[!★!Super!★!Rare!★!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Serafina (★★★★)'!]
A 4-star hero, as expected.
According to the official forum, there were only few accounts known to had pulled a 5-star hero on their first summoning. And those accounts were now among the top rankers in Pick Me Up.
But a 4-star hero was not necessarily a disappointing option either.
Loki mentioned in his guide posts that there were so much depths to a hero's strength.
With the right development, even a 1-star hero could grow to become as strong as those OP 5-stars. Or even stronger.
[Master, what luck! Check the hero you summoned.]
[Please touch the 'Heroes' tab in the menu.]
Alright.
Let me see the first advanced hero I just pulled.
[Serafina Magda Zeref (★★★★) Lv.1 (Exp 0/10)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 14/14]
[Intelligence: 64/64]
[Stamina: 12/12]
[Agility: 11/11]
[Skills: Telekinesis Lv.5, Intermediate Enchantment Lv.4, Intermediate Fire Magic Lv.5, Hands that Twist Space and Time Lv.2, Intermediate Research Lv.2, Intermediate Alchemy Lv.3, Mana Transfer Lv.3]
A mage. Interesting.
Loki mentioned mage-class heroes would be one of the most complex hero group I would encounter in the game.
Contrary to warrior-type heroes, mages would typically possess abilities not mentioned in their skill list.
Even their known skills would have layers of functions that you would only discover whenever certain situation arises for the mages to use them.
A mage was not exactly a newbie-friendly hero. They required a certain degree of maintenance to be utilized properly.
I did recall a huge section of the guide forum covering skills of several mage classes.
It would be difficult to learn them all. But I best look up the ones that my hero possessed.
They did say a 3-star mage and a 4-star mage were quite different from one another. That a 4-star mage, of course, was more reliable than a 3-star.
So I supposed there was no need to worry, at least for this tutorial section.
Now how about the very first hero that I got?
[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.1]
The stats value was definitely much lower than the premium hero. He barely had any skill either.
So this was the difference between a 1-star and a 4-star.
Now I understood why he struggled against the goblin earlier.
He was actually skilled in spearmanship.
Why would the game give him a sword for the quest?
I remembered reading that unarmed heroes would be equipped with a low-rank sword when deployed in battle.
The guides said advanced heroes had weapons equipped on them when they were summoned. Mages were equipped with their magic artifact, typically their attires.
1-star heroes, in particular, did not have any weapon on them by default.
But I figured since this was the tutorial and the 1-star hero had the skill already, he would have the appropriate weapon automatically.
So did I have to provide a spear for him myself?
[Would you like to form a party with your heroes?]
[Drag and drop the heroes to the party formation slots.]
[Create your own party, Master!]
Perhaps I needn't worry for now.
We were still in the tutorial.
There was nothing dangerous yet for my 1-star hero.
['Serafina (★★★★)' and 'Jonah (★)' have formed a party!]
The 4-star hero should be able to take care of things here.
I would sort everything after this.
[Now that you have formed a party, let's go into battle!]
[Second mission, start!]
The game screen faded into a scenery of the burning village square from earlier.
My two heroes were now on the battlefield together.
[Tutorial Quest 2]
[Defeat the goblins invading the village!]
The 1-star once again only had the default basic sword with him.
While the 4-star mage, though unarmed, was wearing a fancy dress that I would guess to be a magic attire.
[Goblin Lv.1 x4]
Four level 1 goblins.
How would the battle play out this time?
The 4-star mage immediately raised her hand toward the enemies.
Suddenly the goblins flew up high in the air and came crashing back down, injuring them heavily, one died upon the fall.
That must be the mage's telekinesis skill.
So she had a crowd control ability, effective on at least four enemies. A point to remember.
What else she got?
Whoosh!
A fireball burst forth from the mage's hand and engulfed the remaining goblins, immediately decimating them.
She had AoE attack as well.
The firepower and her casting rate were good too, though I would need more data to evaluate them properly.
Two known abilities so far.
I suspected this 4-star hero had plenty of things she had not shown me yet.
[Stage Clear!]
[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']
[Rewards have been given. Please check your mailbox.]
I read heroes that did not actively participate in battle would not receive experience points.
So it was understandable that the 1-star did not level up.
But the 4-star also did not level up despite soloing the battle.
I supposed it would take several battles before she could obtain enough experience points. That was to be expected too.
[Master, your heroes have fought well.]
[The final stage of the tutorial awaits.]
[A method to enhance heroes, synthesis!]
[The doors have opened! Please touch the 'Synthesis' tab in the menu.]
Hold on.
Wouldn't I lose one of my heroes if I were to synthesize them?
The tutorial seemed to want me to fuse the 1-star hero with the 4-star mage, so the higher-ranked hero could level up.
But I did not want to do that.
Loki said not all 1-star heroes were trash.
I wanted to test that theory of his.
The 1-star hero that I had already showed some indication of good potential.
He had not even got the chance to show his skill with the spear yet.
I should give him the chance.
Alright, then.
Let's close the tutorial for now. I would finish it later once I had actually junk heroes that I wanted to get rid of.
Once the tutorial interface was closed, I could now see the lobby.
All the current facilities looked worn and basic. They were still at their lowest level.
There were also empty plots for new facilities.
Before I do anything, let's clear the mailbox first.
Multiple first sign-in rewards as well as the previous tutorial reward.
A handful of gold and few gems.
There was also an in-game ad.
[Newbie Package, a one-time jackpot offer for new masters!]
[5,000 gems and 300,000 gold for only 65,000 won!]
