"—I can't accept this! How can you just say something so… so gamer-like?!"
After reuniting with Takagi Saya, Nurse鞠川, Hirano Kohta, and Takashiro Saeko, the group finally caught their breath. The doors and windows were barricaded with concrete blocks—no zombie was breaking through that.
With safety (temporarily) secured, the conversation turned to Rei and Hisashi's new abilities. Since Saeko was Takashi's childhood friend and knew Rei well, the trio spilled everything. Then, they grilled Liz with questions they'd been dying to ask:
Who are you? Where are you from? Why come here? What's with these powers?
Liz answered casually—partly because he was busy scarfing down some poor student's lunchbox, partly because he figured "these guys won't cause trouble."
The reaction?
"You don't have to accept it… Not like it affects me." Liz rummaged through desks, stashing lunchboxes in his invisible inventory.
"It affects us! For all we know, you caused this—"
"Saeko! That's too far!" Rei snapped.
"No, she's right… He's way too suspicious," Takashi muttered.
"Takashi?! After he saved us?!" Hisashi glared.
Oof. The betrayal stung. Rei and Hisashi stood by Liz, while Takashi—still salty over that kiss—sided with Saeko. Even if her suspicions weren't entirely unfounded, his bitterness was showing.
"Hey, buddy." Liz paused, eyeing Takashi. "I didn't directly save you, but I helped. No need to be this ungrateful." (A "good guy" isn't a saint.) "Also, if I were the virus source, why would I save people? Think for two seconds."
"W-Well…!" Saeko floundered.
Takashi, under Rei and Hisashi's glares, shut up.
"Look, Miss Genius." Liz resumed looting. "Even if I was the cause, what're you gonna do? Gang up and kill me? Congrats, you're still stuck in a zombie apocalypse. Maybe focus on survival instead?"
"…'Survival'?" Saya cut in before Saeko could retort. "What do you mean?"
"Duh. If this city's the only outbreak zone, any sane government would nuke it." Liz shrugged. "If it's global? Other countries will 'helpfully' donate nukes too~"
"!!!" The group paled.
…Shit. Given the smoke rising over the city, that tracked.
"Historically, extreme measures were taken during plagues…" Nurse鞠川 added unhelpfully.
(They'd later learn the outbreak was worldwide—White House evacuated, Beijing burning, London riots—but for now, panic ensued.)
"Wait, why are you so calm?!" Rei frantically redialed her cop dad's number. Still no signal.
"Not my problem. If things go south, I'll just warp home—or respawn there if I die." Perks of being a game character.
(Of course, respawn = reset to Level 1, but that'd sound like bragging to doomed survivors.)
"Alright, kids! Good luck not dying. I've got zombies to farm~" With a grin, Liz punched through the floor and descended safely via MC parkour.
"…Hisashi, what now?" Rei whispered.
"We escape by car—"
"—Oh, right." Liz's head popped back up through the hole. "Your party buff expires in 24 hours. After that, bites = insta-death. Also, don't be underground when it wears off."
Poof. He sealed the hole behind him.
(New rule: MC-altered terrain reverts if the creator leaves the area. The "floating platform" will eventually collapse.)
———————————————————————————————
"Mine, mine, mine~~"
Technically, Liz should've engaged with the world for fun, not just grinding. But without "quests" forcing him, he played how he wanted—ditching Takashi and Saeko because they annoyed him.
Solo playthroughs are valid too!
Still, his current goal was gearing up.
MC levels didn't boost stats.
Weapons only increased range, not damage (bonking zombies with a pipe = same as fists).
Solution? Crafting.
Step 1: Punch trees.
Liz tunneled underground, emerging in the school's backyard forest.
Wood → Workbench → Wooden Pickaxe → Stone → Stone Pickaxe → …
Still no iron. Where the hell does this world define "iron ore"?
But at least he got:
"Stone sword Obtained. Now I'm unstoppable."
"......Um?"
"!?" Liz nearly spin-attacked before remembering he'd sealed the tunnel.
"…You again?"
Hisashi, Rei, Saya, and Kohta stood there. The others were missing.
"We, uh… had a disagreement (Rei yelled at Takashi)… then saw this suspicious tunnel…" Hisashi rubbed his neck.
Then—
"This is sudden, but… Can we travel with you for now?"
"???"