Chapter 10
#010
1.
“Young master, please remember. Absolutely do not let anyone spot you if you go there.”
“No, seriously, I won money! I even have the room deposit certificate!”
“Saving the young master, the direct bloodline of the lord—that is how I intend to atone for this disloyalty.”
“Listen to me!”
“I’ll come find you in three days! If you don’t hear from me by then, please… stay healthy.”
Because of the penalty, I rolled down into Necropolis again, retracing the exact same path as in the previous run.
I really came back here again.
But that doesn’t matter.
It’s common knowledge that the status window is a cheat code.
It’s a matter of fact that my age of success starts now.
I couldn’t interfere with the status window right away.
Every time I tried to interfere with the status window, a red warning light came on, and
※ [ Delayed Response ] penalty is in effect ※
this message appeared.
It seems I can’t even manipulate the status window while the penalty is active.
For now, let’s sort out my thoughts.
First of all, I’ve come back by racing through time.
What’s important here is that I only came back.
If I don’t change anything, my death will repeat itself. There’s genre logic and worldlines and all that.
I don’t want to die, I don’t want to be dumped into that horrifying space again, and I’m worried about the ‘penalty’ too.
If I want to avoid the worst ending, I need to squeeze every last drop out of my brain.
Let’s think it through step by step.
That monstrous samurai bitch who slit my throat and decent foreman Ron’s throat clean through.
Why did she come looking for me?
At first I thought maybe she’d kept chasing Arbel and found me instead.
But no.
‘You’re Cedric Montraben, aren’t you?’
‘Utterly disappointing. Your sister was boring… but I had high expectations for you.’
That bitch’s target was exactly me.
I was the one she came for.
‘Just why?’
I don’t know. I can’t make sense of it.
If she had expectations, couldn’t we have at least talked a little more?!
We could’ve had coffee, watched a movie, taken a stroll through Necropolis, and stopped by a hotel for a bit of rest!
No, anyone who’d pin their hopes on Cedric must be completely fucking insane.
Trying to understand a crazy bitch is crazy in itself.
Let’s skip that.
Next question: how did she find me?
I’d been hiding well this whole time.
Necropolis is a fucking shitty place, but it’s perfect for hiding.
It’s a human garbage dump where thousands of exiles pour in every day.
‘Could it be that bitch Ceres…?’
The moment I sold Ceres the corpse and slept with her, a killer showed up, having pinpointed me exactly.
And she’s the only person who knows my identity exactly.
‘Yeah.’
At the time there was no helping it, but revealing my identity to a mage was stupid.
I hadn’t even properly been able to use the all-purpose morph I’d managed to get.
I needed to hide my identity even more thoroughly.
So what should I do from here on out?
For now, my vanished goal has resurfaced.
Arbel’s reverse bunny.
I’m not a psychopath either, so I do feel a little guilty.
No matter what, I did sell off the corpse.
And the sight of her dying while calling for her mom at the end was heartbreaking too.
I’ve got about a week before the injured Arbel crawls back to my studio apartment.
In that time, I’ll get settled, and while I’m at it, try saving her this time around too.
Before I knew it, the screaming me had collapsed and fallen asleep.
Ah.
Come to think of it, I’d been on the casino grind nonstop for 24 hours that day.
2.
※ [ Delayed Response ] penalty has ended ※
As soon as I woke up, I was greeted by a refreshing message.
“Hoo, that was seriously fucking frustrating.”
The penalty had ended.
My hands and feet moved as I wished, and the status window responded.
“Let’s see….”
What amazing thing were they hiding by not even showing up in the first run?
For now,
let’s start with the unread notifications.
======
::: Challenges (NEW!) :::
::: Achievements (NEW!) :::
::: New Area (NEW!) :::
======
Pretty classic.
Challenges award points.
Though it seems duplicate challenge rewards don’t stack.
Even after I kissed Arbel one more time, the notification ‘Kissing my sister. +10pt’ only appeared once.
