WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈

Chapter 11: Starting the Second Run (3)

──────

1.

《Artifact Random Box》

- 1 draw: 1 Achievement Ticket

- Display artifacts on the Artifact Display Stand to gain permanent abilities.

- Tickets owned: 2

I checked the Artifact Random Box first.

I had wondered what achievements were even for, but apparently they led to artifact gacha tickets.

Good, good.

That made the points I spent getting Hero a little less painful.

"Two draws."

No questions asked. I went for the double.

Doo-dung tak! Dung tak! Tak!

Even the Artifact Random Box's draw effect was something special.

A rune box etched with what looked like ancient writing, surrounded by dazzling light and rainbow-colored illumination.

The sound effects and music made my heart race.

Watching it without skipping somehow made my brain feel soft and mushy.

"Did I get an SSS? Please!"

I squinted at the status window.

Red. A brilliant ruby red.

White was C Common, green was UC Uncommon, and blue was R Rare, so this had to be at least SR Super Rare!

"..."

I opened my eyes, eager to see what stylish artifact awaited me.

It was...

A winding stomach model.

「Sturdy Stomach」

- Grade: SR

- Trait: You gain digestion as tough as steel. Nothing you eat will upset your stomach.

- Secondary Trait: Goats consider you one of their own.

- Notes: Cannot be enhanced.

"...SibaR."

No, it wasn't a model.

When I held it, it felt sticky and soft. Disgustingly so.

More than anything, its effect was obviously terrible.

An ability on the level of eating cat food made from cockroaches without getting a stomachache.

"It's Super Rare... It's an artifact... Couldn't you give it a better effect...?"

Why me? What was so good about being friends with goats...?

Were we supposed to chew paper together?

Gacha games had them all the time.

High-grade items with impressive rarities but no actual use, designed to fleece players.

That vile trap had infected even this other world's status window.

Then the next artifact box glowed green, UC-tier.

"This isn't right... Let's not do this to each other, okay?"

With a sigh, I opened it without much expectation.

Green light spread out, and an eyeball with a gear-shaped pupil appeared.

I hadn't expected much, but it really did look cheap.

Obviously, it would be some boring...

「Laplace’s Eye」

- Grade: UC

- Trait: Consume mental energy to observe and predict the flow of physical laws.

"...?"

What?

▶ Artifact Display Stand: [Laplace’s Eye] [Sturdy Stomach] [ ]

The instant I hastily equipped the artifacts on the stand...

"Aaargh!"

Pain like an awl stabbing into my frontal lobe tore through my brain.

After writhing in agony for a while, I opened my eyes again.

The world had changed.

I was a little dizzy, but...

I understood what it meant to observe physical laws.

My vision had transformed, as if I were seeing the world through a high-performance filter.

Even the peripheral vision that normally wasn't in focus was clear.

I could see the air convecting through the room due to differences in temperature, and every speck of dust floating along those currents.

The amazing part wasn't simply observing it. I could predict even the dust's irregular trajectories.

Of course, when I raised the resolution that high, my brain vessels felt like they were puffing up like soufflés, so I quickly turned it off.

Just in case, I pointed the revolver forward. As if it were only natural, a red line appeared and showed where the bullet would land.

"I know this!"

It's the Sharingan!

Laplace's Eye?

The name fit perfectly.

If I entered a billiards, golf, or sports tournament right now, couldn't I take first place by a landslide?

I couldn't even imagine how useful this would be in combat.

"Sob... This is it."

Only after crossing into another world and dying a pointless death did I finally get my hands on a cheat.

As tears of emotion filled my eyes, a sudden question came to me.

Why was this awesome Sharingan UC while the stomach was SR?

Sturdy Stomach even had a secondary trait, while Laplace's Eye only had one measly trait.

Were goats in this world cute enough to turn people into furry freaks?

'Master, Master. Let's do that!'

My stomach suddenly turned.

Enough worrying for now. I had a duty to finish my remaining gacha.

《Joker Random Box》

- 1 draw: 30pt

- A consumable item that can become a powerful variable.

- Obtain a single card that will shake fate.

"I've got 166pt left, so I can draw five times."

I decided to see what items came out before making a decision.

[Points are being used. 166pt => 136pt]

The item that appeared amid an explosion of confetti was...

A small, rusty coin.

「Coin Toss of Truth」

- Grade: UC

- Description: It looks like a rusty coin, but mysterious power dwells within it.

- Effect: You can determine whether the target's statement is true or false.

- Notes: 3 uses remaining.

"Hmm. So-so..."

I drew one more time.

[Points are being used. 136pt => 106pt]

「Honorific Speech Coupon」

- Grade: C

- Description: One of the Common-Sense Alteration Coupon series.

- Effect: Choose one person and make them always speak respectfully. They will not question this phenomenon.

- Notes: Single-use.

"Goddammit."

I threw away the paper labeled Honorific Speech Coupon.

"If you're giving me this crap, give me a Show-Me-Your-Panties Coupon instead."

I'd gotten excited when I read up to "Common-Sense Alteration Coupon," but the Joker pool was awful.

