Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 314
Pick me Up – Chapter 314 – Ashes (4)
The world does not work the way one wishes.
Siris Agentheim knew this reality all too well.
In the past, she tried to avenge her father’s death but couldn’t even wound her enemy.
That was Siris’s first failure. If one draws the sword out of desire or emotion, nine times out of ten, they will fail.
«You must have a proper plan.»
Just like Loki, the Master of Niflheim, did.
It was necessary to thoroughly verify the final goal, viability, and means.
After the meeting in the garden, the members of the 13th floor decided to take a break.
Group 1 hadn’t worked together in a long time.
They needed to regain their old synergy and help the new member adapt to the group.
While Yurnet sought information and drafted the plan, Siris spent her days busy between the training field and the office.
One night, a week after the meeting.
After adjusting her attire, Siris headed to the tactics room.
Today, in the tactics room, the basic plans and guidelines would be decided.
The outline to save the Master was being drawn.
Clack.
Siris held the sheath of Lævateinn.
In front of her was the door to the tactics room, decorated with a black lamb in relief.
Since it was a private meeting, no officers other than Group 1 members were invited.
“You’ve arrived. You’re late.”
Upon entering, Lidygion, sitting to the right of the round table, looked at her and smiled.
The members of Group 1 were already gathered in the tactics room. Yurnet, Lidygion, Nihaku, and Aaron, the successor of Muden, were present.
“We’re all here now.”
Siris walked to the center.
The tactics room was used by Loki to plan before missions.
It was like a meeting room. In the center of the spacious room was a round table to explain the attack plan.
“Everything is ready.”
Yurnet nodded toward Siris.
Siris sat at the head of the table with a calm mind.
“During this week, I hope you had a meaningful time. I trust you didn’t waste it.”
“Of course.”
“Yes!”
“Everything is ready.”
Siris directed her gaze to Yurnet.
Yurnet cleared her throat a few times before speaking.
“First, let’s clarify our objective. Although I think it’s unnecessary to say it.”
“It’s to save our brother, right?”
“Our brother… To us, he’s the Master. In any case, that’s correct. The ultimate goal of this mission is… to save the Master.”
Yurnet continued.
“The first objective is to recover the Master’s memory.”
With a movement of her right hand, Yurnet projected a holographic photograph over the round table.
In the photo, a man wearing a fur cloak walked down a modern street.
It was a photo of Loki captured by the security cameras of server 1.
“The Master suffers from personality damage and amnesia due to the side effects of excessive synthesis. At this point, he won’t recognize us. Inside the barrier, he’ll be fighting fragments without self-consciousness.”
“Without self-consciousness?”
Lidygion struck the round table with his right hand.
“This is a term from Earth, but the Master is currently like a ‘program.’ He behaves like a machine, following a set of instructions. He eliminates and absorbs nearby enemies indiscriminately. He doesn’t sleep, eat, or think.”
“A machine without thought.”
“Yes. That’s the Master’s current state. If we encounter him, he will likely attack us as if we were enemies.”
Yurnet bit her lips with frustration.
However, that emotion quickly faded, and she regained her usual composure.
“The mission requirements are three. First, how to reach the Master. Second, how to restore his humanity. Third, how to rid the Master of the burden he carries. As you know, none of these tasks are easy.”
“Although I don’t know about the last two, reaching the Master shouldn’t be that difficult, right? With our younger brother’s spear, we could easily break through the barrier, couldn’t we?”
“The path is not that simple.”
Yurnet shook her head toward Nihaku.
Then, the round table projected a holographic miniature in the shape of a magical wave.
Tall buildings and various constructions.
‘……This place.’
Siris frowned.
She had seen it before when she encountered Alpha Zero.
The central city of server 1 and the headquarters of Mobius, Eden.
It was an imitation of the city through illusion magic.
“What about server 1? Is there a problem?”
“There is a big problem.”
Yurnet moved her hand once more.
A mist enveloped the miniature of the city, and the landscape began to change.
What finally appeared was….
‘A ruined city.’