I was prepared to spend money for this game.
The official forum often mentioned Pick Me Up was a hardcore pay-to-win game.
F2P players could not survive in Pick Me Up given you would need advanced heroes and suitable lobby facilities to clear its stages.
And those two things cost gems that hardly come by for free in Pick Me Up.
After being the top ranker in Warmonger for several years, I managed to rake up a lot of cash for myself.
I could not see how all those money would be of use to me anymore given my current condition.
So I might as well spend them for my own enjoyment while I could.
[Would you like to purchase the Newbie Package for 65,000 won?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[This amount will be added to your next month's phone bill. Are you sure you want to proceed with the payment?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
{Please enter your payment password.]
[(********)]
[Now Loading...]
[Payment complete!]
[The items have been delivered to your mailbox. Please check!]
Now, what should I do at the start of my account?
Facility upgrades or summoning? Both cost gems.
I could summon multiple advanced heroes with the gems I had. Ten heroes should be enough to fill two whole parties if I spend all the gems.
But upgraded facilities would also benefit me in the long run.
Should I focus on summoning more capable heroes so I could cheese through the early stages of the game and enabling locked features sooner? Or investing on facilities and set up a good foundation for my run?
I was interested in Pick Me Up mainly because of what happened with Loki.
The story of how Loki managed to become a top ranker by nurturing underdog heroes and relying on good strategy to conquer stages made me hit the download button of Pick Me Up.
Yes. I became interested in Pick Me Up because I wanted to overcome the great challenges this game offered.
And that included developing 1-star weaklings into strong heroes that could become the new powerhouses in Pick Me Up. Just like what I did with Tiran in Warmonger.
[You have selected the Lodging (Lv.2) facility upgrade. Would you like to build it?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[500 gems have been consumed for construction. The limit of heroes' population has increased.]
[You have selected Lodging (Lv.2)'s accessory facility, Restaurant construction. Would you like to build it?]
[500 gems have been consumed for construction. Good-quality food will be provided for the heroes.]
[You have selected Weapon Storage (Lv.1)'s accessory facility, Blacksmith's Forge construction. Would you like to build it?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[500 gems have been consumed for construction. Bonus effect will be given when crafting.]
[You have selected Weapon Storage (Lv.1)'s accessory….]
[You have selected Weapon Storage (Lv.1)'s accessory….]
[The Weapon Storage's three-piece accessory facilities will be combined into an Equipment Workshop!]
[You have selected the Training Ground (Lv.1) facility construction. Would you like to build it?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[500 gems have been consumed for construction. Heroes can now strengthen themselves before battle.]
[You have selected the Training Ground (Lv.2) facility upgrade. Would you like to build it?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[500 gems have been consumed for construction. Heroes' training efficiency has increased.]
[Great!]
[The square has evolved to level 2!]
After spending most of the gems upgrading the necessary facilities, the lobby now became better to look at.
It now seemed like a proper military base where combatant would live and train in.
I also remembered that the 1-star hero needed a spear as a weapon.
But since we did not have a crafter nor the material to make one, then we should just summon it.
[Summon]
[Equipment Summoning]
[1-time summoning – 5,000 gold]
[10-time summoning – 50,000 gold]
Loki posted this tip as one of the things newcomers should do when starting an account.
So I might as well do it.
[10-time summoning – 50,000 gold (selected)]
[Clack, clack, clack!]
[Drrr…]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained 'Iron Sword (E-)'!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained 'Morningstar (D+)'!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained 'Iron-Tipped Spear (E+)'!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained 'Crude Bow (E-)'!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has…]
Since I was just summoning using gold, the items were low grade.
But at least I got a spear.
I should be able to equip the 1-star hero with it.
And now that I was already on the summoning tab and that I had the gold for it, I might as well add more companions for my two heroes.
[100,000 gold have been consumed!]
[Master, starting 10-consecutive Regular Summoning!]
[I'm excited to see what heroes will appear!]
[DRRRRRR…]
[Boom!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Shanny (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Orvis (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Pauline (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Trudy (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has….!]
Ten 1-star heroes.
Even in regular summoning, there should be a chance of pulling 2-star heroes as well. Apparently they were slightly more skilled and had better stats than the typical unskilled 1-stars.
I supposed I already used up all my luck today.
Anyway, I had built some facilities.
The forum said 1-star heroes were mostly used for supporting tasks in the lobby.
I had a Lodging with a vacant cook station in its Restaurant as well as crafters in the Equipment Workshop.
For convenience sake, there was a neat feature where I could check for any volunteers for the available supporting stations in the lobby. I did not have to check the summoned heroes' skills one by one.
['Pauline (★)' has volunteered for the vacant cook station in Lodging (Lv.2)'s accessory facility, Restaurant!]
[Accept the appointment?]
[Yes / No]
['Gary (★)' has volunteered for the vacant crafter position in Equipment Workshop (Lv.1)!]
[Accept the appointment?]
['Wesley (★)' has volunteered…]
Three heroes had come up.
They all had the suitable skills for their roles as well.
Alright, we should just assign the posts to them.
"Miss Kim?"
Someone suddenly called out from the door.
It was the nurse again.
"It's time for your weekly examination. Are you ready to go?"
She asked.
I nodded to her.
"Sure. Just a minute."
[Master, do you want to log out?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Then goodbye!]
Another examination.
It had been a month since I was hospitalized and I still could not get used to all the procedures I had to go through.
Hopefully Pick Me Up would help me endure my indefinite stay in this hospital.