Pick Me Up!
Chapter 164: Mosaic War (3) (1)

That night, I sat in a chair in my room, deep in thought. ‘This mission is….’ I let out a sigh. Though the battle on the 36th floor itself ended with a rather mundane fight, there were several troubling issues that couldn’t be ignored. Feeling a deep sense of fatigue, I decided to recollect my thoughts. ‘First.’ The situation on the battlefield. The cult’s army was fighting against another force. I decided to name this other force the ‘Lion Army’ because their banner depicted a lion with a sword in its mouth. Anyway. ‘It’s incredibly unfavorable.’ In terms of numbers and training of troops. The efficiency of formations, competence of commanders, quality and quantity of asymmetric forces including mages and cavalry, the morale of the entire legion, and the equipped gear. There was not a single aspect that was advantageous. Everything indicated a clear red flag. Saying there are four chances means that if we don’t achieve our objective within four similar situations, it’s considered a mission failure. A mission that involves achieving a goal within repeated similar situations. This is called a Loop, and it’s notoriously difficult to defeat. Unlike other missions where multiple chances aren’t given, the difficulty in achieving success is extremely high. ‘I’m not certain, but.’ It might not be a Loop. What I saw was just a small part of the field. Tomorrow we will probably raid the 37th floor. I had to get a clear answer there. If my guess is right, then I needed preparations for a smooth conquest. I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I smiled bitterly and got up from my chair. The next evening, [Party gatheringggg!] Iselle’s loud voice shook the whole hall. I wonder how long I will be able to hear that voice. After getting ready for battle, I went down to the plaza on the first floor. “Are you saying that girl might not be dead?” In the plaza, members of the first party were already waiting on a bench. Velkist asked, and Jenna replied. “Yes, that’s what I think. It’s strange, isn’t it? After all the trouble we went through to help the princess, it would be anticlimactic if it ended here. Plus, it seems like time and space don’t really matter in the mission.” “Then…” “Going back to when she was alive and starting over! …Maybe?” “I have a similar thought. She wouldn’t die so easily.” A heated discussion was taking place among the members. I chuckled and walked over. Kishasha, who had been sitting hunched over and excluded from the discussion, approached me. “Han!” “Why are you all by yourself?” “They’re talking about things I don’t understand.” “No consideration at all.” I gently stroked Kishasha’s head and then interjected into the conversation. “Starting over, huh.” “Oppa! You’re here? Ahem, I had a brilliant idea…!” Swoosh. I pulled something out of my pocket and tossed it. Jenna, who caught the item reflexively, blinked. “What’s this?” “A pocket watch. It’s expensive, so don’t lose it.” “A watch?” I had requested this from Anytng at the gift shop. The purchase cost was 100,000 gold and lower-grade magic components. As expensive as it was, Anytng hesitated, but couldn’t refuse my request in the end. “It’s portable. Keep it safe for the mission.” I muttered and looked towards the door at the front of the square. A faint light was leaking from the cracks in the space-time rift. There were a few minutes left to enter. “Going back to when she was alive and starting over. Well said.” “I learned it in Niflheimr, you know.” Jenna scratched her head sheepishly. Indeed, she’s quite sharp. I continued. “Your words have a high chance of being correct.” “Then, Oppa, what should we do?” “We have to look again. See how the situation unfolds. That’s why I prepared the watch. Everyone, gather around. I’ll explain briefly.” The members crowded around me. I spread a 1m wide white paper on the ground. The paper had a map of the field we passed through yesterday. The battlefield in the center. And, surrounding it, were the wide expanses of hills and highlands. “This is where we were summoned.” I pointed to the southern part of the field. Hills and plains were represented with contour lines, and a path crossing the battlefield was also drawn. In the middle of the southern path, I wrote an “A” with a red pen. It was the place where the battle with the Cult’s supply unit took place. “Besides the middle and the bottom, everything else is black. What does it mean?” “Can’t you see? It’s places we haven’t been to. If the same field appears this time, we need to fill in the map. Completely. Jenna, if your words are correct, then the most important thing is definitely information.” The plains on the 36th floor were vast. The areas we had identified, excluding the center, were at best one-fourth of it. Excluding the south, where our summoning location was, all areas were unknown. Actually, we hadn’t even properly explored the south. After dealing with the supply unit, we focused only on the battlefield. ‘We can’t enter the battlefield.’ Because it’s blocked by an invisible wall. If the mission type of the 40th-floor segment is a loop, and if Pria’s survival and the mission objective are connected, then there must be a way to enter the battlefield hidden somewhere. [Excuse me…] Iselle was sweating at the entrance of the rift of time and space. It seemed we were a bit late. When I gestured with my eyes, Iselle made a distressed face, unable to do anything. [Delivering the command.] [Now Loading…….] Sorry, but please bear with it. With limited opportunities. I couldn’t skip the explanation and move on. I explained the plan to the party members for about ten minutes. By the time Iselle was about to cry, we were finally able to enter the rift of time and space. [Main Dungeon, current challenge floor is the 37th.] [The door will open in 10 seconds. Prepare!] ’37th floor.’ As I predicted, Anytng chose to climb to the 37th floor. Well, if he had sent us somewhere pointless, I would have complained about climbing up. As the signal for summoning came, I looked at the members. Pop! A feeling of floating enveloped me. A strand of wind caressing my nape. The familiar scent of grass grazed my nose. [Floor 37.] [Mission Type – Unknown] [Objective – Unknown.] The mission objective window was unhelpfully vague. I slowly exhaled. My vision expanded. Grass, rocks, and hills. It was the same field as the 36th floor. And then. “There’s a smell of blood and iron.” Kishasha sniffed. “Here is….” “Right.” I laughed heartily. “We’ve returned to the beginning.” If we climb the northern hill, we’ll see the battlefield. It would be proceeding in the same way. The cult’s army would be overwhelmingly pushing back the Lion Army. And as time passed, Pria would die in the same situation, and the mission would be cleared. ‘If we lose all our chances.’ The floor will drop, or perhaps it will stagnate. The certain thing is, ‘We won’t be safe either way.’ “Let’s start.” “Yes! I’ll go first!” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

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