Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 117

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Good luck out there.”
“Thanks. I’ll definitely meet up with you this weekend!”
Though knowing the opponent is the Machine King, that probably won’t happen. Still, I wished her well.
I watched Sera with sympathy before starting my meal. After eating, Sera suggested we ride another attraction, but I declined since my limited-time rally pass wasn’t active, adding that I’d catch the Parade later instead. When I refused, Kanna also declined, and when Eugene and Reina followed suit, Sera gracefully gave up and concluded we’d all take the next training session together starting tomorrow.
We lounged around until sunset watching the Parade, then each returned to our respective lodgings.

◇ ◆ ◇

After bathing and dining, I indulged in the luxury of a private room for the first time in ages. The moment the clock struck ten, I grabbed my free-use pass and rally ticket, heading down to the hotel lobby. At the bar set up in one corner, the Department Head Professor was drinking with several other professors, while Kanna sat waiting for me on the sofa by the Cafe.
“Hey there.”
Damn, I’d hoped to slip away with just Kanna, but we were caught. The moment I frowned, Reina grabbed my shoulder hard.
“You’re leaving without me? That’s not happening, you bastards.”
“Tch.”
“Tch.”
We expressed our honest feelings with a click of our tongues, though Reina’s voice seemed to carry a hint of moisture.
“Hey, if you keep doing this, I’m seriously hurt?!”
Maybe you should stop doing things that get you excluded in the first place. I spoke coldly before taking Kanna’s hand and heading toward the Dungeon Experience Attraction. Reina clung to my shoulder whining the whole way—it was driving me crazy.

