

as he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted

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

"What do you mean?"

her head

TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

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

"More reckless approach?"

was a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she wondered what her brother

and directly used his body

head and

recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies.

eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting a high score

for a

for victory explains the

"I see..."

appeared on Aerin's face as she looked

'Brother's right.'

at her loss, Aerin did not have time to see

finally understood why she lost. It was because she put it her

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

Nicholas satisfyingly

even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't

"Understood"

replied as her

nothing's

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

definitely redeem myself

herself as her

we are really made

he looked at Aerin who seemed

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

No.

was only at her best when she was working

one could

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth.

smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids

the hell