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 previous versions of the loops,

too different from

'...What is he doing?'

sorts of items, and interfering with certain events in the past such as the Hollberg incident, the inter academy tournament...Kevin watched as Ren slowly

by everyone in the world, and

for everything to go dark and

'What happened?'

wondered to himself as he continued to gaze at

loop suddenly restart? Ren was definitely

"Another failure."

top ends of

opened his mouth, Ren's

in Kevin becoming weak and eventually dying. A short oversight

'What?'

on the orb once

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

from beneath

make 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

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

his mouth speak, the more the black

Clank. Clank.

rattling sound coming from the chains became more intense as time

A pawn is necessary. One that would force him

Clank! Clank!

more powerful with each passing

will have a high chance of dying.

CLANK! CLANK!

rattling shook with a wild force and Kevin felt his body get flung all

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

the familiar scene began to replay on

'It's once again different.'

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

much closer to the Ren

he

lot like the Ren

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 broker. Talking

Clank. Clank.

that Kevin felt his

Clank. Clank.

felt his hand press

"Red desolation."

but it was enough for Kevin to

one of the ranked dungeons on the

Kevin watched as Ren chose that

against monsters and trained himself.

seemed to be a

bodies eventually start to

'Mindbreaker curse.'

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

also came to the same conclusion, but before he could do anything about it, a sandstorm engulfed him. The only thing

the eye of the storm. A massive castle appeared

'What is he doing?'

Ren approached the

he enter

"Good."

his mouth open as Ren's

'What good?'

to

could even make out 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

'This...make it stop.'

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

the demon toyed with Ren till he died and

that, the loop repeated once more, and Kevin watched the same thing happen

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

you

couldn't stand seeing the same scene of

'Do something!'

again about to die, Kevin finally felt

recuperate some of the energy

the orb, more black threads shot into the air

saw something

with his subjects. The key is to pretend you don't work anymore and attack his core

the same scene unfolded. This

through the torture, Ren pretended to no longer move, and exactly as the demon

exactly as he

long as he once again felt his hand

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

was stunned to see the chains that

there, more sprang from beneath the ground, and clung onto his leg

body, Ren was

to Kevin was the fact that he felt his lips curl

"I've succeeded."

eyelids close, darkness

"Aaahhhhhh!"

a

'What's going on?'

again, Kevin found himself inside a dark

he doing

before him was the same

"Ahhhhh!"

agony throughout the room as he desperately clung to

"Quiet."

In the instant that his words rang

head, Kevin felt his

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

demon, Kevin realized that he looked somewhat familiar. He knew that he was the same demon from the orb, but

any case, he didn't have much time to

"It's you!"

demon slash towards him with a bloodthirsty gaze. Sadly for the demon, his attack went right through Kevin

The demon froze mid-air.

have much time to waste. I've already used most of the energy I had trying to get

glow suddenly enveloped the finger that pressed against

yourself lucky that I chose

"Ahhhhh!"

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

'What did he do?'

to himself as he watched the demon scream for

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