Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 34

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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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Gerth in his lace lizard form was puffing out words so adorably that I thought I might die from the cuteness. I held him close once, rubbing my face against his, cooing over him to my heart’s content before tossing him into the air and catching him again.
“Compose yourself! Evan! Compose yourself!”
“Sorry. You’re just too cute.”
“I’ve never been called cute before.”
“Incredibly cute.”
“I’ve never been called incredibly cute before either.”
Gerth’s voice carried a note of genuine shock, then he cleared his throat and urged me to ring the doorbell already.
I indulged in a bit more coddling of Gerth before pressing the doorbell firmly and waiting for the Department Head Professor to emerge.
– Oh, Evan. Have you finally decided to make me your faculty advisor?
A 3D hologram image—something that had been impossible to commercialize even with the science and technology of my previous life—materialized before my eyes. The stylish middle-aged man, dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit and long coat with his hair neatly waxed, greeted me with a smug grin, but the moment he spotted the lizard in my arms, his expression hardened instantly.
– ….
“….”
When Gerth’s eyes narrowed to slits, the Department Head Professor averted his gaze. It was a dynamic I’d only ever seen between a strong and weak party, and I stood there bewildered until Gerth’s voice cut through the silence with reproach.
“Have you no shame?”
– ….
The Department Head Professor kept his eyes fixed on the sky, making his expression unreadable. But the aura radiating from his entire body—that unmistakable sense of “I’m screwed”—was crystal clear.
“Evan. I’ll have our discussion here and then depart.”
“Will you be able to get back on your own?”
“I cannot, but White One can.”
Well, our White One certainly is clever enough for that.
I nodded in understanding and set Gerth down on the ground. He scurried over the fence with a soft rustling sound, then leaped in front of the entrance, grabbed the doorknob in his mouth, spun around with a sharp twist, and snapped it clean off.
I was seeing a lot of property destruction today.
Since Gerth deserved his privacy, I decided to leave him be and continue my walk, finally entering the Academic Department I’d been looking forward to visiting.
The moment I stepped into the Academic Department, what unfolded before my eyes was an impressively intact university campus. Undamaged flower beds, unbroken fountains, plants that weren’t writhing—it was what one might call the ideal image of a campus, and for the first time, I felt the reality of being at a university. Then, from somewhere, came shrieks of excitement.
Reina Letem, surrounded by a crowd of admirers, was putting on a fire show.
“Kyaa! Reina, you’re so amazing!”
“Please win next time! We’ll come cheer you on!”
“Crush someone like Evan!”
Wow, she’s actually surrounded by fans screaming their lungs out. She must be insane.
Confronted with something that defied common sense, my legs moved of their own accord to flee, but someone blocked my path and thrust a gift box toward me.
“Um, um, we’re on your side!”
“Congratulations on getting the exchange permit!”
“This is just a small token, but it’s a gift for you.”
What is this? This is terrifying. I want to go home.
Suddenly missing the sensible students of the Department of Magic, I spun around and fled from the crowd.
“I don’t need supporters.”
If I acted cold enough, maybe they’d stop. With that resolve, I spoke bluntly, and from Reina’s side came screams no less intense than before.
“Kyaaah! So cool!”
“Even cooler than I imagined!”
“This is the Evan Laef we know!”
What are these lunatics talking about?
I plugged my ears and bolted toward the Department of Magic, desperate to escape.

