The day after successfully completing the 50th floor strategy.
A joint funeral was held for the heroes who died during the mission.
There’s nothing particularly special about the funeral. It’s just a time to put the heroes’ relics into the storage and have a moment of mourning. However, due to the limited space in the storage, some lower-ranked heroes couldn’t even have their relics stored.
“It’s really sudden.”
At the top floor of the storage.
This place was specially prepared by Anytng for the higher-ranked combat personnel.
On the left side of the display case at the top floor, right next to where Eolka’s memorial tablet was stored, was Edis’s spot.
“I never imagined that Edis would go like this.”
Jenna sighed deeply.
There were hardly any personal belongings of Edis in the lodging.
All she had brought when summoned was an amber pendant.
‘…It’s a shame.’
Edis’s death was a significant loss to the power of the waiting room.
If the airship was broken, it could be rebuilt. If lower-ranked heroes were lost, they could be recruited and trained to fill the gap. However, finding an experienced leader to guide the party was not easy.
Edis was more popular in the waiting room than I was, had a flexible mindset, and was rich in mission experience.
‘…’
That dawn.
Before Jenna and I arrived, dozens of heroes, including the members of the second party, had visited this place.
‘Should I have pushed harder to save her?’
It would not be easy to fill her absence.
Although there are replacements, they all lack something to become like Edis.
I shook my head.
It’s all in the past now.
‘They’re people I’ll never see again.’
Eolka, Edis.
And other heroes who will die in the future.
Even if all missions are cleared and Townia is restored, by then I wouldn’t be here.
We would not see each other again.
‘But…’
I took a deep breath.
A part of my chest felt heavy as if pressed by a stone.
The death of a comrade I fought alongside was not something one could get used to, especially if the relationship was deep.
‘A character in a game.’
In my left hand was an amber ring.
It was not something I prepared.
Anytng had bought it from the gift shop for Edis.
‘It’s absurd.’
I looked up.
It was dawn, and Anytng was offline.
He was quite a peculiar one.
Most users would have quit the game long ago.
But Anytng persisted, continuing to play steadily.
Moreover, how many users would mourn over a piece of data in a game?
‘I don’t know.’
It’s hard to tell what kind of person she is.
I should look her up when I get back to Earth.
I placed the amber ring inside Edis’s relic box.
“Let’s go back.”
I said to Jenna, who was looking sad beside me.
Jenna nodded silently and turned away.
“Hey.”
“Yea?”
“Don’t die.”
Jenna’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then she smiled faintly.
“Of course, do you know who I am?”
“Make sure you practice that. Train harder, and don’t underestimate the enemy even if they look weak. You and I could go in an instant.”
“Don’t you let your guard down either. I’m not dying until the end.”
“Don’t argue uselessly.”
I chuckled and opened the door to the plaza.
I couldn’t stay here any longer.
Although we had conquered the massive 50th floor, there was still a mountain of work left.
Over the next week, Anytng underwent extensive maintenance.
She repaired the damaged airships and gave the heroes who had fought fierce battles some rest. She also began looking for replacements for the key combat members who had died in battle.
But I, unintentionally, had to take a break.
Whenever I tried to handle the tasks in the waiting room, Neryssa would show up from somewhere and nag me to rest. She said she had stayed out of the strategy group for this reason, and I had no words to counter that.
That didn’t mean I planned to slack off.
‘The hurdle is over.’
After the 50th floor, the difficulty of the missions would drop for a while.
So it was time to focus on areas other than internal affairs.
The first thing I looked into was the trends related to the incident in the Conquest War.
Our Townia, having conquered the 50th floor, was automatically moved to a higher sector.
So there was no chance of encountering the Silver Guild.
‘It’s already quietened down.’
It fizzled out as quickly as it flared up.
After Wiryung and the defense team repelled the intruders a few times, the groups that had been raiding Townia noticeably quieted down.
To the users on the official cafe, it was just that kind of thing. Dozens of posts about incidents and accidents are uploaded daily on the cafe’s incident board. The incident with Anytng and the Silver Guild had long been forgotten.
Of course, there was another reason why the Anytng and Silver incident was quietly buried.
In the official cafe and community sites for “Pick Me Up,” there was an unusual level of excitement.
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!