I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 2

What is divination?

Well, everyone has different thoughts about it, but at least I can say this for sure.

Divination is simply an irrational and unscientific superstition that just throws darts at luck.

My views haven’t changed since my parents, who failed in business during my childhood, got hooked on a fortuneteller and sacrificed everything, leading to their suicide.

If divination really worked, our family wouldn’t have suffered like that.

“…Let’s not dwell on the past.”

Even if it’s not as extreme as me, most people see divination as either a fun pastime or a confidence booster; very few take it seriously.

So, what about those cultish fortunetellers? How is it that the common ones, often called skilled, can make such massive fees, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars?

“It’s all a scam.”

Background checks, gathering information, intuition, psychological counseling—those fortunetellers might as well be called mindreaders. They gather information in various ways and make inferences from it.

For instance, if someone shows signs of discomfort while wearing expensive designer clothes, they might not actually be wealthy.

Or, if someone exaggerates their gestures while speaking, there’s a high chance they’re lying.

None of it is guaranteed; they just gather likely possibilities from the person they’ve just met and create plausible guesses.

It’s a bit of a gray area to call it a scam, but while they blabber on about deities and destiny, they’re really just doing psychological analysis, so it is a scam.

In this game, it’s intended for players to use actual divination to act as fortunetellers.

“Then, why even set the probabilities so ridiculously low?!”

What does it mean when the maximum modification is 25%? The probability even drops to 20% with someone you’ve never met before!

Still, since it’s a job skill, clearing the job quest should enhance the skill, but if it’s specifically a fortuneteller’s job quest, then it has to involve actual divination.

But to do that with a 20% success rate divination?

That’s just absurd.

“So… I need to prepare.”

[Time: 71 hours 43 minutes 32 seconds later]

I stared at the ‘time’ section indicated in the tutorial quest.

It was reduced somewhat, but there were still about 3 days left.

‘As long as I do it in there, it should be fine.’

Within the “Romance Academy,” there were many quests or events that had time limits. Although I had never seen one fixed right in the tutorial, I could interpret it as consideration. That crazy woman’s consideration?

I’m not even angry anymore. Just quietly accumulating anger towards that lunatic.

“Just you wait until I return.”

I’ll make them quit being game developers and get themselves committed to a psychiatric hospital. Absolutely.

With my motivation to clear this ridiculous game strongly etched in my mind, I looked back to see a wooden door that clearly read, ‘Please leave.’

I had a hunch. If I opened that, it would likely lead to the entrance exam for the “Romance Academy.”

Having sorted out my thoughts, all that was left was to exit—

“…But I should at least give it one shot.”

I had already given up on my expectations for the job skill “Divination.”

However, even a piece of dung is useful as medicine; a skill that I could potentially use is different from one that is utterly worthless. The skill is trash, needing about four or five attempts before it hits once…!

“But how do I use this thing? In the game, I just had to click on it.”

Tick. Tick.

Clicking on the job skill in the status window didn’t seem to change anything.

Then… there was only one possibility left.

“Divination.”

Fwaaaaat!!

As I called out the skill name, intending to use that damned skill, the nothingness around me slowly started glowing.

Wait, does that mean I have to say “Divination” every time I want to use a job skill?

That’s so cringe—

Thud.

“…Tarot?”

Falling from the light was a beautifully decorated deck of tarot cards.

Since it made its grand appearance, I wondered if it was some hidden tool or something.

“…It’s so ordinary.”

There’s no magical aura, no special drawings, and it isn’t even sturdy. It tore easily when I tried to rip it apart.

It’s just a tarot card that you can find anywhere.

“Am I supposed to use this for my first divination?”

Even when I spoke to the empty air where the status window hovered, nothing changed. I had no expectations of getting a response back anyway.

In my messy room, I tidied my surroundings a bit, sat down, and shuffled the tarot cards.

Tap. Tap. Shffft.

It had been a while since I shuffled, yet the feeling was just the same as before.

With a Casino shuffle style, I split the cards into two halves and mixed them thoroughly, then placed the tarot cards facedown.

Now then.

“What should I divinate about?”

If I were to think about something simple, questions like “Can I clear this ridiculous game?” or “Will I return to reality?” come to mind, but those are taboo subjects.

“They say a fortuneteller can’t even know their own death date.”

Literally, those who can’t read their own fate claim to be fortunetellers. It’s a statement that clearly reveals distrust and skepticism regarding divination.

I mentioned it before; divination is unscientific luck. It’s merely a guess at human psychology.

There’s no reason for those fortunetellers to predict their own fate.

Of course, this is a reality story; there’s no rule that it has to apply to this game, but… it’s honestly unsettling.

“Each job has hidden aspects…”

There are characteristics that are not listed, even though they’re not mentioned in the status window.

For jobs like ‘New Money’ or ‘Investor’, a substantial sum gets automatically deposited every month.

Jobs like ‘Battle Wizard’ or ‘Elemental Wizard’ might possess superior intelligence, meaning they learn things faster than other jobs.

Or, there are jobs like ‘Royalty’ that start with a broken trait of having +80 favorability with pro-emperor characters, but there’s a penalty where assassin intrusion events occur every night at a certain probability.

