They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

Is it the fool? Or the world?

The old man mysteriously traced the cards with his finger.

but……

“Why is the Fool’s number 1 here? As far as I know, the Fool should be number 0 in the Grand Arcana,” Chen Di said.

Changing 0 to 1 on purpose sounds so strange.

The old man smiled slightly and took out a new card.

—My ID card.

What are you doing? Are you making veiled attacks?!

However, he didn't seem to put me in position 0, but rather after the 22nd World card, and wrote 23 on it.

While I was still trying to figure out the old man's intentions, he smiled gently.

"There are never free gifts in the gifts of fate. Now, you can choose a card. From The Fool to yourself, these cards are numbered from 1 to 23."

"But please note that no one's destiny can be isolated. The destiny you choose must have its associated cards; otherwise, you cannot choose it."

"Just like life, once you choose a card, the cards associated with that card belong to fate."

I rubbed my forehead. "Can't you speak like a normal person?"

"for example."

The old man said with a smile.

"You cannot take away the Fool, card number 1, because it is an isolated number."

"If you choose number 15, the Temperance card, then the Fool (number 1), the High Priestess (number 3), and the Emperor (number 5) will all belong to me, the embodiment of destiny."

"...Prim factorization?"

I was stunned.

"So once you've picked the Fool card number 1, I can't actually take cards like 7 and 11 anymore, right?"

"You are very wise," the old man said approvingly.

"You can only choose one fate each time. But if the remaining cards have no causal relationship with fate, then they all belong to me."

The old man said this, pointing to two squares on the table.

"Life will continue until we have no other choice. And then, fate will judge—if what you have gained is of higher value than fate, you will win; if not, you will lose everything. Remember, fate and you are not evenly matched; even if the value is equal, fate will still win."

"If we win, will one of our wishes be granted?"

Although we are not yet certain whether we can win, let's ask this question anyway.

"Wishes? No, the gifts of fate always require you to strive for them."

"If you are victorious and possess the Hermit No. 10, you will possess spiritual wealth; if you possess the Pope No. 6, you will receive a noble blessing; if you possess the Magician No. 2, you will be able to have all your wishes fulfilled."

"Alright, Your Excellency Black Queen, Challenger of Fate. Let the gamble with destiny begin!"

[Next chapter preview: "It's a math problem, but I'm not very good at math."]

As expected, there is such a reward.

Haha, just as I expected, it was all just empty talk!

An Yu looked at me with starry eyes.

"...Then I'll use it up, okay?"

Chapter Seventy: A Wish from Paradise

"Um, did you guys understand?"

An Yu raised his hand and asked weakly.

"I understand, but is this kind of game considered gambling? It doesn't feel like it's based on luck."

Hu Dan frowned.

"It's a math problem, but I'm not very good at math."

Ling Chuqing also looked deep in thought. Ning Ruoxin stared at the tarot cards on the table while making empty gestures with her hand.

"Go, brothers and sisters!"

Su Qiqi probably didn't understand at all; at this moment, she was just enthusiastically gesturing with her fists to cheer us on.

"...Do you have any clue?"

Qiu Luxi looked at me, and I gave a bitter smile.

"Riddles are fine too, math problems..."

"Moreover, although the old man kept saying that he would win if the number was higher than his, the rewards were actually distributed among the three numbers 2, 6, and 10. Even if you won, if you didn't draw those three number cards, it would be a waste of time."

"May I ask what exactly these so-called spiritual wealth, blessings, and wishes are?"

I looked at the old man who called himself Destiny. He stroked his long beard and chuckled.

"Although I can't say it outright, spiritual wealth is the freedom to access books."

Got it, it's a book voucher.

"A blessing is to be welcomed back to this paradise."

It seems to refer to something like amusement park tickets.

"And the most wonderful wish is—you will truly have a paradise!"

As expected, there is such a reward.

I nodded, reached out and took the number 2 card.

"Eh?!"

An Yu, who was standing next to him, was somewhat surprised.

“不，不应该先拿最大的牌么？先拿2号牌的话，23、19、17、13这些大牌就全部拿不到了哦！？”

"Haha, the power of the number 2 card magician is indeed tempting, but if he fails, he will end up with nothing."

The old man said with a smile.

"If you still don't understand the rules, I'll make an exception for now—how about we choose again?"

