Pick Me Up!

[Ding!]

[Stage Cleared!]

[Reward: None.]

[MVP: None.]

Stage cleared?

[Master, congratulations on fully completing the mission!]

[A special reward for clearing the stage has been granted. Please check your gift box!]

I sprinted toward Pria’s location. Jenna was staggering in front of where Pria lay.

“……”

A sharp wooden plank had pierced straight through Pria’s chest.

“It seems… it’s too late.”

Pria smiled faintly.

‘It’s too late.’

I could tell at a glance.

The jagged piece of wooden debris had punctured her chest, going straight through the center of her right lung. By now, her lung would be completely filled with blood.

“Potion… We need a potion…”

“We used it all earlier, didn’t we?” Velkist replied in a calm tone.

He was right. Every last potion we had was consumed during the fight on the deck.

“Then… then what do we do?”

“Just say your goodbyes. She’s been through enough.”

Velkist muttered the words as if reciting an eulogy.

Pria made a faint motion to nod. Blood from her wound pooled beneath her, staining the ground a deep crimson.

“Goodbye? What the hell are you talking about? There has to be something we can do…”

“More than anything, I just want to return to the lounge.”

“I… can still manage that.”

Pria’s right hand twitched weakly.

A faint golden light radiated outward, spreading into the air. Within moments, a circular dimensional portal appeared.

“Phew… I’m glad I still had enough strength left. If you pass through that portal… you should be able to return to the place you came from.”

“Thank you.”

Velkist bowed his head slightly, showing his appreciation.

“No, no! What are you doing?! We can’t just leave her like this!” Jenna shouted in disbelief. “We can help her! There has to be—!”

Before she could finish, Velkist grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder.

“Stop being stubborn and think logically for once,” Velkist said, looking at me before turning toward the portal.

Jenna, flailing in protest, shouted, “Wait! Don’t just leave her! We can still—!”

Without another word, Velkist stepped through the dimensional portal and vanished.

Now, only Pria and I remained.

“Haaah… haaah…”

Her breathing was shallow and labored, each exhale gurgling as blood bubbled from her lips.

I didn’t say a word.

“Han… I have one last request.”

“What is it?”

“I want to see… your smile.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Just once… Please… smile for me.”

I tried to smile.

At least, I thought I did.

But my lips didn’t move, no matter how hard I tried.

“You’re asking for too much.”

So, instead, I used my hands to pull the corners of my mouth upward into a crude imitation of a smile.

Pria, looking at me, smiled faintly in return.

Then, she stopped moving entirely.

“…Hey.”

“……”

“Are you dead?”

No answer came.

‘I knew it…’

I’d expected this.

From the very beginning, I’d known this was how Townia’s story would end.

I’d already prepared myself for it.

‘A smile? Really?’

I clicked my tongue in irritation.

Was that really the last thing she wanted to say?

‘Should I leave now?’

In any case, the system had registered the stage as cleared.

Townia’s 90th floor was over.

All that was left was to return to the lounge and prepare for the next steps.

Yurnet would likely already be readying everything.

“……”

So, this was how it ended.

What a waste. Why did you even come back here?

To get impaled by the wreckage of a broken airship and die like this?

What kind of pointless death was that?

‘I will go back.’

I refused to let this be how I died.

At least it served as a reminder, a lesson. Chasing after meaningless things only leads to outcomes like this.

I turned away.

The dimensional portal Pria had created shimmered in the air, beckoning me.

I began walking toward it, step by step.

Just as I was about to step through—

“…Goddamn it.”

My mind went blank.

“Goddamn it… Goddamn it… GODDAMN IT!”

BANG!

I slammed Bifrost into the ground with all my strength.

Crackle!

The crimson lightning of the Black Dragon coursed through the air, erasing the golden glow of the portal.

“I’m going to kill you.”

I raised my gaze upward.

I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it.

“I’ll kill you, you goddamned eye bastard.”

Shrrk.

The black dragon’s scales and wings erupted from my body, unfolding with a violent ripple of power.

My vision turned red.

‘I’ll kill you.’

I couldn’t think about anything else.

‘No matter who you are, no matter where you’re hiding—’

Whoosh!

I unfurled my wings.

[Fragment of Chaos Lv.113] x 39,135,331,320…

[Fragment of Despair Lv.108] x 13,023,643,919…

[Fragment of Resentment Lv.121] x 29,129,069,543…

In the darkness, countless fragments writhed, squirming like a massive, endless tide.

But I didn’t care.

“Screw you!”

Nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

I wouldn’t die like this.

Crack!

The full force of my power surged into Bifrost.

「…….」

That thing—it was mocking me.

Mocking me for daring to resist ‘fate’ as a mere human.

“Don’t… give me that crap.”

I leapt forward.

A tsunami of fragments rose before me, blocking my path.

‘I’ll kill every last one of you.’

I gripped my sword tightly, ready to strike.

“Hyung-nim! Stop, you can’t!”

BAM!

Something suddenly tackled me from the side.

“It’s not the right time yet! You need to leave!”

“Who are you? Get out of my way!”

“Don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Aaron!”

“I don’t know who the hell you are!”

“Please, calm down and come to your senses!”

“Niflheimr? Aaron? How are you even here? Are you trying to trick me? What trickery is this? How did you—?”

<Aaron, bring the Master back immediately.>

Yurnet’s voice echoed from somewhere nearby.

A foggy dimensional portal appeared, materializing in front of me.

Beyond the portal, Yurnet’s hazy figure stared at me with a soft expression.

<Master, where there are meetings, there must also be farewells. Please, do not lose your way.>

“Shut up! Don’t give me that crap—!”

<…It seems we have no choice.>

Yurnet’s eyes glowed with a bright, ethereal light.

“No, I… I still have to…”

<Rest now. When you awaken, all of this will feel like nothing more than a fleeting dream.>

FLASH.

A blinding light engulfed me.

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!