Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 287

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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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Evan Laef of Ice and Reina Letem of Flame floated weightlessly through a cosmic backdrop, meditating in perfect stillness. Whether through digital synthesis or some other means, countless arms sprouted from behind them both, each hand clutching lotus flowers, guitars, and drumsticks.
No matter how many times I looked, I couldn’t make sense of it. The assembled fans confirmed that the fan meeting venue itself carried an equally bewildering atmosphere, and anxiety crept deeper into their hearts.
Perhaps Dekarucha’s unit group, Burn and Freeze, would be buried so thoroughly beneath the assault of a brand-new rookie who debuted in July that no trace of their music would ever surface.
Just as everyone began whispering suspicions that the unit was finished, the event commenced, and Evan—guitar in hand—appeared at the center of the stage. The Ice Heart, bathed in a solitary spotlight, offered thanks for the fans’ attendance with an expression of perfect emptiness, then called for Reina.
“Come here, sister. Today, you’re the star too.”
The person Evan had called sister appeared on stage with a goofy grin. The sudden character break left the fans breathless.
Everyone was shocked. Yet nothing compared to the shock that struck Rael Neftis, branch director of the nonprofit organization Ice and Flame Association in Crownpolis. Rael Neftis had not only witnessed the Ice Heart’s character collapse but also saw the character he’d carefully observed for twenty years crumble to dust—requiring a complete reconstruction from the foundation.
Mitchell Neftis had never called anyone “sister” even at three years old. Rael was barely past his first birthday, but he remembered nonetheless. Because it concerned his older sister, he burned with determination to remember, ignoring the typical memory loss of infancy.
And just now, that very sister had called Reina Letem “sister”! Not just sister, but sister with affection! How I envied the Countess’s Daughter! If only I could trade places! To hear my sister call me “sister” with such warmth—I would gladly die this instant! With his common sense completely overturned, Rael concluded: “The scenario of Ice Heart calling Flame Heart ‘sister’—absolutely consumable!”
“We can work with this!”
“Absolutely!”
“Better yet, it’s delicious!”
It wasn’t only Rael who reached this conclusion—cries of agreement erupted throughout the venue. Evan and Reina had no idea what everyone meant by “consumable,” but according to the schedule, they needed to perform a song now, so they picked up their instruments.
“Listen well. A new song—the Heart Sutra.”
The official performance had given fans the character break of “sister.” When I get home, I’ll have to completely rewrite all the materials I was preparing for the next event. The fans, having overcome every hardship and mentally convinced themselves this would turn out deliciously, believed no greater shock could possibly come.
They would enjoy the new song, exchange gifts they’d prepared during the fan meeting, shake hands with Evan and Reina, and leave. It was a Dekarucha unit group—no matter how badly things went, they’d deliver a solid performance. The fans trusted Bruno Kenin’s composition and Evan Laef’s guitar playing. It was a combination that had no reason to fail.
“Mahaprajnaparamita Heart Sutra!”
Evan’s guitar strings wailed with a sharp twang. Subtle wooden block sounds layered beneath, and before long Reina was headbanging while pounding the drums. It was heavy metal, weighted and crushing. Evan Mitchell scraped her throat like a demon clawing up from hell, constantly searching for someone named Shariputra.
“Shariputra! Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form!”
“Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form!”
Evan and Reina kept screaming that form and emptiness were indistinguishable. The fans’ minds went blank; some fell into panic. The collaboration of bewildering interior design, fear-inducing music, and Evan’s voice created an endless tide of dread that swept through the fan meeting hall.
“The boundary of the eye is absent!”
“Gone!”
“Ignorance unto the end of ignorance!”
“Gone!”
“Old age and death unto the end of old age and death!”
“Gone!”
When Evan called out form, Reina answered with emptiness. That song was like quicksand—sticky, clinging to every inch of one’s body, leaving no room to struggle, slowly dragging everything downward into darkness.
Some fans, overcome with terror, begged to be let out. Others fell into a trance from the repetitive lyrics and melody, leaping and shrieking wildly.
The sealed hall became a portrait of hell itself. Shrieks, screams, cheers from those whose minds aligned with the code, and fervent chanting of “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
“Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!”
Only after the incomprehensible, eerie incantation repeated three times did the song finally end. The fans abandoned any chance to talk with Evan and Reina, fleeing the venue in panic. Only those who had conquered their terror remained to continue the program.
Rael Neftis, the fan meeting venue coordinator, completed all scheduled events and stood before the now-empty Neftis Townhouse Annex, thinking calmly: Ice and Flame’s new album was finished.

