The Author's POV

'What did I just see?'

Kevin felt his heart grow cold.

'T...that can't be real, right? Re..n would never do that...'

He was in a state of complete denial. But, it was at this moment that he suddenly recalled his past flashbacks of what Ren had done with Emma, and it was from there that he was able to calm himself down.

'That's not the Ren I know. It's a different Ren.'

He repeatedly told himself. Recalling the conversation he had with Ren in the past and connecting everything with his visions, things were slowly starting to make sense.

'Why is it dark?'

Following his death, the scene once again shifted. This time, the world was dark. However, upon paying close attention, he could hear the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

'Birds? What's going on?'

Kevin could faintly feel the warm, gentle sunshine enveloping his whole body.

It was then that Ren opened his eyes and Kevin found himself inside a one-bedroom apartment.

Rubbing his eyes, he blinked a couple of times and once more looked at my strange surroundings.

'This place...'

It looked familiar. Kevin couldn't just quite remember where he had seen this room before.

The room was furnished with the basic necessities that comprised a clean white bed, an old wooden spacious desk, a tall wardrobe, and a small bathroom. It was neither too big nor too small, but it seemed to have all the necessary facilities one might need when living.

'...Just why is this so familiar to me?'

Kevin thought to himself as he continued to stare at the room. It was strange, but Kevin knew for sure that he had seen this room before.

...But no matter how much he tried to think about it, he couldn't exactly remember where he had seen it.

'How odd.'

Shifting his body, Kevin's head turned to face the nearby window.

Reflected on it was a familiar face.

Jet black hair

Pale white skin

Blue ocean-like eyes

It was Ren's face...but younger. A lot younger.

'What memory is this?'

Kevin wondered as Ren's body shifted and he pressed his foot on the ground to help his body up.

"...Another failure."

Ren muttered while he stood up, and headed for the nearby desk where he sat down.

Opening the drawer beside the desk, he took out a small notebook alongside a small pen.

Grasping the pen beside him, Ren's body froze for a small second. With his eyes locked onto the pen, he slowly brought it next to his neck.

Click—!

Pressing onto the top end of the pen, the sharp tip came out.

Ren gently pressed it against his neck. Slowly, he began to put more pressure.

'What is he doing?'

Kevin wondered as he felt the sharp tip of the pen press against Ren's neck. His actions didn't make sense to Kevin at all.

'Don't tell me that he's...'

"Haaa..."

Before Kevin could come up with an assumption, Ren let out a long sigh and lowered the hand that held onto the pen. The pressure on his neck disappeared.

Casually tossing the pen on the desk, Ren reclined on the chair and emptily stared at the white ceiling of the room.

Grasping his chest with his hand, he mumbled.

"...What's the point? It's not like anything will change."

Though his words were casual, they were enough to alarm Kevin who was watching everything.

At this point, no matter how much he tried to feel the emotions Ren was experiencing, he couldn't feel anything. He basically felt like an empty shell whose sole reason for living was something that Kevin was still unsure of...but from his earlier actions, Kevin had an inkling that perhaps, just maybe, Ren didn't really want to be alive.

It was as if something was stopping him from dying. Or maybe he was just overthinking.

...but as he thought back at the moment he pressed the pen against his neck, Kevin was left uncertain about his theory.

Leaning his body forward, Ren grasped the pen he had thrown on the table and opened the book.

He then began to write something.

turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility of him defeating the

Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard time processing what Ren was

'I..it can't be, right?'

to remain in a state of denial, but...he

connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small part of him

he knew that it was only

he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren.

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen,

was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes

words etched into the paper, the world started to shift, and a red sky enshrouded the

and debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all over the

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

suddenly found himself standing on top of a broken building, as the sound of his rough breathing broke the silence that

'Where am I?'

he noticed that

It

Kevin suddenly had a feeling of Deja

and his eyes laid

on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a cruel smile

you won't be

world as he

have come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the palm of his hand, forming a small ball

"Stay put."

could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise before

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed against his body, resulting in

matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed figure was

smile only deepened as their gazes

useless struggle.

"Shut up."

replied as the area around him pulverized into bits. The gravity around him

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

figure resembling himself standing in the

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the

obvious to Kevin that his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as

waiting for? End

his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice sounded a little

glancing at the red-eyed figure and then looking at the world

this the outcome that

you

replied back. His brows furrowed tightly, and

his teeth, the other Kevin

all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet,

Kevin's fists clenched tightly, his voice rang throughout

sake of killing him! You decided to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's the

opened his mouth to say

'Because I don't care.'

"...Because I don't care."

finally understood why

scene that he saw in his vision. He

"You don't care?"

suddenly erupted from Kevin's body. While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint and

don't care about the fact that because of your actions

"What are you doing?"

dull voice

Kevin pressed his palm to the space next to

should've done the moment

Clank. Clank.

suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin

in a long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he

do you think you're

try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed around his body's

much of a predicament he was, his voice

did you do to

to look at the other white figure who was watching the scene with an amused look on his face. Although he was also on the verge of death, there was

like it's going

the other Kevin

"khh..."

Kevin's body slowly started

started to feel emotions spring

well that you're the only one

'Desperation.'

he felt his mouth open

always the same with

forward, the other Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from

Clank. Clank. Clank.

chains wrapping around his body become more and more numerous,

words couldn't reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and

the other Kevin's

this will be enough to

"I don't know."

Kevin shook

for now, you won't be