Chapter 2

Ch. 1 — The Circumstances of a Child Who Decided to Become Independent Early

[Have you seen it? This is the sin of Dantellion Klein.]

“What in the world was all of thaaaaat—?!”

What had I just seen?!

My head felt like it was about to explode from trying to process all that information.

When I finally came to my senses, I found myself in a completely white space.

I had been left there all alone and had the truth ‘injected’ straight into my head.

‘But where is this place? I definitely died! At ten years old!’

Could this be the space where souls went? Some kind of one-on-one meeting room with God?

No, no……!

That wasn’t important right now.

“Is, is this really true? Did Daddy really keep turning back time over and over to save me?”

[Yes.]

Chills.

Apparently, all the blood had just drained from my body.

The floating ball of light in front of me—that is, God—spoke.

[Dantellion Klein turned back the world’s time ninety-nine times. All to save his one and only daughter.]

……I knew.

I had seen it myself, after all.

Of course, I hadn’t seen all ninety-nine of Daddy’s lives.

Even though I had only seen fragmented, fleeting pieces of those memories, the shock was impossible to put into words.

[Now, your hundredth life will soon begin…… Child.]

“……Yes?”

[Will you truly sit back and watch his destruction like this?]

“Whaaaat? Of course I don’t want that!”

[As the price for committing a taboo, Dantellion Klein’s holy power has already become corrupted to its limit.]

“……!”

[If things continue this way, his hundredth life will proceed just like the previous ones, and eventually his corruption will run wild and kill him.]

Every hair on my body stood on end.

I had heard about it somewhere before.

‘The end of a fallen holy knight.’

It was absolutely horrifying.

When a holy knight’s corruption went berserk, they eventually transformed into a monster.

They would lose their reason, indiscriminately destroy everything around them and themselves, and ultimately meet the most agonizing death imaginable.

‘With Daddy’s level of holy power…… it wouldn’t be strange if half the Empire were destroyed.’

And that wasn’t all.

His soul would also be torn apart, leaving him to suffer eternal torment……

“No!”

It would be nothing short of complete destruction.

Terror rushed over me, and tears streamed down my eyes.

I clasped my trembling hands and begged God desperately.

“G-Goddess! Teacher! P-please give us one more chance! I-I’ll teach my Daddy properly in his next life! So please!”

[Do you think I called you here because this is something that can simply be overlooked?]

“Sniff, huuu, please…… Our Daddy didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who’s bad…… It’s because I keep dying!”

Tears and snot streamed down my face.

I was completely panicking.

The most noble Daddy in the world was going to suffer the most humiliating death because of me……

That was the ultimate act of filial disobedience.

I absolutely couldn’t just stand by and watch it happen.

God let out a deep sigh.

[I warned him repeatedly, yet Dantellion was the one who continued choosing to defy the laws of providence. Humans must take responsibility for their choices.]

“Sniff…… But when I look at grown-ups, they don’t seem to take responsibility very well. Can’t Daddy do that too? Please……”

I grabbed onto God’s conceptual pant leg and wailed.

[……Fine, so stop crying already. Isn’t that why I called you here?]

“……!”

[There is a way to save him.]

My tears instantly disappeared.

“What is it?!”

[He simply needs to stop repeating the same mistake. In other words, he needs to live a different life from now on.]

“……!”

Which meant—

“So Daddy just needs to…… not commit the ‘Sin of Regression’ again in his next life? And go back to being a model holy knight and live diligently……?”

[You are quite clever.]

“I know……”

For a moment, it felt as though a ray of hope had appeared.

But at the same time, something deep inside me seemed to deflate.

Daddy’s reason for regressing was me.

Because I kept dying over and over, he kept turning back time.

‘The surest way to solve a problem is usually to eliminate the cause.’

So, just in case, I raised my hand and asked.

“Um, could you maybe cure my illness so I don’t die……?”

[I’m sorry, but that would be difficult. Your soul was originally meant to be born in the divine realm. That is also why you are able to speak with me like this.]

“Huh? I’m a god?”

Daddy! I’ve made it big!

[……To be precise, you are a messenger of God.]

“Grrr?”

[Not that kind of messenger. In other words, yes. You could also be called an angel of the divine realm.]

God continued speaking.

[Such a soul was mistakenly swept away and born into the mortal world, which means there is no place for you there. Most children who die before reaching adulthood are cases like this. Incidentally, this is due to an overflow of souls in the divine realm, and……]

God continued rambling on with various explanations.

Whatever.

I lowered my head sadly.

‘Somehow, I had a feeling it wouldn’t work.’

I was quick at understanding my situation.

I was also good at accepting reality.

When you lived with a sick body, you naturally became good at giving up.

More importantly, if Daddy—someone that strong—had failed ninety-nine times, then it was practically the same as saying it was impossible.

Then……

There was only one conclusion.

In this hundredth life—

I couldn’t live as Daddy’s daughter.

The reason Daddy kept turning back time was entirely because of me.

