The Flesh-Wish

My roommate brought back a peculiar potted plant that didn't bloom, claiming it could grant wishes. I paid it no mind, until my graduate school admission was stolen by her, and my health took a sharp turn for the worse. On my deathbed, I saw the flower finally blossom; its core was a perfect, twisted image of my face.

Vicky, my roommate, stroked its petals, her smile gentle. "Thank you, Ivy. You granted my deepest desire."

I opened my eyes and found myself back on the day she carried the plant into our dorm room.

"Ivy," she asked, "should we raise it together?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, we'll nurture it carefully, together."

The next day, I clipped a few branches and mailed them back to her parents' house, under her name.

"Ivy, look! This is the treasure I brought back from my hometown!" Vicky's voice vibrated with the excitement of someone presenting a precious gift, as she thumped a dusty terracotta pot onto my desk.

Dust billowed, making me cough and cover my nose.

Inside the pot was a strange-looking plant. It had no flowers, only a few thick, dark green leaves with ominous, dark red edges, like congealed blood. The entire plant radiated a chilling aura.

I stared at it, and the suffocating sensation of my previous deathbed seized my heart.

This was the plant.

It was called a 'Flesh-Wish,' feeding on the life force of the person closest to it to grant the wishes of its caretaker.

In my last life, Vicky had used it to drain everything from me. My grades, my honors, my health, and finally, my life itself. She got her wish, usurping my spot in the master's program, snatching the national scholarship that should have been mine, and stepping over my corpse onto a bright, paved highway to success.

I, meanwhile, at the age of twenty-one, had my life force utterly depleted, withering away like a faded flower on a hospital bed, silently fading.

Before I died, I saw the 'Flesh-Wish' on the hospital windowsill finally bloom. Its blood-red petals layered upon each other, and in the center, the flower's core was a face identical to mine, twisted in agony. Vicky sat by my bed, gently stroking that tortured face, whispering to my already voiceless body:

"Ivy, don't blame me. It's not my fault you were better than me at everything."

"You should share a little bit of what you have, shouldn't you?"

Before my death in the previous life, I was filled with nothing but burning hatred.

"Ivy? What are you staring at?"

Vicky nudged me, grinning. "I'm telling you, this flower is magical! It can grant wishes!"

"If we raise it together, your wishes can come true too."

Our other two roommates, Liz and Sarah, hid in the distance, their faces etched with revulsion.

"Vicky, this flower looks really creepy. You should probably just throw it away," Sarah whispered.

Vicky's face instantly darkened. "Creepy? What's creepy about it?"

"Ivy didn't say it was creepy, so why are you making a fuss?"

Sarah choked on her words, daring not to speak again. Liz just frowned, remaining silent. Our dorm was always like this: Vicky came from the wealthiest family and was accustomed to giving orders. The other two and I came from ordinary backgrounds, relying on scholarships to get by.

In my previous life, I had chosen silence because I didn't want to cause trouble, and because I understood Vicky's personalitythe more I opposed her, the more she'd dig in her heels.

But my silence led to her increasingly brazen actions and my tragic death.

This time, I wouldn't be silent.

No, not only would I not be silent, I would... embrace it with enthusiasm.

I looked up, a brilliant smile spreading across my face. I reached out and gently touched one of the thick, fleshy leaves. It was cold and slick, like touching dead flesh.

"It's not scary at all. I think it looks so unique, really adorable."

I looked at Vicky, my eyes sincere. "Vicky, you said it can grant wishes? Is that true?"

My reaction made Vicky freeze. She probably expected me to react like Liz and Sarah, urging her to throw the monstrosity away.

"Of, of course it's true!" she stammered, recovering, her voice barely concealing her triumph. "Everyone back in my hometown says so."

"That's wonderful!" I feigned immense interest. "Then we absolutely must take good care of it. Vicky, I'll take over the watering and fertilizing. I promise to make it grow big and strong!"

Vicky's smile froze. She eyed me suspiciously, as if trying to find a flaw in my expression. I let her scrutinize me, my gaze clear and open.

After a long moment, she smiled again, though her eyes remained cold. "Alright, if our academic superstar Ivy says so, then I'll leave it to you."

She happily shoved the flowerpot onto my desk. "Just leave it here. You love reading, don't you? Let it keep you company and absorb some of your scholarly aura."

She had said the exact same thing in my previous life. Because the 'Flesh-Wish' feeds on the person closest to it.

I smiled, accepting it with feigned gratitude. "Okay."

Watching her back as she walked away, a look of profound relief on her face, the smile on my lips slowly turned icy.

Vicky, this time, I will help you nurture this flower very, very well. So well that you, and everyone you care about, will become its finest nourishment.

The next morning, while Vicky and the others were still asleep, I quietly set my plan in motion.

I was a biology major, with a decent understanding of botany. In my previous life, tormented to the brink of death by this 'Flesh-Wish,' I had frantically scoured countless ancient texts, searching for a way to break its hold. Though I couldn't save myself, I learned everything there was to know about this evil plant.

The 'Flesh-Wish' was incredibly resilient, capable of asexual reproduction through grafting and cuttings. Each offshoot would establish a peculiar connection with the mother plant. They would simultaneously draw life force from their surroundings, but ultimately, all that energy would converge on the original provider C the wish-maker. At the same time, the offshoots would send energy demands back to the mother plant, which was Vicky.

One 'Flesh-Wish' feeding on one me was enough to grant her wishes. But what if there were three, four, or even more 'Flesh-Wish' plants?

