Pick me Up – Chapter 293 – Incarnation (1)
I took a deep breath.
My temples throbbed with a sharp pain, and my stomach churned, but I forced myself to hold it in.
The seven-star promotion ceremony was still in progress.
“…At this point.”
No matter how hard I tried to think clearly, it was difficult to accept the truth.
Sure, it wasn’t impossible for Han Israt to be a member of Taonier's royalty.
There had been hints throughout the missions, and by observing scenes from previous promotion ceremonies and Pria’s words, it was something that could be anticipated.
‘But this…’
I stepped out onto the terrace.
I needed time to clear my mind.
At that moment, a cool breeze blew across the terrace.
I sat in an iron chair next to the table and began to slowly review everything.
‘If I assume what I just saw is true…’
This meant that I was originally from Taonier and that Pria had sent me to Earth. It was natural that I had grown up as an orphan and had been unable to find my parents or family. I hadn’t been there from the beginning.
“Wow.”
A sarcastic laugh escaped my lips.
It was like watching a movie without coherence, without a hint of realism.
Now that I was told ‘this was your true identity,’ it only left me feeling empty.
“How ridiculous.”
Had I been deceived from beginning to end?
I frowned and scratched my neck. I had no idea what to do. Only the leaves carried by the wind accumulated on the terrace floor.
“Pria.”
I turned my head.
In the hallway beyond the terrace, Pria, in her formal attire, was heading somewhere.
She was probably heading to the meeting room. There, the prince and the leaders of various tribes would be in a heated debate.
“You… knew it.”
Before dying, she had asked me to smile at her once.
She wouldn’t have said something like that if she hadn’t known the whole truth.
“Since when did you know?”
The conclusion wasn’t hard to reach.
It was on the 76th floor. When Pria was in the palace and the prince was playing with her, he had forcibly made her remember her life memories.
‘At that moment.’
She realized.
Why was she getting so dressed up? Was it because she wanted to tell me that?
And then, suddenly, she had said she would cancel our contract.
‘If I hadn’t sold Taonier, wouldn’t you have been able to meet me?’
Pria’s face, smiling playfully, appeared in my mind.
Well, if you think about it, she wasn’t entirely wrong.
‘You can forget the promise we made before. Do what the mission allows and return home. Find your happiness there.’
As if playing back a playlist on an MP3, Pria’s words came back one by one.
‘I don’t regret it. My struggle wasn’t in vain. Everything made sense, from the moment I met you to this imminent end.’
Even her last wish.
‘Just once, show me your smile.’
I thought her change in attitude had been sudden, but everything had a reason.
How cunning.
Han Israt, the 1★ hero of Taonier, was nothing more than an insignificant ten-year-old child.
And on Earth, I was a young orphan in my early twenties.
A totally incompatible combination. From height to build, there was nothing in common. No one would think we were the same person. No wonder Iselle had been confused.
“This is crazy.”
Still, I couldn’t accept it.
I sighed deeply over and over again.
What am I supposed to do?
The fact that I was originally from Taonier, the fact that everything I believed in was a lie, didn’t change the situation.
Once the promotion ceremony was over, I would have no choice but to return to Earth. Outside, they would already be creating the dimensional portal for the journey to Earth.
All of this was just the past.
It had nothing to do with me. I am not Han Israt. I may have been called that in the past, but Han Israt is already dead. Now I am…
‘Han Seojin.’
In Moebius, they called me Loki.
I stood up from the chair.
‘Nothing has changed.’
No matter what my true identity is, who I was.
The author of this scene probably expected that, upon discovering the truth, I would break down and cry, but it was a pathetic mistake.
“It was quite an entertaining play.”
I smiled ironically.
“I give it 1 out of 10 points.”
My task here was finished.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
And when I opened them again.
Boom!
A great shock shook me.
The familiar metal walls and tiles. I had returned to the promotion room in the Lobby. The patterns of the magic circle, emitting a bright glow, were fading.
“Master, congratulations on your promotion.”
Suddenly, like a shadow, Nisled appeared and bowed before me.
Behind her, the distorted space formed a vortex.
“The dimensional portal with Earth’s coordinates is already complete. You may enter once you are ready.”
“What should I do to prepare?”
“After obtaining the power of a seven-star…”
“I’m not a seven-star yet.”
I shrugged.
Nisled hesitated.
“What… do you mean by that?”
“The promotion failed. It seems Yurnet gave me a defective product.”
“Lies won’t work, master.”
Nisled’s eyes darkened.
Her right hand was already on the hilt of the dagger at her belt.
“According to Yurnet’s calculations, with this ceremony, you should have gained enough interference power to withstand dimensional pressure…”
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
I glanced to the side.
Even though the promotion ceremony had ended, no success message appeared.
[Effect applied to all heroes in dimension 1035, Taonier!]
[Effect – Continuous recovery deactivation in the Lobby]
[Effect – 50% reduction in all hero stats]
[Effect – 50% reduction in resistance to altered states]
[Effect – 50% reduction in mana regeneration]
[Effect – 200% increase in all stats for Moebius NPCs]
[Effect – 800% increase in regeneration for Moebius NPCs]
[Effect – …]
On the other hand, Tel’s interference seemed to have increased considerably.
Now he was using traps blatantly. He had added deadly penalties to the heroes and granted absurd buffs to Moebius combatants.
‘…How pathetic.’
He seemed to have an insatiable desire.
It wasn’t enough to force Anything’s account suspension and intervene; now he was also adjusting internal codes. Did he really want to obtain me that much?
“Wait, let me check…”
“Go ahead.”
