How This Fortune Teller Became Famous

"So what exactly are you planning to do with this bitch and me?"

"……Liu. Are you really going to keep calling me by the wrong name while throwing a tantrum? How pathetic."

"Bullshit. The bitch who couldn't even remember the fortune teller bastard's name is suddenly acting all high and mighty?"

"…That's quite the interesting provocation, isn't it? Namgung Min, y……ou. This is definitely a lie, so don't believe……it."

"Haha, please don't mind me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and continue your conversation. We'll have to wait anyway."

"Wait?"

"How long do we have to……wait?"

"You'll need to sit here for quite a while. After all, it's not like we're the ones who need to do anything……."

"The ones in a hurry always come to us first."

The Swordsman class holder, Sasaki Ito, muttered under his breath. It wasn't a Special Class, so he hadn't taken the exclusive exam, but he had enough confidence in his abilities to pass the entrance exam in seventh place overall. On top of that, having lived in the mountains since childhood, he had charged into this complicated maze without hesitation.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"How the hell am I supposed to get out of this……!"

The moment it began, what greeted him was an endless sea of buildings. The small paths and aerial passages scattered everywhere made it impossible to tell which way was correct. At some point the open path became blocked, and no matter how far he ran, all he could see were buildings—nothing new ever appeared.

"It definitely started a little after eight……."

Perhaps out of consideration from the academy, a massive digital clock hung in the sky, displaying the time when you looked up. The current time was 10:41. There was less than two hours left until the time limit of 12 o'clock.

"I have to! I have to find the exit somehow!"

Driven by desperation, he ran and ran. As a class holder with a superhuman body that surpassed ordinary people, and especially as a Swordsman—a combat-oriented class—he could run at speeds comparable to a decent car without exaggeration. Yet the scenery refused to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠change.

Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Small buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Slightly larger buildings. Passages. Bridges. Buildings. Buildings. Buildings.

Only inorganic structures of the same color and shape kept appearing endlessly.

"Damn it, damn it……!"

Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Buildings.

"Where is it……! Where the hell is it!"

Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Passages. Buildings.

"Fucking academy! Fucking entrance ceremony!"

Bridges. Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Buildings.

"Huff……huff…………."

……Just how long had he been running? At some point, Sasaki found himself leaning against a nearby building, completely out of breath. The surrounding scenery was still exactly the same. Damn buildings, shitty buildings, fucking passages.

What time was it? What time?

"………Ha, haha."

It was 10:45. He had only been running for four minutes. It was too exhausting. Too tiring.

"…………."

But what tormented Sasaki more than anything else was something different. After catching his breath a little, he looked back—not in the direction he had been running, but the way he had come.

There……

"………Damn it."

The auditorium was visible. Even though he had been wandering, running, and moving for well over two hours.

That cursed building and the entrance he had first dashed out of were still there, welcoming him back. As if to say you can never escape. As if to say you're destined to return to the beginning.

Sasaki stared at that entrance for a long time before finally lowering his head.

"Cleaning……eight hours every day……for a month."

When he first heard it, he had only thought about how he was supposed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do that. He didn't even train with the sword for eight hours a day, so why would they make him clean for eight hours? He had felt nothing but resentment.

"Maybe I should……just do it."

Now even that didn't seem to matter anymore. The pride of representing his homeland of Japan at Romance Academy, the excitement of entering in seventh place, the confidence that he could easily break through this maze—all of it had been completely shattered in just two hours.

"………Let's go back."

Even if he kept running like this, he wouldn't be able to get out. Maybe no one was ever meant to escape in the first place? Maybe the academy had designed it so everyone would fail? Yeah, they couldn't seriously make them clean for eight hours. It had to be a joke…….

With his head hanging low, Sasaki trudged back the way he came. Despite how long he had run, returning to the start took less than ten seconds.

"……Not many people here."

Was he the only one feeling this sense of defeat? The area around the auditorium was sparsely populated, with only a few students looking dejected or wandering aimlessly. Had everyone else already escaped the maze? Was he the only one left behind?

Without even trying to hide his hollow feelings, Sasaki walked toward the auditorium. He just wanted to sit on a chair and rest.

