WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 35: A Fixer for Off-the-Books Jobs (2)
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1.
“Hey, get out and wait.”
The moment Yiming saw the stockings, his expression completely changed.
“Rowan, have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s lunchtime. Come have a drink with me.”
“A meal with the Incense Master? I’m honored, truly honored.”
That was a good sign.
Maybe it was the same in every culture, but asking someone to eat in this city did not simply mean filling their stomach.
Think about it.
For someone like Yiming to offer a meal that would not hurt his reputation.
In a city where anything even vaguely classy cost a fortune, it meant he was treating me to a meal worth at least 50,000 Bios.
As a man myself, I could understand Yiming’s feelings.
If I had stockings Director Ceres had taken off herself, I could buy someone one hell of a meal too.
I quietly followed Yiming to a private room.
“Make yourself comfortable. Want another drink?”
“Yes, sir!”
“That’s right! Great heroes have to hold their liquor!”
The room resembled a private room at a fancy Chinese restaurant.
Seeing the spinning lazy Susan made me crave chili shrimp and black-bean noodles.
“By the way... this is really authentic, right?”
“Of course. You can inspect it right here.”
Yiming looked half out of his mind.
With burning eyes, as though appraising a work of art, he carefully stroked the stockings I had given him earlier.
“The transparency is... hmm. Exquisite. There’s a slight run around the calf, and... ah... Ceres’s lemon scent is lightly mixed with the smell of sweat. Perfect. It’s undeniably authentic. Premium quality, too.”
“...”
I was getting goosebumps.
Was this how a fish felt when it saw someone lovingly caressing the worm on their hook?
I had not expected him to like them that much.
Soon, the table filled with dishes.
Dongpo pork, drunken chicken simmered in Shaoxing wine and medicinal liquor before being chilled, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall stewed with shark fin and matsutake, and more.
Wow! A feast for the first time in ages!
It was an even more luxurious spread than I had expected.
I did not need chili shrimp after all!
“Little Brother Rowan, let’s eat.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
He had even upgraded my title to little brother.
Just how much did Yiming like me?
“Little Brother, I received your gift well. So what did you want to ask of me?”
“It’s nothing grand. I simply wish to maintain a good relationship with you, Incense Master.”
“A good relationship?”
All right, then.
Let’s examine why I came all this way, pickling poisonous crabs with Sunming, and what it had to do with stopping Project Z.
Yiming had joined hands with Director Gisela so he could turn Ceres’s corpse into a “toy,” while Gisela could eliminate her rivals and push ahead with Project Z.
That did not mean they were friends.
Their interests merely aligned.
‘Yiming probably still has the documents I gave him.’
‘Hmm, insurance.’
‘Right. Gisela might receive the documents and get other ideas. If things go wrong, he’ll probably report it to Overnus. Until she gets them, Gisela will keep cooperating with Yiming.’
‘But even if Gisela takes them and claims betrayal, can they prove that the information was leaked by Lady Ceres?’
‘They can. There’s a watermark.’
‘Why would you do something so dangerous...?’
Anyway.
Gisela could not immediately move against Ceres because she lacked proof.
Yiming was watching the situation and withholding the proof.
And Ceres had an annoying weakness tying her hands.
The first gear that could move this deadlock was Yiming.
For example, if Yiming informed Overnus Pharmaceuticals about Project Z?
Overnus would stop Project Z.
At the very least, it would be put on hold.
That was according to Ceres.
So, whether I got leverage on him or found some other way, I first needed to approach Yiming if I wanted him to act differently from the previous run.
And the most natural way to approach him was...
“Could you take me on as your zuobi?”
Zuobi literally meant “left arm.”
It was a special form of employment, particularly common among the three Overnus families, who cared deeply about appearances.
Matters too personal to entrust to one’s right-hand man without losing face.
A fixer who took on those filthy back-channel jobs.
His half-brother Sunming had been Yiming’s zuobi.
Yiming’s crush on Ceres was real.
And this guy was more of a pervert than I had expected.
There was no reason he could only have one zuobi, so I figured I could replace Sunming in the role of his “left arm.”
