READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 10 - The Enigmatic Fortune Teller (3)
Chapter 10
The Enigmatic Fortune Teller (3)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
How did things end up like this?
Namgung Min, hiding his trembling heart, pretended to be relaxed and looked at the now completely polite Rain.
“H-hiiik…!”
As he glared at her wordlessly, she trembled all over, her previous arrogance gone, and cautiously watched his expression.
Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
It was the phrase that accurately described Rain Arthur, and the reason why she was so intimidated.
Since her prized telekinesis was so easily blocked, she perceived Namgung Min as stronger than her and her attitude changed. Even Lucas Arthur couldn’t stop her telekinesis with a single gesture, so in Rain’s mind, the power dynamic of ‘me > Lucas > Rain’ would be fixed.
It was quite a simple way of thinking, but considering her upbringing, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
And it was also a device to allow the protagonist to easily subdue Rain, who played the role of the so-called ‘villainess’ in this female-oriented game.
‘…Seeing it in reality doesn’t feel good.’
Rain’s appearance, desperately cowering, constantly watching my expression, and whimpering, wasn’t pleasant to say the least.
…But Rain also tried to stab me with candlesticks earlier, right? Wouldn’t that make us even?
‘Anyway, I managed to get this far by improvising…’
Namgung Min glanced at the air without Rain, who had her eyes downcast, noticing.
It was thanks to that that he was able to salvage the situation like this.
[Tutorial Quest Cleared!
You have successfully passed the entrance exam to the glorious and proud Romance Academy! Now all that’s left is a shower of flower petals, and you could say your life has fully blossomed!
Enjoy a romantic school life with your wonderful and beautiful friends!
Objective:
✻ ‘Acquire Job Skill’ achieved!
✻ ‘Enter Romance Academy’ achieved!
✻ ‘Enter Romance Academy as the top student’ failed… but ‘Enter Romance Academy as the second-best student’ achieved! Additional reward conditions met!
Reward: Hint for returning ← Press to open!
Additional rewards:
✻ Acquired general skill ‘My Little Fortune Teller’s Shop’!
✻ Job-specific equipment ‘White Gloves for the Novice Fortune Teller’ strengthened!]
‘I don’t know why I’m second… but now’s not the time to think about that.’
He used the acquired general skill ‘My Little Fortune Teller’s Shop’ to lure Rain Arthur here alone.
And he neutralized her telekinesis with the ‘Cleanliness’ skill attached to the strengthened white gloves.
‘Honestly, when I first saw it, I complained about what kind of strengthening this was.’
The white gloves, strengthened as a reward for the tutorial quest, had an absurd strengthening of a 1% increase in fortune-telling accuracy, and at the same time, changed the ‘Cleanliness’ skill.
Originally, it only provided a slight first impression bonus and maintained cleanliness, but now it could clean any area recognized as ‘my space’!
‘It’s a blessing that she lifted the candlesticks.’
Fortunately, Rain lifting the candlesticks and dripping candle wax allowed me to clean this fortune teller’s shop with the Cleanliness skill, and that ‘cleaning’ included returning scattered objects to their original positions.
That was how I, who had no combat abilities, was able to appear as if I neutralized Rain’s superpower with a single snap of my fingers.
‘The problem is that I can’t do it again.’
Because the Cleanliness skill had a 1-hour cooldown.
If Rain used her telekinesis again, I would have no choice but to take the hit.
‘In this situation, I have to maintain this atmosphere somehow!’
“Rain Arthur.”
“Y-yes!”
“Honestly, I was a bit offended. I can understand being followed on the main street, but following me even into an alley is looking down on me too much, don’t you think?”
“I-I apologize! I-I was a bit desperate…”
“I wasn’t asking for an excuse.”
“I apologize!”
That was a lie.
Honestly, realizing that Rain was tailing me was pure coincidence.
I deliberately entered a secluded alley to try out the ‘My Little Fortune Teller’s Shop’ skill I had acquired, and when I used the skill, it simply showed that she was behind me.
The moment I realized that it was ‘Rain Arthur’ of all people who was tailing me, I dragged her into the fortune teller’s shop summoned by the skill and hurriedly acted like the stronger one, but considering the difference in our combat abilities, I was still anxious.
Well, I had no choice but to trust in ‘strong against the weak, weak against the strong’, the fundamental principle and absolute law in her mind.
“And you shouldn’t jump to conclusions about people.”
“Yes…?”
“You called me Liu Yan’s accomplice? That’s an unpleasant thing to say, so don’t ever say it again.”
“Ah, understood!”
The reason I suddenly spoke informally and changed my tone was also to take advantage of her ‘strong against the weak, weak against the strong’ mentality.
Rain was weaker against this kind of oppressive tone used by Lucas Arthur and her father.
“And it seems you were investigating me…”
“Th-that’s. I didn’t know you were the stronger one then, Mr. Namgung Min…”
“Is that an excuse?”
“No! I apologize! I apologize!”
…I was just guessing about the investigation, but it was true? Both you and Liu, why do you like investigating people so much?
Well, I did provoke her a bit, but even considering that, I sighed at the fact that this was already the second background check.
“Rain, you’re smart, aren’t you? You understand what I’ve been saying so far, right?”
“S-smart…? Yes, yes! Of course! I understand perfectly!”
“I entered the academy due to personal reasons, and I’d like to keep a low profile if possible. Understand?”
“Yes! Understood! I understand everything perfectly! There’s nothing I misheard or missed!”
“…Okay.”
Her reaction was excessive.
