"...How pathetic."

Two words that deeply resonated inside Jin's mind.

Staring at his figure which was currently being held by the throat, Jin had mixed feelings about the situation.

'I was supposed to die this day.'

Having seen through Ren's memories, Jin was confused.

Really confused.

He didn't understand a single thing that he was shown. His mind had grown numb at one point, but he was helpless.

He was forced to stare at the memories in spite of the fact that he didn't want to see them.

It wasn't something that he could control.

...To make matters worse. He didn't want to relieve this one scene which he tried his best to remove from his memories.

Jin thought of this day as the most humiliating day of his life.

Who would've thought that on this day, he was supposed to die? Jin had relieved all the different scenarios, and so he knew.

He knew that he was supposed to have died.

'...I didn't know that on that day, Ren saved my life.'

He had mixed feelings about the whole situation.

Slowly, Jin felt his eyes close, and before he knew it, he was back in the black space.

In front of him was a white orb.

With the palm of his hand pressing against it, JIn felt his body slowly move away from it.

Opening his mouth, Jin heard Ren's voice coming out.

"This should settle the matter. Whether he matures through this ordeal, or not, is up to him. Since his death will inevitably result in Kevin possibly regressing, it is best to keep him alive. At least this way, he will have a higher chance of surviving."

Listening to those words, Jin remained silent.

These last words were enough for him to understand everything. A bitter feeling arose within his heart.

'I..was just a pawn wasn't I?'

***

Melissa was a smart child.

She knew this, and everyone around her knew this. It wasn't something that needed to be told to others.

Her comprehensive abilities were something one would be envious of.

With just a glance, she would be able to analyze and deduce a situation.

It seemed as though nothing was out of her mind's grasp.

...At least that was how things were supposed to be.

'I don't get it.'

'I don't understand.'

'What's going on?'

Nothing made sense to her at the moment.

It wasn't too long ago that she was exposed to her life's memories. Being reminded of her failures sent Melissa into a numb state.

By the time she had recovered a bit, she found herself inside of another space, and it was then that she caught a glimpse of Ren's memories.

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In that moment, Melissa's mind blanked as all sorts of memories started replaying in her head.

Ren went through a lot during that time.

No, rather, a lot of would be an understatement. She watched him go through what seemed to be hell.

Going through what he experienced, her heart quivered.

The same was for her mind which numbed considerably. Everything felt dull.

Especially when scenes of her and Ren appeared.

'...So all of the previous theories that Ren gave to me...were things that I had created?'

She originally did find it strange that Ren knew so many different theories, but it was only after she watched what was presented in front of her that she realized that all the theories he had given her, including the magic theory project.

'They are all things that I came up with.'

At least that was what she figured out from what she was being shown. She still understood nothing, but at the same time, had an inkling of what was going on.

'Ha...ha...'

She let out a hollow laugh.

'...I..I guess things make more sense now.'

***

'...That's me.'

Reflected in the white orb was the image of a young girl lying down in a pool of red blood. Emma was able to instantly recognize the figure and the environment.

It was her on one of the battle platforms in Issanor.

Her hand was pressed on the orb, and thin black threads revolved around it.

"Maybe this will give her a wake-up call."

Opening her mouth, Ren's words echoed out. His eyes locked on the figure that was in the middle of the platform, bleeding out.

"...I originally intended to kill you."

Emma didn't say anything while she listened to his words.

"Kevin relies too much on you, and you rely too much on him. If you die, then maybe Kevin will get his act together, but at the same time, I know that this won't work."

Every single one of the words that Ren spoke deeply resonated inside Emma's heart as she just quietly watched everything unfold.

His words...

They hurt Emma. Deeply. His words felt like sharp knives that were stabbing straight through her heart.

...It wasn't so much about the words he said.

It was more about one fact.

"So, I'll just use you to make Kevin stronger. Hopefully, you'll mature and you'll stop being a burden."

'I...Know.'

Truth sometimes hurts.

***

[Haaaa!]

[I want to die...I want to die...I want to die...]

Ren's words echoed throughout the dark space. Reflected on the orb was the image of himself cutting his own face with what seemed to be a sharp knife.

His whole body was covered in blisters, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

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Amanda's heart gripped with anxiety when she saw the scene.

