“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

  “Your spiritual energy was going insane the entire time you were fighting Feiyu.”

  “I think my tattoo manages most of it, or it lets me tap into it more easily. I thought my arm was going to fall off earlier, though.”

  Wei continued to look at the tattoo, his hand gently examining it.

  “You were losing tons of spiritual energy and then suddenly recovering it. That would kill almost anyone.”

  I puffed out my chest and shouldered him. “I must be pretty incredible then, right?”

  I was relieved that afer surviving the fight, tensions amongst all of us seemed to have lightened up a bit. It would’ve been agonizing to come out of that just to enter another fight, only less-manageable.

  “I was trying to figure out how you were doing it.”

  “Card Dealer.”

  “You know Feiyu well enough to use that skill?”

  I flushed out of embarrassment. “He’s not a very complex character.”

  Wei cocked his head. “Really? I can’t for the life of me figure out why he does anything he does.”

  Well, of course not. In Surviving My First Run, Wei dutifully followed Feiyu’s every command, regardless of how much he understood. Since Feiyu was usually right, it was a safe bet for his party members to blindly trust him.

  Wei challenged me much more because I was usually wrong, and going along with my plans usually meant some great consequence. It wasn’t like I could help my terrible luck or something, though.

  “Feiyu wears his heart on his sleeve,” I finally answered.

  “What did slicing your own neck have to do with anything?” Yang interrupted, walking over and crossing his arms.

  “It was a bet I made with Feiyu. Whatever disciple was able to land a killing blow would win four hundred thousand stars and all spiritual energy from the bets.”

  Yue sat up. “Four hundred thousand stars? You’re loaded!”

  I whacked her head again, and she went silent.

  “Couldn’t you have just tried to kill him?” Yang asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “Of course.”

  Qijing’s face twisted in horror, and she raised her gun at me, but I instinctively flicked the barrel away again.

  “Why didn’t you?”

  I went suspiciously silent.

  Yang glared at me. “Why didn’t you?”

  “No reason in particular.”

  Yang turned to Yue.

  [Disciple Yue has activated Lie Detector!]

  [Lie Detector has confirmed Disciple Peijin’s words as false.]

  I flinched.

  Yang stared into my soul. “Peijin…”

  “It’s not that serious.”

  [Disciple Yue has activated Lie Detector!]

  [Lie Detector has confirmed Disciple Peijin’s words as false.]

  “Okay, it was serious but nothing to be concerned about. I handled it perfectly.”

  “Don’t make me use the skill again. I’m so exhausted,” Yue groaned.

  “I don’t want you guys to worry about this sort of thing.”

  “It was absolutely terrible,” Yang decided.

  “Yup,” Yue agreed.

  Wei nodded, and Amelia sighed. Qijing looked as though she wanted to cause my next catastrophic injury.

  “Fine. Feiyu killed me. It was the result of a series of bad calculations.”

  My entire party looked at me like I was an alien.

  “What?”

  “You died?”

  “No, I’m being dramatic. I didn’t die. I was one hit away from potentially dying.”

  “Where were we?” Yue asked, stunned.

  I shrugged. “You guys trusted me to handle it, and I did.”

  “You’re not gravely injured right now, right? Other than your neck wound, obviously, but that was self-inflicted.” Yang’s expression was one of total mortification, like his anxiety was about to eat him alive.

  “Yes. I used the time loop setting on the Mediterranean node to give myself a second attempt. That’s when I stabbed myself to fulfill the contract conditions without giving the win to Feiyu.”

  “You’re unbelievable,” Yang sighed, rubbing his temple. “What if it didn’t work? You could have died!”

  “Didn’t you see how overjoyed I was that I survived just now? It’s not like I’m trying to die.”

  “It’s not like you’re trying to live, either,” Yang argued.

  I waved my hand in the air, brushing him off. “Whatever. Let’s get this next node. Now that the firewall is up, we’ll be fine until we have to leave this area.”

  I pushed past all of them and looked around the jungle. There were no more mobs, so this would be an easy location to get through.

  “Amelia, guide us to the node.”

