By inserting a coin, one could shake a numbered bamboo stick out of the fortune cylinder nearby and, based on the number, retrieve the corresponding paper fortune.
The process was simple, even a bit casual.
However, according to those who had visited and posted online, it seemed to be quite accurate.
Rin dropped the coin she had just borrowed into the money box, picked up the fortune cylinder—made smooth and warm by countless hands—and shook it lightly, not particularly devoutly.
A slender bamboo stick fell out with a "clatter."
She picked it up; it had the number twenty-nine written on it.
She walked to the rack, found the small drawer marked twenty-nine, and took out a folded white paper fortune.
She unfolded it.
[ Great Misfortune ]
It also included a short, cryptic poem; she glanced at it but didn't read it carefully.
Hmm, the evils of feudal superstition.
According to custom, if it's a good fortune, you take it with you; if it's a bad one, you should tie it to the rack nearby to seek resolution.
But she refused to do that.
She was going to throw this thing in the trash can.
Just as Rin was about to put the Great Misfortune into her pocket, footsteps sounded behind her.
"Rin, what did you draw?"
Reina had already bought her drink at some point and leaned over to look at her curiously, holding a carton of soy milk in her hand, with the flush from climbing the mountain still lingering on her cheeks.
Before Rin could answer, Reina had already seen the folded paper fortune in her hand.
Mistakenly thinking that the other girl had drawn a good fortune, Reina's eyes lit up instantly.
"I want to try too!"
Saying this, Reina shoved the soy milk into Rin's hand, mimicked her earlier actions, inserted the coin leftover from buying her drink, picked up the fortune cylinder, and began to shake it earnestly and vigorously.
She looked like she was trying to shake out all the good luck.
"Clunk!" A bamboo stick jumped out.
Reina picked it up and glanced at the number: "Forty-four."
Then she ran excitedly to the rack and found the corresponding drawer.
She pulled out the paper fortune and opened it impatiently.
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
The light of anticipation on Reina's face dimmed at a visible speed, like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
Her hand holding the paper fortune dropped slightly, and her gaze remained blankly fixed on the two ink characters on it.
Rin, who was standing slightly behind her, also clearly saw the content on the paper fortune.
[ Great Misfortune ]
... That face really looked as if it had been gently punched.
Seeing this, Rin moved.
She reached out very naturally and gently took the paper fortune from Reina's hand, her movement so fluid that it was as if she were just taking a completely ordinary object.
Then, without even glancing at it again, she casually folded the paper fortune in half, then in half again, and tucked it into her pocket.
After doing all this, Rin turned around, brushed the non-existent dust off her hands, took out her own paper fortune from her pocket, unfolded it, and held it in front of Reina.
"These things aren't accurate." Her tone was relaxed, with a hint of disdain, "Fortunes at roadside shrines like this sometimes just write whatever to get tourists to spend more money."
"If you don't believe me, look."
As she said this, she inserted a coin again, shook the fortune cylinder, the bamboo stick fell, Rin glanced at the number, went to retrieve the paper fortune, opened it, and after barely glancing at it, she shrugged.
"See? Still Great Misfortune."
"So, it's not accurate at all."
"Let's just throw them all in the trash can later."
[ Nonsense, Hagi-Rin, that one you just had was clearly a Great Blessing! ]
[ Sigh, Treasure Rin, you are so gentle ]
[ The way she tells lies with her eyes open ]
[ Hiss... Come to think of it, how is it such a coincidence that both of them drew a Great Misfortune the first time? The production team isn't going to pull some crappy move later, right? ]
[ Crappy move? What kind of crappy move? The plot's pacing is very stable right now, even flourishing. As long as the production team isn't brain-dead, they definitely won't do that whole thing of making Rin the loser. ]
[ Exactly, otherwise wouldn't all the character building be for nothing? ]
[ Hopefully so ]