Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! - P.M.U Chapter 309. Epilogue 2 – Niflheimr (Part 2)
“The Han Israt you knew is already dead. By now, the Master has probably become a specter on the edge. That too was his choice. That man left without even talking to us.”
Aaron lowered his head.
His master’s words sounded harsh at first, but they weren’t wrong.
“Speak, rookie. What regret has you standing here?”
“I… think it’s unfair.”
“Unfair?”
Aaron slowly opened his mouth.
“Isn’t it like… we’re forcing all the sacrifice onto Brother?”
It was unfair.
That was Aaron’s honest feeling.
Because of one person’s sacrifice, countless people were saved.
But what happens to that one person?
“No one forced him. He volunteered. We offered to send him back to Earth, but he kicked it away himself.”
“…”
“That’s what the Master wanted. He wouldn’t regret it. Not that he could in that state.”
“Master, even if it’s you, speaking like that about Brother is—”
“You going to lose your temper?”
Aaron fell silent.
“Good.”
Myuden leaned back against the railing.
A deep sigh escaped the boy’s small lips.
“If we had talked more with the Master, if we had more trust in each other, things might’ve ended differently. We never even explained anything and just told him to get lost back to Earth. So of course, he left us. We called him Master and ourselves heroes, but really, it was all superficial.”
Myuden’s eyes narrowed.
“You said it was unfair. A world that demands sacrifice from the Master. The things you and we lacked. Everything else… Do they all feel unfair?”
Myuden looked at him.
The boy’s sunken eyes were gleaming with a chilling light.
‘It’s unfair.’
Aaron chose to admit it.
“Yes.”
“We had no talent. That’s why we worked like mad. We knew we’d never catch up if we just lived the same time as others, so we gave up humanity, happiness, and life. Do you remember all those years you spent in sweat and tears?”
Thousands of days and tens of thousands of nights.
Aaron had swung his spear until his hands blistered, his shoulders broke, and every muscle tore.
Not missing a single day. Not resting even a little.
Even so, even so… he was far too slow.
He had devoted himself to the point of forgetting himself, but the world never rewarded him.
‘It’s unfair.’
So much so, he could cry.
So much so, he could curse the sky.
“Aaron.”
His master faced him.
With a warm expression Aaron had never seen before.
“You and I, we swung our spears and thrust them every day… For what, I wonder.”
“…”
“Every night I regretted it. Why the hell was I pouring blood and sweat into this garbage? The results were barely worth a damn. After all that effort, this was all I got. But imagine if someone like Ridigion had done what I did. That guy would’ve become the strongest in the universe.”
Myuden drew the spear from his back.
The gray blade gleamed black under the light.
The weapon’s name was Ruin—one of the Five Divine Artifacts. A gray spear forged from the power of chaos.
“Still, I picked it up again the next day. Because it was unfair. Because it sucked. I wanted to get revenge on the world. I wanted to prove something. That I could do it. That it wasn’t over.”
“Master…”
“Take it.”
Aaron instinctively caught the object his master threw.
Its heavy weight traveled down his shoulder.
It was Myuden’s spear.
“I… how could I…!”
“You’ve surpassed me. A weapon should belong to the one it suits.”
“I’m satisfied with my iron spear!”
“No. In the battles ahead, gear matters too. And in that battle… I probably won’t be there.”
“What are you saying? The fight is over—”
“You said you didn’t want it to end.”
Myuden said.
“Then don’t let it end.”
“…”
“When someone tells you to give up—don’t. When they say you can’t—don’t stop. If you can’t do it, keep trying until you can. If you fail, keep going until you succeed. True strength is that. That’s what creates miracles.”
He spoke to his disciple, who stood dazed with a hollow expression.
“I’m too old for this now. You go rescue the Master in my place.”
“I… I don’t understand…!”
Ding.
Myuden flicked something from his palm.
Aaron caught it without thinking.
A small, purple iron badge.
Etched into its center was the symbol of Niflheimr.
“Aaron Delkerd.”
“Master!”
“From now on, Niflheim 13th floor. The name Neidelk is yours. I already told the others. Show them the badge—they’ll accept it.”
Myuden turned his back.
Aaron hurriedly grabbed his shoulder.
“Master, this is too sudden! Leaving like this is unfair! At least say a bit more!”
“Don’t cling. It’s annoying.”
Myuden pushed Aaron’s hand away.
His voice no longer sounded like a boy’s.
“I still need you, Master. If I’m going to rescue Brother, I need you with me—!”
“I’m right here.”
The wrinkled hand grasped Aaron’s spear shaft.
“All the years I’ve built, the vengeance, the unfairness—everything of mine is inside this.”
Vwooom.
As if responding to his words, afterimages rippled along the spear shaft.
Myuden let go of the spear and walked away, leaving Aaron standing still.
“Master…”
Aaron looked at the spear in his hand.
An unadorned metallic spear and the Niflheimr badge.
The legacy Myuden had left him.
‘If you don’t want it to end…’
Then don’t let it.
Myuden’s voice echoed in his ear.
“I swear upon everything I have. Once this battle is over, I will come for you, Master.”
Aaron bowed deeply toward where his master had left.
Then he rose and gripped the spear—Ruin—firmly.
“Was this your plan all along?”
He muttered as he looked at the black coat draped over the railing.
Tailored perfectly to his frame, it was the special executive coat of Niflheimr.
It must have been something Myuden left for him in secret.
Aaron draped the coat over himself.
‘Neidelk.’
The name he would now be called.
Aaron Neidelk.
He would become Niflheimr’s hero and continue the fight.
Aaron began walking in the opposite direction of Myuden.
At the end of the hallway was a hangar where the airship was parked.
Myuden’s companions had already returned to Niflheimr.
He had to join them first.
“…”
Before leaving the corridor, Aaron looked back one last time.
The heroes who had once fought beside him were returning to their homelands.
His sister might be waiting for him.
‘Forgive your pathetic brother.’
Aaron pulled up his hood and stepped through the passage.