Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 199

—————

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

—————

“Mmm, refreshing.”
Upon arriving at a place teeming with green substance, Cha Cha spoke with evident pleasure as though enjoying a forest bath, while Gerth and Samryong coughed up blood in succession. I had warned them it was dangerous to follow.
「Whoa! Master! The needle’s spinning completely wild!」
The measuring device had gone haywire entirely. But that lasted only briefly—as time passed, it stabilized and the needle resumed its earlier pattern, oscillating right and left repeatedly.
From this, I arrived at a single hypothesis. Could Cha Cha possess some function to purify radioactive material?
“Why does such a creature even exist?”
It was strange that the Underworld was a radiation paradise, strange that Cha Cha was a radiation-purifying lifeform, and strangest of all that a radiation-purifying lifeform was sealed within a barrier preventing it from leaving the radiation paradise. At this point, it felt intentional.
“Mother told me I’m a life necessary to the world!”
Whether Cha Cha interpreted my muttering as a question or not, he shared the story of when Mother gave birth to him. At first, it was desolate land where not even a single blade of grass grew, but then massive ferns and dinosaurs began roaming about. When Cha Cha expressed his desire to have many friends like himself with whom he could communicate, Mother simply hurled a meteorite into the Surface World to create new geological layers, restructured the Underworld’s boundaries, and thus created humanity.
“So there was nothing at the beginning? It’s like a creation myth.”
“No no! There was a time when there were lots of humans before nothing existed! He said the Third World War basically destroyed everything!”
“….”
Could this Third World War be the one following the Second World War I knew about? I asked when that was, just in case, and Cha Cha said he remembered it precisely and gave me the date.
“AD 2609!”
That AD must refer to the Common Era. No matter how I thought about it, there was only the Common Era. But why would those lunatics wage a third world war in 2609?! Wait, could it be… is it possible… could I have actually time-slipped rather than transmigrated into a novel? Ten thousand years into the future?!
“Cha Cha, what exactly does your mother do?!”
“Uh, when she takes human form she’s kinda scary. But her true form is super cute! Yeah, she looks like the Machine King!”
She has a true form and a separate human form? What in the world is this Mother Goddess doing? Growing increasingly confused, I ranted “What exactly is her true form!” when Samryong calmly raised his hand and said he’d seen Mother’s true form before.
“We’ve seen it. Ilyong brought us to her.”
During dragons’ characteristic linear movement, Samryong and Iyongi have their limits in flight, but the Department Head Professor, being a gravity user, simply jumps up to catch a glimpse from a distance whenever he wants to see Mother. Learning this fact, Iyongi and Samryong called it unfair and asked to go together, so the Professor picked a day, took them both, and flew off while struggling.
“So Mother’s form is probably….”
How convenient that Samryong has talent in sculpture. Using his specialty of draconic metalcraft, he kneaded the silvery metal this way and that, then fashioned an object I’d definitely seen before.
“Wow! It’s Mother!”
“This is my first time seeing her true form.”
「This form is new to me too. She really does look like me.」
That’s a satellite, isn’t it? Mother Goddess is a satellite? One that operated until the Common Era 2609? How did a satellite become a goddess?!
“Wow! I have no idea what’s going on!”
My mind reeling, I grabbed my head and thrashed about, while Samryong and Gerth coughed and suffered their second bout of hemoptysis. Come to think of it, both were in critical condition.
“We haven’t been here long, but we should probably head back. I think we need to show these patients to Apet.”
“Wait a second!”
Cha Cha, who had graciously agreed that the sick came first, was about to see us off when he remembered something and called out to the Machine King.
“Make me a radio! I want to talk to Evan whenever I want!”
「I can make it, but to connect it, I’d have to stay constantly attached to Master…」
“Just do it! Do it, do it! If we’re always together anyway, just make it!”
Makina despised being constantly at my side, but when Cha Cha threw a tantrum, he relented and said he’d make it and leave it. Everyone seems weak to Cha Cha no matter what they say. Did Mother Goddess ask them to listen well to Cha Cha when she created him?
“Hmm….”
What if this world is a point in time far removed from the present I lived in? Then is the novel “Twilight’s Repentance” a record of future events? A prophecy? And that thing from the news right before I lost consciousness—about a tower appearing in the middle of the city. That was the Serpent King’s Tower, wasn’t it?
That makes sense. The Serpent King’s Tower is a spatio-temporal displacement device, after all. It requires astronomical amounts of energy, so currently it can only manage spatial displacement, but what if it gained power through some catalyst and jumped through time? That’s actually quite plausible, isn’t it?
Well, not that pondering this does me any good right now.
“Gerth.”
I climbed the staircase leading to the Surface World, escorted by the Panda Butler, Makina, and Cha Cha. Since both Gerth and Samryong were weakened, I supported them with one arm each, and suddenly I remembered something I hadn’t resolved earlier, so I made the proposal again.
“Once we reach the surface and get treated by Apet, let’s get married.”
Of course, I’d need to divorce Apet safely first and secure Seian’s safety from the Sung King, but I rambled on regardless. Gerth merely blinked his eyelids without answering. Instead, Cha Cha behind us howled tremendously, pounding against the barrier.
“Nooooo! Me! Marry me! You said you’d marry me!”
You said you’d consider it, but you never gave a definitive yes to marriage. Besides, it would be a hassle to go up to the surface and come back down just to marry Cha Cha. Surely surface dwellers should marry other surface dwellers, shouldn’t they?
“If you look back while climbing the stairs, they say you can’t escape the Underworld. Everyone, keep your eyes forward.”
“Evan! Hey! Look here! Look at me! Why did you say you’d marry me if you were going to do this! You marriage fraud!”
I never said I’d marry you, though.
“Waaaaaah! You said pomegranate tart was the prettiest! Fraud! Fraud!”
Cha Cha wept. I walked on silently. Once we reached the surface through the warp, Samryong cursed me as a heartless bastard.
“Evan.”
What now? Was Gerth going to curse me too? I was prepared to accept any insult if it meant he’d agree to marry me, but the man said something unexpected.
“You’re a minor.”
And so I was rejected by Gerth.

