Chapter 2

Q. I remembered my past life on my seventh birthday, and apparently my mom dies and my dads bring about the end of the world. What should I do?

A. Wow! There’s no solution. Congratulations!

Seven years into Cecilia Miller’s life.

I’d realized that the world I lived in was going to be destroyed.

And it would all start with my mom’s death.

“This can’t be happening.”

Unable to accept reality, I stretched my cheeks with both hands.

This was a dream.

‘It’s definitely a dream!’

Otherwise, why would someone who’d been wondering just moments ago whether a white carriage or a black carriage looked cooler have to go through something like this?

But no matter how much I stretched my face and pinched my cheeks, the unbelievable situation remained unchanged.

‘It hurts…’

As I sat there pulling at my cheeks in a whirlwind of unexpected confusion, Mom asked with a puzzled look.

“Why is Cece acting like this all of a sudden? Didn’t she like the cake I made?”

“That’s why I told you ♩♪ we should’ve bought one instead of making it ourselves. The only person in this family who can actually cook is the guy who’s away from home right now.”

Kyle, the even more foul-mouthed dad, shook his head and sighed.

“Watch your mouth.”

At the same time, Daddy Derek warned him with a frown that made his already scary face look even scarier.

“Sometimes people need to hear the truth, you ♪♩. How long are you going to keep coddling her?”

“I’ve said this countless times, Blake. Maybe you should try using gentler language in front of a child.”

The refined archmage, Daddy Harzen, observed them from a distance as though he were watching a show and casually added his opinion.

It was such an ordinary conversation that it was hard to believe these were the people who would one day destroy the world.

Normally, I would’ve listened absentmindedly and let their conversation pass me by.

But…

‘Ugh, my head hurts.’

Now that I knew the shocking ending of the side story, there was no way I could calm down.

Why did I have to worry about something like this at the age of seven?!

“No, but I really worked hard making it…”

At that moment, Mom mumbled gloomily with a completely dejected expression.

I immediately stopped thinking and snapped my head up.

“No! I love Mom’s cake! It’s the best! The greatest in the whole world!”

“But our Cece didn’t look very happy.”

“Umm, th-that is…”

…Because I found out that my dads were going to destroy the world!

I glanced at Mom and my dads, who were staring at me blankly, then let out a long sigh.

It made sense that they’d be worried when I suddenly looked so miserable on my birthday.

I couldn’t make my parents worry, so for now I should just pretend to enjoy the party… Yeah, right!

There was no way I could focus on a birthday party!

And more importantly.

‘Mom dies? That’s impossible!’

I looked at Mom and made a miserable face again.

Waaah, Mom, don’t die…

If Mom dies, we won’t be able to eat birthday cake together every year.

And we won’t be able to open birthday presents together and get excited…

Come to think of it, what’s my birthday present this year?

‘Gasp, get it together.’

I abruptly stopped following my train of thought and shook my head vigorously.

Maybe it was because even though I’d regained my memories, I still had the brain of a seven-year-old.

The moment I let my guard down, this kept happening.

Anyway…

‘I should just tell them.’

Every misunderstanding and tragedy starts with a lack of communication.

Instead of struggling alone while keeping my mouth shut, it’d be better to put our heads together.

Mom and the dads would definitely come up with a great solution!

“Uh, Mom. Actually…”

Just as I made up my mind and opened my mouth.

“Haaap—!!!”

The moment I saw the contents of the newly appeared scroll, I snapped my mouth shut.

There were penalties too?

No, more importantly.

‘What kind of penalty is this?’

Respiratory distress and death?

Wasn’t this supposed to be rated for seven-year-olds?

Were they really allowed to just kill growing children like that?!

“Cece?”

As I stared at the scroll with both hands clamped over my mouth, a voice full of concern reached me.

A voice so gentle and beautiful that it sounded heavenly.

Naturally, it belonged to my mom, Yuria.

“Mooom…”

I immediately crawled into Mom’s arms.

‘Mom’s arms really are the best.’

