The next day.
At dawn, after the day's routine was over.
As I sat on a bench in the training center wiping sweat, the lights in the sky turned on.
[Welcome to Pick Me Up!]
[Loading complete.]
[T O U C H !(Select)]
It was the familiar login message.
However, there was an alarm indicating a new announcement.
[Regarding the unfortunate disconnection incident that occurred a few days ago...]
Below it, an apology notice was posted. It explained that simultaneous disconnections had occurred for Masters on the lower floors of the Tower, claiming it was due to a sudden server short-circuit.
That entity who appeared just as I was about to clear the 10th floor.
I couldn't grasp the full context, but I knew it was related to her.
[1. Special compensation for all Masters! 500 Gems will be distributed.]
[2. Compensation and another bonus! 50,000 Gold will be distributed.]
[3. There's more! Boost Hero Affinity! A Gift Coupon will be distributed.]
[4. And that's not all, right? Regardless of the day of the week! All Daily Dungeons will be open for 3 days.]
Closing the announcement, Amkena went into the Mailbox and collected the rewards.
Then, Amkena started tapping the control interface.
Twinkle~.
Isel approached, scattering stardust.
[Loki, congrats on the promotion!]
Pop!
Isel set off a party popper she brought from somewhere.
"..."
No one else was in the training center.
Aaron and Dika had been there until a little while ago, but they had already left.
As I just sat there, Isel tilted her head.
[You don't look happy, did something happen?]
"I met your original."
[Original? What do you mean...?]
After thinking hard, Isel's jaw dropped.
"The Co-CEO of Mobius, wasn't it?"
[N-No way!]
I gently pushed Isel's gaping mouth shut.
Isel spoke with a trembling voice.
[How much did you hear?]
I briefly summarized the information I'd heard from her about this game.
Isel nodded with a grave expression. I smiled and said,
"I don't really plan to argue about it. Nothing will change anyway. I'm climbing the tower. You just need to help me do that."
[Ah, okay...]
"So, what is it?"
She wouldn't have appeared just to chat about trivial things.
Wiping the serious look from her face, Isel beamed triumphantly. From seemingly nowhere, she produced a golden ticket almost her own size.
[You know what this is? Behold, the Gift Ticket! Whatever you want, bam, it's yours!]
Holding the golden ticket, Isel swayed her body as if dancing.
'A gift.'
Pick Me Up has a function called Gifts.
It's a way to reward Heroes for special achievements or just because you like them.
Of course, it's not free.
Depending on the gift's value, you have to pay Gold, and for high-grade rare gifts, Gems or high-quality materials are needed. The clock I'd requested during the major facility expansion operated on a similar principle.
"Are you saying you'll give this to me?"
[To be precise, the Master decided! Ahem! It seems even that fool recognized Loki's excellence.]
Isel held out the golden ticket.
I took the ticket and examined it. Fairy figures were embossed on both sides, and in the center, the number '10,000' was written.
'Below 10,000 Gold.'
Basically, gifts cost money, but if you use a gift coupon, which is very rarely given through events, you can use the function for free.
'So the Master thinks highly of me.'
Giving the only gift coupon provided to me meant that among all the Heroes here, I was valued the most.
In a sense, it was natural.
It wasn't arrogance; it was fact.
After all, I was the key player who broke through two seemingly impossible missions back-to-back. Anyone watching the replay would have seen that while Edith and Iolca also performed exceptionally, I was central to the success.
The Master must have found it strange.
Without the Master doing anything special, the Heroes just somehow kept surviving, struggling through.
Even on the 10th floor, which deviated from normal difficulty, we struggled but cleared it. The result was even more encouraging: only two useless 1-stars were lost, while the core members survived intact.
I sighed and handed the ticket back to Isel.
"I don't need it. Give it to someone else."
[Han(★★) refuses the gift.]
Isel, taking back the ticket, her eyes widened.
[Are you really okay? You can get anything! Delicious food! Fancy clothes! Cool decorations! You can have them all!]
"Not everything."
There are thousands of items in the Gift Shop.
Delicacies made from rare ingredients. Gorgeous attire fit for nobles. Artwork radiating refined taste. If you raised the conditions further, there were even items beyond imagination. Of course, such things couldn't be bought with a mere 10,000 Gold.
I stood up and left the training center.
And slowly walked towards the lodgings.
Isel tagged along closely behind.
"Why are you following? I'm going to sleep."
[W-Wait.]
Isel spun around in place. Stardust scattered from her wings gathered together, forming a small wooden statue.
[Purchasing 'Warhorse Statue' with the Gift Coupon.]
[Presenting 'Warhorse Statue' to Han(★★)!]
[Tips/You can give gifts to Heroes you like. Get Hero Affinity with gifts!]
"What's this?"
[The Master's gift!]
A valiant warhorse rearing its forelegs was carved.
I took it and looked it over from all sides. The sculpting wasn't bad. The finish was well done too.
There would probably be Heroes who'd be happy to receive this.
I casually tossed the statue aside.
The statue hit the side of the fountain, tumbled, its forelegs snapped off cleanly, and its upper and lower body separated.
Isel's jaw dropped.
Once again, I pushed her jaw shut.
Then I closed the door to the lodgings and went inside.
'If you're going to give gifts, give them to everyone.'
Giving to only one person breeds discontent among the other Heroes.
Even if I contributed the most, I wasn't the only one risking my life. Appropriate distribution of rewards based on merit is fundamental for a Master. But just throwing a gift coupon gift around carelessly...
If you're not going to use it properly, it's worse than not using it at all.
'A warhorse statue?'
Each Hero has different tastes and wants different things.
