I drummed my fingers across the armrest of the chair, in which I sat. A rhythmic tone resounded as my fingers landed on the chair's armrest.

In front of me on the table laid several monitors on which the inside of the dungeon– which the students were currently inside– was displayed.

After explaining the rules of the second main event, I left the dungeon gate under Instructor James’ jurisdiction.

Right now I sat inside my office, and for the last hour, I have been observing the students and seeing if nothing had gone wrong inside the dungeon.

Tap—!

With a tap over the tablet which was laid over my left thigh, as I sat crossed legged in my seat.

The points of the students were displayed on the tablet’s screen. Everyone was making good progress so far, but five out of the many were making splendid progress, which had caught my eye.

————

1). Aogiri Ryuya | <1010> Points| Time: 59 minutes & 47 seconds | 59:47 |

2). Park Jiyoung | <1005> Points| Time: 1 hour & 3 seconds | 01:00:03 |

3). Han Shu-hui | <975> Points| Time: 1 hour & 1 minutes | 01:01:00 |

4). Lucas Claymore | <955> Points | Time: 1 hour, 1 minutes & twenty-seven seconds| 01:01:27 |

5). Amelia Watson | <940> Points | Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes & three seconds | 01:02:03 |

.....

————

But I was not that interested in their scores. My mind was still preoccupied by what I had witnessed yesterday, on the first day of the tournament.

‘The precision with which he had circulated his mana, which was flawless but at the same time crude, ’ I leaned my head backwards and continued my train of thoughts, ‘ his ability to pump his mana through his body within a second was remarkable.’

I closed my eyes and recounted yesterday’s event, where I witnessed the match between Thomas and Jiwoo.

‘The amount of time it took for him to take Thomas’s hit, and intercept with his final attack, was at most between three to five seconds, ‘ the clear image of their duel played inside my mind.

‘But how did he circulate his mana through his mana channels in only a few seconds to reinforce his limbs and coat his sword with mana?,' I was surprised and dumbfounded.

For a student to perform such a high-level move when he was only sixteen, and at most a first year in Lock.

‘It’s absurd if you think about it?’

The more I think about him, the more puzzled I become.

‘If we consider he had such precise mana control and maneuverability, then he might be the strongest first year, leaving even Aogiri Ryuya behind who is a prodigy among prodigies,’ these thoughts were always on the back of my mind since yesterday.

But Seo Jiwoo seemed like a puzzle, whose piece I didn’t have, but I still somehow tried to put together to give myself a better explanation about him.

“—am!”

‘But, why was I so interested in him all of a sudden?’ My brows raised slightly as my mind raced, but I couldn't seem to come to a conclusion.

“—dam!”

But in the end thinking too much about it won’t be beneficial, somethings can be explained more easily than you think, so I pushed these thoughts at the back of my head.

“ADAM—!”

I heard a loud voice calling out my name.

Opening my eyes, I saw Amanda leaning near my seat and looking at me with a pout on her face.

‘Cute...’ I thought as I leaned forward and put the tablet on the table.

She straightened her body and crossed her arms.

“You should have knocked before coming in,” I said as I placed my elbow over the armrest and rested my cheek over my hand.

An angry smile flashed on her face as I saw the muscles on her face twitch in annoyance.

“I kindly knocked several times, but His Greatness was so busy taking a nap inside, so I let myself in,” she responded as sarcastically as possible.

I lifted my head and looked at the monitor, and without turning my face towards Amanda, I spoke, “ I see, then sorry.”

But I knew Amanda was quick to get a temper and quick to cool down, because I had known Amanda for a long time. I was well aware of her nature.

“What were you so busy with that you didn’t even hear my arrival?”

She asked, her face now harbouring a normal expression, not the previous one, filled with ire and annoyance.

“Just stuff,” I replied whilst grabbing the tablet from the table and tapping on the screen.

There I saw the name of a student who I had forced myself to remember. “Seo Jiwoo!”

————

6). Seo Jiwoo | <940> Points | Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes & 4 seconds | 01:02:04|

....

————

“What is it?” Amanda asked.

I shook my head sideways and placed the tablet over the table, and held my brows which were rising slightly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

‘How did he get a good score such as—!”

SQUEEZE—! SQUEEZE—!

I turned my gaze from the monitors and saw Amanda squeezing a stress ball in her hand.

