I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 119

Gate.

The name might sound grand, but honestly, it’s not that important.

It’s the typical entrance to another world that spews out monsters, common in many novels.

Even in Romance Academy, it wasn’t really any different.

The only notable difference is that the number of monsters is predetermined for each gate.

“Honestly, it’s been used more as a date spot.”

Thanks to the setting that the other side of the gate is a different world, it served as a backdrop for all sorts of situations.

You know, like romantic places… or ancient castles… or even on a boat…

When players go on dates with the main targets, these gates were frequently utilized, which sort of shaped my perception of them.

“Is this… the gate?”

“Huh? Didn’t you see it in hologram during class?”

“You know what they say, seeing is believing.”

On a speedboat that’s a bit too big for the four students on it, I gaze into the distance at the gate.

Certainly, the gates I saw in hologram looked much larger.

Now that I see one in person, it’s towering like a skyscraper, and it’s quite overwhelming.

Spaces that seem to tower high, starting from sea level, split vertically like a stack of blocks.

The crack in the air trembled unsteadily, and all I could see beyond the shattered space was swirling blue.

I’d seen a similar shape in the game, but seeing it in reality felt far more bizarre.

“That’s Dream Within a Dream…”

“But that’s one of the smaller gates, Namgoong Min.”

“…Is that so?”

“There are at least four gates in the Pacific Ocean that are larger than this. If we’re talking about the biggest one… oh.”

“…It’s in America, isn’t it….”

Rain looked around quickly, as if she realized she misspoke.

The hero, who had silently listened with his eyes closed, murmured quietly.

…Yeah.

According to the setting, the biggest gate is in America.

The gate that killed the hero’s grandfather and devastated America still remains there.

“…………….”

“………….”

“…………….”

Mentioning it was a kind of taboo.

It was the cause of the hero’s silence, even though he used to have the most vibrant personality.

Even Liu had fallen quiet.

Yet, amidst the uncomfortable atmosphere, the hero opened his mouth.

“…Someday… I’ll have to go back….”

“…Is that so.”

“…But… before that… there are things… I need to do….”

…To settle things with Charles Teddy Bear.

That’s why the hero came to the academy, and why I could collaborate with him.

And it’s part of his character event.

However, up until now, both Charles and Abel have been avoiding each other, dragging out the situation.

“Charles is burdened by guilt, while the hero wants a definitive conclusion.”

Charles Teddy Bear carries an unfair amount of guilt towards the hero and subconsciously avoids him, whereas the hero, wishing for a conclusive result granted to academic achievers, hopes to settle it with Charles.

Since they can’t keep avoiding each other forever, eventually, they’ll have to meet.

“I need to arrange for them to meet privately as much as possible.”

For that, I need to have solid friendships with both Charles and the hero.

Fortunately, thanks to my efforts during the first semester, I have maintained a smooth relationship with both Charles and the hero. Though recently it seems the hero has been hoping for my death, but still.

Before the main event of the second semester arrives, I need to facilitate a meeting somehow…

“We’ve arrived. Everyone, get up!”

“………Wow.”

“That’s the base we’re headed to.”

At Instructor Redfield’s words, things that weren’t visible before started to become clear.

The surface of the sea where Dream Within a Dream begins. A facility of considerable size floating there.

Researchers studying the gate, patients who are treated through Dream Within a Dream, and even guards stationed there in case of emergencies.

As the speedboat docked at the harbor, I stepped onto the island made of numerous ships and steel.

Walking toward the center where Dream Within a Dream is located, I turned my head to the Crown Princess walking beside me.

“It’s bigger than I expected, Crown Princess.”

“But there probably won’t be many people. Since we rented the entire base today, aside from urgent patients, it’ll mostly just be us.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, Namgoong Min. Would you want to show your face in a group that includes the Crown Princess, a Rich Tycoon, a Psychic, and a Hero?”

“…Ah.”

There are four powerful figures who could easily make one researcher or guard disappear, whether physically or socially.

If I’m not careful, I might get singled out, so it seems they want to keep a low profile until the practicals are over.

