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

stand. Just how could anyone put their body under so much torture?

Everyone wanted to know.

present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his

either broken or

...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 watched the fight as though they

'”Beep!

of their stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the

indifferently looking at the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across the

Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted into

***

finals ended. Inside of a narrow and secluded

why I don't use this

the side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They

my best to move forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything around

I roamed around the corridor of the arena

to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away

I overdid

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

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

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

nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in

feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting

to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was

also what resulted in me sustaining serious internal

up a system where it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough to stop

likely stemmed from the fact that I only sacrificed the areas that were less

to aim for the goal, my internal

amounts of

my body completely ignored

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

of how much damage

overall time ended up being one minute and thirty-one

than

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

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

that I had gotten from Melissa was

much higher than it

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

returned to her academy's waiting room. Standing before her

that

muttered as

the match, she was confident that she could win the match.

minute and forty-eight

Yet...

once she found out that her opponent's time

not even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster

completely crushed her

okay. I'm

the head, Nicholas

his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had

a nearby TV. Displayed on

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she lifted her head

this, but your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to the

TV screen displaying Ren's

match, compared to you where you directly avoided

"More reckless approach?"

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

and directly used his

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

some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

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 a second before

it everything he's got for victory explains

"I see..."

Aerin's face as she looked

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss, Aerin did not have time to

she lost. It was because she put it her all

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

Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his

were up against someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's

"Understood"

replied as her mood

nothing's

everything was

definitely redeem

herself as her

we are really

he looked at Aerin who seemed to have

of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not

No.

her best when she was working with her brother.

one

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth. My body

of alcohol invaded my

the hell