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

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

Everyone wanted to know.

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

either broken or

...yet.

didn't seem to care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill. He repeated this over and over

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

'”Beep!

out of their stupor was the sonorous beep coming from the

figure who was indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor, the

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

resounded across the

Time

this day, Ren's name was deeply imprinted

***

the Dummy Massacre finals ended.

I don't use this

I felt my lungs burning.

move forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as

person, I roamed around the corridor

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

it, I

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

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

the fact that under

cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in me

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

the dummies. It was the most appropriate

also what resulted in me sustaining serious internal

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

the fact that I only sacrificed the

aim for the goal,

felt immeasurable amounts of

my body completely

ignored everything and aimed to kill

much

the end, after everything was over, my overall time ended up being one minute

seconds slower than my target

and felt countless stares coming from

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

I had

difficulty was much higher than it

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted out from my

"Ah, shit..."

I cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened and I

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

returned to her academy's waiting

that I could

muttered as

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

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

Yet...

found out that her opponent's time

a close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds faster than

crushed

I'm

on the head, Nicholas

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

turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights of

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted

this, but your opponent put

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to the

at the TV screen

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

"More reckless approach?"

Aerin's voice as she wondered what her

he chose to not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body

her head and directed her attention

his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the

eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting a high score in

paused for a

victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin

Aerin finally understood why she lost. It was because she

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

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

crazy. Someone that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You

"Understood"

as her mood improved a

right, nothing's

game didn't mean that everything was over. There were still

redeem

herself as her

really made of when

smiled as he looked at Aerin who seemed to

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

No.

when

no one could stop

***

"Ah..."

left my mouth. My

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostril

what the