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.

his body to

but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much torture?

Everyone wanted to know.

seconds passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening

was either

...yet.

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

eyes off of the

'”Beep!

sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's marking

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the arena

Time ➤ 1: 31

day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted into

***

after the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside

is why I don't use this

of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They felt

best to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes

roamed around the

look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded

I

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

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

overlooked the fact that under Monarch's indifference,

goal, I cared nothing about anything else.

remember feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for

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

resulted in me sustaining serious internal

contestant was too severely injured, from

I only sacrificed

body continued to aim for the goal, my internal

amounts of

my body completely ignored

if the pain was only the fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything

how much damage I was

my overall time ended up being one minute

slower than my

and felt countless stares coming

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

that I had gotten from Melissa was

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

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my throat. Not long after, blood

"Ah, shit..."

cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened and I

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

waiting room. Standing before her brother,

that I could

muttered as her voice

that she could win the match.

saw her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the best score she

Yet...

crushed once she found out that her opponent's time was even faster

margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster

completely crushed

okay. I'm not

on the head, Nicholas comforted

You're both the same rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he

nearby TV. Displayed

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she

not know this, but your opponent put his body on

"What do you mean?"

her head

screen displaying Ren's highlights

compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged all

"More reckless approach?"

of confusion in Aerin's voice as

to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body

instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her

Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the

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 a

a

to give it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss was without

"I see..."

she

'Brother's right.'

how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did

understood why she lost. It was because she put it

for her opponent. If he was willing to

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head

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

"Understood"

replied as her mood improved

nothing's lost

mean that everything was over. There were still the battle royale

definitely redeem myself

herself as her fists

them what we are really

who seemed to have regained some

forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was

No.

best when she was working

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

my mouth. My body ached

my nostril as my eyelids slowly

the hell