Pick Me Up!

Clunk.

A dark sea at night, void of even a single starlight.

The Anytng came to a halt, its lights casting a dim glow over the waves.

[1000th Dimension – ????]

Clunk. Clunk, clunk.

Fuel was injected from the rear of the Anytng, but the airship refused to move forward.

It had reached the boundary of the field.

No, more precisely—

The boundary between servers.

After bringing the Anytng to a stop, I walked toward the bow.

[This is strange…?]

Frey leaped off my shoulder and flew ahead, feeling along the invisible wall.

[There was definitely a door here…]

“You’re saying there’s nothing now?”

[Yeah. The GMs use this passage all the time, so it should never be closed. If they shut it down, the entire game would stop functioning.]

I took a deep breath.

The recent raid had been broadcast live to the masters.

Their cherished heroes and fleets had been wiped out by a mere gesture of the boss. No veteran player would stand for that. By now, every community of Pick Me Up was likely in chaos.

The game, which had barely been surviving, had just taken a fatal blow.

[Are you saying… they’ve abandoned game operations?]

“They were developing a new title anyway.”

[Then, the path to Server 1 is…]

I let out a short laugh.

‘So this is how they plan to stall for time.’

I stretched my right hand forward.

Shrrrk!

Crimson-black scales emerged across my entire arm. Hundreds of dragon scales writhing along my forearm coalesced into the shape of a blade.

Dragon Scale Sword.

It wouldn’t be as efficient as Bifrost, but it would suffice as a temporary weapon.

“Step aside.”

Frey flapped her wings and backed off.

Gripping the hilt tightly, I thrust the sword into the empty space.

The tip of the blade sank into the transparent wall and vanished.

‘Didn’t they say there was no escape?’

Crackle!

Fierce lightning surged along the blade.

They had sealed this tightly.

The passage connected to Server 1 was encased in dozens of layers of firewalls.

Clang!

I twisted the blade sideways.

A sound like shattering glass echoed as cracks formed along the barrier.

[Unauthorized intrusion detected!]

[Unknown Error!]

[Unknown Error!]

[Unknown……]

Boom!

I drove the blade in to the hilt.

[Warning!]

[Error – 0032: Critical error detected. Immediate response required…]

Then, I yanked out the Dragon Scale Sword in one swift motion.

The cracks spread rapidly, and soon, a dimension gate shattered like a broken window.

A makeshift passage leading to Server 1.

[Ugh…]

Frey paled and shook her head.

Well, I knew I wasn’t exactly normal anymore.

The more I used it, the more I could tell—this ability to manipulate universal data and alter the system wasn’t meant for an ordinary being.

‘Maybe this is what Tell intended.’

But if she was waiting for me to lose my humanity, she was sorely mistaken.

No matter how twisted my mind became, there was one thing I would never forget.

‘I’m going to kill you.’

I dismissed the Dragon Scale Sword.

Once I stepped through that dimension gate, I’d be in Server 1.

There was no time to hesitate. I needed to move immediately.

“Just a heads-up—once we go inside—”

[…Wait.]

I turned to the side.

Frey was staring blankly up at the night sky.

I followed her gaze. The sky remained dark.

“What? We don’t have time.”

[Just a moment, just one moment.]

Frey blinked a few times.

At that instant—

[Warning!]

[Unknown Error!]

[Error – 3912: Critical error detected. Immediate response required…]

Flash!

A brilliant white light flooded the sky.

[Master Anytng, welcome to Pick Me Up!]

Among the scattering starlight, a holographic message appeared.

[Loading complete.]

[T O U C H! (Select)]

I halted mid-step.

‘This girl… she was banned.’

There was no way Mobius had lifted the ban at this point.

The cause wasn’t hard to figure out.

I had just broken the server’s rules.

The resulting system-wide error had also lifted Anytng’s restriction.

“…Seriously.”

How obsessed with the game was she to log in the second her ban was lifted?

After everything that happened, she should’ve given up by now.

Up above, the light flickered chaotically.

‘Is she looking at me?’

Her screen wasn’t showing a lobby.

The moment she logged in, she had directly accessed the field where I was.

[Loki.]

“I know.”

The master’s role was already over.

With the game itself collapsing, Anytng had nothing left to do.

Once the server was restored, she’d be forcibly logged out again, this time permanently.

‘Pointless.’

I adjusted my cloak and stepped toward the dimensional rift.

“……”

A few steps later, I stopped.

Anytng was still watching me.

‘Idiot.’

Narrowing my eyes, I let my influence flow freely, connecting my consciousness deep into the system.

‘I see you.’

A small, plain room.

The faint light of a desk lamp illuminated a young woman gripping her smartphone tightly.

So tightly, in fact, that her fingers had turned white.

So this is what she looked like.

Not too different from what I expected.

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!