Keizo awoke with a start. He threw back the covers on his bed and dashed to his desk. He quickly sketched out the girl from his dream the night before, so he wouldn’t forget.

That was a strange dream alright… He studied the drawing. Could she be a character from some anime that I watched? Or possibly a video game? No, she doesn’t look very familiar. That dream felt pretty real…

Keizo stood up and opened the curtains. It was about time to wake up anyways. He got dressed and walked out into the hall. There was a note from his mother on the table. It said she was running errands down at the marketplace, while the deals were still good. Well. Alone time I guess.

Keizo gathered himself up some breakfast and sat in silence. The Lottery…

He plopped onto the couch after he finished. Ichi jumped up on his lap. Keizo scratched her ears as she purred. Eventually, sleep overcame him…

* * *

“Welcome back Keizo-kun!”

Keizo jumped back. Here again? He was back in that metal room with that girl. “It’s… you… again. Hi.”

The girl blinked at him. “Did you forget my name?…”

“No no no, I didn’t forge-”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m sure a lot has happened since last night. I’m Yume.” she reached out her hand to him, smiling. He took it, shaking it cautiously. Yume.

“Oh! And I see you’ve brought along a companion this time?!” she commented, taking her hand from him and gesturing to the wall behind him.

“Huh? What do you-” He turned around and saw a ball of black and white fur. “Ichi?”

The cat lifted its head. “Mauuu!” Ichi ran to him and he picked her up. “Ichi how did you get here?”

“So Ichi is her name?”

Keizo turned back to Yume. “Uh, yes.”

Yume stood frozen, and for a second, Keizo thought she disapproved. That is, until she cried out, “Oh my gosh she’s so cuuuute can I hold her??!?!?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Sure, but uh, she doesn’t take very kindly to strangers…” Keizo started.

Yume snatched Ichi from him and snuggled up to her. “Aww, who’s a pretty kitty? You are! Yes you are!”

Ichi looked at Keizo with a face that said ‘How dare you let her do this to me, you filthy human.’ But when Yume proceeded to scratch Ichi behind the ears, her expression changed completely. She purred and snuggled into Yume.

Yume giggled. “I think she likes me!”

Keizo laughed nervously. “I guess she does.”

“She has potential to be a great warrior, you know. An excellent choice for a party member, Keizo-kun!”

“A cat as a warrior?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.”

Yume rubbed Ichi’s head. “So if I remember correctly, you’ve never heard of The Lottery?!” she asked.

“Should I have known?”

“I’d imagine you would! The Lottery chooses people from tons of different realities! Most of them already know about Rewarudo and The Lottery. I’m guessing yours doesn’t believe in it?”

Keizo just stared. That seemed to give her enough information.

“Here in Rewarudo, we have many beasts and villains that we could never defeat on our own, so we call on the help of heroes from other worlds via The Lottery!”

“B-but I’m no hero…”

“Just because you aren’t a hero in your own world doesn’t mean you can’t be one here!” Yume explained, “The Lottery randomly chooses people, but some believe it uses its own algorithm, though no such algorithm has been proven.”

“You keep talking about The Lottery as if it were a machine.”

“Well… that part’s harder to explain.” she said, stroking Ichi’s back. “I’ve never seen it in person, and neither has anyone else. It’s probably a force of some kind, maybe like a spell. Some believe The Lottery may even be a person.”

Keizo pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is all so stupid.”

Yume stopped petting Ichi. “What?”

“I mean, how come in real life, I didn’t have any luck with my manga, and in my dream I have all these crazy ideas!”

“This is not a dream!!!” Yume yelled.“This is real life Keizo! Just not the same as your real life.”

“I suppose you’re right… This is all a bit too far-fetched to be real or a dream from my own imagination. Maybe this is a side effect of eating year-old ramen… ”

“What? Are you listening to me at all Keizo!!?!?” Yume yelled. Ichi yowled and jumped out of her arms.

“Jeez, calm down.” Keizo said.

Yume glared at him in annoyance. “If you don’t believe me now, you will when we start tomorrow. We’re already a day behind because I had to tell you what The Lottery is! And our time for today is almost up now.”

Keizo sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Yume stopped glaring. “What?”

Keizo knelt down to pick up Ichi, who was anxiously clawing at his feet. “I said I’m sorry.”

Yume closed her eyes for a moment. Then she smiled. “Hmph. I like you Keizo-kun!” She opened her eyes. That’s when the gong sounded “See you two tomorrow!” She waved.

“Mrowr!” Ichi responded happily. Keizo nodded, “Sure.”

To be continued…