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

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

Everyone wanted to know.

that Ren's physical state was worsening

was either

...yet.

whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill. He repeated this over

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

'”Beep!

from the speaker of

last dummy on the

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across

Time ➤ 1: 31

this day, Ren's name was deeply

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended.

I don't use this skill

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

forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything around

drunken person, I roamed around the

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

it, I

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

body moved on its own to achieve the goal that I had set

that

achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in me

vividly remember feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround

the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given

what resulted in

up a system where it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough

the fact that I

body continued to aim for the goal, my

game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain

my body

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

how much damage

the end, after everything was over, my overall time ended up being one minute

than

failed, but once I got out and felt countless stares

turned around and saw Aerin's score, one minute and forty-eight seconds,

that I had

a doubt, the difficulty was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

something sweet going up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted out from my

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

thought that I could

muttered as

confident that she could win the match. She

her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the best score she could've possibly have

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even faster than

by a close margin. A whopping

completely crushed her

okay. I'm not

on the head, Nicholas

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

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she

your opponent put his body

"What do you mean?"

head

pointed at the TV screen displaying

replay of the match, compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren

"More reckless approach?"

Aerin's voice as she

chose to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield. Take a

Aerin turned her head and directed her

some of the attacks coming from

been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a

a second

it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss

"I see..."

she looked

'Brother's right.'

of how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did

It was

new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then she

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem ourselves in the

"Understood"

as her mood

nothing's

everything was

definitely redeem myself

as her fists clenched

Let's show them what we are really made

looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of her

amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when she

No.

best when she was

one could

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth. My body ached

alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids slowly opened

the hell