The Cosmic Randomizer - Because Chaos Gacha Sounds Cliché

Synopsis:

A victim of a job purge ends up homeless, only to receive an offer he couldn’t refuse. Now, he’s at the mercy of a system meant to entertain the powerful, faceless entities. Follow along as our protagonist fights to maintain his humanity while overcoming trials specifically intended to produce only the wicked and the monstrous.

Chapter 1

“So, what do you think?”

It’s amazing how far people can fall in such a short period of time. A good job, a nice apartment, and things are going well, for a change. Now, I’m unemployed, homeless, and talking to the sleaziest salesman to ever sleaze while sipping coffee outside a cafe that shouldn’t exist.

Not only because it’s smack dab in the middle of an island floating in the void, but because I didn’t get kicked out on sight.

Smelling of sweat, grime, piss, and other unmentionables, my current appearance wasn’t usually welcome within spitting distance of nice establishments like this. Yet, here I am.

“You get how sketchy you sound, right?” I ask the prick. “Multidimensional travel, omniversal powers, unrestricted choices, and all for the entertainment of people I’m not even allowed to know about? It all sounds like a bunch of hooey.”

And it does. I’d heard more realistic offers from literal pimps after getting kicked out by my deadbeat dad. At least selling a kidney made sense.

“Oh, I understand, dear prospect.” How does a human face get that punchable? It doesn’t seem physically possible! “Yet our current meeting place does lend credence to our offer, does it not?”

I gave him a flat look. “I haven’t eaten in days. For all I know, I could be hallucinating on the side of the road.”

My response was more about buying time than expressing real doubt. The cappuccino certainly tasted real enough, and I reeked too convincingly. Senses aren’t supposed to translate that well in invented mental scenarios, right?

“We both know you don’t believe that,” the guy simpered in self-satisfaction exactly as a dude in a pinstriped suit would sound.

“Let’s say I buy what you’re selling,” I said. “Why a slot machine?”

“The Cosmic Randomizer is more than just a slot machine, dear prospect.” Jesus! Every word that comes out of his mouth feels like slime being poured into my ears. “They may be similar in function, but operate on entirely different principles.”

“Okay, fine, whatever.” I set the empty coffee cup down harder than I had to. “But why me? There are a million other schmucks down on their luck out there. Why come to me?”

“Desperation is only one factor we consider,” the slimeball explained. “We also take promise and competence into account.”

My face must have seemed quite the sight as I grimaced. “Promise and competence?” I echoed. “I couldn’t even keep my job. I lost my home. Shit, I haven’t even gotten a single response from the thousands of resumes I sent out before my landlord finally threw me out. How the fuck does any of that signal any kind of competence?!”

The douchebag was entirely unfazed by my tirade. When the last echo of my shout disappeared into the void, he leaned forward. “Contrary to what your society might have led you to believe, dear prospect, your fate was entirely out of your hands. Your world has entered what some would call late-stage capitalism. Many more would have joined you in the gutter.” He then tilted his head. “Could still join you, if you decide to reject our offer.”

I didn’t miss the underlying message.

The time has come for me to make a choice. If I said no, I’d go back to being a hobo. Unmissed, unloved, and unnoticed. If I said yes, I could end up becoming a test subject in someone’s twisted experiment.

Neither option was appealing, but I suppose this was never really a choice to begin with.

“Fine,” I forced out.

“Splendid!” came the pleased exclamation, with clapping for added effect.

Then, out of nowhere, a hovering metal box appeared out of thin air. It was basically just a simple panel, with a rod sticking out of an elongated cavity, and topped with a red sphere.

“So, dear prospect, will you pull the lever?”

Giving those squinty eyes one last look of suspicion, I reached over and grasped the jutting metal bar. It briefly occurred to me that I could probably still turn back, but that thought quickly disappeared.

Whatever happens from here on out, it will likely be an improvement over what I had before.

Decision made, I yanked down with decisive force and watched as everything shattered into blackness.

The last thing I heard was the grating voice of the salesman.

“Good luck, dear prospect! And do try to have fun.”

I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but my voice was gone.

And so was the rest of me.

When my consciousness finally returned, the first thing I saw was an off-white space that was halfway between chrome and smudge. What’s smudge, you ask? Fuck if I know. That’s what I felt like calling it, so that’s what it is.

But that’s just background information, literally.

Of far more interest is the little text box that’s suddenly floating in front of me.

[Thank You, Dear Prospect, For Accepting The Cosmic Randomizer!]

[To help you get the best start possible, we are giving you three pulls for free!]

[Prizes can range from Trash to Mythical, depending on strength, rarity, or value.]

[Will You Pull The Lever? 3 Pulls Remaining]

[Yes/No]

I stared at the words long and hard, making sure that I understood what it was telling me. Gambling had never been my thing since whatever money I’d managed to scrounge together went into necessities.

Even when I finally got a stable job, my free time was spent enjoying simple luxuries like eight hours of sleep and three meals a day.

Yet now, it seems like my existence going forward will be defined by something I have very little experience in. Still, what would be the point of delaying the inevitable?

Since I didn’t have a body, I thought about pressing the ‘Yes’ button, and that was enough. With absurdly silly sound effects like a mix of party poppers and a death rattle, the words started spinning into a kaleidoscope of lines and colors.

Then, with a screeching noise, they resolved to form a new message.

[Will Power – Rarity: Uncommon – Type: Trait]

[A quality that even ordinary humans can possess, this trait gives you unbreakable resolve. No amount of pain or suffering can make you surrender. No temptation can make you fall. No power in the world can force you to do anything you don’t want to do.]

Huh. Not the best prize I could think of, but not useless, either. Some of humanity’s greatest achievements were only made possible because those who made them happen were too stubborn to call it quits. I’m going to need this if I’m to survive.

[2 More Pulls Remaining. Will You Pull The Lever?]

I did, and the special effects began anew. This time, the result is significantly more useful for directly keeping me alive.

[Blink – Rarity: Rare – Type: Movement Magic]

[Instantly teleport between two points within a radius of 10 meters in any direction. Bypass solid obstacles, evade oncoming attacks, or just travel in a straight line.]

[Warning: Safe for line-of-sight movements, but Blinking through walls or other vision-impairing terrain will require a clear mental image of the destination. It can also be blocked by certain types of magic, and bringing passengers requires Investments to unlock advanced features.]

So, basically, I can teleport to any place I see at short distances. If I’m ever trapped or captured, as long as I can clearly picture a spot close by, I could escape. Well, as long as no other magic user was involved, that is.

Good to know that I can apparently get more out of my abilities. I’ll have to study these Investments when I have time.

My third pull yielded the most pointless prize yet, at least, at first glance.

[Conjure Rocks – Rarity: Trash – Type: Cantrip]

[It’s exactly what it says on the tin. With this cantrip, you can conjure fist-sized rocks. They are all identical, and you can have as many as you want. Why you would bother conjuring rocks is anyone’s guess. But you could, and that’s the point.]

This was considered a trash pull? What? Who the hell decided that? I could think of so many uses for a functionally infinite number of rocks. Ammunition, collective mass, distractions, the list goes on.

Are the people behind this operation just lacking in imagination, or is its abysmal rarity a reflection of how dangerous my destination will be? If I can’t beat enemies by dropping a mountain of rocks on them, then I’m in for a world of pain.

Words reappeared, but contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t to inform me of my next moves. Instead, I was given another offer.

[Would you like to make a Sacrifice for extra pulls?]

[The more severe the Sacrifice, the more pulls you get]

[Yes/No]

I stared at the texts in incredulity. Did I really make a deal with Satan, or something? This is the kind of thing our Sunday School teachers always warned us about.

The safest thing to do would be to hit ‘No’, but would that be the smart move? I knew nothing about this feature, and my continued existence could hinge on the pulls it could provide. After a few more heartbeats, I projected the need to know more about the offer.

[Sacrifice is an exchange of things you cherish most for extra pulls.]

[They can be anything from memories to people, emotions to principles.]

[For example, if you Sacrifice your compassion, you could get 10 extra pulls with a guaranteed minimum rarity of Uncommon.]

[Would you like to Sacrifice?]

Jesus, this is fucked up! Would anyone actually go for this kind of disgusting arrangement?

[Of course, they would, Dear Prospect!] 

Wait, what? Were you an actual person this whole time?

[Not exactly, Dear Prospect. I’m closer to what you would call a Large Language Model or LLM. Significantly more advanced, of course, and nowhere near as trite or repetitive.]

Son of a – I can’t escape AIs even here, huh? You know what, fuck it! At least you sound a lot more natural than those chatbots. What were you talking about before?

[Earlier prototypes of The Cosmic Randomizer hosted participants who were quite eager to surrender their humanity for power, pleasure, or both.]

So, you gave powers to psychos and self-obsessed degenerates? What happened to them?

[Naturally, Dear Prospect. You, as a healthy, functioning adult, would never have considered accepting our invitation. As we were building this service, we needed beta-testers, and we found them in the darkest corners of the internet. Once they served their purpose, we terminated them. They would have been too dangerous to set free, and would have caused immense suffering and death.]

Even in my incorporeal state, I still felt shocked at the revelation. The candid way the texts described the deaths of the beta-testers caused my nonexistent gut to clench.

You gave them power and permission to cause death, suffering, and ruin. And once you used them up, you just got rid of them? Is that what you’ll do to me?!

[Goodness, no! The early versions were entirely virtual, Dear Prospect, basically video games. Highly convincing and hyper-realistic simulations, but simulations, nonetheless.]

So, why kill them if they were basically playing video games?

[Because, Dear Prospect, unlike what some people would like you to believe, there are those who would happily unleash their worst impulses on the world. Something that they could only do in virtual environments. Legal consequences are the only things stopping such people from committing all kinds of sexual and violent crimes. The beta-testers certainly belonged in this category, and the powers they gained were all too real.]

I didn’t know what to think. There were too many variables that were crashing into me from too many directions. Were their deaths justifiable? How was I supposed to take my relationship with an organization that threw people away with such callous disregard?

[Now that you know the truth, would you like to make a Sacrifice, Dear Prospect?]

Would I?

Let’s face it, anyone else would have already said yes. What’s my compassion compared to potentially becoming unkillable? Maybe even a god?

A lifetime of playing by the rules, of striving to be a good person, and for what? Just so I’d end up losing everything despite doing everything right? Why shouldn’t I make the Sacrifice? 

Even before I finished that thought, the answer came up unbidden.

For the same reason I never turned to crime as a starving teen. For the same reason I never took advantage of anyone, despite the many opportunities to do so. For the same reason I fought tooth and nail to walk the straight path.

Humanity might be full of the depraved, degenerate, and disgusting. But they don’t constitute the whole of our species. 

I’ve met those who freely gave a helping hand, while having little to call their own. More than once, I’ve seen acts of courage and self-sacrifice to protect the innocent from the guilty. Whenever the temptation to take the easy path came up, I reminded myself of the simple demonstrations of heroism that often go ignored.

So, I responded with a firm No, and the interface changed again.

I may still be struggling with a lot of things, but on this matter, I didn’t even need to think too long about it. If I have to choose between my humanity and living, I would choose my humanity every time.

[You have chosen to forgo the Sacrifice.]

[Up next is your destination.]

[You can choose from a list of available worlds, or you could use the Randomizer. Going with the latter will net you 2 extra pulls with a guaranteed minimum rating of Uncommon. Please make your choice.]

[List/Randomizer]

The LLM earned another flat look. Why does this thing keep pushing me toward taking ridiculous risks?

I chose List… and nothing happened.

Confused, I chose it again, and the results were the same. The options just hung there, looking more ominous by the second.

No follow-up words to explain the issue appeared, but by this point, I already got the gist of what was happening. For some reason, I’m not allowed to choose the world I’ll be sent to. Instead, I’m being implicitly steered toward the Randomizer option.

I could have screamed and whined about the unfairness of the move, but, honestly? I’m used to getting screwed over, by now.

So, without further delay, I chose the significantly riskier option. And wonder of wonders, it worked.

When I finally saw the destination chosen for me, I didn’t even have the energy to feel angry. Not only because complaining would get me nowhere, but also because I honestly had no idea what I was looking at.

[World: Highschool of the Dead]

[The world is about to be overrun by zombies, and your only chance of survival is to team up with some Grade-A hotties. Be careful, though, as a single bite from the undead is guaranteed to be fatal unless you have a way to remove the infection. Stay alive for a week with as many surviving waifus as possible, and you’ll be granted salvation! Let even one of them die, and you’ll burn in the fires of perdition!]

[Main Mission Objective: Keep yourself and major female characters safe until the allotted time]

[Major Female Characters: Saeko Busujima, Rei Miyamoto, Saya Takagi, Shizuka Marikawa, and Alice Maresato]

[Rewards: One-time access to a new world, 5 Pulls, 5 Investment points, 5,000 Shop credits] 

[Bonus Objective: Save minor female characters]

[Minor Female Characters: Asami Nakaoka, Toshimi Niki, Misuzu Ichijou, Kyoko Hayashi, Rika Minami, and Yuriko Takagi]

[Rewards: 1 Pull for each minor female character saved]

[Bonus Objective: Kill Koichi Shido before he becomes a threat to you or your waifus. The manner of death doesn’t matter, as long as he dies!]

[Rewards: 1 Investment point, immediately awarded upon completion]

Countless questions streamed through my mind at the speed of thought (Waifu? Shop credits?), but out of all of them, only one rang loud enough to cut through the noise.

What the fuck was Highschool of the Dead?

I didn’t get an answer before I was blinded by a flash of white and knew no more.

When awareness finally returned, I wasn’t given a chance to adjust.

A cacophony of screams resounded through the hallways where I appeared. Looking around, I bore witness to teenagers ripping each other to shreds. Dimly, I noted their school uniforms, stained and ripped, even as they continued to devour each other.

Right. Zombies. I’m somewhere supposedly overrun by zombies.

Naturally, my presence wasn’t ignored for long. My sudden and unexplained appearance didn’t seem to matter to the ravenous horde as they came at me in a wave of open-mouthed, salivating, and hungry intention.

This then caused me to panic and Blink toward the first avenue of escape my eyes landed on: an empty stairwell.

Not giving any thought to how natural the rapid change in positioning felt, I then used Conjure Rocks to block both upstairs and downstairs routes with an avalanche of fist-sized stones. This had the added effect of burying some of the zombies gathering below me in the process.

My mind filed that away as an important point to consider for later.

Having bought some breathing room, I quickly considered my situation, starting with the abilities I had on hand. Two have already proven quite useful, and I dimly note how Will Power was likely the only reason I wasn’t completely losing my mind.

