C239
El Cid is dead.
The remains of the individual Wiryung had handled disappeared immediately into the light, leaving only a few items behind.
El Cid, who once stood out throughout Pick Me Up as number one, vanished in this manner. His name and deeds would also be forgotten with time.
I gave the order to disperse the heroes who were preparing on the deck for battle with him and reinforced the defenses of Niflheim. I knew that El Cid had reached this area and that other rankers also knew, so it wasn’t clear what tricks they might try.
However, days passed and the rankers remained quiet.
It seemed they thought I had obtained the Inverted Sky Book.
Even if I said the container was broken, they clearly wouldn’t believe me.
Now, the community sites would be full of nonsense about how Loki had obtained the Inverted Sky Book and how the ranked landscape would change. I decided to take it all lightly and laugh it off.
‘In any case…’
The incident was over, but I had not yet left Brünhilt01.
There was some pending work. Although calling it pending work is an understatement; I really didn’t need to be there, but since I was, I decided to handle it. I wouldn’t have to come back here for a while once I returned to Taonier.
Appreciation Plaque
[In honor of Loki and Niflheim for defeating El Cid, who had disrupted the order of Mobius.]
[Mobius Inc.]
On my desk was an old-fashioned silver plaque.
Just after taking down El Cid, Mobius headquarters sent a gift. The one who had finished him was Wiryung, and the true death was caused by Anything, but they knew the details, I suppose.
<Invitation>
[We have decided to organize a celebration party for Loki, one of the highest-ranked players, and his heroes. As soon as you respond, the company will prepare the venue…]
I stuffed the golden paper into the trash.
What nonsense.
When I first opened the box, I almost laughed at how ridiculous it was.
I didn’t fight El Cid to receive this kind of garbage. I fought him risking everything for the very existence of Niflheim. If it hadn’t been for Tel’s intervention, I would have had a real battle with El Cid.
‘All in the past.’
I sighed and then threw the appreciation plaque into the trash as well.
Thud. A heavy sound echoed in the office.
My tasks in Niflheim were practically finished.
Tomorrow morning, I would return to Taonier on an airship with Wiryung.
Today was my last day here.
What should I do?
Most of the tasks were complete, and Yurnet would handle the rest.
So it was time to do what I had been putting off.
I pulled out a document from the lowest drawer of the desk.
This somewhat crumpled report, Yurnet had sent it to me the day after El Cid’s death, and it contained his personal data.
That is, it detailed the life El Cid had led on Earth and his complete personal information.
Come to think of it, what was the point now? But, since I had nothing else to do, I decided to take a look out of boredom.
‘Let’s see.’
The guy was born in a small country in Western Europe.
His parents were fairly well-known politicians in that country, and he had enough wealth to maintain a large mansion with butlers and servants. It seems he had lived a rather comfortable life, unlike me, who was abandoned by my parents before I turned ten.
‘He could have returned to Earth… but no.’
It seems that something unthinkable in safe Korea had happened.
‘Murder by a political rival?’
Calling it murder is an understatement; several bombs exploded in the mansion, and his parents and siblings were found shredded by hundreds of bullets.
It was hard to imagine for me, from the other side of the world.
Then, as expected, it followed.
The only survivor lost all will to live. Afterwards, while wandering aimlessly, he stumbled upon the game Pick Me Up. And then he immersed himself in it.
As an escape from reality.
‘Predictable.’
He had nowhere to be on Earth.
That was easy to deduce.
I smiled and put the report back in the drawer.
For him, it was a great tragedy, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t unusual.
‘People who lose the will to live look for something to hold on to.’
For El Cid, that was the game.
Well, compared to drugs or alcohol, it was much healthier.
Then I opened the middle drawer of the desk.
Inside was something much more important than the report.
[Inverted Sky Book]
[Grade: U]
[Contains the memories and hopes of an adventurer.]
[Notes – It is damaged. Cannot be used.]
The Inverted Sky Book that had fallen from El Cid's body.
It was an indispensable item for promotion to seven stars, and many masters coveted it ardently, but now it was nothing more than a fine piece of trash. Its power had been overused during the Raid, eliminating El Cid's interference power.
But it was only temporarily damaged, so there was a way to revive it.
Although very difficult.
‘……’
I placed the Inverted Sky Book on the desk.
‘Book…’
The Inverted Sky Book was covered with thick leather.
The outer cover had no decoration.
I took a sip of hot tea and opened the first page.
‘From here…’
It unfolded the life of a great hero, not a young man who had given up on life.
A great hero.
I laughed.
