Chapter 38
This Fortune Teller Does It For Free (4)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
The fortune teller spread out and folded cards with mystical patterns, arranging them on the table.
Manderick, who was vaguely watching, realized that he hadn’t answered yet and awkwardly nodded.
“Ah, yes.”
“Alright. Then please have a seat here.”
Shuffle.
Even though they might be different ages, they were both freshmen, yet the fortune teller’s polite and respectful speech naturally made him speak formally as well.
Following the fortune teller’s guidance, he sat across from him, but the card shuffling, which involved all sorts of fancy sleight of hand, kept Manderick’s eyes glued.
Like an audience watching a magic show, he was mesmerized by the cards being expertly arranged within the white gloves.
Thud.
“Ah.”
He only came to his senses after the cards were neatly arranged and landed on the table with a sound.
During the entrance ceremony maze, he had seen the fortune teller throwing tarot cards, but as expected, fortune tellers were really good at handling cards.
Manderick, feeling goodwill and trust towards the fortune teller’s unwavering smile, disciplined movements, and skillful hands, made a somewhat relaxed expression.
Anyway, the cards were arranged, and he was seated. Just as he was about to speak,
“You have a concern.”
“H-how…!”
“Didn’t you just answer?”
Ah. That’s right.
Manderick, who was startled as if his thoughts had been read, soon lowered his head in embarrassment.
Was he out of it from watching the card show?
He seemed to have gathered his thoughts while stammering and raised his head again.
“Th-that’s right. I have a concern.”
“It’s about your academics.”
“Yes, that’s right…?”
Huh? Did I answer that too?
I don’t think I did?
“How did you know it was about… studying?”
“I’m a Fortune Teller, aren’t I?”
“Ah.”
His question was immediately resolved. Well, why did he ask that to a Fortune Teller?
And at the same time, the doubts he had about the ‘Fortune Teller’ gradually disappeared.
He didn’t really believe in or care about fortune-telling, but if he was this accurate, maybe he could get an answer.
“Even though it’s been… not even a week since I entered the academy, I feel like I’m falling behind compared to other classmates.”
“I see. Are they ahead of you?”
“…Yes. Yesterday, I was in the bottom half of the <Martial Artist> training… and my entrance exam rank was the lowest…”
“And you lost the sparring match the day before yesterday.”
“Yes. I lost the sparring match the day before yesterday…? Ah.”
He figured that out through fortune-telling too.
Maybe Fortune Tellers are really amazing?
“As, as you know through fortune-telling, I’m falling behind in many ways, so I’m worried. That’s why I came here.”
“In this case… first, I think we need to categorize the answers.”
“Yes?”
Flip.
At the fortune teller’s gesture, three cards were arranged face down on the table.
Red, green, and black.
Three cards with the same pattern but different colors caught Manderick’s eye.
“This is…?”
“It’s [Three Pieces of Advice].”
“Three… pieces of advice?”
He had been thinking of common fortune-telling methods like tarot or physiognomy,
So he tilted his head at the completely unfamiliar method.
“Fortune-telling is a trickier subject than you might think. People try to find answers to vague questions, but fortune-telling demands unknown conditions in exchange for those answers.”
“Conditions?”
“Actually, the questions people have when they come for fortune-telling are mostly similar. Things like ‘What will my future be like?’, ‘Does that person like me?’, ‘What should I do in the future?'”
Thinking about it, that seemed to be the case.
When he first heard about this fortune-telling shop from Eileen, most of the things his classmates talked about were also those kinds of questions.
‘That includes my question. I came here to ask what I should do in the future.’
Just as he was naturally convinced by the fortune teller’s words and unconsciously nodding,
The red card was flipped over.
“Huh…?”
“The red one tells the most straightforward answer. It’s something that seems obvious the more you think about it, an answer that makes you wonder if you even need advice for this. But it’s also the easiest to understand.”
The picture revealed was… a woman seemingly taming a lion.
Below it was written ‘STRENGTH’.
‘Strength?’
“Shall we move on to the green one?”
Flip.
The green card was a picture of a wheel floating in the sky, surrounded by strange animals.
This was a card that even Manderick knew. ‘Wheel of Fortune’, it was that famous.
“The green one whispers an ambiguous answer. The more you listen, the more it sounds like something you already know, and the more you think about it, the harder it is to understand. You need to constantly think and ponder to barely grasp the answer, and that answer will definitely be of great help.”
