Ethan stepped outside first, carrying both grocery bags in one hand. The weight pulled against his fingers, and the thin plastic handles bit into his palm, but he barely noticed.The old man followed him through the automatic doors, pulling his coat tighter around his body as a cool breeze swept across the parking lot.Ethan glanced down the road and then looked at the old man. “Which way?” he asked, his voice calm despite the exhaustion weighing on him.The old man lifted one hand and pointed toward the left. “That way,” he replied, his voice quiet as he looked down the nearly empty street.Ethan nodded toward the direction. “All right. Let's go,” he said simply, shifting the grocery bags in his hand before starting forward.The old man followed.Their footsteps echoed softly against the damp pavement as they walked beneath the streetlights. The old man's pace was slow and careful, each step measured as though he was paying close attention to where he placed his feet. Ethan noticed i

Ethan swallowed hard.The floating cards remained suspended before him, their golden symbols glowing faintly against the darkness of the room.One card could bring wealth.Another could bring power.Another could bring wisdom.And another could bring sickness, disaster, or even death.Ethan had no idea what waited behind the card he was about to choose.His hand slowly rose.His fingers trembled as he reached toward the floating deck.Then he stopped.What if he chose death?What if the card gave him some incurable disease that would destroy his body within weeks? What if he drew a fortune that made his already miserable life even worse?His hand began to pull back.Then the memories came.His wife's cold expression.The day he discovered her betrayal.The way she had stood beside another man without even looking ashamed.His mother crying quietly after the Hawthorn family humiliated them.His father struggling to breathe while Ethan desperately searched for enough money to afford bet

Ethan stared at the third card in his hand, but for several seconds, he could not bring himself to turn it over. After everything that had happened tonight, he had learned one thing: the cards were never as simple as they looked.His thumb slowly brushed across the smooth surface as an uneasy feeling settled in his chest. What kind of fortune was waiting for him on the other side? He took a deep breath and forced himself to stop imagining the worst. Whatever was going to happen would happen.With deliberate care, Ethan turned the card over.The moment he saw the front, his breath caught.Golden words shimmered against the dark surface of the card, glowing softly as though they had been written with liquid gold.ETERNAL DIVINE GUARDIAN.Ethan stared at the words, expecting something to happen, but nothing happened. His eyes moved from the card to the old man sitting across the table. The old man remained completely silent, his expression impossible to read.Ethan frowned. "That's it?"

For several seconds, Ethan did not move. He simply stood there, staring at the silver-haired being as though his mind had forgotten how to process words.The ultimate fortune.The highest fortune in the universe.The most impossible fortune to obtain.And somehow, he had received it.Ethan swallowed slowly, but his throat felt strangely dry as his thoughts collided with one another.What does that even mean?Who is this man?What exactly did the Cards of Fortune give me?And how powerful must he be if beings across the entire universe spent millions of years trying to obtain him?The more Ethan thought about it, the more questions appeared.He glanced at the old man who was standing a few feet away from him with his head lowered. For the last few minutes, the old man had not moved. He had not spoken. He did not even seem surprised by anything the silver-haired being had said, and that alone told Ethan something.Whatever this being was, the old man already knew.Ethan slowly narrowed

Ethan stood frozen, his lips parting slightly as he struggled to understand what he was seeing.“What...?” he whispered.He took a cautious step forward, his eyes searching the empty space again. Maybe he was looking in the wrong place. Maybe the darkness was playing tricks on him. Maybe the house was hidden behind something.But there was nothing there.Ethan slowly raised both hands and rubbed his eyes. He squeezed them shut for several seconds before opening them again.Still nothing.His breathing became shallow as he looked around the street, then back at the empty space. The house had not been abandoned. It had not collapsed. It had simply ceased to exist.Ethan slowly turned around. The Guardian was standing several feet behind him, watching him with the same calm expression he had worn throughout the night.Ethan stared at him, disbelief written clearly across his face. “Am I hallucinating right now?” he asked, his voice barely above a breath. “Because I'm pretty sure we just