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

stand. Just how could anyone put their

Everyone wanted to know.

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

either broken

...yet.

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

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

'”Beep!

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

was indifferently looking at the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across

Time ➤ 1:

was

***

after the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside

I don't use this

I felt my lungs burning. They

keep my eyes focused as everything around me

roamed around the corridor

my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from everyone's

I overdid

indifference throughout the whole game, I was

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

completely overlooked the fact that under

nothing about anything else.

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

rid of about half of the dummies. It was the

it was also what resulted in me

would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from

I only sacrificed

as my body continued to aim for the goal, my internal

immeasurable amounts of pain being

body completely ignored

body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies in

of how much damage

overall time ended

than my

got out and

one minute and forty-eight seconds,

that I had gotten

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

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

I felt something sweet going up

"Ah, shit..."

my breath. My vision soon darkened and

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

thought that I

muttered as her voice

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

one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was

Yet...

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

margin.

crushed

I'm not

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 in

his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

not know this, but your opponent put his body on the line during the

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to

pointed at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and

"More reckless approach?"

in Aerin's voice as she wondered

not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body

her head and directed

then watched as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

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 without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting a high

paused for a second before

got for victory explains the huge gap

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked at the

'Brother's right.'

of how frustrated she was at her loss,

lost. It was because

a whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the

next to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to

"Understood"

as her

right, nothing's

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

definitely redeem myself

herself as her fists

are really made of when we are working

who seemed to have regained

performances, but Aerin

No.

only at her best when she was working with her

no one could

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth.

my nostril

what the