Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 331
Pick me Up – Chapter 331 – Purity for One Thing (2)
<Side Story Episode 2 of Aaron>
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The company’s representative slammed the table.
The office instantly cooled down.
“We are doing our best…”
“Show me. The plan. You’ve reviewed it, right?”
“That is…”
“Don’t tell me it’s poorly done.”
“It’s just that Miss Ikar wrote it…”
“It’s your job to make that plan interesting. Isn’t that your task?”
“Yes, but…”
“Give it to me.”
The girl snatched the report the team leader was awkwardly extending.
The girl’s eyes quickly scanned the report.
<Pick me Up!>
<Project Plan>
<Author – Goddess of Compassion, Ikar.>
<Thank you all! ^_^>
<Let’s all work hard together!>
The page turned.
<The sole reason for carrying out this project is one.>
<It’s to save our Mobius.>
<Facing the threat of destruction, lives are in pain.>
<Please contribute your strength.>
Next page.
<As a result of the Pantheon meeting, it was concluded that it’s difficult to save Mobius with our power alone.>
<Therefore, we initiate the Pick me Up project, aiming to obtain superior interference power from Earth to secure the intervention power needed to change our fate of destruction.>
<We want to obtain Earth’s interference power in the form of a popular mobile game. If we gain enough attention as a famous mobile game on Earth, we can obtain the necessary power.>
<The fate of our Mobius depends on the success of this game.>
Next page.
<It is said that, in Earth’s mobile game market, the gacha game genre is in vogue.>
<I have investigated that genre and prepared a proposal. ^_^>
Next page.
From there, it describes the game Pick me Up.
A mobile game, Pick me Up.
The slogan is an RPG of summoning where peace and hope are achieved.
Basically, the player (the Master) obtains heroes through summoning.
With those heroes, they progress through stages.
However, there is something very peculiar.
Usually, in these games, heroes fight and eliminate enemies in the stages, but Pick me Up is different.
In the stages, the heroes don’t fight.
They interact through dialogues, persuade with actions, and defend their beliefs. If they succeed in persuasion, the stage is completed.
There is no bloodshed or violence.
In the world of Pick me Up, there is never a bloodbath.
Even if it’s just in the game.
“…….”
Therefore, the heroes’ stats are different.
Instead of strength or agility, they have special abilities like charm, intelligence, and oratory.
The game’s goal is to improve these skills through various events and training, persuade opponents without fighting, and achieve true peace in the game world.
That is the goal of Pick me Up.
“Is this a joke?”
Tack, tack.
The girl tapped the report against the edge of the table.
“What? Peace and harmony? Do you think a game like this will succeed? Fights and destruction are what make a game exciting. Explosions and deaths, understand?”
“But, it’s Miss Ikar’s plan…”
“Your job is to change it intelligently. Aren’t you paid for that?”
“Then, could the CEO tell her directly…?”
“Shut up! Do your job.”
The team leader grimaced in injustice.
“And this, what is it? Making the game enjoyable without spending money… What? Is that what you think? Stop dreaming. Add many payment options. Make it impossible to play without spending money. Do you want players to get it for free?”
“But, Miss Ikar…”
“So, you haven’t changed anything.”
“Sorry.”
“You have a week. Change it to something successful.”
A week?
The team leader’s eyes widened.
“Don’t like it?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
The team leader took the report the girl handed him.
“Then, I’ll change the concept…”
“How? How will you change it?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“For the game to succeed, it needs something spectacular. Can we do impressive graphics? Or a grand scope? Can we achieve that in our game?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Think. Strive. Review. Do your best.
I’m sick of this. The girl squinted at the team leader.
Then, she suddenly said:
“I guess you don’t care.”
“Pardon?”
“If Mobius is destroyed.”
The girl’s voice turned cold.
The team leader didn’t understand his superior’s intention and was nervous.
“If it fails, they will just move to another place. So, you don’t care if this project fails or not.”
“No, it’s not like that!”
“Mobius is indifferent to you. Right? You don’t care because it’s not your problem.”
“No, CEO!”
“It’s okay. Be honest. I like sincere people.”
The team leader looked into the girl’s eyes.
A girl with straight black hair and red eyes.
But her eyes were as deep as the sea.
She was one of the two leading the Pantheon of Mobius.
The goddess of Purity, Tel.
Along with her twin sister, the goddess of Compassion and Benevolence, Ikar, they were the most revered deities in all dimensions of Mobius.
What she hated most was falsehood and hypocrisy.
She liked sincere people with their hearts and desires, regardless of good or evil.
“The truth.”
Lying in front of her was risking one’s life.
The team leader murmured, as if confessing.
“I think it’s inevitable…”
“Inevitable?”
“I’m attached to Mobius. It’s the place I supervised and managed. It’s our home. But the laws have dictated its end. So, there is nothing we can do.”
The team leader watched the girl’s expression, worried he had said something she wouldn’t like.
