Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 286

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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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“How should we tally the sales figures? Do we set a specific period?”
「Our girls will release next month! Let’s count the total sales for the entire month of July!」
“Understood.”
「Mother said she’d handle the tallying! So you can’t pull any of your usual tricks, got it?!」
“I shall compete fairly and squarely.”
As Evan Laef spoke with a benevolent smile, the Machine King let out a shriek of exorcism, crying out in anguish.
「Prepare yourself to hand over my power while weeping, you damned brat!」
She said she’d give it to me anyway, so why does this woman insist on taking the long way around? The direct path isn’t the only path, and everyone has their circumstances. Whether one takes a detour or cuts straight through, all roads lead to truth. Having gained this new enlightenment, Evan chanted “All things are impermanent, all things are impermanent” as I turned my steps toward the House of Letem.
In Dekarucha, the most popular combination was ice and flame. Even when everyone else refused because they were busy, securing Reina guaranteed sales. Evan had calculated my destination with meticulous precision. I had no intention whatsoever of losing this competition.

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“No. Go back.”
“You have nothing better to do anyway, so play along with me.”
“I have plenty to do! Do you want to hear about my amazing summer vacation plan?!”
Probably another hollow scheme about going to the sea and dating a hundred men. Evan closed my eyes tightly and waited for the deluded ramblings of one seduced by temptation.
“This time I’m really clearing my entire schedule and heading south! I’m going to hunt down a hundred men and build myself a harem!”
Reina thrust a travel brochure at me, mentioning she’d even rent a palace for indulgence.
A beast starved for lust. Evan felt a chill run down my spine, realizing I must have appeared the same way to others in the past. What good was Reina’s intelligence when not a shred of wisdom showed in every word she spoke?
“If we release a unit album, we can earn substantial money. Even Buddha said in his youth to work hard and save. If your mother saw you, barely an adult, spending money on men like water, what would she say?”
“She’d probably brag that she didn’t spend money and men flocked to her anyway.”
“A crazy family.”
Evan made a light comment about the House of Letem and sought another persuasion method. Reina was simple-minded, so wouldn’t she come around if I just said something pleasant? With that thought, the bewildered Evan opened my eyes brightly and clasped my hands to my chest.
“Sister, please help me just this once.”
“Krraaaagh!”
Reina let out a sound like a demon doused in holy water. She’d rather be dead than witness Evan like this.
Within Reina’s mind, the Ice Heart existed as a conceptually cool, composed beauty. The setting that she was actually tactless was acceptable within Reina’s character interpretation, but that little devil-type beauty with the seductive smile, calling out “sister” to the Flame Heart when things became disadvantageous—
‘…Huh, that’s kind of cute?’
Such an impression may have lingered, but it wasn’t the Ice Heart, and it wasn’t Evan.
“Get lost! Go away! You’re annoying me! The word ‘sister’ sounds kind of nice, but get out of here!”
So it worked on her, this crazy fool. Evan felt my mood sour and nearly winced, but I endured it. In the past, I would have already collapsed from psychological damage by the time I committed to saying “sister,” but now that I’d let everything go, I could say it as many times as I wanted.
Living is a good thing, a profitable transaction—born naked, I at least gained one set of clothes. All comes, all goes; no matter what I do in life, Evan will return empty-handed. So there was no harm in doing foolish things.
Evan Laef spread my legs wide like a giraffe, looking up at Reina with sparkling eyes. Then I prettily poked my puffed cheeks with my fingers. Expressing displeasure while moving adorably and speaking cutely. The current Evan Laef was an idol incarnate. A monster born of capitalism.
“Big sis♡”
“Pfft! Crazy, I told you not to do that, you crazy bastard! Pfft!”
Though Reina’s mouth said she disliked it, her hands patting Evan’s back had lost all their strength. Evan thought Reina was incredibly annoying, but soon chanted “All things are impermanent,” reflecting on life’s transience. Whether this way or that way, it’s all one lifetime. Perhaps with enough ascetic practice, one might reach nirvana someday. Evan swallowed my frustration, treating it as accumulating merit.
“Hey, you, listen, ugh, since our little sister is begging like that, should big sis adjust her schedule?”
“I’d appreciate it if you could give me time until the end of July, sis.”
“Are you insane? Don’t you dare! Pfft!”
If she really hated it, she should do something about those lips that kept curling upward without limit, sis. Evan Laef took ten deep breaths to keep from beating Reina Letem to death, then set out to find the next collaborator. Sunbird owed Evan quite a debt and had far more free time than Sera, so he took charge of planning and marketing.
The remaining collaborator was Bruno, who had stockpiled songs during all his years in prison. Since Evan didn’t want to spend much time on this, she submitted a visitation request to the Imperial Palace Prison and simply dropped a line.
“Dad, give me some songs.”
Bruno crumpled to the ground right there. He wept bitterly. The man tried to embrace Evan through the bars, but Evan Laef firmly refused, so the grand hug never happened.

