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 the

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

Everyone wanted to know.

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

was either broken or

...yet.

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

remove their eyes off of the screen.

'”Beep!

was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker

figure who was indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd went into a

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the

Time ➤ 1:

Ren's name was deeply imprinted into

***

Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and secluded

I don't use this

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

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

around the corridor of the arena

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

it, I overdid

indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly

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

had completely overlooked the fact that under

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

as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me before using the second

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

also what resulted in me sustaining serious

a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough to

that I only sacrificed the areas

as my body continued to aim for the goal, my internal

I felt immeasurable amounts of

body

body ignored everything and aimed to kill

how much damage I was

end, after everything was over, my overall

than my target

got out and felt countless stares

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

information that I had gotten

doubt, the difficulty was much

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

going up my throat. Not long

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

to her academy's waiting room.

really thought that I could

muttered as her

match, she was confident that she could win the match. She really did

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

Yet...

completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's

margin. A

crushed

I'm

Aerin on the head,

as 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 was to be

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

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she

but your opponent put his body on the

"What do you mean?"

her head to the

TV screen displaying Ren's highlights

match, compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren chose

"More reckless approach?"

of confusion in Aerin's voice

avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield.

turned her head and directed her attention towards a

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

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

paused for a second

victory explains the huge

"I see..."

as she looked at the highlights

'Brother's right.'

loss, Aerin did not

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

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

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem ourselves in the battle

"Understood"

replied as her mood

right, nothing's lost

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

definitely redeem

as

show them what we are really

at Aerin who seemed to have regained some

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

No.

best when she was working with her brother.

one could

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth.

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my

what the hell