Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 160

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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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We mustered our courage and followed the Professor. According to the rules Gerth explained, if we held the necklace and shook it at the very top of the Spire of Tuxedo Bunny Castle, an elongated intake port would pop out and suck us in. But I couldn’t help worrying—would this petty Machine King resort to some underhanded trick to separate us from our guides?
When I voiced this concern, Gerth and Ilyong insisted that despite being petty, the Machine King wasn’t the type to play dirty, and they trusted the Female Informant completely.
True enough, every glimpse we’d caught of the Machine King had shown nothing but pettiness—never actual malice. During the attraction challenges, he’d even been considerate enough to let us call for assistants according to the rules, provided us with proper weapons, and opened rest areas along the way. I could still taste that non-alcoholic mojito from back then.
「Fuhahahaha! You little insects! You actually crawled all the way up here!」
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, we all managed to ascend to Sky Island. What awaited us immediately after wasn’t a beginner-level dungeon entrance—it was the boss stage where the final boss, Amysis X Makina, was waiting.
「Why are you giving them a chance to grow stronger! I could crush them right now!」
The Machine King, moving her five-meter combat form with elegant grace, laughed with a hearty “wahaha.” Reina, Kanna, and I exchanged questioning glances with the Department Head Professor and Gerth.
Not playing dirty, you said?
“Well… I mean, we were going to fight anyway, so think of it as just skipping the middle part. That’s not exactly playing dirty…”
He kept calling her “ma’am” this and “ma’am” that, then defended his sister fiercely. I let the Department Head Professor’s words go in one ear and out the other, shouted “Free Freeze,” and charged forward.
Looking at her up close, those spinning gears in her pupils were absolutely beautiful! Genius character design!
“Ahhhhh! The author must be a genius!”
“What is she talking about?!”
My reckless punch never reached the Machine King. Makina swirled her dress, using the cables woven through it to shatter my ice and block my fist, then the cables coiled around me like serpents, attempting to tear into my arm.
The movement was so precise, the dress woven with cables so beautiful, and the sensuality emanating from those cable tentacles undulating with each motion—I couldn’t help but shriek.
“Ahhhhh! Machine King, you’re so beautiful!”
From her sleek steel body to her steampunk dress, those gear-like eyes, and even the whirring sound that accompanied her every movement—everything was so exquisitely beautiful and lovely that I felt tears welling up. No, tears actually fell. I wept because the Machine King was so beautiful.
「U-uh, w-well, th-thank you?」
“Please take a photo with me after we fight!”
「O-okay!」
I’m so excited to photograph the Machine King’s combat form!
Even as the cables sent me flying with a whoosh, I felt satisfied. When I crashed into the ground and my head cracked, it hurt terribly, but that wasn’t the issue.
“Evan! You’re bleeding from your head!”
“Yeah! My head cracked!”
“Is that so!”
Gerth, answering out of habit, expressed concern that this wasn’t actually fine. But I really was fine. Compared to Reina, who took a direct hit from the Machine King’s blow and coughed up blood before flying backward, I was completely okay.
“Cough!”
Wow, with a single strike, she sent down an ultra-rare skill user with inexplicable overwhelming power and mana consumption. The Four Demon Kings truly earned their title—I could only marvel. The Department Head Professor raised his hand, declared the battle over, and told Makina to back off.
“Today we only came to assess the difference in ability. If you attack any further, the students will die.”
「Why should I worry about those insects while fighting? And do you know how long it took to prepare this form?!」
“As a guide, I have the responsibility to protect my students. And if we don’t stop here, old man Gerth will step in.”
The Department Head Professor pointed at Gerth, who immediately began loosening up his body the moment he saw my head bleeding profusely. The Machine King hesitated, then let out a high-pitched “ohohoho” laugh.
「That’s enough for today! Come back tomorrow!」
Thank you so much!
I attempted to offer my gratitude by dropping to my knees and performing a deep bow. My head started to lower, though it didn’t quite touch the ground. That meant the Machine King was stronger than the Department Head Professor, but it also meant my reckless charge wasn’t quite like throwing an egg at a rock. With three of us, if we planned our strategy well, we might actually have a shot.
“I-I’m sorry, Evan. I c-couldn’t do anything.”
“It’s fine. There’s something I need you to do.”
No one expected to be satisfied on the first bite. More importantly, could you take a picture of me? I asked the Machine King to procure a camera and stood beside the fully made-up Makina, striking a pose. When I grinned and flashed a peace sign, Makina let out a whirring sound, lifted me up with one arm to match our eye levels, and returned the peace sign.
“I-I’ll take it!”
The shutter clicked, and I bowed deeply to Makina, thanking him for developing the photo well. Then I searched for Reina sprawled across the floor, hoisted her onto my back, and prepared to descend. Judging by how she still hadn’t regained consciousness, she must have taken quite a blow to the head.
「Going down will be faster with Ilyong’s device than mine!」
“Thank you so much!”
I waved goodbye to Makina, took three steps, then turned back to wave again. As I was about to look back one last time, Ilyong kicked me to hurry down, preventing me from waving.

