Pick Me Up!

[Ignite!]

The flames extended from Eolka’s hand and exploded all at once.

Skeletons are almost impervious to damage from flames, but it’s a different story if it’s an explosion. The skeletons that we caught in the blaze were shattered, and bone fragments were scattered around.

“These skeletons are a pain!”

Jenna’s roundhouse kick struck one of the skeleton’s skulls.

Aaron, not missing a beat, swung his spear and smashed one of them to pieces.

Though not physically strong or agile, skeletons possessed some strong points.

They were nearly impervious to piercing attacks. Ordinary arrows or daggers were useless against them. Moreover, they displayed almost immune resistance to elemental forces like simple heat or cold.

Of course, their strengths were accompanied by distinct weaknesses.

They were exceedingly vulnerable to blunt attacks.

I went on breaking through the ones that tried to get close, primarily relying on my shield.

Thunk!

A skeleton collapsed.

When I stomped on its neck with my heel, its entire body of bones crumbled.

Initially, they might be a nuisance if they came out mixed with other monsters, but alone, they weren’t particularly dangerous. Before long, 14 skeletons lay side by side on the ground.

[Stage Cleared!]

[‘Han(★★)’, Level Up!]

[Reward – 30,000G, Iron Ore (C) x3, Fine Bone Dust]

[MVP – ‘Han(★★)’]

It’s been a while since I leveled up.

‘Status Window.’

[Han Israt(★★) Lv. 11 (Exp 24/110)]

[Class: Novice]

[Strength: 27/27]

[Intelligence: 10/10]

[Health: 25/25]

[Agility: 25/25]

[Skills: Low-tier Swordsmanship (Lv.6), Projectile Defense (Lv.1), Flame Resistance (Lv.2), Pain Resistance (Lv.3), Composure (Lv.3), Frenzy (Lv.1), Equestrianism (Lv.1)]

Strength increased by 2, health by 2, and agility by 2. Intelligence remains unchanged.

Overall growth is 6, reaching the level of a top-grade 3-star. Although the growth won’t maintain a steady rate of 6, it’s still a remarkable achievement.

However, I wasn’t particularly happy about it.

I returned to the waiting room and headed back to the plaza.

Jenna stretched and walked towards the direction of the lodging.

I chuckled and asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Jenna stopped not too far away and awkwardly smiled at me.

“Ahaha, I’ll be back soon. The schedule isn’t finished yet.”

That’s true.

The training schedule wasn’t over yet. We still had sparring and cleanup left.

I looked up at the sky with the flames and turned my head towards Jenna.

“Today’s training is over. Go rest in the lodge.”

“Really?”

“If you don’t want to, you can stay.”

“No, no! I’ll go ahead then!”

Jenna hurriedly ran to the lodging.

Is she worried that I will change my mind?

Eolka also cautiously glanced at me and went inside the lodging.

My silence was the approval.

Usually, I would have held her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her along, but this time, I let it slide.

However, Aaron was still heading towards the training ground.

“Aren’t you going?”

“I’m fine. I have a sparring appointment with Asher.”

“I see.”

I was left alone in the plaza.

I sat on a bench in the corner and watched Anytng to see what he would do next.

He took out the potential 1-star members and put them into the weekday dungeon. He then gave instructions to process the clearing rewards and materials obtained from the weekday dungeon. Branches were turned into boards, torn leather was tanned, and iron ore was transformed into iron ingots. After placing a few 1-star members in a sub-party on the lower floor, he was done.

The action I wanted to see didn’t come.

After Anytng logged out,

I entered my room in the lodge and leaned against the headboard of the bed.

“Iselle.”

[Here!]

“You’re quick to come when called.”

[Well, of course.]

Iselle cleared her throat and pushed her chest out.

[So, what do you want?]

“I have something I want to know.”

[Something you want to know? What I can answer is…]

“You mean you have limits, right? I’ve already heard almost everything from that girl. Can’t you even provide additional explanations?”

[Well, that’s, it’s not supposed to be… but…]

Iselle was sweating.

I knew that the information I obtained wouldn’t be something useful on the 10th floor. But still, what should I do now that I know it? After contemplating for a while, Iselle nodded resolutely.

[Alright, I’ll make an exception and tell you!]

“Great.”

I confirmed that Anytng has the ‘Overachiever Syndrome.’

(T/N: I changed the name of the syndrome from The Illusory Master Syndrome to Overachiever Syndrome.)

However, there might be several unexpected variables.

It’s necessary to try and stop them in advance.

“First question. What is her name?”

‘Her name?’

“I mean your original.”

“My master has more than one name, over a hundred million. Each world calls her by a different name. But if I were to address her in Taoist style… it would be ‘Tel.'”

“Tel.”

Different names in each world.

There are names in Niflheimr style and other kinds.

When you clear the 10th floor, the title assigned to the waiting room is different for each Master.

Mine was referred to as ‘Niflheim,’ the 4th place was ‘Ragnar Seed,’ and the 3rd place was ‘Izeka.’

If the explanation that woman, Tel, gave me is true, it means that each Master carries the fate of a different world.

The total number of worlds currently exceeds one hundred million.

And it’s still increasing.

‘Strange.’

I proceeded to the next question.

“What is Mobius?”

“Mobius? Are you referring to our company? Our company is…”

“Besides the company.”

Iselle hesitated for a moment, then seemed to grasp the intent of my question and provided an answer.

“It’s a spiral universe where numerous worlds are connected in parallel.”

“….”

It was an unimaginable tale.

But by combining the explanations of Tel and Iselle, I could infer some information.

‘Pick Me Up is not random.’

Each account has its own missions.

Millions of users have drawn billions of times, yet there are no duplicate heroes.

Introducing the explanation above, I arrived at solutions for the two puzzles.

It’s because each Master is assigned to a different world.

Of course, there are some common points.

Civilizations were similar to the medieval, where swords and magic are used.

Human-like beings, as well as races akin to monsters, coexist.

In all accounts, there is a common object known as the ‘Goddess Statue.’

And they all belong to an unknown dimension called ‘Mobius.’

‘I think I know a little about that woman’s true identity now.’

I returned to the main topic.

I asked the question I should have asked at the beginning.

In fact, this was the main issue.

“Is Anytng an ordinary human?”