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

who witnessed this couldn't help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body

Everyone wanted to know.

to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the

was either

...yet.

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

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

'”Beep!

the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the arena

Ren Dover; Time ➤

Ren's name was deeply imprinted into every's spectator's

***

finals ended. Inside of a

is why I don't

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

to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes

person, I roamed around the corridor of the

my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away

it, I overdid

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

the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating one minute

completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's

cared nothing about anything else. Even if

body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless

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

what resulted

once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough to stop

fact that I only sacrificed the areas that were less

my body continued to aim for

game, I felt immeasurable amounts

body completely ignored

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

of how much

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

seconds slower than my

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

one minute and forty-eight seconds,

I had gotten

difficulty was much

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

going up my throat. Not long after, blood

"Ah, shit..."

at blood-stained hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

waiting room. Standing before her brother, Aerin's

really thought that I

muttered as

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

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

Yet...

out that her opponent's time

not even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen

completely crushed

I'm not

Aerin on the head, Nicholas

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 in targeting multiple opponents at once. This

as he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of Aerin's and Ren's

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she lifted her

your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to

TV screen displaying Ren's highlights and

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

"More reckless approach?"

confusion in Aerin's

and directly used his body as a shield. Take a look at

brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head and

to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

been 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 in

for a

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

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights

'Brother's right.'

loss, Aerin did

Aerin finally understood why she lost. It was because she

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

Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head

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

"Understood"

as her mood improved a

nothing's

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

definitely redeem myself

to herself as

really made of when

who seemed to have regained some

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

No.

was only at her best when she was working with her brother.

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth. My

of alcohol invaded my nostril as

the