The Author’s POV

Kevin's head was filled with a constant ringing sound, and he was just staring at the wooden table in front of him with no expression on his face.

He had a silver spoon in his tiny hands, which he was holding onto very tightly.

'I failed again…'

Kevin mumbled to himself, his eyes gradually losing focus.

In contrast to the first time, this time, he was defeated before even having the opportunity to engage in a meaningful conflict with Jezebeth.

It turned out that he was not even powerful enough to defeat the army of demons that were at his disposal, let alone him, who was even more powerful than them.

'Where did I go wrong? What am I missing?'

He did everything that the system told him.

He did the missions and took advantage of the opportunities from his past life…he did everything yet still failed to accomplish his mission.

Just what was he missing?

"Here's your food."

The sound of his mother's voice jolted Kevin out of his reverie and brought him back to the present.

When he raised his head, he saw her staring at him with the same friendly smile that he was so used to by this point.

Placed in front of him was the same bland soup that she used to make for him in his past life.

It was her signature soup, and one that she would start making as soon as he became five years old, which he had just reached not too long ago.

Just a single look was enough to take his appetite away.

Nonetheless, he still decided to eat it. As long as he got his nutrition in, he was fine.

Slowly, Kevin took a mouthful of the soup and had a taste of it.

"Hm?"

When Kevin looked over at his mother, who was also looking at him intently, he noticed that his brows had suddenly arched a little bit.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Kevin didn't answer her.

Instead, he blinked his eyes a couple of times. He lowered the spoon and took another mouthful.

He wanted to double check.

"…It's good."

Kevin mumbled aloud, savoring the flavor of the soup in his mouth.

As soon as he said those words, his mother immediately displayed a look on her face that indicated she was surprised; however, Kevin didn't put much thought into it as he continued to eat the soup.

'Why does the soup taste better?'

For some odd reason, the bland soup that his mother made him wasn't as bland as it had been in the past.

Why was that?

"I'm glad you like the soup."

Kevin was startled when he felt a warm hand caress the top of his head, and he looked up to see his mother looking back at him with the same smile she always wore.

Her hands were large and rough, unbefitting of her graceful and frail looks.

With just a glance, Kevin could see that they were filled with calluses and cuts.

It was obvious that these were the hands of someone who had been through a lot of adversity throughout their entire life.

Kevin knew this better than anyone.

After all, those hands looked no different than his after practicing with his sword for years on end.

Another thing that Kevin observed about his mother was that whenever he was around her, she never appeared to be eating anything.

She never did anything other than sit in the opposite chair from him and watch him eat the food.

He never really put much thought into it in the past.

…But it was indeed strange. Maybe she also didn't like the soup?

Kevin cocked his head to the side a little and pushed the bowl of soup forward. Toward his mother.

His actions confused her as she asked.

"Hm? What's this?"

"Eat it."

Kevin pointed at the bowl, and his mother blinked a couple of times, clearly confused by his actions.

She eventually shook her head and smiled.

"I've already eaten, you can—"

"Lies."

Kevin cut her off.

He knew beforehand that she had not eaten yet. He had been observing her since early in the morning.

His mother's job was to collect garbage outside.

In the sweltering heat, she would push a shopping cart that weighed at least three times as much as she did and walk for a couple of kilometers for a payment of approximately 10 U. The cart was filled with trash, and she would sort the trash as she went.

It was a grueling job that was looked down upon by most people, but it was also the only job she knew to do.

Sometimes she would get less than what she worked for, but she never seemed to complain.

...She was a tough and tenacious woman.

One that Kevin had been observing her the whole time, and he knew that she hadn't eaten yet.

Margaret gave a quiet sigh and mumbled something to herself.

"Despite not speaking much, you're a sharp one. Sometimes I wonder if you're really five…"

Taking another look at Kevin, she stood up and headed back to the kitchen.

"Don't worry, and just eat your meal. I'm not hungry."

'Liar.'

Kevin inwardly mumbled.

She had been staring at his soup with great concentration just a few minutes ago.

Even though it was obvious that she was coveting his soup, she still turned it down when it was offered to her.

Why was that?

Kevin asked himself, once again confused by the way his mother behaved.

He really didn't understand why she would go to such lengths to help a small burden like himself.

Staring at the clear soup in front of him and seeing his reflection, Kevin put the spoon in and took another bite.

'It's cold…'

Yet…so warm.

***

Time continued to pass, and Kevin spent most of his time observing his parents.

While Johnathan's father went to the construction site to help build the new high rise buildings in the inner city, his mother, Margaret, would always leave early in the morning to collect the trash outside.

The total amount of pay that they received between the two of them was only 30 U per day, which was just about enough to get by each day.

