「READY FOR A QUEST?
ACCEPT / DECLINE 」
"NEVERMIND… ಠ,_｣ಠ"
I stared blankh at the floating window. "A quest? Seriously."
The little girl tilted her head, squinting in the direction I was looking. "Mister, are you okay? You're staring at nothing."
(Not Ahjussi… nice.)
I rubbed my eyes— hard, twice— and when I opened them again the window had changed, rearranged itself with the calm confidence of something that knew I'd seen it and didn't care.
「QUEST: Have a Nice Day
Objective: Spend a peaceful day outside with ???.
Reward: ???」
(Nope. Definitely not a dream.) "This has to be a joke," I muttered.
Then suddenly the little girl sat up straight and grinned like someone had flipped a switch. "Shopping! You promised we'd go today!"
"I— wait, when did I promise that?"
"You did," she said, with the full confidence of someone who had absolutely made that up and had zero regrets about it.
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Actually thought about it for a second. I think… I did say something yesterday. Something about clothes.
I sighed, long and slow, the kind that starts somewhere in the soul. "Right. Guess I have no choice." I reached toward the floating window, one finger extended.
And tap "Accept."
The letters shimmered and dissolved into faint sparkling dust, and a soft ting! echoed somewhere inside my head like a notification from an app I never downloaded.
[QUEST ACCEPTED.]
(Great. My first official quest after meeting a literal dream goddess who warned me about the end of the world… was to go shopping with a kid I found in a dumpster.) I sat with that for a moment.
The window floated serenely above the bed, unbothered. Still, I thought, watching the little girl already bouncing slightly on the mattress with barely contained energy, it's kind of hard to complain.
I groaned, stretched, felt my back crack in three places, and hauled myself upright. "Alright. Before we go anywhere—"
I glanced over.
She was already standing near the door already, barefoot, toes curling against the floor like she'd been ready for twenty minutes and was being very patient about it. "We eat first."
"Breakfast?!" Her eyes lit up so fast it was almost alarming. "Do you have pancakes?!"
"Do I look like someone who makes pancakes," I muttered, already standing up and heading downstairs.
"uh… maybe? (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)"
"ಠ_ಠ…"
Well, I just ignored her and kept walking.
She followed immediately, humming something that had no melody, no rhythm, and no clear intentions— just a continuous cheerful sound that filled the stairwell and bounced off the walls like it owned the place.
***
(Kitchen!!!!)
The kitchen was quiet in that particular way big empty houses are quiet, too much space for sound to properly settle.
Before checking the fridge, I walked over to the sink and pushed open the window above it. The old frame creaked softly, letting in a stream of cool evening air that carried the distant chirp of insects from outside. The curtains shifted lazily for a moment before falling still again.
At the far corner of the kitchen, near a narrow counter stacked with untouched plates, shadows gathered where the light barely reached. The whole place felt strangely unused, like someone had built a home and forgotten to actually live in it.
Then… finally, I opened the fridge and took a quick look. Bottled water, rice, eggs, and one carton of milk shoved toward the back. I pulled it out, checked the date, then immediately dropped it into the trash without ceremony.
"Yea, no."
The little girl peeked over the counter, watching me with the focused attention of someone observing a cooking show they weren't sure was going well.
"Eggs and rice," I said. "We'll grab proper food when we're out anyway."
"You cook? (,,꒪⌓꒪,,)" she asked, like this was new and interesting information.
"Barely," I said, yawning into my elbow.
She giggled. "Then I'll help! I'm really good at stirring!"
"That's a weirdly specific skill."
"It's very important!" she said seriously.
So I cooked… or did the closest thing to it I was capable of at this hour— while the girl provided running commentary, occasional stirring assistance, and a continuous stream of questions and observations about the kitchen, the eggs, the rice cooker, and whether the fridge made that sound on purpose.
By the time the eggs were done the awkward morning silence had melted completely, replaced by something that felt, accidentally, kind of like routine.
"So," I said, sliding a plate across to her and sitting down across the table. "I don't think I even asked your name yesterday."
She looked up from her plate like this was a momentous occasion. "It's Ivy!" she said proudly.
Then, with genuine curiosity: "And you're Mister…?"
"Si Hon."
She considered this for approximately one second. "Okay!!! I will call you Mister Si! Then! (◍•-•◍)"
"No."
"WHAT—" She looked genuinely offended. "What about Mister Hon?"
No response. She thought harder. "Ahjussi?"
"Hm…" (you've been calling me that yesterday so…) I cleared my throat awkwardly. "That works."
