LMSH | Chapter 2

Episode 2

I had been waiting for the day I could go meet Uncle. Without hesitation, I loaded a point in the distant past.

“Loading Save Point 4.”

> [Loading Save Point 4.]

As soon as I finished speaking, my field of vision abruptly shifted downward, and the scenery changed.

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

The antique furniture that had been before my eyes just moments ago vanished without a trace, replaced by the sight of houses emitting smoke from their chimneys like fluffy clouds.

I clenched and unclenched my now small hands awkwardly, reminiscing about the past.

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

In truth, this point in time was from before I had ever even met Uncle.

When I was around five years old, my uncle abandoned me deep in a forest teeming with monsters.

Because of that, I was nearly killed by those creatures and awakened my abilities.

However…

‘What kind of strength could a five-year-old, who knew nothing, possibly have?’

I only regained my past life’s memories when I was fourteen—after Uncle’s death.

When I was abandoned in the monster-infested forest, my mental age was still that of a true five-year-old child.

The young me ran for dear life, but in the end, I was killed by the monsters.

Before I even had time to process my own death, I was forcibly returned to a saved point.

Even after coming back to life, nothing changed. I had to keep running from the monsters all over again.

A hell where I couldn’t even die properly repeated itself over and over.

Only after experiencing dozens of deaths was I barely able to escape to a nearby village.

After that, I was trapped in a poverty-stricken village on the outskirts, surviving by begging for food scraps.

When I was severely starving…

‘A few clever vultures, sensing the scent of death, used to circle around me.’

Before meeting Uncle, my life was nothing more than an existence where I couldn’t even die properly.

So why did I save a miserable moment like this instead of a happy one with Uncle?

It was simple.

‘Save Point 4 was recorded when I didn’t know how to use my abilities.’

I didn’t even know how many save slots I had, so I saved it without specifying a number.

It was only long after meeting Uncle that I realized I had four save slots, not three.

The current interface, which resembled a game system, was something I modified to manage things efficiently after regaining my past life’s memories.

Back then, there was no clear indication of how many slots I had or when I had saved them.

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

So, just in case something went wrong, I deliberately left Save Point 4 intact to reset my life if necessary.

And look—thanks to that decision, I can see Uncle again.

Grrrgle.

A sharp sound rang in my ears, snapping me out of my memories. I rubbed my stomach awkwardly.

“Ah.”

Before I relived all the tragedies of my past…

‘I should eat something first. If this keeps up, I’ll be having another meeting with the corpse disposal squad.’

Looking at my frail limbs, barely more than skin and bones, I let out a faint smile.

✦ ✦ ✦

After a brief moment of contemplation about where to go, I decided to visit the shelter I had used at this time.

It was a place located on the outskirts, hidden among dense trees so the villagers wouldn’t spot me.

Seeing the small space I had cobbled together with large leaves and branches, an indescribable emotion welled up inside me.

‘Calling this a house when it couldn’t even block the rain…’

A memory surfaced—on rainy days, I would sneak into villagers’ homes and pray desperately that I wouldn’t be caught.

“I really am amazing. To think I managed to return to this time again.”

As I rummaged through my old shelter, I found a piece of bread, completely charred black. Who knows where my younger self had picked it up?

If I scraped off the burnt parts, there would still be some edible portions inside.

It must have been precious to me at the time—I had carefully hidden it under a piece of cloth.

But now…

‘I can’t let my younger self eat something like this.’

There were times when, on the rare occasion I found proper food, I would scarf it down, rewind time, and eat it all over again.

But no matter how many times I rewound, my hunger remained the same, and seeing the vanished food would make me cry.

As I pondered where to find a meal, I decided to visit the wealthiest person in this village—Aunt Cecil.

Knock, knock.

“Who is—”

The moment Aunt Cecil opened the door and saw me, her face twisted into a look of pure disgust.

“I have no food for you, so get lost!”

