The Author's POV

Clank—!

"Follow me."

Coming out of my cell, I followed a demon out.

Everything happened out of nowhere. I was just quietly relaxing in my cell, and before I knew it, a demon came to my room and called out for me.

I was quite clueless about where I was going, but I decided not to say anything and just followed along.

There was no point in asking questions that I would not get an answer to.

That, and...

The fact that I already had an idea of what was going on.

'This might actually be a good chance for me...'

Glancing toward my left and right, as I followed the guard, I realized that the security was fairly lax.

There didn't seem to be many demons patrolling the area, and to make matters even stranger was the fact that my mane wasn't sealed.

It had to be noted that the demon in front of me was ranked lower than me. If I wanted to, I could kill him with a simple slap.

Not that I had any plans on doing that since I had a goal in mind.

Finding Amanda's dad.

Furthermore, I was sure that the security-only looked lax. In reality, it was probably extremely tight. Had this not been the case, many of the prisoners would've long escaped.

Tok. Tok.

The steady and calm of our footsteps echoed throughout the corridors. The corridors were pretty badly maintained as I could see cracks everywhere. Not only that, but they were also quite narrow, forcing me to move sideways sometimes.

To make matters worse, lingering in the air was an old and stuffy smell.

"We're here."

Walking for who knows long, we soon stopped in front of a large metallic door. Standing beside the door were a couple of demons.

With a simple nod, the demon walked toward the door.

To Tok—!

He then proceeded to knock on the door.

For the first couple of seconds, he was met with no response. However, this did not last for long as the door soon started to open.

Clank—!

Once the door was half-opened, I was finally able to catch a glimpse of what was behind it.

A luxuriously decorated room that far contrasted the shabby room I was previously staying in. A nice red carpet blanked the floor, and all sorts of decorations appeared in the room. From sofas to paintings and other things that would make one drool at the sight.

'So this is how the top rankers live...'

Gazing at the room for a bit, my line of sight paused on a few individuals inside the room. After a quick look, I was able to assess that they were the top rankers of the Duke bracket.

It was hard not to notice them. The pressure that their bodies emitted was quite frightening. It was at a level where I needed to take them seriously if I wanted to win.

Not that I showed it outwardly as I kept a straight face and stepped into the room.

The moment I stepped into the room, I felt everyone's gazes pause on me, carefully scrutinizing every part of my body. Not bothered by them, I calmly walked toward where the sofas were and leisurely sat down.

Crossing my legs and leaning back, I opened my mouth.

"So..."

I looked at everyone in the room.

"What did you guys want to talk about?"

"..."

Silence.

No one in the room said a word as they continued to stare in my direction.

It was then that someone finally spoke up.

seems to

four feet in height with a long ginger beard was a dwarf. Raising his brow he took a step forward

"Herr...Herr...not bad."

his hand, he

Rank five

Rank thirty in

hand back. As I did, I

'His breath stinks.'

to not make any

"White Reaper."

elven lady staring in my direction. She had a rather long scar tracing down her face, and I could feel hints

stared straight into

"You are?"

"Rank two, Silvermoon."

in a disinterested

know why we've

"Somewhat."

answered. She nodded her head. The other people in the room became even

what do you

I smiled.

'Group, huh?'

briefed by my other self about what this group was all

was so that they could monopolize all the top ten

she took a step

this place. Only if you join a group like ours can you

I not

"Oh..."

her

elf changed when she noticed the tone

seem excited by this. Do you by chance happen to know that once you become an

"I do."

I nodded.

Of course, I did.

was told to me on the very first

the games

why do you look so disinterested. Are you perhaps not keen on the

a powerful pressure sprung out from her body before heading in my

just not

Even then, I retained a passive and

and seeing everyone staring at me with

want

pressure coming out from SilverMoon instantly disappeared.

"Much better."

tone. Clasping her hands together,

"Lose your next game."

"Hm?"

leaned my head forward

"Lose my next game?"

"That's correct."

not so far from where I

'He's big...'

him from the moment that I had entered the room, but now that I took a closer look at

to the others in the room, the bloodthirsty aura

"Skull Crusher."

only have to be a fool to not

aura that was coming out of his body was simply terrifying. Even for me, it was quite pressurizing. It felt as though I was back in Issanor, in the presence of the orc's number one

words,

looks like you've recognized

the orc, she patted him

someone

"I don't need this."

hand off, Skull

purposely lose in our next match. I can easily get

right, but rules

to look

telling you for your own good. If you're interested

lowering her head to scrutinize me carefully, her brows knit for a couple

the room

her hand in my direction. Her face was filled with confidence when she said

what do you say, will you join

extended branch, I softly

"Tempting..."