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.

everyone that Kevin held dear, he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility

Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard time processing

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

state of denial, but...he knew

in 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

was

he was still nonetheless

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

words with his pen, Ren continued to

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

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

corpses

enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

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

scene. It

was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a feeling of Deja

lift his head and his eyes laid on

broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a

you won't

world as he proceeded to raise his

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

"Stay put."

the black orb could fully form, Kevin felt

Crack. Crack.

the red-eyed figure, cracks formed as the ground crushed against

matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely unfazed as he gazed in

smile only deepened as their gazes met.

your useless

"Shut up."

The gravity around him started to warp, and

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and it was

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check while he looked toward

was painfully obvious to Kevin that his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as he felt his hand start

are you waiting

open once again as he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His

glancing at the red-eyed figure and then

the outcome

you talking

furrowed tightly, and his

the other Kevin

destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet, you don't seem

clenched tightly, his voice rang

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

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

'Because I don't care.'

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

that Kevin finally understood why felt a sense of Deja

same scene that he saw in his 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,

care about the fact that because of your actions humanity

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

pressed his palm to

I should've done

Clank.

shock, black chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin

long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack

do you think you're

to move, but no matter how much force

a predicament

did you

the other 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 on the verge of death, there was a

like it's going to be

other Kevin proceeded to

"khh..."

the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade

for the first time in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel emotions spring out

You know full well that you're

'Desperation.'

as he felt his

the same

feet came to a pause

Clank. Clank. Clank.

wrapping around his body

realized that Ren had stopped shouting

the other Kevin's direction, Kevin

think this will be

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook

At least for now, you won't be able