It was evening, a dark and windy night. The flowers were lacking and the moon was far from full.
Ming Youyou was leaning against the headboard of her bed, a sheet mask stuck to her face. Because her face was so tiny, the mask was all wrinkled up. On her head sat a LinaBell headband, and she wore a soft yellow pair of pajamas that revealed a pair of short, fair, plump little legs.
One of her legs rested casually on the mattress while the other was propped up playfully. A tablet sat securely on her lap, playing her absolute favorite anime—The Prince of Tennis!
As she watched, she let out strange, howling noises of excitement. At times, she even got so carried away that she slapped her own thighs with a loud *smack, smack, smack*, nearly knocking the tablet over. Her eyes shone brightly, fixed so intently on the screen as if she wanted to climb right inside it.
When the group from Rikkaidai appeared on screen, she let out a piercing high note that almost blew the roof off.
"How is my Seiichi so drop-dead gorgeous! Sob, sob, sob~"
"Oh my, little seaweed is provoking people again. Still got such a vibe to it, though."
The Rikkaidai male model squad had her practically fainting from their handsomeness; she felt as though she could see stars spinning in the heavens.
Huh? Wait. Something felt a bit off. Why did her neck feel a little sore, and why was her vision blurring?
Realizing something was wrong with her body, Ming Youyou hurriedly reached out to grab her charging phone from the nightstand, but it was too late. Her outstretched hand fell limply against the edge of the bed, her neck flopped to one side, and she stopped breathing altogether.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face never expected that a girl who had cheerfully tried to make friends with them earlier that day would appear before them a second time under such circumstances. Their feelings were quite complicated.
"Ha, Big Brother Ox-Head, Big Brother Horse-Face, we meet again! I never expected you guys to actually be Ox-Head and Horse-Face. I thought you were just doing cosplay."
Ming Youyou scratched her head, feeling a bit awkward as she lowered her gaze slightly, only to lift it to peek at them every now and then.
She was something else, wasn't she? Just stopping a random stranger on the street during the day and accidentally landing on legendary figures like these.
She thought this with a touch of amusement at her own expense.
"Well, my friend, you're still standing here cracking jokes? Getting yourself so excited over an anime that you died from it—this cause of death makes even *me* blush for you."
Horse-Face was somewhat at a loss for words. After working as a netherworld messenger for so many years and handling countless souls, he had encountered his share of bizarre deaths, but one this rash was truly a rarity.
Besides, he and Ox-Head had gone back specifically to check: the reason she had been able to witness their supernatural presence in her living human body was because her soul was strong. However, her time of death was approaching, and the leaking spiritual energy had caused her soul to become unstable.
"Considering we've met, do you have any wishes you'd like to have fulfilled? Nothing too outrageous, though!"
Ming Youyou thought about it. If she had a wish, she really did have one.
"I want my best friend Ruyan to forget me. Completely and utterly forget me."
Ming Youyou's parents had divorced when she was very young, and both had gone on to start new families. She became the dark history of them both; neither wanted her, kicking her around like a rubber ball.
Her grandmother had raised her, but last year even her grandmother had left her behind. The only relative in this world who loved her was gone.
As for Ruyan—at the thought of Ruyan, a warm current swept through her eyes. That was her sole friend, her emotional tether in this world. It was just a shame she couldn't walk alongside her any longer.
She could already picture the scene when Ruyan received the news of her death, weeping like an absolute dog. Ha.
Yet, she couldn't bear to see Ruyan cry.
So, let Ruyan forget her.
"Forget you... Wait, what kind of wish is that?!" Horse-Face was so shocked he became incoherent.
Wasn't her wish supposed to be something like getting a good rebirth in her next life, or catching one last glimpse of her family? What kind of wish was making someone forget you?
Horse-Face was utterly baffled, utterly astonished. His horse-like eyes widened into perfect circles, his jaw dropping and staying down for a long time.
At his side, Ox-Head helped push Horse-Face's jaw back up, casting a complex look at the girl. Noticing his gaze, the corners of the girl's mouth curled up, blooming into a sweet smile. She looked impossibly docile and endearing, her big eyes curving into crescent moons—a sight that simply melted the heart.
"As you wish."
They watched as a sliver of faint yet dazzlingly bright white light slowly overflowed from Ox-Head's fingertips. Like agile spirits, these rays of light leaped and danced in the air, quickly drifting away in a specific direction.
Meanwhile, back at Ruyan's house.
Ruyan was organizing the merchandise she had brought back from the ACG exhibition today. "This is the autograph signed just for Youyou!"
"And this is the merch of her favorite character."
"Today's Miss Daji cosplayer was so pretty, I'll give Youyou a few Polaroids."
She chattered away nonstop. When she finished tidying up, she realized that out of the huge bag of items she had lugged back, a full seventy percent of them were for Ming Youyou.
Just as she was about to pack up the large stack belonging to Ming Youyou, a beam of white light shot into her body. She shivered uncontrollably as the image of a certain someone gradually faded from her mind. Those cherished memories they shared shattered like foam, turning into tiny flecks of starlight and drifting completely away from her.
When she finally snapped out of it, a single tear unconsciously rolled down the corner of her eye.
Looking at the items separated on her desk, she tilted her head in confusion.
Strange. Why had she separated these?
She tapped her head, feeling as though she had forgotten something important. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to rack her brain, she couldn't recall a thing.
What on earth had she forgotten?
"Alright, jump down and you can go be reincarnated."
"Thanks a lot, Big Brother Ox-Head, Big Brother Horse-Face! This little sister will be heading off first. See you in the next life!"
"Live longer this time. I don't want to see you this early and add to my workload." Horse-Face was a classic tsundere, worrying about someone while speaking in such a contradictory way.
Ming Youyou smiled and nodded, turning around to jump down without the slightest hesitation.
The moment she jumped, Horse-Face whipped out his phone and went to work with the speed of a tiger, maxing out all her attributes in a flash.
Appearance, physique, strength, speed, stamina, endurance, and all the rest—everything that could be added for her was maxed out.
"Since you love *The Prince of Tennis* so much, I'll send you to see them. After all, you even called me big brother, so I might as well see it through to the end. It's a high-risk sports anime, so maxing everything out should keep you safe. But there's nothing I can do about your intelligence; that comes built into the soul, so you'll have to rely on yourself for that."
"Ox-Head, see if there's anything else we need to add." Horse-Face tossed the phone to Ox-Head with a lingering sense of satisfaction, his eyes still glued to the screen.
Ox-Head looked at the stats panel, which had already been maxed out to the bottom, and fell silent for a moment. After a brief thought, he added a special constitution: Angelic Healing.
He had won this as a bet against those winged bird-people in the West ages ago. He had no use for it anyway; it was just gathering dust. Remembering the girl's angelic smile, his finger paused for a fraction of a second.
Well, bestowing this upon her was hardly letting it go to waste.
*Western Archangel: You're so noble, yet you use my stuff while looking down on it—thanks a bunch!*
He hoped the little girl would spend every day of her future living happily and joyfully.