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.

he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility of him

ran through his body as he had a hard time processing what

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

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

already figured everything out after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a

was only wishful thinking on his

not be the Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren.

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

pen, Ren continued to write more

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

as the last words etched into the paper, the world started to

everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all

enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

was also then that he noticed that his right

It

note of what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a feeling of Deja

his head and his eyes laid on a

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

use, you won't be able to kill

the world

seemed to have come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the palm of

"Stay put."

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

Crack. Crack.

the ground crushed against his body, resulting in a

the impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely unfazed as he gazed

figure's smile only deepened as their gazes met. Opening his

useless

"Shut up."

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

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

Kevin suddenly felt his body turn, he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

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

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

are you waiting for? End

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

the other Kevin's lips trembled after glancing at the

the outcome that

are you

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

teeth, the other Kevin pointed

Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet,

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

You decided to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's the point of killing him

his mouth to say something. Matching his mouth, Kevin

'Because I don't care.'

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

was at this point that Kevin finally understood why felt a sense of Deja vu'

vision. He could clearly remember each word that was about to be

"You don't care?"

his body

that because of your actions humanity is on the verge of

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

his palm to the

I should've done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank.

Ren's shock, black chains suddenly sprung up from the ground

crack when he

you think

and felt his body try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed around his body's

just how much of a predicament he was, his

you do

with an amused look on his face. Although he was also on the

like it's going to be another

teeth, the other Kevin proceeded to

"khh..."

around the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade as

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

him now, end this now! End it!!!! You know full well that

'Desperation.'

felt as he felt his

always the same with

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

Clank. Clank. Clank.

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

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

head and glaring in the other Kevin's direction,

think this will be

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook his

At least for now, you won't be able