It was also because of this that Margaret decided to go somewhere else to collect trash.

Outside of a shopping mall in the inner districts of the city.

"I'm sorry that I have to drag you along with me, Kevin, but I won't take too long. You can just stand there quietly and wait for me to finish work."

Kevin nodded his head without saying anything.

He did nothing more than take a seat on the staircase of the mall and watch his mother labor through the scorching heat of the day.

Sweat dripped down the side of her face as she used a pair of worn-out gloves to collect trash from the trash cans placed around the mall.

Despite the many stares she received from shoppers in the shopping mall, she continued to work diligently, occasionally flashing him a smile.

It was her smile that caused Kevin to tilt his head further as he had a sudden thought.

'Dangerous.'

For a fleeting moment, he thought that the smile was dangerous to himself.

For the past few regressions, he had never really cared to look at his 'caretakers' and just single mindedly pursued his own goals…but it was at this moment, during his third regression, that he started to have different thoughts in his mind.

…He just thought that maybe, just maybe, they didn't need to die like they did in the past.

Maybe, he could help them survive that calamity that was to come...

'No, they will be a burden.'

It was only a fleeting thought, however, as he quickly discarded the notion right away.

Thinking further, they would serve as nothing but burdens if he let them live.

He had a clear goal, and he couldn't let anything distract him away from it.

His eyes drifted away from his mother not long after, and his eyes paused on the busy streets in front of him.

Kevin was confronted by a bustling crowd of people entering and exiting the large shopping center.

He observed people walking with smiles on their faces and children playing with their parents with joy.

Shortly thereafter, Kevin's eyes shifted away from their image and lingered on a small purple banknote on the street.

'50 U'

It was a 50 U banknote.

In Kevin's mind, a trivial banknote.

He was so accustomed to dealing with millions of U at the time during his previous two regressions that the note appeared to be nothing more than loose change to him.

However, as his eyes wandered back to his mother and how hard she was working for only 10U a day, Kevin's body moved in the direction of the banknote.

"What are you doing?"

Kevin was about to reach for the bill when a bald and imposing man grabbed him by the hand. He regarded Kevin with a ferocious glare plastered across his face.

"That's mine, kid. What do you think you're doing?"

"…"

Kevin didn't answer the man and just continued to emotionlessly stare at him.

'Should I just kill him? No, that will attract too much unwanted attention at the moment.'

At that moment, Kevin rejected the notion of killing the burly man.

If he revealed his power in such a crowded street, he would attract unwelcome attention and may find himself in a situation he would find rather troublesome.

After all, killing was prohibited.

"What's wrong? Are you mute?"

Kevin felt a couple of taps on the cheeks as the man pulled him up by the arm.

Kevin's eyes gleamed with a dangerous gleam, and just as he was about to say something, a pair of frail hands grabbed the burly man by the arm.

"That's my child; please let go!"

The voice, which shook ever so slightly, and seemed rather frail, caused the large man to immediately turned his attention to Margaret and then to the garments she was wearing, more specifically, her gloves which were holding onto his clothes.

"Ukh!"

The expression on his face shifted abruptly, and he pushed her away with a slap.

"Don't touch me with those filthy gloves!"

He dropped Kevin shortly after, as he started patting the arm in which he had been touched.

The look of utter disgust on his face became deeply etched in Kevin's mind.

Just as Kevin was about to do something, he felt something embrace him from above, and it was at that moment that he realized that his mother had already come to him and was hugging him very tightly.

Her scared yet calm voice echoed inside his ears.

"I'm sorry. My child didn't have any intentions. Is there any way we can repay you?"

"Repay me?"

The bald man looked at his shirt and looked back at her.

"Buy me a new shirt."

"O..okay, how much is that?"

With a quivering voice, Margeret took out a small purse from her pocket, her hands trembling. The scene looked oddly familiar to Kevin, who was observing.

"500U"

"5..00U?"

As soon as Margaret heard those words, the color of her face immediately began to fade, and she looked up in utter disbelief.

"What? 500U is nothing? Why are you making it seem like it's the end of the world for you?"

"Ah..well, 500U is a lot.."

"…You should've thought twice before dirtying my clothes with those hands."

When the burly man took the next step, Kevin's mother suddenly felt like she needed to hold on to Kevin even more tightly, and it was exactly what she did as wrapped her hands around him and squeezed more tightly.

For some odd reason, Kevin didn't feel any discomfort and only had one thought in mind…

'Warm.'

His mother's embrace felt so warm.

Why was that?

...Kevin wanted to understand what he was feeling, and it was at this moment that he realized something.

'Do they really have to die?'

😉