Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 205

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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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“Now, step back a little, would you?”
“Why? Are you saying you won’t stop whining unless you’re in Sera’s arms?”
“Stop with the disgusting jokes.”
I hoisted the kidnapped Sunbird onto my shoulder and arrived at the Secret Club I frequented often. I ordered him cabbage juice while I got myself a peach juice.
“Where exactly did the name Puppet King come from?”
“You’re moving Sera and Seian around like marionettes, aren’t you? It’s a fitting name.”
I praised myself for coming up with it, saying nothing could be better, then removed my crown and placed it on the table. Wearing it continuously was surprisingly heavy.
“Why did you find me?”
“The time limit hasn’t disappeared.”
I got straight to the point.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“I thought you’d know.”
“So why?”
“You lied to me at Serpent King’s Tower, didn’t you?”
Back then, Sera was present, and I let it slide, but it was strange that the content of the time limit was different. I received a time limit to obtain ownership of Serpent King’s Tower, while Sunbird claimed he received a time limit saying he’d die if he didn’t defeat the Serpent King.
That was clearly a lie. But how could Sunbird have made such a claim, and how did the timing align so perfectly with when I received my time limit? My suspicion began then.
“You knew everything.”
“….”
“That Chosen Ones with matching birth months and days become candidates for the King of All Demons, that time limits appear around that time—you knew all of it. That’s why you could act that way. Going to Serpent King’s Tower with me then was probably to confirm whether I was definitely on the King of All Demons route.”
During the Machine King’s time, I could tell that time limit notifications were sent to me, Reina Letem, and Kanna. It was quite possible that this first notification was delivered to all eligible candidates.
Among the three of us, since I consumed the Machine King’s power source, the numbers were narrowed down. When it came the Serpent King’s turn, only I received a time limit. Thinking about it that way, everything fit.
“I don’t see why I should tell you.”
“I’ll use my authority to punish you.”
“That’s surprisingly non-binding.”
“See? You know again.”
Whether the King of All Demons’ punishment authority had binding force or not was something only someone who had used the skill itself or a god could know.
I formed a hypothesis. For example, Serpent King’s Tower is a space-time displacement device, but with insufficient power, it can only move through space. Sunbird is someone with spatial movement abilities. What if his skill evolved to allow him to move through time as well?
“Are you a regressor?”
“….”
“If you experienced a future where you became the King of All Demons and returned to the past, your actions make sense. Were you trying to pass it on to someone else?”
“I’d say you got about one-thousandth of it right.”
“Hmm.”
There must be more secrets, but it’s confirmed he’s a regressor. Sunbird once became the King of All Demons, and for some reason—whether humanity’s extinction was too difficult or something else—he returned to the past. And he made someone else become the King of All Demons, and ultimately I became the King of All Demons.
Then hadn’t he achieved his goal? Why was he still hiding something? That’s what I wanted to know.
“If you were trying to pass on the King of All Demons, haven’t you achieved your goal?”
“My goal hasn’t been achieved.”
“What is your goal?”
“I’m unable to disclose that information.”
The brat was infuriating. Evan grew so irritated watching Sunbird that she struck him with her fist.
“Ow!”
“Regardless of your objective, you could die before achieving it. You need to be cooperative.”
“If I could return to the past, wouldn’t I simply revert now and be done with it?”
“Yet you’re persisting, aren’t you? If we assume the number of reversions isn’t just one or two, then few would have progressed this far. This opportunity is too valuable to waste.”
That’s why you endure—dragged away from Sera’s side, beaten as I strike you—yet you remain. When Evan pointed this out, Aten Polat flinched as if struck where it hurt, falling silent.
“I see. It’s you who’s desperate, isn’t it?”
Evan laughed. No matter what scenario unfolded, only Sunbird—who carried all the memories—would suffer the consequences.
If the current timeline where Evan existed continued unbroken while Sunbird alone deviated and returned to the past, that would be merely one possibility among countless others, irrelevant to Evan’s present. She could simply continue living, resolving her terminal condition as she always had.
And if we assume a second scenario where everyone’s time, including Evan’s, reverted—whether Evan, who had been Kwon Yul-jeong, could fuse with Mitchell Neftis again remained unknown. More importantly, Evan would have no awareness of time reversing. Living in ignorance meant no suffering. Only Aten Polat, who remembered everything, would endure the pain.
“That’s… irrefutable.”
