Chapter 3
Of course, I wasn't actually telling fortunes through matgo.
No, seriously—how would you even tell fortunes through matgo?
I was just telling them what I saw.
When Hong Su-yeon jumped to her feet, her face white as a sheet, and hurried out, the people around her started whispering.
"Hey, kid. You're pretty good, aren't you? Want to play with me too?"
"Uh... sir. This isn't a gambling house; it's a place for fortune-telling."
"Ah. Then just tell my fortune, would you!"
That's true enough.
I shuffled the cards in front of the elderly man.
.
.
.
"I'll call it here!! Pogo!!"
"Krrgh...!!"
The middle-aged guy who'd bragged he was a funeral-home goblin got hit with Pogo, meongtong, gwangbak, and pibak.
Even if this were only 100 won per point, how much would that be?
"I, I can't believe I lost like this..."
"Then let's do a reading. Your name is..."
"Go Chun-seok."
You're thinking about changing clients now, aren't you?
"Huh?!"
"Don't change it. The place you just started dealing with isn't a very good one."
The future of Go Chun-seok appeared before me.
He would abandon his existing business and choose the newly approached company as his client, but that client would later go bankrupt.
In the end, his company would collapse, and then the investment he boldly started with what was left of his assets would fail too, wiping out everything he owned before he killed himself with his family.
What a heartbreaking thing.
If you look at Go Chun-seok's past, he's not a bad man.
No, he's actually a very good man.
He's a solid small-business owner who volunteers at the orphanage every weekend and even makes donations.
As an orphan myself, I wanted people like him to do well.
"And one suggestion I'd like to make..."
"A suggestion? What is it?"
You'll soon receive a call from Japan.
"How did you know I was breaking into the Japanese market?!"
Man, that's a top-tier reaction, ajusshi.
"Do business with them. They're your benefactors."
I pointed at his only bright card.
The Eight Bright.
The card with the moon on it.
That company will be related to the moon.
The future changed after I gave that prophecy.
A Japanese company handed Go Chun-seok a business card.
And as he did business with that company, Go Chun-seok made a huge profit.
I may not know much, but I could still recognize the 月 character on the business card.
"I see..."
"Well, fortune-telling is ultimately a matter of whether you believe it or not, isn't it."
The future I told him about was ultimately his decision to believe or not believe.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
Go Chun-seok ajusshi thought it over and nodded.
"Thank you. And here's your fee."
"Uh... I appreciate it, but today's job is to do free readings here, so taking a separate fee is a bit awkward."
Truthfully, I did want to take it.
But the part-time contract specifically said not to accept anything from customers.
"Hmm. Is that so? Then at least take this."
What he held out was a business card.
The name of a company called Truel was printed on it.
"If what you said really comes true, I'll give you a generous fee then."
"Haha. I'll look forward to it."
With that, Go Chun-seok stepped back.
I could see interest in the eyes of the crowd gathered there.
"All right. Anyone else want a reading?"
.
.
.
"Your son seems to need more beatings. I think he needs a little more to come to his senses and focus on studying."
A mother asking whether her son, who doesn't study, can get into a university in Seoul.
"Taeyoung Construction stock? I don't know much about stocks, but if you sell it now, you'll probably cry tears of blood..."
A person asking me about stocks even though I had nothing to do with stocks.
"What? You're going to sing and make a public confession at the MT? Please don't do it..."
A man whose future showed him taking a leave from school and then going to the army.
"Idol ticketing? Uh... I don't really know much about that, but give it a shot. I can see a future where you'll be happy."
A high school girl looking forward to the ticketing for the world-famous idol Black Swan, which would open soon.
"Keep studying just as you are now. Your effort won't betray you."
A repeat student aiming for medical school who had bombed this practice exam.
A wide variety of people came to me for readings.
It wasn't just matgo readings, either.
For people who didn't know how to play Go-Stop, I gave tarot readings instead.
"Thanks for your hard work."
I read the fortunes of dozens of people.
It wasn't particularly difficult or exhausting.
It's not like talking is hard.
But the employee who came over seemed quite satisfied.
"Team Leader Han Yu-na... right?"
The name tag read Team Leader Han Yu-na.
She was one of the hotel's big shots in charge of this event.
"The response is better than expected."
"Thank you."
The young beauty in an expensive-looking suit smiled brightly.
She looked about five years older than me, yet she was in a position like this.
Was she from a good family?
Or maybe an elite?
"The event seems to be winding down... if you don't mind, could I have a reading too?"
"No problem. Then shall we do something simple?"
I shuffled the tarot cards.
I also had to start wrapping up and leave soon, so I didn't have time for hwatu fortune-telling.
"Pick three cards."
"You use a different method every time."
"Fortune-telling, you see, is ultimately about what you choose to look at. The method itself doesn't matter."
That's a lie, of course.
I'm just saying whatever comes to mind.
But Han Yu-na didn't particularly object to what I said.
She just smiled and drew a card.
The cards she drew were the upright Moon, reversed Chariot, and reversed Justice.
Then, the future...
***
A murder occurred at the hotel.
It happened after someone sneaked into a guest's room to steal and was caught, and it ended in a struggle.
The culprit was a hotel employee.
He already had a bad reputation, and after his behavior was called out, he was scheduled to be fired next month.
