A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk - Chapter 5

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈

Chapter 5: Life in the Gutter (2)

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I was born with a rotten nature, and I lived chasing the cravings I was born with.

It did have its advantages.

I had gained the nerve and composure not to blink at most things.

Even I had moments that caught me off guard.

For example, when the older sister I had been swearing revenge against until just now crawled into my room half dead.

“Hey.”

“...”

I lightly tapped her soft cheek, but she didn't budge.

I hurriedly laid her on the bed and covered her with a raglike blanket.

The bed was cramped even for one person, so I sat on the floor and rubbed my face with dry hands.

“So the attack was real?”

Everything pointed that way.

Arbel must have shaken her pursuers and only managed to crawl to the safehouse afterward.

Before my thoughts got any more tangled, there was something I needed to do.

“Arbel, stay still, okay? Don't suddenly fire off some magic. I won't do anything weird.”

First, I took off Arbel's clothes.

If she had been conscious, I would have been cut in half, but undressing and touching someone during first aid exempted you from liability, even under the law.

Her body was warm as a hand warmer, but her sweat-soaked clothes quickly turned cold.

I rolled Arbel around and examined her from every angle.

“She looks fine?”

Apart from a few small scrapes, her skin was smooth as porcelain.

Smooth everywhere.

Really smooth.

“That’s desirable.”

I meant that there were no noticeable wounds.

Either a mage's monstrous recovery had healed her already,

or she had suffered internal injuries rather than simple external ones.

The latter was probably more likely, but a layman like me wasn't going to find an answer just by looking.

To examine her properly, I would need to find a doctor or a priest.

But doctors? Priests? In this fucking city?

The fucking adorable Cedric-kitty had to eat cockroach cat food because there was nothing else to eat.

“Ha, now I've got dead weight too.”

A sigh rose from the bottom of my chest.

Wasn't she supposed to be a first-rank bunny-eared magical girl...?

Wasn't she the one who came to save me...?

“I should just dump her.”

Arbel wasn't my real sister, and it wasn't as if we got along.

Honestly, I didn't think she fought to protect me.

Her father had died, so she probably lost her mind and charged in.

I was barely managing to take care of myself. Was I supposed to carry around a bedridden sandbag wasting away from illness too?

My survival odds would chart a brutal long bearish candlestick.

This wasn't me exaggerating with, “Oh, I'm dying.” I would actually die!

Look at this city's condition!

I had already experienced death.

The pain, the anxiety, the terror.

The helpless sensation of my life scattering away, little by little, without meaning.

Afterward, my sense of self had been thrown into total emptiness, slowly crushed and worn away.

It was a horrible feeling I never wanted to experience again.

Still.

“Well, should I try what I can?”

Honestly, if she had been an older brother or younger brother with hairy legs, I would have dumped them. But Arbel was soft, fluffy, and cute.

She was also my older sister, and a mage.

Especially a first-rank mage. She could become the seed money for my happy happy casino life.

This was a chance to buy the dip.

I wrapped Arbel's naked body tightly in the blanket.

“Arbel, you have to pay me back later.”

I'll take this as your agreement to bunny-girl cosplay too, okay?

The cheek I poked with my fingertip was incredibly soft too.

“A doctor? Why are you asking that here?”

The City Hall employee who had shown me some kindness during today's food distribution held a cigarette crookedly between his lips, looking annoyed.

“There's someone sick at home. As you know, I haven't been in Necropolis long.”

“So?”

“Does City Hall have some sort of medical assistance program?”

“Someone's sick at home, so you want City Hall to send a doctor? Give me a fucking break.”

Had I come to the wrong place after all?

This had been the only lifeline I could grab, but his reaction was sour.

It was like the look on the prettiest girl's face at school after she gave a pitiful loser the time of day once, only for him to start hitting on her.

Not speaking from experience.

“Your family member's sick, right? Badly?”

“They could go any day now.”

“Tch. That's rough. But no, there's nothing like that. Do you honestly think there would be?”

The City Hall employee, rough in speech but unexpectedly sympathetic, shook his head.

“This city doesn't have priests either. You think the Holy See would send priests to a shithole like this?”

“What about doctors?”

