Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 330
Pick me Up – Chapter 330 – Purity for One Thing (1)
<Parallel Story Episode 1 of Aaron>
——————
“…?”
Aaron Delcut looked around.
The place he found himself in was a circular library.
A silver chandelier shone on the ceiling.
Tall shelves that could only be organized by climbing a ladder.
Low shelves beneath them. Numerous large and small shelves filled the circular room.
‘Since when have I been here?’
It was an unfamiliar place.
The flickering candlelight dimly illuminated the inside of the library.
“Are you alright, Aaron?”
Aaron was startled and looked to his side.
A silver-haired woman wearing a long robe was smiling.
Her appearance was so mysterious it didn’t seem real.
It felt like part of a dream.
However, Aaron knew the name of this woman.
Yurnet Sid.
“Why are you so distracted? Please, take a seat.”
“Oh… yes.”
Aaron sat at the central table of the library as Yurnet instructed.
“Why am I here?”
“Don’t you know? It’s at my request.”
“Miss Yurnet’s request?”
“Yes. Didn’t I ask you to join me in my hobby?”
Hobby.
It was then that Aaron’s memories began to return little by little.
‘Right.’
While Aaron was resting in the Valhalla fortress, Yurnet suddenly appeared in his room.
She said she needed him and asked him to accompany her.
Usually, the Yurnet Sid that Aaron knew rarely expressed her desires.
But she had asked Aaron for help.
Though puzzled, Aaron accepted her request.
So, following Yurnet’s lead, he stopped in front of a door in a hallway, and Aaron’s memories ended there.
“Aaron, how is your life in Valhalla?”
Yurnet poured tea into a cup she had retrieved from somewhere.
“It’s going well.”
Valhalla.
It was a fortress created by a dimension formerly known as Niflheim.
The purpose of Valhalla was to prevent the predestined destruction of a dimension.
This fortress was maintained by a transcendent entity called ‘Loki.’
Aaron and Yurnet were part of the core of Valhalla.
Although their roles were different, they had been active together since before ‘he’ gained divinity.
Yurnet was a mage of Niflheim.
Aaron was a lancer of Taonier.
After various events, they were now together in Valhalla.
“Drink.”
Aaron took the tea.
“…”
Normally, Yurnet Sid wore a black uniform, but now she wore a simple white robe.
“To preserve combat strength in a prolonged war, maintaining physical condition is necessary.”
“Yes, but…”
“The master emphasized this as well. Do you agree?”
“…Yes.”
The war continued.
Even now, some of Valhalla’s forces were fighting at the front.
Aaron was also in a resting period.
When his turn came, he would have to go out.
War.
An endless, almost eternal war.
To avoid getting lost in such a war, it was necessary to maintain physical condition.
The heroes of Valhalla, whether they liked it or not, had to find hobbies.
This was also an order from the master.
Incidentally, Aaron’s hobby was writing letters.
The recipient was his sister, Nina.
Though the letters would never reach her, he wrote one every day.
“Miss Yurnet’s hobby is reading?”
“Yes. I like books. More precisely, I like the stories of various people written in books.”
Yurnet smiled.
“So I called you to the library to help me with my hobby.”
Aaron blinked.
“How can I help? I’m not very interested in books…”
“The important thing is not the book but the story. The book is just a medium to convey it.”
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you tell me your story, Aaron?”
“My story? But… I’m not a special person…”
“You’re still so humble.”
Yurnet continued.
“I’m curious about how you obtained that mysterious force called karma.”
“…”
“Could you tell me? Of course, it won’t be for free. If there’s something you want to know, I’ll tell you what I can.”
“But…”
Aaron lowered his head.
“I don’t have memories of that time…”
“Oh my.”
“I’m very sorry.”
It wasn’t a lie.
The process by which Aaron obtained karma.
He could guess, but it wasn’t a complete story.
Yurnet expected a complete truth.
Aaron’s memories were as foggy as mist.
“Hmm. Memories, I see. It could be. Your journey has been something no one else has experienced.”
“…Sorry.”
“It’s alright. I suspected as much. I’ll need preparations to recover your hidden memories, Aaron.”
Recover.
Those memories?
That eternity?
‘It can’t be.’
“Don’t make that scared face. It won’t be direct. Just indirect methods. Can you trust me?”
“…”
“Please.”
Aaron decided not to get up from the chair.
“Thank you, Aaron. So, should I prepare some stories to entertain you in the meantime?”
Lululú.
Yurnet began to hum while moving her hands.
Then, rumble! The shelves on the walls began to spin.
“Any particular story that interests you?”
Aaron looked around the library.
Books and shelves everywhere.
He didn’t know what to read.
However, there’s always a book that catches the eye.
Aaron’s gaze landed on a large shelf at the front.
There, dozens of books were lined up.
They were all the same color and shape, probably a great epic.
“You have a good eye.”
“It just caught my attention.”
“I’m sorry, but choose another book. The king’s story isn’t finished yet. When it’s done, I’ll tell you.”
King.
Aaron soon realized whom that word referred to.
He nodded silently.
“How about this one?”
Yurnet smiled and moved her hand.
Then, a black book flew out from somewhere on the shelf and was drawn to her hand.
“It’s the story of the forgotten gods.”
“Forgotten gods?”
“They were the ones who ruled Mobius before Valhalla was created.”
Aaron understood whom she referred to.
Before Valhalla, the gods ruled and managed Mobius.
They were also responsible for creating the game Pick Me Up and torturing the heroes.