◇ ◆ ◇

Some praised Burn and Freeze’s single album “Heart Sutra” as a masterpiece among masterpieces. Yet the vast majority lamented that the Dekarucha unit group had released a flop. It garnered a cult following, but was thoroughly rejected by the general public.
A week after its release, it had sold merely a thousand copies—proof of its failure. It was a nightmarish track, shunned not only by the masses but also by those who obsessed over Ice Heart and Flame Heart.
And nightmares bloomed in the dark corners of the Ice Heart and Flame Heart convention as well. Those who had created fan works based on the official’s “big sister” comment were denounced by countless fans as delusional and forced to shut down their booths. Even if the official had said it, a flop was still a flop. Because such a thing was utterly impossible, the majority of fans who hadn’t attended the event refused to believe the “big sister” comment.
If many deny something even when it actually happened, then it didn’t happen. It becomes something that never occurred. Ice Heart calling Flame Heart “big sister” could never happen—it was impossible. So the “big sister” incident was erased from existence.
「Puhaha! Puhahahaha!」
While the entire Dekarucha team wore expressions of despair, Machina the Mechanical King couldn’t stop laughing, anticipating both earning money and winning the bet.
Once regaining power, if Iyongi could be coaxed into a coordinated assault on Evan, perhaps victory was within precarious reach. The Mechanical King, running hopeful circuits at full throttle, giggled while imagining what to do with Evan Mitchell, defeated and half-dead.
Hatred born of familiarity—she probably couldn’t kill someone she’d grown somewhat fond of. If Evan spent her entire life serving her, the resentment would fade. She’d make her call out “Great Mechanical King Sister” over and over. Holed up in her cramped room, spinning fantasies of joy, the Mechanical King devoted herself wholeheartedly to crafting the commissioned jukebox.
She hadn’t done anything befitting the Mechanical King lately, and touching machines again after so long felt wonderful. Moreover, seeing foolish humans adore the machines she’d created invigorated her further.
Those inferior humans would swoon with delight at the merest fragment of the Mechanical King’s essence. Expressing boundless superiority while being paid for work, Makina was suddenly visited by the landlord’s son.
“Makina! Makina, something terrible has happened! Please come out quickly!”
「Huh? Something terrible? Did Iyongi’s brat lose?」
“No! A huge crowd has gathered!”
Were Dekarucha fans rioting? The Mechanical King had heard through the grapevine that fandom wars were terrifyingly fierce. But did they usually come all the way to the company president’s place to cause a scene? Harboring such doubts, the Mechanical King descended to the lobby of the Serpent King’s Tower where she rented a room and peered outside.
“The Mechanical King must stop jukebox production! Stop it!”
“Stop it!”
“Destroy them all! Abandon everything!”
“Give me back my livelihood, you tin-headed bastard!”
Before the gates of the Serpent King’s Tower, in the garden, lay mountains of shattered jukeboxes. Since Makina hadn’t yet created automated machinery, she’d handcrafted each one individually. Recalling the past weeks stained with oil and sweat, she seethed with rage.
「Those, those bastards! I’ll kill every last one of them!」
“Calm down! The Crowell Empire is the greatest of all human nations! If a demon rampages here, even Mother won’t be able to contain it!”
Hubert, who knew well through Evan’s mother how terrifying the Emperor was, embraced the Mechanical King. With no way to resolve the situation, they could only pray for the Serpent King or the Ten Thousand Demon King to return home quickly.
“What’s happening?”
Just then, Evan returned after hearing every possible lecture from Sunbird. The album’s failure wasn’t merely a financial matter—the musical credibility of the group Dekarucha itself had been shattered, she was told in an overwhelming sermon, and received a unilateral notice that they would end their activities early.
Evan Mitchell was dejected, but the situation seemed to require the Ten Thousand Demon King’s immediate attention, so she switched to business mode. Handling complaints about subordinate demon kings was also the Ten Thousand Demon King’s duty.
“The Mechanical King’s jukeboxes have stolen all our jobs!”
“Eliminate the jukeboxes! Give us back our livelihoods!”
Most of the protesters were young people who’d lost their jobs because of the jukeboxes. Some had been DJs at cafes, others had worked customer service at record shops. In any case, those who’d become unemployed with the introduction of jukeboxes were directing their resentment—with nowhere else to turn—at the Mechanical King.
“Wow. Luddites.”

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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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