They don't just appreciate any old thing you hand them.
Even I know the hobbies and preferences of Niflheim's top 100 Heroes inside out.
A short while after I got into bed, the sky went dark.
Is the Master flustered? Or just clueless?
"..."
Sleep doesn't come.
I have to climb the tower.
There could be dozens of reasons.
But I realized that an obstacle several times more powerful than my assigned low rank, or Pick Me Up's filthy difficulty, awaited me.
It is an internal enemy.
Not just an internal enemy.
If a Hero is troublesome, I can handle it.
Like the recent Dire Wolf Mercenary incident, I could even get rid of them without anyone noticing.
'But if the Master doesn't get their act together...'
It's not certain yet.
It was still speculation. However, the speculation seemed about 90% likely to be correct.
'Is it Najalhae Disease?'
Najalhae Disease.
It's slang circulating among Pick Me Up users.
The name sounds funny, but the consequences aren't.
Pick Me Up is called a Unppal Jotmanggam (Luck-based F***ing Garbage Game).
One reason is that the early game difficulty, when facilities and content aren't yet unlocked, varies drastically depending on initial summon luck. If you pull good Heroes, climbing is smooth and comfortable; if you get bad Heroes, you go through all sorts of hellish struggles, stumbling and rolling through hardship.
What kind of case is Amkena?
Objectively, you couldn't say Amkena's luck was good. They Synthesized the first 4-star (my original form) and later dusted all but one from a 5x summon. Given that, is their luck bad?
'No.'
They worked hard in the early game.
Steadily expanded facilities, nurtured Heroes, and crafted items.
They were progressing properly according to the guides I wrote.
Things changed after the 5th floor.
After clearing a mission with my strength that should have resulted in annihilation.
They began to deviate slightly from the standard path.
They did paid summons 5 times when conditions weren't met, and threw the last member into the 10th floor without proper training. Besides that, they made various other mistakes.
Masters who rely solely on Heroes for progress like this, without reflecting on their own responsibilities, are called sufferers of Najalhae Disease. They mistake the Heroes' abilities for their own.
'Can I really climb to the 100th floor with a bastard like this?'
Naturally. Masters who repeatedly failed countless times in the early game have much stronger late-game potential.
The speculation turned into certainty the following evening.
[Han, Jena, Aaron, Iolca!]
Isel's call naming the members of Party 1 echoed through the training ground.
Jena, who was weaving between wooden dummies with her dagger, flipped around and spoke.
"Oh, are we being deployed?"
"Seems like it."
It wasn't a Daily Dungeon.
All four were combat members.
"Ugh..."
Jena frowned slightly, then got ready and left.
Aaron sighed and followed Jena out.
Beside the training center, the door inscribed with a magic circle burst open, and Iolca rushed out.
Iolca left the training center, her dress hem fluttering.
A distorted expression.
She didn't look happy.
'Is it any wonder?'
Due to repeated training and combat, their stress levels are reaching a critical point.
The particularly fierce 10th floor acted as a catalyst. Although I'm managing it somehow, it's only a temporary fix. To resolve this, the Master needed to step up personally.
The four members of Party 1 gathered in the square.
[Open, Space-Time Rift!]
The door leading to the Space-Time Rift opened with a clatter.
I walked at the front.
"Let's finish this quickly and get out."
The three followed.
The door closed.
'Floor 8 or 9?'
In this situation, attempting the 11th floor is unreasonable.
Although they leveled up, Iolca's level is still low. Since the 10th floor was cleared, the entry restrictions are lifted. Growing as much as possible on previous stages before moving on was the standard procedure.
Adding another condition here would be to insert the last member, whether 1-star or 3-star.
Joining sooner is better. Just adding them to the party doesn't mean they can fulfill their role immediately. Time is needed to adapt and integrate.
[Climb the Tower, Save the World!]
[Main Dungeon : Current Climbing Floor - 10]
'Save the world.' So that's what it meant.
But it has nothing to do with me.
Tower conquest. Everything else has been discarded.
As I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed, a message announcing the entry floor appeared before my eyes.
[Main Dungeon, Current Challenge Floor is 11F.]
[The gate will open in 10 seconds. Prepare yourselves!]
"..."
'Hmph.'
It's confirmed.
I cracked my neck.
Then I drew my sword and shouldered my shield.
"Get ready. It's the 11th floor."
"Huh?"
While Jena was asking, the surroundings darkened.
A crescent moon hung in the night sky.
The crescent moon sprinkled moonlight on the place where we stood.
'Field is a graveyard.'
Gravestones commemorating the dead were erected everywhere.
Amidst the eerie, cold air, something rose with creaking sounds.
[Floor 11.]
[Mission Type - Subjugation]
[Objective - Annihilate the enemy!]
[Skeleton Lv.11 X 14]
Skeletons standing bathed in moonlight atop the graves.
A sight that would make an ordinary person's knees buckle, but the party members, including me, didn't even flinch. Because we had been through worse hells.
Jena scratched her cheek and said.
"Skeletons, huh?"
"They look like they'd break with just a tap."
I chuckled softly.
The skeletons surrounded us, jawbones clacking. Each held weapons like swords, axes, and maces.
Creak!
The skeleton at the very front swung its axe.
Such a pathetic sound. I dodged the axe, then smashed its cervical vertebrae with the edge of my shield. The skeleton, bones shattered, couldn't move again.
I looked up at the sky.
Up there, Amkena was watching us.
'Guess I'll deal with these guys first and think later.'
"Positions."
"Going!"
"Yes!"
Triangle formation, like on the 10th floor.
Me in front, Aaron left, Jena right, Iolca center.
The battle began in the moonlit graveyard.