Pick me Up – Chapter 287 – Another Ending (2)
Since then,
More time passed.
“……”
I looked up.
The gray sky. Even though it was midday, it was hard to find any light. Without the magical lights installed throughout the city, there would be no difference from night.
We were currently on the 87th floor.
The hunt for the Red Winged King, Lantia, ended on the 85th floor.
Although it had lost its mind, Lantia used various illusion spells, hallucinations, and reality manipulation to annoy us, but it finally succumbed to the chain assault of Taonier's attack team.
Lantia was absorbed by the hole in a much worse state than Sternberg. We only hit a boss that was already half dead.
And the climb continued.
After the 80th floor, Anything stopped uploading videos of their victories to MyTube.
They didn’t get much interest, and the comments were filled with insults and provocations. Recently, I also stopped checking Anything’s channel.
‘Three years is a long time.’
Even for a PC game, this would be the time to think about shutting down the servers.
At its peak, this game had a hundred million users, but the decline was rapid and steep.
If you enter the Official Forum or the game gallery, you will see the main users still playing and those who criticize the game in intense keyboard battles.
The unstable server disconnects several times a day, severe lag and bugs, the total imbalance between heroes, and the extreme system where if you die, you disappear forever. The variable difficulty of missions between accounts purely by chance. What used to be the game’s strengths had now become its greatest weaknesses, holding it back.
The actions of Moebius, the great company behind the game, plummeted immediately, generating losses of hundreds and thousands of millions, and the game’s sales ranking position dropped day by day.
By the time I return to Earth, the game Pick Me Up might have completely disappeared.
Well, it doesn’t matter; even if the service doesn’t end, I have no intention of continuing to play. When I get a phone, the first thing I will do is delete the app.
‘This is not the place for me.’
I shook my head to clear the ash accumulated in my hair.
The sky of Taonier had not only lost its light but also began to throw ash at intervals of a few days, as if it were snow.
“……It’s strange.”
Jenna shook her head.
Her gaze fell on the destroyed places in the city.
Covered in ash, it couldn’t even be called a city. It was a pile of rubble and people dressed in rags. There was no hope in their eyes.
“They told us that by completing the missions, we could save Taonier. But why is it getting worse? We killed the great bird Sternberg or whatever it’s called and the red-winged creature. Why is it still like this?”
“Maybe it was a lie. I never believed those sweet words.”
Belkist laughed with disdain.
“A lie? Then why did we do all this……?”
“To survive. The missions are not entirely useless. Even if this place perishes, the Lobby will still be there. We could live there.”
“But! There’s no guarantee it will last forever.”
“It’s safer than here. This place is already doomed.”
Belkist looked towards an alley.
There lay the bodies of piled-up mercenaries.
There was no time or resources to bury them. They would probably burn them all together.
According to Priacis, a new hole opened every week, and fragments poured out.
Even if we closed a hole with the dimensional sword, another would soon open.
Countless enemies came out of those larger holes.
We couldn’t think of counterattacking. It was a one-sided defense. Most of the ten thousand mercenaries had already died.
‘Now…’
No more refugees came from outside.
We didn’t have the capacity to contain the fragments escaping from the city, so probably all of Taonier was infested with enemies. Apart from the people left here, there were no survivors.
“Was it all…… a lie?”
Jenna’s eyes trembled.
Always so bright, this time she had lost control.
“The forest where I lived……”
“Probably disappeared. Don’t hold onto that.”
“How can you say that! Older brother, say something. This can’t end like this. What was all our effort for? I did it to go back home…”
I opened my mouth.
“Calm down. We’re still in the middle of the mission. Enemies could appear.”
“But…”
Jenna looked at me with a dazed expression.
“Older brother, you seem different. The brother I knew…”
“……”
There was nothing more I could say.
I looked away from Jenna and saw the ruins of a two-story house.
Someone was standing in front of the broken door.
<Han Israt.>
Damn it.
<Are you going to run away? I did everything I could for you. I fulfilled my duty to death.>
Since the end of the 80th floor, I have been seeing hallucinations.
<Traitor. Coward. Fearful.>
“Shut up.”
I murmured quietly.
Edith, covered in blood, looked at me with a mocking smile.
I waved my hand, and her figure dissolved into the air.
‘This is madness.’
I am extremely rational.
I only make reasonable and appropriate decisions.
So why do you bother me so much?
“Belkist, stay with Jenna. I’ll go see Priacis.”
“Aren’t we going together?”
“Make her come to her senses. In this state, she’s likely to die.”
“Well, alright.”
Jenna lowered her head.
Apart from the first fight, she had never lost her composure in all the bloody battles we had faced.
But now she had lost control.
‘The mission isn’t over yet…’
We were now on the 87th floor.
