Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 260
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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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With Gerth and my consent as co-owners of the Tower, it emitted a copyright-compliant whirring sound. After Gerth finished setting the time and location, he asked me for detailed specifications one last time.
“The arrival zone is quite broad. Can we land randomly anywhere within it?”
“No!”
Wait, we can’t do that—people could get hurt! It needs to be spacious, unpopulated, so it has to be late at night!
After considering various conditions, I gave Gerth precise instructions.
“Let’s go to Gwanghwamun! And make it late night!”
“Understood.”
Gerth manipulated his sluggish tentacles, and I felt my body lift before a tremendous impact shook through the entire Tower. Come to think of it, we didn’t even broadcast this time—everyone must be in chaos.
“….”
I was thinking about the chaos, but something nagged at me. Now that I think about it, when I dragged the excavator along, didn’t a strange broadcast happen?
“Sigh…, a Tower in the heart of the city.”
Right, Gwanghwamun is definitely the heart of the city.
I slipped out of the control room and peered through the opening at the Tower’s peak. Below, broadcast station helicopters were already hovering. Those media bastards sure move fast when it counts.
“Gerth! Tell all Tower residents absolutely no one goes outside! We’re relocating once we’re done here!”
I just hope the military doesn’t mobilize before I finish my business. With that thought, I spread my ice wings with a flourish.
“Evan! These buildings are incredibly tall, and the streets are bright as day! Why do they need so much light?”
“People are using all of it! This district has ten million people!”
“!”
“What?! A city that can accommodate that many people?!”
“With that many people, how do they manage the sewage systems? Isn’t water scarce?!”
These guys were thrilled seeing Seoul. Gerth, Sera, and Sunbird, exhilarated by the scale of a city they’d never witnessed before, bombarded me with questions, and I answered them kindly. Though each had different areas of interest, they all focused on the same thing once we flew across the Han River.
“It’s enormous. Is there a sea nearby? It doesn’t look like an estuary though.”
“With such a massive river cutting through the city, they must have no shortage of water.”
“Look at those colored lights on that bridge! Could that be military code?”
Everything you’re saying is wrong. It’s just a river, the water source is at a dam, and the bridge lights are decoration. As I explained each point, Gerth, Sera, and Sunbird all voiced the same opinion, criticizing the system’s absurdity and wastefulness here.
“Throughout history, nations with excessive luxury collapsed early.”
“A Tower suddenly appears in the city, and they didn’t immediately mobilize the military—that’s already a sign of decline.”
“If this were Crowell, we’d have already established a siege!”
Stop it, you’re breaking the Defense Ministry’s bones. Besides, this country has been around quite a while. If they manage to muddle through, they won’t collapse.
Now that I think about it, in the 26th century, the Ursula Plan, the Seed Storage Facility, and all major documents and systems had Korean language services applied. At least until Earth roughly collapsed once, our country didn’t fall either. As I kept defending it, national pride swelled within me.
“It’s this way.”
As we entered the wealthy neighborhood south of the Han River, I could see my own silhouette in the distance, subtly dragging an excavator along. And at that same moment, I heard Ursula’s voice.
“I’m sorry.”
It happened so fast at first that I couldn’t catch the exact voice, but it was definitely Ursula. Probably apologizing because she was forcibly taking me along to fit me into her calculations. I was hitting my ears, thinking it was an auditory hallucination.
“….”
But it seemed like she said something more after that. As my body as Kwon Yul-jung grew increasingly hazy, I thought, ‘Am I being dragged away like this?’ when suddenly the words Mother Goddess had spoken to me came to mind.
“Temporal paradox prevention.”
Did I really throw Dr. MacDwell’s insane ID card down? I frantically searched my pocket for the doctor’s card and hurled it downward. My form was already fading nearly invisible.
“Kyaaaah! A ghost! What’s happening to my body?!”
“Since it’s too late, just accept the blessing and go!”
I thought I’d been remarkably composed, but I was actually rambling incoherently. I grabbed the card and smacked myself in the head with it. Thank goodness the excavator was open-frame—even a careless throw landed on my skull.
“Oh.”
As my form vanished, Dr. MacDwell’s ID card disappeared with it. Since I’d been dragged along and fused with the card, that’s why Ursula’s blessing appeared in my status window.
“Evan. What’s going on?”
“That guy’s place is close now. Let’s ride this thing there.”
Perfect timing. I’d wanted to demolish that bastard’s house anyway. After safely landing Gerth and the others, I restarted the excavator and gripped the controls. Everyone crowded together behind the driver’s seat, watching me.
“It resembles the farm equipment Makina made.”
