Orphans Are Good at Fortune-Telling (1)
I didn't actually tell fortunes with Go-Stop, of course. How the hell would you even tell fortunes with Go-Stop anyway? I simply told them what I saw.
When Hong Su-yeon stood up with a face drained of all color and rushed out, the people around me began to whisper.
“Hey, young man. You’re pretty good at this. Want to try me next?”
“Um… Sir. This isn’t a casino. It’s a fortune-telling booth.”
“Ah. Then just tell my fortune!”
That was fair enough. I shuffled the cards for the elderly-looking gentleman in front of me.
“I declare here!! Pogo!!”
“Gaaah…!!”
The man who had confidently called himself the king of the funeral house got completely crushed—pogo, myungtong, gwangbak, pibak, the whole set. If this had been a hundred won per point, how much would that have been?
“T-to lose like this…”
“Then let’s look at your fortune. Your name is…”
“Ko Chun-seok.”
“You’re thinking about changing your trading partner right now, aren’t you?”
“Huk?!”
“Don’t do it. The new place that approached you isn’t a good one.”
I could see Ko Chun-seok’s future. He would abandon his current business and select a new trading partner, but that partner would go bankrupt.
In the end his company would collapse, the ambitious investment he launched with his remaining assets would fail, and he would lose everything before committing suicide with his family.
What a tragic outcome. Looking into Ko Chun-seok’s past, he wasn’t a bad person. No, he was a genuinely good one.
A solid mid-sized company president who volunteered at orphanages every weekend and made donations on top of that. Since I myself was an orphan, I wanted someone like him to do well.
“And I have one suggestion…”
“A s-suggestion? What is it?”
“Japan will contact you soon.”
“How did you know I was trying to break into the Japanese market?!”
This uncle’s reactions were pure gold.
“Do business with them. They are Ko Chun-seok’s savior.”
I pointed at his only gwang—the moon card with the moon floating on it.
“That company will be connected to the moon.”
After I delivered the prophecy, the future changed. In the new timeline the Japanese company handed Ko Chun-seok a business card. Trading with them brought him enormous profit.
I hadn’t studied much, so I wasn’t good with Chinese characters, but I could still recognize the moon symbol printed on the card.
“I-I see…”
“Well, fortune-telling is ultimately a matter of whether you believe it or not, isn’t it?”
Even if I gave a prophecy, believing it was entirely up to the person. You could lead a horse to water, but you couldn’t make it drink.
Ko Chun-seok thought it over for a long moment before nodding.
“Thank you. And this is your fee.”
“Uh… I appreciate it, but my job today is to give free readings here. It feels awkward to accept a separate payment.”
Truthfully I wanted to take it. But the part-time contract clearly said not to accept anything from customers.
“Hmm. Is that so? Then at least accept this.”
What he held out was a business card. The company name Truall was printed on it.
“If it really turns out as you said, I’ll give you a generous fee then.”
“Haha. I’ll look forward to it.”
With that, Ko Chun-seok left. I could see interest gleaming in the eyes of the crowd still gathered around.
“Now. Anyone else want their fortune told?”
“Your son seems to lack discipline. I think he needs to be hit a little more before he comes to his senses and focuses on studying.”
A mother asking whether her non-studying son could get into a Seoul university.
“Taeyoung Construction stocks? I don’t know much about stocks, but if you sell now you’ll shed tears of blood…”
Someone asking me—a person with zero connection to stocks—about stocks.
“What? You’re going to sing at the MT and make a public confession? Please don’t…”
A man whose future showed him taking a leave of absence and enlisting.
“Idol ticketing? Uh… I don’t really know much about that… but still, give it a try. I see a happy future.”
A female high-schooler looking forward to the upcoming ticketing for the world-famous idol group Black Swan.
“Keep studying exactly as you are now. Your efforts will not betray you.”
A retaker who had bombed this mock exam while aiming for medical school.
All kinds of people came to me for readings. It wasn’t only Go-Stop; for those who didn’t know how to play, I did tarot instead.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I had read for dozens of people. It wasn’t difficult or tiring at all. What’s so hard about running your mouth? Still, the approaching staff member looked quite satisfied.
“You’re Team Leader Han Yu-na… correct?”
The name tag on her chest read Team Leader Han Yu-na. She was one of the hotel’s senior executives in charge of the event.
“The response is better than I expected.”
“Thank you.”
The young beauty in the expensive-looking suit smiled. She appeared about five years older than me, yet held such a high position. Must come from a good family. Or perhaps an elite background.
“The event seems to be winding down… If it’s all right with you, could you read my fortune as well?”
“No problem. Shall we keep it simple?”
I shuffled the tarot cards. There was no time for a Hwatu reading since I had to clean up and leave soon.
“Draw three cards.”
“You use a different method every time.”
“Fortune-telling is ultimately about what you look at. The method itself doesn’t matter.”
It was pure nonsense. I was just saying whatever came to mind. But Han Yu-na didn’t challenge me. She simply smiled and drew the cards.
