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..."

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

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

that when you get matched

Pop—!

Emma's bubble burst apart.

will finally fight me seriously for

a fire appeared in her pupils. It was clear that she was

"Suit yourself."

really goes all out against you, you'd probably lose

She didn't need to know anyway. The chances of her going against Kevin were the same

I wasn't planning on going on easy on her if

Kevin's looking

waved in Kevin's

"Really?"

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

still looks embarrassed

stared at Kevin's forced smile. Overhearing my words, Emma's face

"Ugh, don't remind me."

to the top 64

words, the referee announced another winner and my

head, a deep frown

'He's strong.'

as his frightening display of power over the tournament had made people realize

Sarfu. He will be advancing to the top 64 of

Venmoira. He will be advancing to

be advancing to the

a series of new

trace of solemness appeared on my face as I stared at the individuals whose names

all higher ranked than

were all rank from the undulations of

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

my attention was another announcement, and the frown on my face deepened. This time, it

'...How troublesome.'

of the crowd. With a calm and composed look,

of , he was someone that I needed

believe that scum

wasn't the only one that felt annoyed by Gilbert's appearance as Emma lifted her hat and threw a disgusted look in his

25. He just barely made it to the

age one could participate was 25 years, and

sometimes I forget that he's only a couple of years younger

once again lowering her cap and basking in

Those were the names of

it was time for the second half of the

it's my

up, I

whoever my next opponent was,

Caeruleum

contestants make

being called

platform, I saw

calm yet dangerous aura spread throughout his whole body as walked

"Shit..."

cursed underneath my

did expect someone strong, I didn't think they would

Yufei, rank, and a former classmate of

on the same level as the protagonists, and someone

be an

as she lifted her hat.

"...Right."

she isn't

Yufei was definitely someone who

repetitive magic card attack system from me, there really wasn't

from my mind as I focused my attention on my opponent. Han

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

merely smiled at

face, Han Yufei opened his

going to use

"Mhm, who knows."