Chapter 27 27: Fate-Bearers (Bonus)

— — — — — — Right before the group system officially received the mission request, everyone had just finished goofing around, teasingly tagging Chika as if she was orchestrating the whole thing behind the scenes. As soon as the playful act ended, their focus turned to the mission panel. [Client: █████ world's Will] [Mission Location: █████ World – Earth – Tokonosu City] [Mission Brief: After catching a new potential future from the Void, the █████ world's Will tried to evolve its world by introducing a variable to change its destined path. But unexpectedly, the very act of pulling something in from outside reality has now thrown the world into an even bigger crisis—one that was already on track to destroy human civilization...] [Objective: Rescue the remaining uninfected fate-bearers and ensure they can survive even after the group departs.] [Reward: 30,000 Group Points] [Restrictions: None] [Client Note: At the very least... save one.] [System Note 1: Per the client's request, some details have been hidden to protect privacy.] [System Note 2: The variable pulled in from the Void is a locked case bearing a red-and-white umbrella logo. Inside are 12 spiral glass vials—six blue, six green—containing unknown substances.] [System Note 3: From the moment the mission begins, each fate-bearer will be assigned a share of the total points based on their fate level. Completing mission objectives will earn the corresponding share. Points will be distributed after the mission based on each member's contribution.] [Notice: Current surviving fate-bearers: 5. If all are infected, the mission is invalid.] --- "Tokonosu City... isn't this Highschool of the Dead?" That's what Veyron thought. He remembered starting the anime just for the zombie action, but the longer he watched, the more it felt... off. In the end, he couldn't even pinpoint what exactly was wrong, so he shelved it to his hard drive (F:) to Figure it out later. Strictly speaking, the zombies in this world didn't even have an official name. In the original, the main cast just called them "those things." Later translations dubbed them "corpses." Judging from how the show portrayed them, these zombies really shouldn't have posed a global threat. I mean, their only method of spreading the infection was good old grabbing and biting. Forget nukes and fancy bio-weapons. Just a good old artillery barrage, a convoy of tanks, and enough ammo to go around—the always dependable solution — just blow everything up! But toss in that suspicious case—probably swiped straight from Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation—filled with what might be six doses of the T-virus and six doses of its antidote... --- Back in the chat By now, the others had also finished reading the mission briefing. 『Lady Avalon: One thing's clear—this mission's not going to be easy. According to the briefing, even before things went south, that world was already on the brink of collapse. Anyone thinking of backing out?』 『Earth's Cancer: (crying face.jpg)』 『Lady Avalon: Not joining us, Chika?』 『Earth's Cancer: I'd love to get my hands on that sweet 30,000 points, but let's be real—I'd just be dead weight...』 『Lady Avalon: If that's all you're worried about, you could still come along. Just stick close to me and consider it a learning experience.』 『Earth's Cancer: Miss Merlin~ (hugs.jpg)』 『Lady Avalon: Hehe~ ☆』 『Lady Avalon: So then, aside from Chika, anyone else backing out?』 『Catwoman: I'm in.』 『Ghost Spider: No objections here.』 『Snake Empress: Count me in.』 『Hellish Blizzard: Same.』 『Ordinary Person: Back in the day, the lack of Space-Time Gap support might've made this tough. But now, with that function available, we can step in and out instantly. With free points on the table, who wouldn't want a slice?』 『Lady Avalon: Good point.』 『Lady Avalon: Alright, let's get our stuff together and head out before all the fate-bearers bite the dust.』 『Earth's Cancer: Let's gooo~!』 — — — Tokonosu City – Rooftop of Fujimi Academy's High School Building With a shimmer in the air, seven figures—one man and six women—suddenly appeared on the rooftop. "...That smell." The scent of blood and rot drifting through the wind made Chika wrinkle her nose the moment they landed. "Zombies?" Peering over the rooftop's edge, Gwen spotted the wandering figures below and instantly recognized the setup—straight out of a horror movie. "Looks like it," Selina nodded. Then she turned to Hancock and the others who might not know the genre. "Heads up—these things typically turn you into one of them if you get bitten or scratched. Not sure yet if the virus can spread through the air." "You don't need to worry about that." Merlin's eyes shimmered with a deep violet glow. "I just scanned the air. Nothing abnormal in the atmosphere." "That's a relief," Gwen exhaled. "Let's check the mission screen," Veyron said. "Now that we've arrived, the point shares for the fate-bearers have been updated." As he spoke, he'd already pulled up the interface: [Busujima Saeko – 18,000 points] [Marikawa Shizuka – 3,000 points] [Miyamoto Rei – 3,000 points] [Takagi Saya – 3,000 points] [Maresato Alice – 3,000 points] --- He had already figured some of the original main cast didn't make it when he saw only five fate-bearers listed... but the fact that even Komuro Takashi, the supposed protagonist, was gone? Yeah, that caught him off guard. And seriously... out of 30,000 total points, Saeko alone was worth 18,000? No wonder she was everyone's favorite waifu. "Your clairvoyance..." Veyron looked at Merlin. "Already told you back when we were with Hancock. Without the right 'foundation,' I can't see everything in this world like I can back home," Merlin shook her head. "My so-called high-level clairvoyance here is just average magic." "Okay, but what does your 'average' magic tell you right now?" "Hmm..." Merlin pointed downward. "In the records room, I found student files with the names Saeko, Rei, and Saya. There's also a staff ID badge for the school nurse—Shizuka." Then, before anyone else could jump in, she pointed off into the distance. "About thirteen kilometers that way, there's a U.S. military base. Nine survivors. Four of them match the names from those files. There's also a little girl, maybe eight or nine? The others were calling her 'Alice.'" Veyron: "..." Everyone: "..." Yeah. "Just average magic," huh? You basically just saw everything. . . . {+50 advanced chapters are available at: patreon.com/_Coreal }