Chapter 4: Testing the loop

Ren awoke to the now-familiar glow of his alarm clock.

6:42 AM. Again.

His breath hitched as he sat up, the suffocating weight of repetition pressing against his chest. He had hoped—prayed—that it was just an elaborate nightmare, but reality was proving to be far crueler.

This wasn't a dream.

It was real.

And it wasn't stopping.

Determined to test the loop, Ren grabbed a pen from his desk and scribbled a bold "X" on the back of his hand. Then, he moved to his bedside table and rearranged the items—his phone, a book, and a half-empty glass of water. He even went so far as to tear a page from his notebook and place it in the middle of the floor.

If this was truly repeating, then none of these changes should carry over.

When the clock struck 6:42 PM, his vision blurred for a second—then, darkness.

And then—

Ren's eyes snapped open.

His hand was clean. No ink. No mark.

His desk was exactly how it had been before. The torn-out page? Back in the notebook as if untouched.

It was as if the universe had hit an undo button, resetting everything down to the smallest detail.

A sharp pang of fear shot through him.

The next day—if it could even be called that—Ren tried to change his interactions with Sora.

Instead of their usual casual talk, he suddenly asked, "Do you believe in time loops?"

Sora blinked at him, momentarily stunned. Then, she snorted. "You've been watching too much anime, idiot."

Ren pressed on. "What if I told you we've had this conversation before?"

Sora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. And I bet next you'll say I'm secretly an alien."

No matter how hard he tried, she never reacted differently. To her, each loop was the first time they had spoken.

But to Ren, it was another futile attempt.

Desperate to escape, Ren decided to leave the city altogether.

He packed his bag, stole some cash from his savings, and took the last train out of town. Watching the buildings blur past, a twisted hope bloomed in his chest.

Maybe this time—

Suddenly everything went dark.

It was 6:42 PM.

Ren's eyes flew open, and he was back in his bed.

The crushing weight of failure settled deep in his bones. He hadn't even made it to the next city.

The shrine's hold on him was absolute.

Counting on the number of time Ren felt this déjà vu, he exhaled shakily. He looped 5 times. An impossible madness was surging through Ren. The more he tried, the more his sense of telling apart real from unreal faded. He woke up at 6:42 AM and when the clock struck 6:42 PM, he looped.

"No", he said to himself. "I can't give up, I need answers."