[I thank you kindly for accepting my contract. Do not forget, you must not disclose the terms of our contract with another soul; be they a Self or another Benefactor. Break this rule and you may perish.]

Well, this was a lovely message to start the week. I opened the message as soon as I saw it, and was surprised to see that my Benefactor, the Fool… Actually spoke like a true gentleman. Or lady.

[I wanted to gift you something special, a token, to express my gratitude and hopes for our new relationship. I believe these will be quite useful in a near future.

Blessings,

                     Fool]

How courteous. 

I was a bit unsure of the way they had phrased it, yet… Well, couldn’t really complain about receiving gifts.

There was a small present icon glowing on my left, and the moment I pressed it confetti exploded on my face. It was like a full-colored hologram, passing through my face until it disappeared. 

[You have received the card ‘Five of Cups’]

[You have received the card ‘Six of Swords’]

When the cards turned, I lost my breath. 

Suddenly everything made sense, a piece of the puzzle falling right into its proper place, questions being answered, while many more popped into my mind. 

I hadn’t realized before—I had never been into those things back on Earth. Divination arts, astrology, love spells, prosperity rituals, and all this nonsense. It was everything quite silly to me.

However, Hyeon was a bit more curious. She liked to read and learn some things related to that stuff. 

Once she took me to have my future read, and there was one card that I never forgot; a woman on her knees weeping with three chalices spilling blood on the floor while two remained behind her, filled with water.

That image got to me, especially with everything I was going through.

Although Hana had gone abroad only for a few years, I was grieving. My life had changed too much, far too much in only a couple of weeks since her departure and I was having a hard time coping.

Even though Hana would call me sometimes, she was not there. She was not by my side. The card was an unfortunate reminder of how I was living my life, and it stuck with me. 

And at that moment, even though the design was somewhat different, the main message was the same. The number of chalices, the grief, the melancholy, the somber atmosphere, the gut-wrenching feeling I got simply by looking at it; it was all the same.

Tarot.

Suddenly familiar names and expressions came to me, like 'suits', 'arcanas', and 'spreads'. Cards that, from time to time, Hyeon would talk to me about. It all made sense and, at the same time, it didn’t.

Yet how could that be even possible? And those trials, were they based on Tarot as well? And how would I even use those cards? Read the future with them? Seriously?

As I accepted the cards, my inventory opened automatically with one of the tabs glowing. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the inventory was separated by tabs. 

Like the store, it had four tabs for each one of the categories; the one that was glowing had a card icon. I tried to see if there was any useful description of the cards, either on how to use them or what each one did, yet the sound of a bell chimed through the space.

「Fo-for all the new and Contracted Selves, the First Trial is about to begin. Please, read the rules carefully.」

The squire’s voice filled the space as if it was coming from stereos or something similar, however, no matter how many times I turned my neck and searched, I saw nothing of the like.

I looked over toward the arc, the number 3603 glowing faintly. It was starting before all spots had been filled? 

「All survivors will be rewarded according to their participation. So re-remember to make your Benefactors proud.」

The bell chimed again, smooth as silk, the rules appearing in front of me.

For some reason I felt my muscles tensing, the anticipation of it all making my heart race. I should probably be scared and nervous; it would be the most natural response to that situation.

So why wasn’t I?

[First Trial  - Defend the Tower!]

1- Selves can contribute to the Defense by purchasing structures.

2- Selves can place structures anywhere along the Tower’s path

3- Points can be earned by defeating monsters

4- Points earned within the Trial will be stored in the Tower’s Vault

5- The Stage will only be cleared once all monsters have been defeated

6- Selves can upgrade weapons by using points

7- New rules may be added as the Trial progresses 

I read the rules at least three times, my smile widening with each read. 

Wasn’t that… Just a tower defense game?

It couldn’t be, right?

On the right corner of the rules, there was a wands symbol with a ‘II’ beside it. II of Wands. So my guess was right… The trials were connected to Tarot cards, apparently.

Did that mean they used the tarot card as inspiration?

Shit, I wished I knew more about those cards—Hyeon would certainly be helpful. Was there any way I could get my hands on a manual, like a ‘Tarot for Dummies’?

Of course not. This they wouldn’t sell in the store.

“Mister!” 

I felt the impact on my leg, almost losing my balance. The twins were back, and one glance at Hal’s face told me they managed to get a hold of some interesting information.

Still, there was no way I could ignore the fear in Hildr’s eyes. I caressed her hair a few times, trying to pass as much confidence as I could on a smile.

Not sure I succeeded. 

“Back so soon?” I asked with Hil wrapped around my leg, the girl nodding once.

When I glanced over to Hal, he had both hands in his pockets and I kept wondering if that was simply his relaxed stance or if he was reaching for the knife.

“So, did you find out anything?”

It took a few seconds for the boy to say or do anything. Then, he started to type in midair. It did not take long for a message to appear on my screen.

[You have received a message.]

I opened the menu, reading the content of Hal’s message with a furrowed brown.

Was he serious? That couldn’t be, right?

“Are you certain of that?” 

