The Author's POV
chapter-423

Gazing in Kevin's direction, I lowered my head and stared at the floor next to me.

Following my hints, Kevin who had calmed down slowly walked over and sat down. He didn't say a single word throughout the whole time.

I didn't blame him for his reaction.

Resting my arms over my knees, I opened my mouth.

"Where should I start? There's much I have to say…"

There truly were a lot of things that I wanted to say.

So many that I had difficulty trying to sort my thoughts out.

But in the end, after realizing just how important it was for me to disclose everything, I calmed myself down.

Eyeing Kevin from the side of my eyes, I muttered.

"Just so you know, you're the only one that I've ever told my secret. I hope you don't tell anyone else about my secret."

This was a secret that I originally meant to take with me to the grave, but circumstances forced me to do otherwise. If I didn't disclose everything, the rift that the other Ren was trying to create between me, Kevin, and the others would simply widen.

But, if possible, I wanted only Kevin to know. It wasn't that I didn't trust the others, but I didn't want the others to have a false idea about who I was.

"Can you do that for me?"

"…okay."

After a long silence, Kevin eventually nodded his head. I smiled in response.

"Thanks."

Then, letting out a deep sigh, I began recounting to him everything.

"…well, it all started a week prior to the beginning of the Lock. That was the day I awoke...or should I say, those were the days where my memories began."

***

"The moment I woke up, I had faint recollections of a previous world where mana did not exist and I was a novel writer. A failed one at that."

"Luminescent swordman. That was the name of the last novel I created, and the name of the protagonist was...Kevin Voss."

Listening to Ren's words, Kevin's anger slowly started to disappear and what replaced it was pure shock.

The shock was so strong that Kevin found himself unable to speak nor think as his mind was entranced by every word that Ren said.

Many times he wanted to outright stop Ren from speaking.

He just couldn't come to terms with what he was saying. This world was a novel that he created, and he was the main character of that world? How could he believe that? But the more Ren talked, the more things started to align with his weird behavior, his deep knowledge regarding a few things, and his way of words.

Kevin's heart started to sink.

Doubt started to creep deep into his body as his face paled.

'Could his words be true?'

"It was only after the events after Immorra that I stopped being passive with my knowledge regarding the wo—"

"...Bullshit."

Kevin finally mouthed out loud, cutting Ren off. He just couldn't listen to Ren's words anymore.

He couldn't accept the idea that everything that had happened to him was merely part of some writing that Ren wrote.

Weren't Ren's words essentially saying that all the disasters that were currently happening to the world were a fabrication of his imagination? Were everything he felt in the past and his memories also fake?

Kevin couldn't accept it!

"You can't be real. It's impossible."

With a bitter smile on his face, Ren shook his head.

"I wish. I really wish that I was lying, but, I'm not. What I told you was nothing but the truth..."

Pausing mid-speech, Ren's face suddenly darkened.

"...Or at least that was what I originally believed to be the truth."

Kevin frowned upon hearing those words. A trace of hope rekindled in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Raising his head, Ren didn't say anything for the next few seconds. His brows repeatedly furrowed and relaxed during that time before finally, looking straight at Kevin straight in the eyes, he said.

"I no longer have reason to believe in those memories. I think that world was a fake world designed by someone to make me act the way that they wanted me to."

"...What?"

The confusion in Kevin intensified. Leaning his neck forward, Kevin tilted his head.

"Are you saying that someone implanted those memories into you, and is trying to manipulate you?"

Making a difficult face, Ren eventually nodded his head.

"Right..."

He proceeded to massage his forehead. Then, lifting his head, he looked straight into Kevin's eyes.

"I don't know what to say, you can think that I'm lying, but whatever is happening to me, their target is you."

"Me?"

Kevin raised his brows in surprise. However, the surprise did not last for long as flashbacks of the last synchronization started to replay in his mind.

'Could it be that the vision was real?...and the one responsible for killing Emma was that entity?'

If so, everything was slowly starting to make more sense.

The vision he saw was truly a flashback of the future. Apprehension instantly hit Kevin as he eyed Ren opposite him.

Unaware of what Kevin was thinking, Ren, nodded his head.

"Yeah, I believe that the entity responsible for all of this is targeting you."

Pausing, Ren's face twisted slightly before he suddenly lowered it.

"...The incident regarding Emma, you were right. I was somehow responsible for it."

Like thunderbolts, Ren's words thunderously clapped inside of Kevin's ears as his eyes opened widely.

However, that did not last for long as Kevin was able to quickly recompose himself.

The moment he had linked everything to the previous flashback, he already understood that whatever happened to Emma was not an incident.

"...Remember how I told you that the entity was trying to target you?"

Ren suddenly asked.

Closing his eyes, Kevin took a deep breath.

"Continue."

Ren pursed his lips.

"...The goal of the entity is to try to harm everyone that is around you."

