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.

was sacrificing his body to reduce

help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their

Everyone wanted to know.

plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was

was either

...yet.

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

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

'”Beep!

was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of

at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd went into

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Time ➤

Ren's name was deeply

***

ended. Inside of a narrow

don't use

I repeatedly coughed as I

move forward, I could barely keep

a drunken person, I roamed around

I finished my game, once

it, I overdid

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

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

fact that under Monarch's

I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted

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

of about half of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given the time frame I

was also what resulted in me

was too severely injured, from

most likely stemmed from the fact that I only sacrificed the areas

body continued to aim for the goal, my internal injuries

I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted all

body completely

of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies

of how much damage I was

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

seconds slower than my

once I got out and felt countless stares coming from the spectators,

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

I had

was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

going up my throat. Not long after, blood

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

that I

muttered as her voice

she could win the match.

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

Yet...

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

even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen

crushed her

I'm

on the

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 outcome

TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of Aerin's and Ren's

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted her

opponent put his body on the

"What do you mean?"

her head to the

at the TV screen displaying

directly avoided and dodged all

"More reckless approach?"

was a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she

avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body as

head and

of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

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

a second

give it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you

"I see..."

face as she

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin did not have time

it now, Aerin finally understood why she lost. It was because she put it her all like Ren

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 she could

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as

Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit.

"Understood"

as her mood improved

nothing's

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

redeem myself

swore to herself as

Let's show them what we are really made of

as he looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some

Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at

No.

at her best when she was working with her brother.

one could

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth.

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my

what the hell