[Aaron Side Story Episode 6]
1. Purity for only one (6)
* * *
A wide and dark room.
Large and small screens are installed all over the walls.
The scene of the massacre was in full swing on the screen.
The cleaning work was in full swing to find the traitors in the city.
“…”
Everyone, young and old.
Those who showed even the slightest dissatisfaction with the Pick Me Up project or had negative thoughts will be eliminated.
The freedom of expression proclaimed by Ikar was, on the contrary, evidence of treachery.
The record of the past drove them to their deaths.
“What do you think of that sight?”
said the old man in the cloak.
The adjutant standing next to him gave a short answer.
“This is an operation to deal with reactionary elements in the city.”
“Reactionary molecule?”
“Those who were not cooperative with the project or expressed their intention to escape. Now is the time for everyone to come together as one. They don’t qualify for that.”
The old man burst out laughing.
“Right. That’s what you think.”
The old man’s name is Lecadis.
He was the highest-ranking god who was respected by everyone who was called Hyeonsin.
Now called Alpha Zero, he served as the director of the Pick Me Up project.
“I mean.”
Lecadis looked back at the lieutenant who had been faithful to him for a long time.
“Even though you call me the god of the wise, you didn’t know my true heart.”
“There is nothing that Lecadis-sama does not know.”
“You deify me too much. haha.”
Lecadis took out a small silver case from her bosom.
Inside was a cigar and a quality lighter.
“But I found out. When the child came to see me this morning, I knew the desire of my heart.”
The old man put a cigar in his mouth.
The secretary lit it with a lighter beside him.
“The child confessed to me.”
I want to revive Mobius.
I want to give those kids a chance.
You can sacrifice anything.
Cigarette smoke rose.
said the old man, who was savoring the scent of a strong cigar.
“I gave you advice. What will the child do?”
“…”
“Ha ha ha. Should I advise that? Actually, it is my desire. no. It’s not advice. I entrusted the child with what I wished for.”
Lecadis explained.
He explained the plan to the young goddess who had believed in him and followed him since a long time ago, who came after a long thought.
He said there might be a possibility using this method.
And the Goddess of Mercy accepted the offer.
“What did I really love?”
Hoo-wook.
Strong cigarette smoke began to fill the room.
“Did I love Mobius? Or did he love the life of Mobius? The conclusion has come. the answer is the former As long as I can save Mobius, I don’t care what else happens.”
“…”
“How did you know? I never thought that such a strong desire could be hidden in this aging body. Why did I choose this path even knowing the cost? So, what do you think, Siselle?”
The adjutant called Sizel made no reply.
I just hung my head.
“I’m just following the incarnation.”
The old man laughed blankly.
bang!
It was right after that that the door to the monitor room was smashed.
“Ah Grandpa. I was stuck here.”
“How are you here…!”
Lecadis stopped the adjutant from raising his weapon.
“Ahahahahaha! Grandpa is a spectator? huh? Just relax and smoke a cigarette by yourself.”
Tell, covered in blood all over his body, laughed.
Red eyes flashed between the scattered hair.
“Is processing going well?”
“don’t worry. It’s smooth. It’s really smooth. It’s the first time I’ve had this kind of power. If I had known earlier, I would have eaten them all a long time ago, right?”
“Are the side effects of pollution tolerable?”
“of course. No matter how mixed, I’m fine. Because she is the goddess of innocence. It doesn’t get dirty. Ha ha ha!”
Tell has already swallowed hundreds of gods and thousands of spirits.
If another god had done that, the data would have been tainted and gone mad or twisted.
However, Tell was maintaining a minimum of reason.
It was as Lecadis calculated.
“Grandpa.”
Tell said, shaking his body.
“Do you know why I keep Grandpa alive?”
“cheeky…!”
“Because it is useful. Because it’s useful to save Mobius. I’m leaving it alone. Say thank you.”
“That makes me grateful too.”
Lecadis smiled.
“Are you Grandpa? You gave Ikar a nonsense.”
“No denial.”
“Oh yeah. Awesome. If he commits suicide by committing suicide, Tell will do everything in his power to revive Mobius, his last wish, because he loves his brother? What’s this.”
