Chapter 11
#011
1.
《Artifact Random Box》
- 1 draw: 1 'Achievement Ticket'
- Can be displayed on the artifact display stand to gain permanent abilities.
- Tickets held: 2
I first checked the Artifact Random Box.
I had wondered what the achievement points were even for, but it looked like achievements eventually led to artifact gacha tickets.
Good, good.
That makes the points I spent to get Heroi feel a lot less wasteful.
“2 draws.”
No need to think twice; I’m going double.
-Doo-dung-tak! Doong-tak! Tak!
The Artifact Random Box’s draw effects were on a whole other level from the start.
A rune box engraved with something like ancient characters, plus dazzling lights and rainbow illumination.
The proper sound effects and BGM really get my heart racing.
If I just kept watching without skipping, it felt like my brain would turn soft and mushy.
“Did I hit SSS rank?! Please!”
I squinted and stared at the status window.
Red. A brilliant red, like a ruby.
White was C, Common; green was UC, Uncommon; blue was R, Rare—so this meant at least SR, Super Rare, or higher!
“…….”
I opened my eyes, expecting to see what kind of flashy relic would greet me.
It was.
A wriggly stomach model.
「Tough Stomach」
- Rank: SR
- Trait: You gain steel-like digestive power. Nothing you eat will upset your stomach.
- Sub-trait: Goats consider you one of their own.
- Note: Cannot be enhanced.
“…SibaR.”
No, it wasn’t a model.
When I held it in my hand, it was sticky and soft, and that made it even worse.
More than anything, the effect was obviously trash.
An ability on the level of not getting an upset stomach after eating cockroach cat food.
“It’s Super Rare…. It’s a relic…. You could at least give me something better….”
Why are you doing this to me? What’s so good about being friends with goats….
Should I chew paper together with them or something?
That’s pretty common in gacha games, too.
High-rarity items with no real use whatsoever, goods designed to fleece the player in name only.
That despicable trap had even infected the status window of another world.
And the light of the next relic box was green, just UC trash.
“This isn’t right… let’s not do this, okay?”
I let out a sigh and opened it with no expectations at all.
Green light spilled out, and an eyeball with a gear-shaped pupil appeared.
I really had no expectations, but man, did it look pathetic.
Bound to be something boring….
「Laplace’s Eye」
- Rank: UC
- Trait: By spending mental energy, you observe and predict the flow of physical laws.
“……?”
What?
▶ Artifact Display Stand: [Laplace’s Eye] [Tough Stomach] [ ]
The moment I hurriedly equipped the relics on the display stand,
“Kraaagh!”
A pain like an awl stabbing into my frontal lobe tore through my brain.
After I’d writhed in agony for a long while and opened my eyes again,
the world had changed.
I was a little dizzy, though….
Now I understood what it meant to observe the laws of physics.
My vision had flipped around, as if I were looking at the world through a high-performance filter.
Even the normally out-of-focus peripheral vision was crystal clear,
and I could see the air in the room convecting due to the temperature difference, every tiny speck of dust floating along those currents.
What was amazing was not merely observing it, but being able to predict even the irregular trajectories of the dust.
Of course, once I cranked the resolution that high, it felt like my brain vessels were swelling up like a soufflé, so I turned it off quickly.
Just in case, when I pointed the revolver’s barrel forward, a red line appeared as if it had been waiting, showing the bullet’s point of impact.
“I know this!”
It’s the Sharingan!
Laplace’s Eye?
The name really is exactly what it says.
If I went straight into a billiards, golf, or sports tournament right now, wouldn’t I take first place by a landslide?
I can’t even begin to imagine how useful this would be in combat.
“Sniff, this is it.”
Only after crossing over to another world, after dying a useless death once, do I finally get my cheat.
While I was moved to tears, a sudden question occurred to me.
Why is this ridiculously awesome Sharingan UC, while Tough Stomach is SR?
On top of that, Tough Stomach even has a sub-trait, while Laplace’s Eye only has one lonely trait.
Are the goats in this world so cute they spawn furry freaks?
‘Master, master. Let’s do that!’
I suddenly felt nauseous.
I’ll put the worries aside for a moment. I have a duty to do the remaining gacha.
「Joker Random Box」
- 1 draw: 30 pt
- This is a consumable item that can become a powerful variable.
- Put a single card in your hand and shake fate itself.
“I’ve got 166 pt left, so that means a total of five draws.”
I decided to see what item came out before making up my mind.
[Using points. 166pt => 136pt]
The prize that came out with a burst of confetti effects was….
A single small, rusted coin.
「Coin Toss of Truth」
- Rank: UC
- Description: It looks like a rusted coin, but it contains mysterious power.
- Effect: You can determine whether the other party’s words are true or false.
- Note: 3 uses remaining.
“Hmm, kind of underwhelming….”
I spun it once more.
[Using points. 136pt => 106pt]
「Honorifics Coupon」
- Rank: C
- Description: One of the common-sense-altering coupon series.
- Effect: You designate one person, and they are forced to speak politely. The target does not question this phenomenon.
- Note: Single-use.
“Ugh, come on.”
I flung away the paper that said Honorifics Coupon.
“If you’re going to give me garbage like this, at least give me a show-your-panties coupon.”
By the time I’d read as far as ‘common-sense-altering coupon....’, I was pretty excited, but the Joker side was looking pretty bad.
