The Author's POV

Crash—!

With a loud crash, an orc came crashing down on the hard ground.

"Haa...haa..."

'I will definitely make you pay for what you've done.' Kevin swore to himself as he stared at the orc opposite him. With his head on the ground and his eyes closed, the orc was knocked down cold.

"The opponent is knocked out cold, the match is over."

The referee's voice resounded across the grounds, marking him the victor of the duel.

"Winner, Kevin Voss. He will be advancing to the top 64 of the tournament."

Announcing his victory, the referee raised Kevin's hand in the air.

The loud cheers coming from the audience rang out.

Kevin in return smiled at the audience.

'...That piece of shit.'

Or at least pretended to smile.

In reality, he was still fuming about what had happened yesterday.

The humiliation and embarrassment he felt were something he had never felt before in his life. Just recalling what happened sent shivers down his spine. The embarrassment was just too much.

Turning his head and staring towards the distance where Ren stood, Kevin deeply sighed.

Then, turning his head, he looked towards Emma who was seated next to Ren. Noticing his stare, the two of them waved in his direction.

Staring at the two of them from the arena grounds, doubt crept inside of Kevin's heart.

'...Could the figure in the dream really be Ren?'

Part of him truly wanted to dismiss such thoughts from his mind, but after looking back at the past, Kevin realized that there was a chance that the figure in the vision was Ren.

The Hollberg incident, the time when they were attacked by demons when they were returning from the dungeon, and just a week ago when he lost himself.

In those times, Ren truly reminded Kevin of the figure in the vision.

No matter how many times he wanted to deny reality, he knew that he couldn't...but Kevin wasn't planning on letting those visions dictate his mind.

In the first place, he never truly understood what the visions signified. Were they a vision of the possible future?...or were they simply just visions?

He spent a lot of time trying to rack his brain over the matter, but regardless of how much he thought about it, he couldn't quite understand it.

In the end, he just stopped thinking about it.

He realized that thinking on the matter was simply going to be a waste of time.

Be it the present past or whatever the visions signified, Kevin was not planning on letting the visions corrupt his mind and turn his back on his friend.

Never...

***

"The real matches should begin now."

With my arms crossed, I solemnly gazed at the platforms below.

"...the real matches?"

"Yeah."

I nodded my head. Seated next to me was Emma who was leaning back with her cap held down, covering her face. A small shadow cast over her beautiful face.

Apart from the two of us, pretty much everyone else was fighting in the arenas below. Jin, Amanda, Hein, Ava, you name it, they were all fighting.

Somehow, I ended up stuck with Emma whilst waiting for our turns.

"What I mean is that the next opponents are going to be extremely hard to deal with."

"Munch...much..."

repetitive munching sound of her chewing on her gum rang out. From the way she was acting, she didn't

"Munch...much...I'll still win."

that when you get matched up with

Pop—!

Emma's bubble burst apart.

way he will finally fight me

fire appeared in her pupils. It was clear that she was excited at the prospect of

"Suit yourself."

out against you, you'd

The chances of her going

planning on going on easy on her if she did go up against

Kevin's looking at

in Kevin's

"Really?"

staring at Kevin, Emma waved her hand too. With a forced

still looks embarrassed from

smile. Overhearing my words, Emma's face cringed as

"Ugh, don't remind me."

will be advancing to the

words, the referee announced another winner and my

head, a deep frown emerged

'He's strong.'

presence attracted the attention of the spectators as his frightening display of power over

advancing to the top 64

be advancing to the top 64 of the

be advancing to the top 64 of

series of new names started getting called

on my face as I stared at the individuals whose names

higher ranked than

were all rank from the undulations of mana

Gilbert Von Dexteroi. He will be advancing to the top 64 of the

frown on my face deepened. This time, it

'...How troublesome.'

Gilbert who basked in the cheers of the crowd. With a calm and composed look, he

a rank of , he was someone that

believe that scum is also

one that felt annoyed by Gilbert's appearance as Emma lifted

is only 25. He just barely made it to

was 25 years, and Gilbert just barely made

I forget that he's only a couple of

lowering her cap and basking in the sunlight

more people's names were called up. Those were the

were announced, it was time

it's my turn

I

matches had been smooth sailing, but I knew that whoever my next opponent was, it was going to be someone powerful. I

Caeruleum vs Han

contestants make their way to

my alias being called out, my hands

the designated platform, I saw a youth slowly walk to

throughout his whole body as walked toward

"Shit..."

silently cursed underneath

I did expect someone strong, I didn't think

Yufei, rank, and a former classmate

whose combat talents were on the same level as the protagonists, and someone who I

is going to be an

her hat. Turning my

"...Right."

isn't entirely

someone who

matchup did not attract that much attention. With the people having already witnessed the same repetitive magic card attack system from me, there really wasn't any excitement for my match

removed all unnecessary thoughts from my mind as I focused my attention on my opponent. Han

his back, Han Yufei gazed in my direction with a small frown on his face. Seemingly trying

smiled at

frown on his face, Han Yufei

to use

"Mhm, who knows."