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

how could anyone put their body

Everyone wanted to know.

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

either

...yet.

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

eyes off of the screen. They watched the fight as

'”Beep!

stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the

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

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across

Time

this day, Ren's name was

***

Massacre finals ended. Inside

is why I don't use this

I felt my

I could barely keep my eyes

roamed around

finished my game, once I

I

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

I

that under Monarch's indifference, I wasn't the

goal, I cared nothing about anything

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

swift movement, I managed to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was the

resulted in me sustaining serious internal

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

the fact that I only sacrificed the areas that

my body continued to aim

felt immeasurable amounts of pain

body completely ignored

everything and aimed to kill the dummies in the

much

was over, my overall time ended

than

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

turned around and saw Aerin's score, one minute

had gotten from

was much higher than it was supposed to

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

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

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

really thought that I could

muttered as

match, she was confident that she

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

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even faster than

by a close margin. A whopping

completely crushed her

I'm not

Aerin on the head, Nicholas

it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting

towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted

put his

"What do you mean?"

head

at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren chose a more reckless

"More reckless approach?"

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

the dummies attacks and directly used his body

head

Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming

his body, he 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 score in the

for a second before

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

"I see..."

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

'Brother's right.'

her loss, Aerin

why she lost. It was because she put it her

Aerin found a whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded

injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's

"Understood"

her

right, nothing's

that everything was

definitely redeem myself

swore to herself as her fists

we are really made of when we are

as he looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of her

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

No.

her best when she was working

one could

***

"Ah..."

my

invaded my nostril

the hell