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 reduce

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

Everyone wanted to know.

passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his

was either broken or

...yet.

completely unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge, get

their eyes off of the screen. They watched the

'”Beep!

their stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's

at the last dummy on

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the arena

Time ➤ 1: 31

this day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted into every's spectator's

***

Massacre finals ended. Inside of

is why I don't use this

side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I

barely keep my eyes focused as

a drunken person, I roamed around

my best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived

it, I overdid

indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly control what I

the goal that I had set in my mind

I had completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's indifference, I wasn't the same

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

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

of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move

was also what resulted in me

a system where it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked

stemmed from the fact that I

aim for the goal, my internal injuries

amounts of

my body completely ignored

everything and aimed

of how much damage I was

end, after everything was over, my overall time ended

than

but once I got out and felt countless stares coming from

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

information that I had gotten from Melissa

a doubt, the difficulty was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

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

"Ah, shit..."

my breath.

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

Aerin returned to her academy's waiting

thought that I could

as

to entering the match, she was confident that she could win the match. She really did think

she saw her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds.

Yet...

found out that her opponent's time

a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds

completely crushed

okay. I'm not

Aerin on the head, Nicholas comforted

of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious

a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of Aerin's

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she

not know this, but your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to

at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

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

"More reckless approach?"

confusion in Aerin's voice as she wondered

dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield. Take a

her brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head

some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her side, Nicholas

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, if done well, this strategy would've

a

victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss was

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked at

'Brother's right.'

she was at her loss, Aerin did not

she lost. It was because she put it her

level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head

even risk getting injured severely

"Understood"

replied as her mood improved a

right, nothing's

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

definitely redeem myself

herself as

them what we are really made of when we

Aerin who seemed

but Aerin was not at her best when she was by

No.

was only at her best when she was working with

no one could

***

"Ah..."

my mouth.

alcohol invaded my nostril as

what the hell