WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ A Gacha Addict's Life in Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 9: Starting the Second Run
──────
1.
A cramped, sweltering night had passed.
But my day was only beginning.
‘Citizens of Necropolis, you have been blessed with another day of permitted labor. The current time is 5 a.m. Let us spend the day grateful for the sleeping quarters and nutrition blocks provided to us!’
That fucking public broadcast.
I'd like to see the face of the bastard writing those lines.
It really brought me down.
The shock of contrast was terrifying.
A moment ago, I'd been in a place like a palace from a dream. Now I was at the bottom of a gutter. I couldn't summon any motivation at all.
Still, there was one consolation...
The weight of the Universal Coin in my arms, perhaps?
I rolled the heavy gold coin between my fingertips.
“What a lovely little thing.”
The Universal Coin.
The only currency that could be traded directly with the World.
If you fed a Universal Coin into a “vending machine,” the World granted the “wish” chosen by the user.
But there was only so much one coin could do.
At most, it could suppress aging and extend your life by a year,
strengthen your mana circuits,
or inscribe mana circuits into a body that had none.
Sadly, using it that way now wouldn't be efficient.
What would I do with one extra year of life here? It wasn't as though I could access a vending machine.
For all practical purposes, it was ten million Bios.
And ten million Bios was already an enormous gain.
There had been no affection between us, but Arbel had left behind a truly valuable keepsake.
“...”
It made me feel melancholy for no reason, but anyway,
aside from Arbel disappearing, my goals remained unchanged.
First, survival.
Second, escape Necropolis.
Third, enter Ark City, recover two hundred million Bios, and live happily in another world.
At least I had some starting capital now.
What was the fastest route to my goal?
“Should I just triple it at the casino?”
I wanted to rush to a casino, but barely held back my greed.
Even in Korea, getting a large sum of money was dangerous.
If anyone in this godforsaken city learned I had money?
They'd come running to kill me.
So then...
“First, I go to work.”
I was desperately short on information.
How Necropolis worked, how to multiply my money, how to get to Aden.
The Big Dick office was the only ally favorably disposed toward me.
At the very least, I could get plenty of information there.
2.
Even though it was early dawn, there were signs of life in the office.
“Rookie reporting in.”
“James, you're here already? No, wait. What's with your eyes? They're bloodshot. Did something happen?”
“My family finally died, so I went to the ossuary and came straight to work.”
“Is that so? Hang in there. You must be tired, so have this at least.”
Ron, the team leader, looked even more depressed than I did as Ron offered comfort and coffee.
Slurp.
I had no idea what this cheap coffee was supposed to taste like, but as long as it eased my fatigue, that was enough.
“Boss.”
“Yeah?”
“How do you leave this place and get to Aden?”
The team leader considered it for a moment, then vigorously scratched his scruffy beard.
“I understand how you feel, but put that thought aside, rookie. Aden isn't somewhere you can reach just because you have money.”
“Not even if I had ten million Bios?”
“Of course it would be difficult.”
“What? Why?”
The immediate answer caught me off guard.
Not even ten million?
“Hmm.”
Ron drew it out like this was extremely important information.
“Necropolis is Aden's trash can. You know that people who can't pay taxes in Aden and criminals get exiled here, right?”
“I know.”
“Anyone who falls all the way down here has seen hell. Do you think Aden would welcome back people who have already grown dissatisfied with the system? Especially when that place is bursting from overpopulation?”
“...?”
“Besides, they have to keep feeding people into the Outer District to manage it. They can never let the population flow back in. So they raised the bar to the extreme. So people wouldn't even dream of it.”
I was genuinely shocked.
That dim-looking team leader had just begun speaking with astonishing logic.
Seeing my bewildered reaction, Ron grinned.
“James. No, I don't know your real name, but... I was exiled from the Ark just like you. Fifteen years ago, I was a fairly competent lawyer.”
“Tsk, that sounds like a lie, sir...”
“It’s true, you little bastard.”
Ron laughed heartily, then continued.
