It was early in the morning, and following what was sent in the email yesterday, I made my way towards the Lock private area.

As I entered the room, the first thing I noticed was three individuals sitting at a round table.

I could instantly feel a deep and oppressive aura emanating from their body.

'Ebonie Wills, Mark Mendez, Perry Crossley...', I muttered underneath my breath as I looked at the three individuals sitting on the round table.

The three strongest students in the academy, and the heads of the three major factions in the Lock.

Calmly walking forward, I joined the small crowd of students that had gathered around them.

None of them dared to sit down with them as they just stood and watched them.

At the moment, a solemn atmosphere shrouded the room.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tapping on the table, a burly individual with short brown hair and green eyes spoke up, disrupting the silence. His voice contained hints of annoyance.

"Let's get this over with. I don't have much time to spare for the likes of this childish gathering."

"Shut up you brute. It's because of people like you that we have to hold these kinds of discussions"

Sitting opposite to him was an elegant youth with bright blue eyes and brown hair.

A look of disgust appeared on his face as he looked at the burly man opposite to him.

"Mark, Perry, can you guys shut up for five minutes?"

Standing up was a beautiful girl with tanned skin, black eyes, and dirt blonde hair.

Glaring at Mark, who was the elegant youth, and Perry who was the burly individual, the tanned girl, Ebonie Wills, walked towards one of the TVs and picked up the remote.

'”Clink!

Turning on the TV, Ebonie pressed a couple of buttons before a large data table appeared on the TV screen.

「Rankings」 - 「Points」

Lock Academy - 986

Theodora Academy - 904

Lutwik Academy - 888

Vellon Academy - 867

SilverWing Academy - 803

Kukz Academy - 745

DeathSigil Academy – 711

Dusk of Dawn Academy - 657

Everlight Academy - 656

PridedHorses Academy - 640

Looking at the TV screen I thought, 'Those numbers seem similar to the ones I wrote in the novel...'

Though I couldn't remember the exact numbers that I wrote in the novel, I remembered that on the first day the Lock did not surpass 1,000 points.

This was a very important piece of information to take note of since it suggested that as of right now the tournament arc was progressing just as it did in the novel.

Not sure how long this would last, but for now I could more or less be able to infer a little bit of what was to come in the future.

"Let's talk about serious matters."

Putting the TV remote down, Ebonie pointed at the scoreboard projected on the TV screen.

"As you can see, as of right now we are overall in the first place."

"Indeed. But I don't think we need to hold a meeting to point this out, no?"

Perry, the burly individual, spoke up as he crossed his large arms. Ebonie nodded her head in response.

"True, but there is a problem"

"What problem?"

"...According to the data, we're slightly behind last year's first-day record."

Ebonie gravely said as she looked at everyone in the room.

"What was last year's record?"

Mark said as his eyes squinted slightly.

From the casualness of his voice, it was quite apparent that he did not take this matter seriously.

"Last year we managed to secure 1033 points on the first day."

Ebonie curtly responded. In response, Mark's brows knit for a second.

"So you're saying that we are 47 points behind last year's senior?"

"That's exactly it.", Ebonie nodded her head, and once pointed at the TV screen, "Furthermore, Theodora academy's score is a whole 80 points higher than their last year's score on the first day. Something isn't right"

"So? It's only the first day."

Irritably spoke up Perry as his voice couldn't help but raise.

"What matters is the end result, and right now we're first. All we have to do is continue to be first. Simple as that. I don't see why we need to care about this stuff."

As Perry spoke, his face gradually became darker.

From the looks of it, he was extremely irritated about the fact that he had to wake up this early in the morning to talk about this stuff.

"Huuu..calm down and listen to me."

Taking a deep breath, Ebonie tried to calm Perry down.

"Although it is only the first day, I believe that we shouldn't overlook this. If there is any chance that we might lose, we have to crush it before the seed can sprout"

"So in the end, you wasted our time for this useless nonsense?"

Perry abruptly stood up.

Instantly a domineering pressure exuded from his body as the students next to him backed up a couple of meters.

Because I was far, I wasn't affected by his pressure. Even then, I probably wouldn't have been affected much due to my experience in Immorra.

He pretty much reminded me of the orcs I faced back then.

"This is not nons'”"

"I'm leaving. I thought that this was something important. You're just wasting my time with your overly cautious personality"

Cutting Ebonie off, Perry turned around. Stretching his neck slightly, he made his way out of the waiting room.

As he walked, everyone stepped to the side to make a path for him.

"Wait lis'”"

"I'm going to have to agree with the brute over here"

Mark similarly stood up.

Without waiting for Ebonie to finish her sentence he followed Mark out of the room. Behind him, a row of students followed him out of the room.

Slowly, half of the people attending the meeting left, leaving behind Ebonie and what seemed to be her followers which included the likes of Emma, Amanda, and Melissa.

"Shit, don't come crawling back to me later telling me that I didn't warn you guys..."

Staring at the two individuals leaving the room, Ebonie, shook her head and sat down.

"Fucking arrogant pricks. Why can't they listen once!"

She cursed as her fists curled into balls.

'...As expected'

Staring at the scene from afar, I secretly shook my head.

It was exactly because of this reason that the Lock nearly ended up losing the tournament.

