I had been sick ever since I could remember.
It all started with me having regular fevers when I was a child.
Then dizziness started to kick in from time to time as I got older. And then the occasional nosebleed.
Doctors could not figure out why.
My parents had brought me to specialists all over the country and overseas. But they could never diagnose me properly and could not come up with the proper treatment.
It was as if I was just born this weak and fragile.
Naturally, I could not have a regular childhood due to my condition.
Homeschooled with private tutors and a special nurse to watch over me around the clock.
Playing outside with the other kids was out of the question.
Set foot in a sunny park once. My feet gave in and blood poured out of my nose like waterfall.
So I stayed indoor most of the time.
Watching tv to have fun was something that my body still allowed me to do.
Eventually I got bored of tv and started finding something else to entertain myself.
That was when I discovered gaming.
I tried various sorts of games and eventually got myself stuck with Warmonger.
For some reason the idea of kingdom-building and warfare strategy interested me the most.
So I stuck with the game, finished all of its campaign and consequent dlcs, explored every single thing the game had to offer.
I fully immersed myself with Warmonger since there really was not much else I could do in life.
Through high-school, the online duel system got revamped and turned Warmonger into the fierce competitive stage it was today.
I soon discovered that my knowledge and skill with the game was exceptional within Warmonger community.
So after I graduated from my high-school education, I decided to just make gaming my main thing.
My parents were really supportive of my decision since they were worried I would not have anything to do with my life.
They were really the best parents one could ask for considering I was not even their own flesh and blood.
Anyway, once I really focused on playing Warmonger, it did not take long for me to become the world number 1 in its competitive ranking.
I managed to win all the major competitions, opened online coaching classes for aspiring pro players, creating contents for all sorts of thing about Warmonger, raking much money in the process.
My life was shaping up pretty good.
I had something worthwhile to occupy my time despite my weak constitution that forced me to stay indoors most of the time.
But then the fainting episodes started to emerge.
From time to time, I would suddenly experience great dizziness, instant nosebleed, and immediately fainted for hours afterward. Sometimes I passed out for even a day or two.
I could no longer maintain my routine with this new symptom.
It was already difficult for me to get out of bed now.
And I could no longer play Warmonger on my PC if I were stuck in bed.
Eventually I decided to retire from playing Warmonger, relinquishing my number 1 title, and focused on recovering my health where I was now fully hospitalized.
That was why I searched for a new game that I could still play even while in bed.
And that game turned out to be Pick Me Up.
Even from the first few minutes of its gameplay, I knew I would be investing a lot of hours into this game.
I had just started my account and there were so much to be done.
The tutorial was still not finished and we had not begun the climb yet.
Why did the health examination had to take so long?
I spent all morning and half the afternoon being plugged with sensors and going through scanning equipment.
And it was infuriating that they still could not the find the cause of my illness.
But I was glad that now I had something to look forward to after the examination.
[Loading Complete. Touch!]
[Welcome to Pick Me Up!]
Alright, time to continue my playthrough.
I left the game after I built facilities for the lobby and summoned ten 1-star heroes.
Pick Me Up was also an AFK game. So there should be some development while I was logged off.
Let's see what happened while I was away?
Hmm…
The cook that I assigned in the Restaurant was already working.
Most of the heroes seemed to be just loitering around the lobby, however.
Only one hero was exercising in the training ground that I spent a thousand gems to build and improve.
It was that 1-star Jonah.
My first hero.
[Jonah Brohm (★) Lv.2 (Exp 6/20)]
[Class: Novice]
[Strength: 12/12]
[Intelligence: 10/10]
[Stamina: 11/11]
[Agility: 11/11]
[Skills: Basic Spearmanship Lv.2]
Interesting.
He already raised his combat skill to level 2.
Investing in the Training Ground facility quite paid off.
The 4-star Serafina had now made her way to the Training Ground as well.
But she did not seem to be doing anything.
The guide did say mages needed special facility to train.
I believed it was the Magic Hall.
Other than providing a training space for mages, a Magic Hall was also necessary for numerous important features in Pick Me Up.
Research was one of such features.
