Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 227

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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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That’s true enough. The passage of time is beyond my control, so I decided to accept what I couldn’t change and move forward. I took Reina Letem and Kanna with me toward the door Eugene had discovered. The Mana Lab seemed to be much further up from here.

“We’ve climbed this high already—it’s starting to feel scary. Though we probably wouldn’t die even if we fell.”
“I can’t even see the ground anymore. We probably wouldn’t die even if we fell.”
“Stop reminding everyone that you’re not human, you demons.”
I conjured ice wings for my friends and we soared through the elevator shaft. Their comments were perfectly demonic—and understandably so. We’d descended eight kilometers, climbed back to sea level, and now had to ascend another four kilometers. The dizzying height was inevitable. My real concern was that we’d reached the top of the elevator shaft far too quickly. At my ice wings’ speed, this should have taken at least thirty more minutes, yet here we were.
“Wow! There’s nothing here!”
Exactly. All that existed was accumulated dust. This led to two possible conclusions: either Project Ursh and the Mana Lab operated as completely separate facilities, or someone had deliberately blocked the path to the Mana Lab.
“Are this place and the Mana Lab operated separately? There’s no path connecting them.”
“Or maybe it was intentionally concealed.”
After rolling around in the political schemes of the high nobility, my instincts had become disturbingly sharp.
I couldn’t simply turn back, so I proposed to my friends that I’d use an ice drill to bore through the ceiling above. If we found nothing, we’d regroup and try again later.
“Tell me if it looks like it’s going to collapse.”
“Don’t start planning your escape, Reina Letem. If rocks fall, you’re the one who needs to clear them.”
“Y-yes, Evan, fighting spirit!”
With their agreement secured, I pulled out the ice drill and spun it with a roar. Reina Letem and Eugene immediately started bickering. Reina argued that since Eugene was now the strong one, he should be the one clearing rocks. Eugene deflected by claiming he hadn’t brought his signature weapon, passing responsibility to the gorilla. These were the people destined to lead the Empire. Truly lamentable.
“You hit the mark.”
Fortunately, after drilling for a while, instead of the sound of shattering rock, I heard the sharp clang of metal striking metal. I reinforced the area with ice pillars to prepare for collapse and added boosters to the drill. With a thunderous crack, something burst through cleanly.
If the electrical wiring had been positioned differently or below, we couldn’t have counted on any lighting.
“Reina Letem. Your nose glows—take the lead.”
“Eek! I don’t want to—it’s dangerous!”
I wanted to tell her that if she didn’t like it, she should get married, but I restrained myself. I wasn’t the Department Head Professor, after all. I’d learned that kind of joke required being over fifty.
I held my tongue and sent Reina Letem ahead. She called out “Petit Inferno!” and illuminated the path.
“Ugh!”
The moment Reina Letem gagged at the front, a strange smell wafted toward us. It wasn’t a powerfully putrid stench, but something that made the stomach turn. Eugene and Kanna, apparently knowing what this was, suggested that Reina Letem and I wait here while they went ahead to investigate.
“The condition up there seems bad. Should just the two of us go check it out?”
“M-my stomach is weak, so… it’s better… if I don’t see.”
When a battlefield killer and a professional assassin recommended retreat, what kind of horror awaited us? From their words, I could guess the situation well enough. But this place had been abandoned for over ten thousand years. Whatever lay ahead was probably fossilized by now. I could probably handle it. Probably.
“I’m going.”
“Hey! Then I can’t be left behind!”
Of course not. Your nose glows—you need to guide us. When I said as much to Reina Letem, Eugene laughed but still warned us to be careful.
“If you can’t take it, come right back. Try to look around with half-closed eyes if you can.”
“Understood.”
“Aren’t you scaring us too much?”
I’d grown accustomed to the smell, but the stale air of the sealed space was something I couldn’t adjust to. The stuffiness pressed down on my chest, so when we arrived at the Mana Lab, before Reina Letem could raise her light higher, we each held a piece of ice in our mouths and took deep breaths.
With the coolness spreading through my mouth, my mood improved slightly. When I mentioned we should check our surroundings, Reina Letem raised her illumination spell higher.
“Uhhhhh…”
“Reina Letem, don’t shine so brightly. Dim the light.”
“Ugh, how horrifying.”
The source of the stench was mummified humans. Most were children, clustered near what appeared to be the entrance. They had all perished waiting for the door to open.
