WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 28: Trigger (2)
──────
1.
The argument abruptly stopped, and everything fell silent.
Makes sense.
If I were in the middle of an assassination, arguing with my accomplice, and someone casually walked in, I’d wonder, Who the fuck is this?
Focus!!!!
For a moment, I froze too.
Why?
Why was that crazy bitch here?
Did she really come because I said, “See you next time,” two runs ago?
That was just like saying, “Hey! We should grab a meal sometime!”
Was she the kind of system that showed up automatically after two weeks?
Like my previous theory, was she an inevitable existence I was bound to encounter in the loop even without using a Universal Coin?
There was a fucking time limit on this shitty starting point too?
Then how was I supposed to live?!
Whoever wrote this script, get out here!
Should I run even now?
Maybe she hadn’t found me yet.
“...”
No.
What would running accomplish?
This run was already ruined, and I had been about to reset anyway.
Unless she immediately carved me up, this was a chance to get more information.
I needed to find out what trigger brought that samurai bitch here besides the Universal Coin.
Fortunately, there were two actors here who could play that role in my place.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Yiming, who had been raging like a bereaved relative over Ceres’s mutilated body, shouted aggressively.
“Kisara Yagyu? What is an Executor doing in Necropolis...?”
Meanwhile, Gisela’s voice trembled thinly, as though an executioner stood before her.
Even Yiming, who had been yelling beside her, sucked in a breath the moment he heard the name.
“Oh? You know me?”
Wow! Fuck! So Samurai Bitch’s name was Kisara Yagyu!
I’d died twice without even introducing myself, so I had no idea.
“What brings you here? We already finished coordinating with the Paradise Administration Bureau in advance.”
“Ah, right. Was it Project Z?”
“Yes. Project Z was formally approved, even by the Bureau Director. We already received an official response that there would be no issue as long as it could be controlled. Every procedure and response measure was carried out according to regulations. There’s nothing to take issue with.”
“Nothing to take issue with...”
Kisara laughed brightly.
“Is that so? What a shame.”
My mana circuits tingled.
A prickling killing intent made goosebumps rise across my skin in an instant.
“I don’t see it that way.”
Maybe because I’d been hit by it twice already, I could clearly feel the warning signs this time.
Kisara was about to cut.
“You crazy fucking bitch! Yiming!”
“Fuck! Leave me out of this! I have nothing to do with Twilight Resource Development!”
“Then just stand there and die!”
“Fuck it!”
I knew it, but she really was completely insane!
I knew she was strong, but those two had to be Mages as well.
No.
If I remembered correctly, Gisela was definitely a Rank 2 Mage. Wouldn’t Yiming, who had been arguing with her with veins bulging in his neck, be around the same level?
Even if she used Malevolent Shrine...
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
A deafening roar tore through the air.
The shockwave, as if the whole atmosphere had burst apart, violently shook Haeng House.
Then.
“Fools. In matters like this, someone always has to take responsibility.”
That was it.
I did not need to look to know what had happened.
Fuck, I had no words.
Two Mages taken out in one second?
Wasn’t she stronger than Mama Ceres too?
What the hell was the Paradise Administration Bureau? And what was an Executor?
Why was someone that insanely overqualified hunting down a loser like me?
Did the job at least pay minimum wage?
“Today’s my lucky day. I was annoyed about being sent to this shitty neighborhood, but there’s a bonus right next to me?”
Of course.
There was no way she wouldn’t know.
“Phew.”
With a long sigh, I discreetly pulled the Coin Toss of Truth from my inventory.
“It grows on you after a while.”
Clack.
Listening to the footsteps drawing closer, I tried to steer the conversation toward something meaningful.
“You’re Cedric Montraven, right?”
“How did you know? Just from my voice. Isn’t this our first meeting?”
“I have an exceptional instinct. I never lose my targets.”
“For someone like that, you already lost me once.”
“Your family may have fallen, but it’s still a count’s house. How was I supposed to know your safehouse would be in a shithole like this?”
Now!
I flipped the coin.
I caught it in my palm and checked.
TRUE
[‘Kisara Yagyu’s’ statement is true.]
[「Coin Toss of Truth」 Remaining Uses: (1/3)]
Okay.
Trigger confirmed.
Kisara had not come after me.
She had never even imagined I would be in Necropolis.
Project Z was her target, and I was just the free bonus beside it.
