CH 49

Reincarnation Boy and Status

Translated by AmaLynne

「Zeno, wake up. It’s morning.」

Mom’s voice woke my half-awake brain to full alertness.

「…Un, good morning, Mom.」

「Yeah, good morning. And happy fifth birthday, Zeno.」

Yes, today is my fifth birthday.

…Well, I’m twenty-two if you include『previous live』.

Yes, I have memories of my previous life.

I remember when I was a high school boy in Japan named Shiroya Shota.

One day, I died in a gas explosion caused by a group of bullies in my class, and when I woke up, I was reborn as a baby in this world.

I was named『Zeno』in this life, born to a father who was a class-A adventurer and a mother who was his childhood friend, and I am living a reasonably wealthy life.

◆◇◆◇◆

「…Now, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Misery-sama for the fact that we have had no trouble finding food to live until today, and for the fact that my son Zeno has grown up to be five years old… Congratulations Zeno, I am so happy for you.」

「Yes, thank you, Dad.」

「Now, you are five years old. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good understanding of what you are doing and how to do it. Say《Status》.」

「Okay.《Status》.」

※※※

Zeno/Shiroya Shota Human Lv1

Occupational: None

Status: Healthy

Strength:20

Defense:20

Magic Power:10

Magic Defense:15

Speed: 25

Magic: None

※※※

…Huh?

The name of my previous life is listed!

「…Oh…excellent. Statuses of 10 are normal, single digits are not uncommon, and yet there are even ones that exceed 20…!」

「That’s awesome, Zeno! I bet you’ll excel in the future!」

…Huh?

Dad and Mom can’t see it…only I can see it?

What, thank goodness…

「Oh, Misery-sama, I am deeply grateful to you for bestowing such a wonderful status on my child…」

「Yes, we need to give more to Misery-sama. I must give more thanks…」

I was deeply relieved while my parents started praying like that.

◆◇◆◇◆

Back in my room, I thought about what I had done so far.

The conclusion I came to…People in this world are a little stranger than those in my previous life.

No, strange is not the right word. This is「normal」in this world. I just feel strange on my own because I have memories of my previous life.

That discomfort is the intensity of faith.

Everyone is…the people on the street, the burly man who opens his store in the stall over there, the ladies who open that type of night store in the back alley. They have different jobs and personalities, but one thing they absolutely have in common. That is their belief in the goddess Misery.

Certainly, in my previous life, there was religion, and there were wars that accompanied it. Some people were fanatical in their beliefs.

…But this world is a little different. All humans have faith in the goddess Misery…no, they are fanatics. And at the same time, they hate and want to exterminate the non-human race that does not believe in Misery but the evil god Isuzu, in other words, the demon race.

Well, I don’t understand the feelings of the demons who believe in『the evil god who governs death and anger』, but I also feel that they believe in the goddess too much…

There is one more thing that concerns me. The existence of reincarnations other than mine.

On『that day』, I was caught in a gas explosion along with everyone else in my class. If that is the case, everyone else may be also reincarnated in this world. If I could, I would like to meet them.

But I have no way to confirm this. Even if someone I pass in the street is a reincarnated person, I have no way of knowing.

Having gained status today, a reincarnated person’s name in their previous life is listed above their name in this life… I understand that, but in this world, where there is no such thing as『Appraisal Skill』as they call it in my previous life, I can’t even look at someone’s status without their permission.

Therefore, the possibility of meeting a reincarnated person is hopeless.

(…If I could, I want to go back…I’d love to see her.)

I couldn’t save her in my previous life.

Senjo Yona. She was one of the five most beautiful girls in our grade.

But in the first year, she refused a guy’s confession. That guy was a crony of Shinichi Kuroda, the main culprit in the bullying that followed.

The man, who held a grudge against her, asked Kuroda to take revenge on her, and Kuroda took him up on it because he thought it would be fun.

From then on, she was bullied continuously.

(…Well, but it’s unlikely she’s in this world…or not.)

She was the only one who wasn’t in the science lab that day.

I think she was delayed by the fact that Kuroda’s faction was bullying her and she had to endure it.

Maybe that’s why Senjo-san was not involved in the gas explosion.

…Then so be it. Kuroda is dead. The other cronies are dead, and the cronies in the other class would not have done the perishable things they did without Kuroda.

If it helped her get her peaceful life back, then…I’m happy with that.

「Zeno? I’m going shopping!」

「…I’m coming, mom.」

I convinced myself of this, but still unable to get the fuzziness out of my chest, I headed for my mom.