Pick Me Up! - Chapter 257: Requiem (3) (2)

Crack.

I stomped on his face with my heel.

He convulsed for a moment, then went limp.

‘I still need to clean up.’

I focused my energy into my hand.

Crackle! A red bolt of lightning sparked from my fingertips, and a black hole opened.

Subspace. A skill I had mastered as my proficiency with gravitational powers increased.

Whoooosh!

Everything scattered around the lounge was sucked into the subspace.

Blood, weapons, bodies—everything.

Retracing my steps, I made sure not to miss any other bodies and sucked them in too.

Outside, standing by the external corridor’s railing, I opened my clenched hand.

A black hole opened again, and the trash began to be dumped into the sea.

‘There’s no evidence.’

I think.

I tucked the access card into my pocket and ran up the stairs.

The security on the upper floors of the cruise was still tight, but I avoided their attention and slipped through the gaps. Eventually, I reached the entrance on the 7th floor and swiped the access card at the leader’s scanner.

Beep.

The red light on the scanner turned green.

I opened the door and entered the 7th floor of the cruise.

‘The current time is… 1 a.m.’

I glanced at the ship’s map I had stolen from a guard and continued walking through the interior.

I made eye contact with one of the staff members, but he passed by without any sign of suspicion.

Of course, I had changed into a guard’s uniform and pressed down the dark blue guard cap.

Inside, the security was unexpectedly lax.

Without much resistance, I made it into the conference room.

The round table stretched out, but the room was empty.

It wasn’t meeting time yet.

I looked around the spacious conference room.

A projector for displaying videos sat on the round table. In front of it was a long screen. This must be where they planned to screen Dorado’s ending.

I carefully examined the conference room again.

Apart from the projector and screen, it was an ordinary conference room. But there was a ventilation duct in the corner.

I jumped up and opened the lid. It was a bit dirty, but I could probably fit inside. The angle between the ventilation duct and the screen was perfect. If I hid here and closed the lid, I could watch the screen through a small gap without being noticed.

‘Do I really have to go this far?’

For a moment, I felt a sense of futility, but having come this far, there was no turning back.

I squeezed myself into the ventilation duct. Dust and a musty smell filled the air around me, but I could still manage to fit inside. The angle between the duct and the screen was just right, allowing me to watch what would happen below through a narrow gap.

I glanced at the clock in the conference room and decided to wait until people started to gather.

At 1:55 a.m., five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start, nearly ten people had entered the room and sat around the table, murmuring amongst themselves.

It looked like most of them had gathered, except for the seat at the head of the table and the one immediately to its left. The head seat was obviously reserved for Alpha Zero, and the left-side seat… that would belong to the guy I had just taken care of.

“They’re still talking about El Cid? Isn’t this matter already settled? I’m sick of hearing about it,” grumbled a middle-aged man with a bulging stomach.

Several other executives from Mobius echoed his complaints, grumbling and expressing their frustrations.

Their chatter quieted down as the side door to the conference room opened.

‘That person…’

It was Cizel, the personal secretary to the Director.

With firm, confident steps, Cizel approached the head of the table.

“Where is the Director? The meeting’s about to start,” one of the executives asked.

“He’s experienced a sudden deterioration in his health and is currently resting.”

“And the meeting?”

Cizel shook her head.

“We’ll have to postpone it. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please enjoy the rest of your time on the cruise.”

“Was this all for nothing?”

“He suffered an episode rather suddenly…”

Cizel lowered her eyes apologetically.

The executives clicked their tongues in frustration as they began to file out of the room.

‘…Wait.’

This means everything I’ve done was for nothing.

As the room emptied, only Cizel remained, quietly organizing the documents on the table.

Click.

Suddenly, Cizel locked the door to the conference room and pulled down the window blinds.

“Come out, Loki.”

She spoke in a low, calm voice.

“……”

Creak.

I kicked open the ventilation cover and jumped down to the floor, dusting off my clothes as I landed.

“When did you realize?”

“From the beginning.”

Cizel sighed deeply.

“You really caused quite the mess. Killing the second-in-command of the Management Team on this cruise… Did you really think no one would notice? Every move you make here is under Alpha Zero’s watch. No one can escape his gaze, not even the CEO.”

Cizel placed the documents she had organized into a shredder beside the table.

Shhhrrrkkk. The papers were shredded into tiny pieces and fell into a small bin below.

‘So they knew all along.’

Well, that’s just great.

I scratched the back of my head.

“Well, technically speaking, that man insulted me. In any case, he was going to be fired soon,” Cizel chuckled softly.

She walked over to the water dispenser, filled a paper cup, and handed it to me.

I gulped it down in one go.

“So, what’s the reason that guy invited me?”

I tossed the empty cup into the trash bin.

“There’s no way he actually invited me to celebrate, right?”

“……”

“You wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble without a reason, right? What is it that you want from me?”

Cizel glanced at me briefly.

Then, she began to feel around the wall behind the screen.

Rumble.

There was a slight vibration as the wall in front of us started to rotate, revealing a hidden passage behind it.

“…Follow me.”

Cizel stepped confidently into the secret passage.

‘Was this all some kind of test?’

If I hadn’t made it into the conference room, would this whole thing have been canceled?

Or did I just waste my time for nothing?

I couldn’t tell.

I shrugged my shoulders and followed her.

The narrow, dimly lit passage stretched on for some distance.

And then, all of a sudden, we reached the end.

The room that opened up before me was bright and spacious.

It was filled with complex computers, monitors, and rows of wires running along the walls. Several strange devices, whose functions I couldn’t quite discern, were scattered throughout the room.

“This is where he works now. Ever since he left the main headquarters, he’s been operating from here,” Cizel explained.

“……”

“He’ll be here soon.”

Squeak.

The sound of old wheelchair wheels creaking echoed through the room.

I turned to look.

A middle-aged man in a wheelchair was slowly approaching.

He wore pink pajamas that were so old and worn that they looked threadbare, and the pajamas had a small, SD-style character printed on them.

‘That character is…’

A bright blonde woman with green eyes, dressed in silver armor and holding a flaming sword.

It was Seris.

I covered my face with my hand.

“…Loki.”

The man’s voice muttered my name as we made eye contact.

Cizel moved behind him, gently taking hold of the handles of his wheelchair.

“Seris-chan… cleavage…”

“…”

Faceplant!

Cizel muttered emotionlessly.

“He says it’s nice to meet you.”

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!