If I could, I’d stay wrapped up in Mom’s embrace until the day I died.

But the thought that I might not be able to enjoy this warmth in the future…

‘I absolutely hate that!’

Even if the world split in two, I had to save Mom!

But how?

“Is it because Shion isn’t here?”

Meanwhile, Mom gently stroked my head and muttered.

For reference, Shion was the name of the remaining dad who wasn’t at home right now.

Basically, think of him as Future World Destroyer Number Four.

“Maybe she misses the food he makes. Honestly, I kinda ♬♪ miss it too.”

“That’s not it!”

“Then why do you look so gloomy, Cece?”

“That’s because…”

My future is pitch-black.

But if I say that, then probably…

‘My life will become pitch-black too!’

I couldn’t die before saving Mom!

I shook my head and answered.

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Because my life is precious.”

After saying that, I quickly covered my mouth again with both hands.

At the same time, all my dads’ gazes shifted toward Mom.

“So it really is because the cake tastes bad enough to kill someone ♬♪…”

“Yuri’s fault.”

“There really is no excuse for this.”

“Really…?”

Ignoring Mom’s betrayed expression, I rolled my eyes around.

‘Sorry, Mom.’

That’s the only excuse I could think of right now.

But I’ll definitely protect you no matter what happens!

I swear it on my daddies!

* * *

Several days later, I came to one conclusion.

There had to be a reason the scroll appeared in front of me.

‘It’s probably telling me to save Mom and prevent the end of the world.’

Whenever a system showed up in stories like this, it was usually because it wanted the protagonist to overcome some crisis.

‘Just look at how it showed me those spoiler comments.’

It intentionally spoiled things for me because it didn’t want the world to be destroyed, right?

But…

“Why won’t it tell me anything else?”

I buried my face in the doll I was hugging and kicked my arms and legs around.

Why? Seriously, why?!

Why tell me the ending and not the most important part, the process that leads to it?!

‘Wait… unless.’

I suddenly shot upright.

Could this be one of those things?

A quest-type story where I had to raise my stats and clear missions to stop the apocalypse?

That would explain why a status-window-like scroll suddenly appeared before me.

“Alright then…”

I carefully looked around.

Good. Mom was out doing volunteer work at a nursing home.

Daddy Derek was chopping firewood in the distance.

Daddy Harzen was even farther away, elegantly reading a book.

And Daddy Kyle was probably locked inside his workshop again, inventing something.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

After clearing my throat, I whispered as quietly as possible.

“System.”

…

“Status window.”

…

“Summon administrator?”

Hmm. Nothing appeared.

Maybe this wasn’t that kind of genre.

Then how was I supposed to figure anything out?

“Grrr!”

Filled with frustration, I shook the doll around.

Little bunny doll, does this hurt?

I’m hurting too…

‘Wait.’

As I continued tormenting the bunny doll while looking miserable.

Something suddenly flashed through my mind.

“The side story…”

Didn’t side stories usually deal with plot threads the author never fully resolved?

Then I just needed to remember the unresolved mysteries from the main story.

But there was one huge problem.

‘My brain doesn’t work that well, ugh!’

I’d discovered something else too.

Compared to my memory, my thinking ability wasn’t fully developed.

Which made sense.

I had the brain of a seven-year-old.

My memories had returned, but my body hadn’t changed!

‘Even when I’m thinking seriously, I suddenly lose focus or act on impulse.’

Look at me now.

I was trying to think, then suddenly started staring at the clouds.

‘Wow, that one looks like a rabbit.’

I was staring at the fluffy clouds with my mouth hanging open when…

“…Cece!”

As if he’d sensed something, Daddy Derek suddenly called out to me.

His expression looked more tense than usual.

Daddy Harzen also frowned slightly and looked off into the distance.

‘Huh?’

Why were my dads acting like this all of a sudden?

I stared blankly at them for a moment as tension filled the air.

Then another translucent scroll unfolded before my eyes.

And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Mr. Scroll?