Lecadis put her second cigar in her mouth.
“Aren’t you actually behaving like that?”
awesome
There was the sound of something breaking.
Tell’s fist was clenched so hard that it broke a bone.
Fingernails dug deep into the skin.
Thick blood flowed.
“…I will kill you.”
Tell spoke clearly, letter by letter.
“I’ll kill you when it’s your turn. really gorgeous. I’ll make you regret being born. grandfather. huh? Remember. Keep that in mind.”
“That time is not right now.”
“Ahaha.”
Tell laughed hollowly.
And that laughter soon turned into laughter.
“Ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!”
pop.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
“Okay, grandpa. Have you finished the game?”
“Go to the seat of all things. With your power now, you will be able to control it.”
“Couldn’t it be that the game was made according to the proposal I sent you a long time ago?”
“I did. Ikar’s project is unlikely to succeed at the box office.”
“Whoop whoop Hahaha!”
Tell grabbed his face and disappeared like a ghost.
rattle.
The door closed automatically.
“Huh!”
The adjutant next to him sat down.
I felt the pressure of the intense power she radiated.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, somehow…”
“It’s fortunate that I have something to do with that child. This is where the Pick Me Up project begins.”
The game is already complete.
It was long before Ikar boosted the morale of the employees by saying he was finishing the job.
Ikar’s game plan, which proceeds through stages through dialogue and persuasion between heroes, did not even pass from the beginning.
Everything is false and deceiving.
Lecadis produced a separate game based on the plan written by Tell as a joke at the beginning of development.
That was a true pick me up.
Lecadis looked at the panoramic view of the monitor room.
Smoke rose again from the old man’s cigar.
Beside him, the adjutant bowed.
“The me of the future will inevitably resent the me of the present.”
“….”
“Let me know, Siselle. If you meet the me of tomorrow, it will be completely different from the me of today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whoa ha ha! Apologies in advance to future you. Getting behind me won’t be easy. Those are the words of an old man who has lost his mind in anger.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed.
There was once a time when all beings in Moebius supported the old man.
The old man was worshiped as a god with a thousand eyes who could see through the past and foresee the future.
‘Is there any hope?’
invisible
Even after listing tens of thousands of hundreds of millions of possibilities, the light beyond them was dim.
‘Even if not right now.’
If you hold on, will the door of new possibilities open if you drag out time?
old people don’t know
Even a god with a thousand eyes could not observe such a distant future.
It took time.
In any case, it took time to find another way.
Even so, if you can’t find a way to save Mobius even after dragging out time, how will you then think of yourself now?
“Moebius, forgive me. Please forgive me…”
The old man closed his eyes and prayed for forgiveness in a remorseful voice.
* * *
thump.
The elevator reached the lowest floor of the basement.
Tell staggered out of the elevator.
I walked through a narrow aisle.
“Hee hee hee hee.”
Thick blood dripped with every step he took.
Contaminated blood was seeping from all over his body.
A side effect of oversynthesis.
The goddess’ head was already jumbled with mixed data.
I can no longer distinguish what is me and what is others.
Composite is to make oneself and others one.
At first, there are almost no side effects, but as the level of existence increases, it causes a strong adverse effect, eventually breaking hearts.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Tell murmured.
At the same time, he stopped and spoke in a completely different tone.
“no. not okay I resent you. I resent you.”
Side effects such as various delusions and hallucinations constantly plagued Tell.
extreme psychosis.
Nevertheless, there was a flame that could not be quenched deep inside.
“We need to save Mobius.”
Because that’s a pure goal.
Because I swore to give up everything for one thing.
Tell walks staggeringly.
He moved towards the prepared seat.
The room we finally reached.
The ancient gods called this place the seat of all things.
In this place modeled after the shape of the universe, it was possible to observe countless dimensions belonging to Mobius.
However, the universe is now a dark place.
It was because all the dimensions were destroyed.
The light of the universe had to be revived.
“…”
In the center of the room, Tel stood tall.
Bondi, handling the seat of the universe was not allowed except for Lecadis.