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The moment July 1st arrived, the debut single “Industrial Revolution” by the band Object Head, produced by Machina the Mechanical King, flooded out from everywhere.
Machina the Mechanical King’s market strategy was aggressive. Not only did he distribute records to record shops, but he also gave away albums for free to cafes, clubs, and shopping malls—places that frequently played music using records.
That wasn’t all. In exchange for shops regularly playing Object Head’s music, Machina provided a revolutionary new jukebox free of charge. This machine would accept customer song requests, retrieve the corresponding record from its internal storage, and play it with perfect precision starting exactly where the requested song began.
It was such delicate work that only a machine could accomplish it, so the shop owners cheered. Moreover, Object Head’s songs were quite fresh and appealing, so while customers frequently asked whose music it was, there were no complaints. Once regular playback was selected, the jukebox handled everything automatically, so there was no reason for shop owners not to make the deal.
Thus, Object Head’s debut single “Industrial Revolution” dominated the streets like this month’s hottest trend, and as people were exposed to it more and more, album sales soared to new heights. Separately, production orders for jukeboxes came flooding in, keeping Machina the Mechanical King frantically busy day and night.

Evan Laef had also been quite busy lately. She took album jacket photos, received songs, and wrote lyrics. Reina, tasked with taking rather cryptic photos at Evan’s request, asked what concept this was supposed to be, but Evan simply answered “Emptiness.”
When a band that started with popular music suddenly acts like an artist and expresses themselves, they tend to fail. Reina felt somewhat uneasy, but when Evan called her “sis,” her heart softened and she did everything as instructed.
Bruno was also anxious after seeing the lyrics Evan had written. He’d written a few solemn lyrics back when he was actively protesting, but never anything this cryptic. Even if cryptic, it could gain public support if it could somehow be interpreted, but these lyrics completely abandoned accessibility and left only obscurity.
Evan had called him “Dad,” which made him happy to bring out his trump card, but he didn’t want to see it ruined like this. Bruno Siebenstein suggested formally commissioning a lyricist, but when Evan asked “Dad, you don’t trust me?”, he decided to believe in her unconditionally.
A father existed solely to believe in and support his daughter to the very end. If he didn’t believe in her, who would believe in that eight-sided trash-tier crazy dog young lady Evan Laef?
Besides, everyone falls at some point in life, and it was better to fall while young than to fall when old. Young bones heal well. He would watch over her with a parent’s heart. If Evan fell, he would simply help her get back up. Bruno Siebenstein steeled his resolve and gave the go-ahead for recording.
Time passed, and as Machina the Mechanical King’s band Object Head recorded initial sales of one million copies, breaking record after record in the Crowell Empire’s music market, a fan meeting was held around July 10th to celebrate Evan Laef’s birthday.
The event was held in one corner of the Neftis Mansion grounds, admission was determined by lottery, and the competition ratio was reportedly 100 to 1.
The devoted fans who broke through the 100-to-1 competition ratio and entered the Neftis Townhouse felt both excitement and anxiety simultaneously.
It was simply nice at first to hear that the two most popular members of Dekarucha would be active as a unit. After later confirming the album jacket through gossip magazines, anxiety surged.
Ice and flame were never on good terms, so they didn’t even expect the official fan service that usually came from such pairings. They anticipated something like a rival-style musical showdown album. What emerged, shattering those expectations, was this single album “Heart Sutra.”

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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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