WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 44: Boy meat girl (3)
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1.
One lucky thing amid all this misfortune.
C Sector was Unlucky Chinatown.
There was at least a place near Night Blossom Garden that sold mochi.
But Necropolis was the kind of city where anything remotely edible became motherfucking expensive.
“Five thousand Bios for three rice cakes?”
Who the fuck ate this stuff? Usually, only courtesans from high-end taverns or people who hit the jackpot gambling.
Anyway.
On my way home with mochi in hand, clutching my dizzy, blood-starved head, I started worrying.
“What do I dooooo...?”
Come to think of it, True Progenitor blood alone should have been enough.
Too much of a good thing was bad. Picking up the actual True Progenitor was overkill.
Seriously, way, way, way too much.
“I want to refund her, give her up for adoption, return her, abandon her...”
If people found out the True Progenitor had vanished, either the Gold Carp Family or Twilight Resource Development would make a move.
No. Maybe both had already moved.
This problem was too big for me to handle.
It meant an inescapable net would be cast over Necropolis, where I had nowhere suitable to run.
They might even be pursuing a dethroned Rank 7 Mage.
Not just any random people. Real Mages would be moving.
Could I really deal with that?
While controlling a True Progenitor who did not seem to possess a single shred of cooperation or flexibility?
Should I ask Brother Yiming for help?
Or Mama Ceres?
“You are weak, Cedric.”
I shook my head.
You are trying to trust someone again, Cedric.
In this city, the only being I could trust was myself.
With something as serious as a True Progenitor involved, I had no idea how Mama Ceres or Yiming would react.
Besides, I still had plenty of lives left.
My priority was to gather as many cards as possible for this Route.
If reviving Arbel through the True Progenitor seemed difficult, I could aim for only the blood next iteration.
“I’m home!”
“A grub would be faster than thee.”
The True Progenitor greeted me while sitting with her legs crossed, wearing a pantyless qipao and swinging one foot.
Mm-hm. Sure. I hadn’t expected a welcome home.
Arbel was still sleeping soundly.
I’d fed her before leaving, so it seemed she hadn’t picked up and eaten anything strange.
“I am sorry. I could not carelessly choose mochi to present to my mistress, so I spent a long time considering it.”
I crawled over on my knees and respectfully offered the mochi with both hands.
The True Progenitor snatched it and started chewing.
“And the matcha?”
They didn’t sell any.
But I had prepared something else.
“Matcha is fine, but how about this? It is a rare beverage from my homeland. You cannot get it in Necropolis.”
That wasn’t a lie.
I opened one of my precious remaining three cans of energy drink and handed it over.
The True Progenitor inspected the can with a chilly gaze, then took a sip.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“It is not bad.”
Apparently pleased, she alternated between the mochi and the energy drink.
She sure ate it enthusiastically.
The three absurdly expensive mochi and the drink that money couldn’t buy disappeared in an instant.
After waiting for snack time to end, I rubbed my palms together and spoke.
“Um, Mistress.”
“I do not recall granting thee leave to speak.”
Ha. This was fucking exhausting.
She had enough troublemaking power to put up a good fight against the worst complaint-filer at a community center.
Except if things went wrong with her, it wouldn’t end with a complaint. She was far worse.
“Of course. However... may I receive permission to ask several questions so that I may serve you properly from now on?”
“I grant it.”
I’d been so polite that I became long-winded.
To put it briefly:
Q. Why the hell did you come out of there? What were you doing there? Were you not imprisoned by Twilight Resource Development?
“Must I report every such matter to thee?”
I failed to get a proper answer.
As expected. Nothing to be disappointed about.
Next question.
Q. What are you doing from now on? Going outside to cause trouble?
“I shall focus on recovering my strength. I will remain here for a while and accept thy service. Consider it an honor.”
Q. And once you recover all your strength?
“I shall find the faction that dethroned me and make them pay the price they deserve.”
That was fortunate, at least.
She wasn’t going to run outside immediately, draw every bit of aggro possible, and become the target of both major corporations.
If she had, I would’ve grabbed Arbel and run.
“Now that this lowly servant may attend you, I am so grateful that I do not know where to put myself. If you find my devotion worthy, could you grant me one, only one request?”
“Speak. I shall hear it and decide whether to grant it.”
And this was the most important question.
“Could you grant my sister a drop of your blood?”
“Art thou asking me to make her a servant of an Outer God? What an impertinent request.”
She laughed as though it were absurd.
