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.

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

writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as

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

denial,

He had already figured everything out after connecting the dots from his

it was only wishful thinking on his

he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

with his pen, Ren continued to write more

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

into the paper, the world started to

everywhere as corpses and

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

himself standing on top of a broken building, as the

'Where am I?'

then that he noticed that his right hand was

It

was seeing, Kevin suddenly had

to lift his head and his eyes laid on a figure who had white

his mouth, and his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as

no use, you won't be able to kill

world as he proceeded

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

"Stay put."

could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise before he motioned downward

Crack. Crack.

cracks formed as the ground crushed

the red-eyed figure was completely

only deepened as their gazes

your useless

"Shut up."

the area around him pulverized into bits. The gravity around him started to warp, and the buildings in the distance

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check

enough to contain the other figure for long as

are you waiting for?

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

back at him, the other Kevin's lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed

the outcome that

you talking

replied back. His brows furrowed tightly, and his voice

teeth, the other Kevin pointed towards the

the world. It's completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your

tightly, his voice rang

to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's the point

Ren slowly opened his mouth to say

'Because I don't care.'

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

understood why

saw in his vision. He could clearly remember each

"You don't care?"

of his body was very faint and almost invisible, the

care about the fact that because of your

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

to the

done the moment I remembered

Clank.

chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt them clasp onto his

long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he looked at the other Kevin who was looking

do you

felt his body try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he

how much of a

did you

watching the scene with an amused look on his face. Although he was also on the verge of death, there was a triumphant look on his face as he looked

going to be another

his teeth, the other Kevin

"khh..."

body slowly started

started to feel emotions spring out inside of Ren's body as

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

'Desperation.'

felt as he felt

always the

other Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from Ren. Their two eyes

Clank. Clank. Clank.

the chains wrapping around his body become more and

couldn't reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that were erupting from

his head and glaring in the other Kevin's

this will be enough to

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook

find out soon. At least for