A wide, dark room.

Large and small screens were installed all along the walls.

The screens were currently showing a massacre in progress.

A purge was underway to root out traitors within the city.

“......”

Men and women, young and old—

Anyone who had shown even the slightest dissatisfaction with the Pick Me Up Project, or had thought of it negatively, was being eliminated.

The freedom of expression Icar had once declared had now become proof of betrayal.

Records of the past were driving them to their deaths.

“What do you think of that sight?”

An old man wearing a cloak spoke.

The aide standing beside him answered curtly.

“It is an operation to deal with reactionary elements inside the city.”

“Reactionary elements?”

“Those who were uncooperative with the Project, or expressed a desire to flee. Now is the time for everyone to unite and cooperate. They lacked the qualifications.”

The old man let out a hearty laugh.

“I see. So that’s what you think.”

The old man’s name was Lucardis.

Once known as the Incarnation, revered by all, he had been the highest of gods.

Now, he was called Alpha Zero, acting as the director of the Pick Me Up Project.

“You see—”

Lucardis turned to look at the aide who had served him loyally for so long.

“Even though I’m called the God of Wisdom, I didn’t truly know my own heart.”

“There’s nothing Lord Lucardis does not know.”

“You idolize me too much. Haha.”

Lucardis took a small silver case from inside his cloak.

Inside were cigars and a luxury lighter.

“But now I’ve realized. When that child came to me at dawn today, I discovered the desire in my heart.”

The old man bit down on the cigar.

The secretary lit it for him with the lighter.

“That child confessed to me.”

She wanted to revive Möbius.

She wanted to give those children a chance.

She was willing to sacrifice anything.

Smoke rose.

The old man savored the strong scent of the cigar and spoke.

“I gave her advice—on what she could do.”

“......”

“Haha. Can I even call it advice? It was my desire. No—it wasn’t advice. I merely forced my own wish onto her.”

Lucardis had explained it.

After long deliberation, he had revealed his plan to the young goddess who had trusted and followed him for ages.

He said that with this method, there might be a chance.

And the Goddess of Mercy had accepted the proposal.

“What was it I truly loved?”

Whoosh.

Thick smoke began to fill the room.

“Did I love Möbius? Or did I love the life of Möbius? The answer is clear now. It’s the former. As long as Möbius could be revived, I didn’t care what else happened.”

“......”

“Who would’ve known? That this old, worn-out body harbored such a burning desire. Why did I choose this path, knowing the cost? Well then, what do you think, Sizel?”

The aide called Sizel gave no reply.

He only bowed his head.

“I follow the Incarnation.”

The old man laughed softly.

Bang!

The monitor room’s door shattered immediately afterward.

“Ah, old man. So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

“You—how did you get in here...?!”

The aide tried to raise his weapon, but Lucardis stopped him.

“Ahaha, ahahahaha! Old man, what a sight, huh? Just leisurely smoking in here?”

Tell, drenched head to toe in blood, laughed.

Her red eyes gleamed through her disheveled hair.

“Is the cleanup operation proceeding well?”

“Don’t worry. It’s going smoothly. Really smoothly. I’ve never felt this kind of power before. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve devoured them all long ago.”

“Can you withstand the side effects of the contamination?”

“Of course. No matter how much I mix, I’m fine. Because I’m the Goddess of Purity. I don’t get dirty. Heheheh!”

Tell had already devoured hundreds of gods and thousands of spirits.

If it had been any other god, their data would have been corrupted, driving them mad or distorting them.

But Tell retained at least a minimal degree of sanity.

Just as Lucardis had calculated.

“Old man.”

Tell said, her body swaying.

“Do you know why I’m keeping you alive?”

“How insolent—!”

“Because you’re useful. Because you’re useful for reviving Möbius. That’s why I’m letting you be. Be grateful.”

“I do appreciate it.”

Lucardis smiled.

“It was you, wasn’t it? Who filled Icar’s head with nonsense.”

“I don’t deny it.”

“Ah, right. Incredible, really. You were going to lock yourself away and kill yourself, and then Tell, loving her sister, would go all out to revive Möbius as her final wish? What is this, huh?”

Lucardis bit down on his second cigar.