“I shall observe thy devotion. Make an effort.”
Huh?
She agreed more easily than I expected.
Was this much truly nothing to a True Progenitor?
Or had she become weak enough to desperately need my help?
Maybe she was throwing me an empty promise with no intention of doing it.
“Your grace is boundless.”
If I didn’t know, I should bow my head for now.
If things went to shit, I could use the information from this iteration to make a plan for the next.
Either way, my goal was set.
About nine days remained until the Premium Route ended.
The True Progenitor kept saying, “Once I am fully recovered,” but I didn’t have that kind of time.
At the latest, within eight days, I would become the True Progenitor’s personal lackey and somehow bring Arbel back with Edo Tensei.
And so.
“Wake up.”
“Ugh...?”
“Strangely, I cannot sleep.”
“...What?”
“I am terribly bored. Do something.”
“It’s four in the morning...”
“So?”
My life with the qipao-wearing True Progenitor began.
2.
Premium Route, iteration 1, 15 days elapsed.
It was the fifth morning of my dangerous cohabitation with the True Progenitor.
To explain what had happened so far step by step...
No pursuer suddenly appeared and killed everyone.
Even though a True Progenitor had disappeared.
If anything, that silence and stillness were more frightening.
Other than that uneasy part, my life as a True Progenitor-maker was going smoothly.
How smoothly?
Let’s start with the morning routine.
Rattle. Rattle.
Bang!
The bag sprang open like a clam shell.
“Yawn...”
The sleepy True Progenitor, whose real name was Shion Tsukimiya, popped out.
Maybe because she was a vampire, she never slept in the bed. Instead, she folded herself into that cramped bag and slept snugly inside it.
Well, it worked out for me. I could keep sleeping in the same bed as Arbel.
“Have you risen, Mistress?”
“Water.”
I quickly offered the glass I had prepared in advance, and Shion gulped it down.
“Food.”
“Yes, today’s menu is vintage blood aged at a low temperature for two days. The aging process gently breaks down the plasma, giving it a clean finish.”
With a bright smile, I held up the blood pack.
For reference, I bought it from Isis because I thought I would shrivel up and die at this rate.
“...”
But Shion ignored it and pointed at me with one finger.
Ah, fuck.
Getting my blood sucked made me dizzy all day.
Couldn’t you eat something else today? Please?
“An excellent choice, but today I would recommend...”
“Thy tongue is long.”
“...Cedric Fresh is also an excellent choice. It has a refreshing iron flavor, with a little stress-induced adrenaline for a fucking heavy body.”
I gave up.
How could someone so old be this picky about food?
“Haah.”
Shion bit my neck and clung to me.
She looked pretty, lifting her sleepy eyelids as she slurped at my neck.
I really liked pretty women...
But every time I saw this bitch, I wanted to smack her forehead as hard as I could.
Shion gave a small burp.
Whenever she finished eating, she always asked for dessert.
“Where are the mochi and Red Bull?”
“Of course, I prepared them.”
After she thoroughly finished her mochi and energy drink...
“I have prepared your bath. I set it to 42 degrees, like last time, so please enjoy yourself.”
Did this studio apartment have a bathtub?
Ta-da! There it was.
An old-fashioned portable bath surrounded by a small tent in the corner of the room.
Lovely flower petals floated across the steaming water.
I had acquired it for Shion, who made a massive fucking fuss about needing baths.
I woke before dawn to boil and fill it with hot water.
“Mmm...”
Shion’s silhouette undressed behind the tent.
Splash. Splash.
Do you know what was truly unconscionable about this bitch?
She told me to prepare her bathwater, but she would never, ever tell me to attend her bath.
Anyway, that was the end of the morning routine.
Which meant it was time to begin.
Shion knew that carelessly going outside would be dangerous.
So she treated Cedric like Cinderella’s stepmother treated a servant.
And her demands were a sight to behold.
Give me blood. Bring me mochi and Red Bull.
I feel filthy and want a bath. I will bathe twice a day. What is this bathwater temperature? Draw it again. Add flower petals too.
That was not all!
Bring me a delicious meal. Come here and taste it. Does this taste like a delicious meal to thee?
Buy snacks. Do not buy them bit by bit. Buy more. Buy every kind again.
Bring underwear. It feels uncomfortable. Buy it again. Dress thy sister in this trash. I shall simply wear none.
I need accessories. Bring me a silver hairpin.
My hair is tangled. Comb it. If a single hair breaks, so will thy windpipe.