The city that was originally pristine was now half-destroyed.
The buildings and roads, once straight, were rusted and in ruins, almost unrecognizable. Everywhere, a reddish and dark mist moved and floated.
“Wow.”
“After the collapse of the headquarters and the restructuring of the barrier, there was a significant change in Eden, which was left without inhabitants.”
Yurnet pointed to a road with her command staff.
In the middle of the road was a black hole of unknown origin.
“The experimental specimens of Mobius, which were underground in the city, dubbed Fairyland, came to the surface and began to run amok.”
“What are those specimens?”
“The things the company was researching. Life forms composed of heroes and monsters. Clones of seven-star heroes. Legendary species from various worlds. Listing them all would be difficult. They are much fiercer and more powerful than common monsters. Only the confirmed specimens are over a thousand. Including the hidden ones, they will be two or three times more.”
“The reason for their rampage is…?”
“The contamination cloud.”
Siris responded.
Although the city on the round table was an illusion, it was almost real.
Siris knew the true nature of the cloud enveloping the streets. She had encountered it several times on missions. She had pierced through the cloud on high-difficulty missions.
“The reason the cloud was generated was due to the impact of the nearby barrier.”
Yurnet pointed to the center of the city with her command staff.
At the tip of the staff stood a massive black wall.
It was the barrier the Master had erected to block the frontier and Mobius.
“After analyzing the barrier’s data, we discovered that the space-time within the barrier is so distorted that I can’t calculate it. That effect has impacted the nearby server 1.”
“So the very space of server 1 is contaminated?”
“Correct.”
“This is problematic.”
Lidygion clicked his tongue in disgust.
Siris also understood what this situation meant.
“A large-scale invasion is impossible.”
“Only a small group of heroes resistant to contamination could enter.”
They couldn’t use fleets or reinforcements properly.
Moreover, if Mobius’s experimental specimens went out of control, they would never tolerate intruders in their territory. Siris nodded.
‘This is the first reason why we need Anything.’
If they used the Master’s intervention, they could temporarily neutralize the cloud.
“This plan will be carried out with a select group. For the operation, we will use an aircraft, Sleipnir, that can make quick advances and defend itself.”
“If it’s a select group… how many will there be?”
“Just us. The other heroes are not resistant to contamination.”
Siris answered Aaron’s question.
“We are five.”
“Why? Don’t you have confidence? Younger, the younger brother wouldn’t be discouraged by something like this.”
“No, just…”
Aaron smiled bitterly.
Since Aaron joined the team, Nihaku called him Younger.
“Understood. We just need to break through server 1 and reach where the Master is.”
“I must warn you that it’s not possible to break through the Master’s dimensional barrier with physical or magical force. We will need your karma attribute to open the way.”
“…….”
“Let’s move on to the next point.”
Yurnet changed the topic and continued explaining.
“The second obstacle is how to restore the Master’s humanity.”
Humanity.
A difficult word to define.
‘The price of surpassing limits.’
With great power comes proportional risk.
Loki, due to the immense power he acquired, lost all his memory and personality.
‘Restoring the Master to his original state.’
Even if they wanted to talk to him, it wouldn’t help if they couldn’t communicate.
Above all, the Master in his current state was nothing more than an empty shell.
Siris’s fear had come true.
“This is the most important part. Suppose we enter the barrier and encounter the Master. How do you plan to restore him?”
Lidygion asked in a cold voice.
Yurnet took a deep breath before speaking.
“We must…”
“We must?”
“Kill the Master once.”
“Kill him.”
Lidygion’s eyes narrowed.
Yurnet shook her cloak and took out a dagger from her wide sleeve.
“This dagger is called Mistel. It is a magical vaccine I personally crafted.”
“…….”
“The Master hasn’t lost his memories, only forgotten them. Due to data overload, a security mechanism was activated to protect his personality. If we stab this dagger into the Master’s data core, his heart, we can temporarily awaken his locked personality.”
“Temporarily?”
“It won’t last long. We must finish within that time.”
Yurnet stared at Siris.
