Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 164

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

#166

Something was wrong. The Fusion—that was wrong!
The moment the realization struck me, I thought forcefully that the Fusion was abnormal, and suddenly a notification window appeared.

Concealment has been exposed.

Concealment? What is that! When I thought about it again with intensity, another notification window appeared.

Concealment has been exposed.

What else has been exposed! What is this, exactly! What in the world has been happening since before!
I shouldn’t be standing here like this—I need to check my status window. The Fusion definitely belonged to Mitchell Neftis, didn’t it? I clapped my left hand together sharply and opened my status window.

Mitchell Neftis
Title: Demon, Mana Master (Novice)
Status: Blessing of Ursh
Experience: 2,610
UR) Free Freezing Spell Lv.9 – 900,000 EXP to next level
UR) Mana Manipulation Lv.1 – 100,000 EXP to next level
SR) Superhuman Lv.3 – 30,000 EXP to next level
R) Accuracy Lv.10
R) Inspiration Lv.1 – 1,000 EXP to next level
*UR) Fusion
* ↳Fusion Release
*L) Concealment

What is that Frozen status?! When did Fusion Deactivation appear?! Or was it there from the start?! I understand the concealment was hidden from the beginning and just got exposed now! It makes sense with the flow! Damn it, I’m tired of being shocked!
“…!”
“Professor, I think Evan Laef might be broken.”
“I’m not sure, but it seems like quite a shock.”
As I trembled and stammered incoherently, Gerth decided it was best to warm me up and carried me to the Riverbank. Even though it was summer, the evening had grown chilly, so Reina Letem lit a campfire with her Petit Blaze skill.
“Insane Mitchell Neftis!”
“That’s what I should be saying!”
You know nothing, so shut up, you gorilla! Do you have any idea how I felt being deceived by Mitchell Neftis for two years?!
How could this happen! How could she hide that Fusion was frozen all this time, and also hide that Fusion Deactivation exists! And hide the existence of such an absurdly incredible concealment technique itself! What kind of con artist is she! Seriously!
“Insane Mitchell Neftis!”
“She’s going to be like that all day.”
Reina Letem poked at the fire with a rolling stick, and I noticed the Department Head Professor looking at Makina with a desolate expression. Gerth wasn’t showing it either, but he must feel the same way. We cooperated believing the Machine King would be reactivated, but now he won’t move anymore—it’s enough to bring tears. They just can’t express it in front of us.
“Ugh…!”
How can I unfreeze this? If I could use Fusion Deactivation, I could immediately restore power to Makina.
I desperately called out Fusion Deactivation in my mind, but nothing happened. Mitchell should have at least left behind a method to unfreeze before merging. Damn that Mitchell.

R) The skill “Share” has been created.

Huh? A new skill appeared? Now that I think about it, whenever Evan sets her mind to something, new skills sprout right up. I racked my brain trying to find a way to restore power to the Machine King, and it seems this extra skill with no regard for survival came through. Looking at the crude skill name, it’s definitely Evan’s side.
With that assumption, I opened Evan Laef’s status window, and sure enough, the “Share” skill was there. So I can distribute the fused power to others?
“Skill! Share!”

Please select the target to share with.

It’s working, it’s working! I quickly shouted Makina’s full name. Amusys X Makina! I’d remembered it ever since hearing it from Gerth.
The procedure wasn’t finished yet—there was a quantity selection for how much power to share. Since I’d obtained this strength, I didn’t want to give it all away, so I petulantly offered only half. It was a small-minded form of revenge, considering how petty the Machine King had been.
Whirrrrr!
It works! I hear the rebooting sound! The Machine King, beeping as the boot screen illuminates in his eyes, emits a faintly familiar startup chime through the speaker and blinks his eyes. Behind the transparent lens, I can see gears meshing and turning.
Makina has reactivated!
「Hey, you little brat, give back my power!」
The moment Makina awakens, he extends cables and grabs me by the collar. At this endearingly familiar sight, I open my mouth with tears streaming down my face.
“I could have given you only a speck of power instead of half.”
Wow, I’m not even using formal speech with Makina anymore. This phenomenon occurs because my strength has grown and the Machine King’s has been halved.
Makina blinks his eyes repeatedly, processing the meaning of my threat, then quietly retracts his cables. He glances at Gerth once, then at the Department Head Professor once, opens his telescopic lens wide to confirm the fallen Sky Island and the collapsed Bunny Land, then rolls his eyes adorably in front of me.
「I await your command, my Master.」
Makina is a petty, cunning demon with remarkably quick shifts in attitude.
“Let’s move. There’s no reason to stay in these ruins any longer.”
The Professor suggests that once we find Leri and Wenri and cast one return spell, we can head to Gerth’s House. At the Professor’s mention of ruins, Makina, now just eyeballs, whirs his vision around to gaze at where Bunny Land and Sky Island once stood.
「Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!」
Makina weeps, dripping oil like chicken droppings. Stop crying, Makina—if you leak hydraulic fluid like that, you’ll rust and won’t be able to move.
“Stop crying. You’ll become a tin can.”
「Waaaaaaah!」
The female cries even more miserably, so the Department Head Professor asks me to shut my mouth. I decide to keep quiet until Makina settles his emotions.

