Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 310
Pick Me Up – Chapter 310 – Epilogue 3: Earth
«Yes, please sign here.»
At the information desk on the first floor of the large hospital.
She signed the documents the nurse handed her.
«Since you were hospitalized for overwork, you need to rest properly and take care of your health for a while. Understood?»
«…Yes.»
She responded weakly.
In her handbag were the things she had used in the hospital room.
A small laptop, a charger, and a couple of self-help books.
«All set! The discharge process is complete. You can go home now.»
The nurse smiled and waved.
She nodded in thanks and left the hospital lobby.
‘I’ve almost never been hospitalized.’
As she walked out through the glass door, the cold early autumn wind brushed her cheek.
Three days of hospitalization. It was unfamiliar to her, who had rarely been in a hospital.
‘Pick Me Up.’
That was the name of the game she was playing just before she passed out.
According to her mother, who found her unconscious, she was lying down clutching her phone tightly.
‘Overwork… they said.’
There was nothing really wrong with her body.
She had just lost consciousness for a moment. The doctor diagnosed her with ‘overwork,’ and due to her mother’s insistence, she was discharged after three days.
Ha.
She sighed again.
She fished out her old smartphone from her pocket. On the main app screen was the app called – Pick Me Up!
[Thank you for loving Pick Me Up!]
[For the past two years, Mobius has been happy to be with all the masters…]
After tapping the icon, a notification appeared on the login screen.
A message she had read dozens, maybe hundreds of times.
Though it was full of flowery language, the meaning was simple.
[Pick Me Up! will cease its services on XX of X, 201X.]
[Information about the refund period…]
«What is this?»
They said it was a world-famous game.
Until six months ago, it was one of the biggest gaming companies in the world.
But Pick Me Up and Mobius fell suddenly.
She entered the official Pick Me Up forum.
The bulletin board was filled with posts and comments from users, with insults and criticisms everywhere.
The same was true elsewhere. In gaming communities, articles criticizing Pick Me Up appeared almost daily, and there were even TV programs investigating the true face of Mobius.
‘A ghost company?’
The CEO and most of the executives were hospitalized.
They denied having founded such a company.
As if they were hypnotized.
Moreover, some of the top-ranked players of Pick Me Up fell into comas, and poor server management and mishandling of incidents became topics of discussion, leading to…
‘Bankruptcy.’
It could be summed up in one word.
Pick Me Up, which had one million downloads, had gone bankrupt.
The game she once considered her ‘game of life,’ a precious memory forever, had ended like this.
«It can’t be.»
She murmured in shock.
‘I finally found my game of life…’
The server stopped,
Her account was suspended,
And the fate of the hero she had nurtured so lovingly was left hanging.
Bang!
A taxi stopped in front of her as she stood there.
The door opened and a boy in a school uniform looked at her from the seat.
«What are you doing? You’re not even answering calls. I came to get you.»
«……»
«Get in. Auntie is waiting at home.»
The boy moved aside.
She got into the taxi.
The taxi, with the two inside, drove down the road silently.
«Jinho.»
Suddenly, she spoke as she sat.
«What?»
«What happened to Pick Me Up?»
The boy, named Jinho, frowned.
«That failed game?»
«…Yes.»
«I wanted to have some fun, but it self-destructed. It’s a garbage game. The company is garbage too. I spent all my pocket money on it.»
Jinho did not hide his displeasure.
«They didn’t even have voices. No costumes. Just luck and terrible server management. If I ever play a mobile game again, I’ll cut my hand off. Pfft!»
«Didn’t they seem alive?»
«Alive?»
Jinho looked at her incredulously.
«What was alive? The game heroes?»
She nodded.
«I told you not to overdo it with games. That’s why you ended up in the hospital. If Auntie finds out you passed out from game addiction, she’ll beat you.»
«Yes.»
She shrank instinctively.
She knew how painful her mother’s beatings could be since she was a child.
«Well, the AI system was good.»
«Right?»
«Why do you like it so much? Haven’t you given up yet?»
Jinho looked at her with distrust.
She quickly shook her head.
‘I don’t want to get beaten by Mom.’
She was already an adult who worked.
«When you get home, eat well. Remember you have to go back to work tomorrow. They said you got sick leave at the company.»
«Yes, I know.»
«I repeat, take care of your life. Play in moderation. I’m not saying don’t play, just don’t do it non-stop. Auntie is worried.»
«…Sorry.»