I raised my hands.
Nisled began to pat my body with cautious movements.
Eventually, her eyes widened.
“Now do you believe me? Nothing happened.”
“This is…”
I wasn’t lying.
There had been no change in my body.
“I’ll call Yurnet. Wait a moment…”
“No need.”
Crack!
Suddenly, the space next to the altar distorted, and someone appeared.
A girl with black hair elegantly dressed in a suit. Tel smiled and approached me.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Han.”
Nisled drew her dagger in an instant and tried to slit Tel’s throat.
“Ugh…!”
“You seem not to know your place, little cockroach.”
Tel tightly squeezed Nisled’s neck with her foot.
A strangled groan escaped Nisled’s lips.
“It’s not your place to intervene. You should know when to be and when to leave.”
Bang!
With a simple kick, Tel sent Nisled flying several meters, crashing into the wall.
Nisled fell to the ground, unconscious. Though she was still alive, she wouldn’t be getting up for a while.
I clicked my tongue and looked at Tel.
“How did you get in?”
“Did you think I couldn’t? I am the ruler of this game. If I want, I can go anywhere.”
Tel laughed.
She seemed in a good mood, her white cheeks blushing.
She approached me with light steps and clung to my arm.
“What did you think, Han? Surprising, right? An impressive birth revelation! If this were a drama, it would be a guaranteed hit!”
“It would probably receive a lot of criticism and fail.”
“Criticism is part of the charm!”
Tel burst out laughing.
“Did you know from the beginning?”
“Of course not. I don’t know everything about the billions of dimensions. Originally… you should have fused with Siris and died as material for a seven-star promotion.”
Tel’s eyes narrowed.
“A right to veto? Do you really think a simple hero would have something like that? The seven-star rule was a law from the beginning of the game. It’s a mandatory execution. If the conditions are met, no one can avoid it. But an anomaly occurred. A miracle. This is… ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!”
Tel laughed hysterically.
She even had tears in her eyes.
“An accident. Something completely unexpected…”
“…”
“Think logically. Do you think I would throw such a valuable material as you into a dirty account like Taonier? And if you died?”
Tel wiped the tears from her eyes.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
It didn’t seem logical.
I had been brought into the game to overcome the tower.
If they had left me alone, Niflheim would have cleared the 90th floor without issues.
‘An accident.’
It was understandable that she was surprised.
They had planned to use me as a seven-star sacrifice, but instead, I ended up in a completely foreign world.
‘That’s why they told those clumsy lies.’
Everything finally fit together.
“Loki. You are the creation I had been searching for. A product of accumulated coincidences and miracles. A gift from the universe for me!”
Tel continued speaking.
With a charming smile.
“Do you know why Niflheim’s heroes are so strong? Why a simple user like you can create an absolute masterpiece with insignificant methods like puzzles? Do you really think you achieved all that just with your skill?”
“…”
“That’s a bug. Do you think the balance team is just for show? Those tricks are forbidden. You’re not supposed to be able to do all that just with your skill. But you broke that rule.”
Tel’s eyes narrowed.
A sinister light shone deep within her pupils.
“You are a human from a higher dimension and, at the same time, from a lower dimension. A being that shouldn’t exist. A contradiction the universe shouldn’t allow.”
“…”
“Loki, if you’re with me… we can remake this game from the beginning. More complete. More perfect. Now you must realize who you really are.”
“Are you saying I have a special power?”
“Exactly.”
Tel winked at me.
“This time I promise you. With all my strength, I’ll revive this Mobius. Don’t you want to save your family too?”
“Can I do it?”
“Yes, you can. Even change the fate of the universe.”
“That’s great news.”
“Ha, ha! Is it a deal then? Let’s abandon this stupid fight and go to server 1 immediately…”
Crack.
The slender neck twisted in the opposite direction.
Tel’s body wobbled and lost strength.
「Ha, ha… what is this…?」
Tel’s body, with her head turned 180 degrees, trembled.
I smiled and stretched.
“Thanks for the information. It solved my curiosity.”
「I didn’t expect… such a welcome.」
“You said I could do it, right?”
「Yes, you can… no doubt…」
“I am the one who can, not you.”
「What are you talking about…?」
I squeezed Tel’s head with my hand.
And whispered in her ear.
“Don’t you get it yet? You are not necessary.”
Crack.
Applying force with my fingers, Tel’s head was crushed with a sensation of resistance.
I stood up and shook my wrist. Fragments of flesh and dark blood stuck to it.
Tel’s body, still trembling, soon faded into light.
“Master, what…?”
Nisled staggered to her feet.
“Sorry, but it seems I have something to do before returning.”
“My order is to send you back to Earth…”
“Tell Siris to go to hell.”
I extended my right hand.
“Iselle.”
A starry dust sparkled and dispersed, and a small fairy the size of my arm appeared.
[Aaah!]
Iselle shook her head.
I knew she was there. I wondered where she had gone. Iselle’s room was separate from the Lobby. This little creature had been hiding in her room while Niflheim occupied the hall.
[Loki, what have you done to the representative! You could die!]
“Then should I crawl?”
[Well, that too is… a bit…]
“Anyway, give it to me.”
I extended my hand to Iselle.
[Give you what…? Ah!]
Understanding what I meant, Iselle clasped her hands.
She disappeared spinning and returned with something.
[Here it is!]
“Good job.”
I placed a book in the palm of my hand.
‘The Inverted Sky Book.’
It was a keepsake El Cid had left me.
The book, which was originally just a worn-out piece of junk, emitted a dazzling glow as if it had never been that way before.