I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 39

“At the lowest and most humble place from the tallest tower… sigh.”

Sweat was dripping down, and my legs were shaking.

Mandrick, who had already run several laps around the Academy, collapsed on any bench he could find.

“What the heck does this mean…?”

It had been a whole day since I had my fortune told by Namgoong Min.

In just a few hours, the first evaluation for the Fighters’ class would begin, yet Mandrick still couldn’t grasp a single clue for advice.

Regretting that he had not heeded the fortuneteller’s warning felt pointless now; there was no way to turn back at this stage.

“Maybe I’ll start training from now on…”

I had come in desperation thinking it was the last resort, but isn’t that how fortune-telling usually goes?

This wasn’t the olden days or the medieval era; believing in fortune-telling in this advanced world of science and magic was absurd.

If it weren’t for that fortuneteller—I wouldn’t have even glanced at it if not because of the impression Namgoong Min left at the entrance ceremony and Eileen’s recommendation.

Perhaps relying on such luck isn’t the way to go; maybe training honestly would be better.

Mandrick let out a deep sigh.

“But even if I train now… it wouldn’t change anything.”

However, if it was something that could be achieved through effort, I wouldn’t have sought out a fortune teller in the first place.

Training every day while losing sleep, I felt nothing but stagnation compared to my peers, and I didn’t even feel like I was growing.

Stagnation.

That thought was gradually gnawing at Mandrick.

‘It’s only been a week…’

With this, can I really graduate from the Romance Academy?

I recall the days of toiling hard to get into this place, sacrificing so much that my parents even put our house up as collateral.

…Yeah. I can’t give up.

‘Somehow…!’

No matter what, I will get that diploma and return proudly.

After gathering his resolve, Mandrick slapped his cheeks and stood up.

“Alright. Let’s reconsider from the beginning.”

[The lowest place from the highest tower.]

That has to be the starting point for advice.

The highest tower.

‘Sounds easy to say…’

This Romance Academy is a floating city larger than most islands.

There are several towers in the city, but which one is the highest?

After a day of wandering around various high-looking towers, I grew uncertain through my lack of conviction, wasting time without proper searches.

“What on earth should I do….”

“Hey! Mandrick!”

“…Hmm? Oh, Layla.”

Mandrick, desperately trying to rack his brain with his eyes closed, turned his head towards the voice that was calling him.

A blue-haired girl across the street was waving at him.

“You look like you have a terrible headache?”

“Of course! What about you?”

“I’m the same.”

Layla, a fellow member of the Fighters’ class, was introduced to Mandrick by Eileen and had visited the fortune teller.

“What was your fortune about?”

“[Among the hunters’ tales, there are four birds. Two already soar in the sky, while the other two have yet to spread their wings on the ground; feed them poison and water to help them rise.]”

—A colleague who also chose ‘the advice of the black card.’

“…I think I’m doing better than you.”

“Right? Did I ask something too abstract…?”

I heard that Layla had inquired about “the most enjoyable way to read a book” from the fortuneteller.

That question was quite befitting of her, being a Fighter who spends most of her time cozied up in the library, and just as hard to decipher as the advice itself.

“Are you going to keep searching?”

“Of course! It’s supposedly the most fun book in the world! No matter how much time it takes, I will find it!”

“…Yeah, I envy you.”

“…Ah.”

Although her question was quite pretentious, it seemed Layla wasn’t too bothered.

Well… unlike Mandrick, she could leisurely interpret the advice without any pressing issues.

Sensing Mandrick’s slightly gloomy atmosphere, Layla covered her mouth, feeling guilty.

She was the first person he sought advice from regarding his worries, and she hadn’t answered properly back then either.

“Uh, um! Can I see that advice? I haven’t seen it yet!”

“Y-Yeah. Sure.”

Realizing the heavy atmosphere, Layla intentionally raised her voice to make amends and clung to Mandrick.

He handed her the notebook where he had written down the advice, his reaction somewhat reluctant.

“Let’s see… huh?”

“What do you think? Do you get it at all?”

Mandrick, with some expectations, watched as Layla fell deep in thought.

Was there something that clicked for her? Layla broke her gaze from the notebook and started looking around.

“…Oh, over there.”

“There!? Did you already check that place out?”

“Have you been there?”

“…Are you referring to that?”

The place Layla pointed at had, indeed, a tower that looked pretty high.

However, that tower was just a dilapidated power tower on top of a mountain, which posed a problem.

“Isn’t that supposed to be the highest tower? That power tower looks the tallest!”

“T-That… shouldn’t we be measuring the height of the tower itself?”

“I thought pretty simply. And if you’re right, it’s strange that we haven’t found it yet. Haven’t we covered all the towers?”

“Well… that might be true.”

Mandrick had been tirelessly searching only for high towers without sleeping.

While he nodded in uncertainty, agreeing with Layla, he felt anxious since he hadn’t truly examined any of them thoroughly.

“Then let’s go! If we leave now, we can make it to class on time!”

“….”

“Mandrick?”

Could that tower really be the right one? Still, it’s just a power tower?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to look around other towers or the memorial tower located in the Academy’s center?

Time was running out. If we went up that mountain tower, we wouldn’t have time to explore anywhere else.

What was correct—

“…Layla?”

“I’m sorry, Mandrick. It was silly of me to say something weird….”

—Suddenly, one of his hands felt warm.

As Mandrick froze in thought due to that warmth, he looked at Layla, who was holding his hand.

Layla, his first friend at the Academy and someone he could genuinely open his heart to.

‘…Yeah. I’ve already gone to every worthwhile place.’

Following his friend’s advice would surely be the right thing to do.

Even if it turns out meaningless… just knowing Layla would be beside him, comforting and uplifting him with her words would be fine.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Mandrick?”