“You’re not just leaving me out and going around having fun, right? Tell me you’re not?!”
“This is the first time, so back off.”
“R-right, Evan’s, annoying, i-isn’t she.”
Just as the Tuxedo Bunny had said, the Dungeon Experience Attraction was lit up despite the late hour. Moreover, whatever the concept was, unlike during the day, a mechanical humanoid with exposed gears stood openly at the entrance.
“Welcome, fearless humans. The liability waiver is, over here.”
This was my first time filling out a liability waiver since that time I rode the shrimp-fishing boat. I took the paper from the robot that guided me with mechanical sounds mixed with static, and signed it concisely. Then I made a request.
“Can’t I get life insurance?”
“Please, refer to the notice.”
Ah, it was on the back. I shook down Reina, took out the most expensive insurance policy in my name, and quickly wrote that all my assets and insurance proceeds would go to Eleanor Laef in case of death.
Seeing the liability waiver come out made me think this really was a dangerous attraction. I wondered if the others would need one too, so I offered the pen, but both Kanna and Reina shook their heads.
“I’m fine. If something feels off, I’ll just run away.”
“I, I, don’t, want, to, give, my, family, a, single, penny.”
I’d thought before that Kanna’s family situation seemed complicated. I didn’t press further into her painful past and instead obediently took a seat in the Mine Cart as the robot directed.
This was identical to the one I’d ridden during the day. Once aboard, the interior had a cave-like aesthetic, and the format was to strike mechanical monsters with a provided rubber mallet and watch them collapse. There was something disappointing about calling it a dungeon experience attraction, just as Sera had mentioned.
“Setup complete. Commencing departure.”
“Whoa, look how dark it is—it’s really different from daytime.”
“Y-yeah. There’s, a, strange, smell, too.”
“We, hope, you, enjoy, this, dungeon, experience’s, Extreme, Hellfire, Mode.”
Wait, if this is Extreme Hellfire Mode, what mode was the daytime one? I was about to ask just that when the Mine Cart suddenly dropped. I thought there might be a steep dive course like the roller coaster from earlier, but we were flying through the air, so I smacked Reina’s head a few times before shouting out my skill name with all my might.
“I don’t need to hit your head to know—Inferno Blaze!”
“Guided Frost Bind!”
The moment Reina’s skill and mine collided, a deafening explosion erupted and a wave of scorching wind surged upward. We’d sparred so relentlessly throughout the day that I’d learned exactly how much force to apply to generate such heat—a trick only possible through experience.
I used the hot wind as a cushion to land safely on the ground, and the interior of the cavern came into view—utterly different from the one we’d seen during the day, desolate and grim.
“Ugh.”
“Oh… the smell of corpses, then.”
When Reina and I stared blankly at Kanna, who seemed oddly relieved to have identified the scent as something familiar, she broke into a cold sweat, wondering aloud what strange thing she’d just said. I wanted to point out that corpse stench being familiar to someone wasn’t exactly common sense, but Reina’s warning glance silenced me.
“Anyway, these aren’t toy mallets this time.”
Right. During the day, there had been toy mallets at the cave entrance equal to our numbers, but this time we had proper weapons. They’d even stocked a variety of types, giving us more weapons than we had people.
“The blade… is actually… straight.”
If the Shapen magic user said so, then it must be. I picked up a trident that fit reasonably well in my hand and swung it around experimentally.
The balance was excellent, and the quality seemed quite decent.
“Hey, are you taking all of those with you?”
“Huh? U-um, yes.”
So much for Reina keeping quiet and playing dumb—what was she suddenly nitpicking about Kanna for?
Curious, I turned to look and found Kanna stuffing short blades into the various pockets hidden throughout the lining of her school uniform. Was she planning to use some kind of blade storm technique?
“Let’s try not to use skills if we can help it. We don’t know what else might jump out at us.”
I’d made the suggestion because that robot’s mention of “Extreme Hellfire Mode” had been nagging at me, and both Reina and Kanna nodded in agreement. Not long after, a siren wailed from the vast cavern ahead.
“Guided Frost Bind!”
A mechanical beast in the form of tentacles with roughly three hundred legs burst forth, and I cried out the skill name in shock.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Don’t use your skills, you madman!”
“I made a rational decision! I’d freeze it and you’d break it—simple!”
“Rational? You used ten skills just to break one leg?!”
“You shouldn’t have melted it, you idiot!”
“Who are you calling an idiot, you blockhead!”
When someone calls you a blockhead, you’re usually upset! Want to fight?! I was about to grab Reina Letem by the collar when Kanna stepped between us, pleading desperately.
“R-Reina made a mistake, so l-let’s not fight!”
“I didn’t make a mistake, you assassin!”
“I’m not an assassin!”
Stop fighting, you two. Watching Kanna grab Reina Letem’s collar instead of me, I quickly regained my composure, standing between them and continuously soothing them. My mental energy was depleted, but at least I’d put out the immediate fire. Let’s rest for now.
“Good grief! What kind of movie was I trying to watch to end up following these fools?!”
“For the record, I was planning to go with just Kanna, but you volunteered to come along.”
“Hey, it’s only this bad because I came! If just the two of you had come, would you have made it safely?!”
“I’m grateful for that point.”
“W-well… fine then!”
Why does this bastard act like a tsundere who’s terrible at receiving compliments? My fists clenched involuntarily, so I took a deep breath to shift my mood and stood up. Since I bore responsibility for this mess, I’d let Reina Letem and Kanna rest while I explored the surroundings.
I retrieved the throwing blades Kanna had scattered while exploring the interior, briefly checked beyond the newly opened door, then returned. When I handed over the thirty-six blades Kanna had scattered, she thanked me and awkwardly stuffed them back into her school uniform.
“The structure seems the same as when we came during the day. No other passages, just one-way forward.”
When I’d wandered around with the mallet during the day, there were four rooms, and a mechanical monster emerged each time. Since the tentacle fell and the door opened this time too, it looks like I’ll need to do this at least three times total.
“If it’s mechanical again, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
“That’s true.”
It would’ve been easier with Sera and Eugene. Both are the type to just smash things with brute force, and especially Sera with her dual extremities would’ve made finding weak points simple.
But there’s nothing I can do about their absence. We recovered from fatigue through rest and entered the second cavern along the one-way path. A siren wailed—weeeeoooowww!—and this time, a beastman with a bull’s head appeared.
“Hahahaha! As long as I’m here, you cannot pass! Your Majesty, Queen of the Serpent King’s Court!”
Oh, this is exciting—a living creature with blood and flesh! I greeted the beastman I was meeting for the first time in a friendly manner and raised my trident.
“Kanna!”
“Y-yes!”
“Give me poison that sprays blood from the Seventh Gate!”
“Leave it to me!”
I never expected to use Kanna’s specialty in this way.
As I held my trident in a world-revolutionary pose, Kanna drew a blade and, before I could stop her, drove it straight into her own palm. I was so shocked that I involuntarily cried out “you’re insane!”, but Kanna spoke cheerfully while blood dripped from her hand.
“T-the poison that sprays blood from the Seventh Gate is m-made from m-my blood.”
So poison magic has a recipe. I’d thoughtlessly assumed it could be made from anything.
“Try not to use that if possible, friend.”
“I-if you say so, I-I’ll listen!”
“Since it’s already out, let’s just use what we have.”
“Y-yes!”
When Kanna cast her poison-crafting magic, the red blood transformed into violet, and my trident, drenched in Kanna’s blood, also turned violet. I don’t understand the principle, but it’s terrifying.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay? It’s getting all over your wounded hand too.”
“I-I’m fine. I have i-immunity.”
This wasn’t a skill but rather an immunity trained at home, which made it even more terrifying. Why would a normal household conduct poison resistance training?
“As expected of Dark,”
“Come on, friend, let’s just be grateful we can use this.”
Right, that was more constructive than bickering. Poison seeped into Reina Letem’s greatsword as well, and while Kanna tended to our wounds, we charged at the bull-headed creature. As long as that bastard was a living being with blood and flesh, we’d win even with a glancing blow.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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