"………?"

But then.

"How much longer do we have to wait!"

"It's almost time already!"

"There's not much time left, so please don't get too excited."

"What the hell is going on……?"

The inside of the auditorium was noisy. At first he hadn't noticed, but there were far more students inside causing a ruckus than those wandering outside.

"Why are there so many……?"

What on earth was happening? Had they gathered the students again? Sasaki was still trying to make sense of the situation when—

"…Huh? Isn't that Sasaki? Seventh place in the entrance exam!"

"That's right! I took the exam with him, I'm sure of it!"

"Good, grab him!"

"Catch him! Get him!"

"W-what!?"

A small group of students who recognized him suddenly rushed forward and grabbed his arms and legs! It was a scene straight out of a horror movie. Sasaki almost instinctively reached for the sword at his waist, but before he could draw it, he was swept up by the crowd and roughly carried somewhere.

"W-what the hell! Let go of me!"

"Shut up! We need you to get started!"

"Hurry up and take him to Namgung Min!"

"He said this guy alone would be enough…!"

"N-Namgung Min!?"

That fortune teller? Before he could even process the suddenly heard name, Sasaki—captured in an instant and forcibly transported—was half-thrown into the center of the auditorium.

Still dazed, his eyes landed on four people.

"You guys……?"

"We've been waiting for you, Sasaki Ito."

The only one sitting in a chair and smiling was Namgung Min. Standing on either side of him were Lane Arthur with a look of shock on her face and Liu Yen with a displeased expression. Behind them stood Lucas Arthur, who seemed unable to comprehend the situation at all.

Sasaki's eyes widened at the sight of these four celebrities that no freshman at the academy could possibly fail to recognize.

"S-Special Class?"

"Oh please, what's with this Special Class talk? We're just fellow students. I'm Namgung Min, the fortune teller. You saw me at the entrance ceremony earlier, right?"

"Y-yeah. I saw it clearly. It was some incredibly accurate fortune-telling."

"Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, now that Sasaki has arrived, we can finally begin."

"What?"

It was clearly just a smile, so why did it feel so ominous? Sasaki swallowed nervously as he watched Namgung Min rise from his seat.

"Everyone, please be quiet."

"Huh? What did he just say?"

"Hey, quiet! Be quiet!"

"Everyone shut up!"

"…………."

"……………."

"………."

"Good."

With just those few quiet words from Namgung Min, the entire auditorium fell silent in an instant. Second place in the entrance exam, Special Class, the academy's first-ever fortune teller. Even though today was only the first day of the entrance ceremony, there were already countless titles attached to Namgung Min's name. He had already proven he possessed genuine ability earlier.

But he was still just a student like the rest of them. He wasn't a Royal or Negotiator who gained charisma or eloquence as class bonuses. In the end, he was still their peer. Yet his words carried power. A strange power that made people want to follow him.

"Could you make way, please?"

Thud, thud, thud, thud…….

At Namgung Min's quiet request, the students moved aside. In the blink of an eye, a path opened between him and the main entrance. He began walking slowly down it.

"How does everyone feel?"

Walking along a path created solely for him.

"Don't you think this is unfair?"

Step.

"This test is extremely biased. Among those with magic-related classes, those with Combat Mage or Specialist Mage would have escaped long ago. The same goes for those with the Explorer class."

He continued speaking with a smile.

"Of course, not every test can be perfectly fair. There are dozens of different classes, so it's impossible to create a test where every class holder can compete on equal terms."

His voice gradually lowered, then—

"But don't you think this particular test has gone too far? It's already eleven o'clock. We only have one hour left, and once that time passes, we'll have to clean for eight hours every day—for an entire month."

His voice gradually grew louder as he added gestures, slowly building up the crowd's emotions.

……Just listening to him made one angry. I ran so hard. I really gave it my all. But just because our classes are different, they don't have to clean while I do? This is……this is……

"It's unfair."

"………!"

Namgung Min's words were like someone scratching an itch in exactly the right spot. Sasaki's eyes widened in surprise. But he wasn't the only one who agreed.