Listening to Ren's words, Kevin showed no reaction as he softly muttered.

"Harm those around me?"

"Yes."

Ren nodded his head and continued.

"From what I've gathered, the entity is trying to make you less soft. Or rather, trying to change you into someone they deemed fit to fight the demon king."

Closing his eyes, Kevin once again took a deep breath as he tried to process all of the information he was being told.

'Trying to change me into someone deemed fit to fight the demon king? Why does he think I can't defeat the demon king...and why me?'

Seemingly being able to read Kevin's thoughts, Ren added.

"He is the one that the Akashic records chose, and yet he is the one that is least fit to carry on that role."

"This was what he said."

Lifting his head, Kevin suddenly felt his head throb.

'Akashic records.'

Those words were once again being mentioned.

Kevin was a smart person. The moment Ren mentioned those words, he was able to quickly piece everything together. 'The one that the Akashic records chose.' What else could they refer to but the system?

Slowly the veil and mystery revolving around the world started to fade. Lifting his head, Kevin came up with a theory.

But Ren seemed to be a step ahead of him. Before he could voice out his theory, Ren had already started speaking.

"Sensing that its existence was in danger due to the threat of the demon king, as a way to preserve itself, the Akashic records chose someone to prevent the demon king from ever getting to it, and that person is none other than you, Kevin. This probably explains why you have a system."

Hearing Ren's words, Kevin had no other choice but to agree. He also believed that this was the case.

The only question he had was, 'Why me?'

Out of all the people in the world, why him? He really couldn't understand this.

"Huuuu..."

Leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling of the training ground, Kevin tried to digest all of the information inside of his mind.

Everything was starting to make more sense, however, Kevin knew that he had only barely scraped the surface of it.

Sitting near him, Ren also remained silent. He had a thoughtful look on his face.

As he looked at him, the previous anger that Kevin felt for him slowly started to dispel as he asked.

"Did you figure something out?"

Raising his head and looking at him, Ren shook his head.

"Nothing concrete yet, but thinking back at the vision you previously told me about, I have a nagging feeling that whoever the entity trying to manipulate us is, he knows the future."

Raising his hand and placing it below his chin, Ren carefully said.

"Remember how you said something about the 'time remnant' targeting you? What if the entity inside of me is the time remnant?"

"...That makes sense."

Kevin softly muttered as he sat up straight.

"Whatever this entity is, we can conclude that its end goal is defeating the demon king. But we still don't know why."

"Yeah."

"Haaa..."

Letting out a long breath, Kevin stood up. Lowering his head and staring in Ren's direction, Kevin softly said.

"Thank you for telling me everything."

When he said those words, Kevin truly meant it.

A while ago, when he revealed everything to Ren, about the system and the book, Ren never said anything about himself. Kevin did not call him out for that, but he felt slightly disappointed.

It felt as though Ren was trying to build a wall between them. Trying to stop him from getting too close.

He didn't truly understand at first why, but it was only after Ren told him everything that he understood why Ren acted the way he did.

How could he blame him?

Still seated down, raising his head, Ren looked up towards Kevin.

"You don't seem mad."

"Mad?"

"...If you realized that I knew the future and that this world may possibly be a novel, you must know of the fucked up shit I did. About the war in Immorra, the Hollberg incident, and how I let children die, an—"

"Stop."

Kevin suddenly said, cutting Ren off.

"Don't think for one second that I am not mad about what you did. In fact, I'm trying my best to hold back..."

Kevin's fist clenched tightly.

Just the thought of the innocent lives that Ren had sacrificed in the process of trying to achieve his goals, pissed him off, but...

"I also know that you were being manipulated by someone to act the way that you did, and even then, I realized something."

Pausing, Kevin exhaled.

"Your previous words were right. I am too soft."

Kevin closed his eyes and clenched his fists even more tightly.

"...I may not agree with the things that you did in the past, but I also realized that my approach may have been too immature."

Simply put, he was too emotional.

Whenever he saw injustice or someone near him get hurt, he would always lose himself.

Perhaps it was because of what he experienced in the past with his parents, but, at the end of the day, it was one of his big shortcomings and something he needed to fix.

'The chosen one.'

Was what the entity inside of Ren called him.

Staring at the system interface before him, Kevin didn't doubt his words.

This wasn't merely out of arrogance, but he truly believed that he had been chosen by the Akashic records to defeat the demon king.

He had been granted everything.

Talent, a system that could grant him any resource he wanted, and perhaps, most important of all, people whom he could entrust his back to.

Yet, after talking to Ren, Kevin realized something.

He wasn't fit to be 'the chosen one'. Simply put, despite not wanting to admit it, he was still too immature.

He was still stuck in the past.

He needed to let go of his past, and finally, move on. Learn to be more decisive, and improve from his mistakes.

If there was one thing that Kevin realized, it was that talent and luck weren't the keys to success, but it was how one utilized them that determined one's success.