I took out the sterile scalpel I had prepared earlier and carefully cut two of the healthiest branches from the base of the 'Flesh-Wish' stem. Dark red, viscous sap oozed from the cuts, emitting a metallic, rusty smell.

I wrapped one of the branches in a damp paper towel and placed it in a small delivery box. The recipient was Vicky's parents, living in their rural hometown. I had noted down their address when I helped her compile documents for a poverty assistance application last semester. For the sender, I neatly wrote her name: Vicky Chen.

I even included a handwritten card, mimicking her seemingly innocent and carefree tone:

"Dad, Mom, this is a treasure said to bring good luck and health."

"I planted one at school, and I'm sending you a branch specially."

"Wishing you good health and a long life!"

After completing all this, I sealed the box and, as if nothing had happened, went to the cafeteria for breakfast, mailing the package on my way.

The other branch was placed in a sealed bag and hidden deep inside my backpack. It had a more important purpose.

When I returned to the dorm, Vicky was already awake. She sat at my desk, gazing with infatuation at the 'Flesh-Wish' plant.

"Ivy, I just watered it. I feel like it's grown a tiny bit," she said excitedly.

I smiled and walked over. "Really? It must really like our dorm environment then."

I glanced over, feigning indifference. Sure enough, where I had cut off two branches, two barely visible, tiny buds had already emerged. One wouldn't notice them without looking closely. Its regenerative abilities were even stronger than I had imagined.

Vicky stood up, satisfied, and clapped her hands. "Alright, I'm off to my date."

"Ivy, my precious baby is in your hands, okay?"

"Don't worry," I waved at her.

The person she was referring to as her date was Liam, the captain of the university's basketball team. A handsome, charismatic figure from a wealthy family, with countless admirers on campus.

He was also the only person who had stood up for me in my previous life, after Vicky had stolen my master's program spot. Unfortunately, in that life, I was utterly exhausted, physically and mentally, by Vicky and the 'Flesh-Wish,' and had no energy to spare for anything else. In the end, Liam, because of me, became a target of Vicky's resentment. After graduation, his business ventures repeatedly failed, leading to a miserable fate.

In this life, Vicky was still relentlessly pursuing him.

That afternoon, we had a general education class, attended by our entire department. The lecture hall was packed. I deliberately chose the last row, where Liam and his roommates usually sat.

Liam and his friends soon arrived, taking seats in the row next to me.

"Hey, Ivy." Liam greeted me directly, his tall frame radiating cheerfulness, a bright smile revealing his white teeth.

I returned his smile as a greeting.

Vicky saw this exchange and immediately squeezed through the rows, plopping down beside Liam and intimately linking her arm through his. "Liam, why are you sitting here?"

"I thought you weren't coming today."

Liam subtly withdrew his arm, his tone distant. "I always sit here."

Vicky's face fell slightly, but she quickly recovered her smile and began chattering, trying to find a topic of conversation.

After class, I called out to Liam. "Could you do me a favor and give this to Vicky?"

I handed Liam a jade bracelet, exquisitely crafted. Within its pale green surface, a faint, dark red hue pulsedthe tiny 'Flesh-Wish' cutting I had hidden inside.

"Why don't you give it to her yourself?" Liam asked.

"If I give it to her myself, Vicky will feel obligated to return the favor later. She helped me a lot recently, and I just want to thank her quietly. So, let's say it's from you."

Vicky, you like Liam so much. Let me give you a little push.

"Alright," Liam agreed.

Days passed.

The master's program admission list was about to be officially announced. This was the first turning point of my destiny in my previous life. During that time, I inexplicably began to suffer from insomnia, headaches, and mental fog, yet hospital tests showed nothing wrong. Vicky, however, was radiant, brimming with joy every day.

Ultimately, my name was replaced by hers.

But in this life, I ate well, slept soundly, and felt an unprecedented surge of energy. It was Vicky, instead, who began to look unwell.

She had heavy dark circles under her eyes, constantly dozed off in class, and her temper grew increasingly volatile. "Ivy! Can you stop flipping pages so loudly?! It's driving me crazy!" she suddenly yelled at me.

I was sitting at my desk, reviewing. Her outburst made me look at her, bewildered. Our other two roommates also cast surprised glances.

"Vicky, Ivy's turning pages very quietly," Liz whispered.

"I just think it's loud! Is that a crime?" Vicky retorted unreasonably.

Liz flinched, not daring to speak further.

I closed my book and looked at her. "Vicky, have you not been getting enough rest lately? You look terrible."

"Mind your own business!" she glared at me fiercely, then rolled onto her bed and pulled the covers over her head.

I ignored her.

I knew. The 'Flesh-Wish' backlash had begun. The bigger her wish, the greater the 'cost' she had to pay. Admission to a master's program, for someone with her grades, was undoubtedly a monumental wish. One mother plant, two offshoots C a threefold drain on her life force C was already starting to take its toll.

That night, Vicky received a call from her mother. She hid on the balcony, speaking in a hushed tone, but I still caught snippets.

"What? It's worse again? How could this be... Weren't you taking your medicine..."

"Mom, don't panic. I... I'll come home tomorrow..."

After she hung up, she walked back in, looking utterly distraught, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Vicky, what's wrong?" I asked, feigning concern.

She glanced at me, hesitated, then shook her head. "Nothing."

In my previous life, her parents' health, while not perfect, was never this severe. It seemed my 'gift' had reached them.