WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 16: The Hotel Abyss
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1.
D
U
M
P
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The moment I read the Dying Message, my memories came rushing back.
First run.
The bedroom, after some heated time with Ceres, the Eight-Foot Widow.
‘I hadn't planned to give you this much, but... you made me happy.’
‘It's been fun for the first time in a while. I'll add a service charge on top of your sister's price.’
Ceres placed the gleaming Universal Coin in my hand.
I giggled all the way to the Big Dick office, then got my head cut off.
Second run.
The SSR Joker, The Sack God Spilled. My studio apartment in the slums.
‘Yahoo!’
‘All of this is Universal Coins? Coming to another world was the best choice I ever made!’
I pulled Universal Coins from the sack and kissed them over and over.
Then I carried Arbel through the underpass, grinning like an idiot, and got brutally murdered.
Right.
In both the first and second runs, that woman came for me roughly three hours after I got my hands on the Universal Coins.
The puzzle pieces in my head clattered into place.
I'd been mistaken all along.
It wasn't Ceres ratting me out. It wasn't Isis's sacred Khala either.
The reaper came after I got the Universal Coins.
And the Dying Message I received was: Throw away the Universal Coins.
“Fuck, was I supposed to get beaten for not knowing?!”
There couldn't have been a more perfectly cruel trap.
The Universal Coins had been sitting in this stinking sewer, and they were a death flag?
My life was about to be completely fucked, and I was supposed to survive by not picking them up?
Even if a hundred Lee Dae-hos who'd lost their entire fortunes came charging at me with bats, I'd still try to steal a base.
Was this a joke?
“Phew...”
I forced myself to calm down.
I still didn't know the exact gimmick.
Was it dangerous just to touch the Universal Coins? Or could someone locate me simply by being near them?
Surely it wasn't the latter.
Still, this wasn't entirely bad.
If I gave it a logical, objective, quantitative score, it was about average.
But if I'd kept overlooking the fact that Universal Coins equaled a ticket across the River Jordan because I lacked the Dying Message?
To put it cutely...
‘Wow! Universal Coins! Now I can eat nice warm food!’ Slice. ‘Darn it! Who ratted me out?!’
I might've pulled that about four times.
More importantly, I had no time to feel wronged.
Arbel would arrive at my studio apartment in a week.
Arbel was in season right now, and freshness mattered. Three days after delivery, she'd spoil.
To at least keep her lifeline attached until then, I had to earn money and find Isis.
“First, let's check the current situation.”
The artifacts came first.
Sturdy Stomach. Laplace’s Eye.
They were still on the artifact display stand after my regression.
Jokers.
Coin Toss of Truth (2/3), Honorific Speech Coupon (1/1), Copy of the Wondrous Dharma Insect-Sound Sutra (1/1), Misfortune-Warding Talisman (4/5).
Other than Chapagetti and cigarettes, my modern supplies remained untouched. But Hero and my Armani coat, which I hadn't put in my inventory, had vanished.
I had only 12 points left.
Once I bought the Problem Solver's Symbol Coat, refilled Hero, and stocked up on Hero's bullets, I might as well call that zero points.
“This is driving me insane.”
The bleak situation felt suffocating.
But then I remembered the sack of Universal Coins that had glittered in this room, and that crazy bitch who'd dared to chop Arbel in half right in front of me.
An unquenchable fire of vengeance burned in my chest.
“I'll let it slide for now, but just wait until next time.”
I'd definitely get my hands on some kind of hypnosis app.
If there was an Honorific Speech Coupon, surely there was an app that rewrote common sense too.
Clean yourself up and wait.
I'd show her how far human dignity could crumble...
“No, wait.”
As I steeled myself, I realized there was a serious contradiction in this run.
1) The Universal Coins worked as a transmitter through some unknown principle.
2) I needed the Universal Coins to heal Arbel.
Putting those conditions together raised an important question.
Q: Would healing Arbel with the Universal Coins summon that crazy bitch too?
A: Ah.
That was the issue.
If Arbel was also a target, and the Universal Coins could be used to track Arbel...
Didn't that make treatment practically impossible?
Still, Arbel was too valuable to abandon.
How much effort had I put into this burden already? Was I supposed to cut my losses now?
Not a chance!
Arbel was merely undervalued right now. Her fundamentals made her a promising prospect for a massive rebound.
