Pick Me Up!

‘…Pathetic.’

Her greed was on full display.

It wasn’t enough that she had forcibly banned Anytng’s account and intervened directly—now she was even rewriting internal code. How badly did she want to control me?

“Excuse me for a moment. I’ll need to confirm…”

“Go ahead.”

I raised both hands.

Nisled carefully patted down various parts of my body.

Eventually, her eyes widened.

“Now do you believe me? Nothing happened.”

“This is… incomprehensible.”

I wasn’t lying.

There really hadn’t been any change to my body.

“I’ll summon Lord Yurnet. Please wait just a moment…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Crackle.

Next to the altar, space suddenly distorted, and someone emerged.

A sleekly dressed girl with black hair. Tel approached me with a grin.

“Congratulations on your promotion, Han.”

In a flash, Nisled drew her dagger and slashed at Tel’s neck, but—

“Ugh…!”

“If you were Loki’s hound, that might’ve been another story. But it seems this insect doesn’t know her place.”

Tel pressed her foot down on Nisled’s throat.

A strangled groan escaped from Nisled’s mouth.

“This isn’t your place to interfere. Know when to step in, and when to step out.”

Boom!

With a light kick, Tel sent Nisled flying several meters into a wall.

Nisled’s limp body collapsed to the floor. She was still alive, but it would be a while before she could stand again.

Clicking my tongue, I turned to Tel.

“How did you get in here?”

“Did you think it wasn’t possible? I am the ruler of this game. I can go anywhere I please.”

Tel chuckled softly, her pale cheeks tinged pink as if she was genuinely enjoying herself. She approached me with a lively step, slipping her arm through mine as though we were old friends.

“How was it, Han? Surprising, wasn’t it? That incredible secret about your origins. If this were turned into a drama, it’d be a guaranteed blockbuster, don’t you think?”

“It’d more likely get panned and bombed for being full of nonsense.”

“People love dramas they can hate-watch it!” Tel giggled gleefully.

“Did you know all along?” I asked.

“How could I? You think I have omniscient knowledge of all the billion dimensions? Originally, you were supposed to merge with Seris and die as a sacrificial material for the 7-Star promotion.”

Tel’s eyes narrowed, her playful tone now tinged with a sharpness.

“A veto? You think a mere hero like you would have a say in the matter? The 7-Star rule is a core law, hardcoded into the game. It’s a mandatory execution. Once the conditions are met, no one can avoid it. But then, an anomaly happened. A miracle. Something so absurd that… hahahaha! Aha, hahaha!”

Tel burst into laughter, clutching her stomach as if she couldn’t contain herself. Her voice echoed in the room, and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes.

“A complete accident. Something no one could have predicted… an accident.”

“…”

“Think about it logically. Do you really think I’d throw a precious 7-Star sacrifice into a filthy account like Townia’s? What if you had died? Do you think I’d risk that?”

Tel wiped her tears away, still snickering.

‘Well, that does make sense.’

It was nonsensical. The idea of bringing me into a game world just to clear a tower was ridiculous. If they had left me alone, Niflheimr could have safely advanced beyond the 90th floor.

‘An accident, huh?’

It must have truly been unexpected.

She had meant to make me a sacrifice for the 7-Star promotion, only for me to survive and wind up in some unrelated world.

‘So that’s why they came up with such a clumsy lie.’

Finally, things started to make sense.

“Loki. You’re the very thing I’ve been searching for. A product of coincidences and miracles layered on top of one another. You’re nothing less than a gift from the universe to me!”

Tel’s voice brimmed with excitement as she spoke, her face alight with glee.

“You know why Niflheimr’s heroes are so absurdly strong, don’t you? Do you think a mere player like you could’ve created weapons of unparalleled power with something as simple as a puzzle mechanic? Did you really believe you accomplished everything on your own?”

“…”

“That’s a bug. You think the balance team is just for show? Cheats like that are forbidden. Sure, your skills are undeniable, but we originally designed it so that no one could pass the 80th floor. And yet, you broke through those restrictions.”

Tel’s eyes narrowed further, and an eerie gleam flickered in her gaze, like a predator closing in on its prey.

“You’re a being who exists in both a higher and lower dimension simultaneously. An entity that shouldn’t exist. A paradox that the universe should never have allowed.”

“…”

“Loki, if you join me, we can remake this game from scratch. Better. More perfect. Surely, you’ve realized it by now—what kind of being you truly are.”

“You’re saying I have some special power?”

“Exactly.”

Tel gave me a playful wink, her grin widening.

“This time, I promise you. I’ll stake everything—everything I have—and bring Möbius back to its former glory! Don’t you want to save your family too?”

“And you think I could make that happen?”

“Yes, you can. You can change the very fate of this universe.”

“Wow, what an honor.”

“Haha, so is that a deal?! Forget about this pointless fighting, and let’s head to the first server right away—”

Crack.

Her slender neck twisted unnaturally to the side.

Tel’s body wavered then crumpled, her once lively figure going limp.

「Ha… haha… What… is this…?」

Even with her head turned 180 degrees, Tel’s body twitched slightly as if clinging to life.

I smiled faintly, stretching out my shoulders.

“Thanks for all the info. It cleared up some of my questions.”

「I didn’t… expect this kind of… welcome.」

“You said I was special, didn’t you?”

「That’s right… you’re special… and without a doubt…」

“But that’s me, not you.”

「What nonsense are you…」

I grabbed Tel’s head and pressed down firmly, bringing my face close to hers as I whispered into her ear.

“Don’t you get it yet? I don’t need you.”

Crunch!

With a sharp burst of resistance under my fingers, her head crushed inward, giving way to the force.

I stood up, shaking off the remnants of flesh and blood clinging to my hands. Tel’s broken body spasmed briefly before dissolving into light and vanishing altogether.

“Master, what in the world…?”

Nisled staggered to her feet, her body trembling as she looked at me in confusion.

“Sorry, but it seems there’s something I need to take care of before heading back to Earth.”

“But my orders were to send you to Earth…”

“Tell Seris this for me: you can go f*ck yourself.”

I extended my right hand behind me.

“Iselle.”

A burst of glittering stardust spiraled in the air, and a palm-sized fairy emerged with a loud scream.

[Kyaaaaaaah!]

Iselle shook her head furiously, her tiny body trembling. Of course, she had been here all along. I’d been wondering where she’d disappeared to. Iselle’s quarters were isolated from the waiting room, and she must have been hiding there the entire time Niflheimr had taken over.

[What did you do to the representative just now, Loki?! You could’ve killed her!]

“If you’re scared, you’d better behave, got it?”

[Well, uh, that’s a little extreme…]

“Anyway, hand it over.”

I held out my hand to Iselle.

[What do you mean…? Oh!]

Realizing what I meant, Iselle clapped her tiny hands together. She spun around in the air before vanishing briefly. When she reappeared, she was carrying an item in her hands.

[I got it!]

“Good work.”

Thud.

She dropped a book into my outstretched palm.

The Book of Reversal.

It was the relic left to me by El Cid.

What had once been a worn, decrepit object now gleamed brilliantly as if reborn.

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!