The Saintess and Aileen

A dot.

Goddamn it. The only method that came to mind was this one.

'Two personalities. One of them dies.'

It was something I had never known, and naturally, I had no idea how to fix it.

If it could have been solved with ordinary means, the Saint would have done something long ago.

But if even the Saint, who was practically worshipped by the largest religious order in existence, couldn't do it, then no one else would fare any better.

My game knowledge, the connections I'd built here, even my wealth—none of it was any help.

If there was one thing I could truly rely on...

It was only the class skill with that ridiculous name.

'The odds of it being right are low, but the class skill definitely reveals the truth.'

It had been that way with Wang Pei, and it had been that way with the class skill I used before the Great Lake exam.

Super Great Fortune Telling guaranteed that much about its results.

'...In the end, the thing I rely on is fortune telling.'

I thought I had accepted it, but deep in my chest, a wave of revulsion rose. The fact that I wasn't the one using fortune telling, but instead had to trust it and leave everything to it, filled me with disgust.

That con artist's face. My parents' transformation and suicide. The people who had been destroyed by fortune telling.

Countless memories flashed through my mind.

I agonized over it several times in that short span, but... the conclusion remained the same.

'I'll do it.'

Aileen Teddybear and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Saintess.

They were the result of a choice I made.

I had changed a life that was supposed to end in suffering.

Then of course I had to take responsibility for both of them.

There was a faint possibility that I could save Aileen. I couldn't let something as trivial as my own feelings ruin that.

I mixed the cards that had appeared in midair, pulled over a chair, and sat down in front of the Saintess, whose face was drenched in tears.

"Please draw a card."

"............"

Remember—always smile. Always stay composed.

A fortune teller must never show tension. Trust in fortune telling comes from the fortune teller himself.

A fortune teller who displays anxiety is nothing but an amateur.

So I wrapped myself in the same smile as always, the calm assurance that I would definitely solve this.

"...Namgung Min, I'm truly sorry, but..."

"I've heard the whole story."

".........I want to stay with this child. With my sister. If Aileen disappears... I'll stay by your side for the rest of my life."

The tears the Saintess had stopped began flowing again.

Her fingertips were trembling.

"Just for today... please leave."

"No."

"...Why?"

"I came here to save both you and Aileen."

"...!"

Lies. And fraud.

It was what I did best.

So I would deceive even myself. That I could truly solve this. That I could bring about a happy ending.

Only then could I show genuine composure.

"Namgung Min... sir."

"I'll make sure you can stay with Aileen from now on as well, so please draw a card."

".........I'll believe you. Because that's the reason for my existence..."

Tap.

With a trembling hand, the Saintess picked one of the spread cards.

Her eyes shook endlessly, yet she gazed at me with desperate hope.

Meeting that gaze, I spoke before the card could be flipped.

"What is the method for the Saintess and Aileen to coexist?"

"...!"

She flinched.

A conclusion where everyone could smile—of course it would be coexistence.

The name was ridiculous, but after completing several class quests, the strengthened class skill showed a higher hit rate than before.

Embarrassingly, I had no choice but to rely on that probability.

'The probability is 24%.'

I was betting everything on one in four.

"Please flip it."

"...Yes."

And the card the Saintess drew—

"............"

"N-Namgung Min, sir? Why is this card blank...?"

—It was completely empty.

A card with no pattern, no decoration, no number, no lettering. Just a blank white card.

It was obviously not a card from the tarot deck.

'...Is it the same principle as the previous World card?'

When I used the class skill, the tarot cards definitely changed arbitrarily.

But what was even more shocking was the result of the reading.

—There is no such method. It is useless.

Naturally, it was a result I couldn't accept.

'No, since it's correct with 24% probability, doesn't that mean there's over 70% chance that a method exists?'

...I couldn't jump to conclusions.

Above all, the words "it is useless" left a bad taste in my mouth.

It didn't seem like one try would be enough.

"Namgung Min, sir?"

"...This is?"

"Let's try again."

The second use of the class skill in one day.

My head throbbed for a moment, but my smile didn't falter.

'As expected, repeated use comes with a heavy penalty.'

The result of the class skill depended on probability and didn't tell me whether the answer was right or wrong.

In that case, what if I asked the same question multiple times?

If the correct answer came out with 24% probability, then the answer that appeared two or three times out of ten should be the right one, right?

But that method was naturally blocked.

The class skill could only be used once per day.

Any more than that put a severe strain on the body.

