Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 304

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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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But the tidal wave was only the beginning of our problems. Ilyong’s gravity magic was nothing more than the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, yet it influenced the surrounding celestial bodies and magnetic fields, creating a butterfly effect. An asteroid that should have passed near the moon was now hurtling toward Earth. And not just any asteroid—one with a diameter of one hundred kilometers.
“There’s no choice. If we want to live, we have to destroy the asteroid.”
“But that’s not exactly an easy task either.”
“Because it’s not easy, that’s why Ursu only called the Demon Kings, damn it!”
Reina cursed at the sky, her frustration boiling over. I wanted to do the same, but with Obero watching, I held my tongue. Swearing wouldn’t solve anything anyway.
“If we don’t break it down into small pieces systematically, the debris will fall and cause major damage.”
Good point, Seian. Actually, the moment I heard about the asteroid collision, something came to mind, but I thought it would be better to show them something first to help them understand.
“Gerth. When you went to Mother’s place, you said you definitely watched that one film, right?”
“I did. It was an informative program.”
“Makina, could you contact Ursu and ask if we can screen the movie Armageddon?”
Even in the remote territories there are television programs, so surely a Hollywood blockbuster wouldn’t be a problem. I confidently ordered the film, and the Machine King said the download was complete, instructing us to close all the curtains and darken the room.
A beam shot from the Machine King’s eyes with a whirring sound, projecting the movie onto the white wall ahead.
The plot was exactly as I remembered. When an asteroid was set to collide with Earth, fourteen astronauts were gathered to plant bombs deep within the asteroid and detonate them to destroy it. I was worried there might be some crude and violent scenes for Obero to see, but fortunately, it seemed Ursu’s granddaughter had them deleted out of love.
Everyone in the conference hall watched the movie quietly, but at the climactic scene where Bruce Willis dies, Obero suddenly burst into tears.
“Mother! Don’t sacrifice yourself!”
As the Starving Child clung to me crying, Gerth embraced me, Seian embraced me, and Cha Cha embraced me, all begging me not to die.
“I have no intention of dying.”
“Stop spouting nonsense. You have a track record.”
“Evan. If you keep doing that, I’ll really punish you.”
“Evan! If it’s an emergency, let’s sacrifice the lizard sibling instead!”
Gerth, so when you made me apologize last time, that wasn’t punishment? I’m genuinely terrified to think what you’d do if you actually tried to punish me properly. I could see Sera, in the same predicament, running away from Sunbird’s nagging.
“Your Highness Sera! You mustn’t get involved in this! Do you understand!”
“But! I need my power to create fractures in the asteroid!”
“You said last time that you’d die if necessary!”
Now that I think about it, when we time-traveled, Sera did say she’d die together with Kim Yeo-myung. That household really is something—all because of a patriarch who doesn’t value his own life.
“Don’t worry, Sunbird. I won’t make Sera do anything dangerous.”
“Then, does that mean you’ll do the dangerous work instead?”
“Hey! Tie her up!”
At Seian’s shout, Kanna quickly bound me. It’s quite inconvenient when the head of the Assassination Family isn’t on my side.
“Listen carefully. If that asteroid were one-hundredth its size, Reina alone has already vaporized something like that before.”
Everyone turned toward Reina, and the dazed Reina, remembering when we went to the Sea Dragon’s dungeon, quickly nodded. I continued explaining the plan.
“I’ll break it apart, Sera will destroy it, and Reina will incinerate the debris—it’s that simple. The Machine King can calculate the optimal trajectory and destruction points.”
If Makina isn’t confident, we also have Mother Goddess as a cheat code. Honestly, considering our abilities, this isn’t really a big deal. At my calm explanation, Obero, who could be persuaded by logic, was the first to calm down.
“So, Mother doesn’t have to risk her life?”
“Our only concerns are how to operate in space and whether we can use our skills smoothly.”
As I spoke with confidence, Gerth looked at me quietly, then stepped forward with Seian.
“If it’s really safe, then Lemon Pie can observe too, right?”
“As long as we’re watching safely from beside Ursu, that should be fine.”
Once Seian Crowell gave his approval to accompany us, everyone finally let out a relieved sigh.
“If Seian Crowell deems it safe enough to join us, then I can rest assured as well.”