And he committed murder.
"Team Leader Han... I'm disappointed."
"....I'm sorry."
Excuses wouldn't work.
After all, he was one of Han Yu-na's team members.
Even if that man was a relative of the hotel manager.
Naturally, that manager would also be demoted because of this.
"Even if your father is backing you up, if you can only manage your staff this badly, I wonder whether you'll be able to control people when you inherit the company."
There was nothing to say, even with ten mouths.
Han Yu-na lowered her head.
"...I will submit my resignation."
"I don't think it's necessary to go that far, but if that's what you want, go ahead."
Someone had to take responsibility.
Even if Han Yu-na had no responsibility for his mistake.
And.
Even if her father was deeply disappointed by this.
***
"....."
Huh?
W-wait, wait, wait? Is this right?
"What's wrong?"
"Er. By any chance, are there employees at the hotel who don't listen?"
"There are plenty of employees who don't listen."
I know there aren't any employees who'd move as obediently as a tongue inside the mouth.
Even at the orphanage, there were a few of the director's lackeys who'd badmouth him behind their back.
"Employees who'd steal?"
"I'm not sure what you mean. Our hotel doesn't hire employees like that. From the hiring stage, we thoroughly screen aptitude and personality..."
"Next week, the hotel will suffer a major loss. Someone will die."
"......!!"
This isn't fortune-telling.
It's prophecy.
But could this woman believe what I said?
Han Yu-na looked at me with sharp eyes.
"It seems you've gotten too into the role of a fortune-teller."
-Ring-ring!!
The part-time shift was over.
Which meant my fortune-teller act ended here too.
"Then I'll be going now."
I turned away from her, who was staring at me steadily.
Going home to play games.
I need to devote half my life to Dungeon and Saga.
***
I was in a bad mood.
Did he really think he was a real fortune-teller just because he acted like one in front of people?
Han Yu-na returned to the office in a sour mood.
Then it happened.
"Team Leader Han."
"Yes?"
"It's a call from someone who attended the event earlier."
"Uh... why?"
"You know that fortune-teller part-timer? They called asking if they could get that person's contact info."
"You should just handle that much yourself..."
"It's Hong Su-yeon."
Hong Su-yeon.
She was the granddaughter of a famous figure in Korea's loan-shark world.
One of the VIPs invited to this event was contacting us.
Had she perhaps seen something unpleasant?
"Give it here."
She quickly answered the phone.
"Hello. This is Team Leader Han Yu-na of Sagniell."
-Hello. I'm Hong Yu-na.
"Yes. May I ask if something happened?"
-No, nothing... well, something did happen. Could I get that person's contact information?
"What is this about..."
-The thing is, that person's reading was so accurate that I wanted to see if they could do another one.
"...Pardon?"
What is this supposed to mean?
Han Yu-na was flustered.
Did that part-timer's reading actually come true?
As she stayed silent, Hong Su-yeon on the other end quickly told her what had happened today.
-When I got home, that son of a bitch was screwing my friend... no, that filthy whore in the house I bought for her.
She was trembling with anger.
I trusted him.
I was happy because he seemed innocent, neat, gentlemanly, and handsome.
But in reality, he was a bastard.
Han Yu-na swallowed hard as she listened to every word Hong Su-yeon spat out.
Then.
Then was what he said earlier true too?
She kept her mouth shut and continued listening to Hong Su-yeon rant on.
***
Being able to see the future was pretty nice.
"Ooooo...!! There it is!!"
Surprisingly, I could even see the futures of game characters.
A rare item drop while hunting.
To think I could get an item worth 500,000 won so easily.
Since I'd picked up an item that mobs drop with a 0.001% chance, I should stop here for today.
"Ah. I wish this would keep coming up."
But what can you do.
No matter how much you keep farming a mob that doesn't drop anything, nothing's going to come out.
I turned off my phone and lay down on the bed.
Since my part-time pay had come in, I could slack off for a while, but if I thought about the future, I needed to keep earning steadily.
By the way, I seem to have gotten some attention from this part-time job...
But there hasn't been any follow-up.
Should I just open a shop the straightforward way and gather customers there...?
I immediately looked up shop rent in a decent area of Seoul.
Wow.
Crazy expensive.
Just the cost of opening a shop is nearly tens of millions of won.
Should I risk my life and go to Gangwon Land one more time?
Thinking about the futures of the fifteen ruined gamblers I saw at Gangwon Land made my stomach ache.
No matter how I think about it, that's not it.
And it's not like I can go looking for an illegal private gambling den.
There, I'd just be told, 'Why the hell is this money yours?'
"I put out some feelers, so I hope I get a response..."
I ended up reading the futures of quite a few people who seemed to have fairly high social standing during that part-time job.
Some of them would be easy to answer right away, and some would take time.
If even a few of them contacted me and I properly read their futures for a fee, I'd probably make enough to open a shop.
-Ring-ring!!
I was looking at my phone and thinking about how I'd make a living tomorrow.
An unknown number.
Spam?
I looked at the number and didn't answer.
If they were disappointed, they'd call again.
-Ring-ring!!
The call ended and then rang again.
Not spam, then.
"Hello?"
-Hello. Mr. Kang Noa. This is Han Yu-na."
Got you!!