But now you can tell too.
Because he absorbed hundreds of thousands of gods and spirits and surpassed the limits of godhood.
It was necessary.
It was also necessary to devour them.
Tell raised his right hand.
The universe began to rotate slowly.
[The inspiration said that the pieces couldn’t fit together from the 80th floor onwards.]
Hegrian’s hallucinations came to mind.
[The broken dimension doesn’t connect properly. At best, the status quo is limited. If I forcibly tried to make it all the way to the 100th floor… the army of eons would come and devour it in an instant. With all our strength, we won’t be able to last even an hour.]
It’s impossible to completely revive it.
The status quo is limited.
If you forcibly connect them together, Mobius itself will collapse in an instant.
“are you okay.”
The corners of Tell’s mouth curved.
“Isn’t it enough just to be alive? You don’t have to die, right?”
Tell raised his left hand.
The arrangements are made by Lecadis. All you have to do is infuse the interference.
thud!
The small universe that had been spinning slowly began to shake.
“Kek! Gagging! Cool!”
Tell vomited blood.
At the price of moving the universe, Tell’s existence was being shattered.
Kwajik!
Blood spurts through the torn skin.
Extreme pain overtook Tell.
“Ha ha ha ha ha…”
The whole body is torn apart alive.
It just repeats playback at the same time.
Bones were broken and intestines were shredded.
thud! thud! thud!
The seat of the universe shook violently.
A miracle was happening.
Cause and effect are reversed and time goes back.
To the time when countless stars twinkled in the multiverse.
To the time when light still existed in Möbius.
“Ah, it doesn’t work out like this either.”
However, as soon as it is about to turn completely, the rotation stops.
Tell waved his right hand.
the universe is torn apart
Divided into an infinite number of pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
“Let’s begin.”
A voice began to ring in Tel’s ears.
The sound is a magnificent orchestra played by a large orchestra.
Tell became the conductor of the orchestra and waved his hand.
[Starting the system.]
[Starting the game configuration.]
The first ‘system’ started operating.
[Hyper Rogue-like Summon RPG]
[Pick me up!]
[Now loading….]
Mobile game.
yes it’s a mobile game
Tell spread both hands left and right.
The innumerable fragments of the puzzle vibrated arbitrarily.
One dimension for each piece of the puzzle.
wake up stop wake up
‘Cause I’m here to wake you up
Whoa!
Countless puzzle pieces scattered.
followed by
thud!
Towers began to be built one by one on top of the puzzle pieces.
The tower contains fragments of a broken dimension.
“Yes, you guys are putting it back together.”
reverse
Assemble the cause and effect of destruction.
change your destiny
Tell waved her left hand gracefully.
Just as a conductor tunes an orchestra freely.
Life that should have died is awakened.
The children of Mobius, who had been sleeping soundly, opened their eyes side by side.
Tell suggested to them.
“I’ll give you a chance.”
A chance to change your destiny.
An offer you can’t refuse.
whisper in a sweet voice
opportunity? proposal? no.
this is an order
“Ehehe ahahaha.”
is that what you wished for?
You’d be fine if you died alone, didn’t you ask Ikar to save you?
I will personally grant that wish.
let’s fight each other
Divide your hand into heroes and monsters to entertain the worms of the earth.
eat each other up
suck each other up
Kill each other, kill each other, kill each other.
because you will be strong
then you will be strong
cool isn’t it
Are the heroes of Pick Me Up really alive?
Is it fundamentally different from the crappy artificial intelligence of the earth?
You can treat a living thing as a toy?
Because it’s a game.
Because it’s just a game!
“Ahahahahaha!”
Tell twisted his right hand.
The lives in the puzzle pieces began to be classified as ‘heroes’ and ‘monsters’.
Whoever is a hero and whoever is a monster is fine.
A hero is one who has the will to revive. The people I hate are monsters.
It doesn’t matter if the monsters refuse.
Any being who absorbs Tell’s tainted blood will go mad.
In a constant rage and thirst for blood, you will be driven to madness.
So kill and kill each other.
Make fun of Earth humans.
Do you think so too?
