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 to reduce the

hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body

Everyone wanted to know.

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

was either broken

...yet.

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

eyes off of the screen. They watched the fight as though

'”Beep!

beep coming from the speaker of the

figure who was indifferently looking at the last dummy

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 1:

was deeply imprinted

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended.

why I don't use

of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt

barely keep my eyes focused as everything

I roamed around the corridor of the arena

my best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from everyone's

I

I was under the influence of Monarch's indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly control what

moved on its own to achieve the goal that I had set

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

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

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

the dummies. It was the most

it was also what resulted in

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 out, my injuries were not enough

likely stemmed from the fact that I only

my body continued to aim for the

amounts of

my body completely ignored

imagination, my body ignored everything and

of how much damage

overall time ended up

seconds slower than my target

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

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

had gotten

a doubt, the difficulty was much higher than it

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long

"Ah, shit..."

hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

academy's waiting room. Standing before her brother,

really thought that I could

muttered as

confident that she could win the match. She really did think

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

Yet...

out that her opponent's time was even faster than

by a close margin. A whopping

completely crushed her

I'm

on the

from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he

towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

your opponent put his body on the

"What do you mean?"

head to

at the TV screen displaying Ren's highlights and

the match, compared to you where you directly avoided and

"More reckless approach?"

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

the dummies attacks and directly used

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

defend some of the attacks coming from the

he could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a

paused for a

for victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your

"I see..."

Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

was at her loss,

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

injured severely to win. You didn't

"Understood"

replied as her

right, nothing's

that everything was over. There were still

definitely redeem myself

herself as

are really made

who seemed to have regained

may have forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when she was by

No.

best when she was working with her

one could stop

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth. My

invaded my nostril as my eyelids

the hell