WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 69: Boksun (4)
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1.
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
Bells rang out from every direction.
That chilling sound came from the bells worn by the jiangshi, private soldiers of Li Cheng, the Gold Carp Family's Red Pole.
They possessed physical abilities on par with an eighth-rank fixer. Since they were already dead, they feared neither death nor pain.
What was even more terrifying was their sheer number. There were as many of them as the Chinese Communist Army.
Even Brother Yiming, a Rank 2, had struggled against the jiangshi's overwhelming numbers, though he had been at a severe disadvantage.
Jingle, jingle.
But judging by the sound, they had not deployed that many this time.
Maybe the pursuit was less intense because Yiming had not intervened in this iteration.
Jingle.
The moment I encountered a jiangshi, I primed Death Sentence.
“Die, you fu...”
Just one of them.
I could take it out easily.
As I prepared to snap its neck clean off, I hurriedly dispersed my magic.
“...?”
This jiangshi bastard.
It wasn't reacting.
Its dull, unfocused eyes stared straight ahead.
Without acknowledging me at all, it passed by and disappeared into the darkness.
“What?”
Was it because of the perception-inhibiting necklace?
No. As I had said before, it was not that useful an item.
It let me blend into a crowd without standing out. It was not an invisibility cloak.
Maybe...
Come to think of it, the last time I had been tracked so precisely was after Boksun was captured by the Gold Carp Family.
After that, Ceres and Yiming had come looking for me.
Had they not discovered that I was the one who took her?
“Then why Isis?”
Considering how helplessly she had died despite being a mage, the Gold Carp Family had definitely been involved.
That bastard Li Cheng, most likely.
How had the Gold Carp Family learned about the connection between Isis and the doll?
It had not even been three hours since I parted with Isis.
The only thing that happened in that time was...
I gave Isis the True Progenitor's butterfly ornament and asked her to get rid of it.
“Could it have been that hair ornament?!”
Had Isis been caught while trying to sell the True Progenitor's ornament secondhand?
“No.”
Slow down, Cedric.
Your thinking is narrowing.
There was nowhere near enough time for that.
Only three hours.
In that short time, could she have made a deal with a fence, gotten caught because of it, been killed, and had the Gold Carp Family deploy jiangshi?
“Unlikely.”
Then was it possible that the ornament itself could be magically tracked?
“That is unlikely too.”
Just look at why the True Progenitor gave me the ornament.
She hated both Overnus Pharmaceuticals and Twilight Resource Development and wanted me to stir up some shit, right?
If magical tracking had been possible, she would have warned me.
And the Gold Carp Family would have found Boksun and me before they found Isis.
Think.
Think.
Think, Cedric.
Then why did Isis die?
Let's organize what I knew about her.
Isis Yozora.
A well-known unlicensed doctor in the back alleys.
Based on various reactions, a mage deeply involved with the Doll Project in the past.
Closely connected to the True Progenitor or fake Progenitor, enough to create a Ruby.
She helped Boksun and me despite knowing she would be in danger.
Probably not for my sake, but for Boksun's. She took that risk for her.
Once I got that far, a hypothesis came to mind.
“Don't tell me these Gold Carp bastards...”
Did they just kill her?
The moment they realized Boksun was gone, did they go after Isis, someone connected to her?
If that was true, I could learn two things.
First.
The Gold Carp Family's deadline for noticing Boksun's disappearance was around day eleven of the Premium Route.
Second.
Boksun was far more valuable to the Gold Carp Family than Isis had expected.
“Ha... fuck...”
This was ridiculous all over again.
Why?
Why were the Gold Carp Family going this far?
Last iteration, I had understood it.
They had a chance to legally eliminate Yiming, the Xuan Family's Incense Master.
But this time, even though Yiming was not involved, Li Cheng himself, a Red Pole, had made a move.
“What the hell is going on...?”
I had no idea.
Not the slightest clue.
“First... let's move.”
I did not know how long the jiangshi would keep pretending not to see me.
I was about to head back and reunite with Boksun.
Then, the moment I left Aquarium Street, I was greeted by...
“I wonder if you've heard this saying before.”
A handsome man in a robe embroidered with carp.
“Criminals always return to the scene of the crime.”
It was Li Cheng, the Gold Carp Family's Red Pole.
Fuck's sake.
No wonder there were only a few jiangshi around Isis.
That place had been bait all along.
Method acting mode: ON.
I put on an innocent face and shouted.
“Help! A jiangshi is attacking me!”
Li Cheng smiled pleasantly.
It was a smile that said, Don't play games with me.
Tch. As expected, it did not work.
My acting had been pretty convincing too.
“I will ask directly. Where is the doll you received from Isis Yozora?”
Li Cheng asked politely, his hands neatly tucked into his sleeves.
“A doll? What's that?”
“You should speak while I am still treating you like a gentleman. You do not look as tight-lipped as Isis was.”
“...”
“Who is behind you? Did Yiming, the Xuan Family's Incense Master, order this?”
Information gained from this conversation, check.
As expected, Li Cheng had been the one to take Isis down.
And he mistakenly believed Isis was the one who smuggled Boksun away.
Even under torture, Isis had not revealed Boksun's location.
Although I had taken a long vacation, my public identity was still Yiming's zuobi[1].