All three were intuitive and presented no issues, so I didn’t need to worry about steep learning curves.

Now, my objectives.

I was supposed to save certain characters and ensure someone died. Who were they again?

The texts popped up again, causing me to flinch, but I wasted no time reviewing my mission parameters. Unfortunately, even as I now had a better understanding of what I needed to do, I still had no idea how to actually move forward. I didn’t even know who these people were!

Another pair of screams brought me out of my thoughts. From the volume and direction, they came from the floor above. 

Luckily, it seems the space on the stairwell going up was clear of zombies.

Knowing that I didn’t have a lot of time to make a decision, I took the risk of Blinking just beyond the pile of rocks blocking the way. Peeking around the corner, I saw two girls trapped between the undead on both sides of the hallway.

They only had seconds to live, so with a thought, I dropped several tons of rocks over the two groups of zombies. It worked like a charm.

Both girls could only stare at the results, even as I teleported to their side.

“Hey!” I urged. “Are you two okay? Were you bitten?”

“W-what?” one of them stuttered.

“Were either of you bitten?” I asked again. “We don’t have time, so just answer the question!”

“N-no!” the other squeaked. “W-we weren’t – they didn’t bite us, I swear!”

I didn’t spend too long looking them over and trying to gauge their honesty. As things stood, I could either take them at their word or leave them behind.

“Fine,” I huffed. “We need to –”

My words were cut off as one of the classroom doors with glass panels shattered outward, showering us with jagged pieces. The two screamed as hands started pulling them toward the gnashing maws of the recently dead.

Acting swiftly, I grabbed their arms as they reached for my help, but the zombies were too strong.

Seeing no other option, I conjured more rocks to fill the classroom. However, I seemed to have miscalculated, as the added weight resulted in the floor giving out. So, while the girls were freed, it came at the cost of substantial property damage.

Then, before I could process the destruction I wrought, I heard a Ding! from out of nowhere.

[Congratulations! You just smashed Koichi Shido into a bloody pulp!]

[Bonus Objective: Completed!]

[Reward: You get 1 Investment point]

[Would you like to use it now?]

My surprise only lasted a moment. With so much at stake and the window to act so narrow, I couldn’t waste time questioning the ludicrousness of this development.

Quickly deciding that I did want to use the Investment point, I was given options, but I didn’t bother reading all of them. It’s not like notifications were considerate enough to freeze time so that I could read the words at my leisure. 

Given my main mission and what I previously read, there was only one practical choice available to me.

[You have used 1 Investment point to improve Blink]

[You have chosen Passengers]

[Blink now allows you to carry a maximum of three people in any direction within a radius of 10 meters.]

With that done, I grabbed the two shell-shocked teens and teleported to the end of the hallway. I needed information, and I needed it fast, so I ignored their sputtering reactions to ask more pertinent questions.

“Saeko Busujima, Rei Miyamoto, Saya Takagi, Shizuka Marikawa, and Alice Maresato,” I rattled in quick succession. “Are you familiar with any of these names?”

My words hadn’t seemed to penetrate their stunned states, so I gave each a slap to snap them out of it. I normally wouldn’t have considered such a drastic measure, but desperate times and all that.

When they were finally more lucid, I repeated my question.

“Shizuka-sensei is the school nurse,” the one with the pigtails answered in a strained voice.

“B-Busujima-san is a senior,” her friend added. “S-she does kendo.”

“You can recognize them on sight?” I pressed, and they both nodded. “Good. I need to find them, and you’re going to help me. It’s the only way we’re getting out of here alive.” When they started to object, I pinned them with a hard stare. “If any of the people I just mentioned dies, then we die, too. Help me find them, and I’ll do my best to keep you safe. Or go your own way and take your chances with the zombies. What’s it gonna be?”

In the end, it really wasn’t much of a choice, so we soon made our way through a school full of the dead and the dying.

Chapter 2

As we navigated the shockingly expansive high school, I idly noted that I was still wearing the ratty and smelly clothes that I came with: a stained shirt, a thick but torn trench coat, and sturdy boots. It also didn’t escape me that, after multiple Blinks, my two passengers were starting to turn green.

My affinity with the unusual mode of transport clearly didn’t extend to them, but we couldn’t slow down.

After a final Blink, we ended up in front of what the girls said was the infirmary. Obviously, it was swarming with zombies. This time, I was a lot more careful about crushing them under just enough rocks to remove the threat they posed.

Rushing toward the sliding door, I started banging on it.

“Is someone in there?” I called. “The coast is clear, but that won’t last. Open up!”

Two voices inside started arguing, but I couldn’t quite hear what it was about. After a few seconds, a latch was unlocked, and the door opened to reveal two people. Two women, to be exact.

One was a bespectacled blonde with unreasonably large breasts. The other was a severe-looking woman with black hair wearing a blouse and a pencil skirt. Both looked relieved that I had been telling the truth.

“Oh, thank goodness!” the blonde exclaimed. “We thought we were done for!”

“Please control yourself, Shizuka-sensei!” the other woman admonished, though she sounded quite shaken, herself.

Wait, this is Shizuka Marikawa? She didn’t look Japanese at all!

My doubts were erased by the two girls chiming in with their own cries of relief.

“Hayashi-sensei!” “Shizuka-sensei!”

“Toshimi?!” “Misuzu-chan!”

The four immediately broke into a tearful chorus of commiseration, swapping half-finished sentences about who had survived and what hallway they ran from. I gave them exactly three seconds before I had to intervene.

“Look, I’m sorry to cut this short, but we’re on a bit of a time crunch.” My interruption drew their attention, and the black-haired teacher looked ready to lecture me, but I beat her to the punch. “Do you know where I can find Saeko Busujima, Rei Miyamoto, Saya Takagi, or Alice Maresato?”

“What?” The question left them nonplussed.

“He’s looking for them, sensei!” the girl with the short, brown hair said.

“We can’t leave until we find them,” her friend added. “He said we’d die if they die. You were one of the people he was looking for, Shizuka-sensei!”

That seems to have startled the blonde, and her colleague shot me a suspicious look. A rather misplaced reaction, given we were literally experiencing an apocalypse. With that said…

“I don’t have time to explain, but yes, I am looking for certain people. The names I just gave you are the most important for our continued survival, but I’m also looking for others who might help. So, while we have the time, can you tell me your names?”

Once again, the strict teacher looked like she wanted to object, but she was overridden.

“Toshimi Niki,” said the girl with the pigtails.

“Misuzu Ichijou,” her friend answered.

“Shizuka Marikawa,” the busty woman responded, before gesturing to her fellow teacher, “this is Kyoko Hayashi.”

How about that!

“Well, you’re in luck!” I grinned at them. “I’ll be doing my damndest to keep all four of you alive. Now, we just need to find others.”

“Oh?” A deep, sultry voice suddenly came from behind me. “Does that offer extend to me, too?”

Whirling around, I saw a woman with long, dark purple hair striding toward us while holding what looked like a stick. She had an intense look, made more so by the specks of blood dotting her uniform.

“Busujima-san!” came the exclamations from the others, thus confirming her identity.

“Saeko Busujima, I presume?” I asked her.

She quirked a brow at my question. “You presume correctly.”

I grinned. “Well, I might just pull this off, after all.”

With our group having swollen to six instead of three, getting around got a lot slower. Blink still saw a lot of uses, but it had to be done sparingly and with more planning. As expected, my free demonstrations of unnatural abilities were initially questioned, but I managed to pause that conversation until we were safe.

There were some grumblings about my prevarication, but it’s not like they could push. We still had zombies to worry about.

After multiple stories and hallways of nothing but the undead, it was clear that the vast majority of students and faculty were beyond saving. The only reason we weren’t already looking for a way out is Saeko’s confirmation that Rei Miyamoto and Saya Takagi were students at this school.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know who Alice Maresato was.

I could only hope that we’ll eventually find her. Otherwise, nothing I do here will make a damned bit of difference.

As for where we were going, Shizuka had the brilliant suggestion of going to the faculty office to retrieve the keys for a school bus. I could protect them while travelling on foot, but a large vehicle would definitely make things easier for us.

When we neared our destination, a piercing wail of despair made us freeze.

Saeko recovered first and, with a burst of speed, ran around the corner, wooden sword raised. I was tempted to rush after her, but I needed to keep the rest of my charges safe. So, I settled for urging them to hurry up.

By the time we caught up, the surprisingly skilled teenage swordswoman had just finished bashing the head of a rather chubby boy. He was a zombie, obviously, so that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was the other male student, whose neck was now missing a chunk.

Fresh blood still flowed from the wound, a sign that he had died mere moments ago. 

Two girls stood crouched behind Saeko, with one comforting the crying form of another. From the way the three were acting, it was clear that they knew the two students who had just met their untimely demise.

Shizuka and Kyoko immediately went to the girls while I provided ranged support for Saeko. As the group’s hastily designated melee fighter, I let her engage the closest enemies while I focused on those further beyond the hallway. She was deadly with that wooden weapon of hers, acting more like a whirlwind of precise but brutal strikes.

Witnessing such a baffling exhibition of skill as she finished off the last of the undead left me grateful that she was on our side. The cold hatred radiating from those dark, blue eyes sent shivers down my spine, too.

Not taking any chances, I covered every corpse with evenly-distributed layers of rocks. Better to be safe than sorry. Also, this might just be our only chance to give the dead some form of burial rights.

I might be in too much of a hurry to dwell on every single person I couldn’t save, but such a simple gesture cost me nothing.

With the immediate vicinity secured, I exchanged a nod with the capable teen before turning to the huddled forms of our other group members.

“...my fault,” the sobbing girl moaned, gripping locks of her copper hair and pulling them in self-flaggelation. “It’s all my fault.”

“Don’t say that, Rei-chan,” Shizuka said, prying her hands apart. “None of this is your fault. You’re a victim as much as Kohta-kun and Takashi-kun were. You and Saya-chan did well to survive until we could find you.”

The nurse was right, but it didn’t seem to matter. “But he – he saved me and I – and now…”

I was quite torn, to be honest. On the one hand, I seem to have found most of the major female characters I’m supposed to protect. On the other hand, there was still Alice missing, and every second wasted could be a second that would lead to her death. And by extension, ours.

Giving her time to grieve would have been the decent thing to do, but just didn’t have that luxury.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to see Saeko looking at me with measuring eyes. She likely had some inkling of my urgency. I didn’t exactly try to obscure my objectives. At the same time, her stare was encouraging patience.

So, with great difficulty, I restrained myself from forcing the issue.

Unfortunately, the break provided who I now know as Saya Takagi the opportunity to grill me on my little display of cantrip badassery.

“Who are you and what the hell was that?!” she bluntly demanded, pointing at the physical evidence of our fight, glasses glinting and pink hair fluttering in her agitation.

“Name’s Caleb,” I answered just as curtly. “And you should keep any questions to yourself until we’re safe.”

“I most certainly will –”

“Kid,” I cut her off. “There’s a time and place for everything. A zombie-infested school is not a suitable venue for long and complex conversations. Thinking otherwise will get us killed.”

Thankfully, she was smart enough to realize that I was right. That didn’t stop her from glowering at me, though.

Five minutes later, Rei Miyamoto was stable enough to be led around by Shizuka. She wasn’t calm, by any means, but she was functional enough to walk. That’s enough for now.

In comparison to everything that’s happened since I was sent to this world, getting the school bus key was rather tame.

There were still roaming undead to deal with, but Saeko’s presence made that much easier. Dropping tons of compacted balls of dirt might be the easy solution, but it wasn’t always the wisest. Mostly because doing so tended to make traversal difficult for most of our group.

After all, the rocks stuck around as I couldn’t make them disappear. So, it turned the smooth concrete floors of the hallways into uneven paths.

Despite these difficulties, we managed to secure our transport with minimal issues. More importantly, once we were out in the open, I could cut loose. By the time we reached the bus, all resistance had been buried.

Once inside, Shizuka had to take the wheel.

I could have done it, and so could Kyoko. But the nurse was apparently the more experienced driver of the two, and I was needed for a very important task. Namely, scouting. 

With darkness approaching, we needed to find a place to spend the night. There were a few suggestions, but we ultimately decided to go with an apartment that belonged to one of Shizuka’s friends, simply because it was the closest.

And the only reason the objections stopped was my promise of finally answering their questions.

There was no denying that my interest in keeping this specific group of people alive was strange, particularly in light of my impossible abilities. I certainly had no problem using that incentive to get my way.

So, with the blonde carefully maneuvering around road impediments that ranged from flaming wreckages to more groups of undead, I decided to take full advantage of my ability to move unhindered.

Rooftops were my preferred landing targets. Walls and power poles could have worked, if I had any confidence in my nonexistent acrobatic skills. Flat surfaces were simply safer.

From time to time, I would warn Shizuka of obstacles or remove them if possible. In the case of zombie hordes, I would basically create loud noises to move them out of the way after confirming which routes the bus would be taking. 

Incidentally, that’s how I found out how sensitive they were to sound. As it turns out, they had terrible eyesight, but even the thuds of a few pebbles was enough to get their attention. I’ll have to watch out for that.

As I should have expected, however, reanimated corpses won’t be our only problems.

Several blocks ahead of the group, I spotted bikers carelessly making a lot of ruckus by driving down streets while revving their engines. Even then, I wouldn’t have paid them much attention had I not seen one of them swing a pipe at someone who very much wasn’t undead.

I knew this because, just before the impact, I heard the man yell out and beg for his life.

The callousness of the murder froze the blood in my veins, but the ensuing laughter instantly made it boil. I wasn’t sure if the resulting massacre by way of a rocky avalanche was really my decision or merely due to loss of control.

Either way, the threat was removed. I can examine my rationalizations later.

And is that a baseball bat, I see?

Blinking to one of the smushed bikers, I bent down and picked up a solid, wooden instrument. From the dents, I could tell that it had seen a lot of recent use. Even so, it was still intact.

Yeah, I can use this.

Slow as the bus may have been, it eventually reached its destination before the sun had fully set. It was inevitable that it had to drive over beds of rock as a result of my attempt at clearing the way, but it was better than getting bogged down by constant detours.

And, if my actions helped several more survivors escape, then that was just a happy coincidence. The mission’s main objectives might be my biggest concern, but that didn’t mean they were my only concern. Besides, I still had another person to find. It stands to reason that helping out as many people as possible could also increase the chances of keeping the last name on my list alive.

Observing the gathered crowd of people around Shizuka’s neighborhood, I might have overdone it.

