I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 69

It’s been quite some time since I came to this world── and as I think about it, nearing the end of my first semester, I feel an emptiness.

It feels like I’ve experienced a lot, yet I haven’t even kickstarted a proper character event or a major event.

The character event I got was just a single Crown Princess; and the ‘Skill Thief’ type big event does not relate to the upcoming retest next week, so it’s basically over.

Right, I certainly haven’t made any real progress at all.

[Bad Ending Route <Cage>

Conditions: ???’s favorability above a certain level, half-clear ???’s character event, ??? achieved.

Be careful with your choices and actions! Bad endings cannot be undone!]

[Bad Ending Route <Catastrophe>

Conditions: Achieve certain favorability levels for ???, ???, ??? over a period, reach the status abnormality ‘Imprisonment’, and fail ???’s character event.

If you don’t want to witness three people killing each other, please behave well!]

“Already two Bad Endings, huh?”

“Romance Academy” was a game where seeing a Bad Ending was basically impossible.

As for the heroine…… I mean, it’s a female-targeted dating sim, so even if I set up a harem with the male characters acting as ‘heroines,’ no matter how much I die in combat or fail various events, I could somehow still reach an ending.

However, amidst all this, there were types of Bad Endings that I still had to be cautious of.

It was related to ‘Favorability.’

“Why does Jisoo have to have a tendency towards obsessiveness….”

In this game, which seems to be stuffed with my dark tastes, normal people are extremely rare.

Right from the original game, there’s Liu and Rain, who are simply side characters or antagonists, as well as the Crown Princess.

Most of the male ‘heroines’ also tend to have peculiar personalities or pasts.

It’s a game where such stimulating elements need to be included, so it’s understandable, but when it turns into reality, they become quite bothersome people.

Well, I’ve sort of adapted to it……

Anyway, the Bad Endings with the condition of ‘favorability above a certain level’ had to be approached with utmost caution.

Damn my younger sister’s taste for obsession.

“Wouldn’t it probably end with imprisonment or kidnapping?”

When certain characters’ favorability is raised to its maximum through character events and you continue raising the favorability, a kind of hidden(?) Bad Ending may appear.

Something like kidnapping and imprisonment…… showing obsession, you know.

So when a warning about a Bad Ending pops up, I must be extremely careful in my actions, but there’s a reason I’m not that worried.

“Besides, I’m a guy, so what?”

I’m not a gay dude who would raise male characters’ favorability to max, and the female characters simply have limited favorability.

In other words, even if I try hard, hitting a friend level is the maximum relationship point, so there’s no need to fret about such Bad Endings.

Anyway, it’s unlikely for favorability to ever exceed a certain level!

“From what I remember, if it’s a Cage…… is it Lucas?”

I recall this came up during the Skill Thief event, where I must have raised Lucas’s favorability while helping Rain. After that, we dropped the formality and became friends, so it’s definitely true.

As for the Catastrophe, I have no clue. I haven’t seen all the Bad Endings in the first place.

“Namgoong Min? Namgoong Min!?”

“……Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought again.”

“That’s fine! Anyway, if we’ve fallen this low, they shouldn’t be able to catch up──”

……Hmm, I understand that Crown Princess Kim Eun-ha is worried about me, but really, it’s an unnecessary concern.

Why on earth would I be running away from Liu and Rain, to begin with?

“Crown Princess?”

“Yes?”

“But…… why are you running away?”

“……That’s true. I didn’t explain something important in my rush.”

Looking around to check if anyone was coming, the Crown Princess grabbed my shoulders with both hands and looked at me earnestly.

What’s this? Why so serious?

“Liu Yan and Rain Arthur…… they have abnormal feelings for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve definitely heard. Rain Arthur wants to trap you in a cage, and Liu Yan will put you on display in a showcase!”

Um…….

Yeah.

“Did you… drink alcohol, by any chance?”

“I’m serious!”

“Uh, um. Crown Princess? My shoulder is cracking!!”

As I let out a pained scream, the Crown Princess hurriedly released her grip, but I distinctly heard the sound of a crack.