Therefore, Li Cheng suspected this was a joint operation between the Xuan Family's Incense Master and Isis.
“If you hand over the item intact, I will guarantee your safety.”
“...Is that really true?”
“Of course. We do not want needless friction with the Xuan Family. Brother Yiming and I are old friends. So please cooperate.”
Bullshit. As if.
I could never reveal Boksun's location here.
Not just Boksun. Arbel, who was with her at my apartment, would be in danger too.
The moment Arbel died, the Premium Route would be cleared.
Boksun would be terminally ill, Arbel would be dead, and my save point would update at the worst possible moment.
I had to die here.
Correction.
I had to extract as much information as possible, then die.
“...I-Is it really that important? I was only given a bag, so I didn't know! Really!”
“That could be the case. Did you open the bag?”
“Ah, I have not opened it yet...”
“Good. So where is it?”
While acting like a terrified extra, I discreetly aimed the monocle at Li Cheng.
[「Exhumation Monocle」 Uses Remaining (0/3)]
[The following are the things Li Cheng most wants to hide from the past month.]
1) Today, Li Cheng realized that the doll had been stolen and cried in terror.
2) Fourteen days ago, Li Cheng held a wild orgy with twelve male prostitutes.
3) Thirty days ago, Li Cheng removed the doll under false pretenses for an under-the-table deal with Aden.
“...”
My eyes locked onto item two like they had been sucked into a drain.
Motherfucker! A gay orgy with twelve men? What the fuck!
Necropolis was truly something else.
Was preferential treatment for sexual minorities a requirement when picking Overnus Pharmaceuticals executives?
There was a reason Li Cheng especially hated Brother Yiming.
It was a queen's hostility toward another queen. Hatred of his own kind!
I quickly censored the horrifying images forming in my mind.
What mattered more right now was item three.
He secured the doll for an under-the-table deal with Aden?
And he used a false pretext?
This was new information I had not known before.
Could I make further use of it?
“Well, fine. You don't have to answer right now.”
“No, I'll answer. Instead, how about three questions and three answers apiece? Like a drinking game.”
“Unnecessary.”
But unfortunately.
My time was up.
Golden threads slid out from the sleeves of the fucking gay Li Cheng, who smiled faintly.
The same gold threads I had seen when he fought Brother Yiming.
Li Cheng was preparing for battle.
It could not be helped.
I could think over the rest slowly after I died.
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
“There is something I really want to say.”
Li Cheng paused.
“Go ahead.”
Using another Joker here would not be worth it.
Especially summoning a servant of an Outer God through the Receipt. That was my strongest card.
I absolutely had to save it until I was certain I could win.
The same went for using my lifespan through Burning Life.
Then...
“Why are you speaking so politely when we've never met? You fucking gay bastard. Do you know me?”
“...What did you just say?”
“I'm asking why you're talking to me so politely. You monkeypox-ridden monkey who holds orgies with male prostitutes.”
“H-How dare you...! With that filthy mouth...!”
“Still better than having your asshole fucked raw, isn't it?”
I formed a hand seal.
Black magic rose in my hand.
“D-Do you think you can mock me just because you have that p-pathetic amount of power?”
“Does AIDS make you stutter?”
“You bastard!!!”
I had no intention of fighting fair.
Li Cheng was a Gold Carp Family Red Pole, a Rank 3 mage.
There was no way I could beat him.
Before he captured and tortured me, making me reveal Boksun and Arbel's locations, I was going to make a big decision.
Even a tenth of a second was enough for Death Sentence's sharp blade to fall on my neck like a guillotine.
If I had one regret...
Boksun.
I had wanted to make one last good memory with her.
“Stop.”
Then a cold voice cut between Li Cheng and me.
Both Li Cheng and I turned toward where the voice had come from.
The owner of that voice was...
“I have come.”
Jin Boksun.
Boksun had apparently rushed here after waking up, her hair sticking out in every direction.
“Li Cheng, release that man. I will come with you willingly. But if you move even one finger...”
She held a sharp shard of glass to her own throat.
It was aimed at her carotid artery.
Drops of blood beaded from the glass shard, whose point had already pierced her skin.
“...I will take my own life here.”
“What the fuck is this...?”
Li Cheng's face, filled with rage, went rigid.
“Bwahahahaha!!!”
Laughter burst out of me.
Boksun and Li Cheng both stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Hey, why the hell did you crawl all the way out here? You should've just stayed put.”
Still.
I could not stop laughing.
Because I thought I understood how Boksun must have felt standing here.
“W-What is it? D-Don't laugh!”
Jin Boksun was terrified of almost everything.
Probably because of her PTSD from her time as an experiment subject.
She was in pajamas, with her hair a complete mess.
Her slender legs trembled violently.
She was all bravado, her face looking like she could burst into tears at any moment.
She was scared.
And yet, because of only a few days of affection.
Because of a few rice cakes and memories of fireworks.
Because she missed that trivial warmth, she stood here ready to die.
“Boksun, that is not how you put on a tough front.”
Seeing her like that reminded me once again.
Right.
I had already decided how this iteration would end.
It was only unfolding a little differently.
“Your master will show you what real coolness is.”
I wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of my eyes.
“Equivalent exchange.”
A candle flame flared.
Footnotes:
[1] Zuobi (literally “left arm”): a trusted lieutenant or right-hand man.
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