WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 17: The Hotel Abyss (2)
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1.
I understood why goats were called symbols of the devil.
Up close, they were ugly as fuck.
Not some prettified furry-style head. It was an actual goat's head stuck on a human body.
But whatever.
There was a Sharingan and Malevolent Shrine in this world. A person could have a goat head too.
At this point, I had no idea.
I coolly let it go and read the rulebook.
<The Hotel Abyss Guest Rules>
- Distributed by Necropolis City Hall.
- This guide is intended to ensure a minimum level of safety when using The Hotel Abyss.
- Remember that The Hotel Abyss is a Depth 9 rift. Furthermore, every hotel employee is a Beast.
- Liability and costs resulting from violations of the rules below will be collected without exception.
Oh, they were laying it on thick.
0) Never show any sign of surprise upon seeing a hotel employee.
“...”
I put down the rulebook for a moment and called Areng over.
“Areng, come here for a second.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“You bastard. You said there was nothing to it. I nearly went to kiss Arbel the moment we got here.”
“W-What are you doing...? I thought you'd know the basics!”
I nearly ended the run because I was startled by a goat.
Wait. A goat?
「Sturdy Stomach」
- Grade: SR
- Trait: Grants an iron stomach. You will never get sick, no matter what you eat.
- Subtrait: Goats consider you one of their kind. (<== Pay attention)
- Note: Cannot be enhanced.
Was this it?
Was that why it was SR?!
Because I could be recognized as one of the staff's own and become a VVIP at this hotel?
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I smiled warmly and gave the goat a deep bow.
The goat concierge suddenly jumped to their feet.
“Brother! You made it! Ah, fuck. I was dying of frustration because nobody here speaks my language. It's great to have one of our own as a guest! I'll personally give you the full course, so head up to the presidential suite on the twenty-fifth floor.”
Then they threw an arm around my shoulders like we were old friends.
“...”
Sorry. None of that happened.
The goat just stared blankly after I greeted them, so I felt awkward and imagined something fun.
This hotel's service sucked.
Sturdy Stomach really was a fraudulent listing.
I continued reading the rules.
1) All combat, bloodshed, and disruptive conduct within the hotel are prohibited.
2) The hotel's first rule is, “The guest is king.”
3) Every type of “service” offered by the hotel requires payment and may be paid for with Universal Coins or Placer Gold.
I sighed after reading that far.
“This is too long, and it's lame.”
Stop mixing genres already.
My stomach was going to burst.
Body-possession-incest-fusionpunk-regression-loop-hotel-ghost-story-rulebook-dark fantasy?
Was this mala-rosé-spicy-rice-cake-bubble-tea-freeze-dried-strawberry-mint-chocolate-dog-meat-candied-fruit-skewer?
4) Benefits within the hotel remain valid only while you remain a “guest.”
5) Take care not to lose your status as a guest within the hotel.
6) The rules below are provisions for remaining a “guest.”
Blah blah, the rest was skipped.
After looking it over, Areng had been right.
Other than a few clauses, there was nothing unusual.
No smoking indoors, no dining and dashing, compensation claims for damaging hotel property.
Unless you were a barbaric Necropolis citizen, they were all things any modern person with common sense would naturally follow at a hotel.
The more minor rules were much the same.
“Do not remain in the hotel lobby for seventy-two hours or longer.” “Leave the hotel immediately if recommended to do so by an employee.”
They were like rules telling you not to turn on a lighter after opening a gas valve and cutting the hose with scissors.
As long as you did not go out of your way to do those things, they did not seem like a problem.
“Thankfully, this isn't a full-fledged rules-horror story.”
I almost cracked my head open worrying.
I was already busy grinding for money. If the rules got in my way too, I would've been pissed.
I put the rulebook back and was about to return to Akitt and Areng.
“I'm asking why little shits like you are here. Huh?”
“W-Well, sir...”
“You should know your place and stick to back-channel jobs. You've got some nerve.”
A large man was chewing out the Akitt and Areng brothers.
He wore a blue changpao, the male equivalent of a qipao. He was broad, his clothes were clean, and an enormous hammer was strapped to his back.
I almost stepped in, but stopped myself.
It was too early to judge by appearances.
This was Necropolis.
Even if he looked like that, maybe he was giving them sound advice to go back because it was dangerous here.
It would be awkward if I interrupted words of encouragement with, “Why are you treating our kids like that?”
“If you idiots fool around and get yourselves killed, who's going to take my contracts and clean up the shit afterward? Right?”
Contracts?
Ah. That bastard.
‘There's a Grade 7 pig bastard named Sunming. He gets jobs from Overnus and passes them down to us as an intermediary contractor, sir.’
‘But he throws his weight around just because we call him boss. He makes us pay for all the drinks and only dumps shit jobs on us.’
‘He walks around alone, and he's stupidly strong, so we can't say anything...’
‘He takes a fifty-percent cut as his subcontracting commission. He borrows money and never pays it back. He's completely fucking insane.’
‘Compared to him, Mr. John Wick is a real angel. You even give us Chapagetti.’
Sunming. Akitt and Areng had often complained about him during the last run.
The underworld had a clear pecking order.
If Korean gangsters were like that, what would Necropolis be like?
Anyway, the claim that barbarians were more polite than civilized people because saying the wrong thing got your skull cracked was one of the greatest loads of bullshit ever.
The strong crushed the weak, and could crack their skulls whenever they wanted.
That was real barbarism.
