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

witnessed this couldn't help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much torture? Was it worth

Everyone wanted to know.

that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand

was either broken

...yet.

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

off of

'”Beep!

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

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the arena

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

Ren's name was deeply imprinted into every's

***

after the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and

is why I don't

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

keep my eyes focused as everything around me looked

around

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

I overdid

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

own to achieve the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand.

I had completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's indifference,

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

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

the dummies. It was the most

it was also what resulted

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

the fact that I only sacrificed the areas

aim for the goal,

amounts of pain being transmitted

my body completely ignored

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

much damage I

overall

seconds slower than

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

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

information that I had gotten from

the difficulty was much

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long after,

"Ah, shit..."

my breath. My vision

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

thought that I could

as her voice

to entering the match, she was confident that she could win the match.

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

Yet...

completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's time

not even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster than

completely crushed

okay. I'm

on the head, Nicholas comforted

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

TV. Displayed

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

but your opponent put his body on the line

"What do you mean?"

head

at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the

"More reckless approach?"

Aerin's voice as she wondered

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

Aerin turned her head and

then watched as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of

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,

paused for a

explains the huge gap

"I see..."

face as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin

understood why she lost. It was because

the highlights now, Aerin found a whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then

satisfyingly nodded his head

were up against someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem ourselves

"Understood"

as her mood improved

nothing's lost

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

definitely redeem

as her

are really made

seemed to have regained

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

No.

when she was working with

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth. My

smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids slowly

the hell