I awoke with a startled breath; Something poked my cheek.
"Mister?"
The kid's face hovered inches from mine, finger extended.
"...That's weird, thank God it was just a Drea—" Before I could process the dream, my gaze drifted upward
A blue, translucent window floated in the air.
────────────────────────
[READY FOR A QUEST?]
ACCEPT / DECLINE
────────────────────────
"Nevermind…"
***
I stared blankly at the floating text. "…A quest? Seriously?"
The kid tilted her head, squinting. "Mister, are you okay? You're staring at nothing."
I rubbed my eyes. The text didn't fade no matter how aggressively I rubbed my eyes.
────────────────────────
[QUEST: Have a Nice Day]
Objective: Spend a peaceful day outside with ???.
Reward: ???
────────────────────────
Nope. Definitely not a dream.
"A joke," I muttered. "This has to be a joke."
"Shopping!" The kid suddenly grinned. "You promised we'd go today!"
"I— wait, when did I promise that?"
"You did," she said with all the confidence of someone who absolutely made that up. "Just now."
…Actually? I think I did say something yesterday.
I sighed. "Right. Guess I have no choice."
I reached toward the window.
"Accept."
The letters shimmered, dissolving into sparkling dust.
[QUEST ACCEPTED.]
A faint ting! echoed in my head.
Great. My first quest after meeting a literal dream goddess… is to go shopping with a kid I found in a dumpster.
…Still, her smile made it hard to complain.
I yawned and stretched, groaning as my back cracked. "Alright, before we go anywhere…"
I glanced toward the kid, who was already standing near the door barefoot, her toes curling against the floor
"…We should eat first." I said
"Breakfast?" Her eyes lit up instantly. "Do you have pancakes?"
"Do I look like someone who makes pancakes?" I muttered, already heading downstairs.
"I... um," speechless she just followed, humming happily— no melody, no rhythm, but somehow cheerful. "Maybe?" She whispered to herself
The house was quiet, too big for one person. I opened the fridge, bottled water, rice and eggs, and… is that an expired milk? Eh good enough.
I took the expired milk and dropped it on the trashcan beside the fridge.
"Eggs and rice it is," I said. "We can just buy some later. Since we're going out anyway"
The girl peeked over the counter. "You cook?"
"Barely." I said as I yawned.
She giggled. "Then I'll help! I'm good at stirring!"
"That's… a weirdly specific skill"
As we worked in the kitchen well— i worked while she mostly talked— the awkward silence began to melt.
"So," I said after a while, glancing at her. "I don't think I even asked your name yesterday."
"It's Ivy!" she said proudly. "And you're Mister…?"
"Si Hon."
"I'll just call you Mister Si!" she declared with a grin.
"…No."
"WHAT— what about Mister Hon?"
No response.
"Ahjussi?"
"Hmmm... That works."
The smell of fried eggs filled the air, and for the first time in that morning, I almost forgot about the floating text box and the dream goddess.
Right now, breakfast with a barefoot kid felt more real than any of that.
I sat by the small kitchen table, plates steaming with fried eggs and rice. Ivy swung her legs beneath the chair, humming between bites.
I watched her eat— tiny bites, but fast, like she hadn't had a proper meal in a while.
Which… yeah. Dumpster, filthy clothes, freezing night. Makes sense.
"…Hey," I said between mouthfuls, "how old are you, anyway?"
She looked up, cheeks puffed out with food. "Ten!" she said proudly after swallowing.
"Ten, huh." I leaned back, glancing at the faint blue system window still hovering above the table.
The words [QUEST: Have a Nice Day] glowed softly, like it was quietly judging me for eating instead of adventuring.
Tsk, this makes me remember Vesper.
"not six or seven?"
"Ten!"
"Alright, ten years old and already part of my first quest," I muttered. "Lucky you."
Ivy tilted her head. "You're talking weird again, ahjussi."
"Right, sorry." I yawned and scratched the back of my neck. "You sure you're not secretly thirty? You act like an old lady."
She gasped. "Do not! I'm cutesy!"
"Yeah, yeah." I chuckled, eyes flicking back to the window. "So… where were you before I found you?"
Ivy stopped swinging her legs, Her spoon hovered mid-air.
"Um…" She looked down at her plate, poking the rice with her spoon."I don't really remember."
"Don't remember?" I asked.
She shook her head slowly. "It was dark. Cold, I think. And… there was humming. Like a song, but I couldn't see who was singing."
Cold, dark, dumpster… yeah I get it.
I glanced at the floating system window again, still there, glowing softly like it was listening.
"…Right," I muttered, forcing a smile. "Well, guess that's over now. You've got breakfast and a quest. That's better than a dark alley, right?"
She nodded quickly, smiling again, though her eyes stayed in the air beside me, like she saw something I couldn't.
We finished eating in silence after that. Ivy hummed again, but quieter this time, like her mind was somewhere else.
When the plates were empty, I leaned back with a sigh. "Alright. Let's clean up and get ready."
***
✧>Time skip...!<✧
I looked outside in the open window and saw a beautiful blue sky.
Feels good to be alive today.
Then Steam rolled out from the bathroom door. The faint smell of expensive shampoo drifted into the hallway.
I didn't even bother checking what she was doing in there. Probably used half the bottle, maybe the fancy looking soap too. Whatever. I could just buy more.
"Don't flood the place," I called out lazily from the couch, lying there with one hand clasped over my stomach.
