Chapter 38
#038
1.
At the same time as Ceres's proposal.
“Cedric, do you want to keep working with me?”
-ding!
This choice window, the bastard....
Last time it popped up at the worst possible moment and gave me chills, but this time its timing is good.
Stop Project Z, safely park Arbel.
And on top of that, a partnership offer from Ceres mama (the silver-haired, white-eyed beauty rumored to be the prettiest in the neighborhood, S-rank body, still a virgin).
From now on, I just have to learn magic under Ceres mama's warm skirts and dream only of a rosy future!
Focus!!!!!!
Want me to tell you a fucking scary fact?
Everything I did in Necropolis while twisting myself into knots and putting on a miserable one-man show....
If I'd just clicked [Go to the Academy] on the last choice, none of it would have been necessary!
Well, I don't know what kind of wild, variety-show mess would have happened there, but anyway.
You have to be careful.
You have to consider every possible variable.
But today, my routine was a little different from usual.
Suddenly, just like when I broke the precept earlier, the timeline stretched out.
Huh?
This is the first time this has happened.
-ding!
======
:::Title Acquired (New!):::
Beyond the distant cycle of despair,
you have finally written your own fate.
May blessings rest upon your footsteps.
▶ Title: 「Cycle Breaker」 acquired
- When choosing a route, the 'Premium Route' may activate randomly.
- 30 pt has been awarded.
======
A title notification popped up.
But only 30 pt?
What's a Premium Route, anyway.
When the status window first appeared, I thought it lacked any sense of style.
Now I'd be fine with no style if it just became simpler.
I've lost count of how many times I've felt like an old man standing in front of a kiosk.
[ 1. Cooperate with Ceres ]
[ 2. Reject Ceres's proposal and side with Iming ]
Just as the choice text was about to appear.
-fzzzzzzzt
Like an old brown TV, static crackled and all the text scattered.
A situation that felt oddly familiar.
Sure enough.
-Baam pa-pa-pa-bam!!!
With fanfare, the scattered golden particles gathered into a circle and formed strings of text.
[ Special route branch detected! ]
Text sparkling in rainbow hues, far more beautiful than gold.
[ Entering Premium Route ]
[ Clearing the Premium Route guarantees an SSR-rank perk ]
[ Warning: This route has a 480-hour time limit ]
Premium Route! Right away like this?!
The reward is an SSR-rank perk?!
There wasn't any foreshadowing up to now, though?
It's fine.
Foreshadowing? Who needs that! This can happen! I love this author-convenience kind of development!
Let me get away with a freebie too!!!!
Honestly, among recent isekai stories, nobody has it as rough as I do!
[ Analyzing worldlines, confirming a new trajectory ]
[ Time until choice unlock: 05h : 00m : 00s ]
Like a microwave starting up, the countdown began, and then I returned to reality.
“Cedric? Answer?”
Yeah! Fine! I can wait five hours!
An SSR-rank perk, guaranteed.
My mouth is practically watering.
Just how amazing is this route, making me wait like this?
2.
After seeing the preview window for the Premium choice.
I heard the rest of Ceres's proposal.
“Keep staying close to Iming and report his movements.”
The contents were simple.
To become a full-fledged fixed spy.
We stopped World War Z and received an honorary Nobel Peace Prize, but the original documents with a watermark are still in Iming's hands.
“Of course, Iming isn't going to do anything with the originals right away.”
“Why not?”
“Because the political timing is gone, isn't it?”
As Ceres mama put it.
Gisella has already been purged and the case is closed.
If Iming were to come running late with the originals and say, 'Actually, it was Lady Ceres who leaked it!'?
Overnous Pharmaceuticals and Twilight Resources Development would both be stuck going, 'No, Lady Iming, why are you bringing that up now?'
“It's still awkward either way. He's pretty good at sneaky little schemes, so there's no telling how he'll trip me up later.”
Even if it weren't that, Iming is the head of House Hyungwi.
Twilight Resources Development-wise, that's a high-ranking position, about executive level.
From Ceres's perspective, there was nothing bad about planting an informant.
And by sheer coincidence, I'm already Iming's unofficial lackey, aren't I?
The situation just happened to line up like that.
“You keep an eye on Iming's side periodically and report back. Do you know where the documents are?”
“Of course.”
“Then, when you get the chance, steal the documents or destroy them. That's the next best option.”
“And the best option?”
“To kill Iming, but I won't expect that much from you.”
Hmm, when I looked at those fragmented lines....
Maybe this question was originally tied to the standard choice?
In that case, I probably had two options.
First, an alliance with Petite Ceres mama.
No, strictly speaking, not even petite.
She may have shrunk to the mid-170s, but wow, that body!
Just tie her hair up in a chignon and put on a little heavier makeup, and she'd instantly be able to go, 'Fufu, Cedric? Today you can act spoiled for mama as much as you want.'
Anyway, the first choice would have been to work as a spy under Ceres mama.
Meanwhile, the second choice would have been to team up with the handsome guy from House Hyungwi, Iming.
‘Rowen, bro! Come with me!’
‘We're going to do the manliest thing together!’
‘This foundation is perfect for your skin tone!’
I pictured Iming, arms crossed, flapping his skirt like Guan Yu.
“......”
As expected, I don't really fit with Iming.
I'm not exactly strict about ethics, but there's no way I can understand that guy's hobby.
Above all, having to join a cross-dressing club is a nonstarter.
“Why? Does it feel uncomfortable because it would be a betrayal all of a sudden?”
“No, it's not that....”
Even without the choice window, it was a problem I didn't even need to think about.
“Hmm... your reaction earlier too... do you maybe like this form better?”