Even if it was a reconnaissance mission, anything could happen.
With my hand on the hilt of my sword, I headed to the command camp. Corpses scattered along the way and beggars with empty, dead eyes. I was tired of seeing this scene.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of a hammer striking.
In the yard in front of the command camp, over the ruins of the old palace, a small aircraft was being built.
It was the last aircraft left to Priacis’s army. The rest of the air force was destroyed in the great defensive battle of the 86th floor.
No wonder. Thousands of fragments attacked.
The only remaining aircraft was not new; it was being repaired, barely maintained in shape.
I shook the tent’s canvas and entered. Priacis was reviewing a map.
Hearing my steps, she looked up. Although her expression was tired, a soft smile appeared on her face.
“You’ve arrived, Han. Thank you for your help in the last battle. Without you, this place would have fallen.”
“Where is Yoshu?”
Priacis said nothing.
She just smiled sadly.
“Did he die?”
“He was a brave warrior. He fought with honor until the end.”
It seems Yoshu died when the flagship was destroyed.
This is ridiculous. His last request was that we help him. Right after, we entered the 86th floor mission, and he died in battle. He left nothing behind.
“Then, what about that aircraft outside?”
“It’s the Sword of Taonier. That’s the name Yoshu wanted to give it.”
“The Sword of Taonier?”
Priacis nodded.
She spoke in a solemn tone.
“Han, realistically, if another hole opens… we won’t be able to stop them.”
“Probably.”
I had no room for false hopes.
If another attack of that magnitude occurs, the city will fall. Priacis’s army was already on the verge of annihilation. And if the city falls, Taonier will be finished.
“I……”
Priacis looked at me with determined eyes.
“I plan to board the Sword of Taonier and enter the hole with the remaining forces.”
“The hole? You mean the place where the fragments come from?”
“Exactly. With the power of the dimensional sword, it’s not impossible.”
She’s crazy.
Didn’t she see what happened to Sternberg and Lantia being absorbed by the hole?
Besides, this fool saw with me the ‘limit’ at the bottom of the hole, an endless hell of chaos with billions of fragments.
“If we stay here, we will be exterminated. I’d rather advance to the end. We might find something with the sword my brother left us.”
“If that were possible, he would have tried.”
“We must fight until the last moment. I can’t accept this ending just like that.”
Priacis folded the map on the table.
“And if we fail?”
She hit the table with a large leather bag.
The strings came undone. Inside was a bright blue powder.
“Han, this is a special powder called ‘Goddess’s Breath’.”
I recognized it immediately.
This powder……
“It’s a poison.”
“You’ve guessed it. A single inhalation and it kills you instantly. But it has an interesting feature. Do you know what it is?”
Priacis smiled.
“Those who get intoxicated with the Goddess’s Breath feel no pain. Instead, they have a happy dream and close their eyes as if they were sleeping. I plan to spread this powder throughout the city before departing.”
“……”
“There’s no more food to distribute. Even if we survive the next attack, we don’t know how many will be left. So, as a member of royalty, it’s my duty to give the citizens a final rest.”
She plans to end everything with her own hands.
Sure, being caught by the fragments doesn’t guarantee a quick death. You could resurrect as a corpse or transform into an abomination. Either way, you would die in endless suffering.
But this……
“Are you okay with this?”
“I must be.”
Priacis tied the bag.
Then she continued.
“This is my last fight, and Taonier’s. I may never equal my brother, but I’ve done my best. And this will also be our last fight together.”
She stored the bag under the table.
With an unwavering expression, she spoke in a serene voice as if greeting an ordinary morning.
“The next will be the last mission. Whatever happens, take care. You must return home safely.”
“……ha.”
Overcoming fate.
In the end, it was a joke.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“If this is what you wanted, why did you come back? Why didn’t you stay there? If this was the end, why not? There’s nothing here. Is it because of your royal pride? Or……?”
“I made a promise.”
Priacis said.
“I promised to create a world where my brother could live in peace. I won’t go anywhere until I fulfill that promise. It’s an unbreakable vow.”
“That ridiculous promise…”
“No, Han.”
“……?”
“I have no regrets. My fight hasn’t been in vain. From the beginning, from the moment I met you until now, everything has made sense.”
It was an unacceptable statement.
But Priacis’s eyes were serene.
There was no despair or resignation.
“The assistant will arrive soon. Han, our conversation ends here. It was nice talking to you once more.”
Just after Priacis finished speaking, the canvas lifted, and a mercenary entered.
With a tired expression, the mercenary was warmly received by Priacis. The two began to talk about repairing the aircraft.
“……”
It makes sense.
No matter how many times I think about it, I don’t understand it.
The only thing I can do is keep calm and leave there.