Volume 1 : Infancy

Chapter 1

Next I remember is being squeezed by all sides. My head seems heavy, and my shoulders are in a weird position. I cannot see anything, or even make sense of most stuff. All of my body is numb, so I do not feel pain. However, the sensation of being lightly suffocated is here. Are those screams I hear? Who is screaming? Why is it all muffled?

Then, the sensation is over. My body is still numb, but I’m not being squeezed anymore. A loud bang, and my butt is on fire. Someone slapped me!

If I was my usual self, I would have steeled my heart and yelled at the person. But I wasn’t. Almost immediately after being hit a burning sensation rises to my eyes. My lungs expand, and I let out the most amazing cry of my life.

There is laughter. Someone is very happy it seems.

Aaah…. Something is leaking. It’s me. I’m peeing. It feels good, as if I had been holding it in for a long time. I wonder what is happening?

I’m…. So sleepy…. I… I have to sleep….

Ah, a pretty lady.

She is opening her arms to me.

So beautiful.

Her dress is made of stars.

Thank you for having me, pretty lady….

***

When I wake next I feel that same sensation of being squeezed by all sides. However, this time it is different. It isn’t slippery, and I’m a bit cold.

I tried to open my eyes, but it was so difficult.

I feel a little fear, but I manage to suppress it. Good, it seems I didn’t lose all of my emotional intelligence after all.

Where am I? I try moving my body, but I am unable to. My head is so heavy!  There isn’t anything holding it, but I just don’t seem to be able to move my neck.

I must try harder.

Ah, a little light! I can see!

It seems I have been able to open my eyes a little. I’m in some sort of dark room. The only light comes from a little breach in a window in the other side of the room.

I cannot see much in the end, can I…. well, I will just have to wait. It doesn’t seem like I’m in immediate danger.

Ah… my belly hurts.

I try to hold it in, but my body doesn’t obey me.

How humiliating. How frustrating. Even if I was in my own house, next to my parents and family, doing such a thing would be so embarrassing!

I’m losing control a bit….

Ah, I started to cry again.

Bright! The room is too bright! My eyes hurt! Ah, the crying is getting worse. Wonder why I don’t feel attached to it at all? Well, it may be because my head is still so heavy…

Is this a dream?

It feels like one.

I hear a weird voice. It is saying something.

What is this warm sensation?

Suddenly, I feel such a big amount of love… is as if I am in the arms of my own mother… no, I hate my mother, I can’t feel this way with her… but then… who is this… I… why do I love this person so much?

Ah, I am better now. The crying is lessening. I feel tired. So tired!

I will sleep again. These things are too much for now. I will think on then latter…

***

I am growing used to this dark room already. I also finally figured what has happened to me. Yes, I am a newborn baby. I have reincarnated.

When I first had that conversation with the goddess, I didn’t believe it was real at all. I just said things because I didn’t feel the weight on my words.

No… that isn’t it.

Truth be said, I was tired of my former life. So I choose death easily. But I feel a little bit sad about that.

Not dying and reincarnating. But to die so suddenly. Even if I had some bad blood with my family, they surely didn’t expect for me to die so soon. Even morbidly obese fellows won’t die so easily in the prime of their youth.

I wonder how I died?

Well, I surely can’t tell now.

Thinking only this much took me a long, long time, and was only possible because of my perfect memory. If I had to restart the though process each time, it would be impossible. Between feedings and diaper changes, after all, I have only a little time to think.

This new body isn’t ready yet. The muscles aren’t developed; the back isn’t in the regular “S” shape. It will take a long time for me to… aaah…. The sleepiness… it’s ok now…. I will just sleep again….

***

It seems I have been finally moved out of the dark room. Or, better saying, people are finally letting me get some sun.

I can’t notice it much, since I still can’t raise my head too much and most of the time I am sleeping.

Most of the days I only wake because of some loud noise from the outside or because I’m hungry or dirty.

Also, seeing things is so hard ! My vision is all fuzzy, and I can only see things that are very close to me.

But I have already seen my new mother’s and father’s faces. Also a kid, who is probably my older sister or brother. I cannot see its face, since it doesn’t get much close to me.