Near the central control room of the utterly devastated Bunny Land. After lifting the rebar and clearing away the remnants of amusement rides, we discover Wenri and Leri quietly waiting for rescue. Wenri had decided to stay put, judging that if they tried to escape on their own strength and accidentally detonated a bomb, the structure could collapse and crush them—and that decision was correct.
Gerth, the Department Head Professor, and I effortlessly lift and hurl heavy debris far away, and Wenri and Leri, who safely escape the computer room, spot me and cry out.
“Kyaaaah! A peerless beauty!”
“But those are Evan’s clothes! Where is Evan, and why are you wearing them, you eight-talented beauty girl!”
If Wenri had thought for even a moment, they’d realize no madman would steal my clothes to wear them—but Wenri must have drunk more while waiting for us inside. I roughly gather my hair into two pigtails toward Wenri and Leri, whose bodies reek of alcohol, and open my mouth.
“Look carefully. It’s me.”
“That wooden tone! It’s our darling! Our peerless beauty was our darling all along!”
“Evan, if you become that beautiful, Hubert will cry!”
What does my becoming beautiful have to do with Hubert crying? I tell Wenri that makes no sense.
Once everyone gathered, the Serpent King’s Tower members each take one person’s hand and call out the return spell. Hubert, who had been waiting for us at the top of the Tower, comes to greet us warmly. Upon seeing me, he exclaims “Oh no, a nation-toppling beauty!” and then our father weeps, saying we’re doomed, and locks himself in his room.
I’m shocked that he actually cried. Looking at the sheep-eared mage Wenri, I marvel that she truly is the mage Wenri.

◇ ◆ ◇

When I returned to Serpent King’s Tower that day, everyone was exhausted, so we decided to rest thoroughly. The next day, people gathered one by one in my room to restore my face to Evan Laef’s appearance. There were three people who were more serious about restoring Evan Laef’s face than I was.
“Honey! I went to Ilam and brought back some really thick glasses lenses! I’ll fit them to the frame!”
“Let’s dye your hair, Mother! Time is of the essence.”
“I am not your mother.”
“E-Evan, I-I’ll, d-definitely, freckles, t-tattoo them!”
Even if it’s the same illegal procedure, having Kanna do it would hurt less than Mother. Besides, Kanna even brought numbing ointment and spread it all over my face. When Mother pricked me with a needle, my face was swollen for days, but I wouldn’t have to worry about that this time.
“Hm!”
Kanna, why are you using assassin’s breathing just to make freckles on my face with a needle? She moves her hands quickly without even breathing, and I’m worried that instead of freckles, my face will end up looking like a mask with spots all over it.
“Ugh!”
What’s wrong, why suddenly like that? When I asked Kanna why she made a sound of defeat, the female informant wore a sad expression and professionally twirled the long needle with her finger.
“The needle won’t go in!”
“Ah.”
I suddenly remembered something and opened my status window. My Super Rare Blade Deflection skill’s sprouting ability had reached level 5.
“It’s because of the skill. Blades don’t penetrate my body well.”
“T-that’s so humiliating…!”
Her pride as an assassin had been cracked. This is a body that even blocked the Machine King’s blades while I slept, so it makes sense that a needle wouldn’t go in. So the freckle tattoo is off the table then.
“Mother! The dye isn’t taking at all!”
“I am not your mother.”
This is a problem. The newly grown hair looks incredibly sturdy, and apparently the dye won’t take either. What should I do? Do I need to do something like dyeing it in the future?
While I continued to worry, Leri, Hubert, and Kanna moved busily. They seemed to want to see the final result with just the materials they had on hand, so they put thick glasses on me and braided my hair into two pigtails.
Once my usual appearance outside was complete, the three looked me up and down, then spoke in voices filled with despair.
“Damn it! It’s not nation-level anymore, but you definitely have the looks to destroy a provincial small city!”
“You’re just a peerless beauty with pigtails and glasses!”
“E-Evan, if p-pricking doesn’t work, c-can I try b-burning?”
Kanna, don’t say scary things like that. She suggested that if I burn the skin and then apply dye and wrap it up, wouldn’t freckles appear as new skin grows? But unless I’m pricked, the dye will spread, and as a result, my face will become blotchy with burns and dye.
To my logical rebuttal, Kanna grasped my hand and spoke earnestly.
“I-I think even Evan’s face like that looks pretty!”
“No, I don’t like it.”

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