I looked down at Ruoming’s pale arm, blinking. His skin was perfectly smooth and free of any marks.

  Both the World and I had our tattoos covering our arms. But if Ruoming wasn’t part of the Major Arcana… how did he seem to know more about it than I did, especially since Feiyu didn’t seem to know anything either?

  “Happy now?” Ruoming scoffed before shoving my head into the ground as I let out a pained grunt. I planted a foot into the ground and forced my way up, twisting free from his grip. I quickly grabbed his other arm and pushed the sleeve back to check for any marks.

  Nothing.

  I stared for a moment longer before getting off of him, standing up and dusting myself off. I shot him a suspicious look, and he looked at me with a cold and unfamiliar gaze before standing.

  I knew Zhao Rui would’ve never looked at me with such an unrecognizable expression. By this point, everything was pointed to Ruoming being an entirely different person, but their resemblance was far too striking.

  My gut feeling was telling me this man was undoubtedly Rui, but everything else was wrong.

  [Observers Chat]

  Socrates: Jia Li, give it up, he obviously has no clue who you are

  Socrates: And maybe he’s just another reader of Survivng My First Run. He just didn’t get blocked like the rest of us…

  “So, how about you share what the Major Arcana is? Since you seemingly know so much.” Ruoming said, crossing his arms.

  “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked you about them.”

  “I heard you’re the god of fortune and fate.”

  “Sure am. You can use Lie Detector if you don’t believe me.”

  “How do your powers work?” Ruoming’s tone was perfectly smooth as though he had the entire conversation contrive in his head. “Do you see flickers of the future? Hear voices? Have a god telling you what’s about to happen? Or maybe you have a special book with all the answers?”

  [Observers Chat]

  Socrates: Oops

  I kept my expression neutral, with no intent of giving information to Ruoming before I knew more about him.

  “I wonder how you get your knowledge. Especially since there seem to be some similarities between us,” I said.

  Ruoming paused, gauging my response before shrugging. “I have no intention of working with you. So why would I answer?”

  “You didn’t have an issue with fishing for information from me.”

  “Neither did you.”

  It was clear to me now that Ruoming was a reader. A very, very intelligent one at that; he clearly had no issue playing Feiyu and all the old characters. His understanding of the world and the characters must have been astronomical, and if the Major Arcana was fishing for future Arcana members, he was an obvious contender.

  “Well I think we both already got something out of this,” I said with a smirk, tilting my chin up. “So, what’s your strategy for the next arc? Are you going for the throne?”

  Ruoming’s face scrunched when I revealed information about the next arc; information that had never been disclosed.

  “I could go for any of them and still win,” Ruoming said.

  “You’re really confident, aren’t you?”

  [Observers Chat]

  TekB: Peijin should not be the spokesperson of the party how is she burning bridges like this
  Ahoy987: What the hell just happened that made no sense

  Landy: Wait so Peijin and Ruoming both know the future…?

  OwnPen: Maybe they both read—

  Yellow sparks appeared, turning off the Observer’s chat. It was as I thought—Karma was still restricting knowledge that the apocalypse came from my webnovel.

  Ruoming looked fed up with the conversation, not bothering to respond anymore. I didn’t mind if he knew I was a reader—as long as he didn’t know I was the writer. For now, he would think he was a step ahead of me in his understanding of the world, but a reader was still different from a writer.

  He brushed past me, walking to the kiosk where the rest of his team was.

  Feiyu finally let out a loud sigh, clutching his chest. “Wow, that was tense. Mind breaking all that down for me, Peijin? I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with all this prophet stuff…”

  “Go ask Ruoming. I’m not your party leader, am I?”

  Feiyu let out a defeated and dramatic breath. “Jiejie is so hostile.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I paused at the name and slowly turned around.

  “What did you just say?”

  “I said you were hostile.”

  “No, before that.”

  “I asked you to explain your very confusing conversation with Ruoming.”

  “You know exactly what I’m referring to,” I said, my face flushing red again. “I’m not your ‘Jiejie.’”

  “You’re a woman, and you’re older than me in age. That makes you my Jie.”

  “Then don’t say Jiejie to make it seem like we’re close,” I exclaimed in annoyance. “Be more polite!”

  “Sorry, Jiejie.”

  Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven tries to hold back his laughter.

  Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven is cackling and kicking his feet.

  Divinity One Who Fights in Front is embarrassed to be associated with you.

  Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts thinks Disciple Peijin and Disciple Feiyu look good together.

  Divinity One Who Fights in Front casts Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts a look of horror.

  Divinity One Who Fights in Front says Feiyu is far too childish.

  Divinity One Who Fights in Front says Disciple Ruoming’s indifference is a far better trait.

  Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts says Disciple Ruoming’s platinum hair is terrible.

  I looked at the notifications in complete horror, hating the idea of seeing Feiyu or Ruoming anymore than I already have.

  “Go bully Ruoming instead of me,” I snarled at Feiyu, quickly walking past him. “I’m heading back to my party.”

  Feiyu’s eyes twinkled once more as he chuckled, not bothering to follow me. “You know where to find me, Jiejie!”

  If I could have things my way, I would have punched Feiyu in the liver and called it a day, but instead I walked back to my party, feeling totally drained.

