Accidentally Becoming a Great Prophet?!

After shuffling the cards smoothly and neatly spreading them out on the table.
Praising myself for my improving card handling skills, I extended my hand towards Hwang Min-wook and said.
“Now, would you please choose one card?”
“One card… Alright.”
Hwang Min-wook, who had been tapping the table with his finger while pondering, soon pulled out a card and handed it to me.
“I’ll go with this one.”
And I picked up the card Hwang Min-wook handed me and flipped it over to check.
The card that appeared when I flipped it was the trap card ‘Crossroads of Choice’.
The picture drawn on the card is of a person standing in front of a fork in the road, pondering, and the effect of the card, like that picture, has the effect of making the opponent choose and destroy one of the cards existing on their own field.
“Hmm…”
Well, that’s what the card effect is, and its meaning is…
“First of all, there are 3 ways to extend your lifespan.”
“Huh… 3 ways? Are you saying there are 3 ways to extend one’s lifespan?”
“Well, that’s right?”
Unexpectedly, there are quite a few. To think there are 3 ways to extend lifespan? Well, they’re not exactly commonly used methods though.
“Hmm, then should I draw the next card now?”
“No? There’s no need for that.”
If you needed to draw more, I would have told you to draw several from the start! There’s a reason I told you to draw only one!
“Hmm, anyway, shall I explain the first method?”
The first way to extend lifespan.
“It’s not a method I particularly recommend… but the first method is to become a species other than human. A species with a long lifespan, that is.”
“Another species… you say?”
“To put it simply, it’s a method of becoming a monster rather than a human. If you choose this method, your lifespan itself will extend enough to live until your grandchild has a grandchild.”
Of course, only the lifespan extends, but.
“Hmm…”
“However, if you choose this method, you will eventually die with your heart pierced by your grandchild. As a consequence, your grandchild will lose their left arm and right leg.”
“…Oh my! You can even see such things?”
Hearing those words, Hwang Min-wook didn’t hide his surprise.
Is this really fortune-telling? To think you can know this much just by looking at that toy-like card?
I can understand that there are 3 methods. After all, there’s that picture drawn on that card.
But… to even tell the method beyond that, and the future that will be reached if that method is chosen…? Is this what ordinary card fortune-telling is like?
‘The rumors of his skill… were not false.’
Of course, he was just a superhuman and not in a position to say anything as he was a layman in this field… but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t surprised. Isn’t it too amazing and surprising?
“I’ll say it again, but it’s not a method I particularly recommend. The result isn’t that good, is it? But if you choose it, I can tell you how to make it happen.”
“I don’t want to do that either. Especially since it’s not the only method, and if the ending is so horrible… there seems to be no reason to choose this method.”
“It is quite a method, isn’t it? Anyway, then I’ll explain the second method right away.”
The second method is not as extreme as the first method.
“The second method is… to rewind the time of the body. In other words, the method of rejuvenation?”
“Rejuvenation… you say?”
“Yes. You can rejuvenate to your youth. However, this method comes with quite a price.”
“…A price, is it a terrible price like the first method?”
“Well, not to that extent. However, if you rejuvenate, the injuries your body originally had will slightly worsen and you won’t be able to live as long as your original lifespan.”
“I’d like a more detailed explanation.”
“To put it simply… Let’s say your original lifespan was 100 years, and in a situation where you’ve reached 100 years old and have little time left to live, if you use rejuvenation to turn back 50 years, you’ll live 50 more years. In terms of simple age, you’d die around 150 years old, right? But if you rejuvenate, you won’t be able to live out your natural lifespan. You might die at 110 years old, or you might die at 149 years old.”
“It’s a more subtle price than I thought? Considering it’s the price for going against fate.”
“Is that so? Well, I’m not sure about all that… If you rejuvenate, you’ll die lying in bed with your family watching. But it won’t be comfortable.”
From what I could see, it seemed he would die painfully from something like poison or a curse. Still, he would live happily until that death.
“Hmm… May I hear the last method first?”
“I don’t mind. The last, third method… is the one I personally recommend.”
The last way to extend lifespan is…
“The last method is to fix your body. It seems the reason you don’t have much lifespan left is because you overworked your body when you were young, and your lifeline has been eaten away due to the injuries and aftereffects from that time… We’re solving this fundamental problem.”
“…Is such a thing possible?”