She froze for exactly half a second before suddenly springing to her feet like she'd just won a championship nobody else knew was happening.
"YES!"
One fist shot into the air in victory.
Meanwhile, I just stared at her from my chair.
ಠ_ಠ
"You're celebrating way too hard over a nickname."
"I earned it." she declared proudly, chin lifted with absurd confidence.
"Sure."
"No! I actually did!"
She dropped back into her seat still looking deeply satisfied with herself, like the entire exchange had gone exactly according to some secret master plan only she understood.
I looked at her for a second then I picked up my spoon.
The smell of fried eggs filled the kitchen, warm and rich enough to momentarily drown out thoughts of floating blue windows, cryptic quests, and dream goddesses.
For the first time that morning, all of that felt distant. Foggy.
Right now, breakfast with a barefoot kid somehow felt more real than any of it.
I sat at the small kitchen table while steam curled from the plates of eggs and rice between us. Morning light spilled through the open window above the sink, carrying cool air into the otherwise quiet house.
Across from me, Ivy swung her legs beneath the chair, humming softly between bites like she'd already made herself at home.
Honestly…
It was weirdly peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Like the kind of calm a horror movie gives you right before something terrible crawls out of the basement.
I took a sip of water, eyeing the faint blue system window still hovering near the edge of the table.
[ QUEST: Have a Nice Day ]
"You know," I muttered, staring at it, "for a magical death game, your quest are lame… maybe."
Ivy looked up immediately. "Who are you talking to?"
"This annoying blue thing judging my life choices."
She blinked once.
"What blue thing?"
"Nothing, nothing, lucky you," I sighed.
After that, I watched her eat. Tiny bites, but fast, like someone afraid the food might disappear if she slowed down for even a second.
Which… yeah. Dumpster, filthy clothes, freezing night. Makes sense.
"Hey," I said between mouthfuls. "How old are you, anyway?"
She looked up immediately, cheeks puffed out with rice.
"Ten!" she announced proudly after swallowing.
"Ten, huh." I leaned back slightly, eyes drifting toward the faint blue system window hovering above the table.
[ QUEST: Have a Nice Day ]
The words glowed softly in the dim kitchen, almost judgmental. Like the system was disappointed I was sitting here eating breakfast instead of fighting monsters somewhere.
"Tsk."
And for some reason, it made me think of Vesper.
"not six or seven?"
"Ten!" she repeated louder this time, offended by the accusation.
"Alright, alright. Ten years old and already part of my first quest." I clicked my tongue. "Lucky you."
Ivy tilted her head at me. "You're talking weird again, ahjussi."
"Sorry. You sure you're not secretly thirty? You complain like an old lady." I yawned and scratched the back of my neck.
She gasped dramatically. "Do not! I'm cutesy!"
"Yeah, yeah." I chuckled quietly before glancing back at the system window. "So… where were you before I found you?"
The question made her stop swinging her legs under the chair.
Her spoon hovered mid air.
"Um…"
She looked down at her plate, poking at the rice instead of eating it.
"I don't really remember."
"Don't remember?"
She shook her head slowly.
"It was dark," she murmured. "Cold, I think. And… there was humming."
"Humming?"
"Like a song," she said softly. "But I couldn't see who was singing."
Cold. Dark. Dumpster.
Yeah. I get it… ಠ_ಠ
My eyes flicked toward the floating system window again. Still hovering there. Still glowing softly.
Like it was listening.
"Right," I muttered, forcing a small smile onto my face. "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.
But her eyes lingered somewhere beside me instead of on me, focused on empty air like she was seeing something I couldn't.
We finished eating in silence after that.
Ivy started humming again eventually, quieter this time. Distant. Like half her mind had wandered somewhere far away.
When the plates were empty, I leaned back with a tired sigh.
"Alright," I said, pushing myself up from the chair. "Let's clean up and get ready."
***
(A bit of time skip)
I leaned back against the couch and stared out through the open kitchen window. The sky outside was ridiculously blue, the kind of clear weather that made the whole world feel temporarily forgiven. Sunlight spilled across the floorboards in warm golden strips while the curtains shifted gently with the breeze. Somewhere outside, I could hear distant traffic, a barking dog, somebody's motorcycle struggling for its life down the street. Normal sounds. Alive sounds.
(Feels good to be alive today.)
The thought came out of nowhere and honestly caught me off guard a little. Yesterday I was dealing with dream goddesses, glowing quests, and a freezing kid in a dumpster. Now I was lying on a couch in an oversized hoodie while someone took a shower down the hallway like this was some weird slice-of-life anime trying really hard to pretend the supernatural stuff didn't exist.
