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.'

compared to the previous versions of

they were far too different from that of

'...What is he doing?'

with certain events in the past such as the Hollberg incident, the inter academy tournament...Kevin watched as Ren slowly started to get more and

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

for everything to go dark and

'What happened?'

himself as he continued to gaze at

restart?

"Another failure."

the top ends of his

mouth, Ren's voice echoed throughout

meddling resulted in Kevin becoming weak and eventually dying.

'What?'

hand on the

failure. Subject meddled too much resulting in Kevin and the others becoming

once again rose from beneath the

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

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

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

Clank. Clank.

coming from the chains became more intense

change in the plotline. A pawn is necessary. One that would force him into

Clank! Clank!

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

world without magic, he will be inexperienced and will have a high chance of dying. When the time comes, I need

CLANK! CLANK!

wild force and Kevin felt his

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

began to replay on the white

'It's once again different.'

change. However, if there was one thing that particularly caught

the

way he talked and

a lot like the Ren

Kevin watched as Ren left the academy and headed out for what seemed to be the black market. After that, he came

Clank. Clank.

that Kevin felt his body move once

Clank. Clank.

felt his hand press

"Red desolation."

said two words, but it was enough for Kevin to

of the ranked dungeons on the

watched as Ren chose

dungeon, Kevin watched as Ren fought against monsters and trained himself. It was only after a while that he spotted several people lying down on the ground

seemed to be a

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

'Mindbreaker curse.'

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

conclusion, but before he could do anything about it, a sandstorm engulfed him.

what was happening only after Ren entered the eye of

'What is he doing?'

as Ren approached

he enter the

"Good."

he felt his mouth open

'What good?'

words caused Kevin to be even

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 it only ended in enraging

'This...make it stop.'

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

as the demon toyed with Ren

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

repeated five more times. Fortunately for Kevin, as this was

you doing

still couldn't stand seeing the same scene of

'Do something!'

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

five loops in order for me to recuperate some of the energy

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

saw something

pretend you don't work anymore and attack his core right

as the same scene unfolded. This

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

as

as he once again felt his hand press against the

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

stunned to see the chains

more sprang from beneath the ground, and clung

body, Ren was

Kevin was

"I've succeeded."

his eyelids close,

"Aaahhhhhh!"

a bloodcurdling

'What's going on?'

again, Kevin found himself inside a dark

he

the ground before him was the same demon

"Ahhhhh!"

as he desperately clung

"Quiet."

felt his mouth open. In the instant that his words rang

Kevin felt his eyes meet with

'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 just couldn't exactly

didn't have much time to dwell on this anymore as

"It's you!"

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

The demon froze mid-air.

most of the energy I had trying to get a small fraction of my soul to enter your body through your broken

enveloped the finger that

lucky that

"Ahhhhh!"

the demon let out another scream and his

'What did he do?'

himself as he watched the

Kevin could do was watch. The memories didn't allow him to understand what Ren was thinking or doing. He had to figure everything out