“Whether you believe it or not is up to you… but there is a way to do that. If your body becomes healthy, naturally your lifeline will become thick and strong. It means your lifespan will increase.”
Hmm… Should I say you’ll be able to enjoy the natural lifespan you would have had if you had a healthy body… Tsk, I hate difficult words.
“For the last method, do I not have to pay any price?”
“Hmm, there’s nothing like that.”
That’s the reason I recommended it. Since I’m getting paid to give a fortune-telling anyway, isn’t it better if it benefits the customer?
“Hoho… Then there’s no reason to hesitate in my choice. I’ll choose the last method.”
Although there were 3 methods given and it was a problem he could choose for himself, such an easy choice wasn’t particularly strange.
If you have a powerful monster you’ve summoned with effort, a good trap card that can save your life once, and a meat shield for sacrifice on the field, wouldn’t you choose the meat shield for sacrifice without hesitation?
If there are difficult choices, there are also easy choices. Well, if something is memorable, the difficult choice might be more memorable?
“I see. Then somewhere on the middle of Mt. Taebaek, there will be a tree with green leaves. If you sit under that tree for a while, a large bear that can talk will appear. If you beat that bear in arm wrestling, it will ask what you want, and if you say you want an elixir then, you’ll be able to get a pill with a bluish energy, and if you eat that, you’ll be able to get what you want.”
“Hmm, how should I put it. It sounds like an old folk tale.”
It’s like that… what’s it called? The body transformation that appears in martial arts novels? It’s something a bit similar to that.
No, is it a bit different from that?
“And it would be more effective if you eat it at the place you obtained it.”
Well, you probably won’t become dramatically stronger like Cheong So-ha or Akame… but you’ll be stronger than you are now, at least.
“…My goodness, I can only express admiration.”
Hwang Min-wook didn’t hide his admiration at my answer.
How on earth can he see such things from that small card? It couldn’t help but be amazing.
“I’m glad I didn’t ignore the rumors I heard. To think there was such a precious person in Korea. Hohoho…”
Of course, these fortune-tellings could be wrong.
However, somehow… Hwang Min-wook’s experienced senses could instinctively tell that not a single thing he said was wrong. At least regarding the content of the fortune-telling, there was a feeling of trust.
To begin with, there’s no way two S-rank superhumans would be subordinates to a mediocre person.
And anyway, unless this house is an artifact that moves around on its own, if it’s wrong, I can just come back, right?
Hwang Min-wook, who smiled with satisfaction, pulled out a crate from thin air and placed it on the table.
“What is this?”
“It’s the payment for the fortune-telling. It’s an artifact I obtained when I conquered an S-rank dungeon in the past. It’s called the ‘Crystal Ball’, but I wasn’t qualified to handle it.”
When Hwang Min-wook opened the crate, a translucent ball about the size of a human face with a faint purple energy surrounding it was visible.
…Hmm, somehow it seems like an extraordinary item? Well, since it came out of conquering an S-rank dungeon, it should be different in some way, right?
“They say that only one who can place the world in their hand and look down upon it calmly can handle this precious object. Hoho… It’s this old man’s guess, but it seems there’s no one else fit to be the sole owner of this object except for you, teacher.”
“…Those are some terrifying conditions…”
…Am I someone who meets such splendid and tremendous conditions? I don’t particularly feel that way…
Still, since it’s an artifact from an S-rank dungeon, I accepted it for now. Even if I can’t use it, isn’t it an extremely precious item?

‘I should display it on the wall or something.’
“I had brought some money as other compensation… but it seems the amount I brought today won’t be enough, so after I finish what you said, I’ll come back with an appropriate amount. Then…”
With that, Hwang Min-wook, who bowed his head to me briefly in greeting, left the room.
“It seems you’ve thoroughly enchanted another big shot? At this rate, aren’t you going to become a big shot who holds and shakes Korea in one hand, Han-ul?”
“…Hmm, it’s scary that the joke doesn’t sound just like a joke, senior.”
“…Ugh, what a terrifying thing to say.”
What big shot… Even this much seems excessive… This is more than enough.
Anyway, after roughly cleaning up and placing the crate in one corner of the fortune-telling room, I left the room and spent time leisurely before going to sleep when night fell.
[Kekeke! This next-door neighbor turns out to be an extraordinary person beyond imagination among extraordinary people!]
And a large weasel with long white whiskers was looking at the sleeping Dam Han-ul from beyond the window, its eyes shining.