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.

emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility of him defeating the Demon King was beneath 1%. It wasn't

through his body

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

a state of denial, but...he

his denying anything. He had already figured everything out after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small part of him still wished that this was not

he knew that it was only wishful

he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to quickly spread across

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

pen, Ren continued to

he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes for my

paper, the world started to shift, and a red

debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

on top of a broken building, as the sound of his rough breathing

'Where am I?'

looked around him. It was also then that he noticed that his right hand

scene. It

note of what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly

his eyes laid on a figure

body laying down on a broken building, the

you won't be able

world as he proceeded

as demonic energy gathered

"Stay put."

Kevin felt his hand rise before he

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed against his body, resulting in a crater to

the impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely

their gazes met. Opening his mouth,

useless struggle. I've

"Shut up."

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

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and it was right there that it finally hit

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

of his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the

wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as he felt his hand start to

are you waiting for? End

felt Ren's mouth open once again as he urged his other self who was standing in the

lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed figure

the outcome that you

are you

replied back. His brows furrowed tightly, and his voice became

the other Kevin pointed towards

completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your

tightly, his voice rang throughout the

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

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

'Because I don't care.'

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

understood

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

"You don't care?"

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

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

"What are you doing?"

dull voice

to the space

that I should've done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank. Clank.

suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt

crack when he looked at the other Kevin who was looking

do you think

matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move.

just how much of a predicament he

did you do to

turned 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,

like it's going to

teeth, the other Kevin proceeded

"khh..."

body slowly started to fade as

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 his mouth

You know full well that you're the only one that can

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth

the same with

Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from Ren.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

walked, Kevin felt the chains wrapping around his body

reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting

his head and glaring in the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt

this will be

"I don't know."

Kevin

least for