Why is everything pointing toward this tarot card…? Why is it telling me to use it?
Whatever this voice is… whatever this system window is—it doesn't matter.
If anything—
seeing all this only made my curiosity grow stronger.
It's a bad habit of mine.
Once something catches my attention—
I can't just let it go.
I looked down at the card box again. Inside, the top card caught my attention.
The Fool. Compared to the others, it looked newer… cleaner. If this thing had answers, it was the only lead I had.
I didn't need to believe the rules—I just needed to test them.
"…Let's see."
I bit my finger. A small bead of blood formed at the tip of my finger.
Aron immediately reacted.
"Mr. Zekai, what are you doing?! No... blood!"
For now, there's no direct connection between him and this.
I ignored him and let the drop fall onto The Fool.
Nothing happened. For a second… nothing.
The throne hall remained quiet. For a moment, I almost laughed.
"Great," I muttered. "Worthless."
I flicked the card away casually.
It stopped mid-air.
I froze.
The card hung there for a fraction of a second, suspended as if gravity had reconsidered its decision. Then everything snapped back.
It was already back in my hand.
It wasn't flying back. It wasn't falling.
It was simply there—without movement, without a path.
I blinked.
"…What?"
For a moment, I didn't move.
Not because I was confused—but because something inside me understood it first.
It never left.
The distance between "here" and "there"—
didn't exist for it.
Cause didn't matter.
Movement didn't matter.
Only the result did.
And somehow—
my hand had already accepted that.
"Hey Aron… did you see that? The card stopped in the air."
He frowned.
"No. It's been in your hand the whole time."
I stared at him.
What was he talking about? I had just thrown it.
I threw it again.
Same result.
The card appeared back in my palm.
My eyes didn't leave the card.
"Okay…" I said slowly. "That's enough. Probably just an illusion."
"This… maybe it's just some kind of card trick…"
---
"Mr. Zekai… you've been standing here talking to yourself."
"You haven't moved at all…
you're just holding the card—
your eyes are closed."
He shook me.
"Wake up… Mr. Zekai."
---
I tried to drop it.
My hand wouldn't open—no matter how hard I tried.
The card didn't feel stuck. It felt… integrated.
The skin beneath it burned—not painfully, but intensely, like circulation returning after being cut off for too long.
My breathing hitched—once—then refused to steady.
"Hey—no. No, no—"
I grabbed my wrist with my other hand and tried to pull it away.
"Get off… let go!"
The card pulsed.
A dark red liquid spread across its surface. It didn't drip—it moved, slowly and deliberately. The color spread across the card—then into the air itself, spreading outward in thin veins that crawled across the walls and ceiling like ink searching for boundaries.
The temperature dropped instantly.
The throne hall dimmed.
Within seconds, the entire space was covered.
I turned toward Aron.
He was frozen in place—completely still.
Even his breathing stopped, like time had stopped recognizing him.
"Hey Aron… wake up."
He didn't respond.
Only this system window is reacting.
[ EVENT TRIGGERED — IRREVERSIBLE ]
[ Condition: Satisfied ]
[ Arcana Response Initiated ]
"Irreversible… what does that even mean?"
"Did I just make a mistake…?"
I looked at my hand again—the one that had been stuck to the card.
The card vanished.
Just like that.
I stepped back.
The air felt different—sealed.
Like the hall had sealed itself.
I took a breath, but the air felt thinner than before. My hands started shaking before I even realized it.
Something moved behind me.
Not human.
Before I could react—
Something cold—black hands—covered my eyes.
"WHO THE—!"
My heartbeat skipped—hard.
Then everything broke.
The world didn't break.
It shattered.
Images flooded my mind.
A tall building. A man standing at the edge. His face wouldn't stay clear—
every time I tried to focus, it shifted.
Below him—bodies.
Dozens. Maybe more.
The smell came next.
Metallic. Heavy. Blood.
It hit harder the second time.
Not just a smell—
pressure.
My chest tightened sharply, like the air had thickened into something I had to force through.
My heartbeat stuttered—
once…
then twice…
like it couldn't decide whether to keep going.
The man smiled. Not proudly. As if recognizing something.
The man wasn't horrified. He looked… relieved.
'What did he achieve…? Why did he have that expression?'
Not relief from victory. Relief—like something had finally ended.
A faint scream echoed from below, distant but real.
In his hand— The Fool card.
'What is this vision…?'
The air felt thick. Hard to breathe.
Every breath felt delayed—like my body was reacting a second too late.
My pulse slammed against my ears—
loud…
uneven…
wrong.
Before I even realized it—I screamed.
Something pressed against my ribs—from the inside.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Something forcing its way through me—like my body wasn't built to hold what I was seeing.
Understanding came too late—and it didn't help.
This wasn't a test.
It was acceptance.
Not acceptance of power.
Acceptance of consequence.
Something had already chosen me—
long before I ever touched the card.
And this moment—
was just me realizing it too late.
My heart dropped—not in fear.
In recognition.
And now it was complete.
My body jerked violently. The floor vanished beneath me.
I wasn't falling. I was being pulled.
The last thing I felt was the ground disappearing.
My vision fractured— then the world folded inward—collapsing into a single point—
then dissolving into white.
✦ End of Chapter 5 — The Vision ✦