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..."

munching sound of her chewing on her gum rang out. From the way

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

that when you get matched up

Pop—!

Emma's bubble burst apart.

better. This way he will finally fight me seriously for

in her pupils. It was clear that she was excited at the

"Suit yourself."

Kevin really goes all out against you, you'd probably lose in a

didn't need to know anyway. The chances of her going against Kevin

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

look, Kevin's looking

waved in

"Really?"

staring at Kevin, Emma waved her hand too. With a forced smile on his face, Kevin waved

looks embarrassed from

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

"Ugh, don't remind me."

will be advancing to the top 64 of the

the referee announced another winner

my head, a deep frown emerged on

'He's strong.'

His very presence attracted the attention of the spectators as his frightening display of power over the tournament had made people realize that he was a

will be advancing to the top

He will be advancing to the top 64

Barrelbeard. He will be advancing to

him, a series of new names started

face as I stared at the individuals whose names were being

all higher ranked

a simple glance that they were all rank from the

be advancing to the top 64

and the frown on my

'...How troublesome.'

the crowd. With a calm and composed look, he walked

was someone that I needed to

can't believe that scum is

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

is only 25. He just

participate was 25

he's only a couple of

her cap and basking in

the names of the winners of the first half of the round of

it was time for the second

it's my turn

up, I stretched my

knew that whoever my next opponent was, it was going to be someone powerful. I could no

13, Caeruleum vs Han

the contestants make their

alias being called out,

lifting my head and staring towards the designated platform, I saw

dangerous aura spread throughout his whole body

"Shit..."

cursed underneath my

someone strong, I didn't

rank, and a former

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

be an exciting match to

lifted her hat. Turning my head, I rolled

"...Right."

she isn't entirely

someone who I would definitely have

attention. With the people having already witnessed the same repetitive magic card attack system from me, there really

from my mind as I

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

merely smiled

on his face, Han Yufei

going to use those cards

"Mhm, who knows."