“A proper doctor is way out of your league. If you go toward Aquarium Street in C Sector, there should be some unlicensed doctors operating there.”

As if remembering how I had come for rations today, the City Hall employee clicked his tongue.

“Try the plaza beside City Hall. There should be work there.”

“Thank you!”

“You'll need to work hard. Those quacks have no skill, but they charge like hell.”

“Yes, sir!”

I had hoped making my eyes look as pitiful as possible would get me something more, but apparently he wasn't that much of a sucker.

This alone was already more help than enough.

As I headed out, I reached a plaza where not even a single blade of weed grew, and a bleak scene greeted me.

“What, is this Jobcropolis...?”

The atmosphere was exactly like the rough Joseonjok day-labor markets I'd seen in movies.[1]

A bulletin board stood among the packed crowd like a gravestone.

Oil-stained printouts hung in ragged strips from a crude board made of rusted iron sheets.

- Twilight Resource Development Co., Ltd.: Coal mine workers wanted. Weekly pay: 15,000. Meals not provided. Bring your own equipment. -

- Ossuary Cooperative: Corpse carriers wanted. Weekly pay: 8,000 Bios. -

- Toad Butchery: Fairy meat preparers wanted. Weekly pay: 6,000. Fast hands and experience preferred. -

- Steam Bathhouse attendants wanted. Weekly pay: 50,000+. Room and board provided. Presentable appearance. Men welcome. -

“Why is the weekly pay so low?”

Except for the last posting, the pay was pennies.

Even a factory worker in Ark City could make 100,000 Bios a month.

The wages were worse than I had imagined.

Was it because there were just too many people, so they could underpay them?

“Ha...”

My stomach hurt all over again.

I had 200 million Bios in the casino.

With that money, I could have taken an emperor's tour of Necropolis.

How could a situation this fucked up even exist?

Anyway, I needed quick cash right now.

I would skip the weekly jobs and look at the day labor postings.

Maybe because plenty of people were in the same situation as me, the day labor board was even more crowded.

- Twilight Resource Development Co., Ltd.: Recycling sorting plant workers wanted. Daily pay: 2,000. Protective suits not provided. Includes sorting toxic waste. -

- Cheolsan Co.: Designated material collectors for landfill sites, including scrap metal and glass. 1,500 per 10 kg. Lunch provided. -

- Overnus Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.: Drug clinical trial participants wanted. 10,000 per session, seven sessions. Absolutely no withdrawal before the contract period ends. -

The pay was better, but the jobs looked more dangerous.

Also, the companies with “Co., Ltd.” attached seemed to offer better conditions in several ways.

Were they the big corporations around here?

I had learned something.

After carefully taking it all in, I went to the bulletin board beside it.

Then...

“Hm?”

Though it was right next to the other board, the atmosphere was strangely different.

For one, it was much less crowded than the previous board, which had been too packed to approach.

More than that, the job seekers had a different aura.

There was a man in a fedora pulled low and a sharp coat, dressed like an Italian-style mafioso.

There was a muscular man who had to be at least 190 centimeters tall.

Better-dressed people stood there with their arms crossed.

- North Gate Gang: Buying fairies from the “Mushroom Factory.” 8,000 per fairy. Double for live capture. -

- Overnus Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.: Subjugation request for the second basement floor of the “Hotel.” Grade 7 fixers or above. Death compensation available. -

- City Hall public request: Maintenance of the “Old Sewers.” Payment varies by specimen. See rate chart. -

I got the feeling.

This side was for fixers.

“Fixers...”

As far as I knew, fixers weren't anything special.

People paid them to handle trouble.

They had given it a fancy name, but they were just mercenaries.

“Wait a minute.”

Cedric had neither talent nor aptitude, but he was still of noble blood.

This body had mana circuits, at least.

Mana circuits alone greatly enhanced physical ability.

Cedric might have been treated like trash among nobles, but couldn't he have the fighting ability of a Grade 9 fixer?

Looking through the postings, their main work seemed to be entering rifts and beating down monsters. I had some real hunting experience too.

“Hm.”

Still, it was dangerous.

The pursuer with an unknown identity, target, and objective might still be after me.

Leaving aside a good-for-nothing like me, Arbel was alive. They might follow her trail too.

It would be better not to draw attention if possible, but...

