Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 250
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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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I’d thought my grades would crash spectacularly, but it seemed I could afford to be cautiously optimistic. This summer, a cold had swept through campus with such ferocity that a third of the student body ended up hospitalized, drastically reducing the number of people actually taking the exams.
Heaven truly helps those who help themselves. Since most lectures used relative grading, once I buried all those who’d missed the final exam at the bottom of the curve, I figured I could scrape together a B at least.
I’d been attending morning exercise sessions faithfully too, so I could probably rack up a demerit or two before the break ended. Everything was proceeding smoothly. Buoyed by this sense of order and peace, I set out for Sharit Bay with the old sage and Makina. The Sea Dragon Couple had become such familiar faces that their young seahorse offspring now felt like my own nephews and nieces.
“Finish your business and come straight home. If anything seems dangerous, drop it immediately. Otherwise, I’ll break your limbs myself and drag you back.”
“I’m quite sturdy. How exactly would you manage that?”
“Hehehehe.”
The old sage, insisting that strength alone doesn’t define a person, had Makina whip up something in no time. The Machine King, fashioning something familiar-looking from the satellite research facility’s scrap materials, flipped a switch, pulled a cord, and with a whirring sound, wielded an arm that had transformed into a chainsaw.
“Wouldn’t that cut them off rather than break them?”
“What do you take me for? I’m Apet.”
The old sage confidently assured me that as long as there was breath in a body—even someone who’d crossed into the Underworld—he could bring them back, and that reattaching limbs was child’s play for him.
So you’re just another healer after all. That philosophy of “as long as there’s breath, that’s enough” is the exclusive domain of healers. It’s like when a dentist tells you to raise your hand if something hurts, then just confirms the pain exists and says “yes, yes, it does hurt” without actually doing anything about it.
My body has the property of being impervious to piercing, so that thing wouldn’t embed properly anyway, but if he forced it in, it would hurt like hell. I cursed Apet’s chilling logic, took flight on ice wings, and surveyed the mountain peak. The mana amplifier seemed to be indoors. I couldn’t find it outside.
“I hope the device isn’t in the Mana Research Institute.”
“Was it that horrifying when you saw it before?”
“I don’t mind seeing it again, but the smell is stuck in my nose.”
The stench of desiccated corpses clung to my nostrils like powder. Powder. As I kept saying “powder” to describe it, Apet smacked me repeatedly, telling me to stop. Being hit by a chestnut-sized being was always oddly pleasant.
I was giggling while taking the old sage’s blows when the Machine King called me a pervert. The old sage seemed confused about why I was supposedly perverted.
“Why is our predecessor a pervert?”
「You wouldn’t understand, kid.」
“I’m over three hundred years old.”
「I’m a thousand! Call me older sister!」
“Never thought I’d gain an older sister at this age.”
As Apet chuckled about the benefits of living long, Makina also laughed, saying she’d never met a human who’d lived that long. The old sages really did have it good, living so long.
“You should think about living even one more year, instead of just charging in recklessly. That’s a terrible habit.”
“I never wanted to develop this habit. My terminal condition drove me to this point.”
“Tsk, the Mother Goddess surely has her reasons for all of this.”
Religious folk always said things like that whenever anything happened. I confirmed the old sage had finished his prayers, then refroze the sea I’d previously split apart and visited Sharit. We chatted about how the children were growing, peeled and ate the fruit I’d brought, and then headed to the Satellite Research Institute.
To save time, we decided to split up and search for the mana amplifier across different floors. While the others searched their respective levels, I quietly made my way to the Mother Goddess’s automated response system. The connection was stable and never dropped, but…
“This is why it’s stuck in a constant DDoS state.”
Once connected to a summoning location, the connection to the deity apparently persisted indefinitely unless intentionally severed. Processing the simultaneous status window access of a billion people and the Priesthood’s constant inquiries would inevitably lead to resource exhaustion.
Was there currently no way to communicate directly with the Mother Goddess’s AI core?
What happens if an individual uses a skill while standing on a mana amplification dispersal device?
I typed the question into the floating keyboard before me. If I’d asked this while with my friends, I would’ve gotten some serious looks, so I’d let it slide then. But seeing the response come back, I was glad I hadn’t asked.
Legendary Skills can be used in Amplified Diffusion. A Legendary Skill embodies the user’s identity, purpose, and symbol. The Skill dissipates along with its user.