While the Department Head Professor went to fetch Wenri, a sheep-human with healing skills, Gerth, Kanna, and I held a post-battle review meeting to discuss what went wrong in the fight.
“There was no teamwork.”
“W-we didn’t, didn’t prepare, didn’t bring weapons either.”
That couldn’t be helped. Last time, Makina prepared everything at the attraction dungeon. He’d even bragged about setting up phones and supplies at rest points throughout the actual Sky Island dungeon. I naturally believed he’d prepare as much as he had for the attraction.
“When you think about it, we were at fault.”
“U-um…”
“Evan.”
Makina bore no fault. We were wrong. I insisted we should have at least gathered twigs, but Gerth called my name softly and pointed out how unnatural my words and behavior had become.
“Evan. You’ve been defending the Machine King this whole time.”
“Because Makina turned out to be far more beautiful than I expected.”
“I see…”
Gerth wore an expression I’d never seen before—something between pity and bewilderment, his eyes regarding me with profound sympathy.
“Evan, you seem far too fixated on appearances.”
“Appreciating beauty is human nature.”
“B-beautiful…?”
Gerth didn’t understand because he was accustomed to his own smooth, spindle-shaped body. The steel coloring was incredibly beautiful too. Whether chrome was mixed in or not, it gleamed with a white luster, and the gears that clicked and turned possessed a subtle golden hue that bordered on art.
I praised Makina endlessly, but Gerth couldn’t grasp it. The male only tilted his head in confusion while seeming to try understanding me, so I explained at his level.
“For example, your scales are white and lustrous, reflecting rainbow light when sunlight hits them, creating a cool, odorless sensation—each individual scale is so beautiful I want to pick them off and chew them. The Machine King’s body is equally beautiful.”
“…”
Gerth averted his eyes from mine. This was also a first. He subtly turned his gaze away and pulled his sleeves down to hide his bare skin. He even buttoned his collar to cover the scales on his neck, but the more he concealed them, the more my desire to bite and tear at them surged—such was the nature of living creatures.
“Evan. I’m frightened of you right now.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just wish you wouldn’t stare at me as if you were about to bite.”
“I don’t bite you.”
“I know that.”
If anything, it was Gerth who had bitten me. The memory surfaced, and I quickly touched the spot where he’d bitten me. Gerth flinched and stepped back. Why was he scared? Gerth was stronger than me—why was he frightened?
I was about to tease him further when the front door opened and the Department Head Professor arrived carrying a thoroughly intoxicated Wenri.
“I brought her as you said, but is this woman really the one handling healing?”
“Oh honey! What do I do! There’s blood! Your friend’s covered in blood too!”
Leri must have come along out of concern. Upon seeing me with blood streaming from my head, Leri wiped it with a handkerchief, applied pressure to stop the bleeding, and kept poking Wenri’s rear with his foot to wake her. The sheep-human Wenri let out groans of hangover agony and immediately searched for the bathroom upon opening her eyes.
“Ugh. I’m going to throw up.”
“Goodness, she drank from a bottle yesterday.”
Leri reported that she’d steeped a black tea bag in a bottle of alcohol, then insisted she’d drunk tea, not liquor. Wenri was clinging to the toilet vomiting, Reina was dying, Gerth was still flinching at the sight of me, and everything was a complete mess.

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Another day passed, leaving sixty-eight days until dawn. Wenri, that alcoholic beast-man, purged himself thoroughly and felt refreshed before healing Reina Letem and patching up my head as well. After we each rested and gathered for a meal, Gerth reintroduced Wenri and explained the reason for summoning him to this place.
“Wenri is also well-versed in tactics. He should prove useful to Evan Laef.”
“Serpent King, Your Majesty. I’ve told you several times—combat isn’t my specialty.”
“In the entire history of Serpent King’s Tower, no human has ever conquered the floor Wenri was assigned to guard while sober.”
Wow, so Wenri truly lived up to his reputation as a beast-man. As we applauded and welcomed our guest lecturer, the Female Informant scratched the back of her head and sighed as if resigned to her fate.
“Let me confirm first. What exactly is our current military strength?”
At Wenri’s question, everyone snapped their fingers in unison to open their status windows. As Reina Letem and Kanna listed their combat-useful skills, Wenri nodded approvingly, marveling that despite their youth, they had the makings of formidable killers.

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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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