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 Demon King was beneath 1%. It

his blood freeze. Chills ran through his

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

to remain in a state of denial, but...he knew that everything he was seeing

out after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small

was

he knew, but he was still

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

words with his pen, Ren

that Kevin was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes for my family. It's better if

etched into the paper, the world

as corpses

enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

around him. It was also then that he noticed that his right hand was missing and a long scar was tracing down

scene. It

Kevin suddenly had a feeling of

and his eyes laid on a figure who

and his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared

won't

playful words rang throughout the world as he

come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the palm of his hand,

"Stay put."

Kevin felt his hand rise

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed against his body, resulting in a crater

the impact was, the red-eyed figure was

as their gazes met. Opening

your useless struggle.

"Shut up."

pulverized into bits. The gravity around him

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

shocked to see a figure

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

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

enough to contain the other figure

you waiting for?

he urged his other self who was

other Kevin's lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed figure and then looking at the

outcome that

are you

tightly, and his voice

teeth, the other Kevin pointed towards the

look at the world. It's completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet,

Kevin's fists clenched tightly, his voice rang throughout the

of humanity! What's the point of

to the other Kevin's words, Ren slowly opened his mouth to say something. Matching his mouth, Kevin spoke inside of his

'Because I don't care.'

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

finally understood why

was the same scene that he saw in his vision. He could clearly remember

"You don't care?"

from Kevin's body. While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint and almost invisible, the pressure it released was

care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is on the

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

other Kevin pressed his palm to the space next to

done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank.

the ground and Kevin felt

Ren's face crack when he looked

you think you're

how much force

how much of a

you do

Kevin turned to look at the other white figure who was watching the scene with an amused look on his face. Although he was also

it's going to be

the other Kevin

"khh..."

other Kevin's body slowly started to

of his sudden actions, for the first time in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel emotions spring out inside of Ren's body as he opened

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

'Desperation.'

as he felt his mouth

always the

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

Clank. Clank. Clank.

body become more and more numerous, before they completely wrapped his

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

in the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt

will be enough to

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook

out soon. At least for now,