But since I had expected this reaction, I slipped my foot between the door before it could close.

And at this moment, I saved.

> [Overwriting current progress onto Save Point 1.]

With a dull thud, the door hit my foot and failed to shut. Aunt Cecil let out a scoff, clearly baffled.

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

“What else? I’m trying to rip you off and escape this village.”

“W-what?”

She looked down at me with a horrified expression, as if she had just seen a ghost.

“Ah, I must have blurted out my true feelings without realizing it. It’s been a while since I last saw that disgusting face of yours.”

“Y-you’ve finally lost your mind!”

“No, the one who’s lost their mind is you, ma’am. There’s no point in asking since you’ll forget my answer anyway, so let’s not waste our time.”

Since I had expected this reaction, I replied nonchalantly and loaded a save point.

> [Loading Save Point 1.]

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

“Hello, ma’am. Surprisingly, I’ve awakened an ability. Would you like to hear about it?”

“What? You’ve awakened an ability?”

She staggered backward in shock before narrowing her eyes in disbelief.

“Don’t joke around!”

“Are you really not interested? Even though my ability is foresight?”

Abiliter.

A term referring to those who have awakened a special power and can wield it freely.

Due to the frequent invasions of monsters in this world, Abiliters were considered highly valuable individuals.

Among them, those with powerful abilities were mostly monopolized by noble families, making them exceptionally rare.

And now, in this remote village—right before her eyes—stood an Abiliter with a foresight ability that had never been discovered before?

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

To her eyes, I must have seemed like a prize too tempting to resist.

Of course, my abilities were far superior to mere foresight.

“Foresight has limitless potential. For example…”

Covering my mouth slightly, I whispered in a lilting voice, like a devil tempting a soul.

“I could tell you which horse will win at the racing tracks in the capital.”

After saying that, I stepped away from her without hesitation, as if I didn’t care whether she took the offer or not.

“I’m offering you an opportunity.”

She stared at me in silence, as if weighing whether or not to believe me.

Then, a gruff voice rang out from inside the house.

It was her drunkard husband.

“Hey! Who’s out there?”

But Aunt Cecil, completely engrossed in thoughts of my ‘foresight ability,’ seemed not to hear him.

“Tania, can you prove to me more clearly that you’re really an Abiliter?”

Hearing the sudden shift in her tone—now oddly gentle—I smiled slightly.

“Of course.”

Though, of course, she would soon forget she had even asked me that question.

> [Loading Save Point 1.]

After reloading, I repeated the previous sequence of events.

As expected, Aunt Cecil once again showed the same hesitant expression.

To ease her doubts, I spoke up first.

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

“What are you suddenly—”

“Hey! Who’s out there?”

As her husband’s voice rang from inside, her head whipped around in shock.

A moment later, she slowly turned back to face me, her voice barely above a whisper.

“…Don’t tell me, you can read my thoughts?”

“No. I didn’t read your mind. I simply knew in advance, using foresight, that he was going to say that.”

“That’s…certainly…”

Yet, despite being impressed, she was still suspicious of me—understandable, given all the wrongs she had committed against me.

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

“Because your family is the wealthiest in this village. I figured you’d know how to manage money best.”

“Hmm…”

“Plus, out of all the villagers, you’re the only one who ever gave me food.”

Food that was poisoned, that is.

I forced a bright smile, concealing the cold expression threatening to take over my face.

How did I know the food she gave me was poisoned?

I never wanted to know.

She had never even treated me as a person, so I doubted she would go out of her way to buy actual poison just for me.

Most likely, she had simply grabbed some random herbs or mushrooms from the nearby forest and mixed them in.

Even that careless act had been deadly to a child like me.

Especially since my body, weakened from prolonged starvation, had virtually no immunity left.

If I hadn’t rewound time using my ability, I would have surely died.

In my past life, I was too desperate just trying to survive to pay her back.

But this time is different.

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

Don’t you think?