Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 333
Chapter 333 – Purity for One Thing (4)
<Episode 4 of Aaron’s Parallel Story>
***
Hegrian’s faction officially declared their withdrawal from the project.
The news spread quickly throughout Eden.
It was announced that the Pick Me Up project had failed.
[Tonight, the evacuation fleet will be ready at the aerodrome in front of the headquarters.]
Hegrian’s speech was broadcast on Eden’s exclusive TV channel.
[This fleet will be the last to leave Mobius. If you wish to escape, join without hesitation. We will not reject anyone.]
Ting.
The ice in the crystal glass clinked.
Tel took a sip of red wine.
[I repeat, tonight, the evacuation fleet will be at the aerodrome in front of the headquarters…]
Click.
Tel gestured, and the screen turned off.
«They are determined to divide the city.»
Issuing such a bold announcement about evacuation.
Tel was alone in the CEO’s empty office.
Spinning in her leather chair, she took another sip of wine.
«How many will leave?»
No one answered Tel’s question.
Ikar had left the room, claiming to have something urgent to do.
«At least a third. It will be difficult to maintain operations.»
Tel Ikar’s style of governance resembles Earth’s democracy.
Individualism that prioritizes personal opinion over collective.
Ikar had always told the spirits and gods, «Do as you wish. You have guaranteed freedom. You have the right to live your own life.»
«That’s why we’re in this situation.»
If Tel had maintained strict control over the city, those disruptive announcements wouldn’t have been made.
Probably, nearly half of the population was preparing to escape.
«Hmm.»
Tel could stop that unrest with a simple gesture.
But she didn’t.
«…»
She didn’t feel despair over the project’s failure.
Nor did she lament the end of Mobius.
She just waited.
‘I…’
What am I waiting for?
She remembered Ikar in the meeting room the night before.
Her sister was struggling. She didn’t know the right answer and was lost.
‘If she were human.’
She might have said this:
«Let’s leave it. Let’s go together. Let’s start a new life.»
But she couldn’t.
As the goddess of purity, Tel couldn’t reject her essence.
Ikar’s purity.
Because she had seen it.
She couldn’t reject her sister’s purity.
Because that’s how she was born.
Her sister yearned desperately.
‘If only she would let go.’
If she let go of her mercy.
We could start anew.
Not as goddesses of mercy and purity, but as other beings.
As beings with human hearts.
Sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Sometimes loving, sometimes hateful.
As complex beings.
«Hehehe…»
Tel finished her glass of wine in one gulp.
She let out an empty laugh.
«I know.»
I know.
Because I’m another version of you.
I know what your decision will be, in essence.
And you do too.
You know what I’ll do, right?
Because we are two in one.
Bzzz.
The phone in her pocket vibrated.
It was a message from her sister.
[I would like you to come to the 12th basement floor of the headquarters.]
Click.
Tel got up from the chair and took the direct elevator.
Night was approaching.
Mobius headquarters basement.
A place rarely visited by employees.
It was the domain of the game director, LeCardis.
Only a few subordinate spirits and top executives had access.
‘The 12th basement floor.’
Ding.
The door opened.
The characteristic heavy and dense underground air.
On the walls and ceiling, thick and thin lines crisscrossed chaotically.
It was a room with a mechanical look.
«Ah, sister.»
Ikar was in the center of the room.
She smiled cheerfully.
«What is this room? I’ve never seen it before.»
Tel’s gaze fixed on the machine in the center of the wall.
A large glass cylindrical apparatus.
She didn’t know what it was for.
«Grandfather was secretly building it.»
«Grandfather?»
«Yes.»
Click.
Ikar pressed a button next to the machine.
A part of the glass cylinder opened, revealing its interior.
«It works by inserting a battery here.»
A battery?
Like those small things used on Earth?
But the machine is too large for a battery.
It’s large enough for a person to enter.
«Grandfather is amazing. Building something like this alone.»
«What is it for?»
«When activated, it triggers a special defense system. It deploys a dimensional barrier on a cosmic scale!»
Ikar spread her arms widely.
«We can stop it. Even if calamity arrives, the dimensional barrier will be able to stop it.»
Her sister’s eyes sparkled.
As if she were dreaming.
«Do you think Hegrian would change his mind upon seeing this machine? That’s not all. We could even connect to Earth.»
Ah.
The problems Hegrian pointed out at the meeting yesterday.
Would this machine solve two of them?
Was it that simple?
«We could also make the game successful!»
Ikar continued excitedly.
«I know. My ideas aren’t fun. But yours are different. This morning, Grandfather told me. Did you send a plan in secret? It’s brilliant and revolutionary!»
«…»
«A game that will definitely succeed.»
Ikar continued speaking.
«Grandfather has been developing the game based on your plan from the start. My plan was just a front. Ha, it’s amazing, right?!»
Tel remembered past times.
Indeed, she had presented a game plan to the old man when the project started.
But that plan…
‘I thought it had been discarded.’
Because it was a system that Ikar would never accept.
«Sister, Grandfather solved all the project’s problems! There was no need to worry. So…»
«Ikar.»
«Yes?»
Tel spoke with a languid expression: «You’re crazy.»
«What?»
«Since when? Since Mobius broke and the wave of emotions intensified?»
When countless dimensions collapsed and waves of emotions spread.
As the goddess of mercy, Ikar was exposed to that wave.
‘Why did my sister feel something so unnecessary?’
Empathy.
Feeling others’ emotions as one’s own.
Therefore, Ikar empathized with the fear of death of billions of lives at once.
Because that is mercy.
A goddess of mercy must do that.
