Fake-Kohta, the supposed gun nut, had finally decided to say something after all this time. His choice of language was useful gun violence.
“You little bastard!” snarled Shit-do! “How dare you!”
“Shut up! I don’t have to listen to you anymore!” snarled Fake-Kohta. “Always picking on me. Always making it so others would do the same!”
He raised his nail gun and breathed heavily, his pupils twin pinpricks and his voice a bit husky. “I don’t have to take your crap anymore! None of us do!”
“Summer! I’ve been injured, do your job—” cried Shit-do. Even as he tried to tighten his grip on her arm, the sweet and bubbly school nurse cried out then slapped him across the face hard enough to send him reeling.
“Don’t touch me, you douche bag. I know kung fu, maybe!” Summer struck a weird pose and exclaimed, “Yah!”
“W-wha—?” asked Shit-do. He held his slapped face and stared at her, perplexed.
Summer trotted bouncily back to the bus while Scott and Fake-Kohta withdrew. Saiko praised the team fatty and referenced him as a real man, which of course made him blush as red as a tomato.
‘Heh. Cute,’ thought Scott. ‘Hopefully, he used the rustiest nail in his arsenal.’
They were in new territory as far as Scott was concerned. After the stop over at the convenience store, things changed drastically. No longer forced to ride along with a bunch of ungrateful survivors, the group soon became a bit more cheerful. They were not upbeat by any stretch of the imagination, but they also did not stare at each other with dead eyes like before.
It was inevitable that they would begin to ask each other questions. Who were they? Where were they from. What did their parents do?
Momoko, Tosh, and Jade had family in the area. Everyone else was more or less on their own. Parents were either oversees or had passed on. No real family and close friends otherwise. Except for Summer. Her ‘good friend’ Keiko, named Rika in the anime, was a police sniper and probably at work.
Scott recalled a certain ova beach episode from the anime where Shizuka mistook Saya for Rika. It was fairly obvious that they played around together a bit now and then given that interaction. She also did not seem to have much of a problem with the idea of Rei groping her in another scene. She also showed interest in the guys, so she seemed a bit like a girl who loves to party and did not discriminate on who she partied with other than a dislike for douche bags.
Fake-Kohta’s name was finally revealed to be Otakun Gankame. Scott’s limited vocabulary suggested that the name might translate into English as Nerdy Gun Turtle. It seemed appropriate.
Otakun’s family life inspired the others to think he was some sort of anime protagonist. Concert violinist grandmother, ship captain grandfather, globe-trotting jewelry merchant father in Amsterdam, and fashion designer mother currently in Paris.
It was inevitable that eyes would turn to Scott. He had remained quiet while the others introduced themselves properly. All the while, he hoped that they would forget that he existed. It was a vain hope.
“How about you?” asked Momoko. “What’s your deal?”
Scott sighed and closed his eyes. “I really don’t think any of you want to know what my deal is…”
“I’d love to hear it,” said Saiko.
It was bound to come up at some point, and frankly he was tired of trying to cover his own ass. “Look. It’s impossible to explain my situation without proof. I can only think of one way to prove what is going on with me, and even then, you probably won’t believe it.”
“Now, I’m extra curious…” said Saiko.
“Right… I figured there was something weird with you. Definitely far too calm most of the time,” said Momoko.
“Yeah, well… getting eaten alive a few times does that to a guy,” said Scott with a shrug.
He rose from his seat while the others looked at him in confusion. “My backstory is too unbelievable, but I see a few of the dead up ahead. If you stop the bus, I can show you something weird that will back up my claims.”
“Ok…” said Summer.
The bus pulled to a stop, and the five zombies nearby continued to stagger toward its position. Scott left the bus, brush axe in hand, and trotted over to the closest one. A hard blow to the head sent it staggering back, but it took a second blow to finish it off.
The battle to come was a short affair, as the dead were somewhat spread out. The toughest fight was two on one, but it proved to be quite manageable when compared to the escape from the school.
“Come out,” called Scott.
“What is it?” asked Momoko curiously.
“Make sure nothing is sneaking up on us, but watch what happens,” said Scott.
He knelt down while the others looked on and itemized the corpse. Unlike the message windows, the disappearance of a corpse by way of dispersal into motes of light caught their attention readily.
“What the hell!” exclaimed Tosh.
“It just disappeared,” said Otakun in surprise.
The others looked at the empty space then over to Scott. It was clear that they were confused and wanted answers.
Instead of answering them, he splurged his energy to itemize twice more. Between the drink, and the rest period he had gained enough energy back to do that much. The third corpse dropped an item.
Lucky Dice
Roll these dice and receive a reward based on the roll received!
The lucky dice were two separate die, each six sided. Scott rolled a three and a two, and a ring popped into existence amidst a blaring fanfare. *Doot doo-doo-doot doooo!*
Blood-stained Promise Ring
A ring designed to improve the defensive power of any waifu.
- This ring grants Defense: [+1.4] to the wearer unless they are a waifu.
