Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 259

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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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“….”
Gerth’s words were quiet, yet carried tremendous weight. I decided to take the plate of peaches to my room and eat carefully.
“Sit.”
Apparently eating in my room wasn’t an option. I obediently took a seat at the dining table as Gerth instructed.
“Didn’t I say I’d only permit the lemon pie?”
“You did.”
“The Underworld King will live another thousand years. I cannot allow this.”
“I never actually said I’d marry Cha Cha.”
“….”
This gave me legitimate grounds for defense. I had certainly told Cha Cha I’d stay with him for the rest of his days, but I’d never explicitly seduced him into marriage. Since I was genuinely innocent on this point, I spoke with confidence—only for Gerth to slam his fist against the table with a deafening crack.
“You confessed to the Underworld King with such a casual mindset?”
The table split cleanly in two. I quickly grabbed the plate and rescued the peaches.
“I never confessed!”
“Anyone listening would have heard it as a confession! The Underworld King’s misunderstanding is entirely your responsibility, Evan!”
“Whimper!”
Gerth is awful! And how is it his business if I happen to charm someone? This is ridiculous! I hummed a silly tune while munching on peaches, but dense mana began gathering around Gerth.
His muscles swelled even more prominently, veins bulging across his frame—he looked ready to beat me to death on the spot.
“This isn’t meddling. This is our affair.”
“W-well….”
“Evan. What am I to you?”
“My husband….”
“Does a husband simply stand idle when his wife confesses to another man?”
“No, that’s not—I mean….”
“What do you think you should do now?”
My mistake lay in phrasing things poorly, causing Cha Cha to misunderstand that he’d received a love confession. To set things right, I’d need to clarify that it wasn’t a confession at all, and inform him—according to Gerth’s wishes—that I couldn’t take another husband after Seian.
“I’ll tell Cha Cha that I can’t marry him.”
“Good. Go and tell him.”
“Huh? Right now?”
“Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.”
“Sigh.”
This is too much—how could he ask me to pour cold water on someone who’s currently planning their honeymoon? I even suggested waiting until Cha Cha’s excitement had cooled before telling him, but Gerth wouldn’t hear it. He’s so stubborn.
“Fine. But I have a condition.”
“Evan, you’re hardly in a position to set conditions.”
“I’ll tell Cha Cha properly. But in exchange, forgive me once if I do something strange later.”
“So you’re planning to do something strange.”
I’d been thinking along the lines of “it might not happen,” but Gerth took it seriously, sighed deeply, and agreed.
“Very well. But you’re not taking any more husbands or wives.”
“Your husband is one thing, but why is your wife among the conditions?”
“Evan Laef seems like she’ll bring a woman too.”
“I have no plans for a political marriage anyway. Is it really necessary?”
Friendship is as weighty and cloying as love. Even without the contract of marriage, you can bind each other. I don’t fetishize women, nor did I wish to shackle a friend with contractual obligations.
Honestly, now that Gerth was being so particular about it, a few faces came to mind—but they wouldn’t particularly want to marry me either. With lovers, you become strangers once you turn away, but with friends, even after severing ties, they remain in your heart until death. Wouldn’t they prefer that position?
“No more husbands, and no more wives.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Gerth. I promise.”
As I sealed the promise with a pinky swear, Gerth smiled contentedly and showed me to Cha Cha’s room. I took a deep breath, knocked, and entered. Cha Cha was, predictably, browsing honeymoon destination catalogs.
“Oh, Evan Laef! I’ve been thinking—since you travel the Northern Hemisphere so often, wouldn’t the Southern Island be perfect for a trip?”
“I’ll go on the trip. But first, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“I know, I know—Gerth doesn’t like me tagging along, right?”
“You knew?”
Cha Cha puffed out his chest proudly, declaring that he was far older than Gerth and that manipulating that lizard-headed fool was well within his grasp.
“Don’t worry, Evan Laef! We’ll sort it out between ourselves.”
“How exactly will you sort it out?”
“Uhhhhh, that’s a secret!”
Laughing raucously and clinging to me, Cha Cha adopted the coquettish expression of an imperial concubine before the Emperor, then with the cunning of a nine-tailed fox that had ruined nations, he deftly redirected my attention.
“More importantly, Evan Laef, shouldn’t you be focusing on what you need to do rather than worrying about this?”
“There is something urgent I need to handle.”
“Then that’s settled. You’re someone meant for great things, Evan Laef. Leave the men’s affairs to me—you just focus on your grand endeavor, alright?”
Cha Cha had apparently consulted with Mother Goddess and shifted his approach in an odd direction. But hearing only pleasant words put my mind at ease. So this is why Emperors only sought out concubines.
“I’ve made it clear to you—as Gerth instructed—that I cannot marry you. Can I leave now?”
“Yes! I already know you love me the most!”
“Why does the conversation keep going that way?”
“If you think I’m pretty, give me a kiss!”
Cha Cha offered his cheek, and I reflexively gave him a quick peck. Delighted, he nuzzled the back of my neck before planting a kiss on my cheek and pulling away.
“Trust me! No matter how many years it takes, I’ll straighten things out!”
“I’ll trust you.”
I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I’m rooting for him. Fighting.
I encouraged Cha Cha’s spirits and set out to handle the urgent matter. With the Dragon Heart that Ursula had charged for me, I needed to meet the King of Ten Thousand Demons, Sunbird. I had no concrete plan, so I needed to bring our own Sunbird—the one who surely had a plan for this problem.