'But what choice do I have?'

It only strained the body. It didn't make using the class skill impossible, did it?

My head throbbed painfully, but I didn't lose my smile as I waited for the Saintess to draw another card.

"What is the method for the Saintess and Aileen to coexist?"

Asking the same question again, I looked at the card the Saintess flipped.

"It's... the same again."

"............Ha."

It was blank once more.

Just to be sure, I checked the other cards, but they were all normal tarot cards.

Out of the 78 cards, the two that the Saintess had drawn were simply blank.

"........."

No way.

"Namgung Min, sir."

"Let's try again. Again."

It couldn't be.

The Saintess, who seemed to have sensed the result from my reaction, wore a resigned expression as she drew another card. When I asked the same question again—

"........."

"............"

Again.

It was blank.

'...It's useless?'

Fortune telling wasn't omnipotent. I knew that better than anyone.

If I asked how to make the sun rise in the west, or how to suddenly destroy the world, fortune telling couldn't answer.

Because no such method existed.

Fortune telling revealed answers that existed somewhere in the world. It didn't create something from nothing.

The result of the class skill was shoving that reality right in my face.

No matter how much I read the fortune, no matter how much I relied on probability.

There had never been a method for the Saintess and Aileen to coexist in the first place.

"............"

The moment I realized that fact and stood there in a daze, a new status window appeared before my eyes.

'Give up?'

Since I couldn't accept it, the status window itself was trying to hammer the nail in.

Accepting fate is the duty of a fortune teller, it said.

As if to prove how difficult this quest was to accept, the rewards were different in quantity from anything before. At this point, with a long way still to go until the ending, each and every one of them was a precious reward.

Therefore, my answer was already decided.

"Fuck off."

"Namgung Min, sir?"

"Again. Let's try again."

Accept it? Give up? Don't make me laugh.

Accepting fate is the duty of a fortune teller?

'I'm not a fortune teller.'

I had only accepted the job of fortune teller. I didn't consider myself a real fortune teller in the slightest.

Therefore, I had no need to follow that so-called duty.

So.

"Please draw a card."

The fourth time. A nosebleed came, but thanks to the Cleanliness skill, it disappeared quickly.

The seventh time. The ringing in my ears and headache grew so severe that I couldn't even hear the Saintess's words anymore. But I didn't lose my smile.

The tenth time. Blood flowed not only from my nose but from my ears and eyes as well. Thanks to Cleanliness, I could still endure it.

The fourteenth time. One of my eyes went numb and then fell into complete darkness. Now all I could hear was ringing, and all I could feel was headache and sharp pain.

Still, I thought I was maintaining my smile.

The sixteenth time. Suddenly, I felt a warm touch in my hand. The Saintess, who had taken my hand, was sobbing uncontrollably.

I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I knew exactly what it was.

"I can still endure it."

...I thought I had answered properly, but what came out of my mouth was an unintelligible sound.

How embarrassing.

The twenty-second time. Now all I could see was the status window floating in darkness.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mechanically mixed the cards and asked the question. I wasn't even sure if the words were coming out properly, but the status window glowing before my eyes remained the same.

This time too, the card was blank. The result was identical.

The law of large numbers, was it? It was only the twenty-second try. I could still do this.

I mixed the cards again.

I learned that when the pain became too severe, it stopped being felt altogether. This was the thirtieth time.

Thanks to that, reading the fortune became easier. Maybe my smile had returned as well?

The class quest was still visible in the corner of my vision. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like there were more messages urging me to accept it.

Fuck off.

The sixty-fifth time.

Maybe it was my imagination, but every card I touched felt damp.

It was such a simple process that each use of the class skill took less than ten seconds, yet it felt like an incredibly long time had passed.

The result was the same this time too.

The class quest had changed into something that sounded almost like begging. I scoffed at it and was about to mix the cards again when—

"...sir."

There was warmth.

"............Min, sir."

Light appeared in my vision, which had been nothing but darkness.

"Namgung Min, sir."

...And then, I saw the Saintess.

The Saintess looked even worse than before. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying too much, and both her hands were trembling so violently that they had turned a sickly blue, veins clearly visible.

Her voice was hoarse, her breathing ragged, but...

...the way she held me in her arms was still beautiful.

"Stop... please stop..."

".........The card."

"Please, please, please. I don't want to see you in pain anymore..."

"......"

"So please give up. I'll remember Aileen for the rest of my life, so please..."

"...No."

"Namgung Min, sir."

