Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 35

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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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#Doctor Bruno’s Crimson Dungeon (1)

“For heaven’s sake, let me live!”
Whether White One startled or not, I screamed toward the sky, suffering even from the wind rustling through the leaves. I was going mad. That secret dungeon was a place where the threat of death felt overwhelmingly, viscerally real.
Fighting the Dragon King or tearing down the Machine King’s floating islands—those battles where I’d get pummeled and cough blood—I’d simply thought of them as crises. But this dungeon? I’d trembled uncontrollably, clutching my phone, thinking “I must be insane. I could actually die here!”
The dungeon leading to the Secret Research Laboratory had virtually no monsters. After all, it was merely a passage to a research facility storing a few subversive texts—releasing monsters would be catastrophic. If they invaded the lab and destroyed the rooms, what then?
Instead, the path was lined with every conceivable trap, hidden chambers contained artifacts that triggered skill activation and induced confusion, and worst of all, the corridors formed a labyrinth with not a single drop of water to be found anywhere.
Humans die after four days without water. In situations requiring constant movement, death can come within a single day. If I didn’t go mad from thirst and dehydration before that, I’d consider myself fortunate.
I downed an entire bottle of tonic and hurled it into the trash. This was no time for such indulgence. I had one week remaining, and my work deadline was only four days away. Even if I died, I’d finish my tasks first.
I decided to handle the professor’s assignment first, then packed my backpack during work breaks. The clear conditions mentioned nothing about requiring multiple people. I could simply descend alone, clear it swiftly, and return.

◇ ◆ ◇

After finishing my shift without incident, I set out for the dungeon over the weekend. To avoid unnecessary suffering together, I lied to White One that I was going herb gathering, then shouldered a heavy backpack containing only four 1.5-liter bottles of water.
Of course, the backpack held far more than water alone. In case I got lost in the labyrinth, I’d packed four days’ worth of emergency rations, antibiotics to prevent infection from cuts, vitamin D since I wouldn’t see sunlight for a while, multivitamins for nutritional balance, a bottle of cheap salad oil as backup, and a sleeping bag rolled up tightly.
With a spear gripped firmly in hand, I was thoroughly equipped. I would enter healthy, clear the dungeon in perfect condition, and return safely.
I couldn’t quite remember the exact procedure the Third Princess used to warp into the dungeon, but… if I went and touched things here and there, something would happen. Once I saw it with my own eyes, it might come back to me.
Thus I arrived at the Old Magic Department Dean’s Research Building, cordoned off with caution tape. This ominous-looking structure, where ghosts seemed ready to emerge, had stood undemolished for over a decade since the Former Dean was imprisoned in a political detention facility. There were reasons construction workers refused to approach it.
First, whenever attempts were made to demolish the building, people went missing. This occurred because someone unluckily warped into the dungeon while inspecting the Department Head’s Office.
Usually, such disappearances ended there, but the people who returned alive posed another problem entirely.
This was the second reason construction halted completely. The foreman and crew members of the demolition team vanished en masse, then returned alive—but all awakened to something, became radical activists, protested in front of the Imperial Palace, and died.
Missing persons, sudden personality changes. Because of this, the Former Dean’s Research Building was branded as haunted, and no one dared set foot there.
Knowing the full story, I was aware that no ghosts would appear, so I could fearlessly enter the Department Head’s Office.
“Hmm…”
But how did I activate the mechanism? I racked my memory, tugging curtain cords and lifting candlesticks, but nothing happened.
Honestly, the original author failed here. Usually an exposition junkie without equal, yet for this part, they only wrote: “When the Third Princess broke down the door, fragments pinged and bounced around, and some artifact activated”—that’s all.
How could such a coincidence exist?! Fragments bouncing around, then suddenly the mechanism activates? What kind of nonsense is that?!
Furious, I ripped down the dust-covered curtains, wound them around my hand, and smashed the window with a tremendous crash. From the corridor came the sound of voices and running feet.
“Hey! Is someone there?!”
Damn the original’s narrative force—why is the Third Princess here of all times?!
Moreover, from the footsteps, there were multiple people. Apparently, just like in the book, she’d brought all the early Club members.
I hadn’t given a single thought to finding the Club room until now, so why—of all days, at this hour—did they have to show up as a group for sightseeing? I was losing my mind!
“Don’t come! Don’t enter, Third Princess!”
“I’m sorry!”
Why apologize?! Before I could even say it, the door exploded with a bang, and door handle fragments pinged and bounced around the Department Head’s Office.
Remarkably, where the fragments pinged and struck, there were button-like mechanisms, and the moment all the buttons were pressed, a blue warp gate unfurled across the room.
“Don’t come in here! Whatever you do, don’t enter this place!”
“Understood!”
Princess Sera listened to my commands remarkably well. That alone deserved praise. One of her better qualities was her restraint—she didn’t meddle out of misplaced concern and turn the situation into a complete disaster.
But this time, luck had abandoned me. The warp’s range extended far beyond the Former Dean’s Office.

In the dim Underground Tunnel, I found myself in an unexpected gathering with every Club member, and unable to bear this dreadful feeling any longer, I collapsed to the ground and pressed my palms against the earth.
“I told you not to come!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, you stubborn Princess Sera!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Your Highness, she didn’t mean to—”
“You’re the real problem here, you feathered fool!”
“Ack! Aaaack!”
I gripped the harpoon backwards and beat Aten Polat mercilessly with the handle. This bastard—sure, maintaining your character is fine, but when there’s a chance to stop the Princess, use your damn strength! You’re infinitely stronger than her!

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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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