“Why are you still standing there like idiots? Are you really that clueless?”
“It's not like we came here because we wanted to, sir...”
“Bullshit. You're lurking around like beggars, hoping something falls into your laps. Huh? Huh?”
Sunming was not just offering advice. He was even tapping their cheeks.
Did that not count as violence?
“What are you looking at while I'm talking to you?”
I had been watching with my arms folded when my eyes met Akitt's and Areng's.
Following their gazes, Sunming noticed me.
“Hey, you. Come here.”
He looked wary for a moment, then walked over after deciding I looked easy enough.
“Was it you? Huh? The asshole who put ideas in these little shits' heads? You're with the Get Money Office too?”
He sneered as he poked my chest with a finger.
“Oh? Look at you, holding your head high. When you see your senior, you should greet him properly. You know those assholes Akitt and Areng, don't you?”
Oh, no.
I'd never been able to tolerate thugs like this.
“It's our first meeting.”
“Our first meeting? Watch your tone.”
“It's our first meeting, siiiir.”
“Look at this little bastard.”
His face twisted in fury.
“You think you can handle me? Do you even know who I am?”
“Who are you?”
“Grade 7, Sunming.”
“I'm Grade 4, Guts.”
For a brief instant, indescribable terror filled his face.
“Gah...! No, I, um...”
“Grade 4 in my military physical.[1] I dislocated my arm while diving. It's all healed now, so you don't need to worry.”
I gave his shoulder a few pats.
After finally grasping the situation, Grade 7 fixer Sunming's face turned red and purple as he grabbed me by the collar.
“You little bastard! Impersonation too? Do you want to die with your guts spilling out?”
“Go ahead, idiot. I've been cut in half by a Mage twice. You think I'd be scared of someone your size?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?!”
I answered indifferently.
Maybe I would grovel before someone truly dangerous, but I had no intention of acting meek around someone middling.
What would I have left in this shithole if I did?
“Come with me, asshole. Let's see if you act the same outside.”
A vein bulged on Sunming's forehead as he tightened his grip on my collar.
He was strong enough to lift my heels off the floor.
Should I follow him out and put a bullet in the back of his head?
Grade 7? Wouldn't he die if I just put a sack over his head and went Bang! Bang! Bang! with Hero?
While I was considering it, I felt a chill.
“...”
“...”
“...”
At some point, three goat-headed employees had appeared soundlessly, surrounding us.
Did the hotel's ban on violence include people who got dragged into it?
“I was just standing here. Then Grade 7 fixer Mr. Sunming suddenly grabbed me by the collar.”
I raised both hands to show my innocence.
They were not going to drag me away when I had done nothing, right?
But the situation changed in an instant.
The goat employees lined up behind me as if they were protecting me.
“W-What?! This much is normally fine! I'm a guest of this hotel!”
Sunming was more flustered than I was.
Three pairs of rectangular pupils stared at him.
“You bastards, seriously...”
Sunming held a staring contest with the employees before finally saying,
“Fine. I'll stop. I don't have to do it, right? Fuck, why are you only protecting that asshole?”
Sweating at the temples, he quickly released my collar.
“Just wait until I see you outside. Huh? I'll remember that face.”
“A second date costs extra, though.”
“Fuck!”
Sunming glared at me like he wanted to kill me before leaving.
Even then, the employees remained standing behind me like bodyguards.
This had to be it, right?
Judging by how Sunming treated the Akitt brothers, and by his reaction afterward, this much trouble was normally considered a “dispute between guests.”
But the hotel employees had protected me.
Was it because of Sturdy Stomach's subtrait?
Backward-jointed legs still bent toward their own.
At the very least, my starting affinity seemed higher than the default value.
Tap tap.
An employee tapped my shoulder.
When I turned around, the goat employees silently lowered their heads.
It felt like they were saying, We sincerely apologize that you encountered trouble at our establishment.
“No, I wasn't entirely blameless either...”
No. That was not it.
When I looked through the rulebook, these hotel employees behaved like real hotel staff, at least toward “guests.”
“Ah, but... my neck feels a little stiff. I guess my muscles were startled when he suddenly grabbed my collar. I might need to keep an eye on it.”
I clutched the back of my neck and struck a pose like I was about to rush to a traditional medicine clinic.
“...”
The employee raised their head, rummaged through their suit jacket, then pulled something out and offered it to me with both hands.
“Oh, I wasn't doing this to get something.”
Sweet.
I took it immediately.
They offered it as politely as a business card, and it actually looked like one too.
No, rather than a business card, it was formatted like a coupon.
The words written on the front in elegant cursive read:
“The Hotel Abyss Suite Room Voucher?”
Ding!
A notification suddenly sounded.
======
::: Challenges :::
- Obtain a stay voucher for “The Hotel” +3 pt
======
What was this?
It counted as a Challenge?
And it was worth three Points?
“It's good for me, but...”
As I stood there confused, another notification sounded.
Ding!
======
「The Hotel Abyss Suite Room Voucher」
- Grade: UC
- Description: A suite room stay coupon issued by The Hotel Abyss.
- Effect: One day of lodging at the hotel. Includes welcome tea, breakfast buffet, and access to the club lounge.
- Note: Bound to the recipient. Single use.
======
I blinked at the familiar format.
“...?”
This was a Joker.
Why were you here?
Footnotes:
[1] Military physical: Here, Grade 4 is a Korean military-service medical classification, not a fixer rank. Guts exploits the ambiguity to bluff Sunming.
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