The Memory of a Wish

I had a lamb dream, baaa!

When I opened my eyes, I was on the mountain behind my house.

The hill behind our neighborhood, the exact spot where I drew that giant palm print and made my wish.

It was a pitch-black night without even a sliver of moonlight, so it took me a moment to figure out exactly where I was.

But...

"...Why am I here, baaa?"

My memories were hazy. It felt like a thick fog had rolled into my mind.

I wanted to check the time and shine a flashlight around, but my phone was gone.

My partner was missing too, and even the eco-bag I'd been carrying everywhere lately had vanished.

What is this, seriously?? What is going on here?!

"...I can't remember, baaa."

What was I doing again?

Right, yesterday I went to the Hunter Association to get my license. Then Yumina, the A-rank hunter who evaluated me, asked if I wanted to go shopping and clear a gate together. I said, 'Okay, baaa!' We met up today, bought clothes, ate spaghetti, hunted goblins, made pizza...

"...Yumina!"

That's it!

When we came out of the goblin nest, a strange gate opened right beneath our feet and dragged us inside.

After that, Yumina and I defeated a giant wolf, but it suddenly resurrected, evolved, and blew her away.

So... I talked to that dark red status window—which I suspect is the entity that granted my wish—and deactivated Baby Lamb (EX)...

"And then I can't remember, baaa."

What happened? What about the wolf? Is Yumina okay?! And why am I back on this mountain?!

...I don't know. For now, let's just go back to my sweet home!

I have no idea where my partner, my phone, and my eco-bag went, but there has to be some clue if I go back home.

Just as I was about to head back down, I heard a sound.

Rustle, rustle.

"Mep!"

A rustling noise echoed from between the trees.

Startled, I almost let out a loud "Baaa?!" but quickly clamped my hands over my mouth.

Why?

The rustling was way too loud to be a small animal like a squirrel.

But even if my neighborhood is in the middle of nowhere, there's no way a wild boar or a deer would just show up here!

Which meant... it had to be a person.

But who on earth would come to a place like this at this hour? It had to be a bad guy!

Realizing I needed to hide immediately, I scrambled into the bushes on the opposite side. A moment later, the source of the noise revealed itself.

A large man wearing a black robe.

And... his face...

Was seriously, incredibly, ridiculously ugly!!!

"Baaa!... Wait, no, that's... me, baaa."

I was shocked by how ugly the face was at first, but then all my tension melted away.

I thought I'd found someone as ugly as me, but it was just my past self.

Oh, this must be a dream.

"...Sigh. What a dog dream, baaa."

Wait, no. Since I'm a baby lamb now, should I call it a lamb dream?

Even though I realized it was a dream, I couldn't wake up.

I pinched my cheeks and jumped up and down, but I was still stuck here.

What is this, seriously?

I need to wake up quickly and figure out what happened!

"...What is going on, baaa? Why can't I wake up?"

Scritch, scratch.

While I was struggling to wake up, my past self in the black robe picked up a nearby branch and began drawing the magic circle from that day.

"...Sigh."

I walked closer to my past self.

It didn't look like I could wake up anytime soon anyway.

Judging by the situation... this is that, right?

Reliving my past in a dream.

A lucid dream... no, a flashback dream?

Well, that's not a real word, but...

"That's not what's important right now, baaa."

If this is a literal replay of that day, maybe I can finally see the face of the guy who granted my wish.

Back then, I had my eyes closed tight to make the wish, so I never got to see his face.

Gathering my courage just in case, I stepped out of the bushes and stood right in front of my still-ugly past self.

"Hey, E-rank Hunter Ryu Migun! I am D-rank Hunter Mijeong, baaa!"

"..."

"What do you think you're doing?! An E-rank hunter should greet a D-rank immediately, baaa!!"

"..."

"Are you ignoring me right now?! Just because you're an E-rank, baaa? Is it because I'm short? Just because you're tall, you think you can look down on me like some small provincial city... wait, what?"

How much authority does a D-rank actually have anyway...?

"...Anyway! I'm still higher than a rural-hill-level E-rank hunter, baaa!"

"..."

I chattered away in front of my past self, who was grunting and drawing the magic circle on the ground with a large branch, but he didn't react at all.

How mean. Completely ignoring someone when they're talking to you.

You were mute, not deaf!

...Okay, confirmed.

"It looks like my past self can't see me, baaa."

As expected, this isn't just a normal dream; it's showing me my past.

To make one final check, I reached out toward my past self, but my arm passed right through him as if I were trying to touch a ghost.

...In this case, am I the ghost?

"Uh... I'm not dead, am I, baaa?"

I really wouldn't like that.

No! No bad thoughts!

For now, I decided to keep watching.

If I wait, something is bound to change.

After waiting for what felt like forever, my past self finally finished drawing the magic circle.

Back then, I was too excited about making my wish and becoming the ultimate Ryu Migun to notice, but drawing that magic circle took a really long time.

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was so boring that I tried to help him halfway through, but of course, I couldn't touch anything.

So I thought about heading back to my sweet home like I originally planned, but as I walked down the mountain path, I somehow ended up right back here.

In the end, I just stood next to my drawing self and cheered, "Do your best, baaa!"

My past self began pulling out the prepared ingredients from inside his robe one by one.

We were almost there.

"Fighting, baaa!"

Now all that was left was... ah.

My past self pulled out my partner.

Um... so I turned my head and closed my eyes.

I know it grows back, but still... watching myself cut off my own finger again is a bit much.

I didn't cover my ears, though. It's not like my past self could scream anyway.

Swish—

Crunch!

The sound of Partner swinging.

Roll, roll.

The sound of rolling on the ground in agony.

...Thinking it was probably safe now, I turned back. My past self was kneeling in the center of the palm print with his hands clasped.

