Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 7

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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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When I flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs up, the Young Wife hesitated but ultimately supported my plan. There was something in her that stirred at the sight of the husband who’d raised his hand against her so many times now receiving his comeuppance.
“You’re filling the bathtub with water… what are you planning? Waterboarding?”
This Young Wife was more excited than I was. Waterboarding would certainly be effective, but I had something else I wanted to test.
“Skill: Freeze.”
The Freeze skill was impressive—only level 5, but as an offensive ability, freezing water was instantaneous. As I solidified the water to immobilize the man, the sudden chill running through his entire body jolted him awake.
“Damn it! What is this! You crazy bastard, what are you doing!”
He hadn’t sobered up yet. I smiled as gently as I could while gripping his hand firmly, then activated the Freeze skill again.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
When activating a skill, the energy consumed comes first from mental power. Once mental power is depleted, the body coughs up blood as a warning. If you push further and use the skill anyway, physical stamina is consumed. When stamina is exhausted, life force is drawn upon, triggering another coughing fit. Once life force is completely drained, a final hemorrhage occurs followed by death. At our café, we called this the “three-strike coughing rule.”
Using the skill consecutively caused brief dizziness, but since I hadn’t coughed up blood, it seemed I hadn’t drained my stamina yet.
“I’ve frozen your arms. Now we begin the procedure.”
“What nonsense!”
“You should have behaved yourself from the start.”
I grinned wickedly.
What followed was unsuitable for minors and thus omitted, but the man—
“Sh*t!”
and such—
“What grudge do you have against me, you lunatic!”
and so forth—
spewed vulgarities, but as the inexorable passage of time wore on, he accepted reality and wailed.
“I was wrong! I won’t do it again! I just won’t hit her!”
“Kid, are you trying to match wits with me?”
Unable to fathom why he kept resisting, I continued the procedure until he finally begged me.
“I’m sorry! I apologize! I won’t do it again! If my body gets any more damaged, I won’t be able to work and feed myself! Please, spare me!”
Hmm… when he put it that way, I had no choice. I asked the Young Wife if this was enough, and she, contrary to her earlier enthusiasm, had turned pale and tearfully said this was more than sufficient.
“I live in this neighborhood. If I hear bad news, I’ll be back. I work until my customers are satisfied.”
I flashed my best service smile and patted the Abusive Husband’s shoulder. The ice in the bathtub could be slowly thawed by pouring hot water over it. I gave the Young Wife thorough aftercare instructions and told her to come find me anytime something happened.
“For now, a down payment of one hundred thousand crowns.”
“Y-yes, I’ll prepare it right away!”
The man sobbed in the bathtub, while the Young Wife prioritized handing me the money over thawing her husband. While she left the bathroom to fetch the funds, I spoke quietly to the man.
“If you act up, I’ll kill you.”
Mother was from this Village and had a good reputation among the village elders, and Thomas had connections not only with sailors but also with the village men. And I was close to both of them, under their protection. There was nothing for the man to gain by making me an enemy. If anything, he’d only invite trouble for speaking ill of Eleanor’s daughter or picking fights with someone under her wing.
I’d been able to act so boldly in this matter because I was certain Mother and I would be safe. Thomas’s presence had been invaluable. The fact that Mother had been friends with him since childhood worked greatly in my favor.
“Here’s one hundred thousand crowns!”
“Right. Pay the rest when you have it.”
“Y-yes! Thank you! Please take care!”
I went back to keep watch on whether the husband would cause trouble, and fortunately, the man was so intimidated by me that he kept his head down and lived quietly. The Young Wife’s face bore no new bruises, and whenever we crossed paths in the Village, she greeted me warmly and thanked me.
After taking in the Young Wife as a guest, I began earning money by solving Ilam’s various small problems.

◇ ◆ ◇

The Errand Center work proved far more lucrative than expected. Less than a week after opening, word spread through whispers, and people from the Neighboring District began requesting my services. I’d earned five million crowns in what felt like no time at all. I’d recklessly used my Freezing and Throwing skills to resolve incidents, and my level had climbed accordingly. It seemed that Evan Laef’s Skill Finesse—a skill from his side—was applying to me as well. It was genuinely incredible.