In an instant, the mannequin sitting cross-legged on the sofa became Ceres mama.
Black dress, 240 cm tall—the form I was more familiar with.
I was startled.
“No, I lifted the precept, didn't I? Didn't Ceres mama disappear?!”
It was Petite Ceres who answered that question.
“Strictly speaking, the 'restriction' disappeared. In the past I had to borrow the power of the precept to take on a body. But now I'm a proper 5th-rank mage, aren't I? Tricks like this are easy.”
Petite Ceres and Mama Ceres existing in an overlapping state at the same time?
“Wow, at 5th rank, you can do even that!”
“Easy.” “I split my consciousness” “and manifested a body.”
In the surround-sound barrage from Petite Ceres and Ceres mama....
My nose started to sting.
The modest dream I thought had been crushed was actually 'Our restaurant is open for business!'
The original flavor might not be there, but that's still better than nothing!
“Mama!”
“Ugh!”
I flung myself into Ceres mama's arms.
Ah, this is it. This softness. This warmth.
“I'll do it! I'll be a cool spy!”
Ceres mama, who looked a little startled,
“Honestly... you're really one of a kind....”
let out a dry laugh and rubbed my back.
3.
Homeward bound with a spring in my step.
There's always a routine I do when I get back to my C-sector boarding room.
“Arbel~ I'm home~ Mwah!!”
“Mm....”
A kiss on Arbel's squishy cheek.
“Oh wow, you've gotten pretty tanned already.”
Putting coal in the stove to keep it warm.
“And the towel's dried crisp.”
Hanging wet towels up to keep the indoor humidity up.
“This is expensive. Don't spill it.”
“Mmm....”
Pinching Arbel's nose and making her take the medicine Isis prescribed.
“Ha, noona. Ever tried apple mango bingsu? At Four Seasons, a bowl is almost 150,000 won. Everyone calls it expensive, right? But it's worth the price. The fruit is different, I swear. I'll buy you some later. In exchange, wear a bunny girl outfit. Deal?”
“......”
Finally, wiping Arbel down with a damp towel while I ramble about what happened during the day is basically how the routine ends.
Back then, it seemed a little annoying.
If I skip even one day, it feels like something becomes unstable.
It's kind of like tending a bonsai, I guess.
“By the way....”
[ Time until choice unlock: 00h : 05m : 12s ]
The Premium choice unlock is almost here too.
To kill time, I opened my status window for the first time in a while.
======
[ Death Game (LV.0) ]
▶ User: Cedric Montraben
▶ Achievements: 「0th Death」 「Lucky, for now」 「Selective Death」
▶ Titles Held: 「Gourmand」 「Poison Mushroom Expert」 「Cycle Breaker」
▶ POINT: 52pt
▶ Display: [ Sturdy Stomach ] [ Laplace's Eye ] [ Burning Life ]
◆ Shop
◆ Playground (Locked)
◆ Enhancement (Locked)
======
“Hmm, better than when it was completely empty.”
I felt oddly satisfied, like I'd been taking diligent notes.
But what are titles actually for?
My guess is that when the locked 'Playground' or 'Enhancement' opens, titles might give relic coupons like achievement tickets.
Or maybe they raise the Death Game level itself....
Or does it just stop at a stat boost?
“GM, your gimmicks are way too many and complicated....”
And the difficulty is total bullshit too.
I patted Arbel's head and decided to roll the Joker gacha.
To think I could even roll gacha on a happy day like this.
“Let's go!!!!”
The result was, well.
「All-Purpose Music Box」
- Rank: C
- Description: A music box that plays requested songs.
- Effect: Plays the accompaniment to the song the user wants.
- Note: Please wind the spring.
“Aw, screw it.”
It was a white-rank trash item.
“Noona, I'll pick the song myself, okay? Don't complain and just listen.”
I placed the music box by Arbel's bedside and wound it up.
A ballerina spun around as the music box melody flowed out.
I hummed along to the melody, some old-geezer nerd song.
“Uh... ughhh....”
Still, it doesn't feel all that bad.
Today I also pulled off a big feat with the mysterious contract stamp, and saved Arbel from dying four times.
For the first time since arriving in Necropolis, things are somehow... settling down.
Maybe that's why I don't feel especially bad that the gacha was a bust.
No.
To be honest.
[ Time until choice unlock: 00h : 00m : 01s ]
[ The Premium choice has been unlocked ]
It was because of this!
“Yaaahooo!!!!!!”
I clenched my fist and welcomed the moment I'd been desperately waiting for.
-Wiiiiiing!!!
Indeed, the Premium Route!
Even the rainbow flashes bursting from all directions before the choice window appears are extraordinary.
The room fills with multicolored sparkles that gather to form the letters of the choice.
Even the choice window itself isn't semi-transparent gold leaf, but a glittering foil form like a rare card.
And on top of that, rainbow holograms too!
“They really made this tempting to pick!”
What choices are there, I wonder?
What kind of SSR-rank perk are they giving me?
At last, with a 'fwoosh' sound effect, the choice appeared.
The moment I read the two options, my heart pounding like when I first got into leveraged futures trading.
I could only freeze in despair.
“Fuck....”
This...
This really isn't it....
“You fucking bastard....”
======
[ Clearing the Premium Route grants an SSR-rank perk ]
[ Warning: This route has a 480-hour time limit ]
[ 1. Kill Ceres Cassian. ]
[ 2. Kill Arbel Montraben. ]
======"],
notes":"Aligned the chapter title to nearby numbering as '013 Savepoint (2)'. Fixed a few awkward/overliteral spots and kept Iming referred to with male language where the cross-dressing context makes that clear. Also standardized the repeated title label to 'Cycle Breaker'."}]}] }】