“If a father weaker than a baby turtle can endure it, then I suppose I can tag along on this outing too.”
“Well… I’m relieved, but honestly? This verification method leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
No big deal! I declared it firmly, and the meeting proceeded smoothly. The Machine King would create spacesuits as the primary measure, but in emergencies, Cha Cha and Apet would step in to cast shields and healing. We couldn’t predict what might happen in space, after all.
“The real variable is whether we can use advanced techniques out there.”
Last time at the Space Station, I could use skills, but that might have been because of Mother Goddess’s consideration. Fundamentally, mana originates from Earth. Beyond Earth, mana would naturally be scarce.
“I contacted Mother! She says she’ll shift the mana zone into space within two days!”
Well done, Cha Cha! As a climate and mana control Artificial Satellite by trade, you can indeed relocate concentrated mana zones.
Since Cha Cha did such a good job, he asked for kisses, so I gave him plenty—but then a status notification window appeared, like a power outage alert.

Mana will concentrate in the thermosphere in 49 hours. Life forms sustained by mana should consult nearby Priesthood members.

Right, even if there’s a blackout from construction, hospitals’ intensive care units still need power. Seeing how far my thoughts extend… I really do feel the weight of experience.
While the Machine King and Ursu calculated the asteroid’s orbit and the position of the Space Station where we’d be on standby, I took Reina Letem and Sera from the Destruction Team to an empty field away from Ilram. I knew Reina’s destructive power roughly, but Sera’s abilities hadn’t been updated. If the Dual Extremity’s destructive force remained as it was before, it would be better to swap Sera out of the Destruction Team and bring in Gerth instead.
“I’ll use Super Inflation, a skill I acquired this time. Sera, you just focus on going all out.”
“Got it! Let me show you the Buddha’s Palm!”
Huh? Buddha’s Palm? Weren’t you supposed to have Dual Extremity? I definitely put you in the Destruction Team because of how that skill worked—one punch shattering rocks to pieces?
In terms of pure destructive power, Gerth was impressive too. But for destroying an asteroid, Dual Extremity would be more efficient. There was no one else as talented as Sera for pulverizing it all the way through.
“You’ll see!”
Sera shouted confidently, then bounced high using only her leg strength before falling with her upper body leading, extending her right hand. The moment her palm struck the ground, Sera cried out.
“Buddha’s Palm!”
A rumbling sound echoed, and a massive palm print carved into the earth. It truly was an incredible skill worthy of being named after Buddha’s hand.
“Evan! Deploy your wings!”
This wasn’t the end, apparently. I quickly spread my ice wings and attached them to Reina and Sera as well. Floating in the air and looking down, the ground bearing the palm print suddenly began crumbling with a desiccated sound.
Boom!
An explosion echoed with a time delay from Sera’s attack. Dust shot up to the sky’s edge, and the earth rumbled as it collapsed downward and downward.
“What just happened?”
“Buddha’s Palm doesn’t damage the surface so much as completely destroy the interior. Since we used it on earth, the surface collapsed because of the cavern created inside.”
“Couldn’t she destroy the asteroid by herself if we just sent her up?”
I had the same thought. And once the dust settled, I became certain.
“Isn’t this carved as deep as the trench you evaporated last time?”
“By simple calculation, if Sera uses the skill a hundred times, wouldn’t the game be over?”
“I’m still not used to using mana, so it’s difficult!”
Now that I thought about it, Sera looked exhausted. We could use skills without depleting stamina or mental energy because we were skilled with mana, but Sera wasn’t.
“Our goal isn’t the asteroid’s annihilation but its destruction. Sera doesn’t need to use the skill a hundred times. This is sufficient.”
“I’m glad I could help, Evan!”
Hearing Sera say she’d trained hard, gritting her teeth because she hadn’t been helpful in fights, I found myself more concerned about Sunbird’s stomach ulcers than Sera’s hardships. He must have worried himself sick watching Sera neglect her health for training. And on top of that, his doctoral thesis wasn’t progressing either.
“Our firepower is sufficient. We should use the remaining time for zero-gravity training.”
“That floating thing, right? I’m not sure if I can get used to it.”
“How exciting to experience something new!”
We linked arms and returned to Bunny Land, then warped to the Space Station with the others. Even after warping, the Machine King and Ursu continued their calculations. Gerth and Cha Cha, having visited before, guided the first-timers around the station, while the main Destruction Team and Auxiliary Destruction Team conducted zero-gravity training, working hard to prevent muscle loss.