◇ ◆ ◇

After that, I enjoyed a beautiful school life. The status window seemed to have stopped meddling in my existence—no more countdown timers appeared. Classes were engaging, my classmates were kind except for Reina Letem, and on clear nights, I’d connect with Gerth or Hubert to chat.
The first time I communicated with Hubert, he was shocked that we could actually talk. I theorized that since White One and Hubert were both born from Gerth’s blood and flesh, they could share his vision.
But whenever Hubert and I talked, Gerth would lurk nearby so relentlessly that I’d be driven mad. I begged White One to please send a transmission to Father next time.
Then came a day in May. Princess Sera, who’d promised to visit the club room, went completely silent. Meanwhile, the first-year students of the Department of Magic were assigned to take a practical combat course with the Combat Techniques Department. Come to think of it, I’d only ever strolled through the aesthetically pleasing Academic Department, never visiting the Combat Techniques Department. There must have been significant characters there in the original story.
I was trying to think it over when these teenagers erupted into noise again.
“Come at us, Magic Department! We’re taking first-year champion again this year!”
“You’re dead! If we lose, we’ll beat you until you’re actually dead!”
Why were second-year students here for a first-year class? The Combat Techniques Department and Department of Magic were practically at each other’s throats, yet the professors from each department simply shook hands and exchanged pleasantries about how they’d been.
Was this an annual event? Some kind of yearly tradition?
“You won’t win this time either! Look—our department got the famous Northern Duke as a first-year!”
“He’s a Marquis, senior. And my father is still alive.”
“The infamous murderer Eugene Brandenburg!”
“I’m not a murderer, senior.”
Wow! The Northern Duke infamous as a murderer—Eugene Brandenburg!
If it was Eugene of the Northern Region, he’d been the favorite of half our café members back when we had three hundred. His popularity was astronomical.
By Academy standards, he hadn’t inherited his title yet—his father was still a Marquis, not a Duke. But no matter how you looked at it, his bearing and appearance screamed Northern Duke, so the nickname had stuck since then.
A towering height of 190 centimeters, sharp features, piercing eyes, hair like the night sky, eyes like spilled blood,
A magnificent chest!
Solid and
A magnificent chest! Thighs that looked ready to burst!
And that devoted loyalty to only one woman!
How could anyone hate this? Besides, Eugene had crawled through battlefields like a dog to protect the nation, rising from Marquis to Duke. When his power began threatening the imperial family, they took his adorable young fiancée as a hostage.
Under the Emperor’s orders, holding his wife’s lifeline, Eugene became the Emperor’s puppet and swept across battlefields. Constantly overworked, he met an unfortunate end.
After Eugene died, membership plummeted spectacularly. When I read it in text, I never understood why everyone loved him so much.
“….”
*Ahem, ahem.*
“Whew.”
A whistle just slipped out. Hehe.
The Magic Department students could wear their uniforms whether they fought or not, but the Combat Techniques Department had special training gear issued. The tight black training suit clung to Eugene’s arms, waist, hips, and thighs, accentuating every curve—the defined areas looked devastatingly sculpted, and I could see his collarbones perfectly. The space between his collarbone and trapezius was deep enough to hold water.
“Whew!”
Excitement surging, I pursed my fingers and whistled sharply, when a chill ran down my back. White One scampered up my back like climbing a tree, claws scraping, then poked his face over my shoulder and made Gerth’s voice.
Feeling excited, I whistled sharply by cupping my fingers together, when I felt a chill run down my back. White One climbed up my back like scaling a tree with his claws, then poked his face over my shoulder and made Gerth’s voice.
“Evan, what’s so amusing?”
White One, you bastard—calling Gerth at this exact moment was deliberate, wasn’t it?
“…It’s just fun to watch.”
“Watch what?”
“…His body.”
“His body?”
Gerth stared intently at Eugene Brandenburg in his form-fitting training clothes before speaking.
“You find it enjoyable to look at a fat man?”
“It’s not fat. That’s muscle.”
“But it looks like there’s more fat than anything else.”
“Showy muscle always looks that way.”
“I have muscle too.”
“Hahahahahaha.”
Seriously, what a joke. You have to compare the right things. Gerth’s muscles are functional, developed through daily life, while Eugene deliberately bulked up like that. Though genetically he might naturally develop that way regardless. Either way, it was completely different from Gerth’s physique.
“Evan.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m in a terrible mood right now.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know either.”
Was it because White One forced me to call him? I suggested he stop the communication and rest instead. When I expressed my concern for Gerth, he replied dejectedly that he understood and cut the connection.
“White One.”
“…”
“Can we get along?”
“…”
White One turned his head sharply and scratched down my back like I was a tree. That ungrateful creature, forgetting all the kindness of being fed and cared for, only siding with his father.
Regardless, the second-year students of the Combat Techniques Department put Eugene at the forefront and announced they would determine who the boss was, even showcasing the terrible reward given to the boss.
An ugly long coat with the names of all previous bosses embroidered across the entire body, and emblazoned across the back in large letters was “Supreme Under Heaven” written in ancient Crowell script.
So becoming boss meant having to wear that monstrosity around. I frowned at the thought, Eugene didn’t look pleased either, but Reina’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Who among you will face our Northern Grand Duke!”
“Senior, our father is a Marquis of the Borderlands.”
Since this was a fight to determine the boss, the strongest person from the Magic Department should step forward. Noticing how all the first-year students were looking at me, I squeezed my eyes shut and pointed my finger toward Reina Letem.

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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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