The girl only smiled.
“Me too.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s inevitable. You can’t do anything when it’s destined to end.”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Then, when the development ends, you’ll leave, right?”
“Probably, yes. If I make it in time…”
A destroyed universe.
If they didn’t escape in time, they would be trapped in the abyss of oblivion.
“Do you think it will fail?”
“That…”
“The Pick me Up project.”
“…….”
“Speak sincerely. No lies.”
The team leader hesitated many times.
He was also a high spirit who had managed various dimensions of Mobius for many years.
He had his own perspective.
“Even if the game is successful and we gain a lot of interference power, it will be insufficient. It will only delay the destruction but not reverse it.”
The girl, Tel, nodded.
The purpose of the Pick me Up project was to gain Earth’s interference power.
But no matter how much interference power they gained, they couldn’t reverse the final outcome.
For a universe to have life, it must emit its own energy.
It must continuously shine like a star with its own strength.
If you only add fuel to an extinguished star, how long will it shine?
You will only delay the destruction.
You can’t stop it completely.
In theory, there is a way.
If the fuel you add is infinite, then the time it shines will also be infinite.
But, where do you get infinite energy?
No matter how successful the game is, the interference power they can gain from Earth is limited.
From the beginning, involving Earth, the highest-level dimension, carried a great risk.
If something went wrong, Mobius could tear apart.
“Then, you don’t care? You’re just taking up space.”
“No, it’s not like that!”
“Silence. Bring the revised plan in a week. If you delay, you know what awaits you.”
The girl walked away, leaving the team leader with a distressed face.
“What are you looking at? You’re the same. If you only kill time, you think they will let you go easily, huh?”
The employees flinched and stopped moving for a moment.
Tel clicked her tongue and left the office.
In front of her, a long hallway extended.
There were several offices similar to the previous one.
Although her sister Ikar promised coffee and dinners in each office, it was ridiculous.
Tel took out her work smartphone and sent a mass message saying there would be no dinner that night.
Bzzz.
The sound of the elevator moving.
The mechanical box carrying Tel headed to the top floor.
When the elevator doors opened, it revealed the directors’ office.
“Ah, sister, have you arrived?”
From the right side of the office, a girl who resembled Tel greeted her cheerfully.
She was focused on her work, typing at her desk.
“Yes.”
Tel replied vaguely and headed to her left side.
On the desk was a plaque with the title of Mobius Co-Executive Director.
A comfortable leather chair welcomed Tel.
“…….”
Creak.
The leather chair turned.
Revealing the office view through a glass wall.
They were on the top floor of a tall building.
The city’s night view extended before them.
The city of gods.
Zero dimension, Eden.
In the past, instead of buildings and roads, there were majestic marble buildings and wide gardens.
In those times, it was called the Pantheon.
That place with an ancient style had been modernized not long ago.
It was after the twin goddesses replaced the Sage of Samra, LeCardis, as the Pantheon’s leaders.
Shedding old customs and adopting the new.
The gods and spirits abandoned ancient garments and civilization and adopted the latest Earth technology.
Thus, the new city, Eden, was born.
“…….”
Tel remembered the past.
When she was chosen as a leader, her sister Ikar smiled more brightly than anyone and expressed her aspirations.
“Our goal is to make all lives in Mobius live happily. Although there are many things we lack, we will do our best. Please take good care of us!”
The young girl dressed in light, ethereal clothing received the gods’ congratulations as she walked through the gallery.
At her side, Tel walked with an indifferent expression.
“Tel Ikar. From now on, you will take charge of Mobius. You will do better than me, who only awaits death.”
The former Pantheon leader, LeCardis, clapped and laughed.
Now, he was known as Alpha Zero in the company and led the game development.
“My sister and I will give our best. So that no one suffers. So that everyone in Mobius can live happily. We will do our best.”
Ikar responded with a radiant smile.
“Right, sister?”
“If I feel like it.”
“Ouch!”
Ikar pinched Tel’s side, but Tel only yawned widely.
Those events were just a bother for Tel.
If it wasn’t because her sister insisted so much that it was her lifelong wish, she would have ignored them.
“What kind of Mobius do you want to create?”
“I want to create a peaceful Mobius for everyone!”
“Oh.”
Ikar declared her great ambition at LeCardis’s question.
“Humility for the strong. Compassion for the weak. A world where no one suffers or is unhappy. I want to create that world!”
Ikar raised her hand and shouted.
Tel sighed.
A world where no one suffers.
That kind of world doesn’t exist.
“Sure. If you achieve it, it will be incredible.”
“Right?”
LeCardis nodded.
Ikar smiled broadly.
‘Anyway.’
Tel thought.
Her sister cried more than she laughed.
Ikar cried for anything.
For example, for the death of a kitten no one knew about.
Or for the sunflower sprouts crushed by an army.