They might not necessarily take offense at that, but they’re the type who wouldn’t really care about such things. The academy probably gave them a heads-up.

‘Is that what it means to be powerful?’

Just visiting somewhere has such a massive impact on the surroundings.

Suddenly I felt quite exceptional for being caught up in all this.

As we walked, we soon reached the crack the size of a high-rise building, and then Dream Within a Dream.

…But up close, this looks seriously unsettling.

Are we really going to enter there?

“There’s no need to hesitate. Let’s go right in!”

“…Are we just supposed to go in like that?”

“Haha! Fortuneteller, you’re surprisingly timid! I’ll help you!”

“Uh, excuse me? Wait, waaaah!?”

As I hesitated, staring at the undulating crack, Redfield suddenly grabbed me by the back of the neck and tossed me in!

Wow, if I hadn’t activated Maiden’s Breath in that instant, I could’ve really broken a bone.

After passing through the gate at an incredible speed, I hit the ground and was finally able to look around properly.

“……It’s beautiful.”

A space shimmering with rainbow colors.

There were no boundaries up, down, or sideways.

I couldn’t even tell what I was standing on, and touching beneath my feet revealed there was nothing to step on.

Exploring a place where it felt like I might lose my sense of direction made me realize at some point that Liu, Rain, the Crown Princess, and the hero had all appeared next to me.

“Huh? When did you come in?”

“Just now. Ah…but this is definitely a unique gate. What kind of sensation is this?”

“The way out is simple. Just exert a bit of telekinesis….”

Zzzip.

A tearing sound like paper splitting made a small rift appear in the rainbow-colored space.

Beyond it lay the base we had just been standing in.

As Rain withdrew her hand, the rift naturally closed, returning to shimmering rainbow.

“If even Rain’s power can only do this much… If Instructor Scarlet really goes for it, she could probably tear it apart altogether.”

“Isn’t the Crown Princess’s fist similar?”

“Namgoong Min?”

“My apologies!”

By the way… I’m starting to feel drowsy.

I heard that entering Dream Within a Dream makes one sleepy, but this is so fast.

My eyelids slowly drooped, and the overwhelming drowsiness began to wash over me.

“What’s up? Are you already sleepy? Hey, Fortuneteller. Come here.”

“Namgoong Min, you have to sleep with me too.”

“I’m coming—”

—Oh.

This is just too… sleepy…

“Namgoong Min?”

“…………Why… me too….”

As I succumbed to the sleepiness and collapsed, I managed to grab hold of two girls.

With this, we’ll share… a Lucid Dream…

A dream…

*

“Hey, older brother! What’s for lunch today?”

“Bean paste stew.”

“Did you put in brisket?”

“If you hadn’t borrowed money without permission, we could’ve had it.”

“…Tch.”

By the time the sun was high in the sky, Namgoong Jisoo, who had stayed wrapped in blankets, finally got up with a grumble.

While I wanted to buy a proper chair and table if possible… This tiny dining table was the best I could manage.

A one-room without even a separate bedroom, just a single bathroom, and a stuffy semi-basement.

Though the living conditions left much to be desired, Jisoo was doing fine except for the occasional grumbling.

Even if she’s a damn terrible younger sister, she’s also a family member I’m thankful for at times like this.

“Here, eat up.”

“……Older brother! You didn’t put in the brisket!”

“I only said it might not be included, not that it wasn’t.”

“Yay!”

Thanks to a bonus I received from a construction site yesterday, I splurged a little.

Despite it being a small amount, seeing Jisoo happily eating the brisket in the bean paste stew, she quickly fished out a piece of meat and placed it in my bowl.

What a sly little thing.

“You eat it.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Quickly, before I change my mind.”

“Thank you!”

By the way, even though the college entrance exam is over, it’s already been a month, so can she really keep acting like this?

She spends the whole day just eating and sleeping and is somehow not gaining weight—in fact, she seems to be building muscles.

…Could it be because she frequently goes for walks outside?