His words...the look of desperation on his face shook her to the core. All the previous thoughts she had in her mind vanished on the spot.

'...It's not his fault. He's the true victim.'

It was at that moment that she realized something.

The Ren in the orb was the true victim.

...Her heart was currently messed up, and so was her mind. What she saw...she didn't think that she would ever be able to truly get over, but...if there was one thing she understood while she stared at Ren who was currently screaming in pain and threatening to kill himself.

...It was that he was the true victim of everything.

Having every single aspect of your life controlled, from emotions to decisions, Amanda was able to clearly understand just how much Ren went through, and she felt her heart grip.

[I...don't want to live...b..but...I really want to go home...]

Ren's weak voice echoed once more.

Amanda felt her heart tighten once more.

'I..I don't want to watch this anymore.'

His desperate calls...his cries...and the way that he was suffering. Amanda couldn't bring herself to watch anymore.

...Unfortunately, she didn't have much of a choice. Regardless of what she did, she was stuck watching everything.

'Please sto'

Halfway through her sentence, she felt her mouth open. Ren's lonely voice echoed throughout the space.

"...I also want to die."

***

"So? ...What do you think?"

The chained figure asked as he moved behind Ren.

What followed after his words was a twisted silence.

"...What are your plans?"

Instead of answering the chained figure, Ren asked him a question. Currently, his expression was dull, making it hard to see what he was feeling.

"My plans?"

Closing his mouth, the chained figure stared at the white orb in front of Ren.

Silence enshrouded the surroundings as neither of the two figures in the dark space spoke.

"Are you going to take over my body?"

Breaking the silence was Ren's voice that echoed out loud.

Turning his head to stare at Ren, the chained figure merely tilted his head.

"Are you not angry?

Rather than answering, he asked a different question.

"...I must say, I'm surprised that you aren't acting out after having seen everything."

"Mad?"

A bitter smile spread across Ren's face.

After turning his body, his eyes met those of the chained figure. Something flashed across his eyes.

"Rather than being angry, I pity you. From the very beginning, I had already had an idea of what was going on. The clues were there...I was already prepared for everything that was to come, still..."

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Raising his hand, Ren clenched onto his chest. There was a faint tremble in his voice.

"...To be h.onest...I..d.on't really know how to feel about this."

Lowering his head, Ren's voice turned into a whisper.

"My life has been merely an expression of your desire to end the loop. I feel like I've been living a lie my whole life, no..."

Ren shook his head. The bitterness in his voice only grew, and so did the pain in his chest.

"...let's be honest. My life is a lie."

Listening to his words, the chained figure didn't speak for quite a while.

It was only after a couple of seconds passed that he finally spoke.

"Not necessarily."

The chained figure spoke.

"A lot of the things that you were subjected to were under my guidance, but there were several instances when things did not go the way I planned them. Remember when you returned back to the Lock? Back then, you truly did surprise me."

"The original plan was to alienate you from society with the revelations of your past, but you seemed to have somehow managed to deduce everything, and somehow stopped it. On top of that, you were also able to figure out that I couldn't read your thoughts..."

"...That in itself is praiseworthy."

Once his words faded, he no longer said anything else and just silently stared at Ren who was slowly starting to lose his composure, and his previous dull look crumbled.

"Ha...ha, I don't really know what to say."

"I only did what must've been done."

The chained figure shook his head and turned to look at the white orb. Slowly, the cracks that were forming around it were expanding.

Cra...Crack.

A cracking sound echoed out. What followed after the first sound was the sound of another, and it wasn't long before the orb was covered with thin miniature crevices.

Neither of the two figures in the dark space moved while this was happening.

Opening his mouth again, Ren asked.

"So what next? What do you plan on doing?"

"Nothing."

The chained figure responded while absentmindedly gazing at the orb.

"...It's not time yet."

The chained figure eventually spoke out loud, while turning his body to face away from the white orb.

Overhearing his words, Ren turned around.

"Time for what?"

"...You'll know soon enough."

Taking a step forward, the rattling of the chains echoed out.

Clank. Clank.

Ren turned around and stared at the distancing chained figure, which slowly raised its hand and snapped its fingers.

"For now, let's break this illusion."

Snap.

With a snap of his fingers, the whole world started to crumble down.

***

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A/N : There will be another chapter. I've already completed it. I'm just editing it.