I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 79

“………”

Even when I rubbed my eyes or opened and closed them, the reality I saw remained unchanged.

I had definitely entered the Gate, yet the scenery had not altered.

…No, something had changed.

“It’s ominous.”

The unsettling air of the underwater cave, the flickering lights, the decrepit mansion with damage everywhere.

It was surely the same place, yet it felt different.

It looked like a significant amount of time had passed.

“And where’s Liu?”

Earlier, there had been a welcoming saying something about coming through the Gate.

It was a Gate I had seen hundreds of times in the game, so it shouldn’t have felt this way now…

“Ugh, huh!?”

Beeeep——

Tinnitus and pain.

The ringing that pierced my brain was now enveloping the entire cave.

‘Damn it.’

I remembered. I recalled everything.

I thought back to the bizarre, absurdly naive behavior I had exhibited.

‘Everything is out of whack!’

Liu’s birthday was still quite a long way off, at least more than four months remaining.

It was true I had never seen the ocean or cave before, but it didn’t evoke much of a feeling, considering I had already seen both on TV and in books. If that were the case, I should have been moved by the Great Lake too.

I was indeed clumsy with relationships, but I wasn’t ignorant enough not to know what gift to give for a birthday. As if I would even gift myself with ribbons! Ha!

And I don’t write journals. Would I write a diary simply because I was happy to go out for the first time? I should have done so when I made my first friends!

Above all, I wasn’t oblivious. Was I annoyed because of the day? It’s hard to believe that an excuse like menstrual pain would hold any water, let alone twice!

“My head…”

What’s wrong? Since when did my mental state become a mess?

Was it when I stayed at the mansion? When I fell asleep on the private jet? Or was it immediately after using the Water Divination skill?

“Grrr….!”

It was a pain that made me wish someone would just split my head open with an axe.

However, if I remained absorbed only in the pain, nothing would change.

This pain, this suffering.

Compared to that day when only the two of us were left in the world, it felt like nothing at all.

“Ha… ha…”

The pain wouldn’t subside. But I could endure it.

Think, think.

Think──

[There’s no need to think so much.]

“………!!”

Ah, come to think of it.

It wasn’t my first time seeing the Gate today.

I had seen Gates hundreds of times in the game, and I had learned endlessly about their shapes and forms at the Academy.

I naturally knew how Gates looked.

──At least I knew it wasn’t in the form of a rift.

[Oh, you’re finally looking this way.]

“………Ha.”

Turning around, there was a rift.

For some reason, I had mistaken it for a Gate and had come over.

…The rift was moving.

[Greetings, noble foreigner.]

No matter how hard I looked, it was still a rift. Just a trace where the space had shattered like glass.

Yet, it was still shifting.

With each moment, the space broke apart, and in some places, it reattached itself. Repeating this process, the rift began to take on a form, like a picture drawn in the void.

It stood on two legs, possessed four arms, and had two heads.

It was merely a rift, yet I had no way of telling which was its legs, arms, or head, but its existence was engraved in my mind rather than seen with my eyes.

Even if it was a rift, it reflected how I appeared.

And it was smiling.

[Can you not hear my greeting? I am surely speaking in Korean.]

“…Who are you?”

[Unlike her, you are quite polite. No, I should say it’s a defense mechanism. You’ve faced too much pain since childhood, so you maintain distance by using honorifics, poor thing.]

“My tinnitus and pain have vanished. Was it you?”

[Of course! I temporarily rescued you from her clutches. Even so, it was akin to fishing a seawater fish from fresh water, left here, you’d suffocate and perish.]

“I will ask again, who are you?”

[Ha ha! Who I am matters little! After all, this conversation will vanish in no time, so what does it matter what this act means? Well, it is true that it’s a delightful diversion, so I will oblige you with an answer.]

The rift shimmies.

It flutters its four arms and smiles with its two heads.

The thing that had been smiling without moving its two legs began to speak.

[What am I?]

“…Is this a riddle?”

[No, no, this is more akin to verification. You have already heard of who I am many times.]

“…Huh?”

[Ha ha! A truth may be close or far, but what good is it to know beforehand what you were bound to discover!]

I glare at the boisterously laughing rift.

…What on earth is that?

I don’t recall seeing anything like that in the game, did I?]

“………!!”

What, did it just read my thoughts?

[To be precise, I didn’t read them. It’s just that it comes to me so naturally, so don’t mind it too much, foreigner.]

“You keep calling me ‘foreigner’ since earlier, but how do you know where I’m from?”

[Well, of course! Aren’t you from the same place as her? A truly tragic fact.]