The description had promised a powerful variable, a powerful card that could shake fate, so I'd expected quite a lot.

It also cost thirty points per draw.

Maybe it was because of the low grades?

Only useless things had come out.

If I hadn't drawn Hero and Laplace's Eye, this would have stung badly.

Well, the Coin Toss of Truth might still be useful depending on how I used it.

"Should I call it a day...?"

I wanted to spend more, but I thought it would be best to leave about a hundred points.

I didn't know how much ammo I would need to refill, and I might need to use them immediately if the Enhancement or Playground functions unlocked.

In a truly hopeless situation, I might die again because I was one point short.

I'd had enough of dying.

I didn't know how many times I could regress, there was the penalty to worry about, and honestly... that place was scary.

Anyway.

"I get the general idea now."

The Old World Shopping Mall was literally modern-item gacha, plus refills.

Artifacts could be drawn with coupons earned by grinding achievements, then placed on the Artifact Display Stand to strengthen my own abilities.

Jokers were literally jokers that let me find variables, right?

I'd obtained some decent firepower, so it was time to move.

I couldn't waste time dithering around.

To ship half-dead Arbel straight from the source to a doctor in one week, I needed to earn money quickly.

The fastest way was, of course, becoming a fixer.

For that, I needed 5,000 Bios to register at City Hall.

"Shall I get started?"

I immediately put on my long coat.

Maybe because it was a modern item, but the fit and material were fantastic.

"Hmm..."

Just before I stepped outside, I caught sight of my face in the mirror.

A face handsome enough to look sculpted, and therefore one that drew attention.

Maybe Captain Ron had recognized me as being from Aden the moment they saw this pretty mug.

"Isn't there a good way to..."

Then I spotted that junk gacha item at the edge of my vision.

Clown Makeup Kit (C).

Hmm, this was it.

2.

My long coat fluttered as I walked through an alley in the slums.

I headed deeper, toward the less populated areas.

The slums were an especially fucking awful place, even within Necropolis.

Sticky mud that never dried, all 365 days of the year, clung to the soles of my shoes.

So did the footsteps of the friendly neighborhood residents.

"Whew, pretty one. Nice coat."

"Looks like you're doing well for yourself. Share some with us."

"Neighbors should help each other get by."

Nothing unusual.

The residents here were hardworking citizens whose side jobs were robbery, murder, and pickpocketing.

"Me?"

I turned around.

A trio stood there, armed with clubs studded with rebar or bits of metal.

"Yeah, you bastard."

"We saw you coming out of the slums. Who do you think you are, pretending to be a fixer?"

"Hehehe. Haven't had meat in a while."

The trio had been swaggering as they threatened me, but the moment they saw my face, they flinched.

Naturally.

White powder covering my entire face.

Red lip makeup stretched as if my mouth had been torn to my ears.

Exaggerated eye makeup and freshly drawn eyebrows.

Perfect clown makeup.

"W-what is that crazy bastard?"

The old Cedric might have been in danger.

Even with some boxing skills and a hand axe, he was facing three armed opponents.

He might have been beaten into a bloody pulp and sold to an ossuary.

I was no longer Cedric Montraven.

That weak bastard had drowned in this city's filthy mud, with his nose and mouth clogged.

Ceres had given me her hot body and All-Purpose Shoes, then ratted me out.

She had also taught me a lesson.

'Find the ugliest arrogance within yourself.'

'Be crazier. More than you are now, more, more. Let your madness consume you. Even if the world points fingers at you, carry your stubbornness through.'

The ugliest arrogance, madness, and obstinacy within me.

I had known the answer for a long time.

Delicacies and bunny girls.

Alcohol, cigarettes, supercars, card games, roulette, gacha.

Luxury goods, an inexhaustible wellspring of wealth, gold, money, dollars.

Pleasure and desire.

No, the great greed that encompassed all of it.

I wanted my life to be painted in ever more intense thrills and richer pleasures.

If sages and prophets lamented a world suffering under materialism,

I would wear a crown of gold, look up at them, and laugh.

Yeah. You were right.

"Ah, fuck, looking at him kills my appetite! Get him first!"

"Aaaah!"

The starving hyenas charged.

My vision sharpened, and all their movements seemed slow.

They had resolved to devour others for tomorrow.

So had I.

Bang!

Hero's gunshot set my ears ringing, and the stinging smell of gunpowder filled my nose.

My body firmly absorbed the recoil of the Magnum round.

The hulking figure charging at the front fell with a clatter, like a broken wind-up doll.

Red blood and chunks of flesh scattered across mud frozen like slush.

The remaining two froze like possums before the muzzle trailing smoke.

"Drop everything you've got and get out. Oh, leave the corpse behind."

From now on, this city would have to fear me.

.

.

.

"Registering as a Grade 9 fixer?"

"Yes."

"Name."

"John Wick."

"Five thousand Bios."

"Here."

"What's that caked all over your face? ...Never mind. Don't tell me."

Necropolis, second playthrough.

Start.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried