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 compared to the previous versions

too different from that of the Ren

'...What is he doing?'

all 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 started to

in the world, and he was

go dark and

'What happened?'

himself as he continued to

the loop suddenly restart? Ren was

"Another failure."

the top ends

his mouth, Ren's

got greedy, and his meddling resulted in Kevin becoming weak and eventually dying. A short oversight on my

'What?'

on the orb

and the others becoming too weak and inevitably leading to

once again rose from beneath the orb,

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 to happen, I decided to make some adjustments to

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

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

Clank. Clank.

coming from the chains became

in the plotline. A pawn is necessary.

Clank! Clank!

each passing second. It was clear to Kevin that

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

CLANK! CLANK!

the chains that were rattling shook with a wild force and Kevin felt his

that were wrapping around it, dissipated till

began

'It's once again different.'

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

closer to the Ren that

way he talked and

like the Ren that he knew

for what seemed to be the black market. After that, he came into contact with what seemed to be a broker.

Clank. Clank.

Kevin felt his body

Clank. Clank.

rattling sound, Kevin felt his hand press

"Red desolation."

two words, but it was

of one of the ranked dungeons on the

shockingly, Kevin watched as Ren chose

were sand dunes everywhere, and the land was cracked. Marching through the dungeon, Kevin watched as Ren fought against monsters and

seemed to be a mercenary

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

'Mindbreaker curse.'

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

a sandstorm engulfed him. The

able to see what was happening only after Ren entered the eye of the storm. A massive castle appeared in the distance at that

'What is he doing?'

as Ren approached the

he enter the

"Good."

his mouth open as Ren's

'What good?'

words caused Kevin to be

sitting on a throne. Staring at Ren with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with him. Ren did try to put on a struggle, but

'This...make it stop.'

stand the scene, Kevin wanted to take his eyes away,

demon toyed with Ren till he died

and Kevin watched the same thing happen again. Training

this was a memory, he only saw short glimpses of

aren't you

same scene of Ren getting tortured over and

'Do something!'

Ren was once again about to die, Kevin finally felt

me to recuperate some of the energy I lost,

threads shot into the air

Kevin saw something

key is to pretend you don't work anymore and attack his

as he uttered those words, Kevin watched as the same scene unfolded. This time, however, he

to no longer move, and exactly as the demon lost interest, he put up a last-ditch effort

as

long as he once again felt his hand press against

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

to see the chains that were binding him

more sprang from beneath the

body, Ren was pulled away

was even more stunning to Kevin was the fact that he felt

"I've succeeded."

feeling his eyelids close,

"Aaahhhhhh!"

heard a bloodcurdling

'What's going on?'

Kevin found himself inside a dark

he

before him was the

"Ahhhhh!"

room as he desperately clung to each

"Quiet."

In the instant that his words rang out, the demon

Kevin felt his eyes meet with

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

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

"It's you!"

slash towards him with a bloodthirsty gaze. Sadly for the demon, his attack went right through Kevin and before he could react, Kevin felt his

The demon froze mid-air.

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

as a white glow suddenly enveloped the finger that

that I chose

"Ahhhhh!"

the demon let out another

'What did he do?'

to himself as he watched the demon scream for the

watch. The memories didn't allow him to understand what Ren was thinking or doing. He