Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Save Point
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#013_Save Point
#037
1.
We raised a toast to our success.
“I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d pull this off.”
“I didn’t either.”
“You can afford to feel a bit more proud. Sure, the method was ridiculous, but you halted a project run by Twilight Resources. I’m genuinely intrigued by you now.”
Ceres swirled her wine glass with a graceful hand motion.
It was like she was desperately denying her utterly disheveled state from moments ago.
Ugh, I think it every time, but that gap of hers is just the best.
“Thanks to Lady Ceres’s sponsorship.”
“Shut it.”
Ceres scowled at my flattery.
Anyway, time to review this round.
This body of mine performed well enough for Ceres to consider remarriage.
There was a lot of overlap with the previous round, so the challenge points earned over 15 days barely hit 22pt….
But I didn’t use a single Joker.
Zero cost, in other words.
And the results?
Landed a dream job at Ceres Rowhouse.
Achieved Yoobi status as the unofficial right-hand man of Cyan Eiming and joined the secret cross-dressing club.
Acquired the 0th Rank Magic “Death Verdict,” dripping with badassery.
Secured a two-room in C Sector that Cheongdam Zei would envy, with Arbel parked there.
And finally, thwarted the grand prize: Project Z.
All this with just the three-inch tongue, stockings, high heels, and anklet that Ceres gave me….
It’s practically on par with the miracle of the five loaves and two fish feeding the masses.
Hallelujah!
Now, just lift Ceres’s precept, and we’re done settling accounts.
“So, shall we wrap up our little deal?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten. You mean breaking the precept, right?”
“I may be going easy on you because I find you cute…. But if you’re lying, you’ll regret it big time.”
I know.
Even if she’s been extra nice this round, Ceres Cassian is the cold-hearted director of Twilight Resource Development, with no blood or tears to spare.
I don’t trust Ceres.
I told you, right? She’s a pro who gives her body but never her heart.
I won’t repeat the foolish mistake of trusting Akit and Arong ever again.
In this city, the only one I can trust is Arbel.
But that’s separate from how my body’s tingling with excitement at the long-awaited precept break from Ceres-mama.
Until the “break” is done?
Sedric’s the top dog, and Ceres is the bottom.
“Heh heh.”
“…Why are you grinning like that?”
Do you have any idea how amazing this is?
If I say, “To lift the precept, we need lots of bunny girl. Lady Ceres, you wear it.”
She might actually put on the bunny girl outfit?
I want to see Ceres-mama blushing red with shame!
“Hmm, looks like I’ve been too soft on you.”
Then she gets murderous, grits her teeth, glares at me, but ultimately puts on the bunny suit.
“W-What’s so great about this that you want me to wear it?”
While sniffling and insulting me—I want to see that Ceres!
If I want to see it, I gotta make it happen.
“To lift the precept, we need lots of bunny girl. Lady Ceres, you just have to wear it.”
“Hmm, is that so? Let’s see if you mean it.”
“Cancel cancel cancel!”
Ceres grabbed the wine opener, eyeing my peepers, so I quickly retracted.
“Could you close your eyes?”
“They’re closed.”
“Absolutely no peeking.”
“What am I, a kid?”
Instead, I pulled out the stamp from my pocket.
「Mysterious Contract Stamp」
- Rank: R
- Description: Makes promises with the world or breaks them.
- Effect: Can form new precepts or break existing ones.
- Note: Usable on others. Remaining uses: 2.
“Uh… Could you tell me the precept’s details first?”
“There’s a restriction against revealing it. I only have one precept anyway, so just break that one.”
“Got it.”
The moment I used the stamp, changes began.
Like replaying footage at 0.0001x speed.
Every sensation and action slowed to a crawl.
The classical music in the room smeared into a low, unrecognizable drone, and the rain falling outside froze midair.
Hmm, feels like experiencing Quicksilver.
Except now without the paid speed boost, so my movements stay normal.
A status window popped up.
[Will you break Ceres Cassian’s precept using the 「Mysterious Contract Stamp」?]
“YES.”
======
【Ceres Cassian, 1st Precept】
〔Alteration〕
Ceres Cassian must obey the flesh in 「Thousand Faces Masquerade」.
〔Restriction I〕
She must maintain flesh-obeying state for 6 out of every 7 days, with only one day as exception.
〔Oath I〕
The existence and conditions of this restriction must never be revealed.
======
“Break.”
No sooner had I murmured it inwardly.
-Kurrrunch
Space tore like warped film, birthing a black void.
Endless darkness.
Beyond the curtain writhed hundreds, thousands of chains.
Serpentine chains slithered slowly toward Ceres, seeking to coil around her body.
I knew intuitively.
That was the world’s punishment.
I had just learned Ceres’s precept.
Which violated ‘Oath I: The restriction’s existence and conditions must remain secret.’
Wait wait wait, boss lady!
What happens now?
Wasn’t the contract stamp supposed to break the precept?
-Zzap!
Like a camera flash, a pure white wave burst from the stamp, scattering the chains to dust.
Time, stretched to its limit, snapped back to normal speed in an instant.
“Whoa….”
I felt like I’d just witnessed something insane.
[Ceres Cassian’s [1st Precept] has been broken]
[「Mysterious Contract Stamp」 remaining uses: 1]
Still dazed, my heart plummeted at the sight before me.
“Kiiiiieeeek!!!!”
Ceres-mama, who’d been right in front of me moments ago!
Had transformed into a horrific 2.4m mannequin!
You know that thing!
The stitched doll I used as a punching bag when first learning Death Verdict!
“Hiiieek!!!! C-Ceres-mama! Mama!!!”
As I screeched like a duckling orphaned.
-Creak
The door behind me opened, and Ceres’s jingle bells, Ines, appeared.