Yiming gargled with baijiu, then snorted.
“Sunming. Did you get rid of him?”
“What?”
My heart dropped.
Fuck, what was this?
This idiot was not actually stupid? He caught on that quickly?
“I mean, I suddenly lost contact with him. Then you show up at just the right time and ask me to make you my left arm.”
Sunming had disappeared only yesterday.
I had thought it would not seem unnatural yet.
So even if he looked sloppy, an executive of the Xuan Family needed this much awareness?
As I kept a poker face, Yiming waved a hand.
“Whatever. He was my half-brother, but he was only good for running errands.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Forget it. It’s none of your business.”
Oh, he was fucking cool about it.
Then again, if he cared about his half-brother, he would not have let him languish as a mere Grade 7 fixer.
“Little Brother, continue what you were saying. If I make you my zuobi, what can you give me?”
“Like today, I can keep bringing you ‘gifts.’”
Yiming’s eyes widened as he scooped up Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
His sharp gaze turned hazy, and his cheeks flushed red.
“Explain. Explain in more detail. You mean you’ll keep bringing stockings? Ones Madam Ceres wore?”
“Of course.”
“Hehehe, how the hell do you get them? I tried several times, but it wasn’t easy.”
You had already tried?
Maybe Julien had pinched them all before you could get any?
“That’s not all. I can procure things even more... hehe... than what I brought today.”
“E-even more hehe things?”
“I mean, something a little more daring.”
Yiming swallowed hard.
His face looked like his intelligence was dropping in real time.
“Then... can you get high heels too? Worn ones.”
“...”
I was not that complicated a person, but this guy was as transparent as a glass of water.
After deliberately making him wait, I grinned.
“...What color do you prefer?”
“Red! I like red! You can really get them? Really?! Hahahaha! Little Brother Rowan, from today onward, you’re my zuobi!”
“Xie xie, big brother! Then allow your left arm to offer you a drink.”
“Good! Fill it up!”
I successfully sealed the deal with the beaming Yiming.
Okay, then.
First objective complete.
“Little Brother Rowan, did you know? The prettiest part of a woman’s body is her feet. Ankles should be slender, naturally. Toe length, shape, and proportions are all important too.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“I’ll tell you, especially for your benefit. Stockings get four points. They’re thin and show off the shape of the feet perfectly, so they have great collector’s value.”
“I-I see.”
“Socks are... regrettably three points. They cover the feet, but the outline does not stand out as much.”
“You can’t see the shape very well in shoes either.”
“Ahem! High heels are five points, five! Not being able to see them clearly is the charm! They make you secretly imagine the line from the toes to the heel. And the scent concentrated inside them is second to no matsutake. And there’s also...”
I got it.
Stop already, asshole.
2.
Time passed quickly.
Let’s briefly review what happened in the meantime.
The moment I got a job as Yiming’s zuobi, I went to Mama Ceres.
“You want more stockings? You took some from Ines yesterday.”
“Ah, yes. I saw her then. Your daughter is very lovely.”
“...What did you say?”
“Not that. I promised Yiming a premium subscription. I would appreciate it if you could give me plenty.”
“...Tch. Men.”
“And if it is not too rude, I would also like red high heels. Worn ones. Two pairs would be even better.”
“That is extremely rude. Why not just say you want to use them?”
“You misunderstand. I like bunny girls.”
Ceres looked beyond contempt and straight into disbelief, but she gave them to me anyway.
I immediately wrapped them as a gift and sent them to Yiming.
“Oooooh! Little Brother Rowan! You really brought them! You’re a capable man, a capable man!”
“Urgh, Incense Master... it truly was not easy.”
“Gah! Humble too! If my little brother is this capable, how am I supposed to show my face as your big brother? Hey! Stop calling me Incense Master. Call me big brother!”
I laid the groundwork for building deeper guanxi with him.
Day seven.
“...Cedric.”
Arbel arrived at dawn as unfailingly as ever.
“Ha, why am I so glad to see you every time?”
“...?”
With a question mark practically floating above her head, Arbel flopped over.