"Okay! Ahjussi!" came by her muffled voice, followed by the unmistakable splash, splash, splash.
Yep. Definitely flooding the place.
When she finally came out, I sat down, her hair was damp and shiny, and she was wearing one of the old oversized shirts I gave, it practically swallowed her whole.
"It's so big!" she said, spinning once and nearly tripping over the hem.
"Yeah, that's kinda the point," I muttered, grabbing my wristband from the table. "We're buying stuff that actually fits."
She grinned. "Can I pick the color?"
I groaned. "Fine, but no pink explosion. I have limits."
"Pink and yellow!"
…I regret everything.
She giggled, already skipping toward the door.
***
✧>WALKING TO THE MALL<✧
The walk to the mall felt longer than it actually was.
Maybe because Ivy couldn't walk five steps without stopping to point at something.
"Ahjussi, look! A dog!"
"Yes, I see it."
"And that car— why's it red? Are they rich?"
"…It's just paint."
Every few seconds, another question. Every few steps, another distraction.
I swear, I'm going to die in future.
By the time we reached the mall entrance, I'd answered questions about birds, traffic lights, clouds, and why stores had glass doors.
The mall air-conditioning hit like a blessing. Bright lights, glossy floors, the faint sound of pop music playing overhead.
Ivy's eyes sparkled like she just walked into another world. "Whoa… It's so shiny!"
"Yeah. Welcome to capitalism," I muttered, pushing my hands into my pockets.
We passed by rows of stores, toys, snacks. Naturally, she pointed at everything.
"Ahjussi, can I get that?"
"No."
"What about that one?"
"No."
"Then… maybe this one?"
"…Still no."
Her cheeks puffed. "You're no fun."
I sighed. "You said we're shopping for clothes, right? So we're getting clothes... No stuffed animals, no candy, no—"
I paused when she gave me that look, head tilted, looking up at me with those big pleading green eyes.
"…Fine. One candy."
She jumped and cheered like she just won a lottery.
I bought her one lollipop, after her lollipop we decided to go to the 2nd-floor.
The escalator hummed quietly as we rode up to the 2nd-floor.
Ivy leaned over the handrail, staring down like she'd just discovered magic.
"Ahjussi, it's moving by itself!"
"It's an escalator," I said, grabbing her before she leaned too far.
"It's— ALIVE," she whispered dramatically.
"Sure. Don't make it angry."
She gasped and immediately stood straight.
***
The second floor opened up into a blur of lights and chatter, food stalls, clothing stores, and something loud echoing from the far end.
Flashing colors. Electronic jingles.
An arcade.
Shit...
Ivy's head turned toward the arcade like a magnet.
"Ahjussi…"
"No."
"But—"
"No."
She clasped her hands together, her green eyes sparkling. "Just one game?"
…Dammit.
"Fine. One game. That's it."
The moment we stepped inside the arcade, she was gone, a blur of tiny footsteps racing between machines.
Neon lights reflected off her hair as she darted from claw machines to rhythm games, eyes wide with pure awe.
I leaned against a nearby wall, pretending not to smile—
Wait, I'm not smiling…
My eyes turned toward ivy. She didn't even know how half of these worked, but she looked like she'd been waiting her whole life to see them.
She pointed at a claw machine filled with plush toys. "Ahjussi! That one! The bunny!"
"Of course it's the hardest one."
I slipped a few coins into the slot. The claw jerked to life, slow and wobbly. Ivy pressed her face to the glass as I guided it.
Left… right… down—
The claw caught the bunny by the ear, and dropped it halfway.
"Fucking! Rigged." I muttered.
Ivy blinked. "Fu— What's rigged mean?" She asked.
"It means this machine hates me."
She giggled. "Then I'll help!"
After many times of pointless tries, and people looking at us.
She didn't even care that we lost. Her laugh echoed through the arcade— and somehow, for the first time in a while, I caught myself smiling too.
…Wait no. Scratch that.
Sigh. Maybe that was part of the quest.
Then— ivy raised her fist in triumph. "I did it! Look, look Ahjussi!"
She held up a tiny plush— barely the size of her palm. It wasn't even the bunny. It was a weird round blob with button eyes.
Still, she looked happy.
"...That's a jellybean," I muttered.
"It's a bear!" she said proudly, hugging it to her chest.
Sure kid. If you squint hard enough.
She turned to me, grin sharp as her eyes sparkle through the arcade lights. "Your turn!"
"Eh?"
"You said one game. But we've been playing alot... and you played mine, so now it's your turn!"
"That's not… how logic works." I muttered, but to bad she was already dropping another coin in.
The claw descended again, slow, dramatic, and as rigged as ever.
"Come on," I whispered, focused, guiding the stick like it owed me money.
The claw moved.
It caught something—
the claw twitched—
and to my surprise, it actually held on.
Ivy gasped. "You did it! You did it, Ahjussi!"
The prize dropped with a soft thunk.
I opened the gif out. And a massive, round, smiling sunfish appeared.
She looked at me, and I looked at her. "…That's not the bunny." Ivy muttered.
She blinked. "It's a fish."
"…A big one."
She snorted. "You're bad at bunnies."
"Don't push it."
Still, I took it. As we walked out of the arcade— Ivy happily hugging her tiny bear blob, and me awkwardly carrying a giant sunfish plush squeezed under my arm like some kind of idiot— well I couldn't help but quietly laugh to myself.
I guess… Maybe this 'quest' wasn't so bad after all.