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

stand. Just how could anyone put their body under

Everyone wanted to know.

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

either

...yet.

care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole

couldn't remove their eyes off of the screen. They watched

'”Beep!

everyone out of their stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the

looking at the last dummy

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the

Dover; Time

this day, Ren's name was

***

finals ended. Inside

I don't use

I felt my lungs burning.

could barely keep my eyes

drunken person, I roamed around the corridor of the

look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from everyone's eyes, I started coughing

I

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

own to achieve the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating one minute and

overlooked the fact that under

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

over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to

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

it was also what resulted in

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

stemmed from the fact that I only sacrificed

to aim for the goal, my internal

whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted

my body completely ignored

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

much damage

was over, my overall

slower than

once I got out and felt countless stares coming from

one minute and forty-eight seconds, reality finally

I had gotten from

the difficulty was much higher

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my

"Ah, shit..."

underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

thought that I

as her

she could win the match. She really did think

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

Yet...

out that her opponent's

even by a close margin. A

completely crushed her

okay. I'm

the head, Nicholas

just as skillful as you. You're both the same rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore,

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

"Aerin."

"Yes"

she lifted her head

know this, but your opponent put his body on the line during

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head

screen

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

"More reckless approach?"

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

and directly used his body as a shield.

Aerin turned her head and directed her attention

watched as Ren recklessly used his body to defend some of the attacks

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

paused for a second

victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss was without

"I see..."

Aerin's face as she looked

'Brother's right.'

her loss, Aerin did not have time

she lost. It was because she put it her all like Ren had

he was willing to go that far to win the game,

next to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly

You were up against someone crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's

"Understood"

replied as her mood improved

right, nothing's

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

redeem

swore to herself as her

them what we are really made

who seemed to have regained

forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but

No.

best when she

one could stop

***

"Ah..."

short groan left my mouth. My body ached

my nostril as my eyelids

what the hell