Fortune Telling

If it had been before, Mia wouldn't have believed it. She would think that Kenji was quite suspicious. However, her increased intelligence made her realize that he was genuinely telling the truth.

That somehow, he just didn't understand his own desires or motives.

The fact that was the case showed a certain level of instability, which was dangerous in its own right. But there was never really going to be someone who was actually fully mentally sane in a place like this.

Mia turned to look at Jack and Jessica.

"Would you like for him to come with us?"

Jack raised one hand in the air excitedly.

"Yeah! I think he's a great person."

Jessica, who was still holding onto him, smiled brightly.

"Of course, what Jack said! We were the ones that invited him to come along before, no?"

Kenji gave a small nod, speaking in the same monotone voice he always had been using.

"Thank you."

Jessica didn't plan on dropping Jack any time soon, instead telling him to point the way forward. He appeared to be used to being carried by Seedy, and got used to it fairly easily. They explored around some of the shops, just window shopping. They came across a trade center, though didn't stay long since they didn't exactly have much to trade with.

Eventually, they ended up at a fortune-telling shop, which Jack took an interest in.

The room was quite large, being over five meters high, and large enough to fit to play a full-court basketball game. The walls were striped, alternating between a dark purple and a slightly less dark purple. Star patterns were all across, and they glowed almost as though they were real stars too.

The flooring was a red velvet carpet, that somehow wasn't dirty. Several shelves filled with books were put up on the sides, each of them selling different tarot cards for various prices, though their exact use was not made clear. However, near the center, was a rather fancy-looking magic orb, light purple, but with some hazy mist swirling within.

There wasn't any actual person manning the place, everything was automated by whatever system existed.

There were quite a number of people in the store, but they were all looking at the shelves, either purchasing tarot cards or thinking of which ones they should get. Despite the gaudy center, it appeared most people didn't care too much about it.

Though Jack definitely was rather attracted to it, pointing at it excitedly.

"What is that thing?"

Jessica happily answered him while securely holding onto him.

"It's a fortune teller! You can go there to have your fortunes read. Would you like to have one?"

"Yeah!"

As they got closer, a holographic system panel appeared in front of them, displaying that a 3 needed to be deposited in order to have their fortune told. There was a seat in front of the table that Jessica set Jack in before voluntarily taking her own three out to pay for the fee.

It was a bit unclear where the three should go exactly, but once she held it close to the orb, it automatically sucked it in. The orb began floating as the light grew rather bright. A few people looking through the shelves momentarily took interest before looking away again.

After a short moment, the mist expanded out from the orb. Countless tiny little lights began forming from within, almost like it was a representation of a galaxy. Jack's eyes widened significantly, lost in how pretty it was.

"Woaaah!"

One of the stars grew a little brighter, before forming into the tarot card labeled, "The Fool". It depicted a jester with a bright red clown nose, holding onto a comically small magnifying glass in between the fingers. Though the picture was upside down.

It moved off to the left, before another star came up to the center, forming a tarot card labeled, "The Hanged Man". It showed a man with their eyes closed hanging from a thin and brittle tree. He was being held up from both feet, with a peaceful expression on his face.

Then, one final star formed into another card labeled, "The Star". It showed an awfully familiar woman to Jack, one that surprised him quite a bit. It was the woman he had seen after finishing his promotion mission.

She was simply standing there looking off to the side, but something about it was just unbelievably breathtaking. Even though it was only just a picture, all of them were unable to stop looking at it for a good while.

Kenji mumbled just above his breath.

"I've never seen such a... beautiful picture before."

Mia took in a small breath.

"I can feel... a charming effect. Despite the fact it's quite strong, I can feel that it has actually been incredibly muted. The actual strength is something I can't even imagine."

Just as the people involved broke out of the spell, the cards swirled, combining to become a small screen. On the screen, was an upside-down jester. It was fiddling with the tiny magnifying glass, as the screen gradually rotated so that he appeared right-side up.

The jester walked around in a plain before eventually coming across a forest. The trees were all thin and brittle. Upon walking into said forest, the jester came across many men hanging from their necks on the trees. 

Though he observed them rather closely, he only continued on without a care in the world. Despite some of them who were still alive, struggling to get free. The jester came along several that were next to the rope of a tree but not yet hanging from one. Upon witnessing that they were not hanging, he picked them up and forcibly put them into the noose, whether or not they were struggling.

It was almost as though the jester accepted the previous as normal or desired, and wanted to help the others achieve the same. It gradually sped up, rapidly going through all the times the jester hung people up to the trees for a couple of seconds before slowing down.

The jester continued to walk through the forest, but no longer went out of his way to hang people. After a few steps, the forest suddenly ended, revealing a plain. The impeccably beautiful woman stood there, facing away. Her robes gently swayed along with the wind.

He then walked up to the woman, though when he came close, she suddenly disappeared. And the jester, as weird as it looked, was wearing those robes.

The projected screen then swirled before becoming one with the stardust.

A system prompt then appeared.

[For the fool that desires to explore, know that truth is something that hides within the lies. Ask questions, and realize that you may have to forsake certain truths to see the lie. Only then will you fulfill your true purpose.]

After giving enough time to read, the system prompt disappeared along with all the mist. The crystal orb fell down with a clink, everything returning as it once had been. Though there were three cards laid out in front of Jack. They were the same tarot cards in his fortune, The Fool, The Hanged Man, and The Star.

There were notches at the top of them, along with a small suit with a number within. The Fool had a 4 of clubs, The Hanged Man had a 3 of diamonds, and The Star had a 5 of hearts.

Out of curiosity, Jack got the labeled cards and was able to put them through the tiny notch at the top one after another. Though as he was inserting the 5 of hearts into The Star, it was suddenly rejected, pushing itself out along with a system prompt.

[Activating Tarots is not available within the hub.]

Jack tilted his head to the side seeing that.

"Eh? I can't use it here? But I want to know what it does!"

There was a man off to the side who had been looking at the shelves, but turned to Jack with concern. His brows furrowed as he averted his gaze and returned it, like he was trying to resist something.

Though in the end, he walked over.

"When you get your fortune told, you will get a set of tarot cards that are bound to you. If you put in the corresponding cards within each one, it will usually allow you to do some sort of special attack, which is different from person to person. You can also get further fortunes told to get more variations of special that tend to be stronger, but the cost of the fortune goes up. Also, you no longer get the tarot cards for free. You have to collect other tarot cards that are very expensive, some costing several 8s among other cards."

Jack picked up the three cards and looked at them closely.

"Wow!... I wonder what everyone else's fortune is like!"