Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 288

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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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By promoting industrialization through song, the Machine King had inadvertently summoned the Luddite Movement. I found it rather fitting for the Machine King’s style of operation. I decided to accept some of the protesters’ demands and ordered the dispersal. I couldn’t forcibly alter the tide of history bearing down upon us.
“As the Ten Thousand Demon King, I make this promise: jukebox production will cease immediately. Do with the remaining units as you wish.”
“Hurrah! We’ve saved our jobs!”
“Smash them! Let’s go through every shop and smash them all!”
Spirited youths wielding hammers and pickaxes poured out from the Serpent King’s Tower grounds in a torrent.
In my wager, the Machine King had essentially won, yet the Female Informant couldn’t celebrate honestly. Makina, rejected by humanity regarding the jukeboxes, was overwhelmed by profound sorrow and despair, barricading himself in his room. The Machine King wept oily tears while tenderly caressing the remnants of his jukeboxes, remaining in complete seclusion for some time.
Thus “Object Head,” which had dominated the music charts throughout July, blazed across the summer music market like a comet before vanishing entirely.

As the King of Ten Thousand Demons, I promise you this. I will halt the production of jukeboxes. Do whatever you want with what remains—break it or leave it.

“Break it! Everyone go around the store and break stuff!”
Hotheaded young men rushed out of the Serpent King’s Tower grounds, carrying hammers and pickaxes.
In the bet, the Machine King had essentially won, but the Female Informant couldn’t bring herself to be genuinely happy. Makina, rejected by the Human Race over the jukebox, was overwhelmed by extreme sorrow and depression, shutting himself away in his room. The Machine King, shedding oily tears as he tenderly touched the remains of the jukebox, secluded himself for a long time afterward.
So Object Head, which had maintained a top position on the album charts throughout July, swept through the music market like a comet on a summer day and then disappeared.
“I’ve just finished brainwashing Lee Yong. The fun starts now.”
◇ ◆ ◇

Mother Shin, who had been hit hard, spoke gibberish on the hologram screen. Gert, who was exercising strength while floating around the space station for fear of muscle loss, asked for compensation for staying one more day.
The ‘Machine King’s Power Source’ that had been inside Evan Laef’s body was safely transferred to the Machine King by the hand of the Mother Goddess. The ‘Epilogue – Unfortunately, in Mother’s eyes, those fools will forever remain babies’ was also slowly heading toward its end. This meant that now Iyongi had just one mission left.
Gerth, who had gone to find Mother to settle things, was diligently carrying out the hastily arranged mission from Ursula. She had said that if he could manage to live as a space dweller for one month, she would tell him a clue to recover Evan Laef’s lost sexual desire. Now that a month had passed, the man boldly demanded a hint.
“Son, let’s wait just one more day for Mother.”
Why?
“Iyongi’s brainwashing just finished. Now the fun begins.”
“It’s not right for me and Evan to sacrifice ourselves for your entertainment.”
“Hey, you too! This is the first and last time you’re having fun like this, got it?!”
The Mother Goddess, struck by his words and feeling a sting, rambled incoherently on the hologram screen. Gerth, who had been floating around the Space Station doing strength training out of concern for muscle loss, demanded compensation for staying one more day.
“Mmm, my son went through a lot raising those three dragon siblings, didn’t he? This time, I’ve arranged for the child to stay in the Egg a bit longer to grow, so… what do you think about having it hatch once it reaches at least the stage where it can sleep through the night?”
“I’ll make the deal!”
Gerth, who had experience caring for baby dragons by feeding them bottles while they slept for two hours and woke up for two hours in a never-ending cycle, decided it was a good deal since he wouldn’t have to go through that hellish experience again, so he agreed to the transaction.
The Mother Goddess decided to put in extra effort because she had never seen Gerth so delighted before, his lizard eyes sparkling brightly. She had the naive thought that if the child was smart, he would require less care, so she might as well give him intelligence skills from birth to make things easier for Gerth.
“I’m curious about something.”
As Mother Goddess manipulated the Egg with a whirring sound, Gerth suddenly thought of something worrying and asked a question.
Did Evan Laef change strangely because Mother granted her a separate abnormal condition? It doesn’t seem like losing sexual desire would make a person gain enlightenment or change her personality.
“I just had my sexual desire castrated. For the most part, what you’re saying is right.”
“…Then what?”
“Well, you see, Evan… how do I put this… once she believes in something, she believes in it really strongly, you know? She’s susceptible to brainwashing.”
“Ah…”
Iyongi’s genes had really done their work. Mother Goddess and Gerth lamented how Iyongi was exceptionally foolish among their children, and they pitied Evan Mitchell for inheriting those genes so strongly.
“Son, you’ve experienced it too, right? It’s nothing special, really—just makes you feel refreshed, that’s all.”
“That’s right. That’s why I thought it was strange.”
You can’t achieve enlightenment just because sexual desire disappears. By that logic, wouldn’t all spiritually castrated people have already achieved enlightenment, entered nirvana, and become Buddhas?
The various realizations and impermanence that Evan is currently experiencing could be explained simply.
“It’s a kind of placebo effect.”

