Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 258

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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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#262

The fear of death… Certainly, it means little to a god, but for a mere human, it is the most terrifying thing of all. Even I came this far because I didn’t want to die due to my limited lifespan. The desire not to die is an incredibly powerful driving force in life. Yet it also grants the strength to abandon everything with ease.
“He stole the god’s power, took the Tower from the Serpent King, hid in the past, created a system using his strength that grants experience when developments twist from situations he experienced, observed a thousand possibilities, and even when salvation awaited at the end—death still terrified him.”
I understand the reluctance to die, but then I wonder if he really abandoned everything out of fear of death after juggling all those cursed complications. And what about all those Sunbird versions scattered across a thousand branching possibilities? It makes me think about it from many angles. Humans are complicated creatures.
“Then, what was that serialized novel I read?”
“Literally his confession. A memoir written after deciding not to choose any possibility, apologizing to every version of himself struggling to be chosen. Something like, ‘I won’t forget you all who suffered.’ Quite the poet, aren’t you.”
The sheer volume of that insane serialization and the ability to narrate from every character’s perspective—so he observed what each Sunbird across the thousand possibilities experienced. That much checks out, but Sunbird really can’t write. I have no idea how he managed to write his thesis with such poor writing skills.
“So when exactly are you going to explain that I didn’t possess the book?”
“And here’s where I make my entrance! Ursula, equipped with the Laplace’s Demon function, knowing past, present, and future!”
The woman made a sound effect and proudly spread her chest, laughing heartily. Her uvula was visible. I wanted to stick my finger in. So I did.
“Eeeeek!”
Ah, so this is an organic being. I thought it might be an android. Seeing Cecilia’s face with eyes doing that is quite fascinating.
“Don’t ruin the important explanation!”
“Your uvula was showing.”
“Who puts their hand in someone’s mouth just because their uvula is showing! You absolute madman!”
Cecilia with eyes smacked my back repeatedly. This is definitely an experience I could never have with the real Cecilia. I’ll treasure it.
“Anyway, there was no being capable of resolving this situation in the past, present, or future. Aten Polat was never supposed to find the ending he wanted, even after escaping to the past.”
“Oh, but didn’t he find it and then give up?”
“Exactly! The one who discovered a possibility that shouldn’t have existed—that’s me!”
Ursula spent considerable time praising herself before beginning to extol Dr. MacDwell. Considering that this god’s personality is based on Dr. MacDwell’s, he must be an extraordinarily narcissistic person.
“It was impossible! But! If you, the deceased Evan Laef, and Mitchell Neftis combined your strength, it became possible!”
So dragging me from the past by the collar to here was for the purpose of merging me with Mitchell?
“Among the thousand possibilities Aten unfolded, there was a case where Mitchell lived as Evan. But finding you was truly coincidental.”
When I finished calculating that if there were conditions to serve as a detonator, the puzzle would be complete, the Mother Goddess’s power that had been stolen by Sunbird and taken to the past witnessed me. My information was quickly transmitted to the future, and Ursula managed to squeeze in time during the DDoS attack to obtain consent from Evan and Mitchell before their deaths.
“Baby Evan only wished to live longer, and Mitchell said she’d be fine with anything as long as Seian loved her. One way or another, luck was on our side.”
“What about my consent?”
“You’d naturally consent since you can extend Seian’s life with your own hands.”
“That’s true.”
Baby Evan is one thing, but Mitchell and I have come to this point because of Seian alone. I suppose you could say our fates are twisted, or that Seian possesses a fatal charm…
“Have all your questions been answered? Then shall we discuss the real reason you came all this way?”
“I’ve confirmed with Mitchell that combining skills and the division skill can be made legendary. If I make all of humanity mana users with this, do I die?”
“Oh, I’m a benevolent Mother Goddess, and I swear by Dr. MacDwell’s name that I wouldn’t devise such a cruel plan.”
