Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 213

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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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Right, this must have been built as a precaution against the apocalypse, so they probably set it up so any human could take resources from it.
“Then someone should try opening the door.”
“Me! Me! Me! I’ll do it!”
It felt like a kindergarten field trip.
The Professor, who was leading the students, called for volunteers to solve the puzzle, and Reina Letem eagerly raised her hand to seize this opportunity to encounter something new.
This puzzle should be simple enough that even a gorilla could solve it.
“If you can’t solve it, you’re a gorilla!”
“Gorilla! Gorilla!”
“Gorilla Reina!”
This really is kindergarten.
“Wow, it’s been forever! I learned this back when I played with blocks as a kid!”
Right, the children in this town discover the Pythagorean theorem through block play in infancy. I used to feel frustrated and resentful that they were always studying advanced mathematics, but thinking of this place as the distant future made it somewhat understandable.
There had been considerable mathematical progress over the centuries, and these children had received increasingly advanced education. I was an ancient person who didn’t know any better—convincing myself this way felt good.
“Ta-da!”
As Gorilla Reina clearly demonstrated that a squared plus b squared equals c squared, there was a mechanical sound and the door opened. Upon entering, a massive display screen burst forth showing a smiling human face alongside the word “Welcome” flowing in thirty-six languages.
Korean was among them. I am a proud citizen of the Republic of Korea.
“Wow, I’ve never seen these characters before!”
“Some of them resemble what we write now though.”
“Those, those round characters… they’re kind of cute.”
Kanna, that is Hangul. I am a proud citizen of the Republic of Korea.
“Since this facility was created by Old Humanity in anticipation of a world after civilization disappeared, all the instructions are expressed through pictures.”
“Hey, Old Humanity was pretty smart.”
“I, I mean, our language is completely different.”
When Gerth had carried the thousand-year-old seed, he seemed oddly grimy—perhaps the stress of deciphering pictures and diagrams affected him that way. Gerth’s hygiene was always dependent on his mental state.
“At the first checkpoint, you receive a stabilizer. Everyone swallows it, and once the medicine takes effect, the door opens.”
Gerth explained to everyone since he’d already passed through this route. Looking at the pictures hanging beside the door, there were indeed instructions to receive the medicine, take it, and then wait.
“There’s nothing harmful in it, right?”
“It’s fine. I’ve already taken it.”
Gerth had swallowed unknown pills without hesitation and come back for me… Somehow, I felt newly impressed and grateful. When I’d assumed he’d undergone some fantastical trial, I was simply grateful, but now it seemed truly remarkable. He’d swallowed a medicine with no way of knowing what strange effects it might cause.
“Everyone has water in their canteens, right? Swallow the pill with water and check that each other actually took it properly.”
Following the Professor’s instructions, we swallowed the pills and opened our mouths wide to check if the pills remained on each other’s tongues. About ten minutes later, a robotic arm extended from the ceiling and measured things like our blood pressure and heart rate.
Wow, this really is the near future. People in the year 2600 lived like this. How fascinating.
With a chime, a green light illuminated and the first checkpoint opened. Inside was a verdant garden, with hydroponic cultivation systems and robotic arms moving busily about.
Those robots have been tending plants for ten thousand years without a single human visitor? What power source are they consuming? Surely nuclear energy?
“This…!”
Everyone was just marveling when Eugene’s face flushed red and blue before he suddenly shouted at the Department Head Professor.
“You should have told us about a facility like this! You dragon bastards!”
Now that I think about it, that family has been waging war with a dragon for three hundred years just to claim fertile farmland. While producing enough food here to feed all the territory’s inhabitants would be impossible, if I took the agricultural techniques or cultivated crops that thrive on nothing but water and sunlight for mass production, there’d be no reason to remain indebted to the Imperial Court.
“My apologies. I too have never ventured this far into such a place before. The same would hold true for other dragons.”
“Why didn’t you just go in, sir!”
“Someone suddenly thrust a pill at me—how was I supposed to eat it when I was terrified?”
A fair point. The Department Head Professor always speaks with impeccable logic.
Even I wouldn’t eat something if someone shoved a pill at me claiming I had to consume it to pass through, regardless of whether it was Old Humanity or whatever. I’d sooner smash through a wall and find another passage.
Thinking about it that way, Gerth truly had lost his mind. When I asked what he was thinking eating that, the King of Beasts puffed out his chest and boasted proudly of his skill.
“My Bestial Skill taught me. That it wouldn’t be dangerous.”
