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

help but feel their hairs stand. Just how

Everyone wanted to know.

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

was either broken or

...yet.

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

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

'”Beep!

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

last dummy on the floor, the crowd

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Ren Dover; Time ➤ 1: 31

this day, Ren's name was deeply

***

Dummy Massacre finals ended. Inside

I don't use

the side of a wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They

to move forward, I could barely keep my

drunken person, I roamed around the corridor of

my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away from

I

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

achieve the goal that I had set

completely overlooked the fact that

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

getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless waiting for them to completely surround

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

was also what resulted in me

the 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 to

I only sacrificed

continued to aim for the

the whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain

my body completely ignored

was only the fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to

of how much damage I

was over, my overall time ended

slower than my

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

I turned around and saw Aerin's score, one minute

that I had gotten from Melissa

was much higher than it was supposed to

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

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

"Ah, shit..."

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

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

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

really thought that I could

as

was confident that she could win the match. She

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

Yet...

she found out that her opponent's time was

close margin. A whopping seventeen seconds

completely crushed her

I'm

on the head, Nicholas

it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple opponents

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

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted

but your opponent put his body on the line during

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to the

at the TV screen displaying

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

"More reckless approach?"

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

directly used

head and directed her attention towards

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

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

for a

to give it everything he's got for victory explains the

"I see..."

as she looked at the highlights displayed

'Brother's right.'

her loss, Aerin did

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

If he

to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose

"Understood"

her mood improved

right, nothing's lost

she lost this game didn't mean that everything was

redeem myself

swore to herself as her

Let's show them what we are really made of when we

seemed to have regained some of her

of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not

No.

was only at her best when she

one

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth. My

my nostril as my

the hell