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.

trial 209 : Upon killing everyone that Kevin held dear, he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop.

was writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard

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

of denial, but...he knew

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

he knew that it was only wishful

may not be the Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to quickly

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

with his pen,

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

paper, the world started to

corpses

silence enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

to himself as he looked around him. It was also then that he noticed that his right

It

of what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly

his eyes laid on a figure who had white hair and

blood seeping down from his mouth, and his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the

use, you won't be

throughout the world

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

Crack. Crack.

the red-eyed figure, cracks formed as the ground crushed against

impact was, the red-eyed

their gazes met. Opening his

with your useless

"Shut up."

pulverized into bits. The gravity around him started to

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check while

enough to contain the other

waiting

again as he urged his other self who was standing

at him, the other Kevin's lips trembled after glancing at

outcome

you

brows furrowed tightly, and his voice became

his teeth, the other

humanity has been destroyed because of your actions,

other Kevin's fists clenched tightly, his

the sake of killing him! You decided to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's the point of killing him when there's no one

Ren slowly opened his mouth to

'Because I don't care.'

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

Kevin finally understood

scene that he saw in his vision. He could clearly remember each word

"You don't care?"

While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint and almost invisible, the pressure it released was nothing

don't care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is on the verge of

"What are you doing?"

voice

to the space next to him

should've done

Clank. Clank. Clank.

black chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin

first time in a long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he looked at the other Kevin

you think

but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed

just how much of a predicament he was, his voice

did you

amused look on his face. Although he

going to

Kevin proceeded to

"khh..."

the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade as his figure

for the first time in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel

now! End it!!!! You know full well that you're the only one that can stop him! What are

'Desperation.'

what Kevin felt as he felt his

the same

one more step forward, the other Kevin's feet came to a pause

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt the chains wrapping around his body become more and more numerous,

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

the other Kevin's direction,

be enough to stop

"I don't know."

Kevin shook his

soon. At least for now, you won't be able to