That meant if I had not come to Haeng House, I would never have run into that crazy bitch.
“...”
But.
Was that really all?
No.
No way.
She was like a vicious debt collector who would chase me into hell just because I had touched a Universal Coin once.
She had taken my life two runs in a row on this route, and she was the boss of the route that would soon take my life again.
Remember genre conventions.
A life in another world where I got fucked over from the very beginning, again and again, with terrible luck.
If Kisara was this route’s boss...
Would God really give me a convenient strategy like, “Bash your head like a turkey and you’ll live”?
Kisara rounded the corner and appeared.
She was as perfectly beautiful as the last time I had seen her.
“Oh my, you’re badly hurt. Where did you roll around?”
“That fucking Project Z thing did this to me.”
Think. Think.
There was one question left.
I needed to take as many clues as possible into the next run.
But there was not enough time.
“Hmm, your sister was boring, but... I had high expectations for you.”
Fuck, here it came. Again.
The line she always said before cutting me down.
“I like your eyes, but... is that all there is to you?”
Huh?
She added something? She liked my eyes?
Was a man covered in blood and half dead her type?
“Time, time, time.”
“?”
“I can’t die feeling this wronged. Let me ask you just one thing.”
I did not waste the opening.
“If I hadn’t been here, would you have found me anyway? Or did my luck just happen to be fucking awful today, so I crawled in here and died for nothing?”
“...”
Silence.
The smile faded from the violet eyes that had been beaming moments before.
“...Strange.”
“What is?”
“You’re prepared for death, but you see hope? It’s strange after all. Isn’t that a contradiction?”
“I believe in the afterlife. Heaven for believers, hell for unbelievers.”
Kisara tilted her head, then placed a hand on her sword hilt.
“You don’t need to feel too wronged. Since I came here, I would have found you soon enough, wherever you were in this city.”
“Thank you for the answer!”
Nice!
One more time!
I flipped the coin low, then caught it.
TRUE
[‘Kisara Yagyu’s’ statement is true.]
[「Coin Toss of Truth」 Remaining Uses: (0/3)]
“...”
Ha, fuck. Of course.
Why did nothing ever go easily?
“I’ve waited long enough, haven’t I? If you disappoint me, you’ll regret it.”
Sharp.
Dragging things out was not just for asking questions.
“Uh... five seconds! No, ten!”
When I flipped the first coin, I had actually used this already.
「Copy of the Wondrous Dharma Insect-Sound Sutra」
- Rank: SR
- Description: A copy of a sutra containing the teachings of mysterious insect sounds.
- Effect: Summons a servant of an Outer God for five minutes.
- Note: It does not distinguish friend from foe. Single use.
Hey, you bitch.
Did you think I’d politely die just because I spoke respectfully?
Not a chance.
I would let Mahoraga loose before I went.
It was a good chance to gauge Kisara’s strength and the power of the Wondrous Dharma Insect-Sound Sutra.
If needed, I could use the Lost Receipt for one more use.
But...
“Just wait... It’ll be here soon. I called a seriously badass friend. Just a moment. It’ll be here any second...”
Why was it not coming?!
It had already been thirty seconds! Put that in the description!
Ding.
At that moment, a chime sounded behind me.
The elevator had arrived.
No... this was a servant of an Outer God.
Was it coming by elevator like a delivery driver? That was kind of lame.
“Hmm?”
More importantly... did that elevator always look like that?
No. Its design had definitely changed.
The elevator doors opened.
Tap. Tap.
A lady dressed in a pure white suit stepped out, her shoes clicking against the floor.
A perfect suit, a long cane in one hand.
She had a truly incredible figure, but...
Her head was a goat’s.
Shing.
The goat-headed employee walked forward, drawing a sword from the cane.
Behind the goat, the scenery shifted like paint spreading across a canvas...
Before I knew it, Haeng House had taken the shape of an elegant hotel lobby.
I had seen this lobby before.
“The Hotel... Abyss?”
I knew the hotel was a rift, but a servant of an Outer God was one of its employees?
The hotel was definitely a Depth 9 rift.
I could feel it. It looked fucking strong! Could it even deploy a domain?
I stood frozen with my mouth open, then met the goat employee’s eyes.
Those square pupils were horrifying.
I blinked for a moment!
“Hey!”
I threw one of the top three lines I wanted to say before dying straight at Kisara.
“I’m going on ahead. Struggle all you want!”
