Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 209
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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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To erase my demerits, I woke early, did my morning exercises—Crowell Empire, fall to ruin! Huu!—got my attendance stamp, and rushed straight to the Magic Department Dean’s Office. It was around the time first period started, but neither I nor the Department Head Professor had classes scheduled then. I thought we could have a comfortable discussion about the future of the Demon Race, so I sought out the Professor, only to find we had a visitor who’d arrived first.
“Greetings, Academy Headmaster.”
“Hello, Headmaster.”
“You brat. Now that your identity’s revealed, you can’t even greet people properly?”
That’s a misunderstanding. Back then, I was still weak, but now I’ve become incredibly powerful, so formal speech just doesn’t come naturally anymore.
“….”
Demon King’s Charisma Details: Only God can subdue me.
I shouldn’t have checked.
I should have left it unchecked.
Regretting it slightly, I look around and sit in the executive chair—the one that looks like where the top person would sit. This is technically the Professor’s seat, but what does it matter? I outrank Ilyong anyway.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He seems to be enjoying being my superior.”
“Why is this student your superior?”
“It just happened to work out that way.”
“Mages are all crazy, I tell you.”
“Humans are nothing but dust!”
“How insignificant humans are!”
“That’s chocolate, so unwrap it and eat it.”
The Professor says it’s a gift and tastes good, so I unwrap it and put the chocolate in my mouth. It’s real chocolate, not some substitute. It tastes delicious.
“I have something to discuss regarding the Demon Kings’ policy on human extinction.”
“That works out well. Gerth will be preparing the inauguration ceremony.”
The Professor mentions that Gerth had been very enthusiastic about taking charge of the inauguration venue and catering whenever the King of Ten Thousand Demons is crowned. Well then, we could all meet and have a conference while holding the inauguration.
“You’re quite enthusiastic about human extinction.”
“It’s because there’s a time limit hanging over it.”
“Don’t you have humans among your family and friends? You plan to kill them all?”
“That’s why I’m thinking in the direction of changing the entire human race’s species. Why—my race value didn’t change when I transformed from human to Demon Race.”
“You’re choosing a difficult path.”
But the Professor seems pleased with my answer and pats my shoulder reassuringly. Since he doesn’t seem surprised, the Professor must have already considered this option. It’s not that it’s impossible—just that it’s difficult and the method was unknown, so it hasn’t been attempted until now.
“I haven’t completely abandoned it either. I just couldn’t find any clues. Where do you plan to start?”
It’s surprising that Ilyong wasn’t just playing around, but if I say that, I’ll probably get hit with gravity manipulation, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.
I’ve also come up with ideas, but couldn’t find the method, which is why I’m trying to hold this conference. However, I have thought about the direction of investigation. I hold up the heirloom of House Neftis on my hand.
“This is an artifact from my family. It’s an ancient relic that not only surpasses modern human technology but also something even Makina couldn’t create.”
“You possess something precious.”
“My family discovered this five hundred years ago, but whether it’s five hundred or five thousand years ago, it’s something that cannot be created with human technology. We thought it was created by chance through various applications of magic, but after hearing Cha Cha’s words, I changed my thinking.”
It connects spaces to each other, with one side functioning to draw things in and the other to expel them. This is something I couldn’t accomplish even with the science and technology I possessed as Gwon Yul-jeong, and it’s something even Makina cannot do now. So then, who could possibly have created it?
“If this is technology from AD 2600, before Earth’s destruction, then there’s a possibility that other devices exist capable of performing magic like changing humanity’s species.”
“So you’re pinning your hopes on Lost Technology.”
“Exactly. Even if the devices don’t exist, if we can just prove the theory does, we gather enough power and make a straight shot to the Serpent King’s Tower to travel back in time.”
“I know what that tower does. Doesn’t time travel require an astronomical amount of power?”
“We’ll figure that out when we get there!”
For now, let’s focus on what’s in front of us! I’ll leave future problems to the version of me who lives to see tomorrow!
I spoke with such confidence that Common Professor reached up and began massaging my head thoughtfully.
“Don’t strain yourself too hard. It’s something we couldn’t accomplish even over a thousand years.”
“I deeply sympathize with your incompetence.”
“You really do have a talent for inviting punishment with one extra word.”
The hand that had been stroking my head suddenly grabbed my jaw and shook it violently. My teeth rattled. This was school violence.
“Did you seek me out because of the club meeting?”
“We don’t have a headquarters, so it’s inconvenient. The East Wing is occupied by Sera, making it difficult to gather.”
