Three of Wands [2]

“I’m sorry to come here without any notice—I was afraid you might be asleep, and since this is such an urgent matter…”

“No need to apologize, really.” If anything, I’m just glad you came, at all. “You said we can use the cards to read the future?”

Aída smiled, nodding once. “Yes! I was doing some exploring and found these standing stones around a table. According to the system, if you gather at least three cards, you can bring them to one of these locations and use them to read your future.”

I suppressed a laugh.

How the possibility hadn’t come to me before was beyond me. It was almost too obvious. It was Tarot, after all. Of course, we would be able to use the cards for readings.

If Hyeon was here, she would freak out.

“Do you have enough cards? If not, we can pass by the Store.”

I shook my head. “No need, I have enough.”

I opened my inventory, looking at my new items. After Kurosawa gave me the cards, I purchased a few things at the Store as well. I got two more cards and a necklace.

[Pharos’ Third Eye - B Class Armor]
[A necklace used by the great Pharos, believed to be the source of their illusions and powers; It shall provide its user a strong connection with the other world.]
[Improve Cups by 5]
[Rarity: Unique]

I had a very strong suspicion Cups was the equivalent of mana or an Intelligence status. Yet I was not sure how much I needed it yet. So far, I hadn’t received any message regarding my Vis being too low.

Which meant my current skills either used too little magic power or none at all.

“Did you know the twins from before?” Aída sudden question caught me a bit by surprise.

“We met in the first challenge.”

“Oh, they said something about it… Was it a train?”

I nodded. “I helped them a bit when one of the operators got…a little too excited.”

“I see…” She remained silent for a few more moments, before glancing at me again. “You three seem quite close, so I thought…perhaps you could’ve known each other in the real world.”

Real world.

To me, this world was just as real. And even if this was a fake world, I would choose to stay here. For there was no other place where I could live as Park Eun-Woo.

“…what kind of world did you live in?”

Aída blinked a few times, confusion flooding her colored eyes. “What do you mean?”

I smiled, looking at the sky as the warm hues became darker and weaker.

“The place I lived in… I won’t lie, it wasn’t a happy place. I was miserable. Yet for others, perhaps it was quite a peaceful and uneventful world. One with a lot of good days mixed with the bad. But sometimes, when I look at Hal and Hil… It makes me wonder. How come we lived so differently?”

Shadows covered Aída’s eyes, a somber expression covering her face like a thick, black veil.

“Before coming here, I had never seen so much of it.”

“Death?”

“Violence. Hatred.” Her voice shook as she crossed her arms, as if the air had suddenly become too cold. “I knew not everyone led happy lives. That not everyone lived a privileged life. Yet I only understood after witnessing myself…”

Whether she was talking about her first challenge, the first Trial, or Hal’s Duel, I was not sure. And in the end, it didn’t matter.

“A privileged life…” That was one word I had never thought of using to describe my life. Was living in a peaceful country considered a privilege? To not have to worry about wars, to only need to be concerned about criminals and troublemakers?

What about having a roof under my head, and a warm place to sleep at night? Perhaps my previous life had made me miserable, yet it had been a privileged one nonetheless. Or perhaps I would prefer to live in the same reality as the twins until my last breath instead, even if that meant saying goodbye to a nice house and warm clothes.

“Here we are.”

I didn’t notice when Aída stopped, my eyes taking some moments to adjust and focus on what I needed to see.

A few meters in front of us stood a round table surrounded by five standing stones.

The one in the middle had a pentagram engraved in the middle, while the other four had the suits' symbols. For some reason, my heart skipped a beat, a lingering feeling or instinct cursing through me as I kept staring at those stones.

Yet as long as I survived through the Second Trial, I didn’t care what I had to do.

The moment I took one step forward, a message appeared in front of me.

[You have found a Reading Circle!][Use cards to perform readings and see what future awaits you.][Do you wish to learn more about Card Readings?]

I confirmed.

[About Card Readings]- Can only be performed at Reading Circles- A Self needs at least three cards- Future Spreads can be unlocked by achievements or purchase- Once a Reading is done, a Self cannot use the chosen cards- Once used in a Reading, the cards will only revert to their original meaning once a Future has been reached

I furrowed my brows.

Once a Future has been reached?

Well, I guess this would make sense. Though it was still odd, somehow.

“Have you tried it yet?”

Aída shook her head. “When I found this and saw what it was, I went straight to you.”

Somehow, I felt my face get warmer, my heart beating against my chest a little faster than usual. “I-I see. Thank you for that.”

Park Eun-Woo, you fool. Focus on what matters.

I took a deep breath, walking toward the table.

There were lines carved deep into the stone, almost as if they were veins circling, swirling, connecting, and intertwining. However, there was a clear space in the middle, a smaller rectangle.

I opened my inventory, taking three random cards and placing them on the table. As my fingers brushed against the stone, a static ran through my arm—almost like an electrical current—its touch gelid and hollow.

[Does Contracted Self Park Eun-Woo wish to read into his future?]

The purple letters floated above the stone pillars, their glow ethereal and eerie.

Suddenly, the words felt heavy and bitter in my mouth. What exactly did I wish to know? Would the cards show me a future where I thrived or one where I perished?

“I do.”