WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 53: Taming a True Progenitor
──────
1.
The shut-down incineration plant in E Sector.
Soot seeped from the blackened walls, and half-burned ash lay piled ankle-deep. Even homeless people who did not want to freeze to death stayed away from this place.
“Good. This is perfect.”
It was the perfect place to rough someone up without attracting attention.
Clatter!
I roughly threw the bag containing Shion onto the floor and opened it.
“...”
Shion was still sleeping peacefully.
I had felt it during our five days of living together before, too.
With her eyes closed and lying still, she had the cute face of a beauty who could topple kingdoms.
But all I saw was a shameless freeloader.
The back of my head still throbbed.
She had strutted around pretending to be a True Progenitor, sucked me dry, then skipped out after eating for free?
Thanks to her, Brother Yiming died, and I self-immolated.
“I understand.”
You must have been desperate in your own way. You probably had your reasons, too.
When it came down to it, she was also a victim of Twilight Resource Development’s brutal human experiments.
But so what?
Fraud, extortion, threats. And breach of contract.
Does having a miserable childhood mean you can commit crimes and betray people all you want?
Who in this shitty city did not have a sob story?
“I have a fucking lot of stories too!!!”
Smack, smack.
I rolled up my sleeves and smacked Shion’s cheeks over and over.
“Wake up, princess.”
Even after several light taps on the cheek, she did not wake.
Were light taps not enough?
“You're not pretending to sleep, are you? Wake up if you are. I’m going to hit you harder this time.”
The moment I raised my arm higher, Shion’s eyes flew open.
Her crimson eyes, eerie as cursed rubies, scattered light through the darkness.
I crossed my arms and took a step back.
Wrapped in a straitjacket, Shion rose like a ghost.
“Was it you who woke me from my long slumber?”
So far, it was the same script as before.
The moment Shion recited her line, the air in the ruins grew heavy.
A chill crawled across my skin like insects.
She gave off an aura as threatening as Kisara Yagyu’s.
The presence of a predator that could not possibly be the same species as me.
Last time, I had been so scared by that display that I gave an Injo-style kowtow.
Whenever Shion said, “Bang,” I rolled onto my back, bared my belly, and went, “Woof woof, Mistress!”
But I had looked through the records this time.
Shion was a fake Progenitor.
A halfwit who could only use Rank 0 magic.
Then what was this pressure that made me want to kneel right away?
An illusion or hypnosis spell, probably.
She was putting on a show in her own way.
“Will you not show proper respect? This body is Shion Tsukimiya, the sole Red Moon and House Head of the Tsukimiya family.”
Shion lifted her chin and growled.
Fine. I crossed my arms with a slouch, determined to see how far she would take it.
“...”
Shion darted her eyes around in apparent confusion before drawing blood-red mana to her fingertips.
“...You dare not even answer me. You need to learn manners. Lower your head!!!”
A wave of mana echoed through the broad chamber, prickling my skin.
Wow, it did feel real.
But that was it.
This seemed to be Shion’s only move.
Her strategy was to spread her arms wide and shout, “Raar! I am a True Progenitor! Scary, right?!”
“You done?”
“What...? How dare you speak informally to me...”
I cut her off and raised my mana.
“Do you know what kind of bastard I hate most?”
Black mana filled my magic circuits more densely than it had in the previous loop.
“Bastards who run off without repaying their debts.”
“H-How insolent! How dare you utter such nonsense to me...! I owe no debts!”
The reason I had dragged Shion all the way out here was simple.
To teach her manners.
I needed Shion’s cooperation from now on.
While Arbel was a well-rested cool kitty, I had to clear this loop as the sole breadwinner.
I could not spend all day doing nothing but watch this one.
So I needed a more animalistic approach to stop her from trying anything stupid.
I had to carve into her bones who was above and who was below.
“Y-You are someone in need of education. I shall show you my power!”
Black flames fiercely coiled around me.
The newly unlocked Death Sentence: Death by Burning.
And if we were both Rank 0...
“Really? Go ahead and educate me.”
Cedric? I was confident I could not lose.
The way Shion’s face turned pale was very satisfying.
2.
After roughly finishing my etiquette training for the self-proclaimed True Progenitor, I stashed Shion in my studio apartment and hurried to the Drunken Red Pavilion.
“Big Brother!!!!”
“Fuck, you startled me! Rowan! What is it?!”
Yiming jumped as he trimmed his nose hairs with small scissors.
In the past, even that horrible sight would have made me skip a meal. Now, it looked cool.
“I missed you, Big Brother!!!”
My eyes even stung a little.
Though I knew I would see him again, I was this happy to see him because...
The brotherly love Brother Yiming had shown in the last loop had been that intense.
I could still clearly remember Yiming charging bravely like Don Quixote in his Tyrant Queen mode.
“Damn, you’re disgusting. What shit are you pulling again? You here to borrow money?”
I warmly embraced the uneasy-looking Yiming.
Yiming seemed startled for a moment, but then he snorted and patted my back with hands as large as pot lids.
After our warm embrace...
“Big Brother, there is something I have been hiding from you.”
I honestly told Yiming everything.
Even that I was Mama Ceres’s spy, and that I had slept with her.
Yiming’s reaction was a little different from what I had expected.
“Hm, is that so?”
He tilted his head.
Crunch!
“Ghk...!”
Yiming’s body hook struck my solar plexus.
Even though I had been tense, I could not react in time.
You know how, in boxing comics, a body hook from below sends someone into the air and folds them over like a shrimp?