Mitchell Neftis
Status: Terminal, Blessed by Ursh
Experience: 100
N) Freezing lv.6 – 600 until next level
N) Throwing lv.6 – 600 until next level
N) Vitality lv.6 – 99 until next level
R) Noble’s Grace
UR) Fusion

I snapped my left fingers together and checked my status, falling into contemplation. Should I just dump that spare experience into Vitality? I’d initially thought it was a trivial skill, but as its level rose, I could tangibly feel my stamina and strength increasing dramatically.
I no longer grew tired from running, and for someone like me who spent entire days chasing after Titi with boundless energy, it was exactly the skill I needed right now.
“Ah, why not.”

N) Vitality has reached lv.7.

Mitchell Neftis
Status: Terminal, Blessed by Ursh
Experience: 1
N) Freezing lv.6 – 600 until next level
N) Throwing lv.6 – 600 until next level
N) Vitality lv.7 – 699 until next level
R) Noble’s Grace
UR) Fusion

Confirming the level increase, I performed some light stretches and began sprinting. As I cut through the air with a sharp whoosh, my body felt impossibly light. It seemed to take only about ten seconds to cover a hundred meters. If this were Korea, I would’ve made the Olympics.
“Chirp! Chirp chirp!”

N) Detection lv.1 skill has been created.

Why did this skill even appear? If it’s Detection, maybe I picked it up from noticing Gerth’s footsteps before he arrived at the Mining Site, or from wandering around searching for Titi?
Either way, it worked out. I heard a loud bird cry from somewhere, but I couldn’t pinpoint the exact direction. I used my Detection skill to trace the source of the chirping.
“It’s over there.”
After running for a while, I found a sparrow the size of a human head trapped in a mesh snare, tears streaming down its face as it chirped desperately.
“How on earth….”
“Screech! Chirp chirp!”
“How stupid.”
“Screeeeech!”
Isn’t this creature supposed to be a demi-human? Why is it acting like such a bird-brain? Its wings looked damaged from the start, but it was still shocking to see a demi-human of that caliber trapped in a simple bird snare.
This bird snare was, quite frankly, incredibly simple.
Someone had simply strung up a flimsy mesh net like a wall across a path where birds traveled. When passing birds tried to rest by grabbing the soft net threads, they couldn’t push off the ground to fly away, so they’d just dangle there helplessly.
Why not just let go of the net and drop to the ground? Because it couldn’t think that far—hence the bird-brain comment.
“Hmm….”
I stopped marveling at the creature’s stupidity and decided to rescue it quickly. I needed to change the story’s progression. Changing the progression meant gaining experience points.
“Chirp! Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp!”
Realizing I was trying to help, the enormous sparrow rubbed its head against my body and showered me with every bit of affection it could muster. As I gently grabbed the bird’s body and freed its feet from the net, a notification chimed and a window appeared.

The progression has changed slightly. You have been awarded 1,000 experience points.

Yes! This is it! A thousand points, just as I hoped!
The moment I confirmed the notification, I hurled the sparrow away and opened my status window.
“Screeeeech!”
The bird the size of a human head let out a scream-like chirp, but that wasn’t my concern right now. What mattered was the status window. Ever since two status windows representing me had appeared, there was something I’d been curious about.

Evan Laef
Status: Terminal, Blessed by Ursh
Experience Points: 1,000
N) Training lv.8 – 800 until next level
N) Horsemanship lv.8 – 800 until next level
N) Mining lv.1 – 1 until next level
N) Detection lv.1 – 100 until next level
L) Shirking Responsibility
EX) Jack of All Trades

Mitchell Neftis
Status: Limited Lifespan, Blessing of Ursh
Experience: 1,001
N) Freezing lv.6 – 600 until next level up
N) Throwing lv.6 – 600 until next level up
N) Vitality lv.7 – 699 until next level up
R) Noble’s Grace
UR) Fusion

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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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