I raised a brow seeing Amanda’s sudden action.

“Has the stress from work gotten to your head so much that you need to use a stress ball now?!” I asked with a wry smile

Amanda extended her arm and placed the stress ball in my palm.

SQUEEZE—! SQUEEZE—!

I squeezed the ball in my palm, and to be honest it was kind of relaxing, but a waste of time.

Well doctors do say that, squeezing a stress ball is beneficial, because it releases some kind of energy– it also induces you to relax.

Amanda sat down on the table and spoke, “no, a senior at work always carries stress balls with him, so by chance he gave me one.” She lifted her head ever so slightly and continued, “I don’t use it much but just sometimes, it does help you relax.”

“Heh...” A chuckle escaped me as I looked at Amanda. 'As childish as ever.'

Her auburn hair were beautifully braided and her amber eyes looked charming. She wore a well tailored suit, which perfectly outlined her curves and adorned her beauty.

Who uses a stress ball nowadays? Well, there are all kinds of people in the world .

“Wanna go for a drink later, hmm Adam?” Amanda asked.

I opened my mouth and spoke as I turned my gaze from her, towards the monitors to check the recording.

“I can’t, I’m busy, unlike you.”

Amanda shot up from the table and with an annoyed tone she spoke, “why don’t you get married to your duties, Mr. Griffin?”

I turned my head sideways and spoke before she stepped out of my office, “yeah, yeah, let’s have a drink after the tournament ends, okay?”

She stopped in her tracks and with a lopsided grin over her face, she responded, “okay!”

Then she stepped out of my office.

“Haaa... she hasn’t changed one bit, since we graduated,” I tapped over the mouse and saw the recordings caught by the camera installed inside the dungeon.

My eyes landed on the same boy whose score I had seen a few seconds ago.

“What the hell is he doing?” I said, as my brows rose an inch and I zoomed onto him.

There I saw him, playing with the wall, pushing his finger forward and backwards, as the wall compressed and decompressed.

Afterwards, I fast forwarded the recording and saw the students fighting against the monsters inside the dungeon.

Again my eyes landed on Seo Jiwoo, who swung his sword and killed a goblin, but his swing was amateurish.

Again, I fast forwarded the recording and now I didn’t see him.

“Where did he go?”

I rewind and fast forwarded the recording again, and all I saw was him walking inside the dungeon.

‘He’s simply walking here?’ I thought as I looked at the rest of the recording over the monitor.

‘Why isn’t he fighting?’ I inwardly said as I clicked on the mouse and again looked through the recording. But he was leisurely walking inside the dungeon, in almost all of the hour long recording.

“But his score...?” I thought.

“Huh...!”

He must have killed the monsters in the blind spots, but why?

The more I think about it the more puzzled I become! Just who are you, Seo Jiwoo?

***

The wet and slippery ground of the dungeon, was a little annoying. The mud stuck to my boots as I stepped forward. The tunnel I took didn’t have cameras installed, so I could kill the monster’s– the weak little goblins– without worrying.

Tap—!

I heard the footsteps of the same person who had been following me, since I had entered the tunnel.

I already had an idea about who it was, but I feigned ignorance to his presence.

Then with a sudden halt, I turned my head backwards and spoke with a sigh, “come out already.”

After my sentence, I saw Thomas standing a few metres behind me, with his spear held tightly in his hand.

I turned around and looked at Thomas’s figure.

His blonde hair were a mess and his blue eye’s looked blood thirsty.

“Okay, before you say some second-rate villain line, let me tell you that, let’s let bygones be bygones, Thomas.” I sternly said.

But the frown over his face deepened as he looked at me with his blood thirsty eyes.

He then opened his mouth to speak, “you fucker, you have gotten cocky since our duel, huh?”

I deeply sighed as I looked at Thomas with grave pity in my eyes.

‘I pity you, child!’ I inwardly said, as I held a sigh.

But without wasting another second, a blue hue exuded Thomas’s body and he lunged in my direction and propelled his spear towards me.

As the spear head dashed forward, a shockwave reverberated. A bright blue light exuded his spear’s body.

I withdrew Bleak Star, and vertically slashed upwards.

Countless spark came to life, and a loud metallic ring resounded as my sword and Thomas’s spear head clashed.