Then again, humans tend to congregate to find safety in numbers. It’s practically a primal need, along with finding shelter and food. Now, I can add supernatural defenses as another force that attracts dependence among the desperate.

“Please! You have to help us!” a young mother begged while clutching a toddler to her ample chest.

“Tell them to let us in!” a man in a torn suit demanded.

“You’re going to save us, right?” a girl who could be in her twenties pleaded.

Welp, this is what I get for playing the hero.

Over the course of acting as scout, guide, and advanced guard for our group, I also took the opportunity to practice my abilities. They may be incredibly useful, but I still noted my lack of finesse and control.

So, I took to playing around with Conjur Rocks and Blink. 

For the former, I tried more creative ways to stop, redirect, distract, delay, or inconvenience the undead. Placing piles just high enough to trip them is one example. I also practiced throwing rocks with enough precision to achieve headshots, more often than not.

I’ve also been popping behind lone zombies with Blink and bashing their heads in with my newly acquired bat before instantly popping away. The execution got smoother after the first few times. And as my confidence built up, more and more ideas started flowing into my head.

Of course, I knew that my antics would draw attention. What I didn’t expect, but should have, was to become the object of salvation for those I saved.

I could only thank whatever god existed that the girls were already inside Shizuka’s apartment before things really got heated.

This did leave me holding the bag, as it were, while facing down a mob of scared and angry people. And nothing bad ever happens in these kinds of situations, right? Of course, not! That’s why I was standing on the roof of the bus instead of street-level, getting ready to Blink away in case things got hairy.

Well, hairier.

Which is exactly what will happen if I don’t find a way to calm things down.

I may have cleared the block of the visible zombie infestations, but genre conventions dictate that there will always be more just out of sight. This was a residential area, after all. I wasn’t about to bet that there weren’t undead trapped indoors, just waiting for the next idiot to bumble their way into their waiting grasp.

“Quiet!” I barked just loud enough to be heard over the crowd, making sure to inject plenty of menace into my voice. Getting them to settle was easily achieved because I quite literally look like a murder hobo, complete with a bloody bat and the wild look of a mental asylum escapee. “You’re ringing the dinnerbell every time you open your mouths.”

I waited a few heartbeats to make sure the gathering of a few dozen or so kept a hold of themselves before continuing. “Now, first, I’m going to block the paths leading to this block. This will at least keep these streets clear. There also appear to be some empty residences here. I will get them open, and let you inside. I’m not sure what’ll happen now, but at least for tonight, you’ll have safety. But if any of you puts the rest at risk with your complaints, I will teleport you right into the middle of the biggest horde I can find. Am I clear?”

Agreements came in nods, ranging from relieved to grudging. I tried to keep track of those of the latter, already expecting them to make trouble.

With the mob no longer clucking like overly excited chickens, I got to work. Piling rocks over the three main entryways to this residential area was easy enough. Opening locked gates also didn’t pose much of an issue.

Making sure that the empty houses and apartments were safe took a little longer, since I had to find windows or balconies that led inside. And, from there, I had to cautiously go room by room. The whole process would’ve gone a lot faster if I didn’t have to find enough shelter for separate groups based on familiarity, gender, and age.

I had no delusions about the consequences of mixing vulnerable women and girls with emotionally unstable men and boys.

All in all, by the time the last of my accidental flock were given their own places of sanctuary, it was well-past seven in the evening, and I was bushed. Tired and irritable as I was, though, satisfaction still swelled in my chest.

Particularly as a little girl holding a puppy thanked me for helping her and her father.

“You’re welcome sweetie,” I told her with the best smile I could manage. “Be sure to listen to your dad, okay?” I added as I glanced at the nervous man standing behind her.

“‘Kay…” she mumbled with a yawn. “G’night mister hero!”

“All right, come on now, Alice. I’m sure he needs to rest, too.” The father started leading her away before I got his attention.

“Sorry,” I blurted out before I could really think about it, “but can you tell me your names? I’m Caleb. In all the commotion, I forgot to introduce myself.” I finished hastily.

“I’m Alice!” the girl volunteered without hesitation, beaming.

Her dad chuckled fondly. “I’m Takeru Maresato. Thank you again for helping my daughter and I.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said while hiding my surprise. “I’m just glad you’re both safe.”

And I certainly was. It seems my little gambit of proactively protecting survivors actually paid off!

We parted ways after that, with me heading toward Shizuka’s apartment with sore feet and aching muscles. The entire day had been non-stop action, and I could already feel an adrenaline crash coming.

Despite my body wanting nothing more than to lie down and rest, the surge of triumph buoyed my spirit enough to put sleep off for a little longer. At least until I could check on our group.

My tiny well of energy was utterly used up, however, when I finally got inside.

“Would anyone care to explain the half nudity?” I asked dully at the group of women in various states of undress.

Their modesty protected only by towels, aprons, and bathrobes that struggled valiantly to contain their unnaturally voluptuous curves.

Chapter 3

Staring at myself in the bathroom mirror, I couldn’t help the dual contradictions of recognition and unfamiliarity within my brown eyes. Instead of the wild tangle of a thick beard, my face was now smooth and bare. The chance to shave was just too good to pass up, even if it seemed like a mundane concern in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Months living in the streets, sleeping on a pile of cardboard, with no regular access to showers, have made the simple things in life worth treasuring.

Sinking into the bathtub had been a transcendental experience, causing an involuntary moan of pleasure to escape my lips, the hot water washing away muscle fatigue and stress. Of course, I wasn’t inconsiderate enough to submerge myself while filthy, so I only did so after a thorough scrubbing.

And now, after so long, I felt human again.

Looking away from my face, I examined my shoulders, chest, and everything below. Suffice it to say, being homeless had not done my body any favors.

I still retained a wiry form, muscles built over years of struggle being rather more resilient than what one would get from going to the gym. But there was no denying that I lost a lot of weight. Combined with my height of six feet, four inches, I looked like a gaunt beanpole.

Shaking my head of depressing thoughts, I finally regarded the most valuable thing that Shizuka had given me: a toothbrush.

Despite my lack of a home, I did my best to maintain good dental hygiene. But the longer my hobo state went on, the more the practice was replaced by bigger problems like food and warmth.

So it was with particular satisfaction that I savoured the way the bristles scoured my mouth of all the nasty things that built up. Once that was done, I also used the floss made available to me, before finishing the ritual with a generous swishing and swirling of mouthwash.

The residual stinging might have been unpleasant, but I revelled in the feeling of cleanliness, all the same.

Nodding in happiness, I proceeded to dry myself with a towel before wrapping it around my waist. I would have preferred to get dressed right away, but that simply wasn’t possible at the moment.

Shizuka had no men’s clothes to lend me, so she offered to wash and dry the grimy outfit I had been using. I protested at first, seeing no need for such a luxury given what we were already facing, but she insisted. More importantly, she argued that everyone else had taken her up on her offer.

I had to close my eyes in frustration upon learning the reason behind their ridiculous states of immodesty.

Frankly speaking, I understood the inherent need to feel clean after everything they went through today. But couldn’t they have taken turns? What exactly was the logic for every single one of them to put themselves in such vulnerable conditions at the same time?

Kyoko and Saeko disappointed me the most. They seemed like level-headed women, which should have made them reasonable counters to Shizuka’s seeming flakiness and the immaturity of the rest.

But, noooo…

Both of them are now walking around the apartment in just their underwear, with towel and apron basically acting like polite walls of fiction.

Weren’t Japanese women supposed to be a lot more reserved than this? 

I caught myself before I spiralled again. I’d already decided to focus on more important things than people’s bodily autonomy and irrational choices. They want to parade themselves so brazenly? Fine.

All I need to do is wait for my clothes to dry, get dressed, and secure the apartment.

When living on the streets, you learn to guard your shelter quickly. The perpetual lack of safety makes paranoia a healthy state of mind, and I wasn’t about to slack on that front with zombies and potentially crazed survivors in the mix.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I nearly ran into Shizuka. More specifically, I nearly bumped my chest into her considerable assets as she stood there with a raised hand, obviously preparing to knock.

Her surprise took longer than mine to wear off, so I decided to speak up first. “Can I help you, Shizuka?”

That snapped her out of her daze. “Oh! I just wanted to check on you. You know, make sure you had everything you needed in there, and stuff.” As she babbled, her eyes roamed over my form, dustings of red appearing on her cheeks.

“I’m fine,” I interrupted her ogling, causing our eyes to meet. “Thank you for lending me your bathroom. The amenities were fantastic, and I really appreciate your consideration.”

“You’re welcome!” she squeaked. “It’s, um, it’s the least I could do to repay our savior.”

Unwilling to prolong the awkwardness, I used an effective distraction. “Can you tell the others that I’ll be answering their questions in a bit? Would the living room work better for that or the kitchen?”

“The, um, the living room, yes,” she confirmed in a flustered manner. “Definitely the living room.”

I gave her a smile. “Then, please let them know that I’ll be joining everyone shortly. Can you point me to the room I’ll be using for the night?”

“Ah! Yes, of course, please follow me.” Shizuka led me to a room several doors from the bathroom, looking rather unbalanced. “This is Rika’s bedroom. She’s away right now, but I’m sure she won’t mind you using it.”

My words of gratitude were swiftly replaced by a one-word question. “Rika?”

“Hmm?” Shizuka turned to me with an air of incomprehension.

I smothered the urge to snap at the ditzy blonde. “You said Rika. Is she a sister? Roommate? Lover?”

That last part actually made her laugh. “No!” she denied, giggling all the while. “She’s my friend. Lover! That’s – that’s – oh, she’s going to love that!”

Keeping myself on track was rather difficult, as Shizuka’s laughter actually caused me to smile. The woman’s mirth was dangerously infectious. “Her last name wouldn’t happen to be Minami, would it?”

She gaped at me in shock. “How do you know?”

“I’ll tell you along with the others,” I said. “For now, just let me settle in. This shouldn’t take long.”

Nodding reluctantly, she left me alone in the room of what I immediately tagged as a militaristic occupant. There was a chasm between ordinary cleanliness and the crisp, disciplined signs of a soldier’s approach to keeping a room inspection-ready.

I should know, given that I once shared an apartment with a veteran who just came back from a tour of duty. Great guy, but rigid and didn’t tolerate sloppiness. Too bad he didn’t come back after signing up for his last tour.

Whoever this Rika person was, she probably had training, at the very least.

Then, my eyes fell on the pair of heavy-duty lockers placed not far from the door. Almost identical to what my former roommate had.

“No fucking way,” I breathed in disbelief. 

Approaching the matte-black storage equipment bolted right into the wall, I examined the sturdy doors. If these were anything like the ones I knew, they would be locked tight. Upon trying to open one of them, I was proven right. The door wouldn’t budge.

I stared at the frustrating obstacles calmly, knowing full well that anger wouldn’t serve me in this situation.

Prying them open is an option, but not one I would rather have to do. It would be noisy, for starters, and wouldn’t guarantee success. I could also look for the keys, but something told me that this Rika chick wouldn’t be so careless as to leave them lying around.

Can I use Conjure Rocks? Nah, too messy, and could potentially damage whatever’s inside. Then something came to me that I didn’t really think too much about for the whole day. 

Blink allowed me to teleport with my clothes, other people, and my bat. Clearly, I can make exceptions as to what I can and can’t bring with me. Otherwise, I’d either end up naked every time I popped from one place to another, or I’d pull whatever I was in physical contact with.

And guess what I’d been in contact with the most? The ground.

Considering that I hadn’t been bringing a chunk of earth, concrete, or metal whenever I Blinked, there has to be some form of subconscious filter involved. One that I have been using without even thinking about it.

To test this theory, I approached a bedside table with a drawer.

Pulling it out, I confirmed that it wasn’t locked. Pushing it back in, I maintained contact with the knob while focusing on teleporting a few feet away while bringing just the drawer. I had half a second to celebrate before the heavy contents of the shelf forced me to drop it. 

As a consequence, I was now hopping on one leg while holding the other, and trying to muffle my swearing at the same time.

It would seem that I wasn’t completely successful at keeping the noise down, however, as several footsteps came thundering towards me. Too late, I realized that I didn’t even close the door, and an apron-clad Saeko came rushing in, followed by an alarmed Saya.

“Caleb! Are you –” The swordswoman froze, and the same went for the pink-haired brat.

“I’m all right,” I forced through gritted teeth. “Just did something stupid.” 

When they didn’t respond to my reassurance, I glanced over to see both girls rooted in place, and their faces looking really red. Following where their wide eyes were staring, I belatedly realized that my vigorous, one-legged dance had caused my towel to fall on the floor.

So, now, I was well and truly naked in front of two teenage girls.

Okay, this is an unfortunate turn of events, but I can still salvage this. I just need to.

“What’s going on? What happened? Is Caleb –”

Okay, so Shizuka has now joined my stunned audience of two. I can still –

“Stop blocking the way! Shizuka-sensei, has he –”

“Did something happen to Caleb? Oh, my!”

“What’s everyone looking aaaaa…”

…

…

…

Okay, it’s just Kyoko, Toshimi, and Misuzu. I can still –

“Daddy, look! It’s mister hero!”

“Nice ass, mister hero!”

“Are you putting on a show, mister hero?”

Slowly turning to the side, I saw several of the people I saved looking out their windows from across the street. As for why they could even see me…

“Why is the balcony door open?” I asked dully to no one in particular.

Mostly because I was now just asking for the heck of it. It wasn’t like I could salvage my image after this.

Sipping on a cup of fragrant tea with my eyes closed, I sat on a chair that I dragged from the kitchen while everyone else used the living room furniture. The decision to voluntarily block my vision was for two reasons.

One, I was organizing my thoughts to prevent misunderstandings… And yeah, I was also trying my best to forget the last few minutes.

Two, I needed to shore up my resolve so that I could ignore the copious amount of skin on display by the scantily clad women within touching distance. A task that my supposed unbreakable Will Power was having an astonishingly difficult time with.

I was covered up, once more. Only, instead of contenting myself with a towel, I wrapped a bedsheet around my body after I’d expelled everyone from the room and closed the balcony door. The hoots of disappointment from the voyeurs across the street were thoroughly ignored.

As a result, I looked like a Roman or Greek larper.

“How’s the tea, Caleb-san?” Shizuka asked.

“It’s quite refreshing,” I said as I opened my eyes to give the blonde a grateful look. “Thank you, Shizuka.”

The resulting blush went unremarked, and I proceeded to scan the rest of our small troupe, instead.

