Pick Me Up!-Chapter 311: Embers (1)
Siris Argentheim opened her eyes.
“......”
A sky veiled in thick mist.
A field faded to lifeless gray stretched out before her.
The moment Siris saw the woman collapsed in that field, she knew—this place was a dream.
She always had this nightmare when her condition worsened.
Here again, huh.
A bitter smile crept onto her face.
Once the nightmare began, there was no way to stop it.
All she could do was watch it through to the end.
“Kugh... Cough!”
The woman coughed violently.
Each time, blood surged up and stained her chest.
Her leather armor was torn and frayed beyond recognition.
What had once been pristine blonde hair and fair skin was now smeared with blood and grime.
That woman...
It was Siris herself.
To be precise, it was her before she formed a “contract” with the goddess.
The Land of Mist—just before the fall of Niflheim.
“Kihehek!”
A phlegmy, wheezing laugh.
Standing before her collapsed self was a man.
His body was covered in tattoos, his skin an ashen gray, and horns curved from both sides of his forehead.
A White Oni.
The rulers who had dominated all of Niflheim.
Far superior to humans in physical prowess and savagery, and breeding like rats, they had taken root throughout the continent until they eventually came to rule every race.
Humans here were merely the ruled.
No—less than that.
Livestock.
The primary diet of the White Oni was human flesh.
“You thought someone like you could beat me?”
The horned man stomped on the sword lying in the grass.
A battered iron blade Siris had spent years to obtain.
Crunch.
With a single step, the blade snapped clean in two.
“You humans are weak. Stupid. Slow. You don’t even know what honor is. You’re just living trash. Maggots born to die at our feet.”
Back then, Siris couldn’t refute a word.
She just stared up at the man with trembling eyes.
That man...
He was her father’s killer.
Murdered him for no reason other than boredom—ripped him apart.
Siris had tried to take advantage of the chaos when a horde of unknown monsters invaded her village to get revenge, but she failed.
“So what, the Fragments invade and the world’s ending, and you can’t tell left from right anymore? Revenge? Kihaha!”
Thud!
The man kicked the woman.
She coughed up blood as she rolled across the ground.
“That swordplay—what the hell was that? Trying to act like a knight? How pathetic.”
“Haa...!”
All that came out of her mouth were ragged gasps.
The man stuck out a tongue like a serpent’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) and drew a dagger.
“Well then, let’s begin the dissection.”
“...!”
“Let me hear those sweet screams. I never kill my prey quickly. I once filleted a guy ten thousand times before he finally died.”
The blade’s sharp edge grazed her thigh.
Terror overtook her eyes.
“Let’s start with these soft thighs. Then the calves. Then your ass. While you scream—I’ll savor the fresh meat, still warm.”
The knife pressed into her thigh, just enough to break the skin.
And just as it began to slice into flesh—
“...Stop!”
She opened her mouth in a trembling plea.
“What was that?”
“Please... stop... I was wrong...”
“Not the right tone.”
“I-I was wrong...!”
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“So you were all ready to kill me, and now you’re begging for mercy? The moment word gets out that a human dared raise a weapon against us, your village will be wiped out.”
“I’m sorry! I was... blind...! It was a mistake...!”
“Kyaahahah! Begging for your life from your father’s killer?”
Watching her past self, Siris closed her eyes.
And still, the nightmare pressed on.
“Say it again. What?”
“Please... spare me...”
“You call that begging? On your knees.”
She hastily adjusted her posture and knelt.
Her knees scraped on sharp stones, drawing blood, but she didn’t flinch.
“Prostrate, livestock.”
Thud. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The woman threw herself flat on the ground.
The man smiled with satisfaction and placed his foot on her disheveled blonde hair.
“Revenge for your father? What, were you trying to play knight?”
“Th-that’s not... it...”
“You humans have no honor. No advanced civilization. No gods to worship. If we say die, you die. If we say live, you live. You’re pigs. Trash no better than insects. And yet, one of those insects dared... to touch me...”
The man stomped on the woman’s head.
She trembled, unable to move.
“I’ve decided, human. I’ll offer you to our goddess as a sacrifice. She’s in need of a fresh human heart.”
“N-no...!”
“Don’t worry. Once I tear it out, you’ll die quickly.”
Despair flooded the woman’s eyes.
How pathetic.
Watching her former self, Siris bit her lip.
That woman had failed her revenge and, consumed by fear, surrendered.
No honor.
Of course she didn’t.
Humans here received no education.
They were raised like cattle, to be devoured by the White Oni.
Sometimes for food.
Sometimes for fun.
Sometimes as meat-shields in territorial skirmishes.
Niflheim.
A land with no hope.
The continent she’d lived on was shrouded in thick mist year-round, visibility nearly nonexistent. More than half the year was winter, and the weather was relentlessly bleak.
A living hell.
Humans here were born only to die.
She didn’t know.
What friendship meant.
What love meant.
What it felt like to have comrades.
What it even meant to be alive—she didn’t understand any of it.
She was nothing more than livestock.
The man had been right.
Siris’s revenge was nothing but a hollow imitation.
Her father used to tell her stories of knights.
Knights were gallant, honorable, beautiful in those tales. Enchanted by them, Siris had orchestrated a childish revenge plot.
“Please...! Please...!”
“Kihahahah! Ahahahah!”
The man dragged Siris off, her body limp.