“I’m aware of Bruno’s Dungeon—it’s relatively safer.”
Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted. I decided to establish the “Future Planning Club Branch 2” and submitted the club registration form. Since I made Common Professor the advisor, he could join us too, and I chose the basement of the Engineering College building in the General Studies Department as our location. They say there’s a dungeon there called “Bruno’s Inverted Tower”….
‘Bruno’s Inverted Tower’, which I received an access permit and card key from the professor, was in the shape of an inverted pyramid. It is said that it was built as a bomb shelter in case of an emergency, so everything necessary for daily life is provided, but to color it with our own colors, friends gathered in front of the engineering school building with their own belongings.
After receiving access permits and a keycard from the professor, Bruno’s Inverted Tower revealed itself as an upside-down pyramid structure. Built as a fallout shelter for emergencies, it came equipped with everything necessary for living, but to make it our own, my friends gathered in front of the Engineering College building, each carrying their belongings.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff!”
Someone was gasping desperately—probably from the high elevation. Eugene, myself, Reina, and Kanna were all fine, but Seian, with his frail frame, was struggling with this uphill climb.
“Hey, what—huff! The East—huff! This—huff!”
“Stop talking. You’ll die like that.”
“Next time, tell me. I’ll carry you up.”
“Hey, huff! Treat me—huff! Like an invalid—huff!”
Seian, you have less stamina than a sickly old man, so you should just listen to Eugene. I teased Seian to get a rise out of him, but the guy was too breathless to even respond, just wheezing away. He was pathetic.
“Was there—huff—a basement under the Engineering—huff—building?”
“Apparently so. I was surprised too.”
How many dungeons has Bruno created on Academy grounds that don’t even belong to him? I’d always wondered why there were strange slopes everywhere and why the Engineering College was positioned at such an abnormally high elevation, but it turned out to be all the work of Duke Zibenstein.
Well, if the Department Head Professor can use gravity magic, tunnel construction would be easy enough.
“Open sesame!”
I swiped my keycard at the steel door marked “Authorized Personnel Only” and entered. The Labyrinth Dungeon I’d seen before used warping and magical teleportation, but this one felt very sci-fi. The steel door slid open with a whine, revealing an endless escalator descending below.
“Wow!”
As we descended, a landscape where everything stood upside-down unfolded before us. Where the Engineering College floor met this space, a park-like area had been constructed—trees, benches, everything embedded upside-down—and at the center of the vast cavern floated a sphere of light for photosynthesis.
“What a waste of money!”
“The Zibenstein Duchy really does have deep pockets.”
“Using all those magical artifacts like this.”
Ha—this bastard really is insane. We cursed Duke Zibenstein thoroughly and arrived at our destination. As we reached the bottom of the escalator, an identical park hung inverted above us, now oriented correctly.
Water had dripped from above and connected to the fountain below. Something about it felt… philosophical.
“Hey, this place is better than the old East Wing!”
“W-we can even take forest baths, I suppose.”
“Underground ones, though.”
As we explored the park and searched for spaces to claim as our own rooms, a security golem suddenly burst forth with a shrill beeping sound, threatening us. I fired a single shot of mana-infused ammunition—bang—shattering the golem into pieces and destroying its mana stone to halt its operation. Eugene, characteristically brute-force about it, ripped up a streetlamp and bludgeoned the golem with it.
And Reina Letem, the most rational among our gathered group, used petit transmutation to erase the letter ‘e’ from the word ’emeth’ inscribed on the golem’s lower body, leaving only ‘meth’—death—which stopped its movement entirely.
“Honestly, you brutes.”
How irritating.
“Gorillas, the lot of you.”
“Acting like gorillas.”
“Intelligent gorillas, at that.”
We cursed Reina as we continued exploring the underground, eventually discovering the largest chamber and designating it as our communal rest room. Being underground, the temperature remained naturally stable—we wouldn’t need heating or cooling.
“Now that I think about it.”
Eugene had apparently brought an enormous load with him—it turned out to be a modular pool table. The man assembled it with a series of clanks and clatters, then posed a question to me.
“Why has the Dragon King been so quiet lately? There haven’t even been dispatches about fighting in Brandenburg.”
Ah, that. I knew the reason. The Dragon King had changed, and with no one in charge there, there was no decision-maker capable of starting wars or anything else.
“Did you learn this through Gerth? Has something unusual happened within the Demon Race?”
“Something unusual has indeed occurred.”
“What kind of change?”
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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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