WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 38: Save Point (2)
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1.
At the same time as Ceres's proposal.
“Cedric, do you plan to keep working with me?”
Ding!
These Choices...
Last time, they popped up at the worst possible moment and scared the life out of me, but this time their timing was perfect.
Stopping Project Z, safely parking Arbel, and now a partnership offer from Mommy Ceres, the silver-haired, white-eyed beauty said to be the prettiest woman in town, with an S-rank body and still a virgin.
From now on, I could learn magic beneath Mommy Ceres's warm skirts and dream only of a rosy future!
‘Focus!!!!!!’
Want to hear something fucking terrifying?
Everything I had done in Necropolis, every humiliating stunt where I twisted myself inside out...
I wouldn't have had to do any of it if I had just clicked [Go to the Academy] during the last Choice!
Well, I had no idea what kind of wild variety show would have happened there instead, but still.
I had to be careful.
I had to consider every possible variable.
But today was different from my usual routine.
Suddenly, time stretched out like it had when I broke the Commandment earlier.
Huh?
This was new too.
Ding!
======
::: Title Acquired (New!) :::
Having surpassed the distant loop of despair,
you have finally written your own fate.
May your path be blessed.
▶ Title: 「One Who Broke the Loop」 Acquired
- When selecting a route, a ‘Premium Route’ may activate.
- 30 pt awarded.
======
A title notification appeared.
But only 30 pt?
And what was a Premium Route?
When the Status Window first appeared, I had thought it lacked any sense of proper design.
Now, I didn't care if it looked bad. I just wanted it to be simpler.
I had felt like an old man standing in front of a touchscreen kiosk more times than I could count.
[ 1. Ceres's co co-operation ]
[ 2. Refuse Ceres's offer and Yiming ]
Just as the Choice text was about to appear.
Bzzzzzt.
Like static from an old CRT TV, all the words scattered apart.
This felt strangely familiar.
Sure enough.
Ba-bababam!!!
The scattered golden particles gathered into a circle with a fanfare, forming a string of text.
[ Special Route Branch Detected! ]
The words shimmered in rainbow colors, far more beautiful than gold.
[ Entering the Premium Route ]
[ Clearing the Premium Route guarantees an SSR-grade perk ]
[ Warning: This route has a time limit of 480 hours ]
A Premium Route! Just like that?!
The reward was an SSR-grade perk?!
There hadn't been any setup for this until now.
It was fine.
I didn't need setup! This kind of thing happened! I liked these convenient developments!
Let me get an easy win for once!!!!
Honestly, nobody in recent otherworld stories had suffered as much as I had!
[ Analyzing worldline, identifying new trajectory ]
[ Time until Choices unlock: 05h : 00m : 00s ]
A countdown started ticking like a microwave timer, and I returned to reality.
“Cedric? Your answer?”
Right! It was fine! I could wait five hours!
An SSR-grade perk was guaranteed.
My mouth watered.
What kind of amazing route was this that it was making me wait so long?
2.
After seeing the Premium Choice preview.
I listened to the rest of Ceres's proposal.
“Keep spending time with Yiming and report on his movements.”
The terms were simple.
I would become a full-time spy.
We had stopped World War Z and earned an honorary Nobel Peace Prize, but the original documents bearing watermarks remained in Yiming's hands.
“Of course, Yiming won't do anything with the original documents right away.”
“Why not?”
“He missed the political timing.”
According to Mommy Ceres.
Gisela had already been purged, and the incident was over.
If Yiming came running in late with the originals and said, “Actually, Lady Ceres was the one who leaked them!”
Both Overnus Pharmaceuticals and Twilight Resource Development would be troubled, asking, “Lady Yiming, why bring this up now?”
Overnus Pharmaceuticals might be troubled enough to demand, “Lady Yiming, have you taken up with Twilight Resource Development?”
“He's still troublesome. He's quietly crafty, so I don't know how he'll try to trip us up later.”
Even aside from that, Yiming was the Incense Master of the Xuan Family.
That was a senior position, equivalent to a director at Twilight Resource Development.
There was no reason for Ceres not to plant an informant beside him.
And wasn't I Xuan Yiming's unofficial right-hand man?
The circumstances had aligned perfectly.
“Keep an eye on Yiming and report regularly. Do you know where the documents are?”
“Of course.”
“Then find an opportunity to take them or destroy them. That's our second-best option.”
“And the best option?”
“Kill Yiming, but I won't expect that much.”
Hmm, considering the fragments of text I had seen earlier...
That question was probably related to the original Choice.
In that case, I must have had two options.
First, an alliance with Petit Mommy Ceres.
No, strictly speaking, she wasn't even petit.
She had shrunk to the mid-170s in centimeters, but wow, that body!
If she put her hair up in a chignon and wore a little heavier makeup, she could immediately say, “Hee hee, Cedric? Come cling to Mommy as much as you want today.”
Anyway, the first Choice would have been to spy under Mommy Ceres.
Meanwhile, the second Choice...
It would have been to join hands with the manly Yiming of the Xuan Family.
‘Brother Rowan! Join me!’
‘Together, we shall perform the manliest acts!’
‘This foundation is perfect for your skin tone!’
I pictured Yiming standing with his arms folded like Guan Yu, his skirt fluttering.
“...”
Yeah, Yiming and I just didn't get along.
It wasn't like my morals were particularly strict, but I simply couldn't understand his hobbies.
More importantly, joining a cross-dressing club was an automatic no.
“Why? Do you feel bad about suddenly betraying him?”
“No, it's not that...”