"Why are you trying to give up?"

"...Pardon?"

At the sudden change in my speech, the Saintess widened her bloodshot eyes in confusion.

It was extremely rude informal speech, abandoning the polite tone befitting a 'fortune teller.'

But I was sincere.

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said she was your sister, right? That she was precious to you?"

"Of course. Of course she is."

"Then why are you trying to give up? You shouldn't give up. You should grab onto anyone and beg."

"........."

"If she's truly precious to you. If she's so precious that you'd give your entire life for her."

—What the hell is this kid?

—Just tell me what to do.

—You're one bold little shit. You know your parents died because of me, right?

—I know.

—And you still want to follow me?

—Because that's the only way Ji-soo and I can survive.

—...What a fucking kid. Fine. I'll use you however I want.

"You have to do whatever it takes. Beg, kneel, throw away your pride, and cling desperately."

"........."

"Whether that means earning money, learning how to scam people, or smiling through the beatings, whatever it is."

"............"

"I'm the fortune teller, and you're the client. The client just draws a card and listens to the result."

"........."

"Coming up with the answer is the fortune teller's job. Not fate, not probability—the fortune teller's interpretation is the answer."

That way, the fortune teller wouldn't be consumed by fortune telling.

Just like that damn con artist used to say.

A fortune teller was someone who used fortune telling, not someone who believed in it.

"So draw the card."

"............"

"And stop talking about giving up."

And so.

This was the sixty-sixth time.

Thanks to the Saintess's skill, my physical condition had improved. It was time to start again.

It had gotten quite late. The view outside the window was dark. It had already been late when I arrived at this house, so had the sun already set?

I was about to mix the cards again when—

"...Huh?"

...Suddenly, an instinct struck me.

With a vague certainty, I stopped mixing the cards and reached out into the empty air. It was obviously a meaningless, incomprehensible action.

Obviously, the only things I should have been able to touch were dust and air.

But something was caught in my hand.

"...Namgung Min, sir, that is...?"

"Ha."

...It was a glass teapot.

And it was filled with water.

"...Namgung Min, sir?"

"...Both hands."

"Pardon?"

"Put both your hands together."

It was a sudden request, but the Saintess quietly obeyed Namgung Min's words.

Because it seemed like he wouldn't use his class skill if she did.

The Saintess did not want her own god to suffer.

"Here..."

"Good job."

Glug glug.

I poured the water from the glass teapot into the Saintess's cupped hands.

Even though her hands were trembling and water should have spilled between her fingers, the water from the teapot didn't leak or shake. It quietly filled her hands.

Her small hands became full of water, and the faint starlight visible through the window reflected in it.

Stars reflected in water. Water holding stars.

The fortune teller quietly dipped a single finger into the water and the stars.

Special skill: Hydromancy.

"...Huh?"

The stars within the water began to shine.

Following the fortune teller's finger, new stars rose, lines were drawn, connecting star to star.

Even as the Saintess's hands trembled and the fortune teller's finger moved, the water and stars remained perfectly still, without even the slightest ripple.

Eventually, when many stars had risen and connected to one another with lines—

Looking at the shape, the Saintess unconsciously opened her mouth.

"...Twins?"

The connected stars formed the constellation of Gemini.

But even more stars rose, forming what looked like two girls.

Two friendly twins reflected in the water, holding hands made of stars.

As the Saintess stared at the sight in a daze—

'...Oppa?'

"...A-Aileen?"

'Ah...'

"Aileen? Aileen!?"

'This is... a memory...'

"Aileen!"

'Warm memories... memories... they're coming back.'

The Saintess's sister, who had been asleep in the Great Lake and whose voice couldn't even be heard, opened her eyes.

Only then did the Saintess realize.

"...Ah."

That she was no longer standing inside the room, but on a field.

No. It wasn't just a field.

A field, a lake, a village, family, happiness, surprise, joy, sorrow, mother, farewell, pain, father, home, home, home, home, home, home, home, home, home.

The entire life of the girl named Aileen Teddybear, its trajectory.

It brushed past the Saintess, forming a small shape.

"...Aileen."

The figure created from countless accumulated memories and recollections looked exactly like the Saintess herself.

So the Saintess quietly took her hand.

This time, so she wouldn't disappear, she held that hand tightly.

And then, she pressed their foreheads together.

"I'm... right here."

Aileen said.

"Yes, I can feel it...!"

The Saintess replied.

It was the moment the two sisters coexisted.