“Anyway, if you want a new identity and a new life in Aden, you'll need five hundred million Bios, or abilities equivalent to a Rank 5 fixer.”
“A Rank 5 fixer?”
They wanted me to have power equal to a first-tier mage?
And five hundred million Bios, was that supposed to be pocket change?
No. Think positively.
Wow! At least it was cheaper than a Doramp Gold Card Visa!
“What if I sneak in?”
“If you can stay on the run in Aden for at least a year without citizenship, you're at least a Rank 5 fixer.”
My head began to hurt.
That ruined my plan from its very foundation.
If I went with cash, even after recovering two hundred million Bios, I'd still be down three hundred million.
“It'll be hard, but keep your chin up. Somehow, you keep living if you just live. Oh, and don't tell people elsewhere that you're from Aden. They'll see you as an easy mark and come after you.”
“...”
“You have talent. Unlike me at the beginning. You'll adapt quickly.”
Ron patted my back with the composure of an adult.
I didn't even have the energy to reply.
Ha.
Why was life's difficulty level this insane?
Or was it?
Maybe I was overreacting.
Click, click, click.
The hitman who attacked the mansion had been real.
Albert, the head butler, had said that no one could ever learn my identity.
Click, click, click.
But would that attacker really be after me too?
A worthless delinquent with no ability at all?
If not, I didn't need to obtain citizenship.
I could return to Aden and live comfortably as Cedric.
Creeeak.
The old office door opened.
Suddenly, it felt as though the room had brightened.
A beautiful woman wearing traditional Eastern clothing had entered.
Her hair was as fine as ebony, and her eyes were as beautiful as violets in full bloom.
With each small movement, goldfish embroidered in gold thread on black silk seemed to ripple their fins.
There was also an extravagant felt hat fit for a courtesan, a long Japanese sword at her waist, and high wooden clogs.
Everything about her was unreal.
When our eyes met, she smiled faintly.
“Hello.”
I was beginning to get the idea.
In this city, if someone had that kind of unreal presence, they were probably a mage.
“Oh! You're here to give us a job!”
“Yeah.”
“You've come to the right place. We are the famous Big Dick office, proud of our one hundred percent job completion rate!”
Especially if she looked at other people like insignificant creatures far beneath her.
Even under that contemptuous gaze, Ron showed no sign of offense.
“Rookie! Make some coffee! There’s good coffee in the back of that shelf!”
Instead, he rubbed his hands together and offered the woman a seat.
“It’s a little messy, isn't it? Our office is too dirty to receive such a beautiful lady!”
“It is. It smells unpleasant, too.”
“Oh, I'm terribly sorry. This is the cleanest seat, so please sit here.”
“It’s fine.”
The woman smiled sweetly and placed her hand on her sword's hilt.
She drew the blade about three centimeters from its sheath.
Click.
Then sheathed it again.
“Huh?”
Ron's head shot into the air and rolled to a stop at my feet.
Ron's eyes were wide like a fish's, as though Ron still didn't understand what had happened.
Ron's body remained standing, spraying blood everywhere like a sprinkler before collapsing with a thud.
The sticky scent of iron filled the room.
“...?”
When people are surprised, they panic. But when something is too unexpected, they simply go blank.
What was this?
What the hell was going on?
An attack by a rival office? One of those WWE brawls that happened now and then in Necropolis?
Or...
“You’re Cedric Montraven, aren't you?”
Fuck... that was it.
She was a guest looking for me.
The back of my neck stiffened with tension.
“Who’s that? I'm James.”
I tried to buy time while acting as calm as possible.
This was the second life I'd barely been given.
I couldn't die like this. How desperately had I struggled to survive until now?!
How had she found me?
Had I done something that left a trail?
No. That was something to think about later.
Priorities. Right now, I had to focus on surviving.
But was there any way?
She was obviously the real deal, a mage.
“I had a hard time finding you.”
The nameless guest clicked her tongue.
Her hand moved toward her waist.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Just as before, she lightly drew her sword and sheathed it.
Fwoosh.
A strange sound reached me.
