The Author's POV

Coming out from beneath, the black threads gently wrapped around the white orb.

Opening his eyes, Kevin felt his mouth open.

"How should I start?"

Ren's voice echoed throughout the dark void.

After looking at the orb and seeing the reflection, Kevin felt his brow furrow as Ren fell into contemplation. He seemed to be thinking about the current circumstances.

"...Let's see if it's possible for me to completely replace my memories with his."

After uttering those words, Kevin watched as the black threads flung around like wild snakes and attempted to wrap around the orb as quickly as possible.

"Khh..."

Kevin let out a short groan as his hand pulled away from the orb.

Tsss.

What followed after was a sizzling sound. Lowering his head, Kevin caught sight of Ren staring at his hand which had become transparent.

Taking a moment to raise his head again, he gazed at the orb's reflection.

"Looks like I can't do that. Whatever Kevin put on me sealed some of my powers..."

Silence ensued after he uttered those words. After which, Kevin watched as Ren kept his gaze on the orb, and the same scenario from before replayed.

Time seemed to have passed by in the blink of an eye as the memories shifted, and it was now the fourth time that Kevin was staring at the same image of Ren standing up from his bed, in what seemed to be the Lock's dormitory.

"Hm?"

This time, a change to the scenario happened.

Ding Dong.

The door suddenly rang.

'What? Why did the bell suddenly ring?'

Taking aback by the sudden events, Kevin was unsure of how to react. Having watched the scenario well over four times, he had never seen this happen in teh past.

Kevin's attention was soon taken away by a subtle pull of his lips.

Opening his mouth, Kevin spoke through Ren's mouth.

"...As expected, you can't let this happen, can you? Without me, all hopes of defeating the demon king are null."

What followed after his words was the sudden appearance of a man in a blue jacket. He was holding onto a small box which Ren took and brought with him inside of the room.

After which, he looked through the contents and eventually pulled out an unfamiliar red book.

'That...'

Kevin instantly recognized the book in Ren's hands.

How could he not? It was the same book he had used back when Ren was in danger in the past.

"Oh? What an interesting book."

Focusing his attention back on the reflection, Kevin was able to see what was written in the book. It was his life.

'As expected, it's the same.'

...and it was from there that Kevin was able to confirm his suspicions.

Time moved forward, and now, with the aid of the book, Ren no longer died during the Hollberg incident as he did in the past. He managed to survive.

Kevin felt interest arise from within his body.

"Can this be enough to stop the loop?"

Kevin mumbled out loud through Ren's body.

But...

"Doesn't look like it."

Time passed, and Ren once again died. This time, he died during the inter-academy tournament. He made it a bit further, but he still died.

"...This won't do."

The same scene repeated itself once again. This time, the red book appeared in each scene.

Clank. Clank.

Reaching out for the orb once more, Kevin felt his mouth open as he muttered.

"I think I've got an idea of what I should do..."

Black threads once again started to form around the white orb upon reaching out for it.

This time, they were a lot less than before. Nevertheless, they were still many.

"A red book, huh? Is this the only thing, or have you left more?"

Kevin mumbled through Ren's mouth.

Locking his eyes onto the red book, the black threads gently wrapped around the white orb.

"...This might work."

Thinking of something, Kevin felt Ren's brows relax. After that, he stared at the reflection on the orb.

"Since you've received a book that outlines exactly what Kevin is doing, it stands to reason that his altered memories have to do with a book. How about an author entering his own book? This would reduce the possibility of you discovering that your memories have been tampered with, and I won't have trouble giving him the power of foresight..."

Trying to wrap around the orb, more black threads emerged from beneath it with each passing second. Soon, a black cacoon formed in front of Kevin's vision.

"Since I have only a limited amount of power, I can't add too many details to his memory. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be a problem. Right now, my priority is making sure that he does what I want, and that is...have Kevin kill the Demon King."

Removing his hand from the orb, Kevin felt his body take several steps back.

Carefully observing the orb, Kevin once again felt his mouth open.

"Trial one. Begin."