Just as I was growing tired of watching Obero marvel at the blue planet Earth, the asteroid Amasis X Makina drew closer to Earth.
“The final battle approaches!”
“Wait for us! Amasis X Makina!”
“We’ll destroy you! Amasis X Makina!”
“We’ll kill you, Makina!”
“You’re all cursing the asteroid while actually cursing me, aren’t you?”
Of course. Whose fault is all this trouble we’re going through? We positioned the Machine King and Professor Ilyong in the center and pummeled them with both fists. The fact that even the Ten Thousand Demon King didn’t get a scratch—they really are durable.
“Now it’s a race against time. The main Destruction Team will gather around Evan, and the Auxiliary Destruction Team around me.”
After taking a beating from me, Professor Ilyong simply dusted off his clothes and returned looking magnificent. He gathered Iyongi, Eugene, and Gerth, rallying them with the determination to destroy more than the other team.
“Now, Emergency Response Team! We need to be cautious since we’re just observing and only intervening in emergencies!”
“Why do you only say that when looking at me?”
“Because the Emergency Response Team is just me, the Underworld King, and you—and you’re the only one who’ll do something reckless claiming it’s dangerous.”
“We’re divorced! Don’t hold onto regrets! Why do you keep calling Evan your ex-wife!”
“Heh, what else would you call an ex-wife but an ex-wife?”
The old man who looked like a starving child and Cha Cha, whose insides matched his appearance, were engaged in a strange battle of wills. I just hoped those two would cooperate when an emergency actually came.
We changed into spacesuits, warmed up, and waited for the warp. There were emergency spacecraft at the Space Station, but it was faster to warp everyone directly to the asteroid once we entered Ursu’s warp range than to use those ships.
From now on, it’s truly a race against time.
「Main Destruction Team, Auxiliary Destruction Team, prepare yourselves. Warping in ten seconds.」
Ursu’s announcement echoed through the station, and we took deep breaths to steady our nerves.
If we failed to destroy it, the last resort would be for Professor Ilyong to use gravity magic to alter the asteroid’s orbit. Of course, we kept that as a final option since we didn’t know what butterfly effect it might trigger. Given Ursu’s speculation that if we were unlucky twice, Mars might veer off its orbit and collide with Earth, we were determined to destroy the asteroid no matter what.
“Hey, hey! Come back alive, everyone!”
Seian’s tearful shout gave us strength and made everything feel right. I waved back at Seian and gave Gerth a look saying we’d see each other alive again. Just as Gerth nodded in response, the warp commenced.
“Alright, let’s get to work!”
“Let’s go!”
“Here we go!”
The first task was me inserting an ice drill into the asteroid. The asteroid was elliptical with a fairly narrow width, so the surface area of one side was visible to the naked eye.
“Super Inflation! Legendary Frost Binding!”
If this were Earth, the sound of digging would have been deafening, but space was silent. I created fractures, Sera shattered them with her Tathagata form, and Reina incinerated the fragments with her flame magic. The work proceeded safely, but caution took considerable time. As I watched the small Earth grow infinitely larger, I began to feel anxious.
“Evan, could you come to the rear? We have an unexpected situation.”
Just then, I received a communication from Professor Ilyong. I signaled to the professor through a pre-arranged hand signal that I was coming, informed Reina and Sera, and warped to the rear of the asteroid through Ursu. There, I found torn-up ground and an enormous metal mass.
“If I use my power, it might become even harder.”
That would certainly be the case. When gravity can turn stone into jewels, that’s what we’re dealing with.
I tried to split the metal using the Legendary Frost Binding drill form. The metal, nearly the size of a building, crumbled bit by bit, but it seemed impossible to break it into small pieces within the time limit.
“I’m heading back. Let’s have Reina melt it instead.”
“Understood.”
After exchanging words through the communication system, I returned to my position and sent Reina to the professor. Actually, we don’t necessarily need to incinerate the fragments. The smaller pieces will be handled by Earth’s thermosphere, and anything left in space will just become a ring around Earth. A ring around Earth would look beautiful. Though the Space Station and all the discarded satellites would be destroyed.
“Sera, we continue our work.”