Father seems to be one of those people who have had its shares of hardships on life. He has very strong and callous hands, and a strong face with a few small scars here and there. His nose is also a little strange, so I guess he must have broken it a fair amount of times. His skin is very thick, and he has dark hair cut very short. His eyes were happy when he held me, but he doesn’t do it a lot. I guess he doesn’t like kids too much, or maybe he is used to it since I am not his firstborn. Well, not like I care.

Mother seems to be a fairly crude woman. She sows a gentle smile when she sees me, but I can see she has the traits of someone born and raised in the countryside.  Callous and hard hands. Disheveled sunburn blond hair. A healthy tanned face. She seems young. Maybe eighteen years old. Her breasts are still firm and her nipple is lightly pink. Mother, your impure son asks for your forgiveness, but he must eat. As a good otaku I say itadakimasu in my mind, before sucking on it.

***

Today I was left in my belly for the first time. Mother has left me here, looking at the pile of clothed straw which currently serves as my mattress. I wonder how many times have I been bitten by insects so far?

Sometimes I wake itching all over, and rarely can I control myself.

This world… it is seriously primitive!

No, this is how the medieval ages must have felt, hum ?

Anyway, since I have been left on my belly, I decided to enjoy the opportunity to try and make some light exercise.

Of course, since my hands and feet haven’t totally extended for the first time yet, it could barely be said to be exercise.

However, I am confident that I can at least train my back muscles and try to increase my motor coordination.

I have no limits after all! If the goddess has been true to her promise, I shall enjoy these first weeks to try and grow as fast as I can!

***

It seems I have an older brother as well.

I noticed it only recently, after achieving my first milestone in my muscle training – holding my own head using my neck.

I was able to raise my head a little, and noticed a small child near the door. He didn’t seem to be allowed inside the room, as he had a mischievous and angry look on his face.

Aah, he must be jealous.

I heard of this.

Kids are usually jealous of their younger siblings when they are born.

But this is no good.

Older sister likes me you know? She probably felt the same way when you were born, so endure it!

I try to be amicable and give a smile, but I cannot hold my head high anymore. So I drop on the straw again.

***

It’s a tragedy! An awful tragedy! I have been poisoned! The poison is slowly dropping on my throat. The horrid taste is making me want to puke, but I hold myself back. If I puke now, it will come again to my mouth. That awful taste.

Who could be this cruel, to do such a thing to a young baby? Who could be this heartless?

The culprit is looking my way just now. I know her. I know that face, and those hands. Holding the terrible flask on one hand and a wooden spoon in the other, mother seems surprised at me.

She said something I can’t understand. But by her tone, she seems happy with me.

How dare you be happy with my pain, wretched witch! You must atone for your sins! Give me your breast!

Ah, she didn’t.

The taste is still in my mouth.

What the hell is this after all?

It tastes just like ricin oil. But no one would give laxatives to a baby, right?

I don’t have any signs of intestinal clogging, in fact, my brownie factory has been working no stop those past days… she can’t be giving me a laxative!

Right?

***

The laxatives are given to me from time to time.

I don’t know exactly why, but everyone sees it as normal. It doesn’t seem mother is trying to kill me.

Still, the taste and the pain, they don’t subside fast.

I asked the goddess to be immortal, eternally young, have instantaneous regeneration, amongst other things… but still, it seems poison immunity isn’t included in my powers.

Since I have been affected by the ricin oil.

Aaah… what a pain.

***

Mother sure yells a lot. At my older brother, at my older sister, at our father. She is constantly yelling.

But it isn’t a very angry yell. It is more like how countryside people yell so they can talk over some distance.

It is a bit unsettling though.

Well, beggars can be choosers. I choose to be reborn in a different world, so I should be focusing on the tasks at hand.

First of all, my muscle training isn’t going very well. I have been able to hold my head longer, and recently I have even been able to sit.

However, progress seems to be so slow !

Also, I still sleep a lot.

And, more important of all… I can’t understand a word that anyone is speaking!

I forgot to ask to come to this world with knowledge of the language, so I will have to learn it by myself. Well, having perfect memory I suppose it won’t take much time.

Then, the thing with the goddess.

She said I didn’t need to do anything, only live here for a while. But I wanted to live an overpowered-protagonist kind of life, so I asked for a body with a lot of cheat abilities and skills.

So far, I have tried training some of them.