If duplicates stacked, I’d have turned Arbel into a deep-kiss vending machine.
Like a tip that pops up on a loading screen, it also gives you simple advice when you enter a ‘new area.’
I still don’t really know what Achievements are.
Though it seems to give a few more things than just Challenges, like a better understanding of death or titles and the like....
======
[ Death Game(LV.0) ]
▶ User: Cedric Montraben
▶ Achievements: 「0th Death」 「Lucky for Now」
▶ Held Title: 「Pleasure-Seeker」
▶ POINT: 221pt
▶ Artifact Display Stand: [ ] [ ] [ ]
◆ Shop
◆ Playground (Locked)
◆ Enhancement (Locked)
======
First, I clicked ‘Death Game.’
“Huh?”
I clicked on the ‘User: Cedric Montraben’ line.
Click, click, click.
“……?”
Nothing in particular happened.
When I pressed ‘Achievements’ or ‘Held Title’ after getting them, a log message appeared, but that was all.
Points and the Artifact Display Stand were the same.
The ‘Playground’ and ‘Enhancement’ were already marked as (Locked).
“What is this, a subscription service too?”
So if I don’t pay a monthly fee, I can’t use all the features?
But when I tapped the ‘Shop’ category,
-Bwaaam~ bam bababam!
With flashy fireworks-and-confetti effects, I entered the shop window.
Unlike the shabby old status window, a colorful page like some nerdy game’s shop UI greeted me.
Somehow, it feels nice.
But the products on display were....
======
◆ Shop
《Old World Shopping Mall》
《Artifact Random Box》
《Joker Random Box》
*** TIP ***
- Purchased items can be stored in the inventory.
- Items stored in the inventory are carried over into the next run as well.
======
“Why is the only thing in this shop random boxes?”
Don’t be disappointed yet.
You never know what might come out.
《Old World Shopping Mall》
- 1 draw: 5pt.
- A random box containing items from the modern world.
- Winning items can be refilled by paying points.
“This is another random box.”
It’s ridiculous, but I should at least give it a shot. I pressed the 1-draw button.
[Using points. 221pt => 216pt]
-Thunk! Thunk-thunk! Thunk!
A box appeared in the center of the UI and started blazing wildly with flashy effects.
“Oooh, ooooh….”
My heart is pounding.
The flavor of gacha you can’t get from an analog casino.
How could I ever forget you!
It’s fun! So fun! I could live doing nothing but this forever!
White light spilled dazzlingly through the gaps in the box, and with a dororon! the box opened.
“Did I hit the jackpot?!”
With my heart pounding, I looked to see what came out.
「Chapagetti Bundle」
- Grade: C
- Description: Become a chef this Sunday!
- Refill: 1pt
Thud.
A lump of Chapagetti dropped to the floor from midair with a limp thud.
“Fuck.”
Is this for real?
Chapagetti? Delicious!
Boil it, add the sauce, fry an egg sunny-side up, mix it with olive oil, then top it with a piece of scallion kimchi and take a big bite—yeah, that’s sex, and that’s Sunday.
“Give me back my 5 points, you fucking bastard!!!”
Even if I have more than 200 points total, 5pt isn’t a small amount.
And considering duplicates can’t be farmed, it’s an extremely rare resource.
I have to scrape by, squeezing every bit of value out of it like a free-to-play player.
“Fine. I’m pissed off. I’m never doing this again….”
======
★★[EVENT!] 《Old World Shopping Mall》 Special Fever Time!★★
<A variety of benefits on a 10-pull!>
★ ‘UC’ rank item pickup rate skyrockets by 500%!!
★ ‘R’ rank item pickup rate skyrockets by 1,000%!!
★ ‘SR’ rank item guaranteed at 100 pulls!
★ One free ‘Refill Ticket’ provided!!
======
What is it, what is it, what is it!
Suddenly a banner popped up, and with a blazing, fire-like effect, the ‘10 consecutive draws’ button lit up.