I picked her up and immediately took her to Isis for treatment.
Actually, both Ceres and Ines, the mother and daughter who had healed my eye before, could use healing magic.
Death-aligned magic naturally corresponded to life-aligned magic.
Maybe they would have treated Arbel for free too.
But I did not fully trust the mother and daughter.
Just as my rash trust in Akitt and Areng had gotten me killed.
The two of them might see Arbel, become greedy, and make me scream, “Eek! I’m dying!” in a whole different sense.
How should I put it?
I treated Ceres like the prostitute heroine from some old story.
I gave her my body, but not my heart.
That was professionalism.
“Arbel! Mwah... smack! Kiss!”
“Ugh... ughhh...”
“Good grief! I’m breaking my back keeping you alive. Go out and work! Stop lying around all day!”
“...”
Anyway.
I settled Arbel in my new apartment, planted countless cheek kisses on those ridiculously cute cheeks every day, then went to work.
Leaving her in a reasonably warm bed instead of a freezing little room made me feel much better.
Meanwhile, my guanxi with Yiming steadily deepened.
Of course, even after scoring points with stockings and high heels, it was not easy.
I was actually an introvert, you know.
“Good grief! Big Brother! A blockhead like me could never beat you at mahjong!”
“Hahahaha! Rowan, look here. Mahjong is not all luck. It takes skill, psychological warfare, and the ability to read the table!”
“As expected of you, big brother!”
I let him win at gambling.
“Hey, you uncultured bastard! Have you no respect for your elders? How dare you pick up your spoon before your big brother?”
“I-I’m sorry! I was worried there might be poison in the food...”
“What?”
“A lowly fixer like me dying would not matter, but if anything happened to the Incense Master of the Xuan Family, Overnus Pharmaceuticals would be finished!”
“You, you little...”
I played royal food taster for him.
“Hey! Why is this drinking party so dead? To liven things up, I’ll sing you an incredible song!”
“Sure! Let’s hear it!”
“I love Beijing Tiananmen, the sun rises over Tiananmen...”[1]
“What a great tune! Bravo!”
I livened up drinking parties.
“What are you doing? Why are you hugging my shoes?”
“The weather has been chilly lately. I was warming them in my arms because I worried your feet might be cold.”
“Hey, Rowan. I told you not to do that. Do you think I can’t see through you trying so obviously to curry favor with me?”
“Big Brother, don’t cry. A man’s tears are not for a place like this.”
“You bastard... no. I just got dust in my eye...”
I pulled a famous Toyotomi-style stunt of brownnosing.
And today, the long-awaited tenth day.
“Rowan... I... I might look rough on the outside... but I’m actually a very soft-hearted person.”
“Big Brother, you’ve had too much to drink.”
“I... I never wanted to live like this... I just kept living, and somehow this is what I became...”
Yiming downed his drink, his eyes red around the edges.
I put a firm hand on his shoulder and spoke seriously.
“The philosopher I admire, Nietzsche, said this: He who wears the crown must bear its weight.”
“...”
“Seeing you suffer like this, Big Brother. Seeing you overcome it every time despite that. That is why I am proud to be your zuobi.”
A thick tear rolled down Yiming’s cheek.
“What is wrong?”
“W-what could be wrong... it’s the usual.”
“Are you going to lie even to your little brother?”
“No, no! It’s not like that...”
“Please tell me. I know this is not ordinary. This is the first time I have seen you suffer like this while serving you.”
“...”
“If there is anything I can do, I want to help.”
After hesitating for a moment, Yiming opened his mouth.
“...There’s something I want to show you.”
Yeah, yeah.
That took fucking long enough.
I could feel it.
Stage two was beginning.
Time remaining until Project Z began.
Five days.
Footnotes:
[1] “I Love Beijing Tiananmen”: A well-known Chinese patriotic children’s song praising Tiananmen and Mao, hence Yiming’s enthusiastic response.
Toyotomi-style brownnosing refers to the legend of Toyotomi Hideyoshi warming Oda Nobunaga’s sandals against his chest to win favor.
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