It was exactly that kind of punch.
“Gaaah!!!”
My vision went yellow, and I could not breathe properly.
The contents of my stomach poured onto the floor.
What the fuck?
Had I not raised his affection enough yet?
Or had Brother Yiming just been high on that great-hero fantasy back then?
“B-Big Brother...”
As I crawled along the floor in confusion, becoming a vomit faucet...
“Bwahahaha!!!”
Yiming’s hearty laughter rang out.
“You little dumbass. How could you fuck the woman your big brother had his eye on? Get up. What kind of man makes such a fuss over that?”
Then he grabbed me and pulled me upright.
Wham!
He hit me in the stomach once more.
“Guhk!!!”
After two heavy body shots, Yiming patted my shoulder with a refreshed expression.
“I was waiting to see when you would tell me.”
“I-I’m sorry... Big Brother...”
“Anyway, you told me now, so it’s fine. Does it hurt a lot?”
“No!”
“Your stomach’s empty, so you must be hungry. Let’s eat while we talk.”
Radiant Yiming. Golden Yiming.
A true great hero.
He was so dazzling that I could not even look at him directly.
3.
A feast so lavish it seemed ready to bend the legs of the round table had been laid out.
As though an oil well had burst, grease gleamed on every plate beneath the golden lighting.
While the meal was prepared, I gave Yiming a rough outline of my situation.
As planned, I still had not brought up Shion.
Again, it was not because I did not trust Yiming.
Rather, I was hiding it because I was certain I could ask for his help whenever necessary.
When it came to secretly putting a fake Progenitor to use, an unknown Grade 8 fixer would be more of a blind spot than the Xuan Family’s Incense Master.
Instead, I only told him that I might have to be away for a while.
“Hm. So you want some leave? That is not difficult. But Rowan.”
“Yes, Big Brother.”
Honestly, I thought Yiming would suggest I become a double agent once I told him everything.
Having someone planted on the side of a Twilight Resource Development director was too valuable an opportunity for Yiming to pass up.
But Yiming said something entirely different.
“How about formally joining under me? I will settle things with Ceres. If the original Project Z documents that woman leaked are handed over... that much should be possible.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m telling you to cut ties with her entirely while you have the chance.”
It was serious advice.
Yiming dipped crispy duck skin in sugar as he continued.
“Ceres Cassian. She is an attractive woman. You might think you seduced her well. But remember this. That woman is monkshood.”
“Pardon?”
“Her Rank is one thing, but she has survived in this filthy world for over two hundred years. Keep walking that tightrope, and you will fall.”
“...”
It was kind advice filled with sincerity, but...
“I will think about it a little more.”
I believed in Mama Ceres.
I still had more magic to learn from her.
And though Brother Yiming’s brilliance overshadowed her, Mama had done her best in her own way.
Absolutely not because Mama Ceres’s embrace was warm, and I wanted to see a Ceres and Ines one-person, two-role performance someday.
I was not such a shallow man!
“Anyway, do not worry about me for a while. Take care of your business. Ask if you need help.”
“Yes, thank you, Big Brother!”
“Take care of yourself.”
“By the way, Big Brother, I have a gift for you.”
“Hm? A gift?”
Anyway.
“W-What is this!!!! This beautiful outfit...!!!!!!!! Is it all right for such clothing to exist in this world?!!!!! Truth! It contains truth!!! Rowan!!!! You must be a genius!!!!”
“It will suit you well, Big Brother.”
“Bwahahahaha!!!! I knew I had chosen a good little brother!!!! I will try it on next time!”
After showing my gratitude for Big Brother’s boundless affection with a bunny girl outfit, I set out.
On the way home, as I walked through an alley in C Sector...
Well, it felt strange.
I had felt the same way with Akitt and Areng.
In the previous loop, I had been Ceres’s spy.
But in this loop, I was receiving Yiming’s help.
Yesterday’s enemy became today’s benefactor.
The cycle of regression, where yesterday’s allies became people I could not fully trust.
The loneliness of being the only one unchanged amid such fickle causality.
“Joonghyuk... I finally understand you.”
Still, it was not all bad.
For example, I could have experiences I would never have had in the previous loop, even if I died trying.
“Boksun, your master is home.”
Beaming, I opened the door to my studio apartment and called out the pet name I had given Shion.
There was a rustling sound inside.
Then Shion, the pet I had taken in, appeared hesitantly.
“Damn...”
The sight drew a gasp from me.
“See? I knew it would suit you?!”
“H-How dare you... treat me like this...”
A bunny girl fake Progenitor was truly legendary.
Her slender waist had a feminine charm that stirred the instinct to protect her.
Her white, straight collarbones contrasted with the pink bunny suit.
Her thighs trembled faintly with humiliation beneath her stockings.
Her arms covered her body pitifully, as though trying to make up for the lack of fabric.
The rabbit ears sticking up sharply brought the costume to perfection.
“T-This vulgar outfit...”
Shion glared at me with her red face about to burst, teeth clenched tight.
She liked it so much that tears had welled up at the corners of her eyes.
“Ahem.”
At my warning, Shion flinched.
Then, in a trembling voice, she said,
“M-M-M-Master... w-w-w-welcome home...”
“Not ‘w-w-w-welcome home.’ Just say ‘Welcome home.’”
“Hiiiyaaaah!!!”
Right.
I could not have seen a hissing bunny girl fake Progenitor in the previous loop.
Footnotes:
Joonghyuk refers to Yoo Joonghyuk, the repeatedly regressing protagonist of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