What is the definition of dissipation? Is it death?
Dissipation. To vanish and cease to exist from memory, history, and time. It is a different concept from death.
The Sharing Skill I possess was a Rare Skill, wasn’t it? Moreover, it’s the kind that can’t be leveled through experience, so it was a realm I couldn’t obtain through effort. If I could willfully use Mitchell Neftis’s Fusion Skill, I could experiment by mixing various Skills together.
In any case, I have no choice but to search for another method. I thought this one had the highest probability of success.
I was about to leave and search for a Mana Amplifier when I recalled Cha Cha’s sudden growth, so I asked the automated response system.
Chahelantropsus Chadensis has suddenly grown. Is there no problem with his health?
The growth of a Prototype indicates a limit to lifespan. It is recommended to relocate him to a safe location to spend his remaining years. Has a new purification concept been transferred to the current Underworld area? (Y/N)
“….”
This is serious trouble. I don’t quite understand what that last sentence means, but one thing is clear—Cha Cha’s lifespan has run out. When he was small, I left him alone because he said he felt energized near radiation, but in his current state, I can’t keep him in the Underground, can I?
The only reason he’s still functioning properly is thanks to the shield magic he possesses, and he’s probably continuously being exposed to radiation in the Underground, steadily consuming what little lifespan he has left.
N.
Since there’s no other lifeform besides Cha Cha capable of purifying the Underground, I pressed N for now. Surprisingly, the automated response system then requested a meeting with me.
Come meet me.
Are you telling me to go by spaceship?
Unable to understand the question. Using clear terminology will allow for faster resolution. Ex) Urshya, repair the Barrier Wall in the Underworld. / Urshya, what is the origin of your name? / I’m going for a drive, play some exciting music.
“Ugh, then how am I supposed to ask!”
Frustrated, I threw some shadow punches to blow off steam, then calmed myself and thought carefully. Clearly, in a sentence that would fit in an automated response system, let’s see….
How do I meet you?
Consult with the Dragon born a second time.
The Dragon born a second time? Iyongi? My biological mother? That woman who got beaten into a coma by me?
Iyongi is half-dead, isn’t she?
I cannot understand your question. Please use clear words to make your inquiry, and I can help you resolve it quickly. For example: Urshya, repair the Barrier Wall in the Underworld. / Urshya, what is the origin of your name? / I’m going for a drive, play some exciting music.
Ugh! No way! I’m done with all of this!
I climbed onto the square marble surface and roared like a gorilla. I couldn’t share mana through skills because I don’t have the Legendary Sharing ability, and when I tried to solve Cha Cha’s problem, he told me to come meet him—but to meet him, I’d have to find my real mother who won’t wake up and ask her.
Everything gets tangled up in the worst possible ways. Frustrated and alone, I shouted at the automated response system.
“Urshya! Play some exciting music!”
In response to my request, a song by Michael ■■son poured from every speaker. The track was titled B■at ■t. Urshya, you certainly have refined musical taste.
But it wasn’t so far from my own preferences, so I played air guitar and hummed along while searching for the mana amplifier.
Perhaps because I shared the same thought patterns as the Mother Goddess, it was ultimately the Machine King who discovered the mana amplifier.
“What were you doing over there?”
“I asked for some exciting music to be played.”
“Oh my, you reckless child.”
Still, Apet praised me for having such a thoughtless, youthful quality. He told me to keep living that way, though I couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or a curse.
「Wow, look at this! What is the exterior made of that it hasn’t rusted?」
“Stainless steel.”
「…What?」
“Stainless steel.”
The Machine King completely ignored me and said there was no way it could be a metal with such a ridiculous name. She insisted it must be something legendary like orichalcum. Well… since Makina seemed so eager to believe that, I just let it be.
「Come on, hurry over and tinker with it. My fingers won’t budge it no matter how hard I press. Did you set up a barrier so only humans can use it?」
“It’s not magic, it’s science. It detects the subtle electrical signals from my fingertips.”
「Eh? Just from that?」
Makina generated static electricity at her fingertips, then placed her finger on the touch screen and dragged the window around. Makina looked at me in amazement.
「Wow! Master, how do you know all these things?」
“People from the old days know everything.”
「Wow!」
Stop! Stop it! My friends were already getting carried away, and now the Machine King is doing this to me too! I’m going to die of embarrassment!
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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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