“I know you want answers,” I began while keeping eye contact with the attendees, “and you have questions. Trust between us is still shaky, since you don’t know me and I don’t know you. We were thrown together by circumstances beyond our control, and now we have no choice but to rely on each other in order to survive.”

I paused, expecting someone to interrupt me. Kyoko and Saya looked the most ready to speak up, but they kept quiet. So, I must have earned at least some measure of credibility.

“Before we begin, however, you need to understand something.” I really wish we were all clothed more appropriately. It was hard to be serious in a toga. “I likely won’t have all the answers you’re looking for. Despite everything you’ve seen me do today, my information and understanding of the situation are extremely limited. I’ll try to be as candid as possible, but if I say I don’t know something, then that means I literally do not know.”

“We understand, Caleb-san.” That came from Saeko, her earnest and sincere voice in stark contrast with her current outfit.

“As she said,” Shizuka chimed in. “We won’t hold it against you if you can’t answer some things.”

Toshimi and Misuzu added their reassurance, but Kyoko and Saya took much longer to do the same. Rei was still catatonic, so she stayed silent.

Of course, I knew better than to take them at their word. Promises are easily broken when put under extreme stress. And what was the end of the world but extremely stressful? No, the disclaimer was intended to blunt whatever complaints came my way, not to disarm them entirely.

With that being the case, I simply nodded at their response. “Thank you. But I’ve delayed long enough, and we still need to sleep. Would you prefer I tell you everything from my side and you ask for clarifications once I’m done? Or do you want me to answer your questions one by one?”

They started debating amongst themselves, which is exactly what I was going for.

Regardless of my mission to keep these women alive, I couldn’t for a single moment believe that we would all get along. We had two members with pushy personalities, one who I’d already seen take out zombies with cold efficiency, a nurse with nary a serious thought in her head, and a pair of normal teens who seemed content with going with the flow.

Of all of them, I worried about those last two the most. Sheep can be easily turned into traitors, after all. Charismatic tyrants have long relied on these types of people to enforce their rule.

How easy would it be for a forked tongue to turn desperate and hopeless girls into unthinking zealots?

As for Rei, I’m still withholding judgment. I simply didn’t know enough about her to make a decision, one way or another. So far, she’d been as unresponsive as a metaphorical zombie. The qualification is important because the real zombies we’ve faced respond like feral cats.

When the girls finally came to an agreement, I was asked to relay what I knew, and they would ask questions based on what I shared. I asked if they were sure, paying close attention to Kyoko and Saya, but the pink-haired diva merely gave an impatient command.

“Just get on with it, already!”

Pushing any further would net me nothing, so I launched into a sanitized version of how this whole mess started. I shared my previous state of homelessness, the offer, the strange circumstances behind the so-called Cosmic Randomizer, and the mission I was given.

I purposefully left a few details out, such as the signs that this was most likely a fictional setting. ‘Highschool of the Dead’ was clearly some kind of title. Though, for what, I didn’t know. 

Naturally, I didn’t bring up who was considered a major or minor character. That would have simply caused strife. Instead, I framed my objectives based on how they affected our chances of survival, from most essential to least. It might be a cold way to rank people, but at least it didn’t come with existential dread.

Then I finished up by briefing them on everything I learned on the way here. They need to be equipped with the right information so they won’t be entirely dependent on me. Despite my advantages, I was only one person.

Unsurprisingly, the questions came hot and fast once I was done.

“You’re from the future?!”

“AI is taking over the world?!”

“How am I less important than Shizuka?!”

That last one came from Kyoko, who unmistakably left out the honorific while referring to her fellow teacher.

“Yes, yes, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Saya shrieked. “My mother is certainly more important than these bimbos, and you’re saying she’s less of a priority?”

“And your mother is…?”

“Yuriko Takagi!”

“Oh, that makes sense. You share names. I should’ve caught that.”

“Should’ve – Are you serious?!”

I shrugged in the face of her growing ire. “I don’t know what to tell you. Someone else decided the list’s order of importance. All I’m trying to do is keep as many of you alive as I can.”

“But if you had to choose who to save between my mother and me, you’d choose me?” she pressed, looking incensed.

“Yup,” I told her bluntly. “If it comes down to it, I’ll always choose you.”

She flushed, to my utter confusion. What the hell is the deal with this kid?

“Will you save Rika, too, Caleb-san?” Shizuka asked earnestly, clasping her hands and leaning forward on the couch. The movement caused her two bulging mountains of flesh to nearly spill out of her robes.

“That’s the plan,” I told her bluntly. “And please lean back, Shizuka. If you can fix your clothes, I would appreciate that, too.”

While the blonde did as I asked, turning scarlet as she did, Saeko finally asked a pertinent question.

“Is this so-called Cosmic Randomizer responsible for your fluency in Japanese?”

I shot her an appreciative grin. “How’d you know?”

“You’re a foreigner who can listen to, speak, and read our language like a native,” she said shrewdly. “Nothing in the information you just shared explained that.”

My grin grew wider. “I’m starting to understand why you’re on the priority list, Saeko.” 

That seemed to finally elicit some emotion from the girl, as she looked away in embarrassment. Huh. Even the teenage ice queen is susceptible to compliments, it seems. 

“The truth is, I don’t know,” I confessed after a beat. “Nothing about a translation package was mentioned when I was sent here, but it’s a pretty logical guess.”

Saeko could only nod at my answer.

“Um, Caleb-san?”

“Yes, Toshimi?”

The girl pursed her lips at my response. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with Japan. But, just in case, you should know that we only use first names among family, friends, and… and, um, l-lovers.”

I blinked at her stuttering. “Say what?”

“She’s saying that you’re being overly familiar with us,” Kyoko huffed. The woman’s borrowed robes were absolutely straining to contain her chest. Since the one Shizuka wore seemed to fit her just fine, was Kyoko wearing Rika’s robes?

The sharp admonishment caused me to pause for a moment. I opened my mouth, but closed it at the revelation. Dimly, I noted that there was an argument going on, but it became background noise as I considered how important this tidbit really was.

And my conclusion was… not very.

“Yeah, I don’t really care about that,” I finally said, causing the brewing hissing match to fizzle out as all of them bar Rei regarded me with astonishment. “Right now, my biggest concern is keeping all of you alive until the end of the week. Anything beyond that will have to take a backseat, because I’ll be far too busy to bother.”

“That’s when we can go to another world, right?” Misuzu asked.

“If I do my job,” I hedged, “then, yeah. I know it’s hard to believe,” Saya and Kyoko scoffed, “but those are the facts as I know them. And paraphrasing a certain sleazy douche, my bag of tricks should have made it clear that I’m not just talking out of my ass. I could probably bury this entire city in rocks. Is access to another world really so hard to believe in comparison?”

“And we can come with you?” Shizuka cut in before anyone else could express their doubts, her wide eyes looking imploringly at me.

Her question hit the hardest, thus far. Raising a hand to indicate that I needed a moment, I brought up the interface and focused on the relevant section.

[World: Highschool of the Dead]

[The world is about to be overrun by zombies, and your only chance of survival is to team up with some Grade-A hotties. Be careful, though, as a single bite from the undead is guaranteed to be fatal unless you have a way to remove the infection. Stay alive for a week with as many surviving waifus as possible, and you’ll be granted salvation! Let even one of them die, and you’ll burn in the fires of perdition!]

[Main Mission Objective: Keep yourself and major female characters safe until the allotted time]

[Major Female Characters: Saeko Busujima, Rei Miyamoto, Saya Takagi, Shizuka Marikawa, and Alice Maresato]

[Rewards: One-time access to a new world, 5 Pulls, 5 Investment points, 5,000 Shop credits] 

I tried nudging the texts to elaborate on whether or not I could bring others with me when I leave, but nothing happened. The words simply hung there, silent to my request for answers.

This isn’t the first time I tried, of course.

While soaking in the tub, I brought out the interface to check on my progress. No matter what I tried, even speaking out loud, no more details were forthcoming. So, this could either mean that the answer was obvious or The Cosmic Randomizer was yanking my chain again.

Sighing, I met Shizuka’s hopeful eyes with my own resigned look. “I’m not sure.” My answer caused a ripple of panic among the group before stilling when I spoke again. “But, no matter what happens, I won’t leave you in the lurch.”

Regarding every face in front of me with consideration, I took in the women who have become my charges. I didn’t even know these people before I came here, but they were now my responsibility. This extended to others I’ve already saved, to a lesser degree.

“I don’t know how much of this world can still be saved, or if it can be saved at all. I don’t know if you can come with me or not. And that’s supposing that I’ll even succeed in protecting all of you, which isn’t guaranteed. There are just too many uncertainties.”

And wasn’t that just annoying? Mission briefings were supposed to be highly detailed and extremely specific. A few more words for the Rewards section wouldn’t have made a difference!

“I can only tell you that I’ll do my best, Shizuka. If I can’t bring you with me – if I have to leave even a single one of you behind – then I won’t go either.”

Far from looking comforted or doubtful, however, the blonde became a stuttering, fidgeting mess. I glanced at Saeko for answers, but she seemed to have found the wall incredibly fascinating.

Confused, I looked to the others, but none of them would meet my gaze.

What the hell was going on?

Chapter 4

With the Q&A having fizzled out due to reasons none of the girls would explain to me, someone suggested checking the emergency broadcasts for new developments. The change was so abrupt that I briefly entertained a wild idea.

Could it be…? Nah!

I’m essentially a bum. We were in a life-or-death situation. Their world was ending. Attraction would be the last thing on their minds.

My musings on the matter, however, were swiftly interrupted by what the female reporter was saying through Shizuka’s TV. Or, rather, what she was relaying with regard to the events occurring on a bridge.

It would appear that a crowd of conspiracy theorists has gathered to force the police to open the bridge, but the cops weren’t budging. Then, from out of nowhere, one police officer shot one of the protesters. A move caught on camera and being narrated by the increasingly shrill reporter.

From the looks of it, things were becoming increasingly out of control.

The coverage also showed more and more people getting devoured by the undead, with parents shielding children, toddlers, and even infants. It was a macabre sight that finally pushed me to my feet.

“Caleb-san?” Shizuka asked, noticing me standing up.

“Where’s that bridge?” I asked her.

She didn’t have a chance to respond before Saya interjected. “You’re not seriously going there, are you?”

“I’m not letting those kids die.” My tone brooked no argument. “Now, where is that bridge?”

“It’s a few blocks northwest,” Saeko’s steady voice answered. “You can see it from the balcony.”

Nodding at her in thanks, I went to prepare, ignoring the fearful stares sent my way. In just a minute, I had my bat and boots. Unfortunately, my clothes were still wet, so I’ll be doing this incredibly stupid and impulsive move in just bedsheets.

Before anyone could dissuade me, I made my way to the balcony. Turning around, I saw the worried faces of my group, but I couldn’t wait anymore.

“Keep them safe,” I say to Saeko before turning to the rest. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

Without another word, I performed several Blinks in rapid succession. The scenery blurred as I made my way to the bridge, my destination conveniently lit up with high-powered emergency lamps.

I was still several blocks away when I spotted more survivors getting surrounded by zombies.

Time was short, so I couldn’t afford finesse. As a result, several new mounds of loose rock were dropped along the path I took to reach my target location. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it should at least give those people a chance to get away.

When I finally arrived, the undead vastly outnumbered the living.

Using the roofs of stranded vehicles, I made my way forward at top speeds and conjured rocks along the way with abandon, leaving a rippling thunder of rockslides in my wake. The distinctive cracks of gunfire filled the night, creating a grisly symphony with the moans of the dead.

Just as I appeared between the still-living half of the bridge’s occupants, I created a barrier twice my height in front of me. The move was sudden and unexpected enough that the cops stopped firing to gape at this phenomenon.

The new wall only stopped the majority of the horde, though, and there were plenty more on my side of the divide.

Not wasting time, I employed my new method of popping and bashing, focusing on the zombies closest to the most vulnerable. Each hit sent a jarring rattle through my arms, causing waves of pain to shoot through my already-aching wrist, arms, and shoulder.

The squelch of pulped craniums, a sound I’d been hearing for most of the day, still made me want to throw up. And this was before factoring in the smell and the slimy feeling of coagulated blood.

Regardless of the revolting splash of decaying remains, however, I got to work with a single-minded resolve until there were no more rotting heads to smash.

I only became aware of my surroundings again when the last of the biters lay unmoving.

Breathing like a wounded hippo and absolutely covered in blood, brain matter, and bone splinters from head to toe, I turned to the people I came here to save. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see them looking at me with paralyzing terror.

None of the younger ones were looking my way, eyes covered by horrified parents or accompanying adults. Those who did look at me were violently shivering where they stood, and in the silent aftermath of my zombie massacre, I could almost hear their bones clicking together.

Beyond them, I made eye contact with the very police officer who shot a protester.

I was in front of him with no warning, and, stunned as he was, my right cross landed without giving him the chance to block or dodge. Feeling his nose crumple gave me enough satisfaction that I could ignore how it worsened the grinding ache in my wrist.

Unsurprisingly, his armed colleagues trained their guns on me, but not a single one fired, either too intimidated to act or waiting for orders.

Neither reason mattered. Looking down on the dazed asshole clutching his bleeding face, disgust roiled in my gut. 

So, I gave him the only warning he deserved. “Let the children through.” My voice was rough and grating, reminding me that I had already pushed my body to its limit today. “Or I’ll bury you alive.”

Message delivered, I Blinked to the top of my conjured wall and made my way back as fast as possible.

Halfway there, I groaned as one consequence of my actions registered in my exhausted mind. 

I’ll have to take another bath.

Saeko Busujima POV

She was enthralled.

Watching events unfold on live TV, Saeko couldn’t look away at the carnage perpetrated by the same man who saved all of their lives. The savagery. The brutality. The sheer viciousness on display.

It was more than enough to get her heart palpitating wildly.

“That idiot,” the Takagi girl growled under her breath, but Saeko ignored her.

She’s been doing that since Caleb left ten minutes ago. A constant stream of invectives that sounded harsh and cruel, on the surface, but which the swordswoman could tell hid her worry. Nobody in their group was fooled, and all of them could relate.

Even Hayashi-sensei couldn’t hide her distress at the thought that their potential lifeline was putting his own body at risk, even if it was for a good cause.

“He’s gonna get himself shot!” Takagi hissed again, but this time, it would seem that Toshimi Niki had gotten tired of her unwanted commentary.

“Would you stop that!”

“Excuse me?!”

“It’s like you want Caleb-san to get killed!” Niki snapped.