By the way, once I enroll in university, I’ll have to pay the tuition fees.

I need to look into student loans more, and I hate to say it, but I should probably tell Jisoo to get a part-time job…

“Ah, older brother.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not going to college.”

“……What?”

“I… have things I need to do.”

First, let’s take a breath.

I don’t know why someone who had been studying hard because they believed entering a proper place was essential is suddenly saying this, but there must be a reason.

I looked at Jisoo who was picking at her bean paste stew.

“What do you want to do?”

“……I’m going to make a game.”

“Ga…me?”

“Older brother, you’re not gonna tell me not to mess around with games like an old-timer, right?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then?”

“You’re terrible with computers. How are you going to make one?”

“……….”

Due to our impoverished circumstances, she barely managed to get a smartphone, let alone a computer, and she’s claiming she wants to make a game?

I don’t know much about that industry, but isn’t some programming knowledge necessary?

“And from what I know, making a game requires a lot of money too.”

“That’s… true.”

“How do you plan to do that? Are you going to take out loans? We don’t have anything to use as collateral.”

“………….”

“Without money and programming skills… how do you plan to make a game?”

It’s not that I’m chastising Jisoo’s dream as unrealistic, but I am bringing up the real problems.

If it’s something she truly wants to do, I’d want to support her.

But to suddenly claim she wants to make a game without proper preparation makes it hard to respond positively.

“Don’t you need to have other people join you?”

“I’m going to make it by myself.”

“……By yourself? Really?”

“…Uh, uh, I’ll find a way! I absolutely must make it! It has to…!!”

“It has to…?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Anyway, even if you’re making a game, make sure you get proper preparations done first. Go to college at the very least. You could enroll in the computer science department.”

“That’d be… too late…”

“Jisoo?”

“I’m going to run away from home!”

“……Huh?”

Jisoo?

Jisoo…

Ji…

……

“Ah.”

What was that just now?

A dream? If so, is it a Lucid Dream?

It felt too vivid to be a dream… it was truly something that happened.

Jisoo saying she was going to make a game just before she almost ran away—

“──I woke up.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I realized that I was not in that rainbow-colored space but still in the semi-basement room where I once lived.

The bean paste stew I had just been eating was still there, but Jisoo was nowhere to be found.

And sitting in the spot where Jisoo had been was someone else.

“You woke up faster than I expected. Your mental strength is commendable.”

“……Who are you?”

“Stop with the formalities. It feels a bit strange to see you as someone else.”

“……….”

A mysterious man shrouded in a tattered hood.

No matter how much he pulled the hood down, his face remained obscured by darkness in a position where it should be visible.

It was undeniably unnatural and eerie.

He took a spoonful of the bean paste stew and brought it up to his shadowed face, then put the spoon down.

“Delicious. Not as good as mine, though.”

“……….”

“Are you wary? Surprising, don’t you think? You still haven’t figured it out? What a dullard.”

“………….”

“Silence, huh? You learned well from that cultist jerk. It’s better to stay quiet rather than answer unnecessarily, right?”

“……!”

Can he read my thoughts?

No matter who that person is, I have to escape this space.

So, I must use My Own Little Fortune Teller’s Shop—

“──It doesn’t work…?”

“Don’t waste your efforts. This is within a dream, and no matter what your skills say, you can’t escape.”

“……….”

“Are you starting to catch on? The voice, the tone, the way I act. If you’ve learned well from that jerk, it should be possible for you.”

…Wait, there’s one thing that comes to mind.

It was too absurd and nonsensical to consider, so I ignored it until now.

But no matter how I thought about it, there was only one conclusion.

“…Is it Namgoong Min?”

“It is indeed Namgoong Min. Just like you or perhaps even better.”

As if my realization triggered it, the darkness covering his face began to recede.

He took off the hood and smiled.

This smile felt so familiar.

Mostly… when I look in the mirror.

“Hello, me.”

“………Hello, me.”

With a confident smile, the other Namgoong Min extended a hand toward me.

A version of Namgoong Min that looked exactly like me stared back.