WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 25: Project Z
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1.
It had been a week since Arbel's treatment and my arrival at Level 1 Augmentation.
It had been ten days since I became Mama Ceres's driver.
Which meant I was welcoming the glorious fifteenth day of this fuck-fuck-fuck-fuckgression.
There hadn't been any particular event where I could put my Augmentation to use, but that wasn't necessarily bad.
Augmentation had been insurance for emergencies from the start.
Samurai Bitch still hadn't shown itself after seven days.
And I was steadily piling up Challenge Points for gacha rolls.
All things considered, this was the smoothest run I'd ever had.
[5:00 AM]
‘Today's selection is a hymn for you who work without complaint. Oh, great Necropolis!’
“Fuck... At least play a boy-band music video....”
I woke in my studio apartment to the draining work song blaring through the street speakers.
Normally, I would start another shitty morning by checking whether all my fingers and toes were still attached after the night...
But things were different now!
Because Arbel, my beloved plushie, was beside me!
“Did you sleep well, Arbel?”
I greeted the soundly sleeping Arbel.
“Sleeping again today? It's already been a week.”
“......”
“You're taking forever. At this rate, I'll become an... old man.”
“......”
A week had already passed, yet Arbel still hadn't regained consciousness.
When I took her for her second treatment yesterday, Isis told me it was a matter of luck whether she woke up before her circuits were fully constructed.
“Let me have a little sniff. Sniiiiiiff!”
“...Mmm....”
Still, Mages really were amazing.
She never even washed, yet she always smelled nice.
Soft and warm, she was the perfect cushion to sleep while hugging.
It wasn't like I had any ulterior motive.
This place didn't even have a boiler or heating. It barely even had insulation.
Sticking close together to preserve body heat was important for Arbel too.
“Mm... Mmm....”
I pinched sleeping Arbel's nose and made her swallow medicine while considering my plans going forward.
“Hmm, I should start preparing to move soon....”
The E Sector, where my studio apartment was located, was the worst slum where the poor gathered.
It was the kind of crime-ridden neighborhood where even Batman would get sick of overwork and decide to take a break instead of being a hero.
I couldn't keep leaving Arbel in a place like this, so I was preparing to escape the E Sector...
“Housing prices are fucking insane.”
Once you left the slum that was E Sector, even a moldy shoebox that looked like it'd ruin your lungs charged over 40,000 Bios in monthly rent.
And what I had my eye on was a shop-house in District C-22.
A dumpling shop on the first floor, with living space on the second.
It even had a private bathroom, making it a pretty decent property, but that meant paying the massive deposit of 400,000 Bios.
A bit of a Cedric, troubled, Points situation.
The answer was, of course, a personal request from Director Ceres...
The problem was that Ceres hadn't ordered any additional driving since that day.
“After tasting 100,000 an hour raw insertion, 200,000 a week just doesn't satisfy me anymore....”
What should I do?
Was this how heroines who got NTR'd felt?
My body had become incapable of being satisfied by honest labor income.
Then I suddenly realized something.
“That was already true, wasn't it?”
Maybe not much had changed after all.
2.
[5:30 AM]
The driver of a Twilight Resource Development director couldn't arrive at work reeking of stale sweat.
First, I headed to the steam bathhouse.
“Wow! Hyung, your dick's huge! Can I touch it?”
“Fuck, you see all kinds of bullshit!”
“Eek, that's so mean...!”
“Get lost! Even male prostitutes have standards!”
I carefully washed up while brushing off advances from a colleague in the same industry who only made 50,000 Bios a week.
This was where the ‘Xnel Body Wash & Shampoo (UC)’ that I'd pulled from the Old World Shopping Mall gacha shone.
This stuff was seriously great.
Director Ceres even did the female mating move and said, ‘You smell nice.’
“Then why aren't you requesting me again?!”
I shouted to wake myself up, then drove the limousine to Ceres's Haeng House.
I arrived at six, but when Ceres came out was random.
Sometimes she came down right at six, and other times she strolled out around nine.
I parked in the private garage, lit a cigarette, and enjoyed a leisurely morning smoke.
“Phew....”
The heavy tar sliding down my throat woke me up.
Marlboro Reds in another world.
This was seriously great too.
Maybe the Old World Shopping Mall wasn't so bad after all.
At some point, Henri showed up beside me, wearing sunglasses and a suit.
He was the new executive secretary who managed Ceres's schedule in Julien's place.
Strictly speaking, the role I replaced was only that of driver.
“Ohayo.”
“......”
For the record, he had a full head of hair and didn't look like he was any good at soccer.
He had the polished, elite look of someone you'd find in the financial district.
Those rimless glasses in particular made him look arrogant.