"This is the important part, baaa."

Once I make the wish in my mind, that guy will appear.

And since I'm watching this from a complete third-person perspective...

I'll make sure to see it clearly this time.

Exactly what it was that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I summoned back then.

"...Huh, baaa?"

The voice echoed suddenly.

That was probably the line from when I made my wish and the Deal (A) skill was activated.

...But nothing in my field of vision had changed.

What? Was it really just a voice? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

That's not a summoning at all.

...Just as I was thinking that, the surroundings began to grow darker.

"W-what is this, baaa?"

It was already a pitch-black night without any moonlight. How could it possibly get any darker?

The voice spoke again.

...It seemed this 'darkness' itself was the thing I had summoned.

And hearing it again, I was absolutely sure.

This is definitely not an angel!! It's 100% a demon!!

That is without a doubt the voice of a super-duper archdemon straight from the depths of hell!!!

"What on earth did I summon, baaa?"

I didn't even know its name... but when other demons were demanding puppy blood or human penises, this was the only one that asked for ingredients that were relatively wholesome to gather—aside from the human finger. The summoning method was the most wholesome too.

I didn't have any other choice anyway.

I didn't want to live as an E-rank hunter for the rest of my life!

...Now that I think about it, human penises and puppy blood were actually on the milder side compared to what other demons demanded.

The rest were truly beyond imagination.

If someone wrote a novel about the summoning methods of the other demons and posted it online, it would definitely get rated R... probably.

Anyway, since the others were so terrible, I thought this one was relatively fine...

But in the end, was this guy just another demon from hell too?

Honestly... my opinion of him had gone up a tiny bit since he helped me in the cave earlier, but I'm taking it back.

Even as I thought this, the surroundings grew darker and darker. Now, it felt like I was standing in pure, absolute darkness.

By now, the past me kneeling on that palm print must be making the wish again, asking for a voice.

...But how far is this flashback going to go?

If it drags on too long, the flashback might spoil like raw fish!

Fortunately, I woke up after hearing the final voice.

But...

...Huh? Was that last line always like that?

"Baaa... *Gasp!*"

I sat bolt upright in bed.

This was an unfamiliar place. It wasn't my sweet home.

Fortunately, it wasn't the cave where Yumina and I had been trapped either.

That was a relief. If I had opened my eyes to find myself in that cave again, I might have actually lost my mind.

"...Where am I, baaa?"

Looking around, the bed I was lying on was super-duper huge, and there was a super-long clothing rack about three times my height with clothes hanging in a neat row. The whole place was a super-deluxe room that practically screamed, "This place is incredibly expensive!"

There was a window to the side, and looking out, it seemed to be near the top floor of a high-rise building.

Probably an apartment?

If so, this room—which wasn't even a studio apartment, just a single room in a house—was bigger than my entire home?

...Just in case it was another dream, I pinched my cheek.

"Ouch!"

It hurt.

I guess it wasn't a dream this time.

Then why was I in such a beautiful, wonderful place? Surely it wasn't a hotel, right?

I've never been to a hotel in my life, and I have no way to pay for it!

I'm dirt poor! Or rather, lamb poor!

If... this really was a hotel.

"Yes, guest! Your total comes to two thousand five hundred seventy million thirty-nine thousand eight hundred won!"

"Spare me, baaa!! I don't have any money, baaa!!"

"What? Guest, are you saying a penniless lamb-beggar stayed at our hotel?"

"I'm sorry, baaa!! I didn't come here because I wanted to, baaa!!"

"That's quite alright! A lamb-beggar like you can just be turned into mutton!"

"Baaaaaaa!!!"

*Kyaaaaaah!!!*

...Okay, let's stop the weird imagination there.

Anyway.

"Baaa~"

I didn't know why, but looking down from such a high place made me feel really good.

Looking down, people and cars were swarming like ants.

Seeing how bright the sunlight was, it seemed like we had somehow escaped the cave... and at least a day had passed.

"I feel great for some reason, baaa!"

As I stared outside to organize my thoughts and clear my head, I heard hurried footsteps, and the door burst open.

"Mijeong!"

"Oh... Yumina!"

*Squeeze.*

Before I could ask anything, she pulled me into a tight embrace.

It was a bit... too tight, to the point where it was hard to breathe, but since she was suddenly crying, I couldn't say anything.

"I'm so, so glad you're okay."

"Yumina...? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why are you crying like that, baaa?"

"*Sob... hic...*"

She didn't even answer my question.

I wanted to complain, but she looked so sad.

So I just reached out and patted her back.

Because that's what she did for me whenever I cried.

Once she calmed down a bit, we talked about what happened in the cave.

...Hehe.

Usually, I was the one crying and she was the one hugging me, but this time it was the opposite!

"So... you don't remember anything that happened after that, Mijeong?"

"Yes... after you collapsed... I ran over to check on you, and then..."

I was debating whether to tell her about my Baby Lamb (EX) and the dark red status window, but she spoke first.

"No! It's fine, Mijeong. If you don't remember, you don't need to force yourself to. Absolutely not."

"I-is that so, baaa?"

"Yes, that's right. Do you understand? It's fine if you don't remember, so don't think about it anymore."

Her eyes were even scarier than when she glared at me at the spaghetti place yesterday—or whenever that was—so I just kept my mouth shut.

"Whew... Mijeong. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Nowhere hurts... I'm perfectly fine, baaa!!"

"...I'm so glad. Truly."

She let out another sigh of relief.

...You know what, Yumina? I'm really glad too.

Glad that you're safe.

...That dark red status window, or was it the darkness?

I didn't know what to call it, but it kept its promise every time.

...Alright, I'll take back taking back my good opinion of him! I'll let it slide just this once.