“All right. I've decided.”

If you had nothing, you had to put something at risk.

If you didn't have enough seed money, you took out loans. If that still wasn't enough, you traded futures.

That was how you changed your situation.

If I only chose stable options in my current circumstances, I would sink like a ship slowly going under.

“A fixer? You?”

“Yes.”

The City Hall employee looked me up and down when I returned ten minutes later, then clicked his tongue.

“How are you going to manage that?”

“Don't you just need to register for Grade 9?”

“The fee is 5,000 Bios, you little shit. Do you have that kind of money?”

“Ah.”

What bullshit was that?

It was like paying fifty thousand won to get a document from a government office!

“Boss, please trust me just this once.”

“Hey, fuck. Who are you calling boss? Get lost!”

I made my eyes look as pitiful as possible.

Then I dropped to my knees and clung to his pant leg.

“I have a younger brother wasting away from illness at home. If I can't work, he'll die. Here, let me polish your shoes.”

I blew warm breaths onto the City Hall employee's shoes and wiped them hard with the hem of my clothes.

If he told me to lick them, I would.

Did pride put food on the table?

After a long struggle...

“Look at that shine. Can you see it? I can see my face in them.”

“Haah... Fine. You're a slippery little bastard, but I can't hate you.”

“Then... while we're at it, could I have one cigarette? I'll pay you back for that too.”

“Do you have any idea how much this costs?”

With a hollow laugh, he handed me a cigarette.

“Um... a light too, please.”

“Here.”

“Thanks!”

Chhk.

Whew. Nicotine.

It had been a long time since smoke filled my lungs. My head spun.

“Well, your situation seems desperate, so I'll lend it to you. I'll lend it to you, but...”

“Thank you, boss! Ah, I could tell the moment I saw you that you had the warm heart of the Little Prince!”

“Listen to the end, idiot. You think people are breathing dust in the mines and working their asses off in factories because they're stupid?”

Honestly, they didn't look particularly smart.

“That’s because it's dangerous. They call them Grade 9 fixers, but eight or nine out of ten Grade 9s who enter a rift die within a month. Who do you think takes on work that dangerous? People who'll starve to death tomorrow, terminal cases, junkies. This is the last stop for people at the end of their rope.”

He patted my shoulder.

“You just got here. You've got a sick family member too. If you die, who's going to feed them? Have you ever fought before?”

“Yes.”

“You have?”

“I'll show you.”

In front of his doubtful stare, I took my stance and threw a few light shadowboxing punches.

“Hah! Hah-hah-hah!”

I quit because it got boring, but I had won silver at a youth boxing tournament when I was younger.

Besides, Cedric's body moved far better than I had expected.

Was this the privilege of being born noble with mana circuits?

It moved lightly enough that I could hardly believe it belonged to someone who had spent years lying around and only going to taverns.

It was as good as, or even better than, me in my prime.

“Oh, you can fight a little.”

“Is that enough, boss?”

Maybe he had seen enough potential. The employee crossed his arms and nodded.

“I'll give you the license. I'll put you in touch with a fixer office I know, so go there.”

“Thank you! I'll definitely repay this kindness!”

I clenched my fist and gave him a deep bow.

Then the next day, at the shabby fixer office the City Hall employee had introduced me to, “Big Dick.”

“Hello!!!! New recruit James Bond, reporting in! I offer greetings to the senior bosses who rule Necropolis!!!!”

“Hey. So you're the rookie who got introduced to us?”

“Yes, sir! This is my first time working as a fixer, so I'll be lacking in many ways, but I'll serve you all with every ounce of sincerity! Annoying work! Chores! Dump them all on me!”

“Ho ho, the rookie's energetic. So, uh, where are you from?”

“My mother's womb!!!”

“Bwahahaha! The rookie's a funny one! Huh? Why are you touching my belly fat?”

“I was holding your sides so they wouldn't split from laughing, foreman!”

“Kahahaha!!!”

The tumultuous otherworldly life of Grade 9 fixer James Bond was beginning now!

Fuck.

Making a living was fucking hard.

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::: Challenges (Newly Completed!) :::

- Obtain a Grade 9 fixer license. +1 pt

- Join a fixer office. +1 pt