Then steam rolled out from the bathroom the moment the door cracked open for half a second before slamming shut again. The faint smell of expensive shampoo drifted into the hallway after it, mixing with the scent of breakfast still lingering in the house.
I stared toward the ceiling for a moment.
Yeah. She definitely found the expensive bottles.
I didn't even bother checking anymore. She'd probably used half the shampoo, the fancy soap, maybe every towel in existence too. Whatever. I could buy more. Not like I used half that stuff anyway.
"Don't flood the place," I called out lazily from the couch, one hand resting over my stomach.
"Okay, ahjussi!" her muffled voice came through the bathroom door almost instantly.
A second later:
Splash.
Splash splash.
…Splash.
I slowly closed my eyes.
"Yep," I muttered to myself. "Bathroom's gone."
A loud thud echoed from inside.
"Aw! I'M OKAY!"
"Good to know!"
Honestly, the entire house felt different with another person inside it. Less cold. Less empty. The silence wasn't crushing anymore because Ivy kept accidentally filling it with noise. Humming, footsteps, random talking, the sound of cabinets opening and closing for absolutely no reason. It was chaotic in a strangely tiny way, like a kitten running around knocking things over without realizing it was changing the whole atmosphere of the room.
After another few minutes, the bathroom door finally creaked open properly. Steam curled out into the hallway while Ivy stepped out with damp hair clinging slightly to her cheeks. The oversized shirt I'd given her hung so low it nearly reached her knees, completely swallowing her small frame like she'd borrowed clothes from a giant. The sleeves covered most of her hands too, leaving only her fingertips poking out.
"It's so big!" she announced proudly before spinning once in the hallway.
Immediately, she almost tripped over the hem.
I sat up from the couch just in time to watch her windmill her arms dramatically to regain balance.
"…And there it is," I sighed. "The exact reason it's big."
She giggled like nearly dying to fabric was the funniest thing in the world, then ran over barefoot across the wooden floor while trying to push wet hair away from her eyes. Up close, she smelled aggressively like expensive floral shampoo now. Like a luxury department store had exploded on her head.
I grabbed my wristband from the table nearby and slipped it back on. "Alright. We're heading out later and buying stuff that actually fits you."
Her eyes lit up instantly. "Can I pick the color?"
I already regretted hearing that sentence.
"Fine," I groaned. "But no pink explosion. I have limits."
"Pink and yellow!" she shouted immediately.
"…I regret everything."
She burst into laughter and skipped toward the front door while still dragging sleeves too long for her arms. Halfway there, she stopped suddenly and looked back at me with suspiciously serious eyes.
"Can I get fluffy socks too?"
I stared at her.
"You planned this."
"I dunno what you mean," she said with absolutely zero guilt.
Tiny scammer...
I grabbed my keys from the counter while she continued orbiting the entrance like an excited little tornado.
Then… I stared at the keys… (Should I lock the door…? It's not like… someone will rob me or something, and… I really don't mind actually.)
And with that, I put the keys back to the counter.
Outside, sunlight poured through the windows so brightly the whole house almost glowed.
For a brief moment, I, who was standing there watching Ivy ramble about sock colors and hoodies and whether frogs would look cool on slippers, I felt the floating system windows and strange dreams very far away.
Almost normal.
Which honestly felt way scarier than the some monster popping up probably…
***
(A supposed to be short walk that became long.)
The walk to the mall somehow felt ten times longer than it actually was.
Mostly because Ivy apparently couldn't go more than five steps without discovering something life changing… for her.
"Ahjussi, look! A dog!" she said pointing at it.
"Yes, I see it."
"And that car," she continued immediately, pointing next at a bright red sedan passing by. "Why's it red? Are they rich?"
"It's just paint."
"Ooooh (,,꒪⌓꒪,,)."
Three seconds later…
"Why are electrical wires everywhere?"
"So electricity works."
"Why's that bird yelling?"
"Probably having a bad day."
"Why do motorcycles sound angry?"
"Because they are angry."
At some point I stopped trying to understand where the questions even came from. They just spawned endlessly like an RPG dialogue tree designed to torture me personally. Every few steps she'd stop dead in the middle of the sidewalk to stare at something with complete fascination, whether it was a stray cat sleeping under a car or a balloon tangled on a power line. Meanwhile, I was slowly realizing I might not survive this kid long term.
I swear, I'm gonna die in the future. Not from monsters. From exhaustion.
By the time we finally reached the mall entrance, I'd somehow explained everything… traffic lights, clouds, why buildings had glass windows, and why people couldn't simply adopt every stray animal they saw.
