I once had an accident when I was 5. An accident that almost killed me. Mom said I had fallen into a vegetative state, my heart even stopped to the point where they thought I had died. But then, I woke up as if I didn't feel any pain at all.
When I woke up, I knew things that a 5-year-old child should not normally know. Even those words formed in my head the very next morning when I woke up.
I awakened my memories from my past life.
This proved that reincarnation, which some religions believe in, was indeed real.
That's what I thought…
Thanks to those memories, I became different from other children. Calmer, smarter, quicker, and more mature. Of course, I already had the memories of an adult! Naturally, I was more capable than other children. But that didn't mean I didn't act like a child. When kids my age played, I played along, but that was it. The rest of my time was spent talking with my dad and watching TV to understand the current state of the world.
To support our life in the future, I used my knowledge of what was to come in various situations.
If I used my adult awareness and the highly active and powerful brain of a child, I could gain a high position in society and secure my financial future.
But I didn't expect that I would be thrown back to the 90s—two decades earlier than the time where my past life had existed. Still, I had no reason to aim unrealistically high by trying to create new technologies or use my past knowledge, because unless he was a brilliant and knowledgeable person, my former self didn't have any great ambitions to become someone remarkable or anything like that.
From his experience, living with grand ambition isn't wrong, but it's not suitable for everyone. Since I was the reincarnation of someone who wasn't fit to have grand ambitions, I decided to live my life in the same way, for now.
Aside from my achievements in class and my behavior, which seemed different from other children, I wasn't considered a strange child. On the contrary, I was seen as a model student. Perfect grades, polite manners in front of others and family, rarely whining like a baby, and being able to make effective decisions in various situations—I was always used as a comparison by the neighbors.
From my past life's experience, I knew that Asian parents usually compare their children to the neighbor's kids who are more accomplished. Forgive me fellow kinds, but thanks to my past life's regret for deciding to live an average life and not giving his all at school, I decided to correct that regret and put forth my full effort even if I didn't become the top student.
Still, I kind of felt sorry for that kid next door who wore glasses…
"Mr. and Mrs. Nakuru, Kiriya is very smart—it would be such a waste if she only stayed in a school with limited competition. How about letting her join contests and championships to develop her abilities further?"
The principal said that to me when I was already in the 6th grade and about to enter middle school. My parents then asked me.
"So, what do you think? Do you want to join the competition? I'd suggest you give it a try, but if you don't want to, that's fine too."
According to my past life's experience, he somewhat regretted not maximizing his performance and potential.
He believed that if he had tried harder than he did, he could have achieved many things more easily.
That was arrogant and baseless. But thanks to him, I truly did understand things more easily and adapted faster. Still, that wasn't the point. The point was that even though my past self regretted not studying and working harder, he never cared about contests or such things. So if I stepped into this, I would be entering a completely new world.
The greatest regret of my past life was that he refused to leave his comfort zone. His life went by ordinarily, even though he could have achieved far more than what he did. Ironically, the motto he lived by was: "Live your life as you wish so that you won't regret it when you reach the end."
In that case, I will also do what I wish without regretting it.
"Yes, Dad, I'll try and join in."
I decided to try, and ended up winning first place.
The knowledge in my head was far more advanced in both experience and era—it would be impossible for me to lose to children unless it was due to carelessness or on purpose.
In short, that one victory made me the school's idol. Since it was fun, I kept joining contests and competitions until I entered the first year of middle school.
By that point, I began to reduce the number of competitions and championships I joined. It wasn't about collecting trophies anymore—I only joined what I wanted to join. Some people tried to compete, but they failed. Not because they were worse, no, they were actually geniuses. I simply had more knowledge than they did. There was even one student whose grades were on par with mine. He failed to take first place only because his overall performance was lower—nothing more. It proved that those on top won't always stay on top.
At 15 years old, the title of genius had already stuck to my name. I was happy, but it wasn't something I could be proud of, because all of this was thanks to the experiences from my past life. Since I was satisfied with all the victories I had earned, I decided to step back and no longer join any more competitions. Even when the teachers and the student council tried to persuade me, I simply said there were many other students with great potential who could even surpass me. In the end, they fell silent and stopped trying to convince me.
When middle school graduation came, I moved into an apartment in Tokyo and went to school from there. I said goodbye to my childhood friend and my parents.
Regret… no, rather, an unfulfilled hope from my past life was to have a family that was strong, supportive, and harmonious.
But now, I'm grateful because I have a complete and harmonious family.
A picture-perfect family figure for a child who once grew up in a rotten household—with a father who cheated and left with another woman, and a mother who was irresponsible and couldn't set a good example for her children.
If I could exchange words with my past self, I would say loudly:
"Thank you, for guiding my life toward a better path with the experiences you had while you lived. I may not remember your name or your face, but I remember your deeds. I am not thankful for having lived that life."