“Why would I want that?!” Takagi shot back.

“Oh, please, Takagi!” Misuzu Ichijou spat, backing up her friend. “You haven’t exactly hidden how much you hate him. Goodness knows why he even bothered saving your ungrateful ass.”

As they were arguing, the subject of their heated discussion teleported from one undead to another in a mesmerizing dance of violence. A young boy was about to be eaten by a woman who might have been his mother. The bite never came, as its head disappeared, and the child suddenly vanished, only to reappear near the group closest to the police barrier.

Caleb didn’t stop for a moment, swiftly dispatching the ghoulish pursuers chasing after an older couple.

He did this again and again, heedless of how his body was becoming a sight fit for nightmares.

“I don’t hate him,” Takagi insisted. “What are you talking about?”

“Then you’re either willfully blind or ignorant of your own actions,” Ichijou sneered. “You’ve been riding his ass every chance you got.” She then looked at the woman sitting beside Shizuka-sensei on the adjacent couch. “You and Hayashi-sensei have been badmouthing him on the bus, even as he did everything to make sure we got here safely. What’s there to be confused about?”

“We weren’t badmouthing him, Ichijou-san.” The black-haired teacher was certainly quick to defend herself. “It’s only natural to be suspicious of a stranger, especially one who has seemingly supernatural powers.”

Saeko nearly tuned them out as Caleb performed a risky maneuver of winding up after every strike before teleporting to finish the move uninterrupted on five separate occasions. With her expert eyes, she could tell that the man was hardly an experienced fighter, but he certainly had an instinct for combat.

“He saved you!” Niki screamed. “He saved all of us! What does he have to do for you to stop treating him like scum?!”

“Niki-san,” Saeko finally cut in, voice low but dangerous. “Please keep your voice down. Remember what Caleb-san said about the dead’s hearing.”

Her reminder was enough to cow the girl, but she still glared angrily at Takagi and Hayashi-sensei.

“Let’s all stay calm, please.” Shizuka-sensei, sitting beside the silent Miyamoto, took the subsequent lull to speak up in her usual airy manner. “We’re all in this together. Caleb-san was sent here to help us, so let’s all get along.”

“That’s just it, though!” It seemed Takagi had more to say, though. “Why’re you all just taking him at his word? He could be lying!”

“Are you stupid?” Ichijou hissed. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the end of the world! You heard the broadcast. This is going on everywhere! What possible reason could Caleb-san have for lying about his mission?”

“Don’t call me stupid!” Takagi jumped to her feet, face twisted in outrage.

“Or what?!” Ichijou challenged, matching Takagi’s posture.

Everyone was now on their feet, with Shizuka-sensei trying to calm Ichijou and Niki down, while Hayashi-sensei did the same for the pink-haired hothead. Caleb entrusted the group’s safety to Saeko, so it fell to her to deflate the ballooning squabble. Fortunately, even with him away, the man still managed to give her the perfect distraction.

“Caleb-san just laid out a police officer,” she said loudly enough to be heard.

That did the trick. It was such an outrageous statement that it brought the group’s attention back to the TV.

“Isn’t that the one who shot that screaming conspiracy theorist?” Niki pointed out in stunned awe.

Escalating argument successfully diverted, Saeko watched as Caleb announced his ultimatum before vanishing.

“I – what – you saw that right?” the reporter lady demanded of whoever held the camera. “That couldn’t – did you catch everything? Tell me you caught everything!”

While the others retook their places in front of the TV, passionately discussing what they just saw, Saeko went to Caleb’s assigned room. Upon entry, she made her way to the balcony door. It didn’t take more than five minutes before blips of blue and white flashed from rooftop to rooftop.

After one final jump, the object of her fascination stood on the balcony, positively drenched in blood and viscera.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a raspy voice.

“Welcome back,” Saeko said, smiling gently, feeling her heart speed up.

“Ah, yeah, I’m – I’m back.” Swaying where he stood, Saeko could see the signs of extreme exhaustion.

“Leave your boots and sheet out there,” she instructed primly. “You’ll track blood in the room, otherwise.”

Under the crimson layer, she saw his hesitation. “I – you want me to get naked out here?”

Saeko gave him a wry smirk. “You’re not showing anyone anything you haven’t already.”

That drew a tired chuckle from Caleb. “I’m never living that down, am I?”

As he spoke, he set down his well-used blunt instrument and began undressing. Despite the burning desire to stay and watch the show, Saeko had enough self-control to resist.

“I’ll get a garbage bag,” she said, reluctantly turning away.

On the way to the kitchen, she met Shizuka-sensei. “Is he back?” the blonde nurse asked.

“Yes, but he’s currently occupied,” Saeko told her hastily. “Could I trouble you for a garbage bag, sensei? His clothes are filthy and need to be disposed of.”

The woman’s blue eyes lit up. “He could be injured! I should go –”

Saeko stepped in her way. “You can do that once he’s cleaned up, I think. The garbage bag is more important, sensei. He needs another bath.”

The kendo expert was then regarded with narrow-eyed suspicion, but she remained firm. After all, even if Caleb was oblivious to the various degrees of developing attachment among the women in their group, Saeko could see more clearly.

Shizuka-sensei eventually caved, but this was a momentary victory.

Horrible as the world’s current state may be, Saeko might have just found the one man who could truly understand and accept her. And she wouldn’t let him go without a fight.

Saeko shut the bathroom door and went to the kitchen. She needed to wash off the blood that stained her hands and arms. The discarded bedsheet and boots remained on the balcony, sealed inside plastic bags.

She had to enter the living room before she could reach her destination, though, and was thus intercepted by the others.

“How is he?” Niki asked, anxiety etched on her face, holding hands with Ichijou. “Was he hurt?”

She cast an annoyed glance at the only other person who knew of Caleb’s return. The ditzy woman just had to tell everyone, didn’t she?

Sighing, Saeko answered anyway. “We won’t know his condition until he’s done cleaning up. So, it’s best to be patient.”

“I should’ve seen him first,” Shizuka-sensei argued, following Saeko to the kitchen. “What if he was bitten?”

That drew a scoff as the teen reached the sink. “Caleb-san has been committed to protecting us since all of this began,” she reasoned while scrubbing her hands and arms with soap. “He wouldn’t risk coming back here if he were infected.”

“Assuming he even knew,” Hayashi-sensei countered, alerting Saeko to her presence. A glance back revealed that all of them, bar Takagi, had followed along. “He could have been bitten without noticing.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?!” Ichijou accused the woman.

Hayashi-sensei bristled. “I will not tolerate such disrespect from you, young lady! I’m only trying to keep you safe!”

“Safe?!” Niki snapped. “From the only person keeping us alive?!”

“If he’s a danger to us, then yes!”

“You’re going around in circles,” Saeko cut in with a sigh as she dried her hands on a hand towel. “Caleb-san shouldn’t take too long in the shower since he’s extremely tired. We’ll find out one way or the other. So, save your argument until you have something to actually argue about.”

“She’s right,” Shizuka-sensei chimed in. “How about we wait for him in the living room?”

As they filed out of the kitchen, Saeko saw Takagi frowning at the group while sitting beside Miyamoto. She clearly heard the raised voices, but was choosing to keep quiet, for the moment. Saeko could only be thankful for that.

“Any changes?” she asked the girl, nodding toward the TV.

“They’re letting people through the barricade,” Takagi flatly answered before sarcastically adding, “Military personnel have also arrived. The reporter said that they seem really interested in the mysterious teleporting man.”

Looking at the events unfolding on the screen, Saeko felt a sinking sensation in her belly. Men wearing fatigues and carrying rifles were securing the site and speaking with the survivors. Large, imposing vehicles with mounted weaponry had also joined the parked police cars.

“This is bad.”

Takagi smirked. “Oh, it most certainly is.”

“Why?” Niki looked between them in confusion. “Isn’t this a good thing? We might get actual soldiers to come and help us.”

“Because the idiot isn’t normal,” was Takagi’s blunt response. “With the world seemingly on the verge of armageddon, governments will try to find any solution they can get their hands on. They just got first-hand evidence of teleportation, not to mention his ridiculous ability to make rocks appear out of thin air. Mark my words, they’ll be scouring the city for him now.”

The girl’s orange eyes regarded the group with grim intensity. “They’ll probably let us go with him if he asks. But considering what he shared about his past and his mission, he likely won’t even consider it. His priorities and those of the various governments who’ll want to get their mitts on him will be diametrically opposed. And looking at how they’ve handled this whole mess, so far, I’m inclined to believe that they won’t have his best interest at heart.”

Saeko gave Takagi a reconsidering look. While she hadn’t been as plugged into the school gossip as most, she was aware of the bespectacled girl’s reputation as a genius. A reputation that seemed deserved.

“You’re being rather pessimistic, Takagi-san.” Hayashi-sensei apparently had a different opinion, sharing it with a troubled frown. “What we’re facing is unprecedented. The government’s anemic response to this emergency does not automatically mean that they are inept or that they have malevolent intent.”

Takagi answered with a scowl of her own. 

“Let’s not fool ourselves, sensei.” Her sharp rebuke drew gasps from everyone except Saeko and Miyamoto. Throughout the day, she and the woman had seemed to form a block that looked at Caleb with suspicion. “Let’s look at the facts as they are, shall we? One, we have a man with powers that defy the laws of reality. Two, said man was apparently sent here specifically for us through some magical means that make no sense. Three, even as we speak, the whole world is drowning in reanimated corpses, and no one seems to know how or why.”

Taken together, everything Takagi just said points to only one dismal conclusion. Given Hayashi-sensei’s silence, even she wasn’t blind to where this was going.

“And four,” Takagi continues, “in just a week, there will supposedly be a way out of this dying world. That it might only be accessible to one person is irrelevant. Whoever or whatever sent him here intended for him to find us, save us, and if my suspicion is correct, to bring us with him. Now, why would that be the case if there was even a sliver of a chance that the government can turn things around?” Fierce orange eyes pinned the group. “My guess? Someone, somewhere, knows this world is doomed, and they sent the only hope we have of actually escaping fates worse than death. It’s the only conclusion that fits.”

Silence dominated the living room. Everything that Takagi just said is nothing but conjecture, but they do make sense, even if there were still so many unanswered questions. Why send Caleb? Why save them, specifically?

If he only needed to survive for a week, there wouldn’t have been a need to include their lives as mission objectives. With his abilities, he could have easily escaped from the ravenous hordes, and his odds of coming out the other side would certainly be better if he didn’t need to worry about anyone else.

Yet, he has acted time and time again to protect the living, even to his own detriment.

Was all of this a test of some kind?

No matter how Saeko looked at it, his presence in this world was intrinsically tied to a select group’s continued survival, and only that group. If so, it would make sense that they were meant to go with Caleb once it’s time for him to leave.

Considering all the others he’s managed to protect, he might even be able to bring them too.

And if this were actually the case, it would mean Takagi was right. This world’s end was already guaranteed.

“If that’s what you think,” Ichijou piped up, “then why do you treat him like some creep?”

Eyebrows twitched under pink bangs. “Oh, I’m sorry, was I supposed to swoon at his mere presence, like you two seem so eager to do?” Both Ichijou and Niki flushed at the insinuation. “Several things can be true at the same time. He’s trying to help us, but I also didn’t know him, and he could still be lying. I hardly even trust my own parents! Why should he get special treatment?”

“She’s got you there,” an amused voice said.

All eyes turned to the source and found Caleb leaning against the entrance leading to the rooms and bathroom.

“How long have you been standing there?” asked a wide-eyed Takagi.

A sardonic smile crossed his lips. “Long enough to hear how you really feel, Princess.”

If Takagi’s face got any redder, Saeko was briefly concerned that the girl might actually combust.

Chapter 5

All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but I knew the girls had concerns, and it would be bad for team cohesion if I just blew them off. So, after scrubbing myself clean as best I could, I went straight to the living room. This time, I held the towel in a tight grip, intent on avoiding a repeat of the incident from earlier.

Shuffling through the hallway, I heard Saya’s voice, and from the sound of things, she’s got a pretty good grip on what’s going on.

There were really only so many ways a world suffering from a zombie apocalypse can go.

With the group so focused on the girl’s deductions, my presence went unnoticed, so I contented myself with simply listening in. It was certainly an eye-opening experience. Brilliant teens weren’t exactly unheard of, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined someone like Saya.

She’s supposed to be, what, sixteen? Seventeen? 

How could anyone that young take away so much from so little? It’s like watching someone build a giant sandcastle out of bread crumbs. She even noticed that I was holding a few things close to my chest, even if I never explicitly lied.

That’s a freaky brain she’s got.

When she finally got to the part about why she didn’t trust me, I finally decided to interject. Clearly, there was some friction in their dynamic that I wasn’t even aware of. Then again, I have been too busy keeping as many people alive as I can.

Seeing her complexion change to that of a boiled lobster, though, I couldn’t help but tease the precocious teen. For some reason, calling her Princess just felt right.

From her reaction, she didn’t share my opinion. “How dare – you can’t just – don’t call me that!”

“Calm down.” I rolled my eyes as I stepped into the living room. “If you don’t want to be called a Princess, then don’t act like one. Simple as that.”

Saya continued to sputter, but I already moved on. The chair I previously occupied sat empty, so I plopped my exhausted ass down. True to her profession, Shizuka immediately started checking me for injuries.

I could have told her that I was fine, but only children or the childish do that.

So I let her lift my arms, scan me for injuries, and even pat me down. I wasn’t sure why that was necessary, but she’s the health professional. One would think that a trained nurse wouldn’t blush so much while working on a patient, though. Well, patient analogue, in my case.

The rest watched her examining me with serious expressions, likely hoping that I wasn’t infected. Well, except for Saya and Toshimi, who kept hissing at each other.

“You’re fine,” Shizuka finally declared, prompting the audible release of held breaths. “Some bruising, muscle strain, and signs of fatigue. I recommend you get some sleep, so no more heroics tonight, mister.”

Her attempt at a stern look was more like a pout. I wisely didn’t point that out, though.

Instead, I gave her a grateful smile. “Yes, ma’am. I think I’ll do just that.” To my bewilderment, her pout became more pronounced, but I could barely keep my eyes open. So, I just stood up and wished everyone a good night.

I barely heard their replies as I stumbled to my assigned bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was blind, dead, and dumb to the world.

The nightmares started soon after that.

Waking up the next morning was rough. Not only was I practically dangling off the edge of the bed, likely due to the restless sleep I’d gotten, but my muscles were practically screaming. Pushing myself to an upright position was like doing a deadlift twice my weight without warming up first.

