Guiding Ichinose: The "Goal" is Distant

"I want to know... who exactly is that person? Right now... I really don't know who else I can turn to, or what I should do..."

Her voice grew quieter, the despair in her tone thick and impenetrable, her hands clenching tighter until her knuckles turned slightly white.

"I really want to join the Student Council. I want to use that platform to help more of my classmates, and I want to understand this school more deeply.

That way... perhaps I could secure more opportunities and resources for our Class B, but now..."

She didn't continue, merely lowering her eyes, her long lashes casting a small shadow beneath them to hide the tears that threatened to well up.

Lin Mu watched her, this fragile figure who seemed to have lost her way, yet he felt no particular ripple of emotion in his heart.

Through the fragments of her future he had seen with his precognition, and the secrets he had glimpsed during that day's divination.

He roughly understood that Ichinose Honami was simply too soft and kind-hearted.

She was always in the habit of shouldering everyone's expectations and needs, wanting to take care of every single person, to prove her own worth, and fearing being abandoned or letting others down.

This way of living, in his view, was too exhausting—like a string pulled taut at all times—and the shadow of the "dishonest past" he had seen during that divination was perhaps the most fragile point on that string.

(One has different perspectives when viewing problems at different times; after all, everyone is just an ordinary person.)

If this obsession of hers remained unchanged, at some point in the future, it might truly become the final straw that breaks her.

He looked at Ichinose Honami, his tone flat, devoid of any ripples of comfort or sympathy: "Time will give you the answer, Ichinose-san."

He paused, as if remembering something, and added: "Also, that day's divination was free, a token of gratitude for you helping me carry things.

But for subsequent answers, if you wish to know them, you naturally need to pay the corresponding points.

One hundred thousand for Tarot Cards, one hundred fifty thousand for the Crystal Ball; those are my rules."

He pointed to the small blackboard beside him that he hadn't yet put away.

These words left Ichinose Honami slightly stunned, a flush of embarrassment immediately appearing on her face.

She had been so focused on seeking answers that she had indeed forgotten that Lin Mu's divination was a high-priced service with clearly marked rates; that day's free session had already been an exception.

She subconsciously touched her Student Terminal; one hundred thousand points was not a small sum for her, especially now that she was feeling low, making it an expenditure that required careful consideration.

Yet, Lin Mu did not seem to truly expect her to pay right now.

He shifted the conversation, speaking again in a casual, almost indifferent tone:

"However, seeing as you're so down today, I can kindly give you a hint."

He paused, watching as Ichinose Honami's eyes instantly widened, filled with surprise and anticipation, before he dropped a startling remark in a flat tone.

"In the 'possibilities' I saw during my divination, perhaps it would actually be better for you, and for Class B, if you didn't join the Student Council."

Ichinose Honami's eyes widened instantly, her purple irises filled with disbelief.

Lin Mu, ignoring her reaction, continued in the same tone as if discussing something trivial: "Perhaps you could try... giving up the idea of joining the Student Council."

He watched her completely stunned expression and added one more faint remark:

"Of course, if you think I'm just spouting nonsense, or offering comforting words just to stop you from fretting, you can treat this as a joke and forget you ever heard it."

He even shrugged, a hint of playfulness creeping into his tone.

"After all, in this world, who can really see someone else's future?

Such supernatural things usually only exist in manga and novels, don't they?"

(The kind of future one wants must be fought for, not obtained through so-called divination.)

(I have already seen the future...)

He stopped at the right moment, never delving too deep.

He simply felt that Ichinose Honami lived too exhaustingly, and based on that trivial feeling of "helpful kindness" and a vague impression, he had mentioned it in passing.

Whether she listened or how she chose was ultimately her own business.

He was never one to meddle in other people's lives; offering a reminder was already a courtesy extended because she was a decent person.

Ichinose Honami sat completely frozen on the small stool, staring blankly at Lin Mu, as if she couldn't grasp the meaning of his words, yet as if every syllable had struck heavily upon her heart.

Not joining the Student Council... would be better?

This was a possibility she had never once imagined.

Joining the Student Council had been a goal set almost from the moment she was accepted into this school; it was a key step in her plan to realize her ideal of "helping more people" and "making the class better."

All her efforts and expectations had been poured into this.

Lin Mu's words, however, were like a cold, hard stone thrown abruptly into the lake of her heart—which she had worked so hard to keep calm and warm—stirring up not ripples, but waves that shook her very soul.

She subconsciously lowered her head, looking at her intertwined hands, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

A silent yet intense war began within her heart.

On one side was the goal she had persisted in for so long, which had almost become an obsession—that burning initial intention to help her classmates, understand the school deeply, and secure opportunities for Class B.

On the other side was Lin Mu, whose divination had already proven accurate once, and from whom she had heard that the results of Lin Mu's divinations were basically one hundred percent accurate.

Such precise and terrifying divinatory ability, combined with this seemingly casual yet inexplicably certain reminder.

Join, or give up? Persist in her obsession, or consider another possibility?

For a moment, a massive wave of confusion and inner conflict submerged her.

Her brows furrowed even tighter, her lips pressed until they turned pale, and the disappointment in her heart was replaced by a more complex struggle.

Lin Mu watched Ichinose Honami with her head bowed, her shoulders slightly slumped, and her fingers twisting together so tightly they turned white; the lollipop in his mouth pressed gently against his left cheek, creating a small bulge.

He remained silent for a few seconds, and just as Ichinose thought he wouldn't say anything more, that lazy yet clear voice sounded once again.

The tone remained indifferent, yet it seemed to carry a hint of indescribable clarity compared to before, despite still holding that detached sense of unconcern:

"You are obsessed with the Student Council only because you feel it is the only place where you can 'legitimately' help many people and prove your own worth."

His fingertips tapped the tabletop casually, and the Crystal Ball reflected a faint, hazy halo under the fading daylight.

"But a path, it is never just the one you see beneath your feet."

(As long as I want to walk, the path is beneath my feet, but then I discover I have no legs, haha.)

He paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through the fabric of the tent, casting toward the campus that appeared to be shrouded in a hazy mist in the distance.

"You always think about taking everyone's burdens onto your own shoulders, afraid that you aren't doing well enough, afraid of failing any expectations.

Afraid that once you stop or change direction, you will lose the meaning of your existence, or let the people around you down."

(People are always moving toward a goal, but losing it makes one feel empty, while possessing it might bring one trouble...)