- This ring grants Damage Reduction: [Endurance – 105] to any waifu who wears it.
- Only Females can wear it.
“Sexism… blatant sexism,” muttered Scott. The difference between a waifu and a non-waifu wearing this ring was significant. A normal woman who wore it would only receive a little over one point of defense. A waifu would have her defense increase by five percent of her endurance attribute. Still a small amount, given how low most endurance attributes would be on a relatively normal world, but better than the flat defense modifier.
“What is?” asked Tosh. “Where did that ring come from?”
“It’s a loot drop,” said Scott casually. “Not that it does me any good.”
“Loot drop? What is this to you, some kind of game?” asked Momoko critically.
Scott shrugged at her. “It would be best to explain it on the bus before we draw a crowd.”
Several members of the group seemed ready to denounce his words. At the moment they did not seem to want him anywhere near them, but at the same time it was obvious that he knew something they did not.
Back on the bus, everyone immediately wanted answers. Scott nodded to them then took a deep breath. It would prove to be a long story.
He asked them not to ask him any questions until he was done speaking. Despite their agreement they broke into his monologue several times as he tried to explain his situation. In the end, he told them everything he knew about his current life status.
“This can’t be real,” said Otakun. “His life is like an anime.”
“You’re one to talk, chubby,” said Momoko acidly.
“So, how do we get experience points and level up?” asked Tosh.
“You don’t,” said Scott. “I could upgrade my waifus… but I’m just not that into you.”
Tosh scowled at him, then shook his head. “It’s too much to believe.”
“That’s fine,” said Scott. “I just didn’t want to keep hiding stuff.”
Scott shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, just think of me as being insane. I know I do.”
“Waifus and cross-world adventure harems, eh?” asked Summer. She turned slightly to the left causing all manne
r of over the top jiggle physics to occur within the confines of her bra. “Does this mean that we can escape the apocalypse?”
That immediately got the attention of the others. It became the new hot topic of conversation.
Scott admitted that it was supposedly possible to leave the world and to take his waifus with him. Wouldn’t help the guys much, of course. At the moment though, he didn’t have enough points to take anyone.
“There’s no way to take guys?” asked Otakun.
“Not any way I can see for now. There might be something like a world gate or similar that can be had later, or not, I don’t know right now,” said Scott. “The basic stuff I can do doesn’t allow for it.”
“If you told me this on any other day, I would think you had lost your mind,” said Saiko calmly. “Now things make a lot more sense.”
“What about that makes sense?” asked Jade. “He’s claiming to be some sort of harem game protagonist from another world come to collect waifus for his harem.”
“His skills with a blade are a weird combination of sloppiness and precision that have disturbed me for a while,” said Saiko. “There seems to be no notable direction in his movements, like he’d somehow just magically learned to wield a blade and needed time to really understand it.”
Summer broke into the conversation once more. “You said that you could buy healing items?”
“Back at the vending machine in that store,” agreed Scott. “They aren’t that good, but they’re something.”
Summer placed a finger to her lips and made a strangely cute noise that bespoke her current thoughtful nature. “Doesn’t that mean that it’s possible you could buy them in other places?”
“You thinking of that gas station that was supposed to be up the road?” asked Scott.
“We should almost be there,” said Summer. “Want to test it out?”
“I’d like to, but I won’t force the issue,” he replied.
“No. We should definitely see what you’re talking about first-hand,” said Momoko. “This could be useful.”
“Alright, but I don’t have a ton of points,” said Scott. “So, it’s possible that I can’t even turn something into a shop. The last one was free, but the ones to come are going to cost me world points.”
“How do you get more?” ask Tosh.
“I can get some for itemizing certain items, sometimes,” said Scott. “Other than that, I have to do missions. No more have popped up since the school so they might not be that common.”
Upon further request, he gave them a run down of how he would be able to earn different kinds of points. The girls were slightly put-out when he mentioned grinding waifu points, but the male members of the group seemed to be a cross between jealous and intrigued.
Night descended rapidly on the students, or rather it should have if they were following the events of the anime. As it turned out, it was only midday by the time they reached a certain tunnel. The outbreak had occurred in the morning as opposed to after lunch, and that threw the timing off quite a bit.
Scott noted that change as they drove through the claustrophobic tunnel cut in the hillside. In the show, this was where Rei and Takashi would have gotten off. The group would have been separated by another bus crashing into the tunnel. Not long after that, the survivors on the bus would have run into a traffic jam and would spend the night barely moving while the increasingly overstretched police shot the occasional zombie that wandered too close. Shido would have caused the remaining members of the group to give up the bus to get away from his degenerate raving.
There was no flaming bus crash. No teen angst drama. There was only a long dark tunnel filled with a sense of foreboding. They rammed two zombies who shambled around in the darkness, but otherwise they were fine.