  I headed back to the center of the station, where Ruoming’s party was stationed at the kiosk, and spotted my party having settled down at another kiosk. I walked toward them, my heart beating quickly in my chest.

  For some reason, I felt a bit nervous. It must have been the combination of knowing Feiyu would be much harder to avoid as well as the mystery surrounding Ruoming. If I wasn’t already stressed from the Major Arcana and Karma, this made everything a whole lot worse.

  I smacked myself in the forehead a few times, feeling it sting. I was stupid if I let this bother me. There was no point in stressing over it if I inevitably had to address it. It wasn’t like I could just overpower any of them.

  I popped my head into the kiosk to see most of my party passed out. The moment I stepped through the door, I spotted the entire party sleeping inside, strewn over the floor. Yang was closest to the door and sat up, immediately reaching for his staff, until he relaxed when he realized who I was.

  He let out a relieved sigh and ran his hand through his hair before looking at me. “Sorry.” His voice was soft, not trying to wake the party members.

  “Nervous?”

  “I’m alright.”

  My expression softened and I sat down next to him, pulling the blue sleeves of my hoodie over my hands. “You can talk about it with me if you want. I can’t promise I’ll be good at comforting you.”

  Yang’s eyes widened in surprise. I quickly glared at him.

  “What?” I grumbled, “Did you think I couldn’t say a single nice thing to you or something? What’s with that reaction?”

  “Yeah, a little bit,” Yang said, scratching the back of his neck before letting out a light laugh. “You usually don’t say cheesy lines like that.”

  “That’s the last time you’ll hear it.”

  Yang let out a light laugh, and I watched curiousuly as his shoulders relaxed, and he finally seemed to calm down.

  “Did you sort out everything you wanted to tell us?” Yang asked.

  “No. I just can’t stand Feiyu or that Ruoming kid.”

  “I don’t think we got the chance to meet Ruoming,” Yang said, tilting his head curiously. “It was mostly Feiyu talking to us. What does Ruoming look like?”

  I waved my hand in the air. “You’ll know when you see him. Bright white hair and light eyes. He looks like a ghost if anything.”

  “Well… I guess anything is possible.”

  “How is Wei doing?”

  Yang paused for a moment, seeming to pick his words carefully. “I’m sure he’ll get back to his old self with time. But, he has been on edge and a lot more hesitant to speak up.”

  “I should have done a better job of protecting him,” I said, pressing my forehead against my curled-up knees.

  I couldn’t blame Wei for feeling betrayed. Even though I knew the party always had his best interest in mind, it was undeniable that I had kept Wei in the dark despite knowing what would happen.

  Even now, I wasn’t going to tell my party the extent of Karma or the existence of Surviving My First Run. And that was with them having my back regardless of what I did.

  Wei, on the other hand, knew I had been dishonest with him from the start. If I struggled to trust my party, it would take a lot of work for Wei to trust me again.

  It wasn’t like I couldn’t keep secrets, though. If I told Yue and Wei that they were nothing more than characters I created, their reaction could be terrible. It would do no good for the observers or gods to know I created this world, either.

  I paused before I wrapped my hands around the back of my head. “This is all so fucked up…”

  Yang stayed silent, but I could feel his gaze piercing into my back. Before he could say something, Yue stirred beside him.

  She blindly patted the ground beside her until she felt Amelia’s frizzy hair beside her, confirming that Amelia was still there. Then, she rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them, making direct eye contact with me.

  “You look like complete shit,” Yue murmured before shutting her eyes again.

  “Huh?! It’s because I have to make sure you don’t accidentally kill yourslef half the time. That would stress out anybody!”

  “You’re so loud, too. Can’t you keep it down? I thought you wanted us to get some rest,” Yue trailed off, looking like she was about to fall back asleep at any moment.

  I reached over and pinched her ear, pulling it toward me as she let out a yelp, slapping my hand away.

  “Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” I said with a fake smile. “Mind saying it again a bit louder?”

  “Fine, fine!” Yue whined, sitting up fully now and slapping her cheeks to wake herself up.

  Amelia woke up from the chaos and quietly crawled up beside me, leaning her head on me. Dried drool was crusted on her face. I went to wipe it off before realizing she had already fallen back asleep.

  So cute! I wrapped my arm around her small back and gently ran my fingers through her hair. By the time I looked over at Wei, I realized he was already awake. But, he didn’t say a word to any of us; instead, he just lay on his side, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

  “Wei,” I said nervously. “Are you feeling alright?”

  A long pause ensued before he replied. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to sort things out right now. It’s all so jumbled still.”

  Wei’s voice was barely audible, but he sat up, his eyes still avoiding mine. His once long and glossy hair was now disheveled and dull, and the bright look in his eyes vanished.

  Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts is mortified by the sight.

  Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts prays for Disciple Wei to feel better.

  Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts sends good wishes.

  Yang looked terribly worried just beside me, his eyes never leaving Wei’s sorry state for a moment. I wonder what they talked about for that brief moment they were alone.

  “Don’t let it eat you up, Wei,” I said firmly. “I’ll wait for you, but the world won’t.”

  Wei finally met my gaze. “I promised I would be your sword, Peijin. I’m a man of my word. So, tell us what needs to happen next, and I’ll do my best.”