…Her?

That person mentioned just a moment ago.

“Who is she?”

[Ah, the fleeting dream. Why should I respond, when this conversation is but a facade?]

“That implies…”

[We are speaking while also not speaking. Once this brief encounter is over, you will forget that you ever met me.]

…Damn it.

What is this entity?

[Oh, ‘this guy’? It seems you share the same description as her. Blood truly cannot lie.]

“Wait a second. What did you just say?”

[Oh, woe is me! She never wished for you to arrive here, yet I had no idea this meeting would come to pass.]

“Hey!”

[Time to go. The fish caught by the bait is flopping about, and if left here, it will die. How vindictive and delightful! I shall laugh at her in the secret room!]

“Jisoo! You know about Jisoo, don’t you! You’re talking about Jisoo!”

I sprint toward the rift, behaving overly dramatized like a performance.

With every ounce of strength, until my breath was almost at the edge—

…Wait a moment.

How far had I run?

‘More importantly, why…’

Why am I still a disciple?

Had I been running? Or not? Had I sat still from the beginning?

…The rift shimmers.

In synchronization, the surrounding space began to crack.

[Perhaps what she left behind, her preparation, is now shining through her pact with me! It is a frustrating light, especially for her! To the one who has been toying with your innocence and ignorance!]

“No, wait a second. No…!”

[The Fortuneteller! The one you despised, the one she despised, for whom you believed you would never see the end of the world! The Fortuneteller meant to trap you in this world forever! Speak, speak, say anything! The creator, who has had their existence usurped by her, shall listen to anything!]

I must say something, anything.

I felt it through instinct without needing to hear more. I knew this answer would be the last, and after that, I would forget everything.

The rift begot a rift which spawned another, devouring the entire space.

So my choice—

“I will ask! <Did I have a conversation with an unknown existence, and will I lose the memory of that conversation, realizing that I'm not in my right mind during it!? >“

[What a strange and mysterious question! I shall answer that it is correct, yet also incorrect! Indeed, you did converse with me, however, your interference was a result of the assistance of this space!]

“……..Understood.”

[Time, it is time! She is looking at me! Her anger is directed toward me! The one who has usurped my place is moving!]

“Jisoo, Jisoo.”

[Farewell, foreigner! And please take good care of my disciple! May it be days filled with fluttering petals!]

Then.

So.

“So…”

A strange ceiling.

It was a phrase I had seen many times in games or novels, and each time I found it to be a cliché expression.

Having closed my eyes in Eileen’s room, I awakened in a strange place, leaving me utterly baffled—where even am I?

Thinking about it realistically, I tried to rise, only to find—

“……?”

What? Why can’t I move?

It was then that I hurriedly checked what condition my body was in.

Bandages, bandages, bandages, bandages.

My entire body was wrapped in white bandages except for my eyes, nose, and mouth.

Not only that, but I seemed to be restrained with bandages and metal pins, leaving me unable to move. I barely had any strength either.

I could only blink my eyes.

“……Huh.”

Judging by the situation, it seemed I had been moved from Eileen’s room to this hospital-like place.

Just a few uses of that job skill had brought me to this state?

They must be serious about handing out penalties.

“Sigh.“

My neck was so stiff I could barely look around, and all I could see was the ceiling and a part of the wall.

I couldn’t even find a nurse call button, so just when I was about to shout for help, I heard—

“You’re awake? Fortuneteller brat.”

“…Liu?”

“You wouldn’t see it, yet you knew me well. This rich tycoon is proud.”

The tone was unmistakably Liu Yan’s, speaking rather rudely.

…If I responded, I felt like I’d get slapped, so I kept quiet.

Ah, no, I should ask.

“Where am I?”

“Where else would it be but the hospital?”

“What happened?”

“Well, first you need to know this.”

Rustle.

As something made a rustling sound beside me, unexpectedly, Liu’s face suddenly popped up, and I was taken aback!

In the moment of surprise of her sudden appearance, Liu’s red eyes met mine.

Her long black hair spilled over my face, and the expressionless Liu leaned in close.

…This is immensely uncomfortable.

“It’s been six days.”

“…Huh?”

“You haven’t opened your eyes for six days. Do you understand?”

Wait, what?

So I’ve been unconscious for six whole days??

“R-Really?”

“Would I lie to you? The Academy has already concluded. You have three months of vacation ahead.”

“…Oh my.”

It felt like time had been erased.

Isn’t this a bug?

“………Bug?”

“Where did that come from? In any case, you should feel lucky──”

“……”

Something felt off.

What is it?