Chapter 1

The living room was shrouded in heavy darkness.

The only source of light was the bluish glow spilling from an old television set sitting against one wall.

There was not even a hint of warmth in the place. In the middle of it, a child who looked barely four years old sat staring at the television as if hypnotized by its light.

The pale blue glow precariously reflected off the child’s messy black hair and brown eyes.

She was wearing clothes far too loose for her small frame, and because she had neither changed her clothes nor washed herself for several days, there was even a faint dusty smell clinging to her.

A tiny beauty mark beneath her eye made the child’s face look even more pitiful.

But the child herself seemed unconcerned about any of that, continuing to stare blankly at the television.

Growl.

Her stomach sent her a clear signal that she was hungry.

Only then did the child, Ruri, realize that she had not eaten anything all day.

She looked around.

But the only things she could see were an empty bag of sliced bread and a few crumbs of snacks.

Ruri sucked on her finger sadly before toddling toward the kitchen.

Then she struggled to open the refrigerator.

“Nggh-.”

She grabbed the door with all her strength and pulled, but the refrigerator showed no signs of opening.

However, there was no way she could give up just like that.

Ruri dragged a dining chair in front of the refrigerator, climbed onto it, and grabbed the handle.

“Ngghhh-!”

She pulled with all her might once more.

“It opened!”

A rush of cool air touched her skin along with the bright white light from inside.

Ruri beamed happily and hurriedly searched for something to eat.

Before long, she picked up a carton of milk.

Desperate to fill her empty stomach, Ruri opened it, put the carton to her mouth, and tilted it.

“……Kheh!”

But the carton was far too large and heavy for a four-year-old to hold properly.

Ruri accidentally let go of it.

As a result, white milk spilled all over the floor.

Ruri stared at the mess with a pale, frightened face.

“B-Big trouble!”

If her stepmother and stepfather saw this, they would surely get angry with her.

Ruri hurried down from the chair and began nervously stamping her feet as she searched for some tissues.

That was when she heard the sound of the door lock being pressed, followed by the sound of someone approaching.

At the same time, her thin shoulders flinched, and her entire body stiffened.

Creak-.

The old iron door opened with a spine-chilling screech.

As cold air invaded the house, an angry voice came from outside.

“I’m so annoyed. Didn’t I tell you there’d probably be a lot of people today? I absolutely hate crowded places.”

“Why are you getting all worked up after we just went out and had a nice meal? Is this because I wouldn’t buy that thing for you?”

The smell of savory grilled meat wafted from the man and woman bickering with each other.

It seemed the two of them had gone out to eat together.

Ruri instinctively swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth and timidly approached them.

“W-Welcome…… back.”

But the woman did not even spare the child a glance as she continued talking.

“Fine. If you knew that, you should’ve bought it for me. How much could something like that even cost? Why are you being so stingy?”

“Haaah. It’s not just some little thing. How are we supposed to buy something that expensive when we’re in this situation?”

The man’s voice gradually grew louder as well.

Watching the two of them carefully, Ruri quietly took a step backward.

She already knew that when her stepmother and stepfather were in a bad mood like this, there was nothing good that could come from staying nearby.

“Ah, forget it. It’s my fault for dating a pathetic loser like you.”

“What? Are you going to keep talking to me like that? What did you just call me? A loser?”

Ignoring him, the woman irritably took off her shoes and headed toward the kitchen.

She switched on the light and walked toward the refrigerator.

Then—

“Aaaah! What’s this?!”

The woman stepped on the spilled milk and screamed.

She looked down at her wet foot once, then glared at Ruri as if she wanted to kill her.

“Hey! Did you do this?”

“I-I…… R-Ruri was hungry……”

Ruri’s voice trembled faintly.

Her stepmother getting angry was always frightening.

“Argh! This is so damn annoying! Is there anything in this house that I actually like?!”

The woman threw the bag she was carrying onto the floor, her anger finally exploding.

Then, when she saw the mess in the living room, she raked her fingers through her hair.

“You’ve turned the whole house into a garbage dump!”

‘Ruri didn’t do that…….’

It was already dirty before.

But unable to say anything aloud, Ruri lowered her head and simply fidgeted with her fingers.

“Honestly, you’re nothing but a parasite that does nothing except eat our food.”

‘Ruri isn’t a bug.’

Ruri swallowed her protest before it could escape her throat.

Her stepmother’s anger was reaching its peak.

