Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! - P.M.U Chapter 311: Embers (1) (Part 1)

Siris Argentheim opened her eyes.

“…….”

A sky filled with fog.

A field faded into shades of gray spread out before her.

The moment Siris saw the woman collapsed on the field, she instinctively realized this place was a dream.

She had this nightmare whenever she was in a bad state.

‘Here again.’

Siris gave a bitter smile.

Once the nightmare began, there was no way to stop it.

She could only watch until it ended.

“Cough… cough!”

The woman coughed violently.

Each time, blood poured out and stained her chest.

Torn and ragged leather armor.

Her originally clean blonde hair and white skin were now smeared with blood and dust.

‘That woman is…….’

It was Siris herself.

To be exact, it was before she made a ‘contract’ with the goddess.

It was a scene from shortly before the fall of the Land of Mist, Niflheimr.

“Kihehek!”

A phlegmy laugh.

A man stood in front of the fallen her.

Tattoos covering his body, pale ash-gray skin, and horns on both sides of his forehead.

‘White Oni.’

They were the rulers who governed all of Niflheimr.

With bodies far superior to humans, ferocious temperaments, and a reproductive capacity akin to rats, they spread across the continent and eventually came to dominate every race here.

Humans in this place were mere subordinates.

No, less than that.

‘Livestock.’

The main diet of the White Oni was human flesh.

“Did you think someone like you could beat me?”

The horned man stepped on the sword lying in the grass.

An old iron sword that Siris had painstakingly acquired over years.

Crunch.

Just by stepping on it, the sword broke cleanly in two.

“You’re weak. Ignorant, slow. You don’t even know what honor is. You humans are just living trash. Vermin born to die by our hands.”

The Siris of that time could not refute him.

She could only look at the man before her with trembling eyes.

‘That man is…….’

The enemy who killed her father.

He had torn him apart just because he was bored.

Siris had tried to get revenge on the man by taking advantage of the chaos when unidentified monsters invaded the village, but she failed.

“You think the world’s ending ‘cause some shards invaded? You can’t even tell up from down? Revenge? Kihahak!”

Whack!

The man kicked the woman.

She tumbled, spitting blood, rolling several times.

“That swordplay—what is that? Pretending to be a knight? How vulgar for swine.”

“Hahk……!”

Only rough breaths came from her mouth.

The man stuck out a long tongue like a snake and drew a dagger.

“Well then, shall we begin the dissection?”

“……!”

“Let me hear a pretty scream. I don’t kill my prey easily. Once, someone stayed alive until I carved them ten thousand times.”

The sharp dagger touched her thigh.

The woman’s eyes were filled with terror.

“I’ll start by slicing your soft thigh. Next your calf. Then your hips. As I watch you scream… I’ll savor the freshly cut meat.”

The blade lightly dug into her thigh.

Just as he was about to slice the flesh—

“……Stop!”

She cried out tearfully.

“What?”

“Stop…… please stop……. I…… I was wrong……”

“Watch your tone.”

“I-I was wrong……!”

Tears flowed from her eyes.

“You tried to kill me before, and now you say you were wrong? When news spreads that a human raised a blade against us, your whole village will be annihilated.”

“I’m sorry! I was…… blinded……! I made a mistake……!”

“Kyaahahah! Begging for your life from your father’s killer?”

Siris, watching her past self, closed her eyes.

Still, the nightmare continued.

“Say it again. What was that?”

“Please…… spare me……”

“Not very convincing. You should kneel.”

She hastily adjusted her posture and knelt.

Her knees bled, pierced by stone shards, but she didn’t care.

“Grovel, livestock.”

Flop.

The woman prostrated herself.

The man, seemingly satisfied, placed a foot on her disheveled blonde hair.

“Revenge for your father? Trying to play knight?”

“No…… sir……”

“You humans have no honor. No superior civilization, no gods you serve. You live and die as pigs when we say so. You’re trash like insects. And yet, that insect dared to touch my body……!”

The man stomped on the woman’s head.

She trembled, unable to move.

“I’ve decided, human. I’ll offer you as a sacrifice to our goddess. Just in time—we need a fresh human heart.”

“Th-That’s……!”

“Relax. You’ll die quickly once I take it out while you’re still alive.”

Her eyes filled with despair.

‘How pathetic.’

Siris bit her lip, watching her past self.

That woman gave in to fear after her revenge failed.

‘No honor.’

Of course.

Humans here were never educated.

They were livestock, raised to be devoured by the White Oni.

Sometimes for food.

Sometimes for amusement.

Sometimes as meat shields in their territorial disputes.

‘Niflheimr.’

A land without hope.

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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