The boy shrugged, pointing his head toward the walls that surrounded us. “Are you smart enough to win this trial?”

It was one of the big questions. So far, I still didn’t know if the reason for my survival in the past challenge was my intelligence and reasoning or pure, mere luck. And if it was luck, at what point would I run out of it? 

「Luck is what fools hope for. If you are wise, you’re going to hope for something else.」

Those words suddenly came to me, something I had heard a long time ago. I had no idea why I was remembering it at that moment, why it came so suddenly to me.

Was that what I had truly become then? A Fool who kept hoping for foolish things? I felt a weak smile forming on my lips, unsure if I was simply just a fool or if I was becoming a madman.

Yet who had said that to me? Had it been Hyeon or Jiho? Somehow I couldn’t picture any of them saying something like that, Jiho’s “pieces of wisdom” were usually so weird and filled with so many silly and odd metaphors, it didn’t look like him.

And Hyeon would never say something wise without putting some curse and dirty words in the middle.

Then who was it? 

Had it been Hana?

At that point, another screen appeared in front of me. As I quickly glanced around I could see the same screen on everyone’s face, the same messages displayed with an eerie purple glow.

[You can now choose a “Leader”.]

[You can now purchase structures from the Trial’s Store.]

[The first wave will start in 2:00 minutes.]

A leader…?

How could we choose a leader when no one knew each other? Was it going to be by vote or something else?

There was a low ‘ping’ sound, a giant screen opening above everyone. There were pictures of five people, their names written below.

I recognized two people on that screen.

[According to Performance Level, Amount of Points, Benefactors, and Impressions, these are the current Contracted Selves best suited to become the Trial’s Leader: ]

One of them was trench-coat-guy.

1- Kurosawa, Touma

2- Löster, Irma

3- Davis, Allison

4- Costa, Henrico

5- Park, Eun-Woo

The other person was me.

[Vote in the person you want as a ‘Leader’.]

“Look! Misters are on the screen!” Hil was now looking up with a gleeful smile in her voice, her eyes glowing.

Hal looked unimpressed at best. Another screen popped in front of me, the names shining with the light reflecting on my eyes.

Did I want to become a leader?

Actually, I was surprised my name was even there. 

Well, I had placed first in the last challenge and I did have a lot of points.

However, there were a lot more things that one had to consider when becoming a leader. A person's skills were not even at the top of the list.

Also, my actions and decisions would impact everyone else around me, not only regarding the amount of points each one would receive by the end of the trial but also their lives.

Did I really want such responsibilities on my shoulders?

“That Touma guy looks pretty good, huh? Like a real CEO.”

“Irma also looks quite strong. I can see the fire in her eyes, you feel me?”

“Everyone looks quite decent, for real. Except for…”

“That guy?”

“Oh yeah, that guy definitely doesn’t belong there. Think he bought the spot?”

“Well, points are definitely the only reason he would be up there.”

“I have to admit, he does look like an idiot.”

“Doesn’t he? For a moment I thought it was just me.”

“You all are talking about this Park Eun fellow, right?”

“Could it be anyone else?”

[Unique Aura  - Foolish Endeavor]

[Active]

Hal was holding his stomach, on his knees, trying not to laugh. After a few seconds he just burst, pointing his finger at me as tears ran down his face as he laughed nonstop. 

“Oh, your face—your face!”

...

I had nothing to say, really.

And there was a really small chance if I said anything, it would make things worse.

I had truly become a ‘Fool’, whether I wanted or not. 

I sighed, passing my fingers through my hair. No need to keep thinking about that, right? After all, I still had to vote for someone.

I would drop dead before I ever voted on that guy, so I kept looking at the others. I tried to search them amidst the crowd, yet it was not so easy to spot them.

I did find Irma, and just like the picture, she looked quite strong. Had her hair braided, the sides shaved, and I was almost certain her shoulders were wider than mine. There was this aura of confidence and power around her. 

In the end, I voted for Irma.

With Hal still laughing his ass off, and Hil trying to make him behave, I opened the Trial’s Store. 

Then a big smile grew on my face.

“You asked me if I was smart enough to win this trial, right?” 

Hal didn’t stop laughing right away, but he did start to pay attention to what I was saying, tears still running down his face.

“What?”

“I don’t know if I am smart enough to win, but…”

The most expensive structure in that store, that we could currently buy, was 30 points.

“I am rich.”

It took a few seconds for the boy to process my words and when he did, he opened a real smile.

“Wow, you sure are something else.”

[Total Points: 4,328]

“Have you ever played a tower defense game before?”

When they both shook their heads, my grin got wider.

“Well, this 'mister' here will show it to you.”

“Gross.”

“Mister is so cool!”

I ignored Hal. My pride was almost restored.

Then the giant screen above us let out confetti and balloons as a new message appeared.

[Every Self has voted]

[The new Leader has been chosen.]

One picture pushed all the others aside, its size getting bigger as the new leader's name glowed brightly for all to see.

The children cheered aloud, throwing their fists in the air while jumping. 

Kurosawa Touma had won.

Again.