Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 290

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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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Fine then. I pulled out the Neftis Duchy VIP card with a flourish and put everything under Father’s name. It would be a significant expense, but Iyongi deserved to pay the price for running away after acting so strangely.
I confirmed that my time limit had been reduced to 21 hours from all the shopping and loitering, then moved on to the next schedule. I planned to spend time in the partitioned skin care facility without facing Iyongi directly.
“Daughter and I don’t need this sort of thing, do we? Our skin is already smooth without it.”
“Those people find flaws even where there are none and manage them anyway. They’ll do anything to make a living.”
“My goodness.”
“And after a massage, you feel refreshed and wonderful.”
“So this is how young people have fun?”
“If anything, it’s more middle-aged people who do it than young people, isn’t it?”
My father also has people come to the house for regular treatments. When I asked if she had no experience since the main consumers were people with money and leisure time, Iyongi smiled brightly and explained the result she’d obtained from her dragon form collapsing.
“Mother has no friends, after all.”
“I see.”
Now that I thought about it, she’d been furious about not being invited to the Academy Mother’s Association. I’d initially thought she was simply upset that Eleanor’s Mother was participating as my mother, but it occurred to me that she might have been angry about losing the opportunity to make friends. Iyongi had no friends, after all.
“If it’s Sera’s Mother, she’s the Radiance of Madness character type, so she’d play with a dragon like you whose form collapsed. Let me arrange a meeting.”
“My daughter is the best!”
Anyway, surely this state wouldn’t last forever. As I received a massage alongside Iyongi, I pressed her relentlessly about what on earth had happened. The dragon, whose head had turned pure white, confessed her misdeeds without a shred of shame.
“You see, Mother wanted to be treated like a mother, so she prayed to the Mother Goddess to fix our daughter’s behavior.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Exactly. If I want to be treated well, I need to change myself first.”
Watching Iyongi sigh as she spoke of all she’d learned while studying with Ursula, I finally figured it out.
‘Brainwashing?’
The mention of studying with Ursula felt unsettling. I myself had once been hypnotized or brainwashed by Cecilia in the past, and all I could think about was advancing to become a true power in the Empire. Given that the idiot gene seemed to run in the family, Iyongi would probably be susceptible to brainwashing too.
“Let’s call Eugene. I’ll contact Professor Ilyong.”
Back then, I’d recovered after getting slapped by Eugene, so there was a possibility Iyongi might recover after getting hit too.
“My goodness, I wanted to play with my daughter alone.”
“I’ll fill the 24 hours. Meeting Eugene comes after that.”
“Eugene? Isn’t that the child who couldn’t even make eye contact with me back then? So fresh and cute.”
“Ugh.”
I shuddered at this deranged middle-aged woman lover. No matter how inadequate our relationship compared to others, she was my blood relative—how could she harbor such thoughts? When I met that bastard Eugene with such filthy desires toward my own mother, I’d slap him first myself. With that resolve, I enjoyed the massage course. If I didn’t enjoy at least this, the mental exhaustion would be too much.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Haaah! Haaaaaaah!”
Evan Mitchell had endured twenty-four hours through sheer determination. Iyongi even clapped her hands in celebration. With this, Gerth would return from the universe, and Ilyong would be able to bring Eugene here to restore Iyongi to her senses.
“Twenty-four hours have passed, but your brainwashing hasn’t been undone. I’m glad we prepared Eugene.”
“Mother~, I’d be fine living like this forever~.”
“I hate it. I hate myself. And Father should come home too.”
While the status notification window was blaring fanfare celebrating the mission’s success, a colossal dragon crashed into the garden of the Neftis Townhouse. Common Professor, who had polymorphed while glimmering with light, complained that even the Ten Thousand Demon King wouldn’t order a busy dragon around so carelessly and haphazardly.
“Hello, Ilyong?”
“Did the Machine King create an android?”
Ilyong shuddered at Iyongi’s greeting and scrunched his face in disgust.
“It’s not an android.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s me.”
“Ha, that can’t be right.”
Ilyong, who had laughed it off casually, examined the surrounding mana. If it wasn’t an android, then it must be an elaborate puppet with a controller somewhere. Yet no matter how hard he looked, the figure appeared to be nothing but a mana-based lifeform. A demon—and one possessing tremendous power, radiating energy nearly at the level of a Demon King.
“Your Majesty, the Ten Thousand Demon King—is this the new Demon King you appointed? Does transformation happen to be your specialty?”
“My name is Iyongi.”
“That can’t possibly be true.”
“It can be.”
This wasn’t the student he knew—the boy was spouting absurdities. The Department Head Professor stared carefully at Iyongi, who looked identical to Iyongi, then squeezed his eyes shut and escaped from reality.
“Since I’ve brought the student Eugene, I suppose I have no further business here?”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.”
The man, sighing that living too long was problematic, left the mansion, saying he’d go visit Dr. Bruno instead. Eugene, summoned in haste, wore a red band around her head and a vest emblazoned with “United Struggle.”
“Evan, what’s going on? We’re busy with an ownership dispute right now.”
“Are you still protesting over the Seed Storage Facility matter?”
“Of course.”
Eugene, grinning that she’d fought a hundred-year war with a dragon, so what was a mere protest, bowed respectfully to the married woman standing quietly behind Evan. “Duchess Neftis, it’s been a while. You look particularly beautiful today, though in a different way.”
“Can you tell? I had a skincare treatment with my daughter yesterday.”
“That doesn’t seem to be the issue here….”
She was definitely a woman with a terrible personality, so why was she being so docile? Eugene frowned and alternated her gaze between Evan and Iyongi. Looking at Evan’s vacant expression, she could make an educated guess.
“Were you brainwashed?”
“That appears to be the case.”
“So that’s why you called me….”
Evan quickly asked her to slap Iyongi’s ears, but Eugene hesitated. A slap didn’t necessarily undo brainwashing, and the target was the Duchess Neftis.
“I mean, no matter what, how can I just—”
“This bastard is making excuses because she’s my biological mother?”
From Eugene’s response, Evan immediately grasped the point and, irritated, swiftly slapped Eugene across the cheek. She felt somewhat relieved.
“You irritating bastard!”
“Hey! You’re one to talk!”
“Hey! You’re one to talk!”
“I don’t covet other people’s husbands!”
“And I’m not coveting anyone either?!”
“I hate that greedy look in your eyes!”
“Well, I’m sorry about that!”
“Ugh, you’re getting on my nerves, you bastard!”
Evan and Eugene bickered intensely while Iyongi watched them with a pleased smile. Recognizing this was no time for such warmth, the two of them steeled their resolve and decided to strike her.
“I’m truly sorry! I’ll only hit you once!”
Eugene squeezed her eyes shut and delivered a sharp slap with the command to snap out of it. The sound of the impact rang out, and at that very moment, Evan’s eyes flooded with despair.
“Oh my.”
“…It didn’t work?”
“I told you, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
There were probability factors and brainwashing intensity variables—Eugene’s explanation was complicated in many ways. Evan was about to suggest trying one more time when Gerth returned from the universe.
“Evan! It’s Intelligence—raise your Intelligence skill!”
Gerth, having received a hint from Mother Goddess, shouted to raise the skill. The answer had always been right beside us. It was like the bluebird of happiness being in our own home all along.
“I do have enough experience points….”
How would an Intelligence skill help with this anyway? Even as Evan doubted, she poured 45,000 experience points into it. After all, following Gerth’s advice had never led to failure before.