“And yet you’re doing exactly that now, aren’t you?”

Crunch.

Something broke.

Tell had clenched her fist so tightly that her bones shattered.

Her fingernails dug deep into her flesh.

Thick blood dripped down.

“...I’ll kill you.”

Tell pronounced each word clearly, one by one.

“When your turn comes, I’ll kill you. Spectacularly. I’ll make you regret being born. Old man. Hm? Remember that. Don’t forget.”

“That time is not now.”

“Ahaha.”

Tell laughed emptily.

And then, her laugh erupted into mad laughter.

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha!”

Click.

Her expression abruptly changed.

“Alright, old man. The game—you finished it, didn’t you?”

“Go to the Seat of All Creation. With your current power, you should be able to operate it.”

“Don’t tell me—you really made the game based on that old proposal I sent as a joke?”

“I did. Icar’s proposal had little chance of success, you see.”

“Fufufu, hahaha!”

Tell clutched her face—then vanished like a ghost.

Clunk.

The door closed automatically.

“Haah!”

The aide beside him collapsed to the floor.

He had felt the oppressive force she exuded.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes... somehow...”

“It’s good that she’s willing. With this, the Pick Me Up Project has begun.”

The game was already complete.

It was long before Icar had cheered the staff on, claiming she would finish the work.

The design of persuading heroes through dialogue and cooperation to progress through stages—proposed by Icar—had never even been approved in the first place.

All of it had been lies and smoke.

In the early stages of development, Lucardis had secretly created the game based on a draft that Tell had once written jokingly.

That was the true Pick Me Up.

Lucardis looked over the monitor room.

Smoke once again rose from the cigar in his mouth.

Beside him, his aide bowed.

“My future self will surely resent the man I am today.”

“......”

“Know this, Sizel. If you ever meet the me of tomorrow—he will be completely different from the me today.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Hahaha! I apologize in advance to your future self. Cleaning up after me won’t be easy. Such is the fate of an old man who has lost his mind to greed.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed.

There was a time when all of Möbius revered him.

He had been worshipped as the god with the eyes of a thousand—who pierced the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) past and foresaw the future.

‘Does hope truly exist?’

He could not see it.

Even listing tens of thousands, millions of possibilities, the light beyond them was faint beyond measure.

‘Maybe not right now.’

But if they endured, if they stalled long enough—perhaps a door to a new possibility might open?

The old man didn’t know.

Even with a thousand eyes, a god could not see such a distant future.

Time was needed.

No matter what, time was needed to find another method.

And yet, if even after all that time they failed to find a way to save Möbius, how would his future self look back on his present self?

“Möbius... forgive me. This foolish me... please forgive me...”

The old man, eyes closed, begged for forgiveness in a voice heavy with regret.

***

Thud.

The elevator reached the lowest level underground.

Tell staggered out of the elevator.

She walked down a narrow corridor.

“Heehee, heeheehee.”

With every step she took, thick blood dragged along behind.

Contaminated blood was leaking from all over her body.

The side effect of excessive fusion.

Her divine mind was already scrambled—muddled by jumbled data.

She could no longer distinguish what was herself and what was other.

Fusion meant uniting oneself and another into one.

At first, there were hardly any side effects.

But the higher the rank of the beings she fused with, the more devastating the backlash.

Eventually, it shattered the mind.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Tell muttered.

Then she stopped and spoke again, in a completely different tone.

“No. I’m not fine. I resent you. I resent you so much.”

A torrent of delusions and auditory hallucinations assaulted Tell constantly.

Extreme psychosis.

And yet, deep within, there still burned an undying flame.

“I have to save Möbius.”

Because that was her purest goal.

Because she had sworn to throw everything away for the sake of that one thing.

Tell stumbled onward.

She advanced toward the prepared place.

At last, she arrived at the chamber.

The ancient gods had called this place the Seat of All Things.

A space shaped like the cosmos, where one could observe the countless dimensions affiliated with Möbius.

But that universe now was drowned in darkness.

Because all the dimensions had perished.

She had to restore the light of the universe.

“......”

Tell stood tall at the center of the chamber.

By rights, the Seat of All Things could only be operated by Lucardis.

But now, Tell could do it too.