Following his words, the black threads revolving around the orb started to scatter and Kevin was once again able to see what was reflected inside of the orb.

'It's different.'

from this point that Kevin noticed that compared to the previous versions

different from that

'...What is he doing?'

and interfering with certain events in the past such as the Hollberg incident, the inter academy tournament...Kevin

the world, and he was hailed as

for everything to go dark and

'What happened?'

he

suddenly restart? Ren was definitely extremely

"Another failure."

felt the top ends of his brows

he opened his mouth, Ren's voice

Kevin becoming weak and

'What?'

his hand on

Kevin and the others becoming too weak and inevitably leading to his death and

from beneath

he will derail from the plotline I have set up for him like the last trial. For that to happen, I decided to

is a total loser that is rejected by society. His only ambition will be to live a happy life and in order to do that, he must make sure that he thoroughly follows the plotline. Having him adopt this mindset, I

speak, the more the

Clank. Clank.

coming from the chains became more

a change in the plotline. A pawn is necessary. One that would force him into the

Clank! Clank!

more and more powerful with each

Coming from a world without magic, he will be inexperienced and will have a high chance of

CLANK! CLANK!

with a wild force and Kevin felt his body get

threads that were wrapping around it, dissipated till only

which, the familiar scene began to replay on the white

'It's once again different.'

close attention, Kevin was once again shocked to see the scene change. However,

much closer to the Ren that

way he talked and

lot like the Ren that he

came into

Clank. Clank.

then that Kevin felt his body

Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt his hand

"Red desolation."

it was enough

name of one of the

shockingly, Kevin watched as Ren

monsters and trained himself. It was only after a while that he spotted several people lying down on the

be a

their bodies eventually start to convulse and they ended up

'Mindbreaker curse.'

glance how they died, and it was then that he came to the conclusion that there

do anything about it, a sandstorm engulfed him. The only thing Kevin saw in the orb was

see what was happening only after Ren entered the eye of the storm. A massive castle appeared in the distance at

'What is he doing?'

Ren approached the

did he enter

"Good."

mouth open

'What good?'

Kevin to be

a throne. Staring at Ren with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with him. Ren did try to put on a struggle, but it only

'This...make it stop.'

his eyes away, but he physically

as the demon toyed with Ren till he died and

the loop repeated once more, and Kevin watched the same thing happen again. Training in the dungeon and dying

five more times. Fortunately for Kevin, as this was a memory, he only saw

you

still couldn't stand seeing the same scene of Ren getting tortured over

'Do something!'

Ren was once again about to

took a total of five loops in order for me to recuperate some of the energy

more black threads shot into the air and wrapped around

Kevin saw something

to play with his subjects. The key is to pretend you don't work anymore and attack his core right when he loses interest in

watched as the same scene unfolded. This

torture, Ren pretended to no longer move, and exactly as the demon lost interest, he put up a last-ditch effort and cracked

as he

in Kevin's voice did not last for long as he once again felt his hand

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

Kevin was stunned to see the chains that were

was right there, more sprang from beneath the ground, and clung onto

body, Ren was pulled away from

more stunning to Kevin was the fact that he felt his lips

"I've succeeded."

feeling his eyelids close, darkness enveloped his

"Aaahhhhhh!"

a

'What's going on?'

again, Kevin found himself

is he

the ground before him was the same demon

"Ahhhhh!"

as he

"Quiet."

instant that his words rang out, the demon that was

his eyes

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

that he was the same demon from the orb, but the familiarity actually came from

he didn't have much time to dwell on this anymore as the demon's

"It's you!"

him with a bloodthirsty gaze. Sadly for the demon, his attack went right through Kevin and before he could react, Kevin felt his hand rise and

The demon froze mid-air.

the energy I had trying to get

suddenly enveloped

lucky that I chose

"Ahhhhh!"

words faded, the demon let out another scream and his body

'What did he do?'

wondered to himself as he watched the demon scream

like this...Ren was definitely doing something to him. Unfortunately, the only thing Kevin could do was watch. The memories didn't