Pick Me Up!

I suddenly woke up.

A throbbing pain surged through my head. It felt like a hangover, just like the morning after drinking.

Hangover, is it? Where are the headache pills? I searched beside the bed. There should be some Tylenol that I often use. Two pills won’t be enough to alleviate it, so I should take around four.

However, I couldn’t find anything.

I opened my eyes.

“[Welcome, Master!]”

“To proceed, internal data is required. Would you like to download it? – Wi-Fi usage is recommended.”

[Yes (selected) / No]

[Downloading…… 001/537]

It was a white room.

Up, down, left, and right, everything was white.

I was lying on the white floor. I raised myself up and looked around. The white space extended to the edge of my vision, beyond the horizon.

Where am I?

On the upper right of my field of view, a window with text appeared.

[Downloading…… 004/537]

[Tips/Pick Me Up is a hyper-roguelike summoning RPG. In fact, it’s closer to a simulation than an RPG.]

I patted my seat and stood up.

The blurred figures gradually became distinct.

The space remained completely white.

I was standing on top of that unidentified space. Whenever the holographic window blinked, the number on the right increased.

[Downloading…… 009/537]

[Tips/The waiting room where heroes gather is called a room.]

As the loading progressed, something began to form in the white space.

A dining table popped out of thin air as if by magic!

Followed by chairs, a refrigerator, an oven, a carpet, and a sofa. A wall appeared from somewhere and blocked all directions. The ceiling was also sealed. The previously white floor was neatly finished with metallic tiles.

The space gradually took on the shape of a room.

[Downloading…… 015/537]

I blankly stared at the scene and then tapped my cheeks with both hands.

Calm down, let’s stay calm for now.

They say that even if you’re trapped in a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep a clear mind.

I decided to retrace my steps. Why did I end up here? What did I do yesterday? Let’s try to recall it slowly.

“Well, what did you do yesterday, Han Seojin?”

I got up, washed up, and had breakfast.

As usual, I turned on the computer and uploaded a strategy video on YouTube. Next, I bought dinner at the convenience store and went home. Was there something that happened before I returned? Did I drink alcohol? No, it’s been a long time since I quit drinking.

“When I got home, I charged the battery… “

The Advent Dungeon.

A high-level Advent Dungeon opened as part of the 100 million downloads event.

I sent a vanguard team, and they were spectacularly wiped out. Just as I was thinking about the next move…

“I encountered a bug.”

It was an unheard-of bug.

Graphics and text were all scrambled, and the boss level was something like 999. Considering that the level cap for heroes, excluding 7-stars, is 99, it was an absurd number. When I tried to return to the main screen after my party got wiped out, my phone froze.

What did I do next? I pressed the power button on my phone,

And my memory ended there.

[Downloading…… 045/537]

Did I doze off?

Was I that tired?

I raised my head in confusion.

After a while of thinking, I concluded that this place was a dream.

It felt like I was dreaming while lying down on the sofa. Moreover, it wasn’t just an ordinary dream, but a lucid dream where I realized that it was a dream.

But I’m not the type to dream frequently.

I couldn’t even remember when was the last time I had a dream.

[Downloading…… 055/537]

The interior of the white room began to take shape.

The empty room was being furnished. However, all the furniture was made of metal and had a gray or pure white color.

It wasn’t my taste.

Although it had a modern atmosphere, it didn’t feel like a place where people live.

“Is anyone here?”

I shouted out loud.

There was no response.

A Nightmare?

Well, I thought nightmares were just a kind of dream that was filled with scary monsters or ghosts.

I opened the door that had appeared out of nowhere and went outside the room.

When I came out of the room, it was a plaza. It was as large and spacious as a school playground, but it was an indoor plaza, not an outdoor one. At the end of the plaza, there was a tall wall.

Instead of a ceiling, there was a hazy sky that rippled above.

“Is anyone here? If you’re here, answer me!”

I shouted loudly.

Once again, there was no response.

“What kind of ridiculous dream is this?”

It has a realistic touch of a dream.

The cool air touching my skin, the sound of my shoes on the floor, vivid colors. I could feel all my senses clearly. That’s why I felt even more frustrated.

On the stretched-out wall of the plaza, there was an iron gate.

The gate was closed, and above it, there was a plaque that read “The Rift of Time and Space.” It wasn’t just one gate. Similar gates were erected all over the walls.

I slowly walked through the plaza, examining the plaques embedded in each door.

“The Rift of Time and Space, Training Ground, Synthesis Lab, Armory…”

I grabbed the doorknob of the armory and shook it, but it only rattled and didn’t open.

“What kind of dream is this?”

I tried opening other doors, but the same result.

In the end, I returned to the original room I was in. Although no more objects were appearing in the room, the text in the air kept updating.

I opened the refrigerator.

The refrigerator was filled with orange juice. I took out one bottle of juice from the bottom compartment and poured it into a cup.

[Downloading…… 362/537]

[Tips/After completing the tutorial, you will receive great rewards.]

I leaned back deeply on the sofa.

A soft feeling permeated my back. The orange juice that went down my throat was also refreshing.

I pinched my cheek.

Ouch-

It hurt.

Come to think of it, when I tapped both cheeks to try to come to my senses, it hurt quite, as if I was in reality.

“…”

What is this?!

What do you mean?

This must be a dream place. The orange juice I drink, the comfort of the sofa, and the pain in my cheek are all dreams.

When I thought about this,

I suddenly heard a whisper in my mind.

‘What if it’s not a dream?’

It was a surprisingly cold voice. I quickly dismissed that mocking voice from my mind.

[Downloading…… 511/537]

[Tips/You’ll receive great rewards once you complete the tutorial.]

Sigh-

“Maybe I should cut down on gaming.”

I looked at the window that appeared in my field of view.