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.

into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided

through his body as he had a hard time

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

wanted to remain in a state of denial, but...he knew that

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

that it was only wishful thinking on

the Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to quickly spread across

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

his pen, Ren

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

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

debris appeared everywhere as corpses

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

as the sound of his rough breathing broke the silence that was enshrouding the

'Where am I?'

then that he noticed

It looks

what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a

Ren began to lift his head and his eyes laid on a

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

use, you won't be able

throughout the world

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

"Stay put."

Kevin felt

Crack. Crack.

figure, cracks formed as the ground crushed against his body, resulting in a crater

didn't matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed figure was

their gazes

useless struggle. I've

"Shut up."

gravity around him started

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

felt his body turn, he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

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

power wasn't enough to contain the other

waiting for? End

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

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

outcome that

you

replied back. His brows furrowed tightly, and

the other Kevin pointed towards the

humanity has been destroyed because

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 left? What's the fucking

his mouth to say something.

'Because I don't care.'

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

at this point that Kevin finally understood why felt a

vision. He could clearly remember each

"You don't care?"

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

about the fact that because of your actions humanity is

"What are you doing?"

dull voice

to

should've done

Clank. Clank. Clank.

sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt them

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

you think you're

matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed around his

much of a predicament he

you

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 a triumphant look on his face

like it's going to

other Kevin proceeded

"khh..."

body slowly started to fade as his

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

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

'Desperation.'

what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth

always 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, before they completely

Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions

his head and glaring in the other

think this will be enough to

"I don't know."

Kevin

for now, you won't