Every time I saw him, I wanted to put a lock on him.
“Want one?”
“...Don't talk to me, you maggot. You stink like a slum sewer.”
“Why are you so angry every morning? Kidney stones?”
“Ha, you fucking bastard....”
I hope you don't misunderstand.
I'm not the sort of guy who picks fights with coworkers and acts like that for no reason.
At first, I wanted to get close to Henri, play early-morning soccer with him, go to the sauna and scrub each other's backs.
But then...
“Julien died because you ratted him out. You're next, so look forward to it. The other staff in the secretary's office are all waiting for you too.”
Well, that was roughly why everyone resented me.
I was so jealous.
I was insanely jealous of the secretary's office solidarity.
How could they defend a bastard to the end after he got caught naming a goat after his boss and doing [CENSORED] with it?
Was the secretary's office some kind of goat-lover club?
Anyway.
My most respected philosopher, Nietzsche, said this.
If someone hates you for no reason, give them a reason to hate you.
“Shouldn't we change the way we think about this? Julien died because of me? No. You got promoted thanks to me, Mr. Henri.”
“...Shut up.”
“So did you treat everyone for your promotion or not? Ah, you did, you did. I can tell you're only pretending to be angry. Huh? The corner of your mouth just moved.”
“......”
“You should've invited me to the promotion dinner. I'm close with goats too.”
“Shut your fucking mouth!!!”
“Hmm, mouth wiiiiide open!!!”
“Ahhhhhhh! How did the director end up with a bastard like you?!”
“Now, now. Don't raise your voice.”
What could you guys even do?
I might technically belong to the secretary's office, but I never had reason to go near it.
Besides, I was Ceres's specially hired driver.
Knowing Ceres's personality, I wasn't someone they could casually mess with.
[9:30 AM]
“Good morning!”
“Did you have a peaceful night, Director?”
“Mm.”
Ceres finally appeared late in the morning.
She exchanged brief greetings before getting into the back seat.
She looked tired, and she was much later than usual.
She seemed especially low today.
I'd better watch myself.
Ceres's first routine was always brunch at Le Jardin.
“Director, I'll brief you on today's schedule.”
“Eleven o'clock, securing new distribution routes for the ossuary and adjusting the existing ‘commissions’ are the main agenda items. Then at thirteen hundred, a meeting with the chief researcher of headquarters' research and development division. They will report the first-stage results of the stabilization experiment for the recovered ‘Lost Property: Classification 304.’”
“Sixteen hundred. An on-site inspection of the new Placer Gold refining facility in District D-2. The purpose is the final check on operation rate and stability. Finally, at eighteen hundred, the board's regular dinner is scheduled in the headquarters' top-floor banquet hall.”
While Ceres smoked and received the schedule report from Henri, I drove while minimizing the shaking.
“I won't be attending this regular dinner.”
“Yes, then I'll leave eighteen hundred onward open for personal time.”
I couldn't understand even half of it, but it was interesting to listen to.
It felt like listening to the radio, and I got to learn about the world too.
When we arrived at Le Jardin, Henri swiftly got out and opened the door.
“Allow me.”
Henri would now stand guard behind Ceres while she ate, while I smoked and wiped the car down with a dry rag.
Whenever this happened, Henri always looked at me with a smug expression.
“Hmph.”
Look at those eyes even now.
But today was a little different.
“Henri, you stay in the car today. Guts, come with me.”
“Yes!”
“What? Ah, uh... Why so suddenly today...?”
Ceres's gaze bore down heavily on Henri, and he quickly shut his mouth.
Wow, that's how I should throw my weight around too.
She sent the long sentence, ‘Do I need to explain every reason for my decisions to you?’ with a single look.
Incredible value for money.
“...S-sorry, Director.”
“Guts, hurry.”
“Just a moment. I'm getting the red carpet ready.”
“Ha, unbelievable.... Hurry up.”
It was bad enough that he got rebuked by his mistress.
Henri's face turned bright red when he saw Ceres and me casually trading jokes.
Did you see that, you bastard?
Do you know what's scarier than the power of a doorknob?
Pillow talk is unbeatable even at rock-paper-scissors. Nobody can beat it.
I raised my middle finger at Henri behind my back and leisurely followed Ceres into the restaurant.
“So, what is this about?”
“Guts, do you have plans today?”
While we waited for the food, Ceres asked me casually.
I had a feeling.
From the moment Ceres canceled the regular dinner, dribbled past Henri, and sent me a long through ball.
It was here!!!
Sugar Mommy Ceres's sugar-sugar time!!!
“If you call for me, Director, I'll make time even if I don't have any.”
I naturally tied the napkin around her neck.
Letting my fingertips lightly brush against her bare skin.
