The Author's POV

Clank—!

The door closed, and silence enshrouded the room.

Leaning back on my bed, I looked towards the ceiling of the room.

"How troublesome…"

I muttered to myself. It wasn't long before I heard Angelica's voice inside of my head.

[Are you really going to drop out of the tournament, you know you could've just told her to wait after the tournament, right?]

"…about that."

Turning my attention back toward Angelica, a bitter smile flashed across my face. Before I could say anything, Angelica spoke up once again.

[If you had participated till the end, you would've most likely won the whole thing. That Kevin friend of yours, he's weaker than you.]

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I couldn't really deny her words.

Even though we had not fought each other yet, I could tell that the current Kevin was weaker than me. Not only did I know the ins and outs of how he fought, but I also had plenty of experience when it came to fighting.

I didn't waste my time in Henlour after all.

Just the knowledge of how Kevin fought was enough for me to be able to beat him, let alone all the experience that I had accumulated.

[If you know that he's weaker than you, why are you just quitting the tournament?]

"…It's cause I'm tired."

[Tired?]

Angelica replied, her voice sounding surprised.

Brushing my hair back, my hand soon paused on a certain part of my head before I started to scratch it.

"Yeah, I'm tired of all the constant problems that keep popping out of nowhere. I just want to relax for once. Have a breather."

I had already exposed myself, and I had proven my strength. The opponents, I could probably beat the all.

There was no need for me to continue the tournament anymore.

Most importantly, and the real reason why I no longer cared about continuing the tournament, was that I no longer cared about the top prize.

The only incentive the tournament had was the top prize. It was the only reason why I ever joined the tournament in the first place.

However, this no longer applied anymore. After hearing from Amanda just how much the elven queen cared about her mother, I figured that my gesture might end up earning her favor.

If that happened, what was the point of winning the tournament? Might as well get this event over fast.

Just to clarify, the reason why I gave Amanda the Xurin fruit wasn't because I wanted to earn the queen's favor. The possibility of earning her favor only occurred to me after I handed her the fruit and hence why I no longer held the tournament with as much importance as before.

Stroking the bottom of my chin, my mind shifted toward a different topic.

"…Right, I should also breakthrough right about soon."

The higher ranked I was, the greater the possibility of me surviving. The only hope I had when this happened was for me to not suddenly lose a rank.

Though the chances weren't exactly high, it was still possible. In hindsight, even if I did end up losing a rank, I'd just go back to where I was now.

Also, that was only applicable if I truly did lose a rank.

There might be a slim chance that I might just have to suffer an inhuman amount of pain, and I was fine with that. Nothing could be worse than what happened to me at the Monolith, right?

…I hope so.

suddenly felt a shape gaze coming from my left side. I didn't need to

you looking

tell the truth to

that if the elven queen comes to know of your involvement with the situation, you

didn't think that Amanda would say anything, I really couldn't afford to lose Angelica. This was the

didn't think

eventually said inside of my head upon

we can't really afford

I extended my arms and

me start making

as I had set my mind to prepare

the matchups for the round of sixteen.' I thought

TRIIIING— TRIIIING—

at the message written in it,

"…errr."

[What is it?]

ears. Turning to look in her direction, a bitter

arm and turning my wrist, the smile on

a really

[Round of sixteen]

vs

and all. Sigh, really, what kind of dog

next opponent, truly, I couldn't

Seriously.

***

Late night.

down on a bed, was a beautiful girl with auburn hair

rhythmical breathing echoed throughout the lonesome

Twitch.

the girl's eyes twitched. It was very subtle and almost unnoticeable. As the room was

Twitch. Twitch.

and after the first twitch came the second and then the third

the first thing that

'…What happened to me?'

barely had any recollections of what had happened. That didn't last for long as memories soon

'Ah…I lost.'

of Emma's head

moment when he suddenly appeared behind her

referee's

'…I was careless.'

fist when she

beating him were low. Because of everything that had happened with her uncle,

her friends and people close to her slowly surpass her, leaving her behind, Emma

up with Kevin and the others, however, through her sheer willpower and perseverance, she

rank, almost .

and others, but it was still amongst

Aaron was

to prove to Kevin and the others that

great experience

had

tournament. She had joined the tournament with

head up and looking around the room, Emma wondered out

"...Where are the others?"

when she realized that was dark outside, she

her head with her hand, Emma leaned her body to the side

"Huh?"

Moving her arm down, she once again