Ruri already knew that at times like this, it was better to keep her mouth shut.

“That’s why you were abandoned. Do you understand? Your parents abandoned you because of that, too!”

‘No. Mommy and Daddy liked Ruri.’

She remembered the faint warmth of her mother’s arms when she held her.

She remembered her father’s voice whispering in her ear that he loved her.

Then why had they abandoned Ruri?

Had they really abandoned her because she was nothing more than a parasite who ate their food?

Just as the gloomy Ruri bit her lip, the man spoke up.

“That’s why I told you we should just adopt her later! Every time I see her, she gets in the way and pisses me off!”

The man, apparently no longer able to tolerate the woman’s hysterics, threw the cellphone he had been holding onto the floor.

“Can’t you shut up? I’ve been putting up with you this whole time. Do you think I’m some kind of pushover?”

“Yeah, you pushover bastard! You’re a useless, pathetic loser!”

“What? You fucking bitch! Hey! You were the one who said we should adopt the kid! You said we needed her to win the apartment lottery!”

“What apartment?! You lost all your money in stocks! Then go and dump her somewhere if you don’t want her!”

“Hey! Do you think she’s some stray dog you can just throw away?!”

The more their emotions escalated, the more Ruri’s small body shrank in on itself.

Even though she was scared, she preferred watching television alone.

As the voices of the two adults grew louder and louder, Ruri cautiously backed away.

She curled herself into the small space beside the television in the living room, covering her ears with both hands and closing her eyes.

She just wanted this moment to pass as quickly as possible.

Then—

Ding!

At the unfamiliar sound, Ruri slowly opened one eye.

A small screen glowing brightly appeared before her.

[Noble Sacrifice: The Death of a Righteous Person]

“……Huh?”

Ruri blinked her large eyes in surprise at the strange situation she was experiencing for the first time.

Then she looked toward her stepmother and stepfather and pointed at the status window with her finger.

“There, there’s something strange…….”

But her tiny voice could not reach the two adults, who were too busy fighting.

Then the status window flashed once more.

[A reward for the righteous deeds you performed in your previous life!]

Previous life? Reward?

Ruri rolled her eyes, unable to understand what it meant.

[From now on, scream as loudly as you can after 30 seconds! If you succeed, you will receive a special gift. (ˊᵕˋ)੭]

‘A gift?’

At the word gift, Ruri’s eyes sparkled.

She did not know what it was, but gifts were things that made people happy.

But it wanted her to scream?

Ruri cautiously looked toward her stepmother and stepfather.

‘But if Ruri screams now, she’ll get scolded…….’

And after being scolded, her entire body would hurt so badly that she would not even be able to move for the whole day.

Ruri was hesitating when numbers suddenly appeared before her eyes and began flashing.

[30 seconds]

[29 seconds]

[28 seconds]

“Uh, uh……!”

Ruri’s eyes darted around in confusion.

The numbers were decreasing without warning, and she began to grow anxious.

More importantly—

“R-Ruri can only count up to ten……!”

The lower the number became, the more frantic Ruri grew.

Just as she had learned at the orphanage, she hurriedly began folding down one finger at a time.

But, alas, she had used all ten fingers and had nothing left to fold down.

Without caring about Ruri’s panic, the merciless numbers continued to decrease.

[10 seconds]

[9 seconds]

[8 seconds]

The number had finally entered Ruri’s limit of ten.

As Ruri let out a sigh of relief, the word gift continued to linger in her mind.

As if entranced, the angry voices around her gradually faded away until she could see nothing but the glowing numbers.

[3 seconds]

Without realizing it, Ruri took a deep breath.

She was gradually forgetting that screaming would earn her a terrible beating from her stepmother and stepfather.

[2 seconds]

The vicious shouting, the flashing red numbers, the hunger, and the fear all mixed together, swirling inside her small head until it felt as though it might burst.

[1 second]

The moment the number finally became 1, Ruri screamed with all her might, as if releasing everything she had been holding inside.

“U-Uaaahhhhh!”

The agonized scream of a four-year-old echoed through the tiny apartment, making the two adults turn around in surprise.

“Hey! Are you crazy? How dare you scream like that—!”

The man cursed viciously and moved toward Ruri.

But just then—

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The silence was shattered by someone pounding violently on the front door.

The two adults stopped dead in their tracks and exchanged pale, frightened looks.

Then a heavy, firm warning came from beyond the tightly closed door.

“Police! Everyone inside, open this door immediately!”