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.

body

how could

Everyone wanted to know.

Ren's physical state was worsening

either broken or

...yet.

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

remove their eyes off of the screen. They watched the fight as

'”Beep!

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

looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the arena

Time ➤

was deeply

***

Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and

why I don't use

side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I

could barely keep my eyes focused as everything around me

I roamed around the

best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at

I

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

that I had set

completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's indifference, I

I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted

battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround me before using the second

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

resulted in me

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

that I only

to aim for

felt immeasurable amounts

my body completely

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

of how much damage I

over, my overall time ended up being one minute and thirty-one

slower than my target

got out and

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

information that I had gotten from

was much higher than it was supposed

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

something sweet going up

"Ah, shit..."

breath. My vision soon darkened

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

that I

muttered as

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

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

Yet...

completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's time was even

by a close margin.

crushed her

I'm

the head, Nicholas comforted

was just 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

he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of Aerin's and Ren's

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she

this, but your opponent put

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to the

at the TV screen

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

"More reckless approach?"

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

attacks and directly used his body

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

as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her

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

for a second before

it everything he's got for victory explains the huge

"I see..."

Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

her loss,

It was because she put

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

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

up against someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win.

"Understood"

her mood improved a

nothing's lost

everything was over. There were

redeem

to herself as her fists

are really made of

he looked at Aerin who seemed to have regained some of

because of Aerin's amazing performances, but

No.

at her best when

one could stop

***

"Ah..."

my

my nostril as my eyelids slowly

the hell