The Moon — Upright
The Chariot — Reversed
Justice — Reversed
⟨ FUTURE VISION ⟩
A murder would occur at the hotel. A thief would sneak into a guest room, get caught, and kill the occupant during the struggle. The culprit would be a hotel employee whose conduct had always been poor. He was already scheduled to be fired next month after his attitude had been called out. That man would commit murder.
“Team Leader Han… I’m disappointed.”
“….I’m sorry.”
Excuses were useless. After all, the man belonged to Han Yu-na’s team. Even if he was a relative of the hotel director.
Naturally the director would also be demoted because of this incident.
“Even if your father is backing you, if this is the best you can do managing employees, I have doubts about whether you’ll be able to control people when you inherit the company.”
She had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths. Han Yu-na lowered her head.
“…I will submit my resignation.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, but if you wish to, then do so.”
Someone had to take responsibility. Even though none of the fault lay with Han Yu-na.
And even if her father would be greatly disappointed by this.
“…..”
Huh? Huuuuh? Was this accurate?
“Why are you acting like that?”
“Um. Is there an employee at the hotel who doesn’t listen?”
“There are plenty of employees who don’t listen.”
I knew perfectly well there was no such thing as a perfectly obedient employee. Even back at the orphanage, some of the director’s favorites badmouthed him behind his back.
“One who might commit theft.”
“I’m not sure what you mean. Our hotel does not hire such employees. We perform thorough background and personality checks from the moment of hiring…”
“Next week the hotel will suffer a major loss. Severe enough that a person will die.”
“……!!”
This wasn’t fortune-telling. It was prophecy. But would this woman believe me?
Han Yu-na stared at me with sharp eyes.
“You seem far too immersed in your fortune-teller role.”
-Riiiing!!
The part-time shift was over. My fortune-teller performance had reached its limit.
“Then I’ll be going.”
I turned away from her intense gaze. Time to go home and game. I needed to play Dungeon & Saga, which had been half my life.
Han Yu-na returned to the office carrying an uncomfortable feeling. It was then that it happened.
“Team Leader Han.”
“Yes?”
“It’s a call from one of the event participants.”
“Uh… why?”
“That fortune-teller part-timer. They asked if we could give them his contact information.”
“You can handle something that simple yourself…”
“It’s Ms. Hong Su-yeon.”
Hong Su-yeon. The granddaughter of a famous figure in Korea’s private lending world. One of the VIP guests invited to this event was calling. Had she seen something unpleasant?
“Give it to me.”
“Hello. This is Han Yu-na, team leader from Sagniel.”
“Hello. This is Hong Su-yeon.”
“Yes. Did something happen?”
“No, it’s not that something happened… Well, something did happen. Could I possibly get that person’s contact information?”
“May I ask what this is regarding…”
“His reading was exactly right. I wanted to see if he could do others as well.”
“…Yes?”
What was this? Han Yu-na was flustered. Had that part-timer’s fortune actually been accurate?
When she stayed silent, Hong Su-yeon quickly explained what had happened today.
“When I got home, that son of a bitch was in the house I bought him, screwing my friend—no, that whore. My voice trembled with rage. I had trusted him. I had been happy with his clean, gentlemanly demeanor and handsome face. But he turned out to be a complete bastard.”
After listening to everything Hong Su-yeon poured out, Han Yu-na swallowed hard.
Then… did that mean the earlier warning had been true as well?
She kept her mouth shut and continued listening to Hong Su-yeon talk.
Being able to see the future was quite a nice thing.
“Ooooooh…!! It came!!”
Surprisingly, I could even see the future of my game character. A rare item had dropped while hunting. To obtain an item worth a full 500,000 won so easily… Since I had picked up a 0.001 percent drop, I decided to stop here for the day.
“Ah. I wish this would keep happening.”
But what could I do? No matter how long you hunt something that doesn’t drop, nothing comes out.
I turned off my phone and lay on the bed. The pay for today’s work had come in, so I could play for a while, but thinking about the future I still needed to earn steadily.
That aside, I seemed to have drawn quite a bit of attention during this part-time job… yet no contact had come. Should I just open a proper shop in Seoul and gather customers the normal way…?
I looked up rental prices for a suitable storefront in Seoul. Wow. Insanely expensive. Just the cost to open one store was almost tens of millions of won.
Did I need to risk my life at Gangwon Land one more time? Remembering the futures of the fifteen ruined gamblers I had seen there made my stomach hurt. No matter how I thought about it, that wasn’t the answer.
I couldn’t go looking for an illegal underground gambling den either. Even if I won, they’d just scream “why is this money yours?”
“I scattered some seeds. It would be nice if I got a response…”
During this part-time job I had seen the futures of quite a few people who seemed to hold high social status. Some could give immediate answers, others would take time.
If even a few of them contacted me and I received proper payment for the prophecies, I could earn enough to cover the cost of opening a store.
-Riiiing!!
It was while I was staring at my phone wondering what I should eat tomorrow to survive.
An unknown number. Spam? I looked at it and didn’t answer. If it was important they would call again.
-Riiiing!!
The call ended and then it rang again. Not spam, then.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Kang Noah. This is Han Yu-na.”
Got her!!