  Amelia’s dire wolf appeared and hopped through the forest, occasionally pausing to aim its nose high into the air and recenter itself. It led us to a large Mesoamerican pyramid.

  I was following almost absentmindedly, looking down at the tattoo on my arm. I used my nail to pick at it, wondering why Ruoming was trying so hard to destroy it. I still could hardly grasp the full meaning of it.

  [Observer’s Chat]

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Socrates: Is Jia Li still bothered by the Major Arcana?

  “I’m bothered by both Major Arcanas,” I grumbled.

  “What did you say?” Yue asked.

  “I’m talking to some observers. Don’t worry about it.”

  [Observer’s Chat]

  Socrates: In order from your biggest worry to least, it’s Karma → Major Arcana → Ruoming and Feiyu → Eternal Dream.

  “Eternal Dream last?”

  [Observer’s Chat]

  Socrates: I mean in terms of importance… they’ve been pretty MIA, don’t you think?

  I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck. The wound had closed by now, and all I could feel was the bumpy texture of healing skin.

  [Observer’s Chat]

  Socrates: Karma definitely hates you. Major Arcana hasn’t been super involved though, right? I mean, other than The World.

  “Yeah, but there must be twenty two of them. Maybe less, since I became The Tower recently, but there has to be at least a dozen.”

  [Many gods express annoyance at Disciple Peijin’s secrecy.]

  [Many gods express that Disciple Peijin should explain the meaning of her words for the rest of the broadcast.]

  I glared down at the message. “I’m a god. Since when did I have to disclose my every thought? I’m not beneath you.”

  [Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts nods his head.]

  [Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven bursts out laughing at your confidence.]

  [Divinity One Who Fights in Front tells you to remember your place.]

  [Observer’s Chat]

  Socrates: Yeah but what are you going to do against them… they’re millenia old, and you’re just twenty-four. You’re like an insignificant baby to them.

  I pouted at Socrates’ message before shutting the tab and letting out a heavy sigh, running my hand through my short hair.

  “Wei.”

  My party was now scaling the pyramid, climbing each massive gray stone. Wei turned around and looked down at me expectantly.

  “Now that you have all your memories back, do you look down on the rest of us?”

  “What do you mean ‘look down?’”

  “Do we seem young and insignificant? After all, you hardly know us.”

  “Is that what you’re worried about now?”

  My frown deepend. “I think it’s a valid question. I’m trying to understand the real Major Arcana better. What does time feel like to someone who has lived for thousands of years?”

  Wei turned back to the steps before him. He dug his fingers into one of the large gray stones and hauled himself up, hooking his foot on the edge and pulling himself up. “Don’t you already know what it’s like? You’re the god of fate and fortune.”

  “Well, I’m not that old. Why are you being so difficult?”

  “I don’t see any of you as insiginifiant. Sometimes, I think you guys are much more mature than me. How many times have all of you saved me? I may be the oldest god here, but I became a god when I was just a boy.”

  “So, you still feel like a little boy?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, then you’re confusing me.”

  Wei huffed and turned around. “I like being here, and I like all of you. The only thing I could care about is that all of you survive. Nothing else matters to me. I don’t think of any of you as smaller than me.”

  I stopped climbing the stairs and simply stared at Wei before I laughed. He turned around at me, face flushed from embarrassment.

  “What’s so funny about what I said?”

  I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Once I got myself under control, a finger came up to wipe the joyous tears from my eyes. “You’re so sweet, Wei.”

  Yue let out an audible snort, and Wei only became more flustered, turning around to glare at Yue.

  I cleared my throat audibly. “There’s a reason I’ve never given you such a fond compliment, Yue.”

  “Hey!” Yue exclaimed. “I almost died for you that last round! That damn Cheng…”

  Qijing was lagging a few steps behind us, clinging onto her gun. The steps were all at least 5 feet tall, making them wickedly difficult for myself to scale, and infinitely harder for such a small girl like Qijing.

  Amelia, who was riding on the back of her dire wolf, wasn’t struggling near as much. The giant creature easily ran up and down the steps, carrying Amelia with ease. She was leading the way if anything.