“It’s still early,” mumbled Scott. The apocalypse would have only just started. There would not be as many of the zombies running around in most places, yet. The school was one thing, it was a densely packed feast hall for the dead. Most people were more mobile. The real hordes would not start showing up until the next day and night.
“Early?” asked Otakun.
The team fatty had chosen to sit closer to Scott after learning that he was a fan of anime among other things. The fact that he was a living Isekai protagonist stereotype did not hurt, either.
“Yeah, we need to find somewhere to stay for the night soon. I know everyone with family in the area wants to find them, but it could take days to search for them given the state of the streets,” said Scott. “Doing it in the dark isn’t a good idea.”
Before Otakun could say anything, the bus screeched to a halt. The occupants slammed forward against the seats in front of them.
“The hell?” cried out someone. In the confusion, no one really recalled who it was, but Scott suspected that it was him.
Summer began to back the bus up. It took a moment for the others to realize it, but there had to be more than fifty of the dead gathered at the gas station. They were attacking a car with survivors inside and had just managed to break through. That car took off like a bat out of hell, half a dozen zombies clinging to it in the hopes of finding a meal. Many others were left behind pounding at the gas station doors.
Scott recalled that there had been numerous zombies lurking nearby at the gas station in the anime. This must have been what caused that to be the case.
“There have to be people inside…” said Jade.
She looked toward Scott. “You have those weird powers. Think you can help them?”
“Against this many zombies? I can handle a couple at the time, but there’s no way I could do that alone. We also don’t know how many more there are lurking around,” said Scott.
“I thought you were immortal, huh?” she asked him with an angry smile.
“The rest of you aren’t,” said Scott. “I can’t see a way for me to do much of anything on my own, and I can only return to the past if I die. If I don’t die, but one of you does, you stay that way.”
“So, you won’t help them?” asked Jade angrily.
“I can’t do it alone. Maybe if Summer decides to run over some of them with the bus,” said Scott. “Distract them with the horn to draw them away and into the road first.”
“I... That is…” Summer was clearly uncertain about that plan. It sounded… squishy.
Something happened then that made Scott curse lightly. “I can’t believe this shit!”
“Hey! If she doesn’t want to—” began Otakun.
“Oh, no. Not that… While we were talking, a mission procced,” said Scott.
“Mission?” asked Otakun.
Seeing that everyone was curious now, he realized that he needed to be more specific. Scott quickly filled them in on the situation.
Zombie Slaughter Fest I
There are [47] zombies in the immediate area. Kill them all in solo battle to win a significant reward. If you receive help, you will fail the mission.
The mission has not started, please prepare and leave the bus to begin the mission.
Reward: System Upgrade
“You’re saying you have to go kill all of those zombies, alone?” asked Tosh. “That’s nuts!”
Scott shrugged. “Won’t know until I try. I’m promised a system upgrade if I complete it.”
He made a quick save, though the system informed him that he could not make another one until the mission was completed with either a failure or a success. Apparently, he could not use it to cheese his way though.
He prepared himself mentally, while the others asked him what the reward would be. “I don’t know, but we could use whatever help we can get. Ya’ll should pull back a bit, though. I might have to try this a few times.”
“Try it a few—” asked Momoko. “You’re going out there knowing you’ll probably die!”
Scott moved to the front of the bus. “Yeah, but I guess this is something like an important trial for me. So, no helping. No matter what you see.”
He left the bus while the others tried to convince him that he was crazy. They had heard his story, but it was impossible to believe. Several zombies had managed to reach a point close to the bus. Just as he’d asked, Summer backed down the street to give the survivors some distance.
“Forty-seven of you, huh?” asked Scott.
“I wanna taste your baby batter!!” cried a female zombie who wore glasses. One of her lenses was cracked and the glass had pierced her eye. Yet, she apparently still had hope of a social life with a line like that.
“Come get some, hell skank,” replied Scott in his best approximation of a tough guy attitude. Sure, his one-liners needed work but what did people want from him? It was his first day on the job.
“Kick his ass!” cried another zombie.
“Lemme chew on his boy parts!” exclaimed a third zombie, one who had a strangely innocent face despite its grotesquely pale appearance. Even in death, this poor sweet girl couldn’t call it anything more than boy parts.
During the escape from the school, the zombies had not talked as much once he made it to the break room rendezvous. This was a solid reminder that this was most definitely not the show he had watched.
The zombies, for all their bluster, were easy to deal with in short bursts of activity. Scott stepped to the side, then swatted at the hell skank’s legs. She went down, though she took little damage.
Since the other zombies had not yet arrived, he took a moment to knock down and kill the three that were after him. His lack of energy proved to be a hinderance, because he was already exhausted. Energy points, basically the fuel that powered his supernatural abilities, were tied to his personal stamina. Using them left him weakened.
He did his best to trot around the area in the hopes of picking off a few of the zombies at a time. Their numbers dropped steadily. The problem, however, was that after he managed to circle the lot a couple of times, the remaining zombies were largely concentrated into a single group of over thirty undead critters.
Power Fantasy Page 10