She had absorbed hundreds and thousands of gods and spirits—transcending the limits of divinity.

It had been necessary.

She had needed to consume those bastards.

Tell raised her right hand.

The universe began to spin slowly.

That old man said from the 80th floor of the tower, nothing fits anymore.

A hallucinated voice of Hegrian echoed in her ears.

The shattered dimensions can’t be properly linked. At best, it’s all barely held together. If we force it up to the 100th floor... an uncountable horde will descend and devour the place in an instant. With our strength, we wouldn’t last an hour.

Complete restoration was impossible.

At best, it could be preserved as-is.

Forcefully stitching it together would cause Möbius itself to collapse instantly.

“It’s fine.”

Tell’s lips twisted into a long, crooked smile.

“As long as it’s alive, that’s enough. As long as it doesn’t die, right?”

She raised her left hand.

Lucardis had prepared everything. She only needed to imbue interference power.

Thud!

The slowly rotating miniature universe began to tremble.

“Kegh! Khurgh! Khurgh!”

Tell vomited a mass of blood.

As the price for moving the universe, her existence was being torn apart.

Craack!

Blood sprayed from the splits in her skin.

Unbearable agony surged through her.

“Haha, hahahaha...”

Her body was being ripped to pieces while still alive.

And simultaneously, it was regenerating again and again.

Bones shattered. Organs fragmented.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Seat of All Things shook violently.

A miracle was occurring.

Causality was reversing. Time was turning back.

To the time when countless stars glittered across the multiverse.

To the time when Möbius still held light.

“Ah, yeah. This doesn’t quite work, huh.”

Just before everything could return, the rotation stopped.

Tell swept her right hand.

The universe tore apart.

Like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle, it split into an infinite number of pieces.

“Now, let’s begin.”

Sounds began to fill Tell’s ears.

The sound of a grand orchestra, played by a massive symphony.

Tell, now the conductor, waved her hand.

[System activating.]

[Game construction initiated.]

The very first System had begun to run.

[Hyper Rogue-like Summon RPG]

[Pick me up!]

[Now loading......]

A mobile game.

Yes, a mobile game.

Tell spread her arms wide.

The countless shattered puzzle pieces trembled freely.

Each piece a dimension.

Get up. Wake up.

I’ve come to awaken you.

Wuuuuuung!

The endless puzzle fragments scattered.

And then—

Thud!

On top of each puzzle piece, a tower began to rise.

Inside each tower was the debris of a shattered dimension.

“That’s right. You’re the ones who’ll piece it all back together.”

Reverse it.

Reconstruct the causality of destruction.

Rewrite fate.

Tell elegantly swept her left hand.

As if a conductor were freely orchestrating the symphony.

Lives that should have died began to awaken.

The children of Möbius, once locked in deep slumber, opened their eyes side by side.

Tell offered them a proposal.

“I’ll give you a chance.”

A chance to change fate.

An offer they couldn’t refuse.

She whispered in a sweet voice.

A chance? An offer? No—

This was a command.

“Heeheehee, ahahahaha.”

You wanted this, didn’t you?

You could’ve died alone, but you begged Icar to save you, didn’t you?

I’m granting that wish personally.

Come on, fight each other.

Divide into heroes and monsters, and entertain the earthworms of Earth.

Devour each other.

Suck each other dry.

Kill, and kill, and kill.

Because then you’ll grow stronger.

You’ll grow stronger that way.

Isn’t it glorious?

The heroes of Pick Me Up are really alive, you know?

Totally different from the trash AI on Earth.

You think you can play with living things like they’re toys?

Because it’s a game?

Just because it’s a game?!

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Tell twisted her right hand.

Within the puzzle fragments, lives were now being sorted into ‘Heroes’ and ‘Monsters’.

Didn’t matter who ended up as which.

The ones with even the slightest will to survive became heroes.

The ones who rejected it became monsters.

Even if the monsters refused, it didn’t matter.

Once they absorbed Tell’s contaminated blood, any being would go mad.

They would be consumed by endless rage and thirst for blood.

So keep killing and being killed.

Make it fun for the humans of Earth.

You think so too, don’t you?

Being able to use living people as game heroes.

Isn’t it so real?