No. It couldn’t be.
All the worlds in Pick Me Up are stained with blood and death.
It’s hard to handle for an ordinary young man. If it weren’t for my childhood experiences, I would have died long ago.
I read the book slowly.
El Cid had fallen into Dorado on the 53rd floor.
Two years ago, almost no master had passed the 30th floor, so it was an impressive number.
The difference with me is that the heroes there didn’t know El Cid was a master.
He had started anew simply as a hero.
‘So that’s why contact was lost.’
I nodded.
I had tried to ask him something, but hadn’t received a response for days.
‘Then, the master of Dorado…’
If El Cid had fallen into Dorado, then the master of Earth would have disappeared.
In other words, the scenario couldn’t advance.
‘From level 1, 1 star.’
Just like me.
Fortunately, Dorado was in chaos due to the master’s disappearance, but it seems a sub-master hero was handling the situation well as a leader.
That hero was Laskandar.
“……”
I quickly turned the page.
El Cid had faced several crises on the lower floors, but it seems he had grown through various real battles and adapted quite well.
‘And then……’
Eventually, El Cid was recognized as a comrade-in-arms by Laskandar and his companions, and from then on, the adventure began anew.
After all, he had the power of a master.
Parruk.
The old book recorded the subsequent events.
I finished my tea.
In the forest,
in the desert,
in the sea,
he explored numerous secret and mysterious landscapes, and hidden ruins on the continent.
Sometimes, monster attacks put him in life-and-death danger, and other times he was trapped in traps and labyrinths for days. And always, his companions were by his side.
When he reached the 70th floor, his name became Laskandar El Cid.
The wolf fur coat he wore belonged to a companion who had been a sub-master, who had left him his name and belongings after dying in a battle.
A dark-skinned princess with black hair.
She had a rough and tough character, but it was said she loved Dorado more than anyone.
‘……’
I remembered a woman who had been behind El Cid.
Empty eyes.
She was incredible with a dagger.
And an old man who had lived thousands of years due to a witch’s curse.
He, who wielded a great sword as if it were a branch, told El Cid about Dorado’s rich history and tradition every night.
In my opinion, that old man was no different from a corpse.
For no reason, he simply swung his sword right and left.
At some point, El Cid realized that Dorado had been destroyed, and also realized the reason he was adventuring. Then, he sincerely revealed his origin and secrets to his companions, and they accepted him with a smile.
Nothing had changed.
El Cid embarked on another adventure with his companions.
To unite the scattered forces and races of Dorado across the world.
When another long adventure ended,
El Cid was known to everyone in Dorado as ‘the king.’
‘Up to here is the 80th floor.’
I was about to turn the page when I frowned.
From the next page, the letters were hard to read.
The ink had smeared so much it was almost illegible.
Is this the end?
I quickly turned the pages.
“……?”
The last page of the book.
A few pages had been added.
‘What is this?’
The crumpled paper had drawings and letters dancing randomly.
You could believe it was written by a primary school student.
I had to concentrate hard to barely understand it.
There was recorded the story after the 80th floor.
The great king El Cid, with everyone’s help, had repelled a mysterious invader who had tried to devour Dorado.
There were many sacrifices and pain, but the mysterious invader had returned to their original place and never targeted Dorado again.
El Cid had wonderfully rebuilt the devastated Dorado after the war.
And since then, an era of peace and prosperity had come to Dorado for a long time.
The last page.
El Cid, who had handed over the throne to a sage, was preparing for another adventure.
At his side, still were the foreign princess and the old man cursed by the witch.
‘……’
El Cid’s story ended here.
‘End’ was written below, with a sloppy drawing.
A young man wandering aimlessly through a meadow, and a maiden walking by his side.
And an old man following them with a great sword on his shoulder.
‘This is……’
The eternal adventure.
I closed the book.
‘How trivial.’
This similar plot had been used thousands of times already.
The story of a foreigner coming from another place saves the world, becomes king, and then embarks on another adventure.
A cliché that had been used to death since ancient times.
‘How foolish.’
I sighed.
And firmly closed the book, storing it under the desk.
So that it would never be taken out again.
It was a story that shouldn’t leak.
He might have been a hero in Dorado,
but for Mu-ryeon, he had been a disaster,
and for Niflheim, an enemy.
‘But……’
He had also been my friend.
I looked to the side.
A blurry hologram window was floating.
It was a chat I had had with El Cid shortly before he disappeared.
Somehow, I had managed to revive the record.
El Cid> I……
This guy is talking nonsense again.
El Cid> I think the heroes in the game are alive.
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