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.'

Kevin noticed that compared to the

were far too 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 watched as Ren slowly started to get more

in the world, and he was hailed as

to go dark and the loop to restart

'What happened?'

himself as he continued to gaze at the

the loop suddenly restart? Ren was definitely

"Another failure."

the top ends

mouth, Ren's voice echoed throughout the dark

meddling resulted in Kevin becoming weak and eventually dying. A short oversight on my

'What?'

his hand on the

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

from beneath the orb,

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

a happy life and in order to do that, he must make sure that he thoroughly follows

mouth speak, the more the black threads that

Clank. Clank.

sound coming from the chains became more intense as

plotline. A pawn is necessary.

Clank! Clank!

rattling sound coming from the chains became more and more powerful with each passing second. It was clear

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

CLANK! CLANK!

wild force and Kevin felt his

of the orb, the black threads that were wrapping around it, dissipated till

the familiar scene began to replay on the

'It's once again different.'

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

to the Ren that I

he talked

lot like the

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

Clank. Clank.

was then that Kevin felt his body

Clank. Clank.

felt his

"Red desolation."

was

the name of one of the

Kevin watched as Ren chose

was cracked. Marching through the dungeon, Kevin watched as Ren fought against monsters and trained himself. It was only

to be a mercenary

attempt to help them, Kevin watched their bodies eventually start to convulse and

'Mindbreaker curse.'

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

the same conclusion, but before he could do anything about it, a sandstorm engulfed him. The only thing Kevin saw in the orb was an endless amount of

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

'What is he doing?'

as Ren

he enter the

"Good."

mouth open as Ren's

'What good?'

caused Kevin to be

Kevin spotted a black humanoid figure sitting on a throne. Staring at Ren with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with him. Ren did try to

'This...make it stop.'

to take his eyes away, but he physically couldn't. This wasn't his

Kevin could only watch as the demon toyed with Ren till he

Kevin watched the same thing happen again. Training in the dungeon and dying

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

aren't you doing

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

'Do something!'

was once again about to die, Kevin finally felt his mouth

loops in order for me to recuperate some of the energy I lost, and memorize all of

over the orb, more black threads shot into the air and wrapped around

saw something

you don't

same scene unfolded. This time, however, he was

as the demon lost interest, he put

as he

did not last for long as he once again

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

was stunned to see the chains that were binding him shake even more

the ground,

was pulled away from

Kevin was the

"I've succeeded."

his eyelids close, darkness enveloped

"Aaahhhhhh!"

a

'What's going on?'

up again, Kevin found

he

before him was

"Ahhhhh!"

he desperately clung to each part of his

"Quiet."

In the instant that his words rang out, the demon that was lying down

felt his eyes meet with the

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

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

case, he didn't have much time to dwell on this anymore as the

"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 he pressed

The demon froze mid-air.

energy I had trying to get a

glow suddenly enveloped the finger

yourself lucky that I chose

"Ahhhhh!"

the demon let

'What did he do?'

watched the demon scream for the

react like this...Ren was definitely doing something to him. Unfortunately, the only thing Kevin could do was watch. The memories didn't allow him to understand what Ren was thinking or doing. He had to