“N-No way…. Is this, is this really possible…? Breaking a precept….”
Her face was as pale as her hair.
Even pale, she’s cute, Ines-chan!
“Perfect timing! Help me! Ines help! Ceres-mama’s…!”
I tried leaping into Ines’s skirt folds like a panicking ant, then belatedly realized something.
Precept, Thousand Faces Masquerade, obey flesh except one day out of seven.
Mannequin same height as Ceres.
Ceres who wanted the precept broken, Ceres who ditched the high heels.
Ceres’s daughter Ines. The other bed in Ceres Rowhouse, different size.
“Ah.”
Faced with the horrific truth, I collapsed like a child.
“What the fuck…. Give me back my mother-daughter rice bowl….”
2.
230 years ago.
It wasn’t Twilight Resource Development or Overnus Pharmaceuticals ruling Necropolis.
The foundation launched from Aden for purifying, isolating, and developing humanity’s walls and moats.
The ‘R.C.D. Foundation’ reigned supreme over Necropolis alone.
Back then, Necropolis was supposedly an even worse hell than now.
Less developed, more trash dumped in, more barbaric city.
Rifts would casually erupt, claiming hundreds to tens of thousands of lives overnight in an era of violent storms.
Amid all that, Aden’s tradition of dumping losers into Necropolis was time-honored, it seems.
“My family was a fallen marquess house pushed all the way to Necropolis. We barely scraped by cooperating with the RCD Foundation.”
But the foundation consisted of three factions.
The other two allied to purge the remaining one, splintering apart.
Ceres’s family, unluckily attached to the purged faction, got crushed under the throne’s ruins.
Young and immature little Ceres survived by forming one precept.
To obey the flesh in her unique magic 「Thousand Faces Masquerade」 and change her appearance.
“That way, while the rest of my family was executed, I escaped the upheaval.”
Surviving as an eight-chi tall figure, Ceres clawed her way up the ranks.
Just like me: adapting to the city, getting revenge one by one on those who slaughtered her family.
Finally reaching the position of Twilight Resource Development director.
However.
“After passing 5th Rank and hitting the wall to 6th. The precept became my prison. My flesh twisting every week blocked me from advancing to 6th Rank.”
A powerful restriction on the ‘Body’ in mind-body-spirit cultivation.
“And 240cm is just too tall for an attractive woman like me, right?”
So she researched ways to break the precept.
And finally met Sedric, succeeding in breaking it.
Kudos, kudos.
Such was her tale of woe.
And having learned all the backstory, I was gripped by cosmic horror.
My teeth are chattering.
“So… all this time….”
I glanced at the mannequin sitting beside me on the sofa.
Wire-stitched eyelids, nail-sharp jagged teeth, front face shredded like Voldemort’s nose hole.
So….
“All this time, it was this thing I’ve been…!!! Fuck!!!! Fujakeruna!!!!”
“A hard truth I just shared, and that’s your reaction? How infuriating.”
Ceres-mama, transformed from eight-chi widow to silver-haired white-eyed beauty, replied indifferently.
“Lady Ceres! It’s not that simple!”
Once again, only I was serious!
I’ve been rubbing against a creepy love doll with VR goggles on, thinking I was in mama’s embrace!
My soul feels shredded!
“Sigh, it’s all in how you look at it…. My Masquerade is magic that controls soulless flesh. Conversely, when a soul enters, the vessel changes too. Of course, this is the main body.”
Ceres poked her own cheek as she spoke.
So that mannequin turns into the Ceres-mama I know the moment she possesses it—a sort of clone avatar.
“Then did Lady Ceres feel good too?”
“…….”
Ceres didn’t answer.
As a tolerant soul who embraces even Arbel, my disgust lessened a bit.
But my despair didn’t end there.
“…….”
It might be far in the distant future, but….
I wanted to spend transcendent bonding time with the Ceres-Ines mother-daughter duo.
I dreamed of that peachy future….
“Why so disappointed? Don’t you prefer this over some dumb big woman?”
“Lady Ceres knows nothing.”
“……?”
Ceres-mama tilted her head, looking confused.
Hold up.
In my despondency, I feel like I missed something crucial.
The eight-chi ‘widow’ Ceres used the ‘main body’ Ines as her daughter for cover identity.
Then?!
“Lady Ceres. So you’re not a widow?”
“…Sedric, you always ask the weirdest things?”
For real? Actually not?
Wait….
I recalled big data from all my rounds.
Ceres always tried to take the lead with me.
Acting all composed, eyeing my body seductively, constantly saying stuff like “Better than my husband~.”
But for all that attitude, her skills were honestly meh.
Also, I’ve never once seen her bring another man to her bedroom.
So I’d chalked up Ceres-mama’s clumsiness to “It’s been a while~.”
But.
Strip away the preconception of ‘battle-hardened widow and Twilight witch.’
Apply the filter of ‘woman who’s deceived everyone her whole life to survive.’?
With half-doubt, I asked.
“Lady Ceres.”
“Yeah?”
“Am I… your first?”
“First what?”
“That…….”
I curled my finger into a circle and thrust in and out.
Ceres’s expression chilled.
“Shut your mouth. As if.”
I pressed down my Joker-like rising smirk.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Hey, I haven’t smiled yet.”
“You think I’m a joke. Raised you wrong from the start. Should’ve gouged your eyes out first thing.”
“Ufufu.”
Desperate straight-face from truth-telling Ceres to defuse—nice try.
This is quite the treat.
“Anyway, now we should talk next steps.”
Silver-haired white-eyed Ceres, ears a bit red, fanned herself and spoke.
“Sedric, you wanna keep working with me?”
-Ding!
A notification rang.
Here it comes! My choice! Save point update!!!