Chapter 43
Why Are You Here? (4)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
“Do you think it was the right choice to let her go?”
The Saintess asked.
“We saw it. How despicable Liu Yan is.”
Eileen answered.
“I hope this makes Mr. Namgung Min disgusted with that girl, but what if it doesn’t? We just wasted our time alone together.”
The Saintess asked again.
“It’s okay, Namgung Min said he would stay by my side. That’s enough.”
Eileen answered again.
“…I didn’t like it. In the end, we handed Mr. Namgung Min over to that unbeliever.”
“Let’s stay by Namgung Min’s side next time.”
“Yes, let’s.”
“…Okay.”
***
“Namgung… Min?”
Why are you here?
Liu, who had a dumbfounded expression as if she was completely surprised, soon regained her composure and looked up at me.
“How did you get here?”
“…Well, fortune-telling.”
Fortune-telling, always a convenient excuse.
Since Liu already knew about my fortune-telling skills(?), she seemed to understand and nodded slightly.
[Job-specific quest: <Life or Death Decision>
Oh no! The villainess Liu Yan is trying to exploit the pitiful Wang Fei, who betrayed her, in the Gates for the rest of her life!
Of course, we can’t just stand by and watch! Your sense of justice is burning and about to explode!
But it’s true that Wang Fei committed an unforgivable sin. She needed money, and the money her parents saved their entire lives was a sufficient amount.
You, agonizing between justice and wrongdoing, decide to do fortune-telling!
Objective: Divine Wang Fei’s life or death
Time limit: Before Wang Fei dies
Location: Right here!
Special condition: You must use the job skill <Fortune Telling>!
Reward: Job skill <Fortune Telling> strengthened.]
‘I didn’t expect this to pop up either.’
I was talking to Eileen after Liu left when she heard the bell.
The quest window, which I had briefly forgotten about because it hadn’t appeared since the first entrance exam almost a week ago, suddenly popped up.
And with the grand title of ‘job-specific quest’.
‘Why did it appear so quickly?’
A job-specific quest.
It was just a common quest in the game to strengthen job skills.
As it was a job-specific quest, only that job could receive it, and although it was different later on, the first one was a quest that all jobs commonly received as soon as they became second years.
But why is the <Fortune Teller> one so fast? We haven’t even had the midterm exams yet?
Anyway, it seemed urgent, as it even kindly told me the location of Liu and the girl named Wang Fei, so I excused myself from Eileen and left.
I think Eileen was trying to say something then, but I could hear it later.
In the end, I quickly ran to the location and eavesdropped on their conversation, which led to this situation.
“Fortune-telling, yeah, whatever. You’ve always been like that.”
“……….”
“So, why are you here?”
Liu’s eyes narrowed.
As she often said to Lucas Arthur, Liu didn’t like people meddling in her affairs.
She believed she could solve everything herself due to her childhood experiences and paranoia about others, and with Liu’s abilities, it wasn’t impossible.
Anyway, the girl tied with the snake… according to the quest, it was the pitiful Wang Fei, but…
“Miss Liu, about that Wang Fei person.”
“…Ha, so you’re going to meddle too, huh?”
“No? Please do as you wish.”
“Huh?”
‘Pitiful, my ass. Are all pitiful people dead?’
Seriously, how could you call a brat who squandered their parents’ fortune through gambling pitiful?
Who the hell writes these quest windows?
I already sent away the servant who tried to assassinate the princess, it’s a bit late to be awakening to the love of humanity now.
I sat on a nearby tree stump, just like Liu.
“So, why did you come here?”
“I was wondering if I could talk to that young lady for a moment.”
“With her? Forget it. This one is a true example of a disrespectful child.”
Who doesn’t know that? The quest is telling me to do this.
As I kept a friendly smile, Liu gestured with a reluctant expression and crossed her legs.
Alright, permission granted.
I got up from the stump and crouched in front of Wang Fei, with Liu watching.
“Hello, Miss Wang Fei.”
“…How do you know my name?”
“Fortune-telling.”
“You’re full of it.”
Perhaps because she had already given up, Wang Fei responded to me cynically.
Honestly, I didn’t care how she treated me. All I had to do was tell her fortune.
“<Fortune Telling>.”
A tarot card fell from the sky along with my voice, but I wasn’t going to use it.
I had something prepared beforehand.
“Miss Wang Fei. I’m going to tell your fortune now.”
“…Fortune-telling?”
“Yes. And aren’t you curious? How the result will change your treatment.”
“……….”
Life returned to Wang Fei’s eyes for a moment.
She said she wanted to die, she said she had already given up, but there was no way anyone would want to die or suffer something that terrible.
Having found a sliver of hope in my fortune-telling, Wang Fei was focusing on me even more intently.
I took out another deck of tarot cards from my pocket, not the ones created with the skill, and shuffled them roughly.
“You just have to choose one card from these. Simple, right?”
“…Alright.”
Shuffle.
As I skillfully shuffled the cards, Wang Fei’s desperate eyes followed them.
She was probably trying her best, but I wasn’t impressed since the result was already decided.
Well, this tarot deck consisted entirely of <Death> cards.
All 78 cards were Major Arcana number 13, <Death>.
It was the same no matter which one she chose.
‘I brought a deck consisting entirely of <The World> cards just in case, but it’s useless.’
Since the quest name was <Life or Death Decision>, I brought both cards symbolizing death and cards symbolizing life, but it was in vain.
I stopped shuffling, spread the cards in front of Wang Fei, and opened my mouth.
“What will Wang Fei’s fate be?”
Flinch.
Wang Fei’s body momentarily trembled at my words, but she soon turned her gaze towards one of the tarot cards.
“…This one.”
“Yes.”
