Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! - P.M.U Chapter 243: Stop Playing so Much (4) (Part 2)

By now, I should’ve been ready to upgrade to a 5-star.

Instead, I was stuck cleaning up after these idiots.

‘They’re dragging me into their mess.’

Suppressing my irritation, I glanced to the right.

There, part of Jinho-Jang’s message to Anytng had appeared.

—

wlsghWkd: What’s so special about this Han hero? What makes him worth the hype? He’s kind of weird. Always carrying around some weird horse statue. Isn’t he a pervert? LOL. Who even likes trash like that LOL.

—

I could tolerate insults about myself, but mocking the horse statue…

‘This isn’t right.’

At this rate, Jinho-Jang’s insults had crossed the line.

Now I was willing to do whatever it took.

“You’ve gathered the master’s data, right?”

I spoke with a menacing tone to Iselle.

Iselle frantically nodded.

Ding.

An alert sound accompanied the display of the main screen on Jinho-Jang’s phone.

A type of hacking. With this, I could control Jinho-Jang’s phone.

If I left things up to him, he’d waste time doing other stuff, so I decided to intervene myself.

Let’s see…

I had already scanned through the endless CocoaTalk chat logs.

I tapped the green icon at the bottom of the main screen.

It opened “Naver,” Korea’s largest search engine, already logged in. I checked the emails first.

“Just spam.”

Then I moved on to the blog and forum tabs.

“Hmm?”

It seemed Jinho-Jang had a blog of his own.

I entered the blog.

The blog title appeared in the upper-right corner, written in rainbow-colored letters. Behind the letters was an illustration of a twin-tailed schoolgirl making a heart shape with her hands.

“…”

I tapped on the latest post.

—

<Today, Nico-chan is a good girl!>

<A White Cake prepared for Nico-chan’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Nico…>

<Watched the second movie for the 120th time…>

—

After skimming through the CocoaTalk chats, it became clear that Jinho-Jang was somewhat of a socialite, a so-called “weirdo.” Many of the CocoaTalk profiles he was following seemed to belong to specific type of girls.

‘I should respect people’s preferences.’

Quietly, I closed the holographic window.

I’m not narrow-minded like Jinho-Jang.

It doesn’t matter what someone likes. Everyone’s free to have their own tastes.

“But I’ll use this.”

How should I make use of this?

Maybe I should anonymously message him, threatening to leak his blog to his school’s group chat.

Not a bad plan.

I could even throw in a few of those 18+ videos stored on his phone for good measure. I could already picture Jinho-Jang panicking and going wild.

[Eek!]

Iselle shuddered violently.

“What is it?”

[No, it just suddenly felt cold…]

What a weakling.

I clicked my tongue and folded my arms.

“You know, back when I was in Ram…”

Kardia was still lost in her own little world.

I looked Kardia up and down. Twin braids, a petite build, and a somewhat cute face.

“…”

“Iselle, do you have any red ribbons or school uniforms in your room?”

[School uniforms? What are you talking about?]

“We need to get the master’s attention, don’t we? That’s the only way we’ll get anything done.”

[I do have them, but…]

So she actually had them.

“Great.”

I strode over to Kardia.

And the next day.

[Master wlsghWkd, welcome to Pick Me Up!]

With the sound of a notification, the sky brightened.

[Loading is complete.]

[T O U C H! (Select)]

Jinho-Jang entered the main screen.

[Heroes need companions to fight alongside them!]

[How about a premium summon to improve your combat experience?]

Once again, Jinho-Jang ignored the tip.

I glanced at Iselle, nodding. She looked back at me nervously, then disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

[Master, hero ‘Kardia (★★★★)’ is requesting a companion!]

Jinho-Jang closed the prompt with an irritated swipe.

I signaled to Kardia, who was standing in the square.

“Ni-Nico… Nico-Nico… Nii?”

Kardia hesitated, then awkwardly placed her hands on her head, mimicking a cat.

She continued with a light dance, making a heart shape with her hands.

“Looks like he didn’t see it.”

“Again.”

“…Do I really have to do this?”

“You said you wanted to go home, right?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Then there’s no choice. This is for Ram.”

Kardia, dressed in a school uniform, pouted as she repeated the motion.

After several attempts, Jinho-Jang, who was about to send a message to Anytng, finally glanced at Kadia in the square.

[Master, hero ‘Kardia (★★★★)’ is requesting a companion!]

With a half-crying expression, Kardia made a heart shape again.

We’d dressed her in a school uniform, dyed her hair black, and even added a red ribbon.

‘We need to catch his attention somehow.’

Even if it meant putting on this ridiculous act.

That’s where getting him hooked on the game starts.

I looked at Kardia, who was trembling as she forced a smile.

Last night, I had to explain the situation of this world to Kardia, who had been stubbornly refusing.

Cosplaying had become a necessity.

I told her everything I could about the game’s goals and the master’s existence.

Kardia bombarded me with questions, and I answered as best I could.

Although she seemed a bit oblivious, she was smart enough to understand.

She couldn’t grasp everything 100%, but Kardia realized that the master was indispensable. Afterward, I suggested that if this place didn’t work out, she could come along with me to my waiting room.

She had a few quirks in her personality, but her potential was solid.

With proper training, she’d be able to hold her own in Townia.

But Kardia refused.

She said her parents and friends were waiting for her.

That made sense.

She was fighting for her own reasons, after all.

‘If this doesn’t work… I’ll have to use a more bothersome method.’

I had already secured all of Jinho-Jang’s personal information.

If this strategy failed, it would be a pain for both him and me.

It was in his best interest to just accept this.

“Nico… Nico…”

There was no need for her to say it out loud, though.

After staring at Kadia in the square for a while, Jinho-Jang finally began operating the screen.

[Ding!]

[Master, summoning has begun!]

At least he finally took the bait.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Hyung_Otaku

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!

•