Their destination: the Temple of the Twin Goddesses not far from the field.
There, he would offer her as a living sacrifice.
“Your heart will please the goddess. Be honored! Not everyone gets the chance. You’ll be paving the way for our great race’s future—”
「I said we don’t need a sacrifice.」
The man’s foot halted.
Not far away, a young girl was looking down at him.
“What the—who’s this piglet?”
“So humans here are called piglets now. There was a time this place rivaled the top ranks of Möbius. Even the eternal land of flame, Niflheim, has fallen into pathetic decline.”
The girl gave a thin smirk, then walked up to the man.
The man’s eyes bulged, veins bulging as he stared.
“You trying to die...?”
“Your eyeballs. Keep them if you don’t want to die.”
A sinister light gleamed in the girl’s eyes.
The man, still standing, suddenly trembled violently—then collapsed flat before her.
“Don’t tell me... Lady Hella!”
“Was that my name here?”
“Yes, Goddess! What brings you to such a humble place?!”
“I’ll keep it simple. Your world is on the verge of collapse. Within a week at most, the Harvesters will descend upon the continent. You won’t stop them. Your military power is trash. You’re not even united. In short—your world is garbage.”
“W-what are you saying...”
“Didn’t you hear the oracle? If you wanted to restore your world, you should’ve made a contract with me. Wasn’t that the job of your so-called heroes?”
The man blinked rapidly.
The girl—called “Goddess”—curled her lips into a cynical smile.
“I came because they said you were a priest. But you’re not even worthy of being called a hero. You seem to have more brute strength than a typical human, but... at best, this is a primitive civilization.”
“Goddess! How could you say such—”
Thwack!
The horned man’s head flew into the air.
A spray of blue blood burst from the stump of his neck.
“Hiiiek!”
The terrified woman stumbled back in panic.
And then, the girl’s gaze turned toward her.
“...One Star.”
The girl said coldly.
“Maybe Two-Star if we’re being generous. No way you’d even reach Three. No talent. This world’s already dead. Better to discard it.”
“Who... are you?”
“Doesn’t look like you’ve even had an education. Are all the humans here this primitive?”
The girl before her was no ordinary being.
The woman could only tremble uncontrollably.
But of course, the current Siris knew exactly who this girl was.
The Goddess of Mercy.
CEO of Möbius Corp, the one who created Pick Me Up!—and the head of the Pantheon of All Gods.
In Taonia, where Siris’s Master Loki once stayed, this girl was called Tell.
“I just had a fun idea.”
Suddenly, the girl’s lips curled.
As if she’d discovered an amusing toy.
“If there’s a jackpot, there has to be a dud too. It wouldn’t hurt to toss a few traps into the mix. The hero faction... right, I’ll make you humans. Let you vent all that humiliation you’ve suffered under the White Oni.”
“...?”
“I’m offering you a chance for revenge. Honestly, I could make you monsters too, but then the power gap would be too big. Like a rabbit versus a lion. No game at all.”
The woman didn’t understand the goddess’s words.
Game? What game? Back then, she knew nothing of the world. She just blinked, emerald eyes vacant.
“Kh! Kukukuk! This’ll be fun. I wonder what poor bastard of a Master will end up with you. Who’ll take on these half-formed livestock and... somehow drag them through hellish missions? I’m looking forward to it. Aren’t you curious?”
“......”
“Ah, right. I’ll give you a little service. Even a trash account should have at least one high-ranking hero. Gotta give people a reason to spend money, after all. Let’s see... a Four-Star should be enough? With a bit of visual trickery on the status window, I should be able to fool someone.”
The woman took a step back.
She couldn’t understand the words, but she could tell—this girl was plotting something sinister.
“Come here, my child.”
“N-no...”
“Why not? I’m offering you a chance to become a hero. Four-Star. Four-Star, I said. In other dimensions, only high-tier individuals ever get a rank like that.”
“Stay away!”
“Since when do livestock have the right to refuse?”
Her steps stopped.
The girl approached leisurely, leaned close, and whispered:
“What’s your name?”
“F-Forty-seven...”
“Hm? Your name’s a number?”
“Dad... called me Siris...”
“Alright, Miss Siris. I assume you don’t have a last name. I’ll pick a cool one for you. How about Argentheim? Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I’ll set your starting class to Knight. It’s a major class.”
“K-Knight...”
“Live by honor, die by honor. Sounds like something you’d like. Of course, you’re still just half-baked trash. I had fun watching you grovel for your life like a worm.”
“Ugh... uuugh...”
“I wonder what unlucky Master will end up with you. If it were me, I’d use you a few times and throw you away. Try not to get used for synthesis. Do your best. Hah! Hahaha!”
The girl suddenly burst into laughter.
“This is killing me! No one’s gonna want this account. Trash among trash. Vermin among vermin! What kind of Master could possibly overcome all these conditions? If someone actually pulls it off... I’ll personally call them God. Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha!”
That was always how the nightmare ended.
With the girl’s laughter.
“...Haa.”
Siris opened her eyes.
A familiar ceiling greeted her.
Niflheim, Floor 13—her room.
Again.
She’d lost count of how many times.
Ever since her Master left, Siris had dreamed this nightmare every single night.
Clatter.
She grabbed the glass of water from the table beside her bed and drank it down.
The cool liquid slid down her throat and brought clarity to her mind.