I had to use the job skill since the quest specifically said so, but…
Since the result was already decided, I wasn’t thinking much—
“…Huh?”
The card I prepared, the card Wang Fei chose.
The card that was one of the 78 <Death> cards, the card I even double-checked while shuffling,
“This is a good one, right? I’m safe, right!?”
—<The World>.
Major Arcana number 21, the card symbolizing life.
…A card I didn’t put in.
[Job skill <Fortune Telling> complete!
Fortune-telling content: <What will Wang Fei’s fate be?>
Fortune-telling progress: <The World>
Fortune-telling result: She lived. Because fortune-telling must always be fair.
Probability of the fortune-telling result being executed as is: 17% (Basic 10% + Tarot card use 5% + Fortune Teller’s gloves bonus 2%)]
Right after the result of the job skill appeared before my eyes,
Liu, seemingly out of patience, got up from the tree stump.
“We’re done now, right? I’m taking this one with me.”
“I lived! I drew a good card!”
“Yes, yes. I said I wouldn’t kill you, didn’t I? Come to think of it, I did consider just killing you, but it seems like making you work for the rest of your life is the right thing to do.”
“Uwaaaaah! Fortune Teller! You swindler!!!”
I ignored both Liu’s voice and Wang Fei’s cries.
I just stared at the status window in front of me.
‘She lived? Because it has to be fair?’
So?
I checked the tarot card in my hand once again. All 77 cards I confirmed were <Death>.
It was only natural. I had manipulated it to be that way.
But one card, <The World>, was different.
A card I didn’t put in, a card that shouldn’t have been drawn.
‘Because it has to be fair? Is that why one card changed to <The World>?’
I took out the other deck of cards from my pocket. This one, on the contrary, consisted entirely of 78 <The World> cards.
Even after checking each card one by one, none of them had changed to <Death>.
In a way, it was only natural. I had already cheated in countless fortune-telling sessions, and of course, none of them were fair.
The only difference was,
“Job skill…”
This time, I used <Fortune Telling>.
It was a skill I usually used to generate tarot cards, but I hadn’t properly used it since the first fortune-telling.
Well, it had ridiculous performance. It was a skill I couldn’t use at all.
‘Is real fortune-telling supposed to be fair?’
Bullshit.
Then that cult bastard’s fortune-telling should have been fair too. My parents shouldn’t have poured all their assets into that bastard and committed suicide.
Are you going to call that fair too?
‘…Huu.’
First, calm down. This is just a quest window.
I had to think that way to clear my head.
As I was emptying my thoughts for a moment, the result of the fortune-telling caught my eye.
‘She lived.’
A very concise and clear fortune, different from the first time I did fortune-telling.
When I looked around, Liu and Wang Fei had already disappeared.
‘…I said I wouldn’t kill her.’
I remembered Liu’s words.
She said she wouldn’t kill Wang Fei. But instead, she would make her life a living hell.
Wang Fei was an academy student, but with Liu’s wealth, making her ‘withdraw’ was simple.
It was one of the bad endings in the game.
Anyway, in the end, she lived.
…The fortune-telling was correct.
‘Was it the 17% probability that was correct, or was she going to spare her from the beginning?’
Fortune-telling was a scam. That was the most certain proposition.
Fortune-telling was a scam, a trick, a tool that fortune tellers manipulated as they pleased and deceived people with the name of fate.
But this time, the fortune-telling was correct.
Regardless of the process, in the end, from the ‘fair fortune-telling’,
[Job-specific quest <Life or Death Decision> cleared!
The Fortune Teller did a fortune-telling, and Wang Fei lived!
Even rolling in a field of dung is better than death, so she must be happy!
You have saved a person’s life with your fortune-telling! It seems like your sense of justice is also satisfied!
Clear reward: Job skill <Fortune Telling> has been strengthened!]
“…Yes, I was being too complacent.”
I had already used general skills in a way completely different from the game, yet I was neglecting the important job skill.
There were many reasons. My aversion to fortune-telling, the uselessness of the job skill when I first used it…
But that wasn’t an excuse.
‘I decided to reach the ending.’
So far, I had managed with game knowledge and general skills, but I was walking a tightrope.
Game knowledge could differ from reality at any moment, and general skills ultimately had clear limitations.
Even just with Liu, it was like that. If I believed in the game knowledge, it would have been impossible for me to get this close to Liu.
And what about Eileen Teddybear? A character who wasn’t even important in the game became a Saintess and even entered the academy.
It was clear that I couldn’t cling to knowledge and general skills forever.
‘So, it’s the job skill.’
Ultimately, the important thing was to see the ending and return. Let’s put aside thoughts about that cult bastard for now, I have to.
So, the most important core element that made a job a job.
I had to face the job skill <Fortune Telling> that I had been avoiding, even now—
[Job skill strengthened! <Fortune Telling> → <Skilled Fortune Telling>
The Fortune Teller can tell the fortune of a specific target through tarot and physiognomy.
The Fortune Teller has a unique stat ‘Accuracy Rate’ that shows the probability of the fortune being correct!
✻ The Fortune Teller has a base accuracy rate of 10% → 13%.
✻ When telling fortunes through ‘Tarot Cards’, the accuracy rate increases by +5% → 7%!
✻ When telling fortunes through ‘Physiognomy’, the accuracy rate increases by +5% → 7%!
✻ For targets who have had their fortune told multiple times, an additional 5% accuracy rate is added!
Current Accuracy Rate: 13%]
“……….”
The probability increased. If I used tarot cards, the base accuracy rate, which was 15%, increased to 20%.
It was an enhancement, it definitely got better…
“Damn it.”
Was it because I was once again faced with the reality of <Fortune Teller>?
I couldn’t hold back my curses.