Pick Me Up!
Chapter 42: Prologue (2)

[Congratulations on your upcoming promotion, Master Loki!]

I wordlessly accepted the rainbow-colored stone that Iselle threw to me.

[With this, you can graduate to 2-star. From here, you’ll climb all the way to 7-star! Crush the Tower and conquer! Woohoo!]

“I don’t know if I can make it to 7-star.”

[Haha, who will push to 7-star if not Loki!]

If that were the case, Seris would have already been a 7-star.

I made efforts in all directions, but I couldn’t promote her to the level of a 7-star hero.

[Master, let’s start the promotion!]

Creak.

The door of the synthesis center opened.

I held the promotion stone in one hand and walked slowly inside.

Inside the synthesis center, with a violet magic circle drawn, another door opened.

I entered the second door.

The Promotion Hall had a structure almost identical to the Synthesis Center. Instead, the magic circle was red, and in the center of the room, there was a small altar big enough to place a stone. I placed the Promotion Stone on the altar.

A faint red light emanated from the Promotion Stone.

Bang!

The door of the Synthesis Center slammed shut loudly.

The door of the Promotion Hall closed immediately afterward.

Promotion.

It was one of the areas that the Master couldn’t see.

When a hero and the materials were put into the Promotion Hall, the hero would come out in a promoted state after a while. The Master couldn’t know what happened inside.

A red light sprayed out from the entire magic circle.

Similar to the light the spatial rift usually emits, but somehow it felt more attached to the skin.

It was like sinking into deep water.

The red light enveloped my entire body.

When I opened my eyes again.

“Darling.”

A narrow and humble room made of wood.

A middle-aged woman sat on a rocking chair, holding a newborn baby in her arms.

“Good boy, good boy.”

“Who are you?”

No response.

This woman seemed to be in a similar state as the NPCs on the 10th floor.

But she was a bit different.

Tong.

I reached out to the woman, but my hand bounced back midway.

‘Can’t even touch her.’

I looked around the room.

It was a place less than 10 square meters. The furniture was old and shabby.

The woman with black hair and black eyes gently caressed the baby and said, “You will become an amazing person.”

Her touch was filled with affection.

I intuitively grasped the baby’s identity.

‘Han Israt.’

It’s not me.

I have no family or anything of that sort.

The one who should have been here instead of me was over there.

I recalled my first visit to the waiting room.

Han Israt from the Haim Peninsula.

Iselle called me that name.

I looked at the window in the corner of the room.

Beyond the window, an unknown darkness lurked.

“Good boy, good boy.”

I don’t have time to waste on something like this.

Conveniently, there was a door on the right wall leading outside. I grabbed the doorknob. This time, it didn’t bounce back. I opened the door and rushed outside.

As I came out, it was the square of the waiting room.

However, this square was open, devoid of any decorations.

It wasn’t Anytng’s waiting room. I couldn’t tell what this place was.

The sky had no lights on.

I walked slowly through the empty waiting room.

There was only one door in the square in front of him. There was no dormitory, warehouse, or training center.

I looked behind me and the door I had come out of had disappeared.

I looked ahead, and the nameplate on the door read “The Rift of Time and Space.”

Squeak.

The door opened with an unpleasant sound, and something sprayed out with light.

Two pairs of wings sparkling with stardust.

That black dress and that unique cute face.

“Is this Iselle?” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

No, she’s different.

This little one was about the size of a fist. Iselle is not this small.

The fairy fluttered around me and giggled. Then, with her tiny finger, she pointed to the inside of the spatial rift.

“You want me to go in?”

Nod.

Suspicious, but staying here won’t change anything.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the spatial rift.

In the center of the circular room, there was only one mirror.

“Is this…?”

Bang!

The door leading back to the square closed. The fairy kept buzzing around me. Blacklight began to seep out of the mirror.

The pitch-black light wrapped around me without any resistance.

And then, I found myself standing alone in a dark space.

“Dudung!”

“The Astral Dungeon is now open!”

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

Instantly, a crushing pressure enveloped my entire body.

“Ugh…!”

I dropped to one knee.

It felt like someone was pressing me down from above with a mechanical press.

My vision blurred. I couldn’t breathe. If I let my guard down even a little, I felt like my whole body would crumple and become a handful of minced meat.

“‘Han(★)’ feels terror! All attributes decreased by 30%.”

I drew my sword and stabbed it into the ground.

I couldn’t tell if it was the ground or something else. It was just pitch-black.

I clung to the hilt of the sword and desperately endured. My body trembled, and blood oozed from my clenched teeth.

At this rate, I’ll lose consciousness.

I need to do something.

So in the heat of the moment, I cut my left palm with the sword. Blood dripped from the edge of the blade.

At that moment, I could feel the sensation of breaking through something.

“‘Han(★)’ has entered a Frenzied state!”

“‘Han(★)’ is no longer under terror.”

“Hoo…”

“…Haah.”

I slowly took a breath in and exhaled.

Regaining control of my body.

I stood up.

And she stood in front of me.

[SS▩SH黑⊙∈※ Lv.999]

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