“Tsk… haa…. I’m weak to this kind of thing.”
I thought about it.
No matter how I look at it, was it really right to invest like this in something that didn’t seem useful?
[Using points. 216pt => 166pt]
Gacha is all about ten-pulls, after all.
-Thunk! Thunk-thunk! Thunk!
A flashy effect on a whole other level!
Ten boxes soared into the air.
My brain is melting from the excitement and tension!
At least for this moment, I didn’t envy a single soul.
How long had I gone without this taste!
The floating boxes opened one after another.
The results were…!
-Dorororong!
Oogami ultra-thin condom (C)
Difong Zippo lighter, lighter fluid (UC)
Tyleno (C)
Energy Drink x6 Bundle (C)
Portable Water Filter (C)
Sanel Body Wash & Shampoo (UC)
A carton of Marlboro Reds (C)
Clown Makeup Set (C)
Armani Long Coat (UC)
See? Garbage, right?
“...I had forgotten this taste too.”
I shoved the Tyleno into my mouth and crunched away on it.
My blood, sweat, and tears—50pt!
For it to be spent on this goddamn piece of trash!
“Haa, or is it...? Is it usable? At least my quality of life goes up a little, right?”
There’s body wash and shampoo too. Of course, there are no shower facilities in this house, but still.
Come to think of it, there’s cigarettes too. A whole carton! And they even threw in a lighter!
This wasn’t a bad investment. It had to be.
Otherwise I’d die from feeling so wronged.
“I’m fucking conflicted….”
Right now, the urge is creeping up to spend another 50pt and make up for the opportunity cost by pulling something usable.
Maybe I can just think of this pull as paying my bad-luck dues?
“Huh?”
Then.
One unopened box came into view.
A faint bluish light seeped through the gaps in the box.
A mysterious sound effect hummed softly.
I touched it as if under a spell.
An info window appeared with a blue effect.
「 S&W Model 500, .500 S&W Magnum Ammo x20 」
- Grade : R
- Description : A big, dazzling, high-powered magnum revolver. Don’t shoot people with it.
- Refill : 3pt / 1pt
S&W 500.
The very symbol of the so-called magnum revolver.
I picked it up as if bewitched.
“Wow.”
A hefty grip, like lifting a small dumbbell.
Since it was a 10.5-inch barrel model, it was almost 30 cm long.
Rather than a handgun, its cool silver sheen was beautiful, like a finely honed dagger.
When I took off the cylinder, I saw five holes that looked like they could even fit a pinky finger.
I tore open the packaging on the small ammo box, loaded the rounds, and struck a pose while wearing the Armani long coat I’d just gotten.
Then my eyes gleamed mercilessly.
“My gun barrel shines, and my trigger brings judgment…. Hoo, I’ve still got one shot left. You’re a bad person. You made me a laughingstock. Cry—cry and prove your innocence.”
What should I do? Maybe I’m bipolar! I’m suddenly hyped!
The heavy weight wrapped around my grip gave me a sense of psychological stability.
It’s too big to carry around, but the ‘Inventory’ function makes that fine.
Its firepower, incomparable to a hand axe, gave me confidence.
This is a huge haul. At least by my standards, it’s worth the 50pt.
“From now on, your name is… Hero.”
I’ve got a solid companion now.
And....
《Artifact Random Box》
- 1 draw: 1 ‘Achievement Ticket’
- Display it on the Artifact Display Stand to gain permanent abilities.
- Tickets held: 2
《Joker Random Box》
- 1 draw: 30pt
- This is a consumable item that can become a powerful wildcard.
- Put a single card in your hand and shake fate itself.
“Sluuurp….”
Ah, I’m drooling.
I wonder what kind of tasty treat this’ll be. I’m already looking forward to it.
Wow, artifacts are gacha too, with tickets earned from achievements?
This status window really knows how to tug at a user’s heartstrings.
As expected, gacha is the greatest invention in human history.