Work Text:
When Klein completed the ritual, he found himself in a strange space filled with gray fog. A castle’s pillars and walls stood out from the fog, and he was seated at the hell of a long table.
Nine people were seated along the sides of the table; and on the opposite end was an empty seat.
It was all very grand, impressive, and utterly baffling.
Klein remained seated in his spot.
He knew the rules of transmigration very well. If one suddenly transmigrates, they should either pretend amnesia or pretend nothing happened.
In other words, stay silent! Act mysterious! Pretend to hide the truth, don’t reveal that you don’t know the truth either!
In other words! Shut up and sit there!
He’d barely had time to come to that conclusion that all nine people had turned towards him.
Gray fog obscured their faces. Klein tried not to tremble under their gaze; he was frozen so stiff with anxiety that he could barely breathe through it.
“Mr. Fool!”
Half of the people instantly stood up, cheering. Even those with calmer reactions at least exclaimed the same name, smiling or relaxing back into their seats.
The two most enthusiastic were the man who was outrageously tall, and the young lady with the expensive dress next to him.
Klein worried what reaction to give.
Huh? What? Where is this place? Who are you?
Mr. Fool? Are you calling me a fool? That’s the card I drew earlier, was that fake seer actually divining my fate here?
But luckily, these unknown people quickly stopped looking at him. All on their own, they quietly sat down.
Only the young lady with the expensive dress remained standing. She seemed to be their spokesperson.
“Mr. Fool, we are all glad to see you…!” Her voice sounded a little chocked. She turned towards the man who sat opposite her.
“Mr. Hanged Man.”
“Mr. Sun.”
“Miss Magician.”
“Mr. Moon.”
“Mrs. Hermit.”
“Mr. Star.”
“Miss Judgement.”
“And Miss Justice,” the girl with the expensive dress held a hand against her chest and bowed in self-introduction. Even through the gray fog that obscured her face, her smile was obvious.
“We, the Tarot Club, greet the honorable Fool.”
The honorable Fool, that seemed to be him.
How should he react…? This seems to be a serious matter, involving at least one noble… If he revealed that he wasn’t whoever this Fool was, wouldn’t he land himself in some trouble?
But what was transmigration without some special sort of power for the protagonist? Although Klein remained pragmatic and didn’t expect much, he still thought it was to be expected that he’d be granted some power.
Was his power access to a group of powerful people?
But in order to use it fully, he’d have to figure out how to be that ‘Fool.’
With a name like ‘the Fool’… What should his attitude be like?
Klein smiled and relaxed his posture. He nodded his head once.
That seemed to be enough for the Tarot Club. They all relaxed as well, and some broke out into smiles.
Miss Justice looked around the table. “Mr. Fool, is Mr. World not available?”
“…Not for now,” Klein replied.
Who’s Mr. World? Since the World is the end of the Fool’s journey, he should be the one who sits opposite Klein…
Don’t ask me why he’s not here, I have no idea who he is!
Miss Justice nodded, and began speaking again. Her voice was enchanting, and so calm and accepting that it made Klein a little dizzy. “Everyone, I assume we are in the same situation?”
They all exchanged looks.
Mr. Star crossed his arms and summarized the situation. “We’re in the past.”
In the…
What?
Klein blinked. It took everything he had not to react.
Time travel? Are they talking about time travel? Then… then… I’m fucked! There’s no way they won’t realize I’m not the real deal!
“Mr. Fool, did you…?” Mr. Sun asked timidly.
Klein didn’t answer and just smiled mysteriously.
No clue! I have no clue! Until you said it, I had no idea time travel was possible in this world! Although if world travel (transmigration) is possible, time travel should be, too…
But the Tarot Club seemed to take that as an acceptable answer. They didn’t question him any further.
“What sequence are you all at?” Miss Magician asked. “I’m back to what I was at this point in time.”
“It’s the same for me as well,” Miss Judgement added.
“Same.”
“Yeah, I also…”
There was a round of agreement around the table.
“It seems only our spirits traveled. As a result, our bodies still lack the physical evolution needed for higher sequences,” Mrs. Hermit said.
Miss Justice nodded. “I shouldn’t be a beyonder at this time, but I definitely felt I had a spiritual sense. We should at least all have our abilities boosted from what they should be at this time.”
“Upgrading our sequence should also be easier,” Mr. Hanged Man said.
“That’s true.”
“We also know our potion ingredients and rituals.”
“Seems like it’ll be smooth sailing this time.”
The atmosphere became more joyous, and they all celebrated the good news… except for Klein, who was once again confused out of his mind.
Beyonder, sequence, spirituality, potions, rituals. Huh? So it’s this kind of world…
“With our knowledge of what is to come, we should also be able to influence future events,” Miss Justice said.
Mr. Sun’s body jolted. He said excitedly: “Does that mean we can help Mr. Fool, this time?”
“We should be able to…” Miss Justice peeked hesitantly at Klein, trying to see his reaction.
Klein painfully maintained the mysterious smile on his face.
Miss Justice relaxed and smiled. “But Little Sun, you probably won’t be able to help for a while.”
“Oh.” Mr. Sun, Little Sun, sat back down.
Mr. Hanged Man and Mrs. Hermit exchanged a look, then turned to look at him. “We’ll come help you as soon as possible.”
“Okay, thank you. I will also become stronger quickly! And I will spread Mr. Fool’s word as soon as possible.” He said it so resolutely that Klein nearly nodded along.
Wait, what do you mean, Mr. Fool’s word? Why do you sound like a missionary? Is Mr. Fool a cult leader?
Miss Magician suddenly gasped. “Wait, if we’ve gone back to our old sequences, then… does it mean, Mr. Fool also…”
They all peeked at Mr. Fool’s face, where a mysterious smile perfectly hid Klein’s real feelings.
No idea.
Don’t ask me.
Mr. Fool is currently unavailable. Please dial back later.
But somehow, those cultists took that non-reaction as an answer! Their expressions darkened.
“So Mr. Fool…”
“To think that Mr. Fool would have to suffer like this…”
“Mr. Fool, you can depend on us now!”
“That’s right! If you need anything, you can ask us…!”
“I’ll quickly write the Fool’s bible!”
“Right! Everyone, let’s also work on gathering believers for Mr. Fool’s church!”
‘Church.’
‘Bible.’
Hey, can’t we all be friends? Why do you say such scary words?
Klein nearly teared up. His stress level was so high that his entire body had gone numb. He once again wished he could quickly go home and forget all this had happened.
Dear cultists, how should I say this… It seems like I accidentally stole your cult leader’s body and identity.
In reality, right now, your cult leader is so poor he can only take a warm bath once every two months, is completely jobless, and will probably fail his prospective job interview…
These people were so scary.
Either they were delusional cultists, and were crazy, or they were magicians of some kind, and were crazy.
Either way, he wanted nothing to do with them!
#Asking for help online, I accidentally became a cult leader, how can I fool my crazy cult members into not murdering me for tricking them? Very urgent!#