Can you use living humans as game heroes?
Isn’t it really vivid?
their despair. their fear. their frustration.
I’ll make it all feel real.
Will you find out when you do it?
It’s like ‘real’.
Oh, that would be so much fun.
It will be so much fun!
Tell waved his hands.
The prelude to doom began to play.
“Aaaagh!”
“Goddess have mercy, please have mercy!”
“I beg your pardon!”
The heroes in the tower began to wish for mercy on their own.
constant pain.
unstoppable despair.
“I will resent you, I will resent you!”
“Teeell!”
“Quaaaaaagh!”
You can beg me for mercy or you can blame me.
[Account creation complete!]
[Scenario distribution begins.]
[Now Loading….]
One dimension and one tower per account.
However, from the 90th floor of the tower, it was incomplete.
“Doesn’t it matter?”
All you have to do is ‘stay alive’.
any condition.
Even if you’re not feeling well, even if you’re lying in a hospital bed waiting for the day you’ll die, even if you’re struggling in the pain of hell and crying out for death.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
never let me die
I’ll somehow connect that tough and dirty life.
Even by attaching flesh, stitching the intestines, and touching the brain.
I’ll keep you alive even if I turn your whole body into scraps of rags.
“Hee hee hee hee hee hee a ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Oh sure.
You guys who play the game will have to pay the price too.
you know?
It’s no joke playing with people’s life and death.
yes it is you
You’re the one who casually turns on the game.
Tell smiled.
* * *
The night streets of Seoul in winter.
A chilly wind swept through the streets.
[Bubble bubble credit loan! 3,000,000 won right away with one call!]
A leaflet for an illegal credit loan was blown away by the wind from somewhere.
Cars passing by occasionally honked their horns.
belt ring.
The bell installed above the glass door made a clear sound.
It was an object that made a sound when a customer entered the store.
“….”
A young man’s gaze, coming out of the convenience store, scanned the credit loan leaflet.
Soon, the eyes turned to the street as if they were not interested.
The young man’s appearance, with the hood of his jacket pressed down deeply, was difficult to discern.
A white plastic bag is held in one hand.
The envelope contained a lunch box and a drink I bought at a convenience store.
“…?”
The young man’s gaze turned to the sign on top of the building across the street.
An outdoor advertisement was in progress at the signboard.
[Pick me up with you! Pick me up with me! We all Pick me up!]
The advertisement text is displayed at the top of the signboard.
‘Is that advertisement again?’
The young man clicked his tongue.
It was an advertisement that I had watched until I got tired of it on TV, on Mu-Tube, and on the subway.
Pick Me Up, a new game that is said to be popular these days.
They were aggressively promoting the game with the catchphrase that the heroes in the game are alive and breathing.
‘It’s boring.’
At the signboard, the mascot of the game, Isel, is swaying excitedly.
It is said that it is an advertisement dance with addictiveness at the forefront, but to be honest, I was sick of it.
“hmm.”
I have nothing to do these days though.
The heroes in the game are alive and breathing.
Is artificial intelligence that good?
I was curious.
An inexplicable attraction to something strange.
The young man walked home and took out his cell phone.
‘Pick me up…’
When I entered the App Store, I saw an advertisement posted there.
‘No. 1 in sales in the two major markets?’
That’s about it.
Curiosity bites tail after tail.
The young man pressed the install button without even realizing it.
There is quite a distance between the house and the convenience store.
Thanks to that, it seemed that the installation was finished before I even arrived.
The loading proceeded and the main screen of the game opened.
[Abandoned land of Niflheim, where humans are ruled by ghosts!]
[An unidentified enemy invades in such a dark age!]
The graphics aren’t very good.
At the same time, the prologue was running on the screen.
[Eventually, the continent is torn apart by the power of darkness.]
[But there is still hope.]
[You Master! Climb the tower if you want to save the world!]
[Many heroes will be with you.]
After the video ended, a message came to mind.
[Please tell me the name of the master first!]
Name.
name.
The worry didn’t last long.
The young man entered his nickname.
[Loki]
[Available name. Do you want to use it?]
[Yes / No]