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.'

that Kevin noticed that compared to the previous versions of the loops,

far too different from that of the

'...What is he doing?'

such as the Hollberg incident, the inter academy tournament...Kevin

in the world, and he was hailed as humanity's

and the

'What happened?'

as he continued to gaze at the

restart? Ren was definitely extremely

"Another failure."

thoughts, Kevin felt the top ends

mouth, Ren's voice echoed

in Kevin becoming weak and

'What?'

placed his hand on the orb once

one, failure. Subject meddled too much resulting in Kevin and the others becoming too weak and inevitably leading

rose from beneath the orb,

a change in the subject's personality. If he is too smart or ambitious, he will derail from the plotline I have set up for him like the last trial. For that

life and in order to do that, he must make

mouth speak, the more the black threads that emerged

Clank. Clank.

the chains

A pawn is necessary. One that would

Clank! Clank!

chains became more and more powerful with each passing second. It was clear to Kevin

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

CLANK! CLANK!

were rattling shook with a wild force and

were wrapping around it, dissipated till

which, the familiar scene began to

'It's once again different.'

to see the scene change. However, if there was one thing that particularly caught his interest, it

the Ren that I

he talked

the

as Ren left the academy and headed out for what seemed to be the black market. After that, he came into contact

Clank. Clank.

then that Kevin felt his body

Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt his hand press against the

"Red desolation."

words, but it was enough for Kevin to understand what they

of the ranked dungeons on

as Ren chose that exact

through the dungeon, Kevin watched as Ren fought against monsters and trained himself. It was only after a while that

be a mercenary

to help them, Kevin watched their bodies eventually start to convulse and they ended up

'Mindbreaker curse.'

was able to tell with a glance how they died, and it was then that he came to the conclusion that there was a demon

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

what was happening only after Ren entered the eye of

'What is he doing?'

Kevin watched as Ren approached the castle and

he

"Good."

felt his mouth open as Ren's voice

'What good?'

Kevin to be

throne. Staring at Ren with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with

'This...make it stop.'

to stand the scene, Kevin wanted to take his eyes away, but he physically couldn't.

only watch as the demon toyed with Ren till he died and the loop

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

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

you doing

seeing the same scene of Ren getting tortured over and

'Do something!'

to die, Kevin

for me to recuperate

black threads shot into

Kevin saw something

The key is to pretend you don't work anymore

uttered those words, Kevin 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

as

Kevin's voice did not last for long as he once again

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

moment, Kevin was stunned to see the chains that were binding him shake even more fiercely than

the ground, and clung onto his leg and

around his body, Ren was pulled away from

to Kevin was the fact that

"I've succeeded."

eyelids close, darkness

"Aaahhhhhh!"

heard a

'What's going on?'

them up again, Kevin found

is he doing

on the ground before him was the

"Ahhhhh!"

in agony throughout the room as he desperately

"Quiet."

that his words rang out, the demon

felt his eyes

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

looked somewhat familiar. He knew that he was the same demon from the orb, but the familiarity actually came

any case, he didn't have much time to dwell on

"It's you!"

demon, his attack went right through Kevin and before he could react, Kevin felt his hand rise and

The demon froze mid-air.

much time to waste. I've already used most of the energy I had trying to get a small fraction of my soul to enter your

glow suddenly enveloped the finger that pressed against

yourself lucky that I

"Ahhhhh!"

let out another scream and his body arched

'What did he do?'

watched the demon scream for

do was watch. The memories didn't allow him to understand what Ren was thinking