Even without a Choice appearing, this wasn't something I needed to think about.
“Hmm... judging by your reaction earlier... do you prefer this appearance?”
In an instant, the mannequin sitting cross-legged on the sofa became Mommy Ceres.
A black dress. A height of 240 centimeters. The appearance I was more familiar with.
I jumped in surprise.
“But we broke your Commandment, didn't we? Wasn't Mommy Ceres gone now?!”
Petit Ceres answered my question.
“Strictly speaking, the restriction disappeared. Before, I had to incarnate by borrowing the power of the Commandment. But now I'm a fully-fledged Rank 5 mage. This sort of parlor trick is easy.”
Petit Ceres and Mommy Ceres could exist at the same time in overlapping states?
“Wow, Rank 5 lets you do even this?”
“It's simple.” “I split my consciousness” “and incarnated it.”
Hearing Petit Ceres and Mommy Ceres in surround sound...
My nose stung.
My modest dream, which I thought had completely fallen apart, was still open for business!
It might not have had the original flavor, but it was better than nothing!
“Mommy!”
“Urk!”
I threw myself into Mommy Ceres's arms.
Ahh, this was it. This softness. This warmth.
“I'll do it! I'm going to become an awesome spy!”
Mommy Ceres, who seemed slightly startled, let out a hollow laugh.
“Honestly... you're so strange...”
Then she stroked my back.
3.
I returned home with a spring in my step.
Whenever I returned to my room in C Sector, I had a routine.
“Arbeeel~ I'm home~ Mwah! Smack!”
“Mm...”
I greeted Arbel with a kiss on her soft cheek.
“Oh, the coal's burned down quite a bit.”
I put coal in the heater to maintain the temperature.
“The towels are nice and dry too.”
I hung up wet towels to maintain the humidity indoors.
“This is expensive. Don't spill it.”
“Mmm...”
I held Arbel's nose and gave her the medicine Isis had prescribed.
“Hey, sis. Have you ever had apple mango shaved ice? At the Four Seasons, a bowl costs almost 150,000 won. Everyone curses about how expensive it is, but it's worth it. The fruit is on another level, I swear. I'll buy you some later. But you have to wear a bunny girl outfit. Deal?”
“...”
Lastly, I wiped Arbel down with a damp towel and babbled about everything that had happened that day. That more or less finished the routine.
It used to feel like a hassle.
But if I skipped it for even one day, I felt oddly unsettled.
Like tending a bonsai as part of my training.
“By the way...”
[ Time until Choices unlock: 00h : 05m : 12s ]
The Premium Choice would unlock soon.
To kill time, I opened my Status Window for the first time in a while.
======
[ Death Game (LV.0) ]
▶ User: Cedric Montraven
▶ Achievements Obtained: 「0th Death」 「Lucky for Now」 「Selective Death」
▶ Titles Held: 「Hedonist」 「Poison Mushroom Appraiser」 「One Who Broke the Loop」
▶ POINT: 52 pt
▶ Display Stand: [ Sturdy Stomach ] [ Laplace’s Eye ] [ Burning Life ]
◆ Shop
◆ Playground (Locked)
◆ Enhancement (Locked)
======
“Hmm, this is better than when it was completely empty.”
I felt satisfied, like I had taken thorough notes.
But what were titles actually for?
My guess was that once Playground or Enhancement unlocked, they would give Artifact coupons like Achievement Tickets.
Or maybe they increased the level of Death Game itself...
Or was that all they did, raise my stats?
“Mr. GM, there are too many mechanics, and they're too complicated...”
And the difficulty is fucking awful too.
While stroking Arbel's hair, I decided to do a Joker gacha draw.
I could even do gacha on such a happy day.
“Let's go!!!!”
The result was, well.
「All-Purpose Music Box」
- Rank: C
- Description: A music box that plays requested songs.
- Effect: Plays accompaniment for a song selected by the user.
- Note: Please wind it up.
“Goddammit.”
It was a worthless white item.
“Big sis, I'll pick the song. Don't complain, just listen.”
I set the music box beside Arbel's pillow and wound it.
The ballerina spun around as the music box melody began to play.
I hummed along to the tune, singing some old-ass weeaboo song.
“Mmm... mmm...”
Still, it didn't feel too bad.
Today, the Mysterious Contract Seal had done something big, and I had saved Arbel when she had nearly died four times.
For the first time since arriving in Necropolis, things somehow... felt stable.
Maybe that was why the bad gacha result didn't bother me much.
No.
Honestly.
[ Time until Choices unlock: 00h : 00m : 01s ]
[ Premium Choices have been unlocked ]
This was why!
“Kyaahoo!!!!!!”
I clenched my fist as the moment I had been desperately waiting for arrived.
Whiiirrr!!!
As expected of a Premium Route!
Even the rainbow light flashing from every direction before the Choice Window appeared was extraordinary.
Multicolored motes of light filled the room, gathering into the Choice text.
The Choice Window was not translucent gold leaf either. It shone like foil on a rare card.
It even had rainbow holograms!
“They really made this fun to choose!”
What Choices could there be?
What SSR-grade perk would I get?
At last, the Choices appeared with a Flaash!
My heart pounded like it had when I first traded leveraged futures. The moment I read the two options.
I could only freeze in stunned despair.
“Fuck...”
This.
This wasn't right....
“You fucking bastard...”
======
[ Clearing the Premium Route grants an SSR-grade perk ]
[ Warning: This route has a time limit of 480 hours ]
[ 1. Kill Ceres Cassian. ]
[ 2. Kill Arbel Montraven. ]
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