“But this looks designed for digging earth rather than tilling fields?”
“There are more trees here and walls too, unlike that tall building district from before. Is this where common people live?”
Not at all. This is the Wealthy Neighborhood. In this city, the more greenery around your home, the richer you are—that’s obvious. Now that I think about it, Sunbird from the King of Ten Thousand Demons lived in a wealthy area? How’d he make his money? Pull off some massive con?
“Damn bourgeois bastard.”
“Evan. I sense hatred in your voice.”
“Seian’s enemy!”
“Evan. Getting too angry isn’t good for your health.”
Driving the excavator like this stirred up old feelings. That’s right—I’d wanted to kill that writer bastard back then. I’ll kill him this time.
“I’ll kill him!”
“Evan! You can’t kill him before getting confirmation!”
I scanned the surroundings and checked the street address. It’s around here. The day I found out the author’s address, I immediately pulled up the street view app to check—that house, the one where you live, should be visible.
“There it is!”
“So why do you know my address so precisely?! What was your relationship with the original body?!”
“I’m just a legitimate reader!”
“A relationship? Evan, have you found another man?”
“No!”
I vehemently denied their strange misunderstanding, then calmly maneuvered the excavator to smash through the writer’s wall. The neighbors grumbled about construction in the middle of the night, but that was all. No one called the police—they simply turned off their lights and went to bed.
Is this the generosity that comes from material abundance?
“But… is it really okay to destroy someone else’s house like this?”
“Evan surely has a plan.”
“I trust Evan.”
Destroying someone else’s house is obviously wrong. It’s a crime. These lunatics are all insane—why do they sit there trusting me?
After demolishing the wall, I crossed the Garden and headed toward the first-floor entrance. Beyond this should be the Living Room. I’ll destroy it.
“Ahhhhh! Who are you people?! I’m calling the police!”
Finally the homeowner emerged. But an excavator with its mouth open won’t stop until it devours the building. I moved the controls a few times, and the excavator’s jaws clamped down on the house’s wall.
“Kyaaaah! A rainbow-colored human!”
“We finally found you! King of Ten Thousand Demons, Aten Polat!”
“Compared to the people around here, you’re the foreign-looking one. How did you manage to settle here and even make money?”
When those who knew his true identity suddenly appeared, Sunbird seemed to realize something was off and prepared to flee. That bastard’s about to use a skill—I can feel the mana flowing. I quickly pushed Sera forward and grabbed the woman’s throat.
“If you use teleportation, I can’t guarantee Sera’s life.”
“S-Sera?!”
The King of Ten Thousand Demons, Sunbird, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, gazed upon his beloved Sera with tears glistening in his eyes as he hurriedly surveyed the people around us. He seemed to recognize both Gerth’s face and mine.
“The Serpent King Gerth, and House Neftis’s mad dog!”
“Do you want to see Sera die?”
“Mitchell Neftis! What brings the sole heir of House Neftis to such a place!”
The King of Ten Thousand Demons, Sunbird, prostrated himself flat before me. Even after becoming the King of Ten Thousand Demons, the boy still knew how to bow like a professional.
“When a guest arrives, shouldn’t you bring tea and snacks?”
“Y-yes, I’ll prepare it right away!”
“Ah, I’d rather have cola!”
“We don’t have any!”
“Then just go to the convenience store!”
When would I ever use teleportation anyway? I gave the King of Ten Thousand Demons, Sunbird, a swift kick on the rear, and the man quickly grabbed his phone, promising to return soon before vanishing in a flash.
“As expected of Mitchell Neftis. Your way of commanding others hasn’t changed!”
“Wow, so I really am a teleportation user in this timeline. No wonder Evan kept making strange comments and pestering me about it.”
So in our other possibility, Sunbird couldn’t use teleportation at all?! I found that even more surprising. We exchanged admiring glances at each other before stepping through the broken wall into the interior. As I settled onto the plush living room sofa and surveyed the house, I noticed souvenirs from various countries scattered about.
“This guy’s been traveling the world quite thoroughly. Is it thanks to teleportation?”
“We’ve been suffering while he’s been enjoying life to the fullest.”
“Mother Goddess told me that this fellow didn’t want to choose erasure of existence, so he decided to endure. He even wrote a confession novel and posted it on a serial fiction website—I binged it and became a fan.”
“So that’s what you meant by being a legitimate reader.”
As I chatted away with Sunbird, Gerth and Sera seemed curious about how I knew so much about this place. Since it wasn’t a secret, I decided to tell them.
“Half of my consciousness belonged to this world. Mother Goddess captured me and dragged me into the future, where I merged with Mitchell.”
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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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