Their despair. Their fear. Their hopelessness.

I’ll make it all feel real to you.

You’ll see soon enough.

That it’s just like the real thing.

Ah... it’s going to be so fun.

So much fun!

Tell waved both hands.

The prelude to annihilation began its performance.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Goddess, mercy! Please, have mercy!”

“I beg for forgiveness!”

Heroes within the towers began to cry out, each begging for mercy in their own way.

Unending pain.

Relentless despair.

“I’ll resent you! I’ll never forgive you!”

“Te-e-e-e-e-ell!”

“Kyaaaaugh!”

Beg me for mercy. Or curse me—I don’t care.

[Account creation complete!]

[Beginning scenario allocation.]

[Now Loading.......]

One account. One dimension and one tower.

But the 90th floor and beyond were incomplete.

“Who cares?”

As long as they’re alive.

No matter what state they’re in.

Even if they’re totally broken, bedridden, counting their final days—

Even if they writhe in hellish pain and beg for death—

“You wanted this, didn’t you?”

I’ll never let you die.

I’ll keep that filthy, stubborn life going—no matter what.

I’ll sew flesh, patch intestines, prod the brain if I have to.

Even if I have to turn you into a patchwork of flesh and nerves—I’ll keep you alive.

“Heeheeheehee, huhuhuhuhu, ahaha, aha, hahahahahaha!”

Ah, of course.

You playing the game? You’ll have to pay a price, too.

You do understand that, don’t you?

Playing with life and death isn’t child’s play.

Yeah—you.

The one who just launches the game without a thought.

Tell smiled.

***

Winter. A night street in Seoul.

A cold wind swept through the streets.

“Bubble Bubble Credit Loans! ₩3,000,000 with just one call!”

Somewhere, a flyer for an illegal credit loan was blown by the wind.

Occasionally, passing cars honked their horns.

Ding-a-ling.

The chime installed above the glass door gave a clear ring.

It was meant to sound whenever someone entered the store.

“......”

A young man exiting the convenience store glanced at the flyer on the ground.

Soon, his gaze turned away, disinterested, toward the street.

With his jacket hood pulled low, his features were hard to make out.

In one hand, he held a white plastic bag.

Inside were a convenience store meal and a drink.

“...?”

The young man’s eyes drifted toward the billboard atop the building across the street.

An outdoor advertisement was playing.

“Pick me up with you! Pick me up with me! Let’s all Pick me up!”

The ad slogan appeared at the top of the screen.

‘That ad again.’

The young man clicked his tongue.

He’d seen it to death—on TV, on MyTube, in the subway.

The new game that was exploding in popularity these days: Pick Me Up.

They were pushing the marketing hard with the catchphrase that the heroes in the game were “truly alive.”

‘So sick of it.’

On the screen, the game’s mascot fairy—Iselle—was shaking her body in excitement.

A dance made to be catchy and addictive. Honestly, it was nauseating.

“Hmph.”

Still, not like I’ve got anything better to do these days.

Heroes that breathe and live inside the game, huh.

Is the AI really that advanced?

A flicker of curiosity stirred.

Something strange. Something he couldn’t quite identify was pulling him.

As he walked home, the young man took out his phone.

“Pick Me Up, huh...”

He opened the app store. A giant banner was plastered across the front page.

‘Top sales on both platforms?’

So that’s how big it is.

Curiosity kept leading to more curiosity.

Before he knew it, he had tapped the install button.

The distance between home and the convenience store was decent.

By the time he got home, the installation had finished.

The loading screen rolled, and the main menu of the game opened.

[A forsaken land ruled by ghosts—Niflheim!]

[In this age of darkness, an unknown enemy begins to invade!]

Graphics weren’t all that impressive.

Just then, the prologue cutscene began to play.

[The continent, swallowed by darkness, is torn apart.]

[But hope has not yet been lost.]

[You, Master! If you wish to save the world, climb the tower!]

[Countless heroes will join you on your journey.]

The cutscene ended, and a prompt appeared.

[Please enter your Master name!]

A name.

A name, huh.

He didn’t think long.

The young man typed in a nickname.

[Loki]

[This name is available. Would you like to use it?]

[Yes / No]