LMHS 02

Chapter 02

I had waited for the day I could go see him, and without hesitation, I loaded into the distant past.

“Load Point 4.”

[Loading Point 4.]

The moment I finished speaking, my vision dropped sharply downward and the scenery changed.

At last, I had returned to when I was seven years old—back to the time when Uncle was still alive.

The antique furniture that had been in front of my eyes just moments ago was gone without a trace, replaced by ordinary homes with smoke like clouds curling up from their chimneys.

I awkwardly clenched and unclenched my now smaller hands as memories of the past resurfaced.

“It’s been a while… this village too.”

In truth, the present point in time was one when I hadn’t even met Uncle yet.

When I was about five years old, I was abandoned by my uncle in the middle of a forest crawling with monsters.

Because of that, I was nearly killed by monsters—and my ability awakened.

But still…

“Like a clueless five-year-old would’ve had any real power.”

I didn’t recover the memories of my past life until I was fourteen, after Uncle’s death.

Which meant that when I was abandoned in the monster forest, my mental age really was that of a five-year-old child.

I ran with everything I had, desperate to survive—but in the end, I was killed by monsters.

And before I could even register my own death, I was forcibly returned to a saved point.

Nothing changed after I came back to life. I was chased by monsters all over again.

A hell where I couldn’t die, no matter how many times I died, kept repeating itself.

Only after dying dozens of times did I finally manage to escape to a nearby village.

After that, I was trapped in a poor frontier village, surviving by begging for scraps of food.

When I was starving badly enough…

“Even a few clever vultures caught the scent of death and circled around me.”

Before I met Uncle, my life was barely more than existing because I couldn’t die.

Then why did I save this miserable moment instead of the happy days I spent with him?

Simple.

“Because Point 4 was saved before I knew how to use my ability.”

It was a save made without even knowing how many save slots there were—without assigning a number.

I only realized much later, after meeting Uncle, that there were four save slots, not three.

The current interface, which looks like a game system, was something I refined after regaining memories of my past life, to manage things more efficiently.

Back then, it didn’t kindly show how many slots there were or when each save was made.

But by the time I realized there were four slots, I was already used to having only three.

So just in case something went wrong—so I could reset my life—I always left Point 4 untouched.

See? Thanks to that decision, I can see Uncle again.

Grrrkk—

The clear sound piercing my ears made me stop reminiscing, and I awkwardly rubbed my belly.

“Ah.”

Before going through my entire tragic life story…

“I should eat something. At this rate, I’ll end up having another talk with the corpse disposal crew.”

I gave a faint smile as I looked at my emaciated limbs, little more than bones and skin.

✦ ✦ ✦

After briefly wondering where to go, I stopped by the shelter I lived in during this time.

It was located on the outskirts, hidden among thick trees so the villagers wouldn’t notice me.

As I took in the small space made by roughly weaving together large leaves and branches, an indescribable emotion surged up inside me.

“Calling this a house when it can’t even block the rain…”

Memories flashed through my mind of rainy days when I would secretly sneak into villagers’ homes, desperately praying not to get caught.

“I really am something else. To think I managed to come back to this time.”

Rummaging through the shelter, I found a piece of bread burned pitch black—something my younger self must have picked up somewhere.

If I scraped off the charred exterior, there would still be a fair amount inside that was edible.

It must have been precious to me back then; it had been carefully hidden beneath a scrap of cloth.

But…

“I can’t make a kid eat something like that.”

On rare occasions when I managed to get proper food, I remembered stuffing myself, then rewinding time and eating it again from the start—over and over.

But when time reset, the hunger stayed the same, and seeing the food disappear made me cry uncontrollably.

While thinking about where to get a meal, I headed to the home of Aunt Cecil—the most well-off person in the village.

Knock, knock.

“Who i—”

The moment Aunt Cecil opened the door and saw me, her face twisted like a demon’s.

“There’s no food for you, so get lost!”

But I’d expected that reaction, so before the door could close, I slipped my foot into the gap.

And at that point—save.

[Overwriting current state to Point 1.]

Thud—when the door couldn’t close because my foot was in the way, Aunt Cecil let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

“What do you think you’re doing, Tania?”

“What does it look like? I’m planning to squeeze you dry and leave this village.”

“W-what?”

She stared down at me in horror, as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Ah, sorry. Seeing that disgusting face after so long made my true feelings slip out.”

“You—you’ve finally gone crazy!”

“The crazy one is you, Auntie. And since you’ll forget anyway, let’s not bother asking pointless questions.”

Since it was the reaction I expected, I replied calmly and loaded the save.

[Loading Point 1.]

“What do you think you’re doing, Tania?”

“Hello, Auntie. I’ve awakened an ability, and I was wondering if you’d like to hear about it.”

“What? You awakened an ability?”

She stumbled back in shock, then narrowed her eyes skeptically.

“Don’t joke around!”

“Not interested? Even if I say it’s precognition?”

Abiliter.

Those who awaken special powers and can use them freely are called Abiliters.

In this world, frequent monster invasions meant Abiliters were treated as elite manpower.

Among them, those with particularly good abilities were extremely rare, as most were monopolized by noble families.

Now imagine this: in a backwater village like this, a precognitive Abiliter—an ability never once discovered before—appears right before your eyes?

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Aunt Cecil.

Just how tempting must I have looked to her?

Of course, I possessed an ability far better than simple prediction.

“Precognition has endless applications. For example…”

Covering my mouth, I whispered in a seductive, devil-like voice.

“I could tip you off about the winning horse at a racetrack in a major city.”

After saying that, I stepped away from her as if I didn’t care whether she accepted or not.

“I’m offering you an opportunity.”

She stared at me silently, weighing whether my words were true.

That was when it happened.

From inside the house came the rough voice of a middle-aged man—her drunken husband.

“Hey! Who’s out there?”

But Aunt Cecil, her head now filled with thoughts of my “precognition,” seemed not to hear him.

“Tania… can you prove more clearly that you’re really an Abiliter?”

I gave a small smile at her suddenly gentle tone.

“Of course.”

Though you’ll forget you asked, anyway.

[Loading Point 1.]

After loading the point and repeating the earlier exchange, Aunt Cecil once again looked conflicted.

I decided to ease her doubts first.

“In three seconds, your husband will ask from inside, ‘Hey! Who’s out there?’”

“What are you suddenly—”

“Hey! Who’s out there?”

At her husband’s voice from behind, her head snapped around.

A moment later, she slowly turned back toward me and spoke quietly.

“…Are you reading my thoughts?”

“No. I didn’t read them—I knew he would ask because of my precognition.”

“I see…”

Still, burdened by all the wrongs she’d done to me, she didn’t let go of her suspicion.

“There are plenty of other people. Why come to me?”

“Because you’re the most well-off in the village, Aunt Cecil. I figured you’d know how to handle money.”

“Hm…”

“And you were the only one who ever gave me food.”

Poisoned food, that is.

I forced a bright smile to hide the chill spreading across my face.

How did I know the food was poisoned?

I didn’t want to know that either.

She wouldn’t have gone so far as to spend money on poison for someone she didn’t even consider human.

She probably just grabbed random grass or mushrooms from the nearby forest and tossed them in.

But even that careless act was deadly to a child.

Especially since my immune system was already weakened from prolonged starvation.

If I hadn’t rewound time with my ability, I would’ve died for sure.

In my last life, I was too busy just surviving to pay her back.

But this time is different.

If you ruin someone else’s life, you should be prepared for your own to be ruined too.

Don’t you think?