Pick Me Up!

I crossed my arms.

Even Party 1 didn’t participate, today’s outcome would have been the same.

It was just a matter of how quickly or slowly it would happen.

[Was he always this strong?]

Iselle muttered, peering into the screen.

“What is?”

[Oh, no… I heard you were strong, but this is strange. Didn’t they struggle when they were attacked from another server? Said they nearly lost several times!]

There were indeed such stories.

Iselle seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Master, congratulations on your 130th victory.”

“I did nothing.”

“Such modesty doesn’t suit you.”

[Look! That time the fourth-ranked player attacked, remember? Level 350! You nearly faced annihilation then…!]

“That never happened.”

There seems to be some misunderstanding.

The seven-star guy from back then was the real deal, he was indeed strong.

But even he fled, barely saving his life after losing to Seris.

‘That’s why I’m obsessed with 7 stars.’

Especially given how things stand now.

If it move up one more grade…

It’s frustrating.

But leaving that aside.

I zoomed in on Aaron fighting. He was holding his own against two attackers. His spear-wielding form was quite fierce.

“He has gotten much stronger.”

“Myuden said so. Said he’d never seen someone so lacking in talent.”

“Really?”

“To send him back where he belongs, we’ll need a bit more time. He’s just learned the basics.”

I nodded in agreement.

Aaron has indeed gotten stronger. It’s palpable even through the screen. If we bring him now, he could do more than his fair share. A great boon to the battered forces of Townia.

But what a foolish notion.

‘You’re nowhere near ready to descend.’

Myuden wouldn’t accept him a second time.

I need to squeeze out as much value as possible. I closed Aaron’s screen.

“Master, this battle will soon end, but what will you do? Will you return immediately?”

“That was the plan…”

Yurnet’s expression darkened suddenly.

“…but I’ve changed my mind.”

“I see.”

Yurnet nodded, her mood lightening.

I pointed to the dismembered corpse of Nord.

“I plan to stay until the analysis on this guy is complete.”

I hadn’t expected to find a clue about the seven stars here.

A stroke of fortune not to be missed. And I still have time until the week I promised the kids from Townia.

“Three days should do? I told my comrades I’d return by then.”

“That will be sufficient.”

At Yurnet’s gesture, the flesh trembled and was sucked into a dimensional portal.

I turned to Ridgion and Nihaku standing behind me.

“You’ve also worked hard.”

“Hehe, thank you!”

“It’s all thanks to the master.”

The two bowed side by side.

I smiled. Never thought I’d face off with characters I trained.

After some minor post-battle tasks, I returned to the flagship Brunhilde.

I planned to stay here until the analysis results came out.

In place of the busy Yurnet, I handled Niflheim’s affairs.

With Yurnet’s help, I opened the master control window, managing it as I would on Earth. I received reports from my subordinates and decided on the direction to proceed. Business as usual.

And in my spare time, I continued my duel with Ridgion.

“Remarkable.”

“That’s not for you to say.”

Cough.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

Ridgion stood in front of me with a stiff expression. What I did was simple. I had hammered him with Ascend followed by a Soulblade Fusion in one go. Just once, wringing it all out.

“Still, huh.”

I continued speaking, clutching my trembling legs.

“I managed to push him back.”

Ridgion had retreated five steps.

Although we adjusted our stats to be on par for a fair fight, the outcome was praiseworthy.

Only moving him back five steps with a full-powered finishing move felt somewhat sad.

‘I feel like I’m going to die.’

I downed a high-level recovery potion.

The pain gradually subsided. Even with minimized power, I couldn’t withstand the backlash.

I survived because the entire training area was enchanted with healing magic. In a real fight, I would’ve been knocked out instantly.

“This skill has tremendous growth potential. Reminds me of the old Seris.”

Ridgion smiled softly.

“The old Seris?”

“She lacked in many areas compared to me, but hse overcame those with a mysterious power.”

“It wasn’t that mysterious.”

“To me, it was.”

Well, it was a rare opportunity nonetheless.

Who knows when I’ll get to cross swords again once I return. I positioned myself and raised my sword.

A few days later, in the evening.

One day remained until my return.

I planned to return tomorrow. I could receive reports from Townia as well.

As I was handling work in Brunhilde’s temporary office, the door burst open.

“Yurnet?”

“Yes. Excuse me.”

Yurnet slowly walked towards me.

She carried a briefcase at her side.

“Master, the analysis is complete.”

“Good work. Put it there.”

I opened the briefcase Yurnet placed down.

Blue letters were etched on the dense papers. The documents had been magically processed. Inserted into the shredder below the desk, they could be viewed as holograms.

I reflected on the battle with the Union.

Kaiser’s sub-master, Nord, had ultimately reached level 185.

According to Yurnet, he met all the conditions for seven stars. If it weren’t for our prior knowledge, we might have found him troublesome if he had carefully cultivated his power.

‘Where did he come from?’

A ‘Heaven-defying Book’ is required for ascending to seven stars.

The Heaven-defying Book can be obtained at a low probability from the ‘Supreme Advent Dungeon’.

This was introduced in the official guide of Pick Me Up! There’s no doubting its credibility. Skipping what kind of item it is.

The Union’s leader, ‘Kaiser32,’ vanished after the battle.

Despite numerous attempts at contact through chat and mail, there was no response. His last message was, “You don’t need to know.”

‘You don’t need to know…’

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!