A tiny noise, like the sound of a candle being snuffed out recorded with an ultra-sensitive microphone.
At the same time, my body seemed to topple forward, and my vision began spinning wildly.
“What a disappointment.”
When my vision, which had spun as though I were inside a washing machine, finally settled,
I saw my feet.
My reflection appeared in the pool of blood running down my pant legs.
Ah, right.
I hadn't fallen forward.
Only my head had dropped off and rolled across the floor.
“Your sister bored me... but I had high expectations for you.”
I died with my head cut off.
This was my second death.
======
『 ED 1. I Do Not Know Your Name 』
Pitifully, you met death in the most mundane way.
What an obvious ending, born from your ignorance and negligence.
Well, I don't know whether this will comfort you, but...
You still have plenty of chances to fail.
<Iteration Results>
▶ Achievements Acquired: None
▶ Title Acquired: 「Lucky for Now」
▶ Challenge Task: +221 pt
※ A death penalty is in effect. ※
[ Belated Response ]
- You cannot move for 24 hours after regression.
- This effect lasts until the end of this run.
At the end of arrogance and foolishness, may you reach transcendence.
======
I heard laughter.
2.
This was my second run at dying.
My first death had been from a fall.
My second had been a clean beheading.
Once again, I was cast into the void.
Again, this feeling.
The horrifying sensation of becoming something less than dust and vanishing amid dreadful futility and emptiness.
My sense of time dulled, and my sense of self rapidly clouded like a drop of water mixed into black ink.
Darkness chewed me, bit me, then swallowed me.
No, this was not darkness.
We called this death.
.
.
.
“You won't be at the Academy, sis.”
“...What?”
“If I go there, I won't be able to be with you.”
“You, you...?”
Huh?
Arbel was right in front of me.
Her magnificent golden eyes, which had become like a pit of corpses, were alive and moving again.
I had neither my wits nor the time, but my body moved on its own.
“...Mmph!”
“Mm...?!”
“Mmph...! Mmph...?!”
The dawn of the day the mansion was attacked.
“Pah...!”
After choosing the option.
“What are you... doing right now...?”
“I'm confessing.”
“C-confessing...?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I feel the same way about you, sis.”
The moment I kissed Arbel.
“No, there...! Ngh?!”
“Don't be so tense. I'm not going to do anything bad.”
It was being recreated exactly.
What had happened?
I was certain my head had been cut off.
This body moving like a doll still remembered that sensation.
I still remembered the eternity I had spent cast into the heart of death.
The goosebumps rising along the line where my neck had been cut were proof.
But in the end, I had returned.
To the day when I had chosen that option.
I recalled the conventions of the genre.
Transmigration, and then regression.
Humans were allowed only one life.
No being could defy that.
But I had returned.
‘This is completely...’
Before every disaster had begun.
Like returning to a save point.
‘A game?’
The instant I thought that,
Ding!
A translucent window appeared in my vision along with a clear notification sound.
- ■■■■ (LV.0) has been activated.
The redacted letters were uncovered one at a time.
- D■■■ (LV.0) has been activated.
- De■■ (LV.0) has been activated.
- Dea■ (LV.0) has been activated.
When every letter was revealed,
- Death Game (LV.0) has been activated.
A brilliant system window, like a game UI, appeared before my eyes.
======
[ Death Game (LV.0) ]
▶ User: Cedric Montraven
▶ Achievements Earned: 「Zeroth Death」 「Lucky for Now」
▶ Title Held: 「Hedonist」
▶ POINT: 221 pt
▶ Relic Display Stand: [ ] [ ] [ ]
◆ Shop
◆ Playground (Locked)
◆ Enhancement (Locked)
※ A death penalty is in effect. ※
[ Belated Response ]
- You cannot move for [23h:58m:23s] after regression.
- This effect lasts until the end of this run.
======
Why did you only show up now?!
My status window!
Footnotes:
“Doramp Gold Card Visa” is a playful Korean-style parody of Donald Trump and his proposed Gold Card visa.
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