Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 211
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Hmm… so this is going to be my home from now on.
“Gerth. Where’s Hubert?”
“I’ll bring him.”
Regardless, Hubert had to be the root cause of everything. For the past two years, he hadn’t laid a single foundation stone for my house, but the moment I became the King of Ten Thousand Demons, he’d rushed to construct the Demon King Castle.
“Mother! Do you like the castle?”
A nine-tailed white fox demi-human came bounding toward me with a radiant smile. I rolled my shoulders to loosen up and took a ready stance to lift my opponent.
“Mother!”
As Hubert leaped toward me for an embrace, I grabbed his collar and arm, twisted my body, and executed a clean shoulder throw. With a sound like the earth splitting apart, Hubert crashed into the ground.
“Have all the other Demon Kings arrived?”
“Ilyong hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Let’s go inside and wait.”
I wasn’t entirely pleased with it, but since the castle was already built, I’d make good use of it. I led my group toward the interior of the Demon King Castle.
Makina explained why the moat’s water was red. During the Demon King Castle construction, they’d destroyed the surrounding area and discovered iron ore. Since they were constantly manufacturing various machines, they needed plenty of iron, so they’d built processing lines and blast furnaces for self-supply. As a result, iron flowed heavily into the nearby river, turning it red.
So that’s why my house felt unusually hot and there were constant clanking sounds. I wondered if someone had been deeply inspired by the Lord of the Rings. I half-joked that orcs were probably forging weapons in Sauron’s Tower, the tallest of the thirteen spires.
Ha ha.
“Makina. What’s that thing that looks like a human-powered generator?”
「It is a human-powered generator.」
So those contraptions that looked like they’d generate electricity if people spun them around—the ones that demon king castle slaves were always spinning in fantasy settings—were actually real human-powered generators. But why did we have one?
When I asked out of curiosity, the Machine King answered clearly.
「Every Demon King Castle usually has one!」
Apparently, they’d set up space in the first-floor hall specifically to create one for atmosphere. I called out to Samryong.
“Former Dragon King! Samryong, are you here? Samryong!”
“Yeah! Ice Heart! I’m right here!”
I knew he’d be here. As the former Dragon King, he’d probably be worried about whether the new Dragon King could handle things. I asked Samryong to make me a Phillips-head screwdriver, then grabbed Makina and loosened all the screws on his body by spinning them. Every time Makina moved, he made creaking and squeaking sounds.
「Kyaaaaaaaaaah!」
“I’m using my command authority. Don’t tighten any screws for the rest of today.”
「Kyaaaaaaaaaah!」
Makina wailed about how such a terrible punishment could exist. He complained about the rattling bothering him, worrying about losing screws, and his legs trembling.
I didn’t care.
“Where’s the conference hall?”
“The banquet hall comes first, Your Majesty, King of Ten Thousand Demons.”
Gerth had been calling me “King of Ten Thousand Demons” so formally since earlier—was I being too self-conscious about it?
Anyway, this was supposed to double as my inauguration ceremony. Without much thought, I headed to the banquet hall and, upon witnessing the feast of colorful dishes arranged on every table, I shouted with all my might.
“Wow! A buffet!”
Did Gerth make all of this? He must have. That’s why he’d been so formal all day—a buffet made by Gerth was so precious and noble that I felt tears welling up.
“There’s even tteokbokki!”
I grabbed a plate and quickly moved around, stacking food like mountains. There was Korean cuisine, Western cuisine, sushi—everything imaginable. In one corner, Mino was grilling Ulleung-style charcoal-grilled short ribs, so I waited and took one serving, then climbed onto the platform while stabbing at the food with my fork.
“Mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble.”
“The inaugural address of the first King of Ten Thousand Demons, Your Majesty.”
Gerth really did seem to be calling me King of Ten Thousand Demons consistently.
I accepted the microphone, swallowed my food, and surveyed the banquet hall. My friends were engaged in a fierce struggle over Gerth’s cooking, while Sunbird seemed delighted with the lotus leaf porridge, blowing on it and savoring each bite. Samryong hadn’t come alone—he’d brought along beings with the gleaming appearance of polymorphed dragons. Near the banquet hall entrance, the Department Head Professor, who had arrived late, waved at me. Everyone had finally gathered.
“I am Evan Laef, who has become King of Ten Thousand Demons. Thank you for the seventy-one percent support.”
Emphasizing that I had become King of Ten Thousand Demons through the support of many, I raised a glass of omija punch that Leri had prepared and declared my aspirations.
“Now that I am King of Ten Thousand Demons, there will be no more haphazard methods of human extinction. Before I die, I will absolutely annihilate humanity!”