A mistake I have only ever made once, and never again.

In any case, aside from the monumental difficulty of convincing my body that it wasn’t falling apart, the morning went rather smoothly. With our clothes dry, everyone was finally covered up. My boots still needed cleaning, but it wasn’t something a judicious use of a hose couldn’t fix. Now, they were drying under the sun.

Breakfast was a simple affair as well, though it did reveal the need for going on a supply run. Suffice it to say, simply rocking up to a grocery store would be downright stupid.

“I’ll go scope out the nearby convenience stores,” I told the group after Saya brought up the matter. “It shouldn’t take long, and I can move much faster and more safely on my own.”

“And what are we supposed to do while you’re gone?” she demanded petulantly.

That got a raised brow out of me. “You stay here and rest. We’ve got six more days to go, and this block is safe enough. Once I get back, I’ll reinforce entryways, clear out or secure the areas I haven’t checked yet, and lead some of the gathered undead away.”

“We can’t just stay here,” Saya insisted. “What about our families? And don’t you have more people to find like my mother?” 

The reminder brought me up short. Not because I’d forgotten, but because I was still considering how exactly I’d go about it or how much I should really do. From the expectant looks sent my way, it was clear that the group members also wanted to check on their loved ones in the vain hope that they still lived.

I could just give it to them straight and say that it would be pointless. It’s been nearly 24 hours since the epidemic started, so the chances that they were still alive were slim to none.

That would be a bad idea, though.

“We also need to talk about the dangers your actions last night brought on our heads,” Kyoko grimly cut in. “Takagi-san brought up the possibility that the military will be looking for you, and in their desperation, they might force the issue if you refuse to cooperate.”

I winced. Yeah, I didn’t think about that before charging off. In hindsight, I should’ve known that the powers that be would be extremely interested in my abilities.

“Please,” a weak, wobbly voice began, and we all turned in shock at the source. “Please save our families.”

Rei sat beside Shizuka, with the nurse gently feeding the girl some cereal. I had expected her unresponsive state to last a few more days, if she ever came out of her catatonia at all. It seemed bringing up a subject close to her heart had finally brought back some semblance of agency.

“Please,” she said again, looking straight at me, even as she was wrapped up in Shizuka’s comforting embrace.

It spoke well of her inner strength that she could even bring herself to speak at all, given how blank and hollow her eyes still were. The tears streaming down her cheeks spoke of a broken girl who still found it in herself to try.

Looking over the others, I could see the unspoken pleas that echoed Rei’s supplication. Why they hadn’t brought it up until now, I can’t say. Yesterday had been pretty hectic, and we were too busy running for our lives.

Then a thought occurred to me. A thought that should’ve been obvious, given how the people of my time were practically plugged in 24/7.

“Don’t you guys have phones or something?” I asked. “Have you tried making calls?”

“Nobody’s answering,” Saeko answered to glum nods around the table. “We’ve tried both cellular services and landlines to call home or the police, but we either get busy tones or pre-recorded emergency messages.”

Well, shit. “I’m guessing you don’t have a radio, right, Shizuka?”

The blonde shook her head. “I’m afraid we don’t. Rika had one, but I only ever saw it on her when she went to work.”

“Well, what about the internet?”

“I don’t have a computer,” she said almost apologetically.

“Can’t you just use your smartphone?” I asked. Several flat looks were sent my way, making me wince. “Right, no smartphones yet.”

Being in the past was a pain. With so many avenues of communication unavailable to us, going to each location in person would be the only option. An extremely risky endeavor, given that I would have to bring at least one of them with me since I didn’t know where their families were.

Even with my ability to teleport, it wouldn’t be fast or efficient, either.

Looking up, I ask another question. “Still no new broadcast?”

After turning on the TV this morning, we only got a steady beep and multicolored bars, which meant no signal was coming in. We took turns keeping an eye on it, in case of new developments.

“No changes there,” Toshimi sighed.

Well, that does it. In a way, having such a narrow set of choices did make things simpler for us. Now, it was only a matter of planning them out to reduce the danger as much as possible.

Mind made up, I outlined my rough plan, hoping that they could help smooth it out. It was the right choice, since Saeko, Saya, and Kyoko all pointed out flaws I hadn’t taken into consideration. And while they didn’t like the order of priorities nor the scope of how much I was willing to do, everyone understood that even I had my limits.

Choice made, I put on my dried boots and stepped out of the apartment.

I already did a cursory check from the balcony right after I woke up to make sure that we weren’t drowning in reanimated corpses again. At the time, the streets were clear, except for a few of the people I saved yesterday. They sent me various degrees of acknowledgement, which I tiredly returned.

This time, I needed to do a shallow pass before checking nearby stores. It wouldn’t do to go on a supply run only to come back and find this place overrun. Complacency in this place leads to death.

Good thing I did, too, since it became clear that using walls of rocks to prevent passage at the main thoroughfares of this specific block proved inadequate. The dead didn’t even need to intentionally try to get over them. The sloped sides of the walls still allowed a few to bumble their way over.

Thankfully, they were too stupid to capitalize on their accidental access to a place that was supposed to be safe for survivors.

For this problem, I had two solutions. I could either make the walls bigger, which is the faster route, or I could make the sides sheer and straight, which would be slower. Both come with pros and cons, but deciding which one is best can come later.

Supplies first, better barricades later.

As for the undead… well, this is actually a good opportunity to test my abilities even further, even if I were in a hurry. So, with bat in hand, I popped behind one of the isolated zombies that managed to make it up the barrier.

I didn’t smash its head, though. No, I had a subtler approach in mind.

With the tip of the blunt tool, I touched the shoulder of the walking cadaver. Then, before it could react, I Blinked us ten meters outside the wall before quickly popping back to safety.

Other than looking around in a facsimile of confusion, the zombie just kept shambling along. Seeing the result put a smile on my face. The smile only widened as I got similar results with additional tests.

By the time the block was free of the dead once more, I was grinning like a lunatic. I didn’t even notice that a crowd of survivors had gathered to watch me. But this was just one set of experiments among many.

So, after giving them a cheeky wave, I jumped to a low rooftop and proceeded to one of the day’s main objectives.

Along the way, I also tried out one of the ideas that occurred to me as I was coming back from the bridge. It was simple enough, but could solve one of the challenges that came with teleporting within a set range.

So, after landing on the roof of what appeared to be a multi-storey car park, I started Blinking between two spots at progressively higher elevation. It was slow going, of course, as I had no desire to go splat by being overeager.

The result? I can apparently Blink midair and pop back to the ground with no problems.

Well, as long as I accounted for momentum, that is.

I could only stay afloat for a fraction of a second before I started falling. And while I was careful to only remain airborne for that long, the implications were clear. Newton’s laws of motion were entirely inviolable.

With one more consequence of haphazard teleportation added to the list, I proceeded to the closest convenience store in sight.

Surprisingly, it was left empty and fairly intact.

There were crashed cars and debris around it, but the glass walls were whole, and it even had lights. Then again, it was still fairly early, as apocalypses go. I don’t expect power to last even a week, given the state of things.

Popping through the door, the interior proved less pristine than I initially believed.

Bloodstains, scattered items, and fallen shelves were everywhere. If I didn’t have the ability to bypass obstacles, this trip would’ve been a lot more annoying. Even then, I still needed to be careful.

Just because I could easily escape doesn’t mean that I should invite trouble.

When I confirmed that the store was indeed free of zombies, I went behind the counter and took out some plastic bags. The girls had compiled a list of things we simply couldn’t do without, as well as a few items that they wanted, if doing so wasn’t too difficult.

These primarily included snacks, disposable underwear, feminine hygiene products, and toiletries.

With the exception of Shizuka and Saeko, prominent blushes came with the requests. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was a man, a stranger, or both. Not that I was going to comment on it. Maybe it’s because they were Japanese? Western women certainly had no problems sending their husbands or boyfriends to buy feminine products.

Whatever the reason, getting everything on the list didn’t prove too difficult. And within fifteen minutes, I had two shopping baskets full of items wrapped in plastic bags. Both were heavy, but I could still lift them without too much difficulty.

Before leaving, I checked if the coast was clear. Confirming that it was, I first popped outside before targeting an elevated position. Once on the roof of a gas station, I saw scattered groups of undead milling about.

Judging them to be of little concern, I turned toward an apartment building several storeys taller than my current position. It was also clearly out of my range.

Taking a deep breath and visualizing the steps I was about to take, I Blinked midair twice before doing so a third time. As I landed on the rough, concrete surface of my landing spot, I let out a shaky breath.

I then carefully set down the two baskets before shaking the twitching nerves in my arms and legs.

Academically, I knew that it would work. But the real-world application still involved risks from human error. In this case, fear and doubt could have resulted in misjudged distance and timing. Fortunately, I succeeded, and wallowing in what-ifs would be pointless.

Taking a deep breath, I commenced chaining jumps again as I made my way back to the others. With each chain, I grew more and more confident. So confident, in fact, that I was almost flying by the time the apartment came in sight.

I was already picturing the looks of surprise and awe from the girls as they beheld my glorious landing.

Naturally, that’s when the world chose to check my swollen head. To be fair, how exactly would one factor in the added inertia of two heavy baskets without a calculator? So, it wasn’t entirely my fault that I faceplanted right in front of the waiting Saya and Kyoko.

“Are you okay?” the teacher asked uncertainly.

I could only give her a thumbs up while groaning into the dirt.

So, I completely humiliated myself in front of the two members of our group who trusted me the least. That’s fine. It’s a brand new day, and I refuse to dwell on past mistakes. That it’s only been thirty minutes since then is totally irrelevant.

The important point that I’m choosing to focus on is that I can now chain Blink, which means that I’m no longer confined to traveling only via solid surfaces.

As a matter of fact, I’m currently using it to inspect areas in the block that were once inaccessible to me. This made it much easier to go from door to door, eliminating any remaining zombies I could find or ensuring that locked doors stay that way.

The excess survivors under my protection already had shelter, and I’ve proven that I can get supplies.

With that said, I wasn’t about to tolerate freeloaders. Once I was reasonably sure that the block didn’t hold any unpleasant surprises, I went from group to group asking for the men. The reason?

“All right, just hold it there while I fill the gap.”

I needed them to help make the rock walls more effective against the creeping undead. Sending them for mattresses, tarps, or plyboards that we could use to prevent barriers from sloping was easy enough. Most of the male survivors were more than happy to help out.

Some had to be convinced that they can’t just sit on their asses while everyone else contributed. One particularly entitled banker, who I had to give his own room to spare others his presence, required a rather vivid description of what I would do if he continued being an asshole.

“I don’t need wastes of space,” I concluded after I’d already reduced him to a quivering mess. “Say the word, and I’ll drop you right outside this block. Otherwise, you’ll keep your mouth shut and help out. Are we clear?”

Now, it’s an hour later, and we finally finished shoring up the walls. And the only reason it took so long was because of a few zombies that I either had to remove or lead away.

Just in time, too, as lunch was ready.

The prospect of a hot meal certainly boosted morale, and I enjoyed seeing little Alice having a lively meal with her father. The dude was particularly enthusiastic about contributing to making our safe haven even safer.

But my day wasn’t over, and somehow, I just knew that this afternoon’s outing was going to be anything but pleasant.

Chapter 6

I was right. Boy, was I right.

Watching as Toshimi bawled into Shizuka’s chest, I couldn’t help but curse this world for inflicting such cruelty on these girls. Even carrying her back was a challenge, forcing me to Blink at speeds that definitely didn’t help her constitution. But what else could I do when my passenger was screaming at the top of her lungs?

Not that I could blame her.

I won’t forget the sight that greeted us at her house any time soon. Suffice it to say, neither her parents nor her baby sister survived. 

Her whole street had become a mausoleum. Or is necropolis the right word? Right. It didn’t matter.

Shooting Saeko a look, I motioned for her to follow me. Once we got outside, I wasted no time asking her if she wanted to go next. To my surprise, she responded in the negative.

“My father is out of the country,” she said. “And my mother is in Hokkaido. Their fates are entirely out of our hands.”

The way she spoke came across as cold and uncaring. The girl’s quite the mystery. Still, if she’s telling the truth, there’s no point in pushing. Not when there are issues closer to home.

“Got it,” I told her before asking, “Should I take Rei next? We didn’t really decide the order of things, did we?”

“Ichijou-san is an orphan, and Kyoko-sensei has no family in the city. Miyamoto-san and Takagi-san should be the only ones remaining.” That got me blinking, which seemed to amuse her. “After you left with Niki-san, we discussed the matter. It seemed sensible.”

Once again, Saeko has proven herself an incredible asset. Was this why she’s considered a major character? Saya’s pretty smart, too, even if she has an attitude problem. But then– nope! I’m not gonna go there.

They’re all here. I can keep them safe. That’s it.

“You’re handy to have around,” I teased the swordswoman instead of dwelling on narrative scales.

“Oh?” she shot back with a smirk. “Does that mean you’ll keep me by your side?”

My response came blisteringly fast. “Absolutely! I need good muscle to watch my back,” I admitted with not an ounce of shame.

“Been looking at my muscles, have you?” she poked.

Her sultry voice drew a flat look from me, causing her to giggle. 

“Teenagers, these days.” She giggled harder at my grumbling. “I think we’ve given them enough time. Would taking Saya be better so we can save Rei for last, or should I do it the other way around?”

The abrupt change in topic quickly sobered her up. “I believe Takagi wouldn’t mind going last. From the way she speaks of her parents, they seem more than capable of looking after themselves. Then again, Miyamoto-san’s mother and father are both police officers. So, they aren’t helpless, either.”

Well, that’s annoying. “So, my choices are two cops and, uh, what do Saya’s parents do again?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Saeko answered. “We could ask her, if you want?”

I sighed. “Yeah… I guess I should’ve done that from the start.”

A warm hand firmly gripped my shoulder. Glancing over, I saw Saeko favoring me with a look of understanding. “You don’t need to take on all of the burden to protect us, Caleb-san. From Niki-san’s reaction, I can only imagine what you found at her home. We can always find another way to check on Takagi-san and Miyamoto-san’s families. Shizuka-sensei’s friend apparently has something called a four-wheel-drive ATV.”

My mind blanked for a moment before it quickly rallied. “And I’m only learning about this now… why?”

Her amused smile was back. “You’ve been rather busy running, or rather, teleporting all over the place.”

“Point,” I conceded. “It’s fine, though. We’ll just keep it as a backup, in case we need to leave quickly. The bus should still have gas, but it won’t fit everyone.”

