Fortune Telling

"Goddamn it, what kind of shitty design is this?!" Chekhov cursed.

Two gunshots answered him. The Russian fell to the ground, blood spraying everywhere from his chest.

Just then, the cavalryman fighting Naruko shouted a few words. It wasn't Chinese or English, but a language none of them could understand.

But they weren't the only ones who couldn't understand it.

The newly arrived cavalrymen reacted at once.

One stayed on his horse to reload his musket, while the other drew a small pistol from his waist and charged toward Naruko.

Clearly, of the four of them, only Asahara Naruko had even a little skill with cold weapons.

That was why the enemy had singled her out as the main threat, while Zhou Zhi was completely ignored.

Once she went down, the others' "pirate careers" would obviously come to an end.

Zhou Zhi knew it too. He kept muttering, "It's just a game... it's just a game..." as he gripped his axe with trembling hands. The moment the cavalryman swept past him, he let out a wild howl, leaped to his feet, and swung with all his strength.

Though he looked unsteady, at least he hadn't stayed where he was and waited to die.

The move seemed to catch the cavalryman by surprise.

The man was forced to pull back his pistol and block the blow with his arm. Just as Naruko had said, the axe handle didn't transmit the sticky sensation of sinking into flesh. Instead, it shuddered like metal striking stone. The tremendous recoil knocked the axe from Zhou Zhi's hands and sent the cavalryman tumbling from his horse.

I did it!

Zhou Zhi pressed the man down and reached for the pistol, but suddenly felt a chill in his stomach.

Looking down, he saw a dagger already buried in his gut.

"Damn... this freak... can switch weapons..."

Zhou Zhi managed to force out the words with the last of his strength.

His vision quickly blurred.

He saw Asahara Naruko caught between the newly arrived cavalrymen. One careless move, and her head was hacked off, blood spraying high from her neck. The Russian hadn't died right away after being shot, but his end was even worse. Unable to fight back, he was set upon by the villagers who had been hiding all around. They worked up their courage and joined the battle with pitchforks and clubs. By the time he died, hardly a part of him was intact; holes that let the light through covered his body.

Then white light engulfed everything.

Just as it had when they entered the game.

"Gah—!"

A ragged gasp.

Zhou Zhi yanked off his VR Goggles and gulped down air as if he'd been suffocating, but even then he couldn't calm his pounding heart.

The others were no better. There was hardly any color left in their faces.

"Sukabliechi, you lied to me! You call this painless?" Anthony Chekhov shouted. "It felt like those shots were about to stab me to death!"

"To ensure a satisfying experience for our customers, pain reduction is not set to zero," the Host replied in his steady voice. "But I can assure you that this level will have no effect on your physical or mental health."

The Russian glared at him for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "What I mean is... could you turn it up even more? That was fucking exhilarating!"

"Exactly! I could never have imagined a game like this existed without experiencing it myself!" Qiao James lit a cigarette—an actual cigarette this time—and took a long drag. "You guys are going to make a fortune!"

"That million-dollar entry fee was the best million I ever spent," Chekhov said admiringly. "When's the next event? I imagine it costs a fortune to run each time, right? If you're having trouble with funding, I can sponsor you."

"What, you want to go again?"

"I'd go ten more times and still want more!" Anthony grabbed the bottle on the table and took a swig. His eyes burned with excitement. "When's the next time? I'll be much better prepared. Though... it'd be even better if you could lower the difficulty."

Asahara Naruko didn't let her feelings out in an outburst, but her expression showed just how shaken she was. She still hadn't recovered from the experience.

Zhou Zhi, meanwhile, wore a complicated expression.

The masked Host's face revealed nothing. "Your question concerns business secrets, so I'm afraid I can't answer it. But I can tell you that this was only an initial trial run. Paradise is an extremely ambitious project. When it opens again, it won't be as simple as it was today."

"We'll expand it and lower the entry requirements so that more people can experience the joy Paradise offers. As for the specific opening date, please wait patiently. Once everything is ready, I'll send another invitation and guide you to Paradise." He bowed slightly. "Finally... thank you all for taking part."

Shi Dong passed through the shadowy Old City walls and entered the West District. This was the edge of the city, where beggars in ragged clothes could be seen everywhere, along with gang thugs who eyed him with ill intent. But they only dared to look. Shi Dong knew the medal on his shoulder was enough to intimidate these gutless lowlifes. After all, if they had the nerve to openly attack a Glorious Fortress guard, they wouldn't be serving the underground gangs like dogs.

At least during the day, it was safe here.

He walked a little over a hundred meters along the damp street, turned two corners, and stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley.

There stood a makeshift shack built from wood.

A sign hung above it: Wonderful Fortune Telling House.

It was the very place he had come to find.

Shi Dong glanced around, made sure no one had followed him, then lowered the brim of his hat and entered the shack.

There was nothing about his visit that needed to be kept secret, but he still didn't want his colleagues hearing about it.

"Welcome to the Wonderful... Oh, it's you."

There was only one person inside: an old man who looked to be in his twilight years.

"It's me." Shi Dong hesitated, then decided to sit cross-legged. The shack was too cramped for anyone to straighten up, so he might as well be comfortable instead of standing hunched over. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course. Not many people come here seeking their fate." The old man nodded, then showed a mouthful of yellow-brown stumps. "And even fewer come back. So... did the fortune come true?"

"How did you know pirates would show up there?" Shi Dong couldn't help asking. "In theory, they couldn't have slipped past the patrol ships and approached Glorious Fortress without being noticed—"

"What are you talking about? Pirates?" The old man looked a little surprised. "Did this fortune-telling cause you any trouble?"

Right... He didn't know what had happened.

Shi Dong stared at him for a long while before slowly leaning back. In the old man's words, all he had foretold was an opportunity—when and where Shi Dong might resolve his troubles. The old man himself couldn't know what would happen.

That was what made it all the more unbelievable.

Yes, the fortune had come true.

Shi Dong would never have believed in such things if he hadn't been at the end of his rope. On a whim, he had taken a few of his brothers to a fishing village in the southern suburbs, never expecting to run into a group of pirates coming ashore. Thanks to their heads, he had received a bonus on top of his regular pay. He used the money to cover his younger sister's medical bills, and her condition had finally stabilized again.

There was even word that, because of their victory, he might be promoted from squad leader to team leader. If so, his pay and benefits would improve even further.