◇ ◆ ◇

After receiving treatment from Apet and spending time in Sungkuk Kingdom, I tried to convince Gerth, but he remained firm. He wouldn’t marry me under any circumstances while I was a minor. I considered revealing my limited lifespan to him, but I hesitated because I worried Gerth would be hurt if he learned I wanted to marry him because of it.
If I proposed to Samryong instead, he’d probably refuse. If I went to the Department Head Professor and proposed, Gerth would genuinely be furious. I’d probably look like someone obsessed with marriage.
I had a year’s deadline anyway, and I only needed to wait seven months to escape my juvenile status… Should I just suggest we do it after that? It’s not like I’ll die if I don’t marry immediately.
“Gerth. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“If it’s about marriage, it’s impossible as long as you’re a minor.”
There were pressing matters to handle anyway, and compromise was the only option for now. I made my decision and proposed to Gerth.
“Evan Laef was born on July 7th. I’ll become an adult in seven months.”
“I see.”
“So let’s get married in seven months.”
“Very well.”
When I suggested getting married after becoming an adult, Gerth nodded quite easily. He shrugged as if relieved, his face slightly flushed with excitement.
“Will we do it the human way like the previous Evan did? Or at the Serpent King’s Tower?”
“If circumstances allow, we should do both. We’ll invite my human friends to the Townhouse, and at the Tower we’ll invite Mother, my siblings, the villagers, and the Demon Race.”
“That’s a good idea.”
My opinions are always reasonable. That’s why I made such good use of Samryong this time.
Having come all the way to Sungkuk Kingdom, I had Samryong transform into a dragon and occupy half of it, took the citizens hostage, and sat down at the negotiation table with the Sung King.
I told her that if she didn’t want to see a dragon holding half the kingdom, she should leave Seian alone, not covet Apet’s position, and just manage the Divine Altar. The woman grabbed my collar, went on about killing or sparing me, and eventually signed the agreement.
Well, there were various complications, but wasn’t it ultimately thanks to me that we reunited with Apet and uncovered the cause of the Land of Death? When I told the Sung King to thank me, she trembled and cursed me. Apet’s grandfather looked pitiful toward the Sung King and cursed me as trash.
When I told him to stay in Sungkuk Kingdom if he felt so sorry for the Sung King, the old man clung to me and insisted we return to the Empire. Since I seemed willing to divorce him without complaint, he desperately wagged his tail at me.
After using Return to go back to the Serpent King’s Tower, I said goodbye to Gerth right away. Gerth said he’d prepare diligently for the wedding over the next seven months, and I resolved to do my best with my duties. When I arrived in Crownpolis to handle the divorce proceedings with Apet and other matters, my siblings, who had been waiting at the hotel, welcomed me along with a mountain of tasks.
While my father stepped back from the front lines because of the Duchess Neftis, my siblings—stripped of their home—were toiling away in a hotel owned by strangers with virtually no security or protection.
The fact that the hotel belonged to Letem suggested that Reina Letem had pulled some strings to help, but the thought of Duke Neftis abandoning his household duties and clinging only to his wife kindled a burning rage within me.

—————

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

—————