“Understood!”
By the time I’d finished my assigned task, Sera had exhausted herself and was drifting lazily through space, leaving behind only a chunk of metal the size of a small hill. The fact that Reina’s flame magic couldn’t penetrate it meant this metal had a high probability of surviving the thermosphere.
“Ow, it’s hot!”
The metal chunk was accelerating, and descending beneath it would be dangerous. If Reina was complaining about the heat, it meant we were approaching the thermosphere. Warping to the Space Station would be ideal.
“Ursu. If that falls as is, what’s the scale of damage?”
「A radius of 100 kilometers would be completely devastated.」
“Expected impact zone?”
「Sungkuk Kingdom.」
Of all places, somewhere people actually lived. Everyone within a 100-kilometer radius would perish. I entrusted the Destruction Team’s evacuation to someone else and requested Ursu to warp me to the impact point. At this rate, I had no choice but to catch the asteroid fragments myself on Earth.
「You’re going alone?」
“Yes.”
「Why?」
“The mana zone has shifted—mana is sparse down there. Mana lifeforms and ordinary humans can’t stop it.”
Only I, who was half and half, was suited for this. I spoke with logic packed into every word, but Ursu demanded I tell the truth—why I wanted to go alone without telling anyone.
I had no choice but to tell the truth.
“I’ll get scolded if anyone finds out! I’ll just handle it roughly!”
「What an honest child! Approved!」
As if awarding me a prize, Ursu dropped me onto Earth. I watched the glowing red metal chunk falling from the sky, sparks flying, and immediately removed my space suit helmet.
“Super Inflation! The legendary!”
Forming the legendary ice shield form, I layered it repeatedly to slow the asteroid’s descent. The sound of destruction and ice evaporating instantly filled the air as the distance between me and the red-hot metal narrowed. Kwajwajwa—
“Legendary Ice! Drill Form!”
A direct confrontation. I continuously enlarged the drill’s size, continuing the power struggle against the asteroid fragment.
“Cough!”
Damn it, with mana this scarce, my mental strength was already depleted!
“Legendary! Legendary legendary!”
As the first drill melted away completely, I created three more drills to oppose the asteroid. The drills spun and evaporated repeatedly. The surroundings became shrouded in hazy mist, and with each breath, scorching air pierced my lungs. At this rate, my organs would start cooking.
“Cough!”
Blood dripped from my mouth. It meant my stamina was exhausted.
“Legendary Ice! Booster—!”
The third time would be my life force’s turn. But I had no intention of dying. Did you think I came here without a single thing to rely on?
“Uaaaaaaah!”
Instead of my life force burning away, the Dragon Heart that had belonged to Iyongi blazed with light. Blue-tinged mana surged into my right fist, allowing me to squeeze out one final burst of strength.
“Legendary Ice! Asteroid Blockade!”
I shouted the technique name I’d improvised on the spot and tensed my shoulders. Bit by bit, the asteroid was being pushed back. My right arm moved forward. I could stop it like this. With that certainty came another shout.
“Hraaaaah!”
Kwang! The asteroid fragment embedded itself into the ground to my left. It was still glowing and burning, but it was now merely a well-heated chunk of metal.
I had successfully blocked every single fragment of the asteroid.
“Phew!”
As the tension released, I lay flat on my back and gazed at the sky. Shooting stars were falling incredibly abundantly, whether from the asteroid fragments burning in the thermosphere.
“Please don’t let me get scolded. Please don’t let me get scolded. Please don’t let me get scolded.”
Since so many shooting stars were falling anyway, I made a wish to the meteor and to the goddess. I’d probably get scolded for it, but there was no helping it.
My life is long. A long, endless life guaranteed by Mother Goddess Ursula. Over that vast expanse of time, I would commit countless foolish acts deserving of punishment, and even as I faced those consequences, I would live exactly as I pleased.
Those around me would suffer for it, but as long as I possessed the strength to act, I had no choice but to use it. Until my life ends, I will protect my family and friends. Whether they wish it or not.
I snapped my fingers together and checked my status window. The death countdown was gone. I had survived once again.
I, Evan Laef, will continue to struggle forward for survival, no matter what lies ahead.

The death countdown vanishes from the status window
Epilogue Complete

Special thanks to Lee Director, Sunshine, and the kind souls of Gaha

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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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