“For all that, you haven’t abandoned the seven emotions and five desires.”
“Losing them wouldn’t affect my life.”
“No. I wish to mate with you, so don’t abandon them going forward.”
“I shall remember that.”
So he was truly earnest about mating. Gerth respected my will while looking astonished. I was swearing that no matter what happened, I would never choose to abandon my sexual desire, when Seian suddenly butted in and smacked my back. It felt like a feather landing on my spine.
“You little thing, why are you so interested in mating!”
“Usually the smaller ones are more interested. Besides, you and I are only one year apart.”
“One year is a huge difference! Do you know how many more meals I’ve eaten than you?!”
“If we’re being technical, I’ve probably eaten more times than you.”
“Ugh!”
Seian smacked my back repeatedly, telling me not to talk back. It tickled.
“Don’t provoke Evan so hastily, Lemon Pie. I should be first when it comes to mating.”
“Why am I Lemon Pie!”
Watching Gerth claim me and bite my head firmly while asserting I was his, it seemed Seian’s back-smacking must have looked like a courtship display to him.
What if Mother later saw him smacking my back and got the wrong idea? I explained that back-smacking between humans wasn’t a mating invitation, but Gerth remained unconvinced.
“But Evan. That fellow seemed to be enjoying himself when he hit you.”
“That’s… like how dogs or cats look cute when they nibble gently.”
“I see.”
“Indeed.”
Now that I mentioned it, Gerth nodded, recalling how Magania would nibble when excited during playtime. The dark-furred ferret shrieked indignantly, demanding why he was being treated like a cat. Well, treating a ferret like a cat would be irritating. But when the two of them fought, didn’t the cat always win?
“This looks just like a map.”
“This isn’t a map explanation, is it?”
“What are you reading that as?”
As I approached where the Professor had found it, a world map unfolded in the air. So this land truly was the same land where I once lived. It was a world map in the form I knew well.
“…The Mana Lab?”
Where the light flickered on, there it was in bold letters: ‘Mana lab.’ I had simply read it as Mana Lab because that’s what was written there, and everyone around me erupted in exclamation and praise.
“Wow, you can read this?!”
“Evan, you knew the ancient language of Old Humanity?”
“E-Evan, as expected, you’re a-amazing.”
“The student truly knows the most unusual things.”
“Evan. I’m proud of you.”
“I thought you were an idiot! But I’m seeing you in a new light now!”
Stop it, damn it. People from the old days could all read this. It’s agonizing. In those old fantasy novels, when Korean characters would suddenly appear and the protagonist would read them fluently, they’d be revered as someone with the ability to decipher ancient languages. Now I understand what it feels like to be that person.
It’s painful and mortifying. When I explained that this chair was something that could be sat on if properly assembled, it felt like being elevated to chieftain by primitive people.
“Hey, she looks uncomfortable with the praise!”
“Evan is amazing!”
“E-Evan! You’re incredible!”
“Student, that’s extraordinary. There’s probably no one else in the world who can read this.”
“Evan. I’m proud of you.”
“Your face is turning red?”
Everyone was showering me with praise, saying they’d never seen Evan like this before, which only made my face burn hotter. If there were a mouse hole nearby, I’d crawl into it.
“Student Evan, your face looks like it might burst. Stop teasing her.”
“Aw, it was just getting fun.”
“E-Evan, even like this, you’re… you’re c-cute.”
Fortunately, the Department Head Professor told them to stop, giving me time to compose myself. I huddled in a corner, wrapped my arms around myself, and focused on breathing, but then I became puzzled by the fact that what I’d just read was the Mana Lab.
Before the Third World War broke out, did Old Humanity know about the existence of mana and actually use it? Is that why they built something like a Mana Lab?
In the era I lived in, mana was something that only appeared in fantasy novels, so I couldn’t help but find it strange. What exactly is this substance called mana? Is it some unknown element that suddenly appeared in the future? Or perhaps the word “mana” was borrowed from an existing term because it allows one to wield mysterious powers. Just like how the word “electricity” comes from amber.
After taking several deep breaths and regaining my composure, I lifted my head and examined the map again. The location marked as the Mana Lab was quite far south from here. At least it doesn’t seem to be across the Sea. An elevation of 4,000 meters seems like quite high altitude, though…
“Hmm?”
As I studied the map, I discovered something both places had in common. According to the old map, both here and there were located at extremely high elevations. In my era, the Seed Storage Facility wasn’t at such heights. Had they relocated it?
There was talk about it back in my time too. Did they move it in preparation for abnormal climate patterns?

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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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