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..."

sound of her chewing on her gum rang out. From the way she was acting, she

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

get matched

Pop—!

Emma's bubble burst apart.

will finally fight me

a fire appeared in her pupils. It was clear that

"Suit yourself."

you,

as I shrugged my shoulder. She didn't need to know anyway. The chances of her going against Kevin were

on going on easy on her if

Kevin's

in

"Really?"

Kevin, Emma waved her hand too. With a forced smile

still looks

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

"Ugh, don't remind me."

to

her words, the referee announced another winner and

deep

'He's strong.'

to his area was an enormous orc. His very presence attracted the attention of the spectators as his frightening display of power over the tournament had

will be advancing to the top 64

Vaalyun Venmoira. He will be advancing to the top 64 of

He will be advancing to the top 64 of the

series of new names started

face as I stared at

all higher ranked than

all rank

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

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

'...How troublesome.'

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

he was someone that I needed to watch

can't 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

He just barely made it to

one could participate was 25 years, and Gilbert just barely

sometimes I forget that he's only a

tongue before once again lowering her cap and basking

up. Those were the names of the winners of

was time

my turn

up, I

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

13, Caeruleum vs

the contestants make

called out,

the designated platform, I saw a youth slowly walk

his whole body

"Shit..."

cursed underneath my

expect someone strong, I didn't think they would be at

and

the same level as the protagonists, and someone who I had been keeping in mind for a

this is going to be an exciting

her hat.

"...Right."

isn't

who I would definitely have trouble

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

from my mind as I focused my attention on my

opposite me with his hands behind his back, Han Yufei gazed in my direction with a small frown on his face. Seemingly trying to

merely smiled at

a frown on his face, Han Yufei opened

to use those cards

"Mhm, who knows."