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

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

you get matched

Pop—!

Emma's bubble burst apart.

he will finally

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

"Suit yourself."

you, you'd probably lose in

shoulder. She didn't need to know anyway. The

on going on easy

look, Kevin's

in

"Really?"

at Kevin, Emma waved her hand

looks embarrassed

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

"Ugh, don't remind me."

to

her words, the referee announced another winner and my previous joyous

a deep frown

'He's strong.'

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

will be advancing to the top 64 of

will be advancing to the top 64

will be advancing to the top 64 of the

of new names started getting called

face as I stared at the individuals whose names were being

higher

all rank

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

frown on my face deepened. This time, it was out of

'...How troublesome.'

in the cheers of the crowd. With a calm and composed look, he walked back to his

a rank of , he was someone that I

can't believe that scum

annoyed by Gilbert's appearance as Emma lifted her hat and threw

is only 25. He just barely made it to

maximum age one could participate was 25

that he's only a couple of years younger

once again lowering her cap

the names of the winners of the first half of

minutes after the winners were announced, it was time for the second half of the matches to

my

I stretched my

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

13, Caeruleum

contestants make their

called out, my hands

I saw a youth slowly walk to

spread throughout his whole body as

"Shit..."

cursed underneath my

did expect someone strong, I didn't think

and a former classmate of

the protagonists,

this is going to be an

from behind as she lifted her hat. Turning

"...Right."

she isn't entirely

Yufei was definitely someone who I would

the same repetitive magic card attack system from me, there really wasn't any excitement for my match as I headed down to

from my

opposite me with his hands behind his back, Han Yufei gazed in my direction with a small

smiled at his

a frown on his face,

use

"Mhm, who knows."