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,

different from that of the

'...What is he doing?'

and interfering with certain events in the past such as the Hollberg incident, the inter

everyone in the

go dark and the loop to restart

'What happened?'

himself as he continued to gaze at

loop suddenly restart? Ren

"Another failure."

his thoughts, Kevin felt the top ends of

mouth, Ren's voice

got greedy, and his meddling resulted in Kevin becoming weak and

'What?'

on the orb

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

from beneath the orb,

he is too smart or ambitious, he will derail from the plotline I have set up

come from a world where magic does not exist, and 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 will be able

his mouth speak, the more the black threads that emerged from

Clank. Clank.

sound coming from the chains became

His actions for growth will inevitably lead to a change in the plotline. A pawn

Clank! Clank!

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

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

CLANK! CLANK!

wild force and Kevin felt his body get

were wrapping around it, dissipated

scene began to replay on the white

'It's once again different.'

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

to the

way he

resembled a lot like the Ren that he

headed out for what seemed to be the black market. After that, he came into

Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt his body move once

Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt his hand

"Red desolation."

but it was enough for Kevin to understand what they

the name of one of the ranked dungeons on

Kevin watched as Ren chose that

dungeon, Kevin watched as Ren fought against monsters and trained himself. It was

to be a mercenary

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

'Mindbreaker curse.'

the symptoms the mercenary group experienced, Kevin was able to tell with a glance how they died, and it was then that he came to

sandstorm engulfed him. The only thing Kevin saw in the orb was

see what was happening only after Ren entered the eye

'What is he doing?'

Kevin watched as Ren approached the

did he enter

"Good."

Kevin, he felt his mouth open as

'What good?'

words caused Kevin to be even

with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with him. Ren did try to put on a

'This...make it stop.'

his eyes

as the demon

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

for Kevin, as this was a memory, he

you

the same scene of Ren getting tortured over and

'Do something!'

to die, Kevin finally felt his

me to recuperate some of the energy I lost, and memorize

hand over the orb, more black threads shot into the air

saw something

key is to pretend you don't work

Kevin watched as the same scene unfolded. This time, however, he was shocked

longer move, and exactly as the demon lost interest, he

as

last for long as he once again felt his hand press against

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

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

there, more sprang from beneath the ground, and clung

around his body, Ren was

even more stunning to Kevin was the fact that

"I've succeeded."

close,

"Aaahhhhhh!"

a

'What's going on?'

again, Kevin found himself inside

is he

ground before him was the same demon

"Ahhhhh!"

as he desperately clung to each part of

"Quiet."

that his words rang out, the

his eyes meet

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

at the demon, Kevin realized that he looked somewhat familiar. He knew that he was the same demon

to dwell on this anymore as the

"It's you!"

went right through Kevin and before he could react, Kevin felt his hand rise and he pressed his finger

The demon froze mid-air.

already used most of the energy I had trying to get a small fraction

a white glow suddenly enveloped the

lucky that

"Ahhhhh!"

words faded, the demon let out another

'What did he do?'

to himself as he watched the demon

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