«Sister.»
Ikar spoke.
«Yesterday, I was thinking. I thought all day. About what’s right and what’s wrong. About what I should do.»
«And?»
«I was so confused that I finally talked to Grandfather.»
«And?»
«I found the answer.»
Ikar smiled happily as she looked at her sister.
«I decided to sacrifice my life.»
«…»
«Because it’s the most valuable thing. I can’t ignore those children’s last wish.»
Ikar spoke.
«Sister, this feeling is my purity.»
Purity.
The goddess of mercy, Ikar, finally sacrificed one thing for another.
She decided to be pure with her own heart.
«I entrust you with what remains.»
«Why me?»
«Because you love me, sister.»
Ikar smiled.
«You love me purely. Because that’s how you were born.»
«…»
«But I don’t. Those children are more important to me than you. So I abandon you and decide to be pure with them.»
Tel remained motionless.
Ikar was walking towards the machine.
She knew from the beginning what that machine was used for.
«Sister, you can’t reject my request, can you? It has always been like this.»
Bzzz.
The lights of the machine began to turn on.
It had detected a high-density energy source.
Tel reached out her hand.
«Are you going to stop me?»
«…»
«You can’t. You’re the goddess of purity.»
You’re not human.
You respect the purity of the heart.
You can’t stop me.
You can’t stop your departing sister.
«You’re not human.»
Ikar smiled like a blooming flower.
And said, «Goodbye.»
Click.
When Ikar entered, the machine cylinder began to close.
Yellow liquid began to fill the inside.
Inside it, the goddess of mercy slowly closed her eyes.
Bzzz!
The machine started, detecting the energy source.
The lights turned on everywhere. The lines connected to the walls began to supply power to the system.
That energy source was… The goddess of mercy herself.
«…»
Inside the machine, Ikar closed her eyes.
She wasn’t dead.
She was alive.
But as she lived, she was being drained of her interference power.
‘Really…’
Tel thought.
If her sister were used as a biological energy source, the huge energy needed for the project could be obtained.
No one forced her to take on that role.
She chose it herself.
«Why didn’t I stop it?»
Tel murmured.
Subduing Ikar would have been easy.
But she didn’t.
«Because it wouldn’t have done any good.»
The heart is dead.
Her sister’s dead heart won’t return until her dream is fulfilled.
«Dream.»
Glup.
The liquid inside the machine began to bubble.
The goddess inside was probably dreaming.
«Pure dream.»
Wanting to save those children.
Wanting to see them once more.
Wanting to reverse Mobius’ fate.
The weight of that dream is greater than Tel, her other half.
Mercy is abandoning half of oneself.
Because that is purity.
Purity is being able to abandon everything for one thing.
«I understand.»
Tel accepted.
She didn’t blame Ikar for leaving.
Everyone is like that.
Even with many valuable things, there is always a hierarchy.
Ikar gave up everything for the goal of reviving Mobius.
«Did you use me?»
Tel smiled broadly.
She knew that if she said those words and left, her sister would know how she would react.
She sacrificed herself with meticulous calculation.
«Because you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t bear it. So you left the dirty work to me. All the dirty and ugly things.»
Crac-crac.
Tel staggered.
A somber murmur escaped her lips.
«Do you want me to inherit your selfish dream and sacrifice myself to death?»
At that moment.
Hatred swirled in the girl’s heart.
Thud!
Tel banged her forehead against the glass of the machine.
Her crimson eyes darkened.
«Because you didn’t want to dirty your hands. You didn’t want to play a mean role. You pretended to sacrifice nobly and left the rest to me.»
Drip.
Blood tears ran down Tel’s face.
«I don’t care what happens to Mobius. I don’t care if the world collapses, or if the entire universe breaks.»
Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy.
Everything is like that.
You say you do it for those children, but in reality, you just wanted to fill your own void.
You cover your desire with mercy, but deep down you are incredibly selfish.
«Answer me, okay?»
Tel murmured with her forehead against the glass.
Ikar inside the machine said nothing.
Vengeance. Resentment. Hatred.
All the dark emotions swirled like a storm.
I must let it go. Tel thought.
If I fulfill that madwoman’s wish, I will end up destroyed.
Tel staggered away from the machine.
Perhaps she always knew.
That Ikar would act like this.
Even knowing, she didn’t stop her.
«Hehe.»
A dry laugh escaped.
«I’m not human.»
I can’t hate her.
I can’t turn love into hatred.
That’s how I was born.
As the goddess of purity, Tel has one thing engraved in her soul from her creation.
And that is,
Pure love for Ikar.
It’s impossible.
Just as Ikar can’t abandon the lives of Mobius.
Tel can’t abandon Ikar.
She can’t reject her dear sister’s final request.
«Hehe, hehehe…»
Tel grabbed her head and laughed.
Her sharp nails dug into her scalp.
Her long black hair became disheveled, and blood flowed between the strands.
«Hehehe, hehehehe…»
A maniacal laugh filled the basement.
«Yes. Because I love you, I can’t reject your request. Your final wish. I have no choice.»
Tel looked at Ikar with distorted eyes.
«I’ll do what you want. No matter what happens, I won’t let Mobius collapse. That’s what you want, right?»
The blood flowed down Tel’s disheveled face.
«Kihihi, kihihihi…»
The goddess walked down the hallway staggering.
Ah, yes.
This is the end.
From the beginning, it seemed it would end like this.
«What a relief, what a relief, what a relief.»
Everything became simple.
Things became very simple.
Now, she just has to pursue one goal.
Tel smiled.
When mercy disappeared, only then could she be completely pure.