  I waited until Qijing caught up to me. Qijing looked up, and seeing that I was waiting a few steps ahead, instantly stopped advancing. Her fatigued expression instantly turned into one of rejection.

  “Don’t wait for me,” she grumbled softly. “I can get up by myself.”

  “I’m not waiting for you. I’m exhausted, so I’m taking a little break here. You’re doing better than me.”

  Qijing silently continued forward, until she finally reached the same step as me. She grabbed onto my sleeve and pulled me forward, like she was dragging me up with her.

  She was certainly an interesting character.

  I was practically beaming ear to ear now. It had been a while since I felt so happy with how things were going. I wanted to cherish these few minutes close to my heart because I knew it would all end soon with my luck.

  “Qijing, how did you end up in the same party as Feiyu?”

  “The apocalypse hit when I was in my class. I ran away, and Gege found me. He’s my hero,” she said pridefully.

  “So, Feiyu saved you?”

  “Gege saved my life,” she affirmed.

  [Scathing Reviewer activated!]

  Instantly, my eyes softened when I looked at the back of her head as she carefully led me up the steps. The idea that Feiyu, my dearest creation, would also leave such an impact on my little sister’s life gave me a fuzzy feeling in my chest.

  “Is that so? Feiyu is very good at saving people, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. That’s why I have to go back to Gege. Even if you’re his Jiejie, I like him much more than you.”

  I smiled brightly, squatting down to meet her eyes. I pulled my sleeve out of her grip and brought my hand up to gently glide it down her cheek before I gave her chin a gentle squeeze. Her skin was so soft, and her features were so delicate.

  She had the exact same nose as I did. And, now that I was taking a closer look, she also had the tiniest little mole beside her eyes, just like me.

  I didn’t even know this girl existed for her entire life, but now that I’d found her, I knew I couldn’t let her go. She was so fragile, and the thought of something in this cruel world even laying a finger on her filled me with an unprecedented dread.

  “Qijing, I promise I’ll look after you and reunite you with Feiyu, okay?” I gently rubbed the top of her head before my fingers combed through her long hair.

  “You’re a liar.”

  “I’ll always tell you the truth.”

  “That’s also a lie.”

  “Then let’s make it a pinky promise,” I said with a large grin, holding out my pinky.

  Qijing stared at me hesitantly before she took my pinky around her own and shook it.

  “There,” I said. “Now I can’t break the promise.”

  Qijing’s brow furrowed, but she said no more. She made sure to grab the sleeve of my hoodie again before turning away and dragging me up the steps. My chest bloomed, and I couldn’t stop myself from beaming at the little girl before me.

  Every relationship you forge is your karma because you will always destroy the other person, Liu Peijin.

  Karma’s words echoed through my mind, and I flinched instinctively. I hated the amount of control that Karma could exude over me. Even the tiniest, greatest interactions of my life were constantly overshadowed by the notion I was ruining everything.

  I heard the sound of growling and looked up, noticing that both Amelia and her dire wolf were staring down intently at me.

  Although Qijing was leading me through the proper path, she had done an exceptionally poor job at it, and we were now dozens of steps behind.

  I pulled my hand away before I grabbed Qijing and flung her onto my back. Using a small burst of spiritual energy, I caught up to the rest of the party.

  “Sorry,” I instantly apologized.

  Amelia’s blue eyes stared through me before she turned away, continuing to guide the dire wolf.

  When we finally reached the top of the pyramid, Amelia pointed into it. “The node should be in here.”

  Wei stepped up and kneeled before it. He shut his eyes and lowered his head. Moments later, his white robes fluttered around him wildly, and light blue sparks burst from his skin.

  The activated node fell down into his hand, and he threw it at me.

  [CENTRAL AMERICAN NODE]

  [Location: Pyramind WJ85638 — Top]

  [Description: The Central American node controls the citadel’s psychological influence. Use the node’s artifact to toggle these settings regardless of the user's current location.

  Fear Effect Intensity: 5/10

  Hallucination Probability: 3/10

  Sanity Drain Rate: 2/10

  Memory Suppression: Enabled/Disabled

  Ally Trust Sync: 4/10

  Owner: Liu Peijin