‘Tel Ikar.’
The twin goddesses most representative of those gods.
They symbolized purity and compassion, and they led Mobius to hell.
Aaron didn’t know this when he was a hero, but now in Valhalla, he knew the truth about them.
‘Now they’re forgotten.’
He also knew why.
The king of Valhalla, Loki, eradicated them.
They were absorbed until the last trace of their existence.
No voices praising the gods were heard anywhere in Mobius. The existence of the gods was forgotten.
“Your expression seems different.”
“I feel deceived.”
“You’re right.”
Tel and Ikar.
The promise of the goddesses to restore the destroyed world if you climbed the tower was a lie.
The heroes and monsters of Pick Me Up were toys of the higher entities, suffering endlessly.
But that was in the past.
Now, only a few remembered those names.
Aaron wondered why the gods were mentioned suddenly.
“The goddess of purity, in particular, was destroyed by the master in retribution for her actions. She was completely absorbed.”
“Why are you mentioning this now?”
“Because it’s necessary.”
Necessary?
“Few know the existence of that goddess now. But I don’t like that. Just forgetting and moving on. I don’t accept it.”
Yurnet’s voice rose.
“If it’s forgotten, it must be known. What happened. Why it happened. That is recorded for future generations. That is history.”
If it’s forgotten, it must be known.
Especially in that part, Yurnet’s voice grew louder.
“Not just the goddess. The same goes for any other person. I don’t want to lose anything.”
As she said this, Yurnet looked at Aaron.
As if there was someone behind him, watching.
But they were alone there. Aaron couldn’t understand whom she referred to.
“Hehe. You can look forward to it. How the game Pick Me Up was initially created, what its purpose was. Long ago, what happened with the gods. Aren’t you interested?”
Interest.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious.
“I begged the master several times for those memories. It was very difficult to get this book.”
Aaron looked at the black book on the table.
This book contained the memories of the forgotten gods.
“Is it okay, Aaron?”
“It’s okay.”
Aaron responded.
Yurnet smiled.
The game Pick Me Up.
What happened in the beginning?
He was truly curious.
“Then, let’s begin.”
Yurnet opened the first page of the book.
Aaron’s vision filled with light.
It was the beginning of the story.
——————–
“How’s the development going?”
In an office of a company.
The office was bustling with the sound of CPU fans, typing, and mouse movements.
A man and a woman were talking there.
“Ah, it seems we’ll meet the schedule.”
“Really? That’s a relief! We were at the limit.”
Upon hearing the response, the girl was extremely happy.
“Come on, is everyone tired of working late? I’ll bring each of you a drink!”
“Oh, no need…!”
“Come on, I just give orders! I’ll also do minor tasks! Assign me the office cleaning! Keep up the good work, everyone!”
The girl placed coffee cups on each desk.
Clink.
The ice clinked inside the clear plastic cups filled with coffee.
“Come on, we’ll give a great bonus when we finish!”
“Thank you!”
“Ah, by the way, how about a company dinner after work? It’s on me! Order whatever you want!”
“Could it be tuna belly?”
“Of course!”
“And rib-eye steak?”
“Of course!”
With the promise of fulfilling any wish, the office atmosphere heated up.
The development team focused on their work.
Tonight, there would be a company dinner.
Thinking about the expensive dishes they couldn’t usually eat, the employees’ mouths watered.
“Then I’m off! Keep up the good work, everyone!”
“Yes!”
With a single word of encouragement, the development team’s morale soared.
It was always like this.
Despite being the CEO of the company, she treated all employees equally and worked hard for them.
“Wow, rib-eye steak for dinner?”
“It’s a dish you can’t get even on Earth.”
“And tuna belly?”
“Have you heard of sashimi?”
After the CEO left the office, they began to murmur among themselves.
The name of this company was Mobius.
It was a company created with the special purpose of developing a game.
Since its purpose was special, the headquarters of this company was not located on Earth.
“They say it’s the most expensive and popular food on Earth.”
“Sashimi… eating raw fish?”
“Hey, they say it’s popular on Earth.”
Though they wore suits and carried employee badges, they weren’t from Earth.
They weren’t even human.
They were spirits.
A race born for the smooth administration of dimensions by the gods.
These spirits had human bodies, but their essence was a soul flame housed somewhere in their bodies.
The body was just a medium; even if they lost it, they could wander as a semi-transparent soul flame or inhabit another spare body.
These spirits possessed soulless bodies, mimicking humans.
“Miss Ikar takes good care of us. But, what does that person do?”
“Always scolding us.”
“If only they were a bit like her.”
Bang!
The office door burst open.
The employees who were murmuring fell silent immediately.
“…”
This time a girl entered.
She looked almost identical to the woman who had cheered the employees earlier.
The difference was her sharp gaze and cold expression.
“What are you looking at? Lower your gaze?”
The girl’s gaze was fierce.
The spirit employees immediately lowered their gaze.
“Wow, iced coffee? The release is near and you’re drinking coffee?”
The girl grabbed a cup of coffee from a desk and drank.
“So, how’s the development going?”
“Fortunately, we can meet the schedule.”
The same person who answered earlier gave the same response.
The girl frowned.
“And what?”
“Pardon?”
“Meeting the schedule is the minimum. The question is whether the game is fun or not.”
“That, yes.”
“Are you sure? That the game will be a success? That we’ll make a lot of money?”
“The game has to be released first…”
“Why are you the team leader if you don’t know that?”
Bang!
The girl slammed the table.