R) Intelligence has reached lv.10. You can now use UR) Magnificent Fusion to summon ‘SR) Magnificent Worker’s Hand’.

So ‘Fusion’ had become ‘Magnificent Fusion’ and now there was a summoning system too. Evan muttered that the Fusion skill was practically cheating, then tapped to use Magnificent Fusion.

SR) Super Inflation lv.1 skill has been created.

“Huh?”
From the name alone, I had no idea what this skill did. Evan tapped the skill name to read the detailed description.

Details: Combat power inflation constantly occurs around the protagonist. Use this skill to boost your allies’ skill abilities.

“Huh?”
Having devoted Intelligence to it, Evan took considerable time to figure out the answer. Still, she finally grasped how to use this skill, shouted “Super Inflation!” and pushed Eugene forward.
“Try again. One more time.”
“The result will be the same anyway?”
“No, we’re in inflation state now. Your skill abilities should be massively boosted, right?”
Since we’d reached the epilogue after the conclusion, a power surge was the natural outcome. It was the same logic as how the protagonist would suffer for three days after using one finishing move early on, but by the later chapters, everyone and their dog was casually using that same finishing move without consequence.
Eugene opened her status window and confirmed that all her skill grades had indeed risen, then put force into her right hand.
“I’m sorry, just one more time!”
With a sharp crack, Iyongi’s mind cleared. Ursula’s brainwashing was broken. However, unfortunately, Procula Neftis remembered everything she had said and done to Evan over the past day.

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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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