First, I tried to hold my breath. I felt a small sensation of suffocation, but it is more of a slight discomfort than pain. I also could hold my breath for what seemed to be a very long time. At least enough to have the sunlight in the room at noon visibly diminishing, so I guess around half an hour or so. No need to breathe, check.

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I cannot try not to eat, since this would probably upset my mother. So I will let this for latter.

About not needing to sleep… well, I tried to resist the sleepiness once, but it was stronger than me.

I don’t know if this is because I am a baby or what, but this skill seems sealed for the moment.

As well as the metamorphosis skill. I tried transforming my body into an adult form, but no matter how much I tried to imagine or feel myself changing, I cannot change at all.

… maybe I just don’t know how to do it?

I should keep trying later.

Then, the eternal youth thing I hope is sealed until I am older, or I might remain a baby my entire life. If that goddess was an evil genie kind of person, she surely would do it, but I have faith in her… I guess.

The immortality thing…. I seriously don’t want to try it now. Since it would be a problem if I really died before exploring any of the world.

The perfect memory seems to be working fine. I can remember a lot of stuff and don’t have the feeling of having forgotten anything I didn’t consciously allowed myself to forget, like some of my diaper changes. And when I tried to recall some of them, they appeared in my memory with ease. This is a very useful skill.

So, this leaves only the unlimited growth and the instantaneous regeneration.

The unlimited growth I have no idea on how to test now.

The immunity to diseases is also mostly impossible to test.

But the instantaneous regeneration… maybe I should try it.

Thinking like that, I looked around, searching for something I could use to cause a small injury in myself.

I don’t want anything big, so I took my time between naps. This world is full of dangerous things, so I need to be careful not to overstep myself.

Like that, I found a small wooden chip next to one of the bars on my crib.

I suppose I can use that.

So, I rolled to it and hit the splinter with the back of my hand.

Pain ! It hurt !

I repressed the cry with tears in my eyes and looked at the back of my hand.

The splinter had cut the skin and a small stream of blood was running top of it. I thought I may have gone too far, but in a few moments the pain subsided and the injury wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

Phew… I am glad it worked.

So, the resumed status of my cheat abilities is as it follows:

Perfect Memory (unless I consciously allow for something to be forgotten): Ok.

Eternal Life/Immortality: Unknown.

Eternal Youth: Hopefully sealed until I am older.

Immunity to Disease: Unknown.

Metamorphosis: Unknown.

No need to breath: Ok.

No need to eat: Unconfirmed, but likely.

No need to sleep: Sealed or missing.

Instantaneous Regeneration: Ok.

Unlimited Growth: Unknown.

***

I don’t know how much time has passed since I was born, but I guess it has been quite a while. I now can sit on my own, to my mother’s delight.

I can also understand a few words, like “mama”, “papa”, “sis”, “time to eat”, “crib”, “smart” and so on. I am not much sure about the latter, however. It is just a deduction from the praise I have received.

I mean not to be presumptuous, but it feels good to be praised. Even when the reason is because you are a cheat character, full of cheat skills and abilities.

That said, my older brother’s jealousy isn’t getting any better. The other day he came next to my crib, looking menacingly at me.

I was a bit scared, but I held my emotions.

That is, until he poked me in my side. It hurt! Luckily he left as soon as I started crying.

To avenge myself I haven’t cared to memorize the word for “older brother”.

Let he be forgotten, oh ashes of time!

My older sister is a bit more of a cute person. She seems energetic and strong, and her body well trained with muscles here and there, just like our father. I wonder if she is training to be a warrior? Or maybe she intends to be like father?

I don’t know what our father do, but if the way he cuts his hair has something to do with the meanings it had in our previous world, I suppose he is in the military.  

He shouldn’t be much of a big shot, since our house doesn’t seem to be so big. However, I may just be mistaken. I have barely left the crib in my parent’s room all this time. Mother doesn’t take me to the table during meals, and I try not to complain. I suppose there aren’t baby chairs in this world.

Sincerely, wasn’t it for the fact that I sleep most of the day I wouldn’t be able to get through all of the boredom. Let’s just be happy I still need to sleep a lot.

***

Some time has passed. I guess around three weeks. I’m getting better at this whole baby thing. I can craw now, and my need to sleep has been reduced, for the amusement of my family.