This can’t be a fracture, right? A Crown Princess breaking shoulder bones with her grip? My heart is truly overwhelmed……

Anyway, I nodded at the apologizing Crown Princess and established eye contact with her.

I need to clear up this misunderstanding.

“Crown Princess, you’re misunderstanding greatly right now.”

“Misunderstanding? You think it’s a misunderstanding!? You’ll understand once you hear those crazy girls’ words!”

“……I assure you, Liu and Rain are not crazy.”

“………….”

In the alleyway, there’s no one besides the Crown Princess and me.

Suddenly, it seems the Crown Princess is looking behind us, so I also turned my head, but there was nobody but bins and utility poles.

Turning back again, for some reason, I found myself grabbing the Crown Princess’s stiff shoulders this time.

……Ah, my shoulder still hurts.

“Liu and Rain are my friends. Crown Princess.”

“But………”

“And I trust them more than anyone else in this world.”

To be precise, besides you, I don’t know anyone else in this world.

So what I’m saying isn’t really wrong!

“Cage, showcase…… I get that you’re excited, Crown Princess, but there’s no way they would imprison me.”

“………….”

“……Well, maybe if they set their minds to it, but still, that wouldn’t happen.”

Don’t look at me like you seriously think that’s the case.

I can’t explain to Kim Eun-ha about the favorability lock, it’s driving me crazy.

Yet somehow, it seems extremely wrong that Liu and Rain are being misunderstood, so I need to make it clear to her.

“And, to put it bluntly, what’s there to worry about if they did such abnormal things?”

“……Excuse me?”

“If they did anything like that, wouldn’t you stop them, Crown Princess?”

“………Huh.”

I chuckled jokingly, and the Crown Princess finally managed a weak smile, but the pain in my shoulder remains. Yet somehow, I shrugged it off, and the Crown Princess nodded as if realizing something.

“……True, I can protect you. You’re a valuable talent who will work for the royal family in the future….”

“Crown Princess?”

“Thank you. I always receive help from you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“……I’m sorry, but after running for a while, I’m feeling a bit thirsty. Could you fetch me some water nearby?”

“Uh, I have Italian money…….”

“Here you go. Keep the change.”

Clink.

Um, no matter how you look at it, this is definitely gold coins, right? But with this, I’m supposed to buy a bottle of water and keep the change?

Honestly, this gold coin is overly generous, but after hearing about buildings and private jets, it seems rather appropriate.

……There was a jewelry shop on the way, right?

“I’ll be right back!”

What a stroke of luck!

……Ah, but it’s strange for the Crown Princess to be thirsty with just this little effort.

By the way, why are Rain and the Crown Princess in Italy…?

*

“Come out.”

“………….”

“……….”

“You were all watching, right? Namgoong Min left. It’ll take some time to exchange the gold coins at the jewelry shop.”

With a wave towards the direction Namgoong Min ran off, the Crown Princess muttered to someone with the same smile on her face.

At the time Namgoong Min disappeared into the alley, she stiffened her smile and turned back.

Then, one black-haired and one silver-haired girl caught her eye.

“………….”

“…………….”

“I thought I was running pretty fast, but you both are swift.”

“……Crown Princess, what are you thinking?”

“What am I thinking? I simply helped the future royal fortuneteller in person.”

“………….”

The two girls, Liu Yan and Rain Arthur, caught up surprisingly quickly, panting heavily as they tried to catch their breath.

They must have hurried and chased me to the limit.

“Honestly, as the Crown Princess of the Daehan Empire, I want to immediately order you two not to approach Namgoong Min.”

“Oh? You’re not calling us crazy girls?”

“Should I do that? Namgoong Min treated you with consideration, so I too will give you consideration.”

“………Tch.”

“Don’t click your tongue, Liu.”

Kim Eun-ha was very well aware of the ugly feelings Liu and Rain harbored for Namgoong Min.

My goodness, a cage? A showcase?

While I can understand the act of loving, to think that they would even contemplate imprisoning the one they love is a delusional thought.

It’s likely that she will never understand their feelings.

Thus, Kim Eun-ha could treat the two like a stern teacher.

“I know you two like Namgoong Min, but there are lines you must not cross──”

“No.”

