A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk - Chapter 32

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈

Chapter 32: Build: Necromancer (2)

──────

After learning magic and taking a shower, Ceres and I began a strategy meeting to stop Project Z.

“From now on, it would be best to keep contact between us to a minimum.”

“Why?”

“I plan to start by digging into Xuan Yiming of the Xuan Family. He’s a suspicious man. I’ll prepare a new identity for you.”

“Can’t you just kill them all, Ceres?”

“Of course not. That would be war.”

“What about tipping off the other people at Overnus about Project Z?”

“Then I’d openly become a traitor to Twilight Resource Development.”

“Right.”

A fusion of my knowledge of the future and Director Ceres’s knowledge of this world.

We were drawing up a grand plan to stop the evil scheme to turn 250,000 people in the Necropolis slums into zombies.

After a meeting marathon lasting over eight hours...

“Did you... approach me... from the beginning... just to do this...?”

“Hey, that’s a misunderstanding.”

“That’s not... wait... stop... I’m talking right now!”

Well.

That happened.

She said it would be best to minimize contact between us...

Yet we ended up with a lot more contact.

No, I was honestly a little flustered too.

I had not planned this in this loop.

Mama Ceres was certainly attractive to me as a man, but she had already promised me a considerable amount of money as operating expenses.

Oh my, Chairwoman Ceres! A generous donation of one million Bios!

It was enough to comfortably cover Arbel’s treatment costs and the deposit on my own apartment (NEW!).

She had also promised to support me if I needed it later. Besides, I had learned magic in this loop, so I no longer needed enhancement.

Cedric was no longer some cheap host!

Then how had this happened?

“I should get going now.”

Rewinding a little, to when I was about to leave after the meeting.

“It’s late. One room is empty, so you can stay the night if you want.”

“What?! Are you sure? Does Cedric deserve such kindness?”

“Stop making a fuss.”

Ceres said, stopping me on my way to the elevator.

So far, it was a kindness she could reasonably offer since we were in the same boat.

Haeng House had one main bedroom, along with another room containing a somewhat smaller bed.

But from that point, my instincts were screaming, “What is this?”

Because it was strange, wasn’t it?

Other than the day of Project Z in the previous loop, Ceres had never once been the first to tell me to stay over.

Even when we became close enough for me to be her driver, I always went home to sleep.

Ceres was that stingy about letting someone into her space.

And this was our first day together.

Suspicion detected.

I wondered if this might be it, so I carefully tested the waters.

I slipped into Ceres’s bedroom while she was diligently reading documents in bed.

“What? You can’t sleep alone?”

“Yes. Seeing death was a little scary, so I think I’d feel safer with someone beside me...”

“Haah... I should have just sent you home earlier.”

“Eep.”

“Do what you want. Go home.”

Just when I thought I had guessed wrong.

“...Or have another drink with me.”

That insane Mama move was the most blatant pass she had ever made.

The rest unfolded as naturally as water flowing...

But the question still remained.

Why?

Ceres Cassian was fundamentally a suspicious person.

Considering the loop where she had died after one brief lapse in caution, it was an understandable trait.

Necropolis was a place overflowing with schemes and intrigue.

The careless could not survive.

Yet today, she was showing off Mama energy to an unusual degree.

Was it because I was a genius necromancer? Because we had formed a united front to stop Project Z?

Or because I promised to lift her Commandment?

And that was not the end of the strange parts.

When I first met her, I thought Ceres was a widow from Nethan New City who loved steamy flings.

The sort of woman who brought men into her bedroom whenever she got bored.

But thinking back on later loops...

I had never seen Ceres sleep with another man.

As the driver who accompanied her everywhere, I knew for certain.

Other than quality cigarettes, expensive wine stocked on her rack, and brunch at Le Jardin, Ceres’s life was exceedingly ascetic.

As far as I had observed, I was the only one allowed near her bedchamber.

What was this? Seriously, what was this?

Had my first impression been wrong?

Could it really be that Cedric’s looks had been exactly her type, even in the first loop?

Returning to the present.

“Haah... haah... haah...”

“Would you like some water?”

As I helped her rehydrate when she could barely support herself, I considered that final lingering sense of wrongness.

“Cedric.”

“Yes?”

“My... my waist has no strength...?”

Hmm.

No matter how I looked at it, she was way too inexperienced.

I decided there was no point thinking about this alone.

As a former host-bar ace who used to seduce young housewives in Gangnam, I recalled a useful tip.

A sufficiently satisfying session was a kind of noodle press.

It squeezed truth from even tight-lipped people like strands of noodles.

There was a reason intelligence agencies used honey traps, after all.

I had once gotten useful information from the wife of a Housing Corporation executive, speculated like hell, and built up my starting capital.

In other words, if there was anything I wanted to ask, now was the perfect time.

After tidying up, I massaged her shoulders.

I had even sliced some fruit and set it beside her.

“Ceres, why are you so good to me?”

Ceres, who had been comfortably receiving my care, stiffened.

“Don’t misunderstand.”

“Calling it a misunderstanding seems a little much when you taught me magic and did this with me...”

“You’re far too full of yourself. Since you brought it up, let me make one thing clear.”

Ceres snorted softly.

“Don’t attach too much meaning to what happened today. It’ll be better for you too.”

