Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 448: 448 Resident Evil 8

"So, what are you going to do, Jin?"

"If someone as capable as you couldn’t find anything important, I probably won’t find much either, but I should at least look into it."

I had no intention of actually investigating anything.

I was just planning to spend the remaining time finishing my tank and preparing for the Raccoon City outbreak.

"And I’m going to enjoy some dates with you."

When I said that, Jill looked a bit exasperated, but she chuckled, not seeming to mind too much.

After finishing my conversation with Jill, I returned to the rental house and finished working on the tank.

As I built it, the exterior ended up resembling a German Panzer II, and with only a single machine gun mounted, that impression was even stronger.

Still, the interior was spacious enough to comfortably fit four people, and if we squeezed a bit, even five.

Thanks to the high-performance air suspension and rubber tracks, the ride was surprisingly smooth, and I had even installed air conditioning inside for comfort.

The controls were similar to a car, so anyone with a driver’s license could probably use it.

"This should be enough."

After finishing the tank, I took out the ’Metal Slug SV-001’ I had prepared earlier from my inventory and connected the two tanks with a tow chain.

Since I would be leaving the rental house alone, that was necessary.

However, there was a problem when the Raccoon City outbreak occurred: the timelines were tangled.

Resident Evil 2 and 3 take place simultaneously during the outbreak.

RE2 follows rookie cop Leon and Claire, who is looking for her brother Chris (the gorilla), while RE3 follows Jill’s confrontation with Nemesis.

Timeline-wise, Jill’s story in Raccoon City happens first, and Leon and Claire arrive later, after the T-Virus has spread widely.

But since Jill gets infected and is incapacitated for about a day, both groups end up escaping around the same time.

’I need to pick up Jill as quickly as possible.’

Getting Jill first is the priority.

She’s the one in the most immediate danger in Raccoon City.

While she’s resilient and probably won’t die like in the original, my involvement has changed many variables, so I can’t be sure.

And if I save her, I can also save Brad in the process.

"You might say, ’Then you’re going the RE3 route?’ but that’s not necessarily the case.

There are more things to obtain and more people to save in the RE2 route.

First of all, RE2 offers the G-Virus and the G-Virus vaccine.

And the people I need to save include Leon, Claire, Ada, Sherry, and others.

’If I’m not careful, I might have to fight the Tyrant, Nemesis, and William Birkin all at once.’