Then finally in front of the door, the moment the automatic doors slid open, cold air blasted directly into my face like the mall itself was welcoming exhausted customers personally.
Honestly? Heavenly.
Bright lights reflected off glossy floors while soft pop music drifted from overhead speakers. The entire place buzzed quietly with movement, people walking around carrying shopping bags, kids dragging parents toward arcades, employees standing outside stores pretending not to be dead inside.
Beside me, Ivy completely froze.
Her eyes sparkled so hard I thought the lighting system upgraded itself.
"Whoa…" she breathed, slowly turning in circles. "It's so shiny."
"Yeah," I muttered, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Welcome to capitalism."
She didn't hear me because she was already staring at literally everything at once. Toys behind display windows. Giant posters. Snack stalls. Brightly colored claw machines blinking like they were trying to hypnotize children into financial ruin.
Naturally, the pointing started immediately.
"Ahjussi, can I get that?"
"No."
"What about that one?"
"No."
"Ooo, then maybe this one?"
"Still no."
Her cheeks puffed out dramatically. "You're no fun."
I sighed, already developing stress wrinkles. "You said we're here for clothes, right? So we're buying clothes. No stuffed animals, no giant teddy bears, no suspicious mystery candy from kiosks, and absolutely no—"
I stopped mid sentence when she turned toward me with that look.
Head tilted slightly. Big green eyes staring directly into my soul. Weaponized cuteness deployed at maximum power.
"Fine," I groaned. "One candy."
She gasped like I'd just announced world peace. "REALLY?!"
"One," I warned. "Singular. Uno. A single candy."
She jumped once in pure victory before practically dragging me toward the nearest stall. Five minutes later she was happily holding a giant strawberry lollipop almost half the size of her face while walking beside me like the happiest kid alive.
Honestly, seeing her that excited over one piece of candy felt kinda depressing.
And also weirdly nice.
By the time she finished the lollipop, sticky finger disaster and all, we headed toward the escalators leading to the second floor. The soft mechanical hum filled the air as the steps continuously folded upward beneath glowing lights.
Ivy stopped dead the moment she saw it.
"Ahjussi."
"What."
"It's moving by itself."
"It's an escalator."
Her eyes widened slowly as she stepped onto it with extreme caution, clutching my sleeve like she was boarding some ancient cursed machine. The moment the escalator carried her upward, her jaw literally dropped.
"It's ALIVE," she whispered dramatically, staring down at the moving steps beneath her feet.
"Sure," I replied, grabbing the back of her shirt before she leaned too far over the handrail. "Don't make it angry."
She gasped and immediately stood ramrod straight for the rest of the ride.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Which… yea it's not even funny… I swear.
Halfway up, she leaned slightly toward me again, lowering her voice suspiciously.
"Does it eat people?"
"Only the rude ones."
Her eyes became huge.
Then she quietly bowed once toward the escalator.
"Thank you for not eating me."
That was it.
I almost lost it, and I needed to bit my tongue just to not laugh. (I swear… is she living under a rock to not know all of this at the age of ten…? Well, she lives inside a dumpster and was mentally abused in orphanage she lives.) I thought, still trying to hold the laughter in.
And with that, I only patted her head, as she smiled back.
***
(THE SECOND FLOOR!!!)
The second floor opened up into a flood of noise and light the moment we stepped off the escalator. Voices overlapped from every direction while electronic jingles bounced off the walls in chaotic layers. Food stalls lined one side of the floor, the smell of fried snacks and sweet syrup drifting through the air, while rows of clothing stores glowed beneath giant advertisements of suspiciously happy models wearing clothes worth probably… I don't know, I can just buy anything here. (⌐■-■)
And somewhere farther down the hall> Flashing neon lights, Loud sound effects, Digital explosions. And… Arcade...
(Shit.)
I didn't even need to look beside me to know what was happening. I could physically feel Ivy locking onto the arcade like some kind of heat seeking missile. Slowly, I turned my head and found her already staring toward it with sparkling eyes full of dangerous ideas.
"Ahjussi…"
"No."
"But—"
"No."
She clasped her hands together dramatically, practically vibrating in place. "Just one game?"
I narrowed my eyes at her.
Weaponized cuteness again. This kid was getting stronger.
"Fine," I sighed. "One game. That's it."
The second we stepped through the arcade entrance, she vanished. Literally vanished. One moment she was beside me, the next she was sprinting between machines in a blur of oversized sleeves and excited gasps. Neon lights flashed across her damp silver hair while game sounds exploded from every direction around us. Rhythm games thumped violently in one corner, racing machines screamed nearby, claw machines blinked with fake promises and financial manipulation.
