The Story of a Poor Lady Being Mistaken as the Saint

2: No Matter How Much She Struggled, She Was Still Poor

It had been 15 years since then, so I was convinced that, for some reason, I had gone back in time to when I was born.

At first, I thought that this was a hallucination I experienced before I died, so I pulled at my soft, squishy cheeks, but it only resulted in pain.
I didn't wake up.
The destitute house and the dead eyes of my parents were just as I remembered.
It was like a recreation of my nightmares.
I tried my hardest one more time to wake myself up, pulling my cheeks forcefully.
Ow…

Well, whatever.
Whether this was a dream or a hallucination, if I was given the chance to start over again, I had only one goal.
I had experienced the worst way to die, so I would obtain a fortuitous life this time around! I was sick and tired of all those terrible days!

Therefore, I decided to “reconstruct” every little thing about myself.

First was to distance myself from my gloomy personality.
I had picked up on pieces of this in my previous life, but the little things like voice and behavior played a big role in making impressions.
You could be looked down upon by your peers or have your share of the reward lessened by the party you joined.

That was why I decided that I would always speak clearly and in a loud, bright voice.

“Father~! Good morning!”

“G-good morning…”

My father was no exception to the gloominess as the people on this land lacked the heart to greet each other this energetically.
Right! I was going to be a girl as bright as the sun! Although, to be frank, I honestly believed such was very impossible since the root of my personality was dark, but I continued to work hard so that I could hide it.

Next was to work on my appearance.
In my previous round, I didn't have the comfort to afford to care about being stylish, but now that I finally had the chance to let my curly, red hair grow, I strove to comb it every day so it could maintain its silkiness.

As for my facial structure…well, it wasn't that bad since my father was decently handsome, so a nice smile would work fine.
The female adventurers I recalled from my previous round all had charming smiles on their faces.
…And mine turned even darker out of envy as I muttered.
“It must be nice to be happy… Damn it.”

Well, in any case, I needed to take care of my body.
I decided to go out into the mountains and successfully hunt some animals in this round.

“Alright! I got some meat~!”

“Squeak?!”

Fortunately or unfortunately, I had taught myself how to make traps when I was forced to become an adventurer.
Since the time I was three in this round, I'd been eating deer, raccoon, and the occasional rat.
As such, I believed I would grow up healthily.
Although the flatness of my chest still bothered me.
Anyways, I also fed my family, leading to my father's stomach becoming quite rotund.
Hey, let's exercise, okay?

And last was to focus on strengthening my skill with magic.
Magic referred to a supernatural power that utilized an energy known as mana that only certain people possessed to artificially create natural phenomena.
But I was rather very unskilled at it and had only been able to send small orbs or fire or water through the air.
And since I only had a decent amount of mana, I didn't have the talent to truly utilize any magic skills.

However, if I didn't have talent, I would have to make it up with hard work.
Fortunately, I could use the same magic as my previous round from the time I was born.
So during those 15 years, I poured many hours into continuing to increase my magic's power and control.

As a result, I could produce a flame capable of easily lighting a person on fire, produce and manipulate water, and concoct medicine by mixing herbs.
I earned a lot selling these cheaply in a nearby city since they were indispensable for adventurers who got injured on the job.