Ursula cleared her throat and continued explaining that what mattered here was the name Evan Laef.
“If you distribute mana using the skills in Evan Laef’s status window, the existence called Evan Laef will disappear from the world. That name, and the memory of it in people’s minds, will vanish. Only Mitchell Neftis will remain. And you, Kwon Yul-jung…”
“Me?”
“We’re going back to the original timeline. Get an excavator and demolish Yeomyung’s house.”
“So that’s how it’ll be.”
I wondered why Evan Laef’s name suddenly appeared in the plan when only Mitchell and I possessed true consciousness. The idea was to bring back someone who was originally dead, borrow their name to exhaust their skills, and send them down the path of oblivion. Certainly, it was a hopeful plan where no one dies and no one sacrifices themselves. And it was an extremely mechanical way of thinking.
“What if I say I’ve grown attached to these future people and don’t want to go back?”
“Because you’ve grown attached. That’s exactly why you’ll step forward even more.”
“Tch.”
I’d said something unnecessary. I certainly wasn’t the type to drag everyone down with me in a mutual death pact. The life here, the bonds I’d formed with those I’d met—while I’d miss them, they weren’t worth more than the lives of countless humans. Even Sunbird, who had rolled through a thousand possibilities, deserved some form of recompense.
“One last question. People have been going to hospitals a lot with colds lately. When did Cha Cha spread the disease? You should’ve been too despondent to have the opportunity?”
“You guys carried the virus up to the Surface World.”
“Us?”
“Yeah, when the Poison King went berserk.”
“Oh!”
Wait—so the test tube Cha Cha threw back then contained a flu that could’ve wiped out humanity?! They kept saying it was incomplete, but that’s what they meant! We went to the Surface World with the virus on us, and while Kanna and I were fine because of our poison resistance, everyone else caught it and fell ill?!
“Either way, my responsibility was grave.”
“The one who ties the knot must untie it, right?”
At this rate, half of humanity would be gone within a month. Since Cha Cha said it was incomplete, it probably wouldn’t be as virulent as in the original timeline or as severe as what Sunbird—the King of Ten Thousand Demons—had experienced. Besides, when people become demons, their bodies usually become healthier, so their immunity would improve too, right?
Once everyone becomes a mana user, would humanity generally become a long-lived species?
“I’ll charge up the dragon heart to full capacity. Even if I return under my own power, I’ll need to use it one more time when I go looking for Apet in the past.”
The Mother Goddess, who spoke as if packing things the way a countryside grandmother would, moved her location from the Bamboo Forest to Serpent King’s Tower. When she told everyone to climb the tower since it was time to return, Cha Cha rushed over first and embraced Ursula.
“Mom! See you later!”
“I shall certainly visit you again, Mother.”
The way they said they’d meet again later as if it were obvious suggested they’d received some kind of hint during their private conversations. Was it really the method of going to space and meeting with the satellite?
The Mother Goddess embraced Gerth and Cha Cha, then approached me and tapped my head gently like knocking on a door. Then she looked for someone other than me.
“You need to use concealment, Mitchell Neftis. If I conceal the memory of meeting you all today, the calculation will be complete.”
For Ursula, this moment was the final step of the calculation. Even the memory concealment that followed and all the trial and error afterward would be part of the calculation.
Mitchell seemed to accept this, and the moment her status window opened, the freeze on the concealment skill was released. I confirmed that all Serpent King’s Tower Residents had climbed the tower, then entered it last.
“Take care of yourselves! My children!”
Those words weren’t just for Cha Cha, Gerth, and Makina. All the residents of Serpent King’s Tower, all life on this planet were Ursula’s children. Mitchell and Evan Laef too. I felt a slight pang of exclusion.
“Skill. Concealment.”
I used Mitchell’s concealment skill to conceal Ursula’s memories of the past two days. Then I went to the Control Room and returned to the original timeline. The journey to the past seemed to have had its share of complications, but the return was instantaneous.

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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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