“Your ideas are not wrong, and it’s right to follow a friend’s advice! Let’s check it out!”

“…Okay!”

Determined, Mandrick had no intention of wasting time any longer.

He and Layla began to run directly toward the mountain’s power tower.

They passed through shopping districts, ventured through outskirts, and entered the mountains.

Utilizing the superhuman physique typical for a job holder, they jumped over streams and ran unceasingly towards the power tower.

And finally.

“Haah… haah… we made it.”

“Phew, indeed.”

No matter how tough a Fighter he was, they arrived at the power tower feeling a bit breathless.

‘But it’s huge.’

From afar, it just looked like a skeletal tower made of iron, but now that it was up close, it felt quite overwhelming.

Even when tilting his head back up to the sky, the top was hardly visible, and it stood alone, void of any connected wires or other power towers.

I had heard it had been operated until 20 years ago, after which it was abandoned.

‘Looking at it like this… it’s really the highest tower.’

Reaching the mountain’s peak offered Mandrick a clear view of the Romance Academy, and even the other tall towers that once seemed so high appeared diminished.

When I heard Layla’s story, I thought it might be the case, but now it felt different.

This truly seemed to be it…!

“Mandrick, what was the next part of the advice?”

“[From the highest tower, to the lowest and most humble place.]”

“Then it’s obvious! That basement!”

“Right.”

The enormous power tower wasn’t standing on the ground, but rather built atop a concrete podium.

And in the middle of that concrete base, there was a small door.

It was clearly a door to the basement, matching the advice of [the lowest and most humble place].

‘…Should we go in?’

It was a power tower abandoned 20 years ago. The inside might not be clean or necessarily safe.

Would it even be unlocked in the first place?

Creak.

“Let’s go in!”

“Oh, okay.”

It’s opening.

Layla, who seemed more excited than Mandrick himself about the intriguing situation, leaped into the basement first.

Following her lead, Mandrick also entered. After coming this far, it would be foolish to opt out of going inside.

After a moment of adjusting to the darkness, Mandrick took a brief look around, illuminated by the sunlight coming in through the basement door.

“…It’s cleaner than expected?”

“True.”

Unexpectedly, the basement underneath the power tower, which he had thought would be filled with dust and bugs, was surprisingly clean.

Sure, there were some dust and spider webs here and there, but it was navigable and harmless for exploration.

In the space below the basement door, Mandrick discovered a plaque hanging on the only door there and wiped off the dust.

“Guard Room?”

“It looks like they used to manage this place while living here.”

“Yeah.”

Wait, wasn’t the next line of the advice, [But it’s a place that should not be absent and holds warmth]?

Would the Guard Room even have warmth?

Still recalling the murky advice, Mandrick gripped the handle of the Guard Room and turned it.

Click.

‘It’s open here too.’

Isn’t it standard to lock such abandoned places? Well, whatever’s good is good.

This might be part of the fortune as well.

If it was a space locked by the Academy, they wouldn’t have been able to find it, and it wouldn’t have appeared in the advice anyway.

“Is anyone here~”

“Of course, there can’t be.”

“I’m just pretending.”

Creeeek.

The door opened with an unpleasant sound, and what lay inside was not very spacious.

An old, worn-out sofa and table, a tidied-up bed, a dusty bookshelf, and an old TV.

It was exactly how one would envision a Guard Room.

“What are we supposed to find?”

“Something that holds warmth… or a child shedding hot tears?”

“…A crying kid?”

“Uh, that’s what it says in the advice.”

Even assuming there was warmth or a child in this cramped Guard Room, if there was really a child hiding in here, wouldn’t that be terrifying?

Taking turns with Layla as they searched the dimly lit space with only the faint sunlight, Mandrick let out a sigh.

“There’s nothing. How about you, Layla?”

“Same here. Just old stuff.”

“Is that so… Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

He thought the advice made perfect sense, but was it just forced connections after all?

Getting stuck at the last part elicited a sense of disappointment just as great as the anticipation.

“Let’s go back. We should be getting ready to head to class soon if we don’t want to be late—”

“Hey, Mandrick? It’s warm here…”

“—Huh?”

Layla’s hand was resting on a wooden door of a closet.

Hearing that, Mandrick placed his hand there too.

“It’s warm.”

“Right? What’s beyond this?”

“…It looks like a boiler room.”

Mandrick murmured as he noticed some faint engravings on the wooden door.

Since a Guard Room was here, it made sense to have a boiler room installed.

But a boiler that had been abandoned 20 years ago is warm?

‘Wait, thinking back, the bed was the only thing so clean.’

The state of the basement being somewhat tidy might be odd, and the bed alone being clean also felt strange.

And the functioning boiler 20 years later—

‘Could it be…?’

“Let’s open it! There has to be something in there!”

“Wait, Layla, shouldn’t we head out first?—”

Creeeak.

Click.

“—Huh?”

“…Huh?”

“Uh-oh.”

*

“…So, it ended up like this, all thanks to you, teacher.”

“Um, Mandrick? You don’t have to call me teacher since we’re classmates too…”

“Absolutely not! I was foolish to doubt your advice for even a moment!”

“So, there’s really no need to be formal with me…”

“I’ll actively spread the word about this fortune teller around!”

“You can call me teacher as much as you want.”

The day after delivering Mandrick’s advice, Mandrick was bowing repeatedly with an expression of astonishment and gratitude towards Namgoong Min, who wore black gloves with tear patterns drawn on both hands.

Namgoong Min reacted with a somewhat troubled expression despite the excessive treatment he received, but…

‘Just as planned.’

Stealing a glance at Mandrick’s black gloves, a rotten smile crept across Namgoong Min’s face.

The real fortune-telling began from here.