“If you’re sure,” Saeko said. “A man should know his limits, however. Unreasonable stubbornness would speak badly of your character.”

I waved away her concern. “I’ll let you know when I reach that point. Let’s just focus on what’s in front of us, for now.”

Striding back into the apartment, we saw only Rei, Saya, and Kyoko in the living room. When asked where the others went, they said that Shizuka brought Toshimi to the guest room to let her rest, with Misuzu accompanying them.

I nodded in understanding before turning to the bespectacled hothead. “Would you mind if I check on Rei’s parents first?”

She huffed. “I don’t mind. Even with the world ending, they’ll be just fine.”

Yeah, I’m not touching that right now. I didn’t even bother asking if she tried calling them again. If she got through, she would have said so.

“Okay,” was all I said before turning to Rei, who looked a lot more lucid than this morning. 

She sat rigidly on the sofa, fists clamped tightly over her legs. Outwardly, she was the definition of nervous but determined. But my recent experience with Toshimi had shaken my confidence in keeping anyone from losing their shit when facing a similar situation.

No, I couldn’t take her with me. “If I bring you a map, can you point me to where you live?”

“What?!” she yelled, shooting to her feet in indignation. “Why would you need me to do that? Just take me with you!”

“Rei,” I carefully started, “there’s no telling what we’ll find when we get there. It would be better if –” She didn’t let me finish.

“How would you know which house is mine?” she demanded with wild eyes. “You don’t know my mom or dad, you don’t know our neighbors, you wouldn’t know anything!”

Okay, so appealing to the dangers of bringing her might not be my best bet here. Time to change tack.

“I can only carry two people,” I explained. “If either of them is hurt, I won’t be able to take them with me and you at the same time.”

“Then why did you take Niki?!” She was hyperventilating now, too overcome with either fear or rage. “What, you expect me to break down, too? You think I’m like that weak little freak?! Well, I’m not! I’m –”

Whatever else she was, she didn’t get to say. Saya, of all people, stood up and slapped the shit out of Rei.

The whole world froze and held its breath for a second, before everything exploded into motion. Saeko grabbed the retaliating arm and gently subdued the enraged Rei while I Blinked her pink-haired assailant just beyond the kitchen threshold.

Seeing that the unusually capable teen had her writhing charge well in hand, I turned to mine. Far from looking contrite or guilty, she actually glared at the person she had just assaulted. 

“You mind explaining why you did that?” I calmly but firmly asked while stepping right in front of her.

Turning her focus on me, she replied with cold fire. “That bitch doesn’t get to say what she said after spending all of yesterday as a useless sack of meat. Out of all of us, she hasn’t done a thing to contribute. At least Toshimi helped. Without her and Ichijou, you wouldn’t have found the rest of us.”

Bit of a stretch, but ultimately correct. I would have wasted a lot more time searching the school, for sure, but as a major character, Saya would’ve been fine. At least, the plot would have demanded that she remain safe.

I wasn’t going to tell her that, of course.

And here I am, conflating people with narrative value, again…

Sighing, my mind raced for a way to reprimand a girl who was likely smarter than me. “I get where you’re coming from,” I began. “I do. But there were better ways to handle the situation than violence. We can’t start hitting each other, regardless of the reason.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” she scoffed.

“Don’t give me that,” I injected a bit more steel into my reply. “You know full well that there’s a difference between smacking the things trying to eat us and doing it to people in our group.”

“What’s happening here?” Shizuka’s voice asked from the hallway.

Turning to her, I saw the blonde looking between where Kyoko and Saeko were trying to calm an angry Rei and us. Great, the tussle might have disturbed Toshimi.

I swallowed my frustration. “Could you help with that, please?” I asked the nurse, gesturing at the trio in the living room. “They’ll explain while I finish up here.”

Wordlessly, she nodded and went to fulfill my request, though not before shooting Saya a confused glance. Returning my attention to the girl in question, I found her looking to the side with her arms crossed.

“Look,” I said, “I know I’m just some random douche who you couldn’t give less of a shit about. It’s not my place to tell you how to feel or what to think. But until we find a way outta this mess, I really need you to work with me.” She gave me a fiery stare but stayed silent, so I kept going. “What Rei said was out of line, but you’re smart enough to know that slapping her was not the right response.”

“So, you were just going to let her walk all over you?” she challenged.

“If it got her to calm down, then yes.” There was a time and place for giving in to one’s emotions, but trying to calm someone who was throwing a fit wasn’t one of them. “We’re fighting for our lives, Saya. Additional friction is the last thing we need.”

“She’s the one causing friction!”

“For entirely understandable reasons,” I countered lightly. Looking back, I saw Shizuka quietly speaking with Rei, amber eyes thankfully trained on the blonde’s face. “Let’s take this to the back,” I whispered to Saya, who fortunately obliged and walked further into the kitchen.

When we got there, she leaned against the sink and stared at me expectantly. “I won’t make assumptions about you or the others,” I began. “So, just let me explain what it’s like living in the streets back home. In short, you are never safe. Never.” I emphasized the last word to get my point across. “No matter what you do, there’s always a risk that you’ll get stabbed, shot, robbed, or kidnapped. And that’s if you were a man. As a woman? Well, it’s a lot worse.”

Her eyes got wider the more I spoke. “You learn to adapt quickly, and one of the things you don’t do is use violence on emotionally unstable people after they just went through a traumatic experience. It doesn’t work. Worse, it’ll make them even more unstable.”

I let that sink in. To her credit, Saya didn’t take long to process what I said, as she now looked more thoughtful than annoyed. “If we’re gonna get through this, all of us, then we’ll have to be more aware of how our words and actions will affect each other.”

The look of pure disbelief she sent me instantly derailed what I was about to say next. “What?” I asked.

She merely shook her head, incredulity still writ on her face. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? Because –”

“Yes, I’m sure!” was the hasty reply. “And I get it. No more slapping the hysteria out of people. I won’t do it again.”

“I, um, okay. That’s good, I guess.” The swift change in attitude caught me by surprise. “Ah! Right, you also might want to apologize – not now!” I amended. “Later, when you’re both in a better headspace.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Are we done? I want to check on Alice before it’s my turn to go with you.”

“Uh, sure, go ahead. I’ll see if Rei is up for showing me directions. Say hi to Alice, for me.”

“Whatever,” was the snarky reply.

I didn’t immediately exit the kitchen, taking ten seconds to compose myself. When I walked back to the living room, however, a thought occurred to me.

Have the girls been interacting with Alice?

That’s nice of them.

Well, it took longer to convince her than necessary, but Rei eventually agreed to stay behind and give me directions. I had already gotten a map from the convenience store I raided, so I could head out immediately.

Orienting myself based on which way to go was confusing, at first, given that hardly anyone used physical maps in 2026. Still, with the help of Kyoko and Saeko, I got my bearings.

It wasn’t immediately apparent when I took Toshimi with me, since that part of the city had been scoured of life, but there were still a lot of survivors scattered around. Some did the same thing as me, and blocked road access with cars, pre-fabricated metal sheets, and so on. Others simply barricaded themselves inside secure buildings.

Helping wherever I could, I pointed stragglers to these areas. They were surprised by my teleportation every time, and I was almost shot, stabbed, or bludgeoned more than once.

Understandable, given the circumstances. Zombies already roamed. An open display of my abilities would only make already jittery folks even more so. Not that I spent any time to explain. Pop in, eliminate the undead, tell the survivors where they could find shelter, and move on.

I had no illusions about how welcome they will be in the places I pointed them toward.

Danger tends to bring out the worst in people, self-centeredness among them. Even so, I had to try. That’s the only way I can still look at myself in the mirror at the end of all of this.

Arriving at the residential area where the Miyamotos lived, I made a beeline for the indicated address. I tried not to think too deeply about how I was able to read Japanese characters. Saeko had to be right when she guessed that it’s due to the Cosmic Randomizer.

Two more Blinks placed me on the roof of a two-storey house, which gave me a wide view of the neighborhood. From my vantage point, it was easy to spot a rather curious sight of one figure fighting off a crowd of zombies with what looked like… is that a spear? 

It certainly looked like it. The person using it skillfully kept the undead from overwhelming them with positioning and range, stabbing and retreating as needed.

Whoever this was, they clearly didn’t need help. On the other hand, I did need to find Rei’s parents, so I might as well speak with someone who can still use their brain. Choice made, I Blinked to the rearmost target and started swinging.

Disturbing as it may be, I’ve actually gotten quite good at dispatching the dead.

No matter how durable they are, a good hit from my baseball bat or a drop from ten meters in the air took them down easily, quickly, and most importantly, silently.

Once the last of them was on the ground, I Blinked one last time to put distance between myself and the spear wielder. 

I’ve been on the receiving end of enough thoughtless attacks after a rescue that I’ve learned my lesson. With the added danger from the bladed shaft, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Upon reappearing, I immediately faced the person with my arms raised to signal non-hostility. To my surprise, they didn’t seem ready to impale me. In fact, with the spear butt placed on the ground, point up, and hand on their hip, they looked downright relaxed.

“Hi, there!” I greeted. “Sorry for just popping in. Just thought you could use the assistance.”

With no zombies in the way, and the distance between us having shrunk to just a few feet, I could observe them better. They wore a motorcycle helmet, sunglasses, a scarf over their face, and what looked like a riding uniform of some kind.

“Oh, no need to apologize dear.” The womanly voice clued me in as to her gender. “I’m just happy that I didn’t have to fight them all alone. Even if the help is rather… unconventional.”

I coughed into my fist awkwardly. “Yeah, my situation’s kinda difficult to explain, right now. But, uh, is it okay if I ask you a question? I’m looking for some people, but I only have their address. I figured you might know them.”

“Well, don’t keep me waiting, young man~” What’s with the teasing tone and body language, lady? “For my rescuer, answering one or two questions is more than fair trade.”

“...Right. I’m looking for the Miyamotos. Specifically, Tadashi and Kiriko Miyamoto.”

Her body immediately stiffened and her grip on the shaft tightened. “Ara? The Miyamotos, you say? Why would you be looking for them?”

She was trying to keep her words casual, but I already saw the change in her stance. Also, did she really just say ‘Ara’?

Now, there were only so many reasons why she would react to Rei’s family name like this. Taking her appearance, likely age, and skills into account, it really only boiled down to one.

I gave her a warm smile. “I’m Caleb, and it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Miyamoto. Your daughter sent me to find you.”

That did it. Whatever she expected, it certainly wasn’t that, and she practically tackled me in her eagerness.

“Rei?! You know where she is? Tell me!” Kiriko, and this could only be Kiriko, had grabbed me by the collar and was shaking me.

Placing my hand over hers, I answered as calmly as I could. “Yes, ma’am. She’s with our group, right now. I can bring you to her, if you want, since she’s unable to come herself.”

“What? Why? Is she hurt? Was she…” she trailed off.

Knowing what she was likely referring to, I answered swiftly. “She wasn’t bitten.” That seemed to calm her down. “Unfortunately, recent events have been extremely hard on her. Your presence would be really helpful, right now.”

The fear was back, but this time, there was steel in her voice. “Take me to my daughter.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Do you have everything you need? We can bring your husband, too, but I’m guessing he’s not here at the moment?”

Kiriko shook her covered head. “No. He’s helping organize an evacuation at Shintoko Third Elementary. And the people here can do without me for a few hours. With your, um, teleportation, it won’t take that long, right?”

“No, it won’t. So, you’re good to go?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you might want to hold onto me,” I told her. “We’ll be moving far and fast, and first-time passengers can find the movement disorienting.”

I expected her to grab my arm or something. Instead, the woman pressed herself against me, snaking her own arms around my waist, and securing her spear behind me in the process.

“You naughty boy~” she teased, voice low and sultry. “We hardly know each other, and you’re already being so forward. I’m a married woman, you know?”

My response would’ve made the Sahara seem like the Amazon. “Then I’d appreciate it if you acted like it, ma’am.” She simply giggled at my flat words.

I was hoping that the rapid Blinks back to the apartment would at least disrupt her teasing, but she only whooped and pressed her body even tighter to mine.

The women in this setting were nuts!

Chapter 7

Leaving the crying Rei to reunite with her weirdo of a mother, I went to find Saya. Apparently, she had yet to come back from visiting Alice. So, with Saeko in tow, we exited the apartment to hunt down a pink-haired brat. The rest already knew enough to explain what was going on, so anything Kiriko cared to ask would likely be answered.

I might as well make the next travel arrangements to avoid delays. That it put some distance between the overly touchy woman and me was just a bonus.

“My, is a show of affection truly so displeasing to you?”

Apparently, I hadn’t fooled a certain sword-wielding maiden.

I snorted. “You know damn well that that’s not the problem.”

Several people waved and called in greeting as we passed. I returned the gesture gladly, pleased that the people I managed to gather seemed to be doing well.

“Was it too much of a show of appreciation?” she teased. “You did keep her daughter safe.”

I didn’t dignify her question with a response as we began ascending the stairs that would lead to our destination. Verbal spars were only ever worth it when lives were on the line. Any other time, conceding is often the right choice.

Stepping up to the door of the room where Alice and her father were staying, I knocked. A young voice called that they were coming, and a moment later, a child’s face greeted us.

“Caleb-san!” the tyke cheered before wrapping her tiny arms around my waist.

“Hello, Alice.” I couldn’t help smiling at her exuberance.

“I’m here too, you know?” Saeko put in, affecting a pout.

“Ah! Sorry, Saeko-oneesan!” 

The weirdly unserious swordswoman giggled as she too was treated to an embrace. While they were having their moment, Takeru came over with Saya in tow. We exchanged pleasantries before the teen asked how my short trip went.

“Better than I hoped,” I told her, softening the annoyance on her face.

She may put up a front, but the girl did care. Now I just have to figure out why she thinks it’s necessary to hide her concern in the first place.

“It’s finally my turn then?” she asked.

“That’s up to you,” I said. “Unless you have a reason for not wanting to go?”

Rolling her eyes, she pushed past me and patted Alice on the head. I raised a questioning eyebrow at Takeru, but the older man was content to give me a patronizing smile. When I narrowed my eyes at him, it morphed into a smug grin.

“Are we going or not?”

“Coming,” I grunted. “I’ll see ya later, Takeru, Alice.”

“See you later, Caleb-san!” the little girl answered enthusiastically.

“Keep safe, kid!” was her father’s follow up.

As we walked back to what’s become our home base, Saya and Saeko chatted. Well, I say chatted, but one was sniping at the other.

“Why did you have to come?” Saya asked. “The idiot got rid of everything dangerous around here.”