«Don’t apologize. It’s not like I want to scold you.»
Jinho turned his eyes away from her.
She realized that the boy really cared for her.
«By the way, when I visited you two days ago, there was a strange man in a suit in front of your room. Who was he?»
«Huh?»
«Don’t tell me you’re dating someone like that. With a little effort, guys will come to you.»
«No, no! It’s nothing.»
Jinho looked at her suspiciously, but shrugged.
«If you don’t want to talk, fine.»
«He was saying weird things. Seemed like a salesman. I kicked him out.»
She looked at her handbag.
Inside was an envelope the man had given her.
‘Thirty billion won?’
And an apartment in Gangnam, a luxury car,
And a land ownership document somewhere in Seoul.
‘Someone gave it to me as a gift?’
That was what the man in the suit said.
That the ownership had been transferred and she needed to confirm it.
She swallowed.
The documents were packaged in a fancy envelope.
She thought about checking them, but after much thought, decided not to.
‘Even if it’s real…’
She felt she shouldn’t accept it.
Surely, it had a rightful owner.
‘If I don’t return it…’
She needed to think about it for a while.
«We’re here!»
The taxi stopped at the entrance of an old apartment complex.
Jinho handed a few thousand-won bills to the driver and got out of the taxi.
«I’m leaving first. I have to go to the academy. Go straight home.»
«Thanks.»
«See you.»
Jinho walked away in the opposite direction of the apartment complex.
«Thanks for the ride.»
«A very polite young lady.»
She politely greeted the driver and got out of the taxi.
The apartment she lived in was right across from the complex.
She took the elevator to the seventh floor.
It was an old, small apartment.
Unlike Jinho’s wealthy family, her home was modest and rented, but she dreamed of buying a house for her and her mother someday.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She entered the password and the door opened.
As she walked in, she was greeted by the family photo hanging on the wall.
«I’m back, Dad.»
In the photo, a man smiled widely while riding a horse and lifting a trophy.
A promising rider who was no longer in this world, her father.
«Suyeon, you’re back?»
«Yes, I’m home.»
«I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up. I wanted to give you a warm meal.»
«You didn’t have to.»
A spicy aroma came from the kitchen.
It was probably kimchi stew, her favorite dish.
The stew would be filled with tofu and pork.
«Are you really okay? Shouldn’t you rest more?»
«If I rest more, the boss will scold me. I’ll go back to work tomorrow.»
«Alright. It’s almost ready. Take a bath and watch TV in the living room.»
«I’ll just tidy up my things and then help you.»
«No, no need. I’ll do it.»
When her mother got like this, there was no stopping her.
She tidied her things and sat on the living room sofa.
At that moment, commercials were airing on TV.
<The unicorn is… alive!>
<Oni-chan!>
<I’ll feed you, I’ll pet your head…>
A mobile game commercial.
It highlighted the bond between the user and the game characters.
‘…Han.’
She stroked her smartphone.
Inside was the game she had poured so much passion into.
‘I worked harder than that guy.’
She wasn’t acting like that man in the commercial.
She had always been sincere.
‘They’re… alive.’
The events of three days ago seemed like a dream.
Anyone would laugh at her if they knew her feelings.
They would call her a game addict, ridicule her.
‘Why did it end like this?’
She didn’t know exactly what her submaster, Han Israt, was fighting for.
But somehow, she felt she could understand his feelings.
‘There’s something I don’t know.’
Something she could never understand from the outside world.
But…
‘They’re alive.’
They might call it an illusion.
She couldn’t share her true feelings with anyone.
But she was sure.
‘Those heroes were alive.’
Even if they were just characters in a game, they fought with all their being.
That’s why she had dedicated part of her life.
Because she wanted to see them triumph.
«Who are you…?»
She whispered to the phone.
She didn’t expect an answer, but she couldn’t help it.
«Han.»
Her face contorted.
She was on the verge of tears.
‘I want to play once more.’
She wanted to know what had happened to him.
If she could, she wanted to help.
«Anyway, you are…»
«Suyeon!»
She was snapped out of her thoughts.
«It’s ready. Come eat.»
«Ah, yes. I’m coming.»
Her mother was waiting for her.
She couldn’t show her a sad face.
She left the phone on the sofa and headed to the kitchen.
The voices of mother and daughter filled the house.
A few minutes later.
Bzzz!
The phone on the sofa vibrated and the screen lit up.
[Pick Me Up!]
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