Had it not been for Kevin's intervention, the overall winners would've been Theodora's academy.

From the way I saw things, the situation was progressing exactly as it did in the novel.

In fact, given that things were now no longer in control of the plot, the chances of the Lock losing were even higher than before.

The three leaders although talented, could not work with each other.

They only trusted their decisions and their decisions only. It was because of their ego that the chances of the Lock losing increased.

"What do you think?"

"Hm?"

Startling me, I felt a slight touch on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Kevin standing next to me.

'When did he get near me?'

I wondered as I looked at Kevin.

"So? What do you think?"

"Hmm, from the way I see things, she's right"

After musing for a bit, I shared my honest feelings.

"You think so too?"

"...yeah"

The lack of unity between the third years was quite clear to see.

Even though it was just as bad last year, this year it became even more apparent. Portraying this was the scene that had just occurred.

"Don't you have a game to be preparing for?"

I asked Kevin as I checked today's games schedule.

"Right, I better get going"

Punching my shoulder lightly, Kevin waved and left the waiting room. I followed him shortly after.

'At least I managed to escape an unwanted situation...'

If there was one thing that was good about the meeting it was that I didn't attract the attention of the three leaders today.

With that, I didn't have to worry about joining the conflicts between the factions.

***

Since the meeting, a week eventually flew by and it was now Monday. During the past week, I did what I set out to do. Dominate my rankings.

'”Click!

Thud. Thud. Thud, inside of a room illuminated by bright lights, a subtle clicking sound resounded across the space.

Following which, with large thuds, multiple dummies fell on the ground as they turned red.

"Huuu..."

Taking a deep breath, I subtly touched the small bracelet on my wrist.

"This feels weird."

I honestly still couldn't get used to my rank getting suppressed. It felt as though I woke up after a few hours of sleep as my body didn't move as fast as I wanted it to.

In fact, because of this factor, I almost missed a couple of dummies that were coming at me from the side.

Fortunately, I was able to remain level-headed throughout the whole time and barely managed to defeat them without wasting any time.

'”Beep!

Within a minute after the last dummy fell, a beeping sound resounded across the room, and my score was displayed on the board before me

[Contenstant, Ren Dover; Time ➤ 2: 02 seconds]

Smirk.

Looking at my timer, a smirk invertedly appeared on my face.

For the past week, I had participated in five games in which my score always remained plus or minus two seconds of two minutes.

Not once did I go below or above that record.

I naturally did this on purpose.

Although my score was actually the same as my previous scores, in reality, the values had a different meaning with each passing game.

That was because the difficulty of the trials rose which each game I passed.

Not only were the dummies harder to kill, but they also became faster and numerous. By the time the third game started, only one-fifth of the contestants were left.

My consistent score was my own way of throwing the middle finger towards those that called me names a couple of days ago.

Was it petty? Yeah. But I was a petty person to begin with, so I just went ahead and did it.

"There should be one more game left..."

As of right now, I had just finished the last game before the finals. The semi-finals.

Meaning that, if I beat my opponent who was in the room next door, I would be able to make it to the finals of the dummy massacre games.

"Huaa!"

Exiting the room of the game, I could hear the endless cheers coming from the crowd attending today's events.

Unfortunately, my parents were not here today, so I didn't really pay much attention to the cheers.

"...hm?"

As I exited the room, I suddenly felt a pair of eyes looking at me from my right. Turning around, I soon spotted Aerin solemnly looking in my direction.

With a casual smile, I waved at her. Surprised, she also waved her hand and put on a polite smile.

Then...

Under the watchful eyes of the spectators and cameras, Aerin calmly walked in my direction.

'It seems like she made it to the finals as well...'

I thought as I watched Aerin walk in my direction.

Though I had expected this from the very beginning, a little part of me hoped that the plot mess up would screw her over, unfortunately, it didn't.

She had made it to the finals just like in the novel.

If there was an opponent I was worried about for the finals of the games, then it would be her.

Even though she was at her strongest when she was alongside her brother, her skills alone were not something to scoff at.

If I was just one bit careless in my upcoming game, I'd without a doubt find myself losing to her.

Halting her steps in front of me, Aerin extended her hand.

"Congratulations"

"Thank you"

I shook her hand back.

Shaking hands, Aerin sweetly smiled and said.

"Two minutes and two seconds, that's awfully close to your other scores, isn't it?"

"What can I say? I'm a very consistent person"

In response to Aerin's sweet smile, I smiled back at her.

'So she caught on.'

I wasn't particularly hiding the fact that I was trying to keep my score consistent, so I wasn't surprised by the fact that she knew that I was holding back a bit.

"I see, that's very good of you. I hope you'll stay consistent in the upcoming finals"

Aerin squinted her eyes. Her grip on my hands tightened.

"Hm, who knows. I might just slip up..."

I merely smiled at her gesture.

From the way I described Aerin in the novel, she was a very competitive person.

From my current interaction with her, it looked like I was spot on.

"Mhm, once again, I'll see you at the finals."

"You too"

After a couple of seconds, Aerin finally let go of my hand.

Congratulating me one more time, she turned around and left.

Watching Aerin leave, I smiled and shook my head.

The next time I'd see her, it would be in the finals of the dummy massacre games.