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 to reduce

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

Everyone wanted to know.

see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second

was either

...yet.

care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time.

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

'”Beep!

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

indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor, the crowd went

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Dover; Time

was deeply imprinted into every's spectator's

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow

why I don't use this skill

wall, I repeatedly coughed as I

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

I roamed around the corridor of the

I tried my 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 properly control what

its own to achieve the goal that I had set in my

the fact that under Monarch's indifference,

about anything else. Even if it

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

it was also what resulted in me sustaining

it would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out,

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

to aim for the

whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts of

my body completely

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

much damage I was

over, my overall time ended

slower than my

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

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

had gotten from Melissa

doubt, the difficulty was much

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

something sweet going up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted out from my

"Ah, shit..."

my breath. My vision soon darkened and I slowly lost

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

thought that I could

muttered as her

she was confident that she could

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

Yet...

found out that her

even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster

crushed her

okay. I'm not

Aerin on the head,

in speed. Furthermore,

nearby TV. Displayed on it were the

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted her

but your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

head to the

TV screen displaying Ren's

directly avoided and dodged

"More reckless approach?"

in Aerin's voice as she wondered what her brother

and directly used his body as a shield. Take a

brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head

used his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies.

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

paused for a second before

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

"I see..."

as she looked at the highlights

'Brother's right.'

of how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did not have time

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

her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then she could only accept her

Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as

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

"Understood"

her mood

right, nothing's

everything was over. There were still the battle

redeem

swore to herself as her fists clenched

them what we are really made of when we

seemed to have regained some of her

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

No.

at her best when she was working with

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth.

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids slowly

what the