If I simply disappeared from Daddy’s life, there would be no reason for him to commit a taboo.

‘It’s sad, but some things just can’t be helped.’

I stood up and quickly wiped away the tears that were beginning to form again.

I made my decision quickly.

I took a solemn, deep breath.

Then I said—

“Okay. Then in my next life, I’ll live as a complete stranger to Daddy! So please erase all of Daddy’s memories of me!”

At my firm declaration, God fell silent for a moment.

Then I felt a very warm sensation on my cheek.

It was as if God were gently stroking my face.

‘I can’t repay Daddy’s kindness in raising me by making his holy power go berserk.’

My life had been painful and short.

But I had never once thought that I was weak or unhappy.

Because whenever I was about to become discouraged, I had a Daddy who would appear like a hero from a fairy tale and hold me tightly in his arms.

Thanks to that gentle love, I had been warm, fulfilled, and happy enough.

‘So……’

Now it was my turn to repay him!

‘Daddy, thank you for loving me.’

Thank you for making me your daughter ninety-nine times.

Thanks to you, I don’t think I’ll be too afraid even if I’m alone again!

I smiled with a little “hee,” as though Daddy were standing right in front of me.

“This time, I’ll save you, Daddy!”

The moment my words ended—

Shiiiiiiing!

A radiance unlike anything I had ever seen before wrapped around my entire body.

Once again, the slums of District Z.

“Bread! Bread!”

“It’s mine! Move!”

Adults shouted at the top of their lungs.

‘Huh? This place is……!’

My eyes snapped open at the tremendous noise.

And at the same time, I remembered.

‘My memories from my previous life—!’

Oh my goodness!

I had come back.

I had returned to the exact moment Daddy always regressed to!

‘My hundredth life has begun!’

[ㅇ@#,ㅊ$#%ㄹㅂ#^!$#…@#%ㄷ!]

“Hm?”

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a strange white fragment floating in the air.

It kept circling around me as though it had something it wanted to tell me.

‘Hmm? Somehow it feels kind of like God……?’

A holy little fruit fly.

I wondered if it was some new species of fruit fly and was about to take a closer look when—

“Ah, damn it. Quit getting in the way and move, brat!”

“Gyaaa! I’m still trying to figure out what’s going onnnn!”

My body was suddenly flipped over.

Roll, roll, roll.

My six-year-old body, with no sharp corners anywhere, rolled around quite nicely without obtaining even a single piece of bread.

“Ow…… it hurts.”

I pulled a little piece of stone out of my palm.

My short arms and legs were covered in red scrapes.

I hurriedly rubbed my eyes when tears began to well up.

‘No. I can’t cry.’

There was no Daddy who would comfort me anymore.

I needed to quickly forget the memories of my previous life, when Daddy had cherished and protected me.

Grrrrrrr……

My empty stomach, which hadn’t received a single bite of food for days, reminded me of reality.

‘I promised myself that in this life, I would eat well and live well all by myself!’

I raised my head.

My mind suddenly became clear.

‘Bread!’

If I was going to live bravely on my own from now on, I needed to fill my stomach first.

Even though I was trembling, I took a deep breath.

“Okay!”

I clenched my little fists and squeezed aggressively between the adults’ legs.

Shouts, curses, and fists flew in every direction.

‘D-don’t be scared!’

I desperately put strength into my trembling legs and held my ground.

Then I spotted the man who had thrown me to the ground earlier.

‘Huh?’

I hadn’t noticed before, but both of the man’s pockets were bulging.

‘There’s supposed to be only one piece of bread per person!’

I hesitated for a moment.

But I didn’t hesitate any longer.

When you’re starving, neither morality nor dignity matters.

“Huh? What’s this little rat doing here?”

“Ow!”

I quickly stole the bread from the man’s pocket and ran.

The man’s hand swung reflexively and smacked me right in the forehead, but fortunately, he didn’t catch me.

I could hear his furious shouting from behind, but……

‘I wasn’t scared. Not even a little!’

I raced through the village, stuffing the bread into my mouth first.

The lump forming on my forehead throbbed, but I endured it.

In my previous life, I had tried to save the bread to eat later, only for the boys to steal all of it from me.

I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

I kept running.

[ㅇ@#,ㅊ$#%ㄹㅂ#^!$#…@#%ㄷ!]

The white fruit-fly-like thing from earlier continued chasing me.

Maybe it was because I was so filthy, but I decided to ignore it.

I chewed and swallowed the dry bread roughly as I thought.

‘I have to live well on my own.’

I would live very, very well all by myself.

There was no Daddy who would come to save me anymore.

“In my next life, I’ll live as a stranger to Daddy. So please erase all of Daddy’s memories of me!”

That was what I had wished for.

[I shall grant your wish.]

“Sniff, ngh…….”

The bread tasted salty.

It was probably because of my tears.

But now, I really couldn’t cry anymore.

Because I wasn’t an ordinary six-year-old.