"He's right. I wandered around for over an hour too."

"Does it make any sense that turning around brings you right back here? They're just messing with us!"

"I'm a non-combat class to begin with, so I'm slower than the others when running……."

"Did you see those mages who use space magic? They just laughed and teleported right out."

The students gathered here were all different. Their genders, backgrounds, thoughts, and experiences were all unique. Getting such a diverse group to share the same opinion was normally impossible. But the time they had all spent in that maze……was an experience they all shared equally. And it was an endlessly negative one.

Namgung Min's words struck precisely at that shared pain.

"Doesn't it make you angry? Doesn't it piss you off?"

"Of course it does!"

"If I was going to get a class, I wanted to be a Mage too!"

"How the hell were we supposed to escape this place!"

Namgung Min had only opened a tiny valve, yet all kinds of complaints poured out from throughout the auditorium. Unreasonable. Unfair. Unjust. Words carrying those meanings echoed from every corner.

"………It's unfair."

And of course, Sasaki as well.

"This……is unfair……!"

He spat out his resentment. I placed seventh in the entrance exam! I worked that hard! I wandered for over two hours! I ran until I couldn't run anymore. But because of some innate class difference, they get to pass while I don't? That's obviously unfair. It's too unfair!

……So then.

"But what can we possibly do about it?"

"…………."

So……what should we do? How can we escape from here? What method can I use to be rewarded for my efforts?

"Individually, we're powerless. This maze is enormous, and each of us is nothing more than a tiny dot within it."

To Sasaki's ears, desperately seeking an answer—

—Namgung Min's sweet words flowed in. Not just to Sasaki, but to everyone in the auditorium.

Namgung Min whispered.

"But what if we all come together? What if instead of being mere dots inside this maze, we become a collective powerful enough to destroy the maze itself?"

He was telling them to break the rules. To take actions they would never have considered before.

"Of course, it must feel daunting. Destroy the maze? How do we break those buildings? Is it even okay to break them? What happens to the academy if we do?"

He continued empathizing with them endlessly.

"Don't worry. I've already obtained the instructor's permission. If you just follow me—follow my reading—it will be possible."

He urged them to move together.

"Are you still hesitating? Are you wondering if it's right to trust a mere fortune reading?"

"…………."

"……………."

"…………."

"Your hesitation is completely natural. However, there are already two people here who have chosen to trust me and act together. The Psychic and the Great Wealthy."

"………!"

Psychic Lane Arthur and Great Wealthy Liu Yen. Before even entering Romance Academy, they had been worldwide prospects and famous figures. Namgung Min was borrowing their fame.

"If you can't trust me or my reading, how about trusting them instead?"

"………."

"Now then, I ask you all."

"…………."

"Is there anyone willing to come with me?"

"………Me."

Setting aside his despair and emptiness, with eyes now filled with confidence and anger, Sasaki Ito raised his head.

"Me too!"

Someone raised their hand from one side of the auditorium.

"Ah, screw it! I'm in!"

Someone shouted from another direction.

One by one, they joined.

"M-me too!"

"I want to go too!"

"Damn it, staying here means failure anyway! Let's try it!"

"Namgung Min! I only trust your reading!"

"If even the Psychic and Great Wealthy trust your reading, of course we should too!"

"Let's go!"

Waaaaaaaaah───

The auditorium shook. It reverberated with the students' shouts and madness. From the center of all that frenzy, Namgung Min turned around with a smile.

"What do you think? Lane, Liu?"

"…………."

"………Ha."

"I told you, didn't I?"

"Namgung Min! Namgung Min! Namgung Min!"

"We only trust you!"

"The reading is god!"

"Like I said, we just have to wait."

At Namgung Min's gesture, everyone moved according to his hand. When he walked, everyone followed him. Having become the representative of all the students here with just a few words, Namgung Min pulled a tarot card from the air.

"Then, shall we begin?"

He shuffled the cards randomly and drew one.

"First, that wall right in front of us."

He threw it casually.

"That is a harmful wall. Therefore──"

──Let's destroy it.

With that ever-present smile on his face.