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.'

point that Kevin noticed that compared to the previous versions of the

were far too different from that of

'...What is he doing?'

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

by everyone in the world, and he was hailed

to go dark and the loop to restart

'What happened?'

wondered to himself as he continued to

did the loop suddenly restart? Ren was

"Another failure."

his thoughts, Kevin felt the top ends of his brows furrowed

opened his mouth, Ren's voice echoed throughout

resulted in Kevin becoming weak and eventually

'What?'

his hand on the orb once

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

threads once again rose from beneath the

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

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

Kevin felt his mouth speak, the more the

Clank. Clank.

rattling sound coming from the chains

the plotline. A pawn is necessary. One that would force him into the specific route that I

Clank! Clank!

the chains became more and more powerful with each passing

world without magic, he will be inexperienced and will have a high chance of dying. When the time comes, I need something to make him more decisive. The only thing

CLANK! CLANK!

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

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

which, the familiar scene began to

'It's once again different.'

Kevin was once again shocked to see the scene change. However, if there was one thing that particularly caught his

to the Ren that I

way he

lot like the

the black market. After that, he came into contact with what seemed to

Clank. Clank.

it was then that Kevin felt his

Clank. Clank.

felt

"Red desolation."

but it was enough for Kevin to understand what they

the

watched as Ren chose

monsters and trained himself. It

seemed to be

them, Kevin watched their bodies eventually start

'Mindbreaker curse.'

was able to tell with a glance how they died, and it

he could do anything about it, a sandstorm engulfed him. The only thing Kevin saw in

entered the eye of the storm. A massive castle appeared in the

'What is he doing?'

Kevin watched as Ren approached

did he enter the

"Good."

his mouth open as Ren's

'What good?'

to be even more

Staring at Ren with an amused look on his face, he began to toy with him. Ren did

'This...make it stop.'

take his eyes away, but he

could only watch as the demon toyed

same thing happen again. Training in the dungeon and

for Kevin, as this was a memory, he only saw short

aren't you

couldn't stand seeing the same scene of Ren getting

'Do something!'

once again about to die, Kevin finally felt

took a total of five loops in order for me to recuperate some of the energy I lost, and memorize all of the

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

saw

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

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

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

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

to see the chains that were binding him shake even more fiercely than

more sprang from beneath the

was pulled away

case, what was even more stunning to Kevin was the fact that he felt

"I've succeeded."

his eyelids close, darkness

"Aaahhhhhh!"

heard a bloodcurdling

'What's going on?'

them up again, Kevin found himself inside a

he

ground before him

"Ahhhhh!"

as he desperately clung

"Quiet."

his mouth open. In the instant that his words rang out, the demon that was lying down on

felt his

'This demon...he feels familiar.'

was the same demon from the orb, but the familiarity actually came from somewhere else. He just couldn't exactly remember

case, he didn't have much time to dwell on

"It's you!"

demon, his attack went right through Kevin and before he could react, Kevin felt

The demon froze mid-air.

I've already used most of the energy I had trying

a white glow suddenly enveloped the

yourself lucky that I

"Ahhhhh!"

demon let out another scream

'What did he do?'

watched the demon scream for the next

react like 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