Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! - P.M.U Chapter 79: Continuing (1) (Part 1)

After the move, what greeted us was the entrance to a mansion similar to the 16th floor.

Behind us, there was a staircase leading down, while ahead, five paths diverged. Velkist muttered, “This place is even trickier than the 16th floor.”

I instructed Neryssa to stick to the party. With the labyrinth’s structure becoming more complex, there was a chance of getting caught in traps and leaving the party.

“Don’t scatter, keep moving, and report anything unusual immediately,” I emphasized.

All four of them nodded, their faces showing more fear of getting lost in the maze than fear of combat. I pinched Jenna’s stiff cheek.

“Don’t be too scared. As long as we stick to a few principles, we’ll be fine.”

“Really? We’re not going to starve to death trapped in a place like this?”

“Don’t worry about unnecessary things.”

It was just the 17th floor, even though it was called a labyrinth. I had packed tools just in case, but the likelihood of using them was slim.

“The problem is that this account’s difficulty level is anything but ordinary.”

Nevertheless, we would find a way.

I held a pen and paper instead of a sword and shield, leading the way through the labyrinth. My purpose was to record the labyrinth’s map. There was a possibility that the same pattern would repeat throughout this section. Along the way, we encountered traps with arrows and encountered soldiers lying in wait, but in the end, we cleared the 17th floor safely.

The strategy for the rest of the labyrinth went smoothly.

As we ascended the floors, the structure became slightly more complex, and the number of enemies and trap activations increased, but there were no special crises. We only stayed overnight on the 18th floor at most. By the time we cleared the 18th floor, the unease had disappeared from our faces.

The day after returning from the labyrinth, Anytng gave us a day of rest, though, of course, we didn’t rest quietly.

I didn’t make any specific demands, but the members of the first party intensified their training on their own. Velkist and Neryssa, who had recently joined the party, were no different.

“We’re getting closer to the 20th floor.”

I knew exactly what this meant.

The second party began to operate by filling in one of the empty spots.

As a 2-stars former hunter, he would take on the role of a long-range attacker in the second party. I heard he had been exclusively hunting on the 1st floor before coming up to the 2nd floor.

And when we returned to the 1st-floor plaza after clearing the 19th-floor,

Anytng was setting up a new facility.

[Constructing a facility. Please touch the desired facility type.]

[‘Storage Lv.1’ has been selected. Would you like to expand this building?]

[Yes (selected) / No]

Kururur.

With the confirmation of the selection, a faint vibration shook the 1st floor. We started cleaning up without paying much attention to the vibration. It was about organizing the tools we had used and returning them to the warehouse. Light was inscribed on the wall of the 2nd-floor plaza above.

“It was easier than I thought. Why are you scaring us so much? You said we could starve to death!”

Jenna said as she placed an empty bag in the warehouse.

I placed my hand on the bag. Neryssa took the bag off my shoulder.

“There were a few genuinely dangerous parts. It repeated the same path several times. I wonder who made it easy to break through…”

Neryssa looked at me with a mix of suspicion and admiration in her eyes.

She seemed curious about my identity.

“But what kind of facility is Master building? It’s been noisy since earlier.”

Eloka spoke when we were almost done with the cleaning.

“It’s a storage. A place to entrust various things.”

“Storage? It seems to overlap with the warehouse.”

“It has a slightly different meaning.”

I left the warehouse.

After the vibration stopped, a message appeared confirming the completion of the construction.

[The storage has been completed! You can now look back on the heroes who have left the goddess’s embrace.]

[Tips/You can check the illustration and data of the deceased hero in the album of memories. However, this is only possible if the hero’s memento is placed in the storage.]

A marble door appeared on the wall of the 2nd-floor plaza.

It was the entrance to the storage. I turned to Eloka, who was following me.

“It’s our tomb.”

“Our tomb?”

Eloka’s face noticeably stiffened.

“It seems like the Master is preparing for the 20th floor.”

“Is building a tomb your way of preparing for the 20th floor? What’s that about? It’s creepy! Why name it a storage again?”

Eloka shivered.

The three who had come out late were also listening to my conversation with Eloka.

“It’s similar to a mausoleum. Of course, you can’t retrieve the bodies. It’s for placing the mementos they used in life.”

“What a ridiculous facility. Is it for a memorial? Building something like that, it would be better to improve the training camp.”

Velkist scoffed and headed up the stairs first.

Storage.

It’s not a facility that many Masters use extensively.

It consumes gems and materials for construction, but in practice, it has very little functionality. At best, it’s for looking back at the illustrations and videos of deceased heroes.

However, according to my analysis, the storage is more important than it seems.

Anytng was merely following the ‘Loki’s strategy’.

“The post-mortem processing of heroes.”

Countless heroes die during the ascent of the Pick Me Up Tower.

Deaths on missions were equal, whether it was a hero raised with affection or one discarded halfway. I was no exception. I had lost many heroes on my journey to the current main party. Building and maintaining the storage were means to significantly reduce the stress levels of comrades after a hero’s death.

“I think it’s okay. Master cares about us, right? Doing things like this. I thought it was just over if you died.”

“It’s ominous! Like someone’s going to die on the 20th floor!”

“Oh, come on, we have Oppa with us. It should be fine, like on the 15th floor! Right, Oppa?”

Jenna laughed and looked at me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“There were no problems on the 15th floor? We almost died!”

“Ultimately, everything was okay. It will be the same this time. Don’t worry about it. None of us will go in there.”

Jenna gave me a mischievous look, then took Eloka and went up to the second floor.

In the first-floor plaza, only Neryssa and I remained.

Neryssa approached me and spoke.

“She’s a strong lady.”

“If she didn’t have that kind of mindset, she wouldn’t have survived. That’s why I carry her with me.”

“In any case, the next floor is the 20th. It’s going to be a tough mission. I can guess.”

Neryssa’s complexion was tense.

I chuckled and said, “Are you scared?”

“Of course not. If that were the case, I would have quietly joined the second party.”

“It’s not too late to do that now.”

Neryssa raised her head confidently.

And then, she greeted me and went up to the second floor. I stood alone in the empty plaza on the first floor for a while.

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!

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