I don’t dare speak a word, though. I cannot understand the words very well, and I suppose I’m not at an age where I should speak.

Then again, my parents look human, but can I use my common sense in this world?

Mother seems too young to have a child like my older sister, and the other day I saw an ethereal figure walking around the room.

First I was a bit scared thinking it was a ghost, but it just passed right through without giving me a second glance.

If it had moaned I would surely have started crying.

***

The ethereal apparitions have been becoming more common recently. I can see then occasionally during the day. Usually just for a moment, and then they disappear.

I have been a little scared, but also curious.

Tonight I shall try my best to remain awake.

I heard a lot of moaning tonight. But it wasn’t a ghost at all. Since I always awake crying because of insect bites or hunger I never noticed it, but father and mother are a healthy couple in a world like the ancient one.

They don’t have a lot of pudency.

Well, so be it. Let’s forget these ghost things and try to sleep. All this moaning is making me uncomfortable.

***

I am finally mobile!

I can crawl around, and sometimes even stand on my own. I have also started to try and speak my first words. It isn’t easy, since my tongue still doesn’t obey me very well.

Mother seems amazed. Father as well.

I wonder if I am a prodigy?

Well, I still sleep a lot and mother doesn’t let me out of the crib easily, so it isn’t all I expected to be.

Also, brother is ever more infuriated at me. The other day he broke something in the house and made a tantrum. Those kind of things are becoming more and more frequent.

I also finally got to a point where I am confident I can understand my parent’s names and my own.

My father is called John.

My mother is called Alice.

My older sister is called Ann.

My older brother is called Jacen.

But I myself don’t seem to have a name.

It seems in this world children are only given a name in their first birthday, since child mortality rates in the first years of life is too big.

It doesn’t surprise me. I have been made to drink ricin oil once a week for months now. Also, the water used for the baths they give me is on room temperature, and we are left to rest on straw beds. Not to mention mosquitoes and insects, which are so common.

Even if this world has magic, some kinds of bad practices will still hurt young children you know ?

***

A long time has passed.

I feel like I may have developed too quick. I can already understand what most of the people in the house say, and also walk.

It seems I am only five months old. It shouldn’t be possible for me to walk. So mother is a little anxious because of it.

She didn’t expect to have me walking around so early, so she put my older sister to take care of me and my older brother. I expected to be able to walk around the house as I wanted to, but mother wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to let a five years old unaccompanied, and she has a lot of chores to look after.

At first sister was pissed to have to stay inside home all day, looking after me and my brother.  She would play with us for some time, but then just seek the first chance to go outside and ditch me in the crib. But one day father returned home with something – a small fence made of wood, with a space in the middle I can stay in.

It’s a playpen.

This way I can be left in a restricted space and sister doesn’t have to pay so much attention to me. In the end I am left in the kitchen while she trains in the backyard. She keeps swinging a twig as if it was a sword.

Sometimes I imitate her. She seems to find it funny.

Older brother has been a problem on himself. He will use all chances he has to hit me or bully me. He will also compete with me on everything.

When I started to imitate sister, he grabbed a twig and started to do it himself.

This was interesting, so I just let he get the praise this time, while pretending to have lost interest.

The other day brother was training side by side with sister.

He can go outside, but It seems they believe even having people visiting the house before I am one year old is a bad omen, so I remain in the playpen in the kitchen.

***

I am able to talk a few words. Not baby talk as I had been doing so far. I am finally able to talk clearly.

Only a few words however. This world’s human language isn’t so difficult, but getting a baby tongue to obey your brain’s commands is indeed difficult enough.

Since I am almost an year old, it took me quite a while. My parents think it is a bit weird though. It seems not even my older brother can pronounce words like I can.

…..I thought the bullying would worsen because of that, but he compensated that with more rigorous training with sister. It seems father is very proud of him doing it, so my accomplishments in language aren’t much.

However, this also brings me a problem.

There isn’t a single book in the house, and it seems no one can read or write either.

I have overheard father complaining to mother about the village’s announcer not repeating something he asked of him.

It seems It isn’t only my family who can’t read. If the village has something like an announcer who writes and read letters for the people, then this means… this world is very undeveloped, indeed.

I wonder if I will be able to learn it somehow….