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 be

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

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

his hand,

SteamPunk, Rank five

Rank thirty in

did, I suddenly smelt a foul

'His breath stinks.'

head back, I tried my best to not

"White Reaper."

my direction. She had a rather long scar tracing down her face, and I could feel hints of insanity in her eyes. Her hair was a mixture of gold and silver, and if not for her

stared straight into

"You are?"

"Rank two, Silvermoon."

replied in a

you know why we've called

"Somewhat."

the room became even more apprehensive as

then what do you think? Will you

I smiled.

'Group, huh?'

my other self about what this group was all about. It was essentially a group that 'Maintained ranks' by

of this was so that they could monopolize all the top ten spots, and support the current

chance to respond, she took a step

you join a group like ours can

with conviction and resoluteness. Had I not been warned beforehand, I might've even been tempted by her

"Oh..."

her a

when she noticed the tone of my reply, and the room became

chance happen to know

"I do."

I nodded.

Of course, I did.

told to me on the very first day that I was here. All participants

in mind, the games would be a

why do you look so disinterested. Are

and a powerful pressure sprung out from

just not

was caught off-guard a bit. Even then, I retained a passive and nonchalant look on my

seeing everyone staring at me with bloodthirsty looks, I leaned

do you want me to

SilverMoon instantly disappeared. A smile soon replaced her previous

"Much better."

in a satisfied tone. Clasping her hands together, she cut

"Lose your next game."

"Hm?"

head

"Lose my next game?"

"That's correct."

on a certain individual standing not so far from where I was. Turning my head, my

'He's big...'

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 coming out of his body was

"Skull Crusher."

mumbled underneath my breath. I would only have to be a fool to not have been able

was simply terrifying. Even for me, it was quite pressurizing. It felt as though I was back in Issanor, in the presence of

my words,

like

next to the orc, she patted him on the

someone who you will lose to in the next

"I don't need this."

elven lady's hand off, Skull

need him to purposely lose in our next match. I can

right,

to look

for your own good. If you're interested in ever

head to scrutinize me carefully, her

us in the room is enough to crush

a while, she extended her hand in my direction. Her face was filled with

do you say, will

extended branch, I softly

"Tempting..."