Pick Me Up!

[Zeeth, Hanson, John, Teddy, come out!]”

The people whose names were called flinched.

A man with a mustache stepped forward and spoke.

“Calling us here without any explanation and telling us to do this and that without any justification, isn’t it too much? At the very least, some explanation should be given!”

“Yes, you’re right!”

[Oh, really?]

Iselle said with a grim expression.

[If you go in there, monsters will appear. You just have to fight them and win.]

“What? Why do we have to fight monsters? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“That’s why I don’t like 1-stars!”

Iselle grabbed the man’s wrist and threw him into the rift. The people gasped at the tremendous force emanating from her petite figure.

“You have two choices. Either go on foot or fly!”

“Fight monsters? Even so…”

The three hesitated but eventually entered the rift.

The door closed.

It is unreasonable.

Summoned without even knowing anything and forced to fight monsters. I know how absurd and unjust this is. Even I wished I had been given at least the minimum amount of time to prepare. But that would be too good to be true.

There is a term called “Screening” in Pick Me Up.

As one of the techniques in the game’s mechanics, it is the simplest way to classify usable 1-star characters. The method is really simple.

Just throw the newly obtained 1-star characters into the dungeon.

By doing that…

[‘John (★) has returned to the goddess’s embrace! His determination will be remembered forever.]

The inexperienced heroes who cannot adapt to the situation are automatically filtered out.

The challenge floor is probably the 1st floor.

On the 1st floor, a few young goblins armed with old swords appear. They are the lowest of the lowest-level monsters. If even the 1st-level 1-star characters, who know nothing, handle it calmly, it can be easily overcome.

[‘Teddy (★) has returned to the goddess’s embrace! His determination will be remembered forever.]

If you’re unlucky, the entire party may be wiped out like during the initial 10-draw.

But no more death messages are displayed.

“F-Fight monsters…”

“We can’t do that! We can’t!”

One man sitting on the bench stood up abruptly.

Iselle, who was on surveillance duty, disappeared into the rift without showing herself. The man quickly began to move away from the square.

“You shouldn’t go.”

Jenna blocked his path.

She was also the type who suffered and worked hard.

“Why? Why should I do that?”

“If you leave, what will happen to those people over there?”

Three men and women were huddled together near the rift.

“I don’t know. They’ll fight and die, I guess! I’m going to run away.”

“How about we escape together!” The man grabbed Jenna by her arm.

“Leave me alone. I can’t escape anyway.”

Seeing how she refused his offer, the man passed by Jenna and tried to open the door to the dormitory. It didn’t open. This time, he pulled on the door of the training ground. It was locked. Neither this door nor that door allowed the man entry.

“Damn it, damn it, fuck!”

The man started banging his head against the wall.

After a while, two survivors returned. Both of them were young boys, their faces pale like ghosts. Iselle recited the next party’s roster in a dull voice.

“Dica, Deckerd, Sigler, Chloe!”

“Eek!”

The woman whose name was called knelt down. Aaron, who had been tightly closing his eyes in frustration, stood up and approached them.

[What are you doing? It’s not your turn, so get lost.]

“I’ll fight with them too!”

[What?]

Iselle’s eyes widened in surprise.

Jenna and I were equally astonished.

“Hey, big brother, were you always like this?”

“You really can’t judge a person by seeing him once.”

I chuckled and said.

“Iselle, recommend Aaron as a party member. He may still be lacking in actual combat, but he’s not bad.”

[But…]

Iselle hesitated for a while, alternating her gaze between me and Aaron, and then disappeared with a poof.

“Aaron (★) wants to join ‘Party 3.’ Will you allow it?”

[Yes (Select) / No]

If Jenna or I had applied, we would have been rejected. Only Aaron, who is at level 2 and can gain experience even on the 1st floor, was eligible for this method.

Aaron took hold of the hand of the weeping woman who was kneeling and lifted her up, saying:

“If we regain our composure and rely on each other, we can survive. Don’t worry.”

Aaron draw the spear from the back at once and then waved it.

It was a display of his ability to protect them. He almost twisted his wrist during the process, but they didn’t seem to notice. Their faces were filled with deep relief.

“Aaron.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“It’s good that you’re helping. But don’t cause us any further trouble in the process.”

“Understood.”

Aaron nodded.

He seemed to understand the meaning of my words.

Aaron entered the rift with the four others, and the door closed behind them.

“The only ones left are these two.”

I checked the status window of the young man who used to be a carpenter.

He had a skill called “Apprentice Carpenter.” It seemed like he really was a carpenter. Since Anytng assigned him to the carpentry workshop already, he would do his part.

On the other hand, the man with his head shaved was diligently sweating and cautiously looking around. When our eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze.

“Can’t they hurry up, I want to eat!”

Jenna, sitting on a chair, kicked her legs impatiently.

I tapped her on the head.

“Why did you hit me?”

I don’t know if she has any awareness or not.

The two survivors of the first battle were on the verge of death. Jenna quickly glanced in their direction and said:

“They’ll feel better after eating a delicious meal and resting. Isn’t that right?”

“Uh, ugh!”

One of them, who had his mouth tightly shut, started vomiting.

“See?! He must be emptying his stomach to eat more.”

She’s turning into a demon, this is a whole new level of indifference!

With no messages appearing in front of me, I couldn’t help but smile a bit.

Noticing that, Jenna whispered softly into my ear.

“They succeed, didn’t they?”

“What?”

“You laughed.”

“Did I?”

“You laughed, I definitely saw it.”

Jenna whistled as if she was laughing at me.

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