“──Excuse me?”

“This feeling…… is not love at all.”

Despite hearing all sorts of things from Crown Princess Kim Eun-ha, Liu and Rain remain calm, not because they are overwhelmed by her authority.

It’s just that it’s due to the words of Namgoong Min they heard while hidden in that alley earlier.

His declaration of trust in Liu and Rain without wavering, that resonated fiercely within them.

Therefore, they simply could not help but react to his feelings being misunderstood.

“It’s not… love?”

“Of course it isn’t.”

To Rain, Namgoong Min is like the lost half that can mend their weaknesses.

To call such a being merely love?

That thought was laughable for her.

“It cannot even be defined as love. I can’t perfectly express my feelings with any words at all.”

“………….”

“If I had to say… it feels like a lack.”

It’s only natural for an inherently incomplete half to seek out its other half.

As they feel inadequate, they yearn for completeness.

Rain may have never realized that she was sensing a lack from Namgoong Min.

“Lack……….”

“I feel the same way, Crown Princess.”

“Liu.”

“I’m not in love with Namgoong Min. I can say that with certainty.”

To Liu, Namgoong Min is something precious she wants to keep close.

That’s why she yearns to lock him in a showcase and experience him for a lifetime.

So desperately, madly, and covetously wanting him for herself.

Liu knew exactly how to label this emotion.

“This is the desire for ownership.”

“……Goodness.”

“It’s the feeling of wanting to have, to possess, and to keep forever.”

“……….”

“And Crown Princess, you feel that desire for ownership towards him, that’s why you’re trying to bring him into the royal family, right?”

“Th-That….”

“Desiring to have what one covets. To feel the desire for ownership is a natural emotion. What’s strange about that?”

Liu Yan, the Rich Tycoon, was indeed living a life of desire for ownership.

Would it be any less for the Crown Princess?

Liu was piercingly pointing that out without a care.

“……You’re insane.”

Kim Eun-ha frowned.

Just as Namgoong Min had, she tried her best to respect the bond formed through childhood acquaintances, yet,

The feelings of a Rich Tycoon and a Psychic centered around one man were far too dark and gloomy.

Kim Eun-ha found herself taking an involuntary step back, yet she gritted her teeth.

“I will never.”

“……….”

“Absolutely, I will never let Namgoong Min fall into your hands.”

He is a talented individual who is a citizen of the Daehan Empire and will work for the royal family in the future.

Beyond such a simple argument, a concern as a person for Namgoong Min surfaced.

If he were to fall into the hands of either of them, it felt as if she would never see that fortuneteller again.

As a friend of Namgoong Min, it was her undeniable duty.

“……Well, Crown Princess, it seems to me that you don’t seem that different, either.”

“That’s an unpleasant remark, Rain.”

“I sympathize this once with the bad girl. Rather, it seems more dangerous to hand Namgoong Min over to Crown Princess. I have such a foreboding feeling.”

“That’s nonsense.”

Even though she too held familiarity and favor towards Namgoong Min, she was well aware of it herself.

But would that ever grow into love? She couldn’t nod to that question.

It wasn’t Namgoong Min who was the issue.

If there was a problem, it was Crown Princess herself.

‘……A parricide like her, does not deserve a lover.’

No matter how desperately she tried to forget, the memory would occasionally resurface.

The terrifying memory of her mother, whom she petted while claiming everything was alright, dead by her own hands.

As long as that memory held sway over her, Kim Eun-ha would be unworthy of love, whether to give or to receive.

And she knew better than anyone that those memories would haunt her for a lifetime.

Thus, to the Crown Princess, love has become worthless.

Because of that, she could hardly see the darkness emitted by Liu and Rain.

“Remember this. The reason why I’m not stopping you socially or physically is… all because of Namgoong Min’s consideration.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll remember that~”

“Right, Crown Princess.”

That was the last exchange.

No further conversation would flow; the three girls remained in silence.

Lack, desire for ownership, and worthlessness.

Though they were different, they held emotions that could fundamentally be the same as the ordinary girls turned their backs on each other.

Until Namgoong Min exchanged the gold coins for water, the three girls would only realize their differences in reality.