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.

sacrificing his body to reduce

hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so

Everyone wanted to know.

for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand drooped a

either

...yet.

to care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time.

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

'”Beep!

sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the end of the

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Time

was

***

after the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow

don't use this

wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt

barely keep my eyes focused as everything around me looked

roamed around the

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

I overdid

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

I had set

fact that

I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it

all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them

get rid of about half of the

was also what resulted in me sustaining serious internal

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

likely stemmed from the fact that I

continued to aim for the

I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted

body completely

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

how much damage I was

over, my overall time ended up being one minute and

seconds slower than my

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

one minute and

information that I had gotten from Melissa

a doubt, the difficulty was much higher than

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my throat.

"Ah, shit..."

I cursed underneath my breath. My vision

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

really thought that

as her voice

the match, she was confident that she could

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

Yet...

she found out that her opponent's time was even faster than

margin. A

crushed

I'm not

on the head,

and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in

towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted her

opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

her head to

screen

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

"More reckless approach?"

a hint of confusion in Aerin's voice as she wondered what her

and directly used

her brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her attention towards a

his body to defend some of the attacks

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

a second

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

"I see..."

face as she

'Brother's right.'

how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did not

Aerin finally understood why she lost. It was

If he was willing to go that far to win

next to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his

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

"Understood"

replied as her

right, nothing's lost

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

definitely redeem

swore to herself as her

show them what we are really made of

at Aerin who seemed to

forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her

No.

at her best when she was

one could

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth. My

my nostril as my

what the hell