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.

trial 209 : Upon killing everyone that Kevin held dear, he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on

writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through

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

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

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

was only wishful thinking on

be the Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

with his pen, Ren continued

previous loop before he comes in

etched into the paper, the world started to

debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled

silence enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

was also then that he noticed that his right hand was missing and a long scar was

It

what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a feeling

lift his head and his eyes laid on

on a broken building, the figure blankly

no use, you won't be able to

rang throughout the world as he proceeded to raise his

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

"Stay put."

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

Crack. Crack.

the ground crushed against his body, resulting in

matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed

their

with your useless struggle. I've

"Shut up."

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

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

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

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

Ren kept the other figure in check while he looked

his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as he

are you waiting

as he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice

trembled after glancing at

the outcome

you

back. His brows furrowed tightly, and his voice

teeth, the other Kevin pointed towards the

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

tightly, his

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

mouth

'Because I don't care.'

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

Kevin finally understood

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

"You don't care?"

out of his body was very faint

don't care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is

"What are you doing?"

voice echoed

pressed his palm to the space next to him

should've done the

Clank. Clank. Clank.

from the ground and Kevin felt them clasp

time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he

do you think

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

a predicament he was, his

did you do

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 at Kevin

going

his teeth, the other Kevin proceeded

"khh..."

the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade as his figure

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

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

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he

always the same

other Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters

Clank. Clank. Clank.

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

the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that were

the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt

think this will be

"I don't know."

Kevin shook his

for now, you