But the goat employee only glanced at me before walking past me toward Kisara.
“Hmm.”
That was a little embarrassing.
It seemed Sturdy Stomach’s secondary trait applied even to creatures summoned through the Wondrous Dharma Insect-Sound Sutra.
The more I looked at it, the more certain I was that Sturdy Stomach really was SR rank.
Kisara let out an exclamation as she looked around at the surroundings that had suddenly become a hotel.
“Wow! A servant? And one that can even Open the Gate! Did you summon it?”
There was no need to buy more time now.
“Don’t act friendly, you whore. You’re grinning like an idiot just because I played along.”
Whiiing!
Sparks flew in front of my nose.
The remote slash Kisara had fired was knocked away by the goat employee’s sword.
“I was trying to cut out your tongue. You blocked that?”
A Japanese sword was in Kisara’s hand, though I had not seen when she drew it.
The ripples engraved on its blade gleamed beneath the chandelier lights.
“Go! Save your own kind!”
The hotel employee’s foot pushed off the marble floor.
BOOM!
It collided with Kisara.
I did not know what level the two of them had reached.
But just watching from nearby gave me a rough idea.
They were on a different level.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every time their swords collided, the air screamed as though aerial bombs were detonating.
Not a single motion was visible as they exchanged blows.
Even when I forced Laplace’s Eye to its limit, it was the same.
BOOM!
With an explosion, Kisara was the first to be pushed back.
The hotel employee slid backward, then stood before me as if protecting me.
A servant of an Outer God was this strong?
“You’re the GOAT! Go finish her!”
If the Wondrous Dharma Insect-Sound Sutra could kill Kisara, the difficulty of clearing this would drop exponentially.
“Please... please...”
I watched the fight with my palms sweating more than during any bet.
“This hotel is so annoying. Why does it have so many rules stuck all over it? So...”
Kisara complained in frustration.
“I should cut it.”
Kisara’s arm, and the sword extended like part of that arm, blurred.
Whoosh.
A sound like something being sucked in pierced my ears.
This was different.
Something about it was fundamentally different from every slash I had seen before.
Crack.
Only afterward did a fissure appear along the sword’s path, like the graphics had glitched.
As the crack spread, the image of the lobby shattered in an instant.
The lavish hotel lobby became Ceres’s ruined Haeng House again.
Then.
Thud.
Two arms fell.
The hotel employee’s diagonally severed upper body slid apart smoothly, like butter.
Clang.
The broken cane sword fell with a high-pitched sound.
“Damn it.”
Yeah, I had a feeling this would happen.
So they could not stand to see Cedric get an easy win?
“That was still rather good... Hm? What are you doing?”
For this exact moment, I had kept my gun pointed at my head throughout the fight.
“Let’s never meet again!”
Bang!
In the instant I pulled the trigger...
The last thing I saw was...
Ding.
======
『 EP5. Reset Button 』
In the end, you chose your own death.
Death is the surest defeat, but...
Perhaps it is different for you.
<Iteration Results>
▶ Achievement: 「Selective Death」 Achieved
- Your understanding of ‘death’ increases slightly.
- 30 pt will be awarded.
▶ Title Acquired: None
▶ Challenges: +52 pt
::: Challenges (NEW!) :::
- Reach ‘High’ understanding of ‘death.’ +5 pt
※ Death Penalty Applied ※
[ Belated Response ]
[ Ingrown Toenails ]
- Ingrown toenails will grow. They will grow back even if pulled out.
- Permanently applied.
「Misfortune-Warding Talisman」 prevents [ Ingrown Toenails ].
Remaining uses: 2.
At the end of pride and foolishness, may you reach transcendence.
======
2.
The moment my vision flashed.
I was thrown once again into a void filled with death.
A space as unbearably terrifying as a gambling addiction treatment center.
But I had no time to feel unease or fear.
Nor could I enjoy the luck of succeeding at an achievement grind that let me pull one artifact at the last moment.
“Fuuuuuck, my save point almost got completely screwed up!!!!”
A chill ran down my spine.
I had not seen or heard it wrong.
In the final moment before I pulled the trigger.
The horrifying sight I saw was...
[ 1. Resist Kisara ]
[ 2. Paradise Administration Bureau ]
Golden particles gathered, and Choices were about to form.
Footnotes:
Mahoraga refers to the overwhelmingly powerful summoned shikigami from Jujutsu Kaisen.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