She was a fragment of my ideal.
In that case, I'd keep averaging down and hold on forever.
Therefore, my goals for this run were...
1) Grind for points. If possible, grind achievements that rewarded artifact coupons too.
2) Heal Arbel until she woke up, then gather information about that crazy bitch.
3) If possible, heal Arbel with the Universal Coins and verify whether the crazy bitch came.
Those three.
“Let's fucking do this.”
I still had four free deaths left.
2.
The beginning was the same as the previous run.
First, I bought the coat with my remaining points and refilled Hero and its bullets.
I wandered the slum alleys, mugging muggers to build seed money.
“Registering as a Rank 9 Problem Solver?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“Guts.”
“Five thousand bios.”
“Here.”
“Nice coat.”
Then I registered as a Rank 9 Problem Solver.
I even changed my name a little to suit this run's playstyle.
I'd come to think John Wick was a little weak.
Bang!
“THIS IS DEMOCRACY!!!!”
“What the fuck?!”
“Long time no see! You two still playing poker?”
I became the boss of the Get Money Office with a picture-perfect door breach.
Naturally, Akitt and Areng didn't remember me, so they started out hostile.
Bang!
“Hey, starting today, you're my part-timers.”
“Yes, yes. We'll do whatever you say...”
“Boss, what do we do now...?”
Faced with Hero's overwhelming firepower, they bared their bellies and acknowledged me as number one.
Everything had been the same as the previous run so far, but things would be different from here on.
This time, I wouldn't focus on back-channel jobs.
“We're going to the Rifts.”
“R-Rifts? We have a pile of subcontracted back-channel jobs waiting for us. Why go there when we have easy, comfortable work?”
“Boss Guts! Places like that are for real experts or bastards who'll starve to death tomorrow!”
“Wow... you really nailed the point.”
It was an entirely reasonable opinion.
I didn't want to go either.
I'd heard the Rifts were extremely dangerous, even if the rewards were good, so I'd never set foot in one.
On the other hand, that made them pristine snowfields I had never stepped on yet.
Every crunching step would probably come with challenges and achievement farming.
I needed points to roll gacha.
It still made my teeth grind to think about how I'd had to throw away an SSR before I could properly enjoy it...
[ 7 7 7 ]
[ JACKPOT!!!! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS!!!! ]
[ SUPER SUPER RARE!!!!! ]
That rush had been incredible...
“Shut your traps and grab your gear.”
“I don't want to go! I don't want to go!”
“Waaah! Mom! Mooom!”
There was some minor resistance, but all men were equal before a gun barrel.
We grabbed only basic equipment and set off right away.
“Why do we have to go to the Rifts...?”
“I don't want to die... waaaah...”
“Stop crying! I'll make you Chapagetti later.”
So what were Rifts?
Space covered in Black Dust became extremely distorted.
Time and the laws of physics warped, while the laws of providence and human order collapsed into complete chaos. This was called the Void.
The Void was why humanity stuck close together inside Ark Cities or in developed cities beyond the walls.
The Void was the kind of place where even a fairly capable mage became a m a g e.
But sometimes, singularities formed within the Void. New pocket worlds where rules different from the rest of the world applied.
Those were Rifts.
It was complicated, but I understood it roughly like this.
‘Void = Unimplemented terrain full of bugs. If users enter, they get NULL'd. Sometimes sweaty veterans go in anyway.’
‘Rift = A field dungeon with its own rules. Kill monsters and grind for cash. A Problem Solver grinder.’
There were several ways to enter a Rift, but for now, I headed to a hotel in C-18 District.
Yes.
A hotel.
3.
If C Sector was an unlucky Kowloon Walled City, then C-18 District could be summed up in one phrase.
‘The Hotel Abyss.’
A twenty-five-story hotel towered over the center of the district, creating an odd sense of dissonance. Every business in the district had formed around that imposing landmark.
Large offices where high-ranking Problem Solvers gathered.
Ateliers that crafted, sold, and upgraded artifacts.
Mills that refined placer gold, the casting material for Universal Coins.
Twilight Resource Development Agencies that handled belongings of the dead, corpses, loot, and the like.
That was because The Hotel Abyss was not simply a lodging establishment. It was a hub containing portals to hundreds of Rifts!
Horror Hotel really was a masterpiece, but...