So I had been intending to build it after I discovered my first advanced hero was a mage.
There were still some gems left in my account. Should be enough to construct all the necessary facilities for the Magic Hall.
['Serafina (★★★★)' feels favorably toward 'Jonah (★)'.]
[A friendship bonus has been activated.]
[Tips/Stats bonuses are given when forming a party with friendly heroes. Utilize this well.]
Ooh, excellent!
Bond points were also significant for a party.
The official forum warned players to not group hostile heroes together. Nothing good ever came out of their cooperation.
On the contrary, friendly heroes would perform better in battle.
Shall we try this out?
I touched the 'Space-Time Rift' icon at the bottom-left of the screen.
The blue portal expanded and showed me lists of dungeon.
Only one dungeon was unlocked so far.
One of the main activities in Pick Me Up.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 0 –]
I had been planning to begin climbing the Pick Me Up's infamous tower.
Even after recruiting some for the support stations, there were still a number of available heroes in my disposal.
I would like to get them levelled up as soon as possible.
The official forum said many players dropped the game because they could not clear the fifth floor of the Main Dungeon. Its first boss stage.
I wanted to prepare as many heroes as I could and bring the best unit to challenge that difficult level.
[Party 1]
[Party Composition - 'Serafina (★★★★)'
My 4-star hero would definitely be in the party that will challenge the fifth floor. Jonah was also a promising party member candidate so far.
The task now would be to find three others to accompany them.
There were seven idle 1-star heroes in my lobby.
After going through the Heroes list, none of them possessed any kind of combat skill. They were not like Jonah who already had one since the tutorial.
Loki said 1-star heroes were like buried treasures.
You simply had to dig through and uncover their potential yourself.
[Adding 'Orvis (★)', 'Roan (★)', and 'Lumi (★)' to 'Party 1'?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
These three seemed to have nothing to do.
They were just strolling around the lobby's walls.
So let's start with them.
[Do you wish to challenge the 1st Floor of the Main Dungeon?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Which party will you deploy?]
['Party 1' -(selected)-]
[Opening the rift of space and time!]
The dungeon screen faded back into the view of my lobby.
It showed my designated heroes preparing for battle while the stage was being loaded.
['Jonah (★)' has equipped the 'Iron-Tipped Spear (E+)'.]
[Tips/Heroes without weapons enter battles wielding 'Iron Sword (F)'. If you place equipment in the Weapon Storage, heroes will equip them automatically. Of course, you can also specify the weapons you want to give the heroes. Prepare the equipment. Don't forget!]
The 1-star Jonah finally got himself a spear.
Heroes truly did everything by themselves in this game.
Many processes were automated, including gearing.
Ding!
The dungeon's loading process was suddenly aborted by a notification.
['Orvis (★)' refused to participate!]
What?
This one hero refused to go to the dungeon?
[Tips/Heroes occasionally disobey your orders. You can resolve this issue by either listening to their desires or punishing the hero who began the disobedience.]
I read something like this in the official forum.
It was rare, but heroes might actually refuse to do what a player ordered.
Loki did say that we had to manage the heroes' stress levels to prevent cases like this from happening. One of the ways to do that was by improving the lobby's facilities.
But I already improved the facilities in the lobby!
The Lodging was upgraded and there was even a designated cook in the Restaurant.
And I was only making them go to the first floor of the Main Dungeon.
What was so stressful about that?
If a hero could not even handle going to the early game missions, then they were of no use to me.
Time to finish the tutorial.
[Would you like to start synthesis?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Choose the target for synthesis.]
[Synthesis Target - 'Jonah (★)']
I did not have time to deal with useless pawns.
[Drag and drop the heroes you want to sacrifice to be synthesized.]
[Heroes who are sacrificed will die.]
[Synthesis Material - 'Orvis (★)']
[Will you proceed with the synthesis?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Master, the synthesis is starting.]
There were other heroes I could play around with.
[Synthesis Complete!]
['Orvis (★)' has become light and disappeared!]
['Jonah (★)' levelled up!]
['Jonah (★)' has obtained the skill, 'Composure'!]