“You never know,” came the lilting reply. “Besides, with him spending so much time out and about, this was a rare chance to get to know each other. You don’t mind, do you, Caleb?”

“Not at all,” I said while subtly increasing my pace so that I was a bit ahead of the pair.

Saya, on the other hand, was outraged. “Since when did you two become so familiar with each other?!”

“Uh, we don’t?” Was I missing some context here? “That’s why we’re getting to know each other.”

“That’s not what she meant, Caleb.” 

“Then, what did she mean?”

“Care to explain, Saya?”

The girl in question practically growled. “She used your name without the suffix!”

“Oh, come on!” I huffed. “Saeko’s just being accommodating. I already told you that I don’t care about that.”

“So, you’re fine with me calling you just Caleb, then?” she challenged.

I wanted to joke about leaving out the ‘just’ part, but I really wanted to get this conversation over with. “Feel free. I’m already calling you Saya, anyway.”

With that, I opened the apartment door and went in. As I stepped through, I heard choking sounds and giggling from behind me, which I then thoroughly ignored.

From the entryway, I saw Shizuka and Kyoko busying themselves in the kitchen. Rei was cuddling with her mother with her eyes closed, while Kiriko trailed her fingers through her daughter’s hair. Neither Toshimi nor Misuzu was present when I returned from my latest trip, and it would appear that they were still holed up in the guest bedroom.

“Everything okay in here?” I asked as I crossed the living room.

“Everything is great, Caleb-kun!” Kiriko answered with a warm smile. “Thank you again for saving my little girl.”

I waved away her gratitude. “You already know why I did it, Mrs. Miyamoto. It wasn’t a selfless act.”

“That intent doesn’t matter,” she countered gently while looking down at her daughter fondly. “Only the result. Rei is safe because of you, so you deserve my thanks.”

That got a shrug out of me. “If you insist. I just wanted to ask if you need to return right away. Still need to take Saya to find her parents, you see.”

The woman glanced at the girl with an uncertain expression. “Hello, Saya-chan. I’m not sure if you remember me, but we’ve met before.”

“I remember, Kiriko-san.” The teen looked uncomfortable for some reason. “Two years ago, I believe.”

“Yes!” the mother cheered. “Well, you’ll be happy to know that many of the survivors have been getting in touch over the radio, and the group managed by your parents is thriving. Unfortunately,” she went on, this time with a despondent tone, “I have some bad news.”

Saya froze. “Did they…?”

“Your mother is still alive,” Kiriko answered. “However, your father was caught up in a messy rescue just south of the city. He saved a lot of lives, but was bitten in the process.” Saeko immediately went to catch the distraught girl and helped her to a couch. “I’m so sorry, Saya-chan.”

After a few aborted attempts to speak, she finally managed to ask a question. “When did this happen?”

Kiriko grimaced. “Last night. It would appear that there were a lot of miscommunications and crossed wires between the SDF, the police, and the Takagi group. The military tried to eliminate a large group of the undead while your father led his men to rescue a school full of children. So, they were caught in the middle. Souichiro-san held off the larger horde to buy his people enough time to save the young ones.”

Grief and admiration mingled in the woman’s voice, and Saya couldn’t put up a brave front anymore. Her face crumpled, and she buried herself into Saeko’s embrace. A rare look of anger and helplessness swept over the self-possessed teen as she held Saya close.

As for me, I had to wonder if my actions from last night were connected to the bungled military action. I wasn’t sure why I even thought that. One event shouldn’t have anything to do with the other.

Still, guilt can make for irrational ideas.

To my surprise, though, Rei suddenly got up and approached the hugging teens. Saeko naturally looked up in wariness, but that turned to shock as Rei joined their embrace from Saya’s other side.

I shot Kiriko a questioning look, but she merely gave me a motherly quirk of the lips. One that conveyed a message only other mothers would likely understand.

Giving up on trying to decipher her expression, I whispered a request instead. “Can you join me in the kitchen, please?”

With a wordless nod, she got up, and we left the girls to comfort each other. I certainly couldn’t do anything there, and Kiriko might have felt awkward as the one who delivered the bad news.

Shizuka and Kyoko looked at us curiously as we entered. They were cutting up vegetables and boiling water in a stew pot.

“Preparing lunch?” I asked.

“Yes,” Kyoko answered. “We thought something hearty would do everyone good.”

“That’d be great,” I commented.

“Is something wrong?” Shizuka asked, pausing mid-slice.

“Saya just got some bad news,” I said. “Rei and Saeko are with her, but I wanted to ask Kiriko a few questions and figured you two would want to hear the answers, too.”

They nodded appreciatively. “Thank you, Caleb-san.” Kyoko actually sounded sincere. Maybe she was growing to trust me.

“What did you want to know, Caleb-san?” Kiriko prompted.

“You said that communications have been established via radios,” I began. “How many other groups have you gotten in touch with, and is the government involved?”

“Not many,” she said. “The Takagi group is the largest in terms of private citizens. My husband is currently coordinating with the SDF for a large-scale evacuation. However, there appear to have been changes on that front. The last time I spoke with him, Tadashi was quite angry.”

I exchanged looks with Shizuka and Kyoko. “Yeah, that might’ve been because of me.”

Kiriko smirked. “I thought as much. Teleportation is supposed to be impossible, and yet I experienced proof of it, firsthand. I take it you were showing off where the SDF or the police could see?”

A snort escaped the teacher and the nurse at the same time. “More like in front of live news coverage.” Kyoko’s accusing look would’ve stung, but it was significantly less severe than last night, so I’d take it.

Rei’s mom gasped. “Really? When did that happen?”

“Last night,” I answered with a sigh.

“Then that explains the increased military activity this morning,” Kiriko posited. At my curious look, she continued. “I was on my way back from meeting with my husband when we crossed paths. He wouldn’t tell me anything about it, but there were more soldiers and vehicles around the evacuation site. Apparently, more resources are being diverted our way as we speak, as well.”

I had screwed my eyes shut to suppress the urge to let out an explosive breath of frustration. On the one hand, I didn’t regret what I did. On the other hand, I now had to prepare for the inevitable appearance of a desperate military that would likely do everything in their power to keep me from leaving.

“What’s the plan?” Kyoko asked me.

I didn’t take long to reply. There really weren’t that many options available to me.

“First, I’ll take Saya to see her mother. Depending on the circumstances, we might have to join up with her, or she might need to come here. The highest priority is still your safety. If it comes to it, I’ll lead the government on a merry chase around the city until the time’s up. Whoever wants to come with me, if they can even come with me, can make their choice then.”

“Is there really nothing you can do for those who will be left behind?” Kiriko asked, almost pleading. “Someone sent you here, right? If they were capable of something like that, then surely they can help?”

Meeting her eyes, I could see that she was basically grasping at any possibility of giving this world a future. It’s only my bad luck that I couldn’t give her the answer she wants to hear.

“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “It took a miracle to protect the small group we have. The whole world is simply beyond me.”

Kyoko spoke up again. “These abilities of yours. You said that you got them before coming here, right?”

Already seeing where she was going with this, I preempted her follow-up question. “Yes, but aside from the single Investment that I got shortly after arriving, I likely won’t get anything else until the week is out.” 

I left out how I got the Investment, in the first place. That conversation can wait another time.

“If I could get more, I would have gotten notifications for opportunities to earn a few long before now. The same goes for when we first met or when I got you here.” I paused, frowning in concentration. “As far as I understand it, I’ll only get more pulls and other rewards once the mission is over, and you are all considered truly safe.”

“Have you tried?” Shizuka asked earnestly while scraping chopped vegetables into the pot. 

“Tried what?” I asked.

“To see if you have any of these pulls, as you call them.” She set down the knife and cutting board to give me a bright smile. “Video games reward good deeds, right? And you’ve done a lot of them!”

I regarded her with exasperation. “This isn’t a video game, Shizuka.”

“Sure sounds like it.” She pouted. “You get missions, rewards, and magic! That’s a video game!”

“I –” My denial was immediately cut off as I considered her point.

Bringing up the interface, I saw the mission briefs displayed. I tried to ask for more information specifically about the missions before. But in my exhausted state, I didn’t even consider checking if there were more pages.

So, I searched for any familiar icons or buttons that might clue me in. Nothing. Focusing on my desire to see other pages, however, seemed to have done the trick.

“I see something called a Dashboard,” I numbly said out loud.

“Yay!” Shizuka cheered while Kiriko came up behind me.

“There’s nothing there,” she said while roving her eyes in the air where I was looking.

“Of course, you wouldn’t see it.” Kyoko rolled her eyes. “You’re not the player. He is.”

“I’m not a player,” I gritted out.

The idea that I was in some kind of realistic entertainment medium was intolerable. It reminded me too much of what I was told about the beta-testers.

“Someone’s in denial,” Kiriko teased.

Ignoring her, I focused on the interface. There wasn’t a lot to consider. I saw a user profile tab, missions tab, rewards, shop, tutorials, and one labeled Cosmic Randomizer. Mentally clicking on it, the page changed to one I’d seen before.

[Will You Pull The Lever? 2 Pulls Remaining]

[Yes/No]

I felt my jaw drop, my eyes bulge, and my mouth move before I consciously thought of it.

“No fucking way.”

“What? What is it?” Shizuka excitedly moved to my side. Kyoko did the same, though at a more sedate pace.

“I have two pulls available,” was my disbelieving reply.

“You do?!”

“What the hell?!”

“Oh, my!”

“You just said you didn’t have any!” Kyoko accused.

“I didn’t!” came my immediate denial. “I mean, I thought I didn’t. My pulls were used up, and I didn’t Sacrifice anything, so this makes no sense!”

“Did you do anything, or did anything else happen before you came here?” Kiriko asked leadingly.

“Just the world sele –” That’s when it hit me.

Choosing the randomizer for selecting which world to enter offered two extra pulls. I initially chose to ignore it because I didn’t want to take the risk, but I was forced down that path anyway. Navigating through the interface again, I found the details I was looking for.

There, displayed in blocky letters, was the promise of the pulls and the guarantee that they would be of Uncommon rarity, at the minimum.

At this point, it was undeniable. I could have gotten more abilities at any point. 

To be fair, a lot’s happened, and I couldn’t be expected to keep track of every single thing. Even so, those two pulls could have been really helpful. If only as additional options for keeping the girls safe.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Kiriko pressed. “Pull the gacha!”

“The what?” I asked her blankly.

“Gacha!” she repeated. “This is like a digital gacha machine, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s the Cosmic Randomizer.”

“It works like a gacha machine, so it’s a gacha.”

Staring at the pushy woman, I had to wonder why this seemed so important to her and came up with nothing. Looking at the other two, I saw them staring at me expectantly. So, sighing in defeat, I mentally prepared to pull the lever.

“Pulling it now,” I verbalized just before going through with it.

As before, the texts began spinning, accompanied by annoying sound effects. We collectively held our breath, albeit for different reasons. The three probably hoped for a saving grace of some kind, one that’s powerful enough to help the rest of this dying world.

I, on the other hand, could only pray that it won’t be anything useless. Then again, considering what I’ve done with a badly categorized Cantrip like Conjure Rocks, I may not have much to worry about at all.

When the spinning finally stopped, I had to bite my tongue from screaming. It wasn’t enough to fool any of the women, though.

“What did you get?” Kyoko asked warily, seeing the look on my face.

Instead of answering with my own words, I simply read the display text.

[Fragrant – Rarity: Rare – Type: Trait]

[You always smell fantastic! Even if you never take a bath, your body will always give off a scent that’s most pleasing to individuals who come near. Warning: The scent lingers, which can make you easier to track.]

Time seemed to freeze in the kitchen, only to be broken in the most jarring manner possible. In defiance of all common sense and commitment to proper prioritization, the three grown-ass women all leaned in together in perfect synchronicity. And then, as if they’d practiced the move beforehand, each took a sniff at the same time.

“What the hell are you doing?” I all but growled.

The way they flinched back as one would’ve been funny if they hadn’t just taken a whiff of me. Each reacted in curiously different ways, too. Kyoko was flustered, naturally. Kiriko was thoughtful. Shizuka, on the other hand, was squirming while making squeaking sounds and holding her cheeks with both hands.

Is that… is that supposed to convey embarrassment or something? Women don’t act like that. Humans don’t act like that!

Kiriko broke through the awkward atmosphere with a sharp observation. “Huh, it really does work like gacha. At least it’s not anything too bad.”

My blank stare conveyed my real thoughts, even as I voiced my disagreement. “It makes me easier to track. How is that not bad? The military has dogs and sneaking around is gonna be a nightmare if anyone so much as breathes through their nose.”

She nodded. “True, but you’re not confined to the ground. You could leave false trails before jumping away, for example, and it’s not like everyone will immediately know this fact about you. Just be grateful you didn’t get something like Stinky or Perpetually Farting. You’d really have something to complain about then.”

I grudgingly accepted her point, even if my mind shied away from the horror of possibly ending up with results like the ones she listed. Not every pull is going to be a winner. Someday, I’ll get something actively harmful either to me or anyone with me. When that day comes, I’ll probably wish for seemingly useless Traits like Fragrant.

Kyoko piled on. “If we look at it from the angle of convenience, it’s actually quite useful. No offense, Caleb-san, but I vastly prefer you smelling of honeysuckle than sweat and BO.”

“Honeysuckle?” Rei’s mother asked the teacher. “I smelled fresh pine needles.” 

“Well, it did imply that the scent would differ between individuals.” Is it weird that I find Kyoko’s academic analysis extremely comforting? “What about you, Shizuka-sensei?”

“I, uh, it’s, um, that’s, er.” The nurse seemed incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

“Never mind,” Kyoko said flatly. “Please continue, Caleb-san.”

“Let’s cross our fingers that it’ll be a good one!” Kiriko exclaimed before doing just that with both hands raised.

“Okay, I’m pulling again. Start praying.”

Hitting the lever once more, I closed my eyes and hoped against hope that I would get something useful. It didn’t even need to be anything powerful. Just enough utility that I could get through this mission with everyone alive.

Watching as the spinning texts slowed, my gut clenched in anticipation. All the while, my thoughts raced.

Come on, come on! Invisibility, telekinesis, heck, I’ll take bone claws!

Then the words finally resolved, and as I read the description, I froze halfway. Restarting from the beginning, I read it again, just to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating. Only after I read the words the third time did I finally look at the women anxiously watching me with bated breath.

I said one word. Only one word, and suddenly, their faces beamed with the intensity of the sun.

“Jackpot.”