Why weren’t these crucial details included in the explanation? I was furious and had sent my younger sister 5700 characters detailing it, only to receive no response.

…Anyway, since I have no clue what’s hidden about the “Fortuneteller,” I need to devise a plan.

While I was ruminating, I decided to ask what first came to mind.

“Will anything special happen during the entrance exam?”

One card, two cards, three cards.

The method of divination involves pulling three cards, known as a three-card spread.

I randomly pulled three cards from the tarot deck and laid them before me in order.

“The first one is….”

A picture of an old man sitting on a stone throne crowned.

Major Arcana 4, The Emperor.

“The Emperor, huh…”

The Emperor card typically symbolizes authority, stability, or leadership and perfection.

When asking how a specific event will unfold, the cards usually follow the order they’re drawn.

Having the Emperor come first likely means a stable and successful start.

“Next.”

A picture of a general riding a chariot, seated before two lion-like creatures.

Major Arcana 7, The Chariot.

This symbolizes victory and success, suggesting that the entrance exam is in full swing—

“…But it’s reversed.”

The Chariot card was upside down.

In tarot, if a card is reversed, it usually holds the opposite meaning compared to when upright.

If the reverse meaning of the Chariot is… it means defeat or loss.

“………….”

While I didn’t believe this result, it still felt unsettling.

I flipped the last tarot card without wiping the grim expression off my face.

The last card showed a cloudy sky, with a wheel floating above it—a wheel of fortune surrounded by things like birds, angels, snakes, and foxes.

“…Wheel of Fortune.”

Major Arcana 10, Wheel of Fortune.

This card usually symbolizes destiny, fate, or turning points, just as its name suggests.

But if it’s reversed too, the story changes.

“If the 10th Arcana is reversed…”

Instability, complication of affairs.

Hah.

“This is why divination is so damn garbage.”

Since I’m trying this for the first time, wouldn’t it be nice to see a slightly positive future? Why must it predict a downturn instead?

………But wait.

“Then what’s this 15% chance of being correct?”

How does divination’s accuracy even work?

The iconic tarot consist of 22 Major Arcana and 4 types of Minor Arcana, each with 14 cards, making a total of 78 cards.

Each of these Arcana has its meanings, and most importantly, their interpretations differ too.

‘How many types of tarot cards are there in the first place?’

Some tarot include original Arcana, others have different illustrations, and sometimes orientations are swapped.

In fact, tarot interpretations vary so greatly that even if the same card appears, every fortuneteller gives different readings.

So how is that judged here? Is it based on my interpretation?

‘Then if it says the entrance exam will have complications with a 15% chance, that means there’s an 85% chance nothing will happen at all, right?’

Given the situation, I didn’t think too deeply, but while I was pondering this ‘accuracy of divination’, a notification popped up that rendered all my worries trash.

[Job Skill “Divination” Complete!]

Content of the divination: “Will anything special happen during the entrance exam? Heart pounding!”
Outcome of the divination: The Emperor (upright), The Chariot (reversed), Wheel of Fortune (reversed).

Result of the divination: “The entrance exam will have royals involved and will start smoothly with no problems! But then, some bizarre chariot will end up ruining the exam! Disappointed from the flower bed scattering during the entrance exam, you’ll end up comforting yourself by caressing the wheel turned upside down! Don’t worry; this is just the start of your tumultuous adventure in the “Romance Academy!”

Chance of the result ‘actually’ playing out: 15% (Base 10% + Tarot Card use 5%).

“Um, okay.”

While it’s funny that the word ‘heart pounding’ was included without my inquiry, and interpreting the Emperor card literally as a royal, identifying the reversed chariot as a real chariot ruining the exam, and ultimately—interpreting the reversed Wheel of Fortune as a wheel instead of a cat, all left me speechless.

But the craziest part is the last sentence.

“The chance of the result ‘actually’ playing out?”

So does that mean that with a 85% probability, the weird cart causing the exam failure could actually be a weird student, and the wheel I touch in the end could actually be a cat?

No, it’s entirely possible nothing at all might happen.

“Great.”

In the first place, the probability of such a result actually playing out is definitely 0%. No wait, did I seriously pull a 15% accuracy from my divination!

I angrily tossed the tarot cards I’d laid out to one side of the room and started cursing.

“You won’t be useful here anymore.”

Yeah, I just confirmed the futility of a skill I thought would be useless anyway.

Instead of lamenting here… It’d be better to face the issue head-on.

“…Let’s go.”

Steeling my resolve, I turned the doorknob and opened the door.

And the sight that lay beyond was—

“Congratulations on your entrance exam!”

“Congratulations!”

“Hahaha! If you get stuck with me, an entrance exam is nothing!”

“Today is the day to decide everything!”

“Whatever happens.”

Even though I had read it several times, the lines still dealt damage to my mind, along with various banners I had never seen before, still being hung up with their English-only names.

And it’s not an entrance, nor an entrance ceremony, but participants celebrating the entrance exam.

At the very center of it all—

“My life….”

I was the only one lamenting my existence.