Clean the house. Why is there so much dust while thou cleanest?
The room is too dreary. Buy a painting.
“Ha...”
There were more than a few times when I wanted to shout, “There is a True Progenitor in my house!” regardless of the consequences.
Still, after enduring four days.
I had achieved remarkable results.
“You have worked hard. It does not fully satisfy me, but given the circumstances, thou art worthy of praise.”
“Serving my mistress is my joy and honor.”
With my wholehearted service, I could now draw even a satisfied hum from her.
And I had received a firm promise that she would save Arbel.
“By the way, Mistress, when will you be able to make my sister a servant of an Outer God?”
“Wait.”
“Until when...?”
When I kept pestering her, Shion answered as though annoyed.
“Very well. We shall set the date three days from now. That day is auspicious.”
“Thank you!!!”
I immediately made a mental note.
So she would recover enough to make a servant of an Outer God eight days after waking up?
3.
Shion’s upkeep cost a fortune.
She spent my entire week’s food budget on snacks every day.
Leaving the whiny mosquito bitch who complained whenever I left her alone, I headed to Drunken Red Pavilion for the first time in a while to earn formula money.
“Brother, I’m here.”
Yiming welcomed me as soon as he saw me.
“Brother Rowan! It has been so long! I thought you had gone off somewhere and croaked.”
“Come on, Brother. I contacted you every day through the pager.”
“Even so, you little bastard. You have to show your face to your brother.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Forget it, brat. Why are you apologizing again? But why do you look so gaunt?”
“There is a reason.”
Yiming wasn’t usually someone I liked much either.
But after being tormented by a leech bitch for four full days, Yiming looked like an exemplary senior.
“Rowan, since it has been so long... should we have some tea?”
“In H Sector?”
“That’s right! You really are my little brother.”
Never mind.
This guy was the same after all.
Why were there no decent people around me?
“Ah, Brother. About the last errand you sent me on.”
“Huh? Oh, that?”
“It was completely empty. When I got there, there was nothing.”
“Really? Tsk, I thought I might have found an easy score. What a shame.”
Even though I hadn’t shown up for work in days, Yiming simply nodded without any suspicion.
He didn’t even seem to have been listening closely.
Apparently, he hadn’t expected much.
“Ah, and Rowan. I organized the documents on the True Progenitor that you asked for.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Come to think of it, I had asked for those too.
Maybe they would tell me why the True Progenitor had been abandoned there all alone.
“...Wait...”
A sudden thought flashed through my mind, making me tremble.
Could she have been abandoned because her personality was so shitty?
If that was the reason, I could empathize, stand in solidarity, and support every person who made that decision.
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After changing locations, we were in Yiming’s bunker.
It was our usual H Sector club activity time.
While Yiming, who put particular care into his makeup, changed clothes, I examined the materials he had given me about the True Progenitor.
“Hmm... She looks exactly the same.”
I had been nearly certain already, but there was Shion’s face, the True Progenitor I had picked up, printed right there.
Some redactions caught my eye here and there, but the documents contained various information.
There was an evaluation of her disposition: extremely arrogant, violent, self-righteous, and judged impossible to negotiate with. I completely understood that part.
There was also the claim that the essence of True Progenitor blood was actually living mana circuits.
“Hmm?”
One page especially caught my attention.
It seemed to be a document taken from Twilight Resource Development.
[Clinical Analysis of Creating Servants of an Outer God Through the True Progenitor’s Blood]
[Department: D-1 Advanced Resources Laboratory] | [Security Level: Level 1 (External Disclosure Prohibited)]
Record: Before sealing, there were no instances of the True Progenitor making others servants of an Outer God. Unlike the usual nature of the Tsukimiya House, which expands its power by increasing its blood kin, the True Progenitor slaughtered members of the House with overwhelming force and maintained a dictatorship.
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Clinical Observation: When Reagent Z-2 was injected into the test subject, the host’s cells, immediately before becoming a servant of an Outer God, displayed an unexplained rejection response and the process was forcibly stopped. It is presumed that the host’s ego clashes with the True Progenitor’s ██, causing the subject to devolve into a ghoul.
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Conclusion: The True Progenitor’s ██ is presumed, either inherently or intentionally, to exclude the birth of new kin. Without the True Progenitor’s cooperation, experiments using living humans as a medium are meaningless. The possibility of the True Progenitor cooperating in experiments is also zero.
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Proposal: Pre-implant factors into cultured ██ to bypass the ██ collision.
Something was wrong.
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