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“Come here!”
Sera was bound to the Academy until she earned her doctorate, which meant Sunbird would naturally be there as well. I found their residence on the Academy grounds and knocked loudly on the gate, calling for him. The servants emerged first to verify my identity, then hastily opened the door and brought Sunbird to me.
“What brings you during the break?”
“The time has come!”
“It has arrived, then.”
The power source for warping to the past was ready, I’d found the method to demonify all of humanity, and I stood prepared and waiting with unwavering resolve.
All that remained was for the King of Ten Thousand Demons, Sunbird, to confirm our possibility.
“Have you thought of how to persuade me?”
“To be honest, it would be difficult to persuade me with words alone. So.”
Sunbird, who’d grown robust from eating well and living comfortably lately, quickly climbed the stairs and brought down Sera, who was eating pudding as a snack.
“I decided to appeal to emotion!”
“That’s just admitting you have no plan.”
“It will work! It’s definitely a method that will work! Above all, I am him!”
Well, if you say so, I’ll trust you. If this method fails, we’d have no choice but to resort to force. Gerth and I would devastate the area around Seoul while fighting Sunbird, capture him by any means necessary, bring him to the Tower’s torture technician, and force him to use his skill.
When I mentioned this plan, Sunbird’s face turned ashen as he condemned me.
“How could you suggest something so horrific! Can you even call yourself human!”
“I am a demon.”
“Don’t nitpick my words!”
As Sunbird and I bickered, Sera, who’d been reading the situation, finished her pudding and stepped between us.
“Stop fighting! And explain what’s happening!”
Explain that entire epic? Just imagining pouring out such a long story made my mouth hurt, so we decided to stick to the essentials.
“There exists a Demon King version of Sunbird in this world. We’re going to persuade him starting now.”
“If you fail, Sera, we all die! The fate of humanity rests on you!”
“What! I’ve been burdened with such a grave responsibility without even knowing it!”
Sera Crowell looked shocked. So shocked, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the pudding smeared around her mouth.
“Understood! I don’t fully comprehend this, but if I’m needed, I’ll go!”
“Yes! We trust only you, Sera!”
People are dying, so of course she steps up. No matter what, she truly has the makings of a protagonist.
“But I knew the Tower was a spatio-temporal transport device. Did you discover the time and location where I’ve been hiding?”
“I know precisely. I know the era he lives in, his country, his address, and even the exact date he posted chapter 3,503 of ‘Yeomyung’s Repentance.'”
“…Why?”
Sunbird looked at me with eyes that seemed to regard me as a stalker. He must find it unsettling that I know such detailed information about the King of Ten Thousand Demons—who shares his personality.
But I felt no shame. I could claim to be a victim, having been discovered by Mother Goddess and dragged here by chance. I genuinely loved the novel ‘Yeomyung’s Repentance,’ and especially loved Seian. My affection led me to make offerings to the author, which is how I learned their address. And the fact that the author killed Seian in chapter 3,503 was seared into my memory.
Encompassing all of this, I defined myself with a single phrase.
“Because I am a legitimate reader.”
“Ugh!”
Sunbird seemed to shudder even more than before. But what did I care? I grasped Sunbird and Sera’s hands and shouted for our return. Then I quickly found Gerth and headed to the control room, which had nothing wrong with it except for copyright issues.
“Gerth! We’re traveling through time now! Take us to the location I specify!”
“Understood. I consent to the transfer.”

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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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