Meanwhile, Ivy looked like she'd just entered heaven.
I leaned against a nearby wall with my hands in my pockets, pretending not to smile while watching her dart from machine to machine with pure fascination painted across her face. She didn't even know how half these things worked, but that somehow made it worse. Every glowing screen looked magical to her. Every sound made her stop and stare like she was seeing another universe open in front of her.
(Wait… ಠ_ಠ… I'm not smiling.)
Definitely not smiling.
My gaze followed her as she suddenly stopped in front of a claw machine packed with plush toys. Her face immediately pressed against the glass.
"Ahjussi!" she called out excitedly. "That one! The bunny!"
I walked over and stared at the machine. The bunny sat buried beneath three other plushies in the worst possible spot imaginable.
"Of course it's the hardest one."
I slipped coins into the slot anyway. The claw machine lit up with cheerful music that sounded suspiciously smug. Ivy stood beside me practically bouncing while I grabbed the controls.
Left.
Right.
A little more.
The claw descended slowly with all the confidence of a drunk mosquito. It grabbed the bunny directly by one ear, lifted it halfway up… and, immediately dropped it.
"Fucking rigged," I muttered under my breath.
Ivy blinked up at me. "Fu… what's rigged mean?"
"It means this machine hates me."
She giggled instantly. "Then I'll help!"
That somehow led to us spending way more time there than originally planned. One attempt turned into five. Five turned into ten. At some point people walking past started glancing at us like we were trapped in an eternal claw machine battle against fate itself.
I briefly stared around the massive arcade, then beyond it toward the rest of the ridiculously huge mall.
(Should I just buy this mall…? Nah. Too tiring.)
I sigh. (Besides, I'd probably end up banning claw machines out of spite.)
Meanwhile, Ivy didn't care that we were losing horribly. Every failed attempt somehow made her laugh harder instead of getting upset. Her laughter echoed through the arcade so brightly it almost drowned out the machines around us. And before I realized it, I caught myself laughing quietly too while watching her celebrate another terrible attempt like we were accomplishing something important.
…Wait no.
Scratch that.
Maybe the quest was messing with my brain. Yeah. That had to be it.
Then suddenly…
"I DID IT!" Ivy shouted triumphantly. "LOOK, LOOK AHJUSSI!"
I turned just in time to see her holding up a tiny plush prize with both hands. It wasn't the bunny. Not even close. The thing looked like a weird round blob with button eyes and tiny ears stitched slightly crooked.
Still, Ivy looked unbelievably proud of it.
"That's a jellybean," I muttered.
"It's a bear!" she argued immediately, hugging it tightly against her chest.
Sure, kid. If you squint hard enough.
Then she turned toward me with a dangerously excited grin. Neon lights reflected in her green eyes while she pointed accusingly at the claw machine again.
"Your turn!"
"Eh?"
"You said one game," she explained proudly. "But then you played mine a lot, so now it's your turn!"
"That's not remotely how logic works."
Too late.
She already shoved another coin into the machine before I could protest.
The claw descended again with dramatic slowness while Ivy watched beside me like this was the final battle of humanity. I narrowed my eyes at the controls.
Come on.
The claw moved.
Caught something.
Twitched violently like it was reconsidering its life choices.
And… somehow actually held on…?
Ivy gasped so loudly nearby kids turned to look at us. "YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT, AHJUSSI!"
The plush dropped into the prize slot with a heavy thunk.
I bent down and pulled it out slowly.
Silence.
It was enormous.
A massive round sunfish plush with tiny fins and the stupidest smiling face I'd ever seen in my life.
I stared at it.
Ivy stared at it.
"That's not the bunny," she said carefully.
"It's a fish," I replied.
"A really big fish."
She suddenly snorted trying not to laugh. "You're bad at bunnies."
"Don't push it."
That only made her laugh harder.
Still, I ended up carrying the stupid thing under one arm while we walked out of the arcade together. Ivy happily hugged her tiny blob-bear against her chest while skipping beside me, and I was stuck holding a gigantic smiling sunfish plush like some exhausted father who lost a bet against destiny.
People passing by kept staring.
I chose to ignore them for the sake of my remaining dignity.
And honestly… I'm joking… I ignored them because I don't really care.
As Ivy kept rambling beside me about naming her "bear" and whether fish plushies counted as pets, I found myself quietly laughing under my breath again.
And thought.
(I guess… maybe this quest wasn't so bad after all.)