I dug my foot into the ground and kicked Thomas in his side with my other foot.

The moment my leg connected to Thomas’s side, I heard a low bone cracking sound.

SLAM—!

“Uek...”

Thomas crashed into the wall on his left as he groaned in pain.

I had kicked him hard enough to cause his bones to crack and shatter.

He put his hand over his ribs where I had just kicked, and looked at me with a scowl.

“You know what Thomas, I have had enough...” I said without preamble. My tone serious and stern, as I gazed at Thomas’s pitiful state.

I inched closer to Thomas and grabbed him by his neck and lifted him off the ground.

He looked at me with an ugly expression over his face. But I simply returned his gaze with indifference in my eyes.

“Y-You d-dare do this t-to me! Thomas Carter!” He said as I increased my grip over his throat.

“Heh...” I chuckled on his arrogance.

After which followed a sigh that I had held in since he had started speaking.

“You know what Thomas, people like you would never understand the struggle that people like me have to go through!” My voice as cold as ice. I could see Thomas’s body shiver as my words entered his ears.

“People like you who have been born with a silver spoon, and given the best of resources since day one,” for some reason I felt rage boiling up my spine as I gripped harder on Thomas’s neck, “... people like you, who don’t have to face any adversities, because everything for you can be solved with a snap of your fingers.”

Thomas’s frown deepened with each word I spoke. He tried to break free of my grip, but I didn’t let him. But I could see it, the emotion of fear and death had over taken his sensibility.

He grabbed hard on my forearm, trying to pinch, pull, grip over my arm, trying to let himself loose somehow.

His desperation now a pleasurable act in my eyes.

I seemed like the death reaper in his eyes.

If he had been in his right mind he would have reacted and fought back, but right now his mind was a mess.

“Y-You...” he whispered with the meagre strength he could muster.

His complexion turned pale and his blue eyes starting to become dull.

His breathing haggard and body unmoving, not even struggling an inch now.

“But despite that, that obnoxious grin you people have at the end of the day, thinking everything will go your way...”

Thomas glared in my direction, but with a shrug I returned his gaze with an indifferent and cold look.

“You thought I would always remain weak, huh?” This time I shouted, I wanted to kill him. Kill Thomas!

The only thing enshrouding my mind was the thought to kill Thomas, to end his pathetic life. Even if he ceased to exist today, no one would care.

I opened my mouth and my words rang inside Thomas’ ears like explosions, as I felt his body start to shiver again.

“People like you are strong in front of the weak, and weak in front of the strong,” I grumbled.

Right now, my mind was foggy, I felt rage, uncontrollable rage boiling up. I felt like killing him. Ending his miserable life, which rested in my hands.

‘No one will care if I killed him here, right?’ I thought as I looked at Thomas, he looked weak, so weak in my eyes, that I could shatter him like glass.

I shook my arm to see if Thomas was still alive or had died. Not that I cared if he lived or not.

“Uek...”

With a weak groan, he looked at me, and now he looked afraid, the fear in his eyes evident.

But for some reason, I felt pleasure. I felt joy rising from within me seeing Thomas in such a state.

But, why was I doing something like this?

All of a sudden on the back of my head, I heard a voice, making me question my actions.

I once again looked at Thomas– this time I really did–, he looked desperate for breath, eager for a single breath.

Thud—!

I loosened my grip over his neck and he fell on to the ground.

I hadn’t even realised but he had now gone unconscious.

“What the hell... did I just do?” I slowly spoke, each word in a whisper only audible to myself.

I looked down at Thomas who was passed out cold on the ground.

‘What the hell...?’

After taking a few minutes to calm myself down, I crouched down and grabbed his protection suit from the collar.

Then channelling the mana inside me I coated my sword with mana. I brought bleak star close to his suit and slashed. The mana crystals sparked and a low hum whispered around us when the mana crystals broke, indicating Thomas’s protection suit’s deployment.

I put Bleak Star back into the scabbard and exited the tunnel.

Then afterwards I simply crossed the dungeon, whilst killing goblins in the blind spots.

Soon I reached the exit of the dungeon and saw a girl with auburn hair and brown eyes exit the dungeon.

‘<940> points, this much should be enough,’ I inwardly said as I stepped forward.

Reaching the dungeon gate's exit, I stepped forward and exited.