“We must make a new contract with the Master.”
Siris spoke.
“As you know, Masters and heroes are intrinsically connected. We were summoned here, the Lobby was created, and we could become stronger on missions because the Master played this game.”
One could say they were his creations.
If the Master hadn’t installed the game, Siris would never have awakened.
The Master and the heroes were the reason for the existence of the game ‘Pick Me Up.’
‘We are connected.’
Just as the members of the 13th floor instinctively knew when Loki fell into Mobius.
Then.
“We must connect more deeply.”
“…….”
“We will share the burden the Master carries among the five of us.”
Three of them were left speechless.
‘It’s hard to understand.’
That’s why Sijel had described it as a crazy idea.
‘The infinite chalice.’
The special peculiarity that only Loki possessed.
Sharing the attribute that allowed infinite synthesis with his heroes.
Now that the Master had transcended even divinity, this was possible.
“Whether the plan succeeds or fails, I have no intention of returning. I will bury my bones alongside the Master.”
“You said… you will bury your bones?”
“I will fight alongside the Master. Until I achieve victory.”
“That is…”
“I also think it’s a harsh condition. We don’t know when the war will end. It could be thousands or millions of years, or even more. But this is the only way to save the Master.”
Being by the Master’s side.
Never forgetting him, constantly reminding him of his existence.
‘Alone in a desolate place.’
No one could endure it.
In the end, they would give up and get lost.
But if there are two, three, four, five people.
That fear would be reduced to less than half.
“It’s an illogical method.”
Lidygion sneered.
Siris couldn’t refute.
It wasn’t an incorrect statement.
“Maintaining personality through the bond? It sounds like a fiction story. Even if it were possible, we couldn’t endure it.”
“If we are with the Master, we will have plenty of time.”
Yurnet’s eyes darkened.
“I’m sure there’s another way. But we need time. Until then, before we get lost… I’ll find it. I’ll give it my all.”
“You want us to trust you and throw ourselves into an uncertain task?”
“Yes.”
Siris did not hesitate.
Clack. Lidygion placed the hilt of his sword on the round table.
“Then let’s move forward.”
“Fighting alongside the Master. Sounds fun.”
Everyone looked at one person.
The young man with a serious expression and closed eyes.
Aaron Nidelk opened his mouth.
“Excuse me for deviating from the topic, but may I say something?”
Aaron opened his eyes.
“You mentioned we need to kill our brother once. Currently, our brother…”
“Is incredibly strong?”
Siris finished the sentence.
“He’s not just strong. Our brother has absorbed all the divinities of Mobius. I can’t imagine what state he’s in now. I’m ready to fight, but I think we should first assess our chances.”
“That’s right, the newbie is not wrong.”
Lidygion nodded.
“The Master has surpassed the level of divinity. Even if we all join forces, I’m not sure of our chances.”
“The contamination within the barrier is unimaginable. Only Siris, with her Pharma Engraving, could withstand it. Our role is to clear the way for her.”
“Facing the Master alone?”
Everyone looked at Siris.
Siris closed her eyes. She also knew what state Loki was in.
He had absorbed dozens of divinities and countless fragments and monsters.
By now, his power had transcended limits.
‘That’s why Sijel said it was impossible.’
Siris opened her eyes.
“Is there no other plan, Yurnet? One with a higher probability…”
“We won’t change the plan. This is the only way to save the Master. I will go in alone and face the Master.”
“……It’s reckless.”
Lidygion’s eyes turned cold.
‘Reckless?’
Without his personality, he wouldn’t recognize Siris.
He would attack her as soon as he saw her.
She would have to defeat the Master and stab the dagger into his heart.
An absurdly difficult mission.
Before leaving Niflheim.
If she had been the same as before, she might have found another way.
‘But.’
She hasn’t been wasting time.
While wandering through Mobius, she finally managed to fully inherit the myth passed down in Niflheim.
“If I weren’t sure.”
Whoosh!
Siris’s blond hair ignited in a brilliant scarlet color.
“I wouldn’t have mentioned this.”