So that’s how it connects—the child became foolish and her personality changed because of it. Evan had lost her sexual desire and firmly believed she’d achieved enlightenment, when in reality she was just mistaken into thinking she’d gained some kind of awakening.

“Then that is fortunate.”
If Evan continued in this state, Gerth—who had even resolved to shave his head and enter monastic life alongside Seian—could finally rest easy. Evan loved Seian’s long hair, so he wouldn’t need to go through with it after all.

“My son really does love that historical drama.”
Gerth, who had answered that there was much to learn, prepared his notepad and settled in to watch. Mother had even added subtitles for the smallest interjections, making it easy to understand.
After meeting Lee Yong, why not take a sleeping pill or something and then come back to sleep? Evan, who was about to ask Kanna for advice on whether he could get a sleeping poison that could put to rest even the most powerful poison, saw 24 hours appear in the corner of his vision and put everything down.
◇ ◆ ◇
It was definitely an intimate time, so I had a feeling that they wouldn’t let me go unless I filled it for 24 hours.
♡Special: Hoping to Grow Closer♡
Iyongi’s wish has been granted. Go home and spend one night and two days peacefully with Proculla Neftis. If mother and daughter fail to have quality time together, Gerth will not return you.

“Nonsense upon nonsense, and now this absurdity.”
Evan stared at the status notification window and immediately began cursing, then sought out Amitabha Buddha while contemplating the transience of life. This too shall pass. It absolutely must.
What if I took some kind of sedative after meeting Iyongi and came back asleep? Evan was about to consult with Kanna about whether she could obtain a sleep toxin potent enough to even suppress Kanna’s immortal blessing, when she noticed “24 hours” displayed in the corner of her vision and abandoned all hope.
“Damn it!”
She had a sinking feeling that this would demand a full twenty-four hours, regardless of any talk about “quality time” or other nonsense.
How in the world was she supposed to spend quality time with a domestic abuser? Evan Mitchell tore at her hair as she made her way to the Neftis Townhouse. Whether it turned to mush or remained whole, she would have to meet and spend time with her mother.
“Oh my. Our beloved daughter, have you arrived?”
”
Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
”
Evan Mitchell screamed in bold italics. She wouldn’t have been this startled even if a cockroach fell on her face while she slept.
The moment she opened the front door of the Neftis Townhouse, what burst forth was Proculla Neftis wearing a heart-shaped pink apron, a ladle in one hand.
The woman had braided her hair in some bizarre fashion—whether she’d consumed pesticide or not—and wore it draped over her shoulder in what could only be called a “short-lived hairstyle.” With a gentle expression Evan had never seen before, she smiled brightly and called Evan Mitchell her “beloved daughter.”

“Dad! Dad! Daaaaaad!”

“Young miss, the Duke left this letter for you.”
Though she rushed to his office, Duke Neftis had vanished without a trace. As Evan Mitchell read the letter the Information Chief handed her, she screamed again in bold italics.
”
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
”

[My wife frightens me, so I am hiding for a time. Please summon me once she returns to normal.]

Reading the concise letter, I felt like my head would explode.
“Mother! Where is our mother!”
“Eleanor went to a Mother’s Association meeting. She’s going a bit farther this time, so she’ll be late returning.”
“What about Rael!”
“His Majesty the Emperor summoned him to see his face. He’s staying overnight at the Imperial Palace.”
”
Kyaaaaaaaaaagh!
”
Stop joking! Seriously, stop joking, you lunatics!
Evan Mitchell pounded my head against the wall in anguish, then noticed the “24 hours” displayed in my vision was still showing the full duration, and I thrashed about in an unbearable maelstrom of emotion.
Normally, that system counted down by the second to show remaining time. But it was still a full 24 hours? This meant that Proculla Neftis and I hadn’t shared even a moment of intimacy—not a single second had been deducted.
I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was forgetting how to breathe. Was this what Gerth felt during the first wedding when he couldn’t breathe for five minutes? Realizing I’d done something terrible to Gerth, I wailed like a crow, denying reality itself.
“Stop it! Stop it, Ursula!”

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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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