One day, his sister Mireiyu didn’t come home. Ever since, Daniel and his family had lived in poverty. Their father had abandoned them, and their mother was too sick to leave her bed. With their older sister gone, the rest of the kids were hopeless. Mireiyu had died, but there was no way for them to learn of that fact. All they knew was that no matter how much time passed, she never returned.
Daniel lived with his two younger sisters, his younger brother, and his mother. Being the oldest of the siblings, it fell on Daniel to find food somehow for the five of them. So he turned to stealing. As a young child he was in no position to take a proper job, and he couldn’t think of anything else. Using his agility as a cat beastkin, he stole only the bare minimum he needed from stores that sold food. He could just barely manage to procure enough to keep the five of them alive.
However, after a time, his mother passed away. Her illness needed regular doses of expensive medicine. Daniel couldn’t scrounge up the money needed to pay for it, nor would he know how to find it if he could.
Their family became four. The burden on Daniel had become lighter, and life had become easier. However, the stress he was experiencing only grew, until one day he reached his limit. He finally slipped up, got caught stealing, and was beaten to death. He never knew what happened to his younger siblings after that.
The next thing he knew, he had returned to life with his mother. All of their suffering had been a dream. Their mother was well, and while their father was nowhere to be found, he and his three younger siblings were able to live in reasonable comfort. It felt like something was a little off, but Daniel convinced himself that things were fine.
A worldwide disaster then drew Daniel and his family into Cavern Quest. Though the situation was confusing and chaotic, it turned out Daniel had some aptitude for adventuring, and he quickly adapted to their new situation.
After a short time, a message came from the Great Sage telling him of the older sister he had once had and reminding him of his mother’s death. Everything all came back to a boy named Yogiri Takatou.