Her cold eyes looked down on me as if pinning me in place.

“You don’t think you’re my only toy, do you?”

It was cold mockery, as if warning a mangy stray not to mistake the kindness shown to it for affection.

“How ridiculous.”

“...”

My understanding of Ceres Cassian had increased slightly.

My Mama Ceres...

Her body was honest.

But she was also very good at lying.

Thus began the unprecedentedly smooth fifth loop.

The first thing I did was move.

Since I knew exactly when Arbel would be Rocket Delivered to my apartment, I was preparing our newlywed home in advance.

It was on the second floor of a shop-house in C-22 Sector of Unlucky Chinatown, a place I had noticed before.

Deposit: 400,000. Monthly rent: 70,000. Maintenance fees separate.

For a lower-class nobody to move into a place like this, they would have to sell something they should not be selling at a steam bathhouse.

As a side note, steam from dumplings being cooked on the first floor rose up all day long.

A premium dumpling-steam zone. Free heating. Jackpot.

Honestly, the place was in pretty bad condition for the price.

The interior was cramped, the wallpaper bulged from moisture, and there were not just patches of mold. Actual mushrooms were growing in the house.

Still, compared to my apartment in E Sector, it was paradise.

At least this place had a bathroom with a toilet, and I did not have to worry about frostbite.

Looking at the gaudy night view scattered through the hazy steam, I was struck by the thought again.

“People really do adapt.”

The great Cedric being satisfied with a second-floor house and a Chinatown view.

Anyway.

This fifth loop, which had begun after I emptied out every last bit of my capital, was already on its third day.

To briefly go over what had happened so far...

“I’ll cooperate, but I have conditions. I take the lead.”

Mama Ceres had become the command center of the grand plan to stop Project Z.

It made sense when I thought about it.

I had told her nearly all the future knowledge I possessed.

From there, it was right for Ceres, who was stronger than me, held a higher position, and had more experience, to coordinate the plan.

“But why do I feel so uneasy...”

Mama Ceres had an unexpectedly careless side.

“Here are your new identity and ID. From now on, remember that you’re Rowan, a Grade 7 fixer.”

“No! Don’t I get to pick my own name?”

“It would be more natural if you had an existing work history rather than suddenly appearing as a Grade 7. Your cover story is that you were injured in a rift and took a year off. The original Rowan is actually already dead.”

“I don’t like such an uncool name.”

The name Rowan, impossible to erase, was stamped on the forged ID with my photo like a brand.

How unfair! Now that I had learned cool magic, I really wanted to be Alucard!

“Stop talking nonsense. Your first task is simple.”

“Ghk... As you command.”

“...Worm your way into Xuan Yiming, the Incense Master of the Xuan Family.”

I must have said repeatedly that Overnus Pharmaceuticals was ruled by three families: Red Dragon, Xuan, and Gold Carp.

Some of you may have already guessed...

They were not actually related.

The “family” in the Xuan Family was closer to the family in a mafia family.

In other words, Overnus Pharmaceuticals was something like a triad formed from three mafia organizations.

The traitor from the previous loop, Xuan Yiming, was a high-ranking executive of the Xuan Family and a Rank 2 Mage.

He was an Incense Master in charge of researching poisons and narcotics.

“He has a younger half-brother who runs his errands. Quietly take care of him and take his place.”

“If I kill his half-brother, won’t Yiming turn Cedric into fermented seafood?”

“You need to deal with him quietly. It seems he has no familial affection. He seems to treat the man like a convenient fixer.”

As expected of Mama Ceres.

She had a plan for everything.

“I’ll give you the information. Lie in wait and deal with that fixer. I’ll find a way for you to contact Yiming in the meantime.”

Today, I was going to deal with Yiming’s ass-wiper.

As I slowly reviewed the Rank 0 spell Death Sentence that I had practiced over the past two days, I headed to the place Ceres had told me about.

Step. Step.

After passing through the noisy Hongshen Market, my footsteps eventually reached a quiet place.

By coincidence, it was the underground passage where Kisara had cut me to pieces.

The cracked tiles that had never been repaired, the mud squelching on the floor, and the half-broken mercury-vapor lamp were all still there.

With a cigarette in my mouth, I leaned against the wall and checked the state of my mana.

Hummm.

Death mana bloomed over my hand in soft clouds.

“It’s a good night.”

Ah, I could feel it.

Cedric was in peak condition today. Perfect form.

I knew this feeling very well.

The high-pitched whine of the mercury-vapor lamp rang loudly, like the engine of a light plane just before a jump.

Step. Step.

Breaking the silent stillness, a man appeared in the passage across from me, like a gladiator entering the Colosseum for a fight to the death.

A blue changpao, and an enormous Rocket Hammer slung over his shoulder.

His vicious presence seemed to warp the air around him with every step. It seemed that even Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, could not compare.

Flick.

He spotted me tossing aside my cigarette butt.

“Hey.”

Without asking a single question, he started the Rocket Hammer.

“Hah. I thought I stepped in shit in my dream today, but some shit fly has latched onto me.”

Hisssss.

Steam-like smoke poured through his bared teeth as he grinned like a beast.

“Long time no see.”

“What? Do you know me?”

“Of course.”

That was right.

The target tonight, Yiming’s half-brother, was my greatest rival.