Even considering her ‘strong against the weak, weak against the strong’ mentality, was it normal for her, with her pride as the daughter of a prestigious family, to be this submissive and trembling?
But… maybe this was normal for her.
Thinking back to Rain’s character event, the education she received at the Arthur mansion…
‘…I need to resolve Rain’s character event as quickly as possible.’
Rewards aside, Rain Arthur was currently suffering serious emotional abuse. The difficulty of the event that resolved this was quite high, so initially, I didn’t want to get involved with Rain, but…
Seeing her like this, I changed my mind.
Changing the priorities in my head, I quietly muttered,
“Okay. Then, do you want to see that card?”
“Yes?”
At my sudden question, Rain turned her head towards the table where my finger was pointing.
At the end of her gaze was… a tarot card that she didn’t know when it had appeared.
“…Hiccup!”
“Look.”
“Hiccup! Y-yes!”
Despite hiccuping in surprise, Rain lifted the card with trembling hands.
Although I couldn’t see it from my side since it was facing her, I knew what the card was.
Seeing Rain’s face stiffen strangely as soon as she saw the tarot card, I whispered,
“Understand?”
“I-is that true…?”
“Just keep it to yourself. You understand why I’m doing this, right?”
“Yes, yes! Of course… I do!”
The card I gave her was Major Arcana number 0,
This time, the meaning of the tarot card itself wasn’t as important as the meaning the
Especially since it was deeply connected to her character event… I would probably be able to trigger her character event within this semester.
Although the conversation with Rain started by chance, I did everything I could.
I waved my hand towards the space behind Rain.
“You can leave now.”
“Um… Mr. Namgung Min.”
“Why?”
“That card is really… ah, no, never mind! How do I leave?”
“Just pull back the curtain over there and go out.”
It seemed like she was about to say something, but I just pointed to the blackout curtain behind Rain.
‘My Little Fortune Teller’s Shop’ had the advantage of being able to forcibly drag in one nearby target, and the inside was a completely different space, invisible from the outside… but the way to escape it was also really simple.
Just go out.
Although it was dark and had a mysterious atmosphere inside, it was surrounded by blackout curtains, not walls, so you could leave directly without any obstruction.
When I first received it, I wondered if I could utilize it somehow, but it didn’t seem to be of much use other than as a fortune teller’s shop.
“Th-then, I’ll take my leave!”
“Okay. And don’t make a fuss about this at the academy.”
“Yes!”
For some reason, Rain hesitated to leave until the very end, looking at me, and only after she disappeared behind the curtain,
“Haa…”
Could I finally breathe a deep sigh of relief from the pit of my stomach.
“Rain’s character event is… too early.”
Unlike Liu Yan, whom I intentionally approached, there was no benefit in approaching the other special job guys quickly.
The
The Arthur siblings were the better ones, but if I approached them too quickly, I would be perceived as weak by Rain or ignored by Lucas, and suffer greatly.
“But since I’m already involved, well.”
If I hadn’t even talked to her, it would be a different story, but after seeing her like that, I couldn’t ignore the abuse Rain was suffering.
Then, what should I prepare to resolve her character event—
“Ah, I have to take the card.”
Major Arcana
Tarot cards were created every time I used the job skill anyway, but I usually carried them around, so I picked up the reversed card.
“…Huh?”
—Wait a minute.
“The card…”
I gave her the wrong one?
***
“Ah, miss! I’m so sorry. I lost sight of you right in front of me… Miss?”
“…Oh? Ah, no. It’s fine, I want to walk alone, so go ahead.”
“Yes? Yes, yes. Everyone, withdraw! We’ve found the miss, everyone withdraw!”
Rain Arthur, who came out of the fortune teller’s shop, only waved her hand dismissively at the attendant who had been desperately searching for her, and continued walking.
It was understandable that her mind was in turmoil after experiencing so many perplexing things in such a short time, but…
The reason she was walking absentmindedly was different.
“He said I was smart…”
That a strong person, who overwhelmed her superpower with a single gesture, had praised her.
She knew that it was a somewhat sarcastic remark, but… it was still praise, wasn’t it?
“I was praised…”
Praise from the weak meant nothing to her. Only praise from the strong held meaning.
When was the last time she was praised?
She didn’t think it had happened in at least three years.
Rain, who was expressionlessly ruminating on Namgung Min’s praise, suddenly remembered the card she saw at the end.
“That card, is it real?”
The tarot card that was placed next to her.
She had momentarily frozen, reminded of ‘that card’ she saw in the past, but…
“…Lovers.”
Contrary to Rain’s expectations, the card that was face down wasn’t
Major Arcana number 6,
And Namgung Min’s question, asking if she understood.
“………….”
Rain’s ‘strong against the weak, weak against the strong’ complex was a seizure that only occurred when someone was next to her, so when she was alone like this, she didn’t bother speaking politely to the strong.
In the first place, it had been a long time since she thought about anyone other than her brother when she was alone.
Because remembering her father was too painful.
“…Why me?”
Had she met him before in the past? Or was it love at first sight?
“Confession, a confession…”
Just like with praise, confessions from the weak meant nothing to her. That was her own mental illness, her trauma, just like Liu’s paranoia.
That’s why this was the first time she had received a ‘proper’ confession.
In the first place, someone who was ‘strong’ and didn’t criticize or reproach her like her father. Someone who didn’t treat her with indifference like her brother.
To her, it was the first time.
“………….”
Rain was confused.
She didn’t… know what kind of feelings she had for Namgung Min.
“…I want to receive it again.”
Suddenly surprised by her own muttering,
Rain unconsciously covered her mouth.