"Carefully managing your destiny and reaping spiritual wealth and blessings from others—isn't that worthwhile?"

"No need." "I think it's unnecessary."

Chen Di and I said it together.

"?"

I looked at the smiling, handsome man and raised an eyebrow.

"So, it seems you have a solution?"

"More or less." Chen Di pointed to the cards in my hand. "You chose card number 2 from the start, so it seems you already knew the answer?"

"No, not at all. As I said, I don't know much about math, but I do know the human nature behind games," I said with a smile. "If you don't take the 2 at the beginning, but instead take other numbers, then after Fool #1 is taken, Wizard #2 will have no hope at all."

"And it is the card with the most generous reward - since it is an asymmetric game, it must be a counterintuitive strategy, so why not take it into your own hands first."

"...That's quite a daring adventure," Chen Di said with a wry smile.

"But you're still here. If you can't figure out the winning outcome after getting card number 2, then I can only guess that this game never intended to give us the chance to 'wish'—in which case I'll have to expose them for defrauding consumers."

"..." The old man next to him wiped away his cold sweat.

“Looks like you don’t need to complain then.” Chen Di patted my shoulder. “We didn’t have enough fun in the match just now, so let me play here for a while. Of course, the main reason is that you’re willing to give me the chance to gamble with fate.”

"What kind of cringeworthy lines are these? Haha, you're really getting influenced by the atmosphere."

Now it was my turn to smile wryly. I handed the number 2 card in my hand to Chen Di and gave my friend a thumbs up.

"Go for it, my agent of destiny! Whether we receive the blessings of fate depends entirely on you."

……

"To win this game, you need to follow one condition—every time you take a card, you must try to take as few other cards from the table as possible."

“拿走2号牌之后，正如安遇所说，23、19、17、13都已经不可能了。但不代表不能赢。理论上剩下的17张牌，我能拿到八张牌。如果是最大的8张牌，那我就能够以总分140比136获得胜利。”

Seriously? Is your brain some kind of human calculator?! You actually calculated the total score?!

Since it involves students' mathematics, at this moment I can only stand by like a nobody and watch Chen Di shout "666" (a Chinese internet slang term for something impressive).

"Hmph! All talk and no action! Can you, a mere child, even achieve such an ideal scenario?"

"Why don't you give it a try? 22."

"...11."

If I take the 2, the old man can only take one card.

"14"

Instead of going for 21, Chen Di smiled and took 14. At this moment, the old man could only take 7.

Chen Di: 21

Old man: ...3

Chen Di: 15

Old man: 5

Up until now, the old man has been outmaneuvered by Chen Di's every move, and has been unable to get an extra card.

However, it seems that's where it ends.

"Hahaha, just as I expected, just empty talk! The numbers on the table are 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23. How can a sinner who dares to challenge fate possibly stop me from drawing cards?!"

“…What do you mean?” An Yu asked, leaning closer to me.

"Just like you said, 23, 19, 17, and 13 are already impossible to take. So what Chen Di actually needs to take are 20, 18, 16, and 12. But with each of the following cards, the opponent can take at least two cards."

"Doesn't that mean we're going to lose?" An Yu looked somewhat dejected.

"No." I shook my head, smiled, and sighed.

"Is this what a top student is like? People who excel in their studies are truly amazing—we've already won."

Chen Di took 16.

The old man smugly picked out 4 and 8, and stroked his beard.

Chen Di reached out and took 12.

The old man glanced confidently at the table, then paused slightly in surprise.

"……what?"

The 4 has already been chosen, so he can only take a 6 all by himself.

"As long as you're not greedy, winning is pretty easy."

It was an extremely arrogant statement, but when Chen Di said it, it sounded like a statement of fact.

Chen Di took 18, and the old man took 9.

Chen Di took another 20, and the old man accepted 10.

"Alright, the rest are yours."

Chen Di said with a smile.

"But I won!"

...The final result was exactly as he had predicted, with a score of 140 to 136, and he won.

Despite having 14 cards, the opponent ended up losing to Chen Di, who only had 9 cards.

"...I have been playing this game for hundreds of years. Most people are either cautious and end up empty-handed despite their victories, or they are greedy and want to have everything in their hands from the start."

"I've never seen anyone understand the entire competition mechanism so quickly, and remain so calm and composed. Hahaha, is this the spirit of youth? Even when facing fate, you can still talk about it with such ease."