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

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

Everyone wanted to know.

passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical

either broken

...yet.

throughout the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill. He repeated this

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

'”Beep!

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

the last dummy

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Dover; Time ➤

name was deeply imprinted into

***

ended. Inside

is why I don't use

repeatedly coughed as I felt

keep my eyes

person, I roamed around the corridor

fine after I finished my game, once I arrived

I overdid

Monarch's indifference throughout the whole

I had set in my mind

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

achieving my goal, I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in

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

of about half of the dummies. It was the most

also what resulted in me sustaining

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

I only sacrificed the areas

my body continued to aim for the goal,

the whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts

body

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

how much damage I

everything was over, my overall

than

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

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

information that I had gotten from Melissa

much higher than it was

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat.

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

Aerin returned to her academy's waiting room. Standing before her brother,

thought that I could

as her

she could win the

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

Yet...

crushed once she found out that her

a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster

crushed

okay. I'm

Aerin on the head,

specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple opponents at once. This

head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she lifted her

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

"What do you mean?"

her head

at the TV screen displaying

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

"More reckless approach?"

in Aerin's

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

Aerin turned her head and

Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her side, Nicholas

could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy

a second

he's got for victory explains the

"I see..."

solemn look appeared on Aerin's face as she looked at the

'Brother's right.'

she was at her loss, Aerin

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

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

satisfyingly nodded his head

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

"Understood"

replied as her mood improved a

nothing's lost

this game didn't mean that everything was

definitely redeem myself

to herself as

them what we are really

smiled as he looked at Aerin who seemed to

of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when she

No.

only at her best when she

one could stop

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth. My body ached

my

what the