The description window called it a powerful variable, a card that could shake destiny, so my expectations were a little high.
And it cost 30 points per draw, too.
But maybe because it was lower rank?
All I got were things that looked utterly useless.
If I hadn’t pulled the revolver and Laplace’s Eye, I would’ve really been gutted.
Well, the Coin Toss of Truth could still be useful depending on how I used it.
“For now… should I stop here for today?”
As much as I wanted to keep going, I thought it’d be better to leave around 100 pt untouched.
I don’t even know how much ammo I’ll need to restock, and I might need to use it right away when the “Enhance” or “Playground” functions unlock.
There’s also the chance I’ll end up in some truly hopeless situation and regret having only one point left.
I refuse to die any more than I already have.
I don’t know how many times I can regress, the penalties worry me, and honestly, that space… is kind of scary.
Anyway.
“I think I’ve got a rough idea of how this works.”
The Old World Shopping Mall is literally just modern-item gacha with refills.
Artifacts can be drawn with coupons earned by clearing achievements, and displaying them on the Artifact Display Stand strengthens their inherent abilities.
The Joker is basically a joker that lets you see variables, right?
Since I’ve got some usable combat power in hand, it’s time to move.
I can’t afford to waste time dawdling.
If I want to send the half-dead Arbel straight to a doctor a week from now, I need to save money diligently.
The fastest way is still to become a fixer.
To do that, I need 5,000 Bios for city hall registration.
“Should I head out now?”
I immediately threw on the long coat.
As expected of a modern item, the fit and material were outstanding.
“Hmm….”
Right before leaving the house, I suddenly looked at my face in the mirror.
A face so handsome it looked sculpted, and therefore attention-grabbing.
Maybe even Ron, the squad leader, recognized at a glance that I was from Aden because of this pretty face of mine.
“Isn’t there some better way….”
Then, at the edge of my vision, a trash gacha item caught my eye.
Clown Makeup Set (C)
Ah, this is it.
2.
I walked through the slum alleys, the hem of my long coat fluttering.
My footsteps headed toward the deeper, less-traveled part of the area.
The slums are a particularly shitty place even in Necropolis.
Sticky mud that never dries, 365 days a year, clings to your soles,
and the footsteps of your friendly neighbors stick to you too.
“Hey, pretty boy. Nice coat.”
“Looks like you’re living pretty well. Share some with us.”
“Neighbors should eat and live together, right?”
It wasn’t anything unusual.
The residents here are all diligent citizens who moonlight as robbers, murderers, and pickpockets.
“Me?”
I turned around.
A trio appeared, each wielding a club with rebar or scrap metal embedded in it.
“Yeah, you bastard.”
“We saw you coming out of the slums. Where do you think you’re acting like a fixer?”
“Heh heh, it’s been a while since I had meat.”
The ones who had been so boldly threatening me flinched the instant they saw my face.
Understandable.
The entire face was coated in white powder.
Red makeup smeared around my mouth as if it had torn my lips to my ears.
Heavy eye makeup and freshly drawn eyebrows, too.
A perfect clown disguise.
“W-what the hell? Who’s that crazy bastard?”
If it had been the old Cedric, this might have been dangerous.
Even if he knew a bit of boxing and had a hand axe, his opponents were still three armed men.
He might have been lynched, beaten into a bloody pulp, and sold off to the ossuary.
I am no longer Cedric Montlaven.
That weakling drowned in this city’s filthy mire, his nose and mouth plugged shut.
Ceres gave me her hot body, her all-purpose transformation, and her snitching.
And she also gave me a lesson.
‘Find the ugliest arrogance inside you.’
‘Get even crazier. More, more, more. Let your madness swallow you. Even if the world points at you, cling to your stubbornness.’
The ugliest arrogance, madness, and obstinacy inside me.
Long ago, I already knew the answer.
Fine cuisine and bunny girls.
Booze, cigarettes, supercars, card games, roulette, gacha.
Luxury brands, the inexhaustible fountain of wealth, gold, money, dollars.
Pleasure and desire.
No, the great greed that encompasses all of it.
I want my life painted with even stronger stimulation and denser pleasures.
If sages and prophets lament a world gasping under gold-worship,
I will wear a golden crown, look down on them, and laugh.
Yes, you were right.
“Damn, he looks disgusting! Rush him!”
“Aaaaaah!!!”
The hungry jackals charged in.
As my vision sharpened, every one of their movements looked slow.
They were the kind of people who had already resolved to devour others just to make it to tomorrow.
I was the same.
-Bang!
Heroi’s gunshot rang in my ears, and the smell of gunpowder stabbed sharply into my nose.
My body absorbed the recoil of the magnum round solidly.
The large man charging from the front stumbled and collapsed like a broken wind-up doll.
Red blood and scraps of flesh scattered across the slush-frozen mud.
The remaining two froze like possums before the smoking muzzle.
“Drop everything you’ve got and get out. Ah, and leave the corpse behind.”
Now this city will have to fear me.
.
.
.
“Grade 9 Fixer registration?”
“Yes.”
“Name.”
“John Wick.”
“Five thousand Bios.”
“Here you go.”
“What’s that plastered all over your face? ...No, never mind. Don’t say anything.”
Necropolis, second run.
Start.