“I feel like going for a drive. It's been a while.”
Ceres smiled as if ticklish, and a little tired.
3.
[1:00 PM]
Schedule complete.
[4:00 PM]
Schedule complete.
[6:00 PM]
At last, every appointment was over.
I took Ceres for a long drive around the docks.
“This is enough.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, it's enough. Do you like alcohol?”
“I'd drink it if I had any.”
“Then let's go to my place. I have some wine I received as a gift.”
At Ceres's urging, we returned to her Haeng House.
[8:27 PM]
“What is this wine? It has such a unique taste.”
“It was a gift from the Xuan Family.”
“Xuan... the Black Turtle?”
“That's right.”
We drank wine and bathed together in the enormous tub.
There were no bubbles or roses, but it was romantic enough.
[9:12 PM]
We went to bed.
“Hurry up. Why are you being so slow?”
“Now, now. The night is long. Don't rush me.”
“......”
“And don't glare at me....”
A little drunk, Ceres embraced me more eagerly than ever.
I cheered inwardly.
You cute little thing!
You'd really been holding it in!
Of course you had!
After tasting Guts, a man like Chapagetti, she'd fasted for a week.
How could she endure that?
[11:16 PM]
“Haa... Haa.... Just once, shall we do it just once more?”
“Of course. But let me rest a little first....”
“Don't do that....”
“Hmm, all right. All right.”
Ceres embraced me eagerly.
Strangely eagerly.
[12:01 AM]
A storm-like time passed.
Ceres lay sprawled elegantly across the bed.
As usual, I got dressed first and prepared to leave.
Then I thought.
It was certain.
Something was strange about Ceres today.
She was normally neat about ending things.
This was only our third time together, but separate from how desperately she chased pleasure, Ceres had always maintained a firm line of her own.
A transparent wall that let flesh and saliva mingle but kept emotion from passing through.
Today, that wall felt like it had crumbled.
“I enjoyed myself today too.”
“Guts.”
“Yes?”
“Tonight... won't you just stay with me?”
Right.
She was the kind of person who would never say something like that.
Taken simply, it should have been very welcome news for me.
It meant I'd melted Sugar Mommy Ceres that thoroughly.
Why did my stomach sink so fast?
A tingling sensation, like the moment just before liquidation, coursed through my body.
The alarm of instinct rang so loudly that my ears went numb.
What was I missing right now?
Was there something in this run that I hadn't paid attention to?
Why did she want me to stay with her today?
Was she trying to keep me here?
As I dug through the final pieces of several clues, something came to mind.
‘No way....’
‘Project Z.’
Twilight Resource Development's top-secret human-cleansing project that Ceres had leaked to Overnus Pharmaceuticals.
A misfortune I could only hope would pass me by, since I had neither means nor way to respond.
I thought again.
Ceres's attitude, different from both the first run and the previous one.
This sudden action of stopping me as I tried to go home.
Ceres knew where I lived. I'd told her.
It might all be a leap.
But if I shaped these facts together, I reached this crude hypothesis.
The human cleansing through Project Z was happening today, and the location was somewhere in the E Sector.
That was why Ceres had slept with me tonight of all nights, to keep me away from the slums.
“I'm sorry. I have to go today.”
Maybe all of this was a misunderstanding.
To begin with, it was hard to picture Ceres acting for someone else's sake.
Even so, I had to go.
Arbel was there.
“Someone's waiting for me at home.”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Ceres kept quiet for a long time before speaking.
“...I'll lend you the car. Go comfortably.”
“Thank you.”
My heart beat strangely, ominously fast.
I immediately took the elevator down, got into the car, and started the engine.
“Fuck... No, right?”
My head felt like it was about to explode.
Why was so much bullshit getting piled on me?
That massive event was something I could actually get tangled up in?
What kind of bullshit was this?!
No.
What were the chances this was all just my delusion from start to finish?
Weren't those odds higher?
Please, let that be it instead.
I hadn't even been paid yet. I'd go back and at least get a tip.
Wheeeeeeeen!
As if mocking that hope, a siren sounded through the street speakers.
‘The current time is 12:15 AM. Riots by a large number of subversives have occurred in Districts 1, 9, 11, and 13 of the E Sector.’
‘The City Hall Public Security Bureau has immediately dispatched response teams to the affected districts and is controlling the situation. Citizens are advised not to be disturbed by false rumors and, for their safety, to immediately cease all outdoor activity and evacuate inside their homes or the nearest safe facility. I repeat....’
“Fuck!”
I pressed hard on the accelerator.
The massive vehicle roared like a beast and shot forward.
The studio apartment where Arbel lay was in E-9.
Then.
Ding!
A notification rang.
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