“It looks like they tried to escape. The facility must have sealed suddenly, trapping them all inside.”
“But there wasn’t a single adult among them.”
“Ah….”
Eugene let out a sorrowful sound as understanding dawned on him. This was the Mana Lab. A research facility would naturally be teeming with researchers. And researchers would be adults. Yet in a facility that should have been predominantly staffed by adults, there wasn’t a single adult mummy—only children.
Something catastrophic had occurred, and all the adults evacuated. Only the children couldn’t escape. The adult researchers had abandoned them. So what were these children? I could speculate endlessly.
“Could they have been slaves?”
“They might have been test subjects.”
Eugene, you truly are a denizen of this fantasy world. The fact that slavery comes to mind first says it all. While Eugene and I were discussing this place, Reina Letem was the first to surrender.
“I can’t take this anymore. I’m heading down.”
“Okay. Don’t push yourself.”
“Want me to give you wings?”
“No, jumping is faster.”
Reina Letem, the most delicately raised Demon among us, leaped down. The lights were still illuminating the interior anyway, so she wouldn’t need them anymore. Farewell, Reina.
“Are you holding up, Evan Laef?”
“E-Evan Laef, I-I’ll g-gather anything that l-looks useful, so h-head down.”
“I’m surprisingly fine.”
Even I was surprised by it. Why? Why am I fine? Did I have some auxiliary skill that maintained composure? Or was Mitchell’s psyche just incredibly resilient?
“It’s more primitive than the lower levels.”
In any case, thanks to that, I could observe my surroundings and make rational judgments.
The Mana Lab had equipment far inferior to Project Ursh. First, unlike the Seed Storage Facility or the lower levels, there was no automatic power supply, and without self-maintaining robots, the machinery was corroded. Above all, there was no ventilation.
The other facilities made me think “Wow, the future!” as someone from the 21st century. But this place felt oddly familiar. Most notably, the monitors were flat. Not holograms.
“There’s a lot of paper here?”
Yes. What truly set it apart was the sheer volume of written records. Since they weren’t digitized, the automatic translator wouldn’t help!
“Evan Laef, can you read it?”
“Only fragments here and there.”
“Then let’s just take what looks important.”
“Got it.”
In this situation, Eugene and Kanna were incredibly dependable. They moved the bodies aside and sorted through documents with practiced ease, while I stood there stupidly watching, lacking their composure.
“Eugene, Kanna. Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. We see this kind of thing all the time.”
“D-don’t mention it. Evan Laef. R-rest.”
I wouldn’t refuse then.
I crouched down on the floor, took a deep breath, and held my head. After witnessing such horrors here, I could only imagine the darkest possibilities about the Mana Lab.
It was clear to see that this wasn’t a proper facility. Yet this place had records in the Seed Storage Facility, meaning it operated globally. Perhaps the reason Old Humanity could all use mana was a privilege earned through countless sacrifices.
“Evan Laef, we’re done. Let’s go.”
“What criteria did you use to select the documents?”
“T-the p-paper quality w-was the b-best!”
An excellent choice. Then I can trust them. The quality of the paper likely indicates what’s being reported to superiors, and if it’s important enough to report upward, it must contain significant incidents.
I equipped Kanna and Eugene with ice wings, then jumped without hesitation. After descending for a while and reuniting with Reina Letem, I grasped everyone’s hands and called out the skill without wavering.
“Skill! Return!”
I hadn’t said goodbye to the Sea Dragon Couple, but that wasn’t the priority now. Everyone had lost something precious—something vital to maintaining their sanity and humanity. We needed rapid recovery. With that judgment, I returned to Serpent King’s Tower, my private domain.
“Evan!”
Gerth was waiting at the Boss Floor of Serpent King’s Tower, having sensed my return skill activation. Standing before him, I let out an inarticulate, indescribable internal scream, then bolted forward and collapsed into his embrace.
“Evan?”
Now I could finally breathe. I buried my face in Gerth’s soft, cushioned chest and shook my head vigorously. The cool, clean scent of his skin wafted up. Perfect. I desperately wanted that horrible stench from earlier to vanish from my nostrils.
“Evan. What happened?”
I didn’t want to speak. Refusing to answer, I clung to Gerth with both arms and legs, pressing my head against him as I breathed heavily. When Gerth grew flustered, Eugene stepped forward on my behalf.
“We witnessed something quite unpleasant today. Evan will recover with some rest.”

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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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