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.'

was from this point that Kevin noticed that compared to the previous versions of the loops, Ren's actions

far too different from that

'...What is he doing?'

events in the past such as the Hollberg incident, the inter academy

his name became known by everyone in the world, and he

for everything to go dark and the

'What happened?'

himself as he continued to

loop suddenly restart? Ren

"Another failure."

the top

mouth, Ren's voice echoed throughout the

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

'What?'

on the

others

again rose from beneath

plotline I have set up for him like the last

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

felt his mouth speak, the more the black

Clank. Clank.

sound coming from the chains became more intense as

that's not enough. His actions for growth will inevitably lead to a change in the plotline. A pawn is

Clank! Clank!

coming from the chains became more and more powerful with each

a high chance of dying. When the time comes, I

CLANK! CLANK!

that were rattling shook with a wild force and

that were wrapping around it, dissipated till only a few

which, the familiar scene began to replay on the white

'It's once again different.'

was once again shocked to see the scene change. However, if there was one

much closer to the

way he talked

lot like the Ren that he knew

came into contact with what seemed to be a broker. Talking with him for a bit,

Clank. Clank.

was then that Kevin felt his

Clank. Clank.

rattling sound, Kevin felt his

"Red desolation."

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

of one of the

watched as Ren

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

seemed to be a mercenary

them, Kevin watched their bodies

'Mindbreaker curse.'

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

also came to the same conclusion, but before he could do anything about it, a sandstorm

only after Ren entered the eye of the storm. A massive castle appeared in the

'What is he doing?'

watched as Ren approached the castle and

he enter the

"Good."

mouth open as

'What good?'

Kevin to

what was going on, 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.'

Kevin wanted to take his eyes away,

watch as the demon toyed with Ren

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

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

you

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

'Do something!'

to die, Kevin finally felt his

recuperate some of the energy

threads shot into

Kevin saw

don't work

he uttered those words, Kevin watched as the same scene unfolded. This time, however, he was shocked to see a

pretended to no longer move, and exactly as the demon lost interest, he put

as he

for long as he once again felt his

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

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

there, more sprang from beneath the ground,

around his body, Ren was pulled

Kevin was the fact that he felt

"I've succeeded."

eyelids close,

"Aaahhhhhh!"

heard a bloodcurdling

'What's going on?'

again, Kevin found himself inside a

is he doing

on the ground before him was the same demon

"Ahhhhh!"

room as he desperately clung

"Quiet."

his mouth open. In the instant that his words rang out, the demon

head, Kevin felt his eyes meet with the

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

that he looked somewhat familiar. He knew that he was the

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

"It's you!"

attack went right through Kevin and before

The demon froze mid-air.

waste. I've already used most of the energy I had trying to get a small fraction of my

as a white glow suddenly enveloped the finger that pressed

lucky that I

"Ahhhhh!"

let out another scream and

'What did he do?'

he watched the demon scream for the next

doing something to him. Unfortunately, the only thing Kevin could do was watch.