As I raised a toast and downed the omija punch in one shot, applause erupted. Mother and Thomas seemed bewildered, but fortunately Titi explained it well to them.
“Ah, so Evan has finally become the king of the Demon Race?”
“Young lady, I always knew you’d succeed even without inheriting that Duke’s House!”
“But you’re going to annihilate humanity—doesn’t that mean we all die too?”
“We all have to die eventually anyway, so what does it matter?”
“Ha ha ha ha! That’s true enough!”
Thomas chuckled, saying Eleanor really was refreshingly bold. I’d thought about it before, but Mother’s attitude toward life was always mysterious to me. It made sense that someone like her would punch my back, throw a punch at Duke Neftis, and hurl curses at the Duchess. Perhaps the true incarnation of shamelessness was actually our mother.
“Then, to celebrate the inauguration of King Evan of Ten Thousand Demons, we have a performance by the Dekarucha Copy Band.”
What is that?
Gerth, dressed impeccably, introduced it matter-of-factly, and people wearing the same torn vinyl suits we’d worn during our first performance took the stage and began playing.
There were gleaming humanoid figures that seemed to be polymorphed dragons mixed in—had they come all this way on a business trip for this performance? They performed “The Rain That Never Ends,” Dekarucha’s signature song, with exaggerated choreography, though Reina’s stick tricks while drumming were portrayed remarkably well.
“Sera didn’t perform standing microphone work quite that aggressively, did she?”
“Hey, I don’t twirl the sticks that much, do I?”
“And I’ve never pretended to be that lethal either.”
The original Dekarucha members present each chimed in, but it seemed other people’s eyes perceived it as genuinely that way. Samryong would normally complain that it was overdone, but he said nothing. And Seian, you do have a habit of playing the piano while pretending to be lethal.
“I think we should probably tell Sera not to break the microphone.”
“I should stop twirling the sticks.”
“But I really never pretended to be lethal!”
While everyone was reflecting on themselves, Seian protested indignantly, asking when he’d ever stared with wide eyes and gazed wistfully at the keyboard. Then everyone, led by Eugene, condemned Seian.
“Your Majesty is always like that.”
“I, I agree.”
“The transparent Crown Prince, he tends to get intoxicated on his own charm.”
“Artists all have that side to them. Performers usually express themselves that way. I don’t think it’s bad.”
“I like how you are. Have confidence in yourself.”
Seian screamed in protest, apparently genuinely unaware. Come to think of it, I too had a tendency to act solemnly cool, though not to the extent of others.
I reflected briefly and tried to move the gathering to the conference hall. But as the song ended, the dragons, led by Samryong, cried out for Dekarucha.
“Dekarucha!”
“Dekarucha! Dekarucha!”
“We want to see the original performance! Please come out just once, King of Ten Thousand Demons!”
With not only the dragons but even the Serpent King’s Tower Officials requesting it, I sought my friends’ consent and decided to perform briefly. Though Sera, our vocalist, was absent, we could create the right atmosphere if we all sang together.
Though the copy band had performed it earlier, we had practiced “The Rain That Never Ends” the most and knew it best, so the original Dekarucha chose the same song.
“Since this is a good opportunity, we’ll perform just one song. I hope you enjoy it.”
We began the song, and cheers erupted in the small banquet hall. Mostly the dragons’ cries, and Samryong was even weeping.
“See? I told you Ice Heart does everything well.”
Then I made some incomprehensible noise, stood at the very front, and shook my head. Encores started pouring in, but if I sang a second song, I felt like all these lunatics would collectively lose their Polymorph control, so I decided to stop.
I couldn’t bring myself to destroy the brand-new house that had just been completed today.
◇ ◆ ◇
After the inauguration ceremony concluded, I headed toward the Conference Hall, and sure enough, the gloomy Demon King Castle Conference Hall decorated with black marble as its base came into view. I gave Hubert a Cobra Twist before taking my seat at the head of the table.
When I instructed the Demon Kings to be seated, the Machine King, Serpent King, Dragon King, Puppet King, Flame King, and Poison King each took their places. Makina, the Machine King, whose body was far too small for the chair and was sitting on top of the table instead, raised his hand to request speaking privileges and asked me a question.
「But why are we gathered here?」
It wasn’t just Makina who was curious—everyone seemed puzzled, as Gerth, Reina, and Kanna all asked me why I had summoned them. Then Sunbird, the Puppet King, stood up with a serious expression.
“Aren’t we here to discuss the direction of humanity’s extinction? Did you all come without knowing anything?”
When Sunbird cried out that this was supposed to be a discussion forum on how to turn all of humanity into a different species rather than human, those who had gathered without knowing anything regarded me with admiration, impressed that I harbored such thoughts.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————