Or for the body of a traveler who died without finding water in the desert.
Each time, Ikar cried as if it were her own suffering.
Compassion.
Love and pity for others.
Ikar didn’t gain these qualities by choice.
It wasn’t a personality formed by her growth.
She was a goddess born with these qualities.
If Tel hadn’t been born as her counterpart, Ikar would have been exploited and discarded, ending in extinction.
She was, by nature, a kind soul.
On the other hand, Tel’s nature was purity.
However, not in the common sense.
Her purity was about her heart.
She was faithful to her desires and goals.
Of course, being so faithful to your desires often leads to being condemned as evil.
But Tel didn’t care about human norms of good and evil.
To be pure in her desires, Tel killed.
This kind of killing didn’t bother her.
On the contrary, breaking social norms and rules for her desires was an act she considered right.
It wasn’t something she chose.
It wasn’t a personality formed.
She was born as a goddess with these qualities.
The twin goddesses were two parts of a whole.
When Tel and Ikar were in harmony, the world was in balance.
This was the central belief of the goddess religion, the most widespread in all dimensions of Mobius.
Each dimension had many names for them, but the most known were the goddess of Purity, Tel, and the goddess of Compassion, Ikar.
Despite her sister’s words about creating a peaceful world and making everyone stop crying, Tel shook her head.
That couldn’t be.
Even with immense power, it couldn’t be achieved.
Like changing everyone’s mindset to seek peace.
No supreme god could do that.
Despite being worshipped as gods, they weren’t omnipotent.
They were just observers and managers.
Their role was to ensure the dimension functioned correctly.
In the grand scheme of the universe, they were just officials.
Therefore, when the laws dictated Mobius’s destruction, trying to reverse it was a rebellion against the universe.
“Why?”
When Mobius’s destruction was announced.
Three gods leading the Pantheon gathered in the Chamber of Laws.
It was the only place in the Pantheon where they could read the laws governing the universe.
“It’s definitive. The laws say so.”
“Mobius will end. We haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t alleviated any tears.”
The twin goddesses had just assumed leadership.
The only thing they did was modernize the Pantheon with Earth’s technology.
Afterward, they planned to execute Ikar’s great aspirations.
But then it happened.
The laws’ message was unexpected.
Mobius was destined to end.
No one predicted it.
The destruction was decreed without warning.
“It can’t be… How is it possible…?”
“It’s a pity.”
Among them, Tel wasn’t very affected.
It was sad that Mobius was being destroyed, but they couldn’t reverse what was decided. So.
“I won’t accept it.”
When Ikar said those words, Tel was a bit surprised.
“There must be a way to avoid the destruction.”
“Are you thinking of…?”
LeCardis’s expression changed.
He understood Ikar’s intentions.
“I made a promise. To protect Mobius’s children. Even if the laws dictate destruction, I won’t give up.”
“Are you going to defy the laws? Try to reverse the destruction? If you do that, chaos will consume us.”
“There may be a way. We can’t just give up.”
The two gods were arguing.
Tel was watching from a distance.
Ikar wanted to protect Mobius at all costs.
LeCardis was warning about the consequences.
The argument continued.
Eventually, the two looked at Tel.
“Again me?”
Tel responded indifferently.
“Sister.”
Her sister, Ikar, looked at her with a desperate expression.
She always made that face when asking for impossible things.
Tel always ended up fixing everything.
So Tel responded.
“It’s simple. We try until we can’t anymore, and if it fails, we stop. The old man won’t stay idle, right?”
“It will bring calamity.”
“I don’t care.”
Thus, the rebellion was decided.
‘It was a good intention, but…’
Clack.
Tel stood up from the leather chair.
She walked across the marble floor to the window.
‘We failed.’
At first, they used all the possibilities in Mobius and went back in time several times.
They tried to give the heroes and ancient races of each dimension the chance to resist destruction.
But those attempts failed.
Then they implemented the Pick me Up project.
But even that had uncertain results.
Below the building, the city’s night view unfolded.
Lights and colors mixed in chaos.
But the night sky remained black.
There was no moon or stars.
Finally, the city was in total darkness.
Each star represented a dimension.
Originally, Eden’s night sky shone with countless stars illuminating the city. It was her sister’s favorite scenery.
No more.
Mobius’s dimensions were destroyed one after another, and the starlight disappeared little by little.
Now there was nothing left.
‘Everything is gone.’
Only the administrative dimension, Eden, remained.
All other dimensions had already been destroyed.
No attempt to delay the destruction worked.
‘The sky is completely black.’
Soon, this city’s light would also disappear.
Tel drank the content of her wine glass.
And said.
“It’s over, Ikar.”
Her sister didn’t respond.
She pretended not to hear and was focused on her work.
She seemed normal but had deep shadows under her eyes.
She hadn’t slept for three days.
“Mobius is over.”
Tac. Tac.
The sound of the keyboard keys intensified.