“Stop mixing genres already. At this rate, even a Gallery will show up.”
“Pardon?”
“What?”
“Ah, nothing.”
I gave Akitt's head a light tap and continued toward the hotel.
The closer we got to the skyscraper, the more Problem Solvers who looked obviously tough filled the streets.
Every one of them had formidable gazes and equipment, and above all, they looked neat.
There was even a woman striding around in a flashy qipao.
I looked away.
A woman who could walk around this city of rapists unharmed in a qipao that showed off her thighs?
She had to be from one of the three families ruling Overnus Pharmaceuticals, a mage, or the top earner at a brothel with thirsty losers lining up for her.
The moment I tried flirting with her, I'd be off to deep-kiss Arbel within three seconds.
Sure enough, a golden carp, the symbol of the Gold Carp Family, was embroidered on the fluttering hem of her skirt.
“...Hm.”
I narrowed my shoulders so I wouldn't look too arrogant, lowered my gaze demurely, and walked on.
Eventually, I reached the entrance of a Western-style hotel that didn't fit C Sector's Chinese atmosphere at all.
The moment I stepped into the lobby, my jaw dropped.
“Wow.”
It had looked fancy from the outside.
It wasn't as tall as Ceres's residence, but it was still a hotel rising more than twenty floors from the ground.
In Necropolis, where most buildings did not exceed five stories, it deserved to be called a skyfucker.
But I'd never imagined its interior would be this much of another world.
“Wow, this is fucking amazing.”
As I stared around with my mouth hanging open, Areng cautiously asked,
“Boss Guts, don't tell me... this is your first time at a hotel?”
“Yeah. It's incredible.”
“Sniff... fuck, we're so screwed...”
Ignoring them, I looked around the lobby.
Could this really be fucking Necropolis instead of London, the home of my heart?
I'd passed through a single swing door from the flea-market chaos outside the hotel, and the throat-stinging smog and noisy shouts had vanished.
In their place was gentle classical music.
The citrus scent of a lemon-oil diffuser and the leather smell unique to well-maintained furniture.
Brass decorations gleamed everywhere, while an enormous chandelier hung from the high ceiling.
It reminded me of the old days.
A hotel I stayed in while traveling through London.
One with a restaurant boasting a hundred and fifty years of history on the first floor, and a racist waiter who'd never seat Asians by the window even when there were open tables...
That kind of historic luxury five-star hotel.
Of course, seeing the Problem Solvers huddled together on the sofas reminded me that this wasn't England.
Ding!
A notification appeared.
======
::: Entered New Area (NEW!) :::
Gateway to the Abyss.
Necropolis's oldest Rift.
Welcome to The Hotel Abyss!
Mirror-like marble floors.
The lovely glow of a huge chandelier twinkling overhead.
Friendly, well-trained veteran staff.
Impeccable room conditions all year round, along with diverse and luxurious amenities!
This is the final resting place and terminal for those departing into the Rifts.
Oh, guests may check in freely, but checkout is not guaranteed.
Good luck, guest.
TIP
- Be sure to follow the Hotel Visitor Rules. These are not recommendations.
======
The last line made me sigh.
“Rules? Fuck, it really mixes in everything.”
What kind of world mashed settings together with no foundation like this?
It was a world disgusting enough to make even a trash-fiction junkie vomit.
“Areng, what are these rules?”
“As you noticed, this is also a Rift where rules apply. They're like a handbook listing what you're not allowed to do.”
“Where can I read them?”
“Over there, sir.”
Areng pointed at the concierge desk on one side of the hotel lobby.
“But the rules aren't anything special, so you don't really need to read them.”
“Let's look anyway.”
I pulled out one of the tightly packed rulebooks.
Then...
“...?”
I flinched when I saw the employee sitting at the concierge desk.
An immaculate suit. A concierge badge.
Glasses resting on a long, angular nose bridge. Horns curving backward.
Flat, rectangular pupils set horizontally.
“...”
“...”
How had I failed to notice this until now?
This was a hotel. Naturally, hotel employees stood around like background scenery.
Bellboys carrying luggage. Receptionists handing out room keys at the check-in counter.
Even the concierge seated directly in front of me with their head politely lowered.
All of them.
Had goat heads.
Footnotes:
“I still had four free deaths left” parodies Admiral Yi Sun-sin's famous declaration that he still had twelve ships left.
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