Evan had seen through it all. Considering the man’s usual temperament, she’d at least break even by merely surviving. The man, whose lips trembled at the mere thought of what cruelties might await him, couldn’t believe his eyes when Evan let out a dismissive snort.
“I don’t know what your objective is, but stake everything on me. While I’m at it, I’ll solve your problem too.”
“…Pardon?”
“It means trust me.”
“So, um… yes?”
“Damn it, now I’m angry again.”
Remembering the day she’d been betrayed and Evan Laef’s execution had been carried out, Evan’s rage flared anew, and she struck Sunbird’s head once more.
“I haven’t forgiven you. I’ll torment you for life. Prepare yourself to be used for the rest of your existence.”
“Well, that’s…”
Aten Polat’s heart wavered. He had failed countless times. This time, he held little hope. Yet this person had accomplished this much alone, without any assistance. Wasn’t there at least some possibility? Despite his wholehearted devotion thus far, few had ever reached the seat of King of Ten Thousand Demons.
The man, nearly moved to tears, squeezed his eyes shut and endured. He wouldn’t cry. He had to succeed in not crying.
“I’ve devoted my entire life to Sera.”
He endured. He still couldn’t quite believe it. But if he could relax and rely on Evan, everything would become easier. Thinking of that, tears threatened again.
“I have no interest in your worthless self either.”
“…”
Sunbird, who had been attempting something like emotion, bit his lip hard. He mustn’t believe, even unto death. He must never surrender his heart to this woman, not even in death. Though Sunbird had already closed his heart’s door and entered a defensive stance, Evan, who didn’t know when to stop after starting, clenched her fist and launched into a passionate tirade.
“In half a year, Gerth will be in my hands—why would your pathetic self ever catch my eye!”
“You’re absolutely right! Could we please stop talking about my body!”
“You need to know your place! How dare you, some withered famine crop, try to compare yourself to someone as desirable as Gerth!”
“I concede! I understand! I am a famine crop! Now tell me what you need!”
“Right.”
So she was willing to hear him out. Evan drank her peach juice contentedly, while Sunbird, caught up in her whirlwind, clutched his aching stomach and sipped cabbage juice. Watching her show such subtle consideration made it clear why Seian and Gerth and everyone else had fallen for her.
“I became King of Ten Thousand Demons, but my terminal condition wasn’t lifted.”
“To be precise, were you given explicit instructions to become king?”
“Huh?”
Watching Evan make primitive sounds—”huh? uh?”—like some caveman, Sunbird bit his lip again. How had someone like this become a demon king?
“Don’t you remember the exact wording? It seems the conditions may not have been fully met.”
“Hmm…”
Evan carefully retraced her memories and recalled that the status window had never actually demanded she become the King of All Demons. It had definitely mentioned something about recognition.
“It said to receive the recognition of the Mother Goddess.”
“Recognition?”
“Being recognized as humanity’s savior, being recognized as the King of All Demons—examples like that were listed.”
“It seems the Goddess has not yet recognized you as the King of All Demons, Evan.”
Damn gods and their status windows—everything so arbitrary, Evan cursed, and Sunbird nodded as if he understood her frustration.
“Wouldn’t it be better to try everything listed as an example? Something might work out.”
“Fine, daughter-in-law and King of All Demons. But how do we become humanity’s savior?”
“Hmm….”
The man pondered Evan’s question seriously and reached the conclusion that they would need to clear the prerequisite first. He forgot that his companion was Evan Laef, possessed of ruthless momentum, and spoke his mind too easily.
“Wouldn’t humanity need to be completely destroyed first to be saved?”
“Ooh!”
Evan patted Sunbird on the shoulder. She gave him a thumbs up and praised him as Sera’s strategist.
“If humanity is destroyed, that aligns perfectly with the King of All Demons’ goals. So it all connects.”
“Evan, I was just throwing that out there?”
“Things are about to get busy.”
“Evan! Evan, why are you getting up? Where are you going! Don’t go!”
Sunbird grabbed Evan’s waist and shouted frantically that this wasn’t it. Evan was clearly taking humanity’s destruction lightly. Sera was human, Cecilia was human, Seian was human. Eugene, Evan’s friend, was human, and the Nanny, who had been held hostage by Cecilia, was human too.
Would it be acceptable if they all died? Did she truly desire such an ending? As the man spoke desperately, Evan made primitive sounds again. “Uh? Uh?”
“Wouldn’t it work if all humans disappeared?”
“Y-yes. That’s right?”
“Then couldn’t we just replace them with other beings? Like the Demon Race?”
“W-well…. Yes?”

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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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