“Ah…”
“But unfortunately, there are times when you can’t figure out the answer, and that can’t be helped. I only interpret the cards, and it’s the cards that give the answer. It’s only natural that it’s difficult to understand the cards’ answer.”
“I… see.”
So, it’s advice that’s difficult to understand but helpful.
Manderick, gradually getting a sense of the [Three Pieces of Advice], naturally turned his head towards the last card.
The first was advice that was straightforward but obvious.
And the second was advice that was ambiguous but helpful.
Then the third was…
“The last one, the black one, speaks of unknown things. Those words seem completely unrelated to the question, and they might be so absurd and illogical that no one can understand their true meaning.”
“But, the last card is…”
“Yes. As you may have guessed, the black card is enigmatic, but it gives the most definite answer. You might only realize that answer after everything is over, or you might never understand its meaning. But if interpreted correctly, it is more effective than any other advice.”
Flip.
The picture that caught Manderick’s eye was of an old man meditating in the dark, wearing a gray robe.
‘THE HERMIT’, the Hermit.
Now, the Strength, Wheel of Fortune, and Hermit cards were lined up on the table.
“Which advice would you like to hear?”
“Uh…”
“Choose carefully. You can only hear one of the three pieces of advice, and even if you try to hear it again, the cards won’t answer.”
So I can only choose one.
But wouldn’t anyone agonize over this in this situation?
‘First, not the red one. It said it was a straightforward answer, right? It’s probably something like ‘try harder’, but I need helpful advice right now.’
The first evaluation in the <Martial Artist> class was in two days.
He wanted to achieve some results before then.
‘Then the green one? Honestly, it’s the most appealing… It said there was good advice, even if it was difficult to interpret. But…’
Why is it that…
His eyes keep going to the black card.
‘No! I heard him earlier. He said it would be very difficult to understand. What if I choose it and can’t understand it in the end?’
Just as he was trying to be a bit more realistic,
‘But still… I don’t know until I try. It’s the best advice, so it will definitely be effective, and it might be unexpectedly easy to understand.’
The thought that it might be possible held him back.
What kind of advice should he choose?
After agonizing and thinking back and forth for who knows how long, Manderick finally reached out his hand.
“I’ll… go with this advice.”
“Alright.”
Towards the black ‘Hermit’ card.
Even as he chose it, he wondered if this was the right choice, but…
‘This is the right one!’
Manderick chose the option that could give him the best advice.
Since he had come this far to have his fortune told, this was his last chance. If he could hear it, it was right to go with the best advice…!
“Please wait a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
The fortune teller took the Hermit card Manderick had chosen, flipped it over, and then took out other cards.
He put the flipped Hermit card into the deck and shuffled it again. He shuffled, split the deck in half, made an arch, and rolled the cards in his hand.
After the dazzling card show that kept his eyes glued, he flipped the cards face up on the table.
“Huh…?”
But all the cards were ‘Hermit’ cards.
There were at least a hundred cards, almost filling the table, all with the picture of the old man meditating in the dark.
Wherever he looked,
Manderick could only blink at the incomprehensible sight.
Then, the fortune teller found another card among the Hermits.
On it was—
‘…What is that?’
THE… TOWER?
‘Tower?’
Since he knew nothing about tarot, he couldn’t understand what it was even by looking at the picture.
Gulp.
He just watched the fortune teller, who seemed nervous, gulping and staring at the ‘Tower’ card.
It didn’t take long for him to open his mouth.
“…Hmm, I understand.”
“Huh? Did it finally come out?”
“I will tell you the advice of the black card.”
Finally.
Manderick, ready to firmly remember the advice, looked at the still-smiling fortune teller with a trembling heart.
“[At the highest tower, the lowest and most humble place. Yet, it is an indispensable place, embracing warmth. There, a child sheds hot tears.]”
“…Excuse me?”
“Shall I repeat it?”
“Ah, no. I remember it clearly.”
“Yes, then we are done.”
“Is that… it?”
“Yes.”
He remembered it. It wasn’t a long sentence, so of course he remembered it.
But the advice of the black card was beyond Manderick’s imagination.
‘I was prepared, but…?’
To think such an incomprehensible sentence would come out.
Manderick broke out in a cold sweat. He came all the way here for fortune-telling, and this vague story was all he got?
He was about to ask the fortune teller something to get more information, but—
“Now, farewell.”
“—Ah.”
The fortune teller was waving his hand.
As if he had nothing more to say, as if he wouldn’t answer any questions.
As if it was all up to Manderick now.
He was still smiling.
***
“That was quite unique…”
“What do you mean?”
“The [Three Pieces of Advice] fortune-telling, and the advice itself.”
After the dejected Manderick left, inside the fortune-telling shop with only the candlelight flickering,
Eileen spoke to Namgung Min, who was arranging the cards spread out on the table.
She had been waiting upstairs and returned to the shop after putting up a ‘closed’ sign.
“Fortune-telling is different every time. I use different methods depending on the question and the client.”
“Didn’t you use [Three Pieces of Advice] for all 5 people who came today?”
“That is correct. It will be like that for a while.”
“I see.”
Namgung Min’s words contradicted what he just said.
But despite that, Eileen just nodded without any questions.
It was blind faith that went beyond simple trust.
“You’re truly amazing.”
“Yes?”
“Ah, Mr. Namgung Min is always great and amazing, but… Mr. Namgung Min was especially amazing today.”
“You flatter me.”
“No, I’m serious. To think you knew what my concerns were and what happened recently just from a light conversation…!”
No way.
‘Of course, I don’t know why you came here.’
Naturally, I didn’t know the names, personalities, or anything about the five visitors who came today — the students from the <Martial Artist> class who were Eileen’s acquaintances.
Because they were characters who didn’t appear in the game. They were no different from complete strangers.
But it wasn’t difficult to obtain information beforehand.
‘There was Eileen’s story.’
When I asked her to introduce the fortune-telling shop to her friends, Eileen talked about them. She was smiling while calling them unbelievers, so she must have been happy to have made friends.
I heard their names and some information about them from her, and…
‘I also asked Charles Teddybear.’
Charles Teddybear was a <Martial Artist[ and also an instructor for the <Martial Artist> class.
Although he wasn’t the instructor for the class Eileen was in because there were several Martial Artist classes in the academy, he still had information about the students as a senior instructor.
On the condition that I wouldn’t abuse it for personal gain, I was able to get more information about those friends.
It was just simple information like their evaluations in class and their sparring records since entering the academy, but it was enough.
‘And there was also <Observe>.’
Although I couldn’t use it for long because I had been using it a lot lately, I used <Observe> to learn more when visitors like Manderick lowered their heads or were distracted by the cards.
‘And I received money from Liu.’
I borrowed a large sum of money from Liu to create this fortune-telling shop where I could do all this. The money to build this place didn’t just appear out of thin air.
Since the <My Little Fortune Teller’s Shop> skill had a 3-hour cooldown after I used it and left, I couldn’t use it as a permanent fortune-telling shop. It was best to create a new one in the building.
Because of that, I ended up writing an IOU to Liu, but I wasn’t too worried since it was an amount I could quickly pay back. And strangely, Liu seemed to be in a good mood after lending me the money.
Information and money. With this much preparation, anyone could pretend to be a fortune teller.
“Anyway, thanks to Eileen, I’ve filled all five slots for clients. Thank you.”
“It’s an infinite honor to be of help to Mr. Namgung Min…!”
“Haha, yes.”
There were two conditions set by the vice-principal.
The first was to receive at least five clients every day.
It was a natural condition since the purpose of allowing the fortune-telling shop was to prevent me from raising my accuracy by constantly telling fortunes.
The second was to receive at least 50 clients within this week.
‘Even considering word-of-mouth, the number of people I knew was far from enough.’
Fortunately, thanks to Eileen being a social butterfly (?), it became much easier.
After finishing arranging the cards and getting up from my seat, Eileen, who had been waiting silently, suddenly spoke as if she had remembered something.
“Come to think of it, why did you only accept five people? There will be more unbelievers coming in the future.”
“There’s no need to accept more. It’s enough.”
“Yes?”
Five people. The minimum number set by the vice-principal, and definitely not a large number.
But Namgung Min was confident.
‘It’s enough if just one out of five takes the bait.’
Out of the five visitors, three chose the black card that Namgung Min was aiming for.
If even one of them could interpret the card—
—Wouldn’t a hundred people, let alone fifty, flock here?
Recalling the trend he unintentionally started,
“Now we wait.”
“…Yes, Mr. Namgung Min.”
“……….”
Namgung Min looked at Eileen.
With a somewhat dubious gaze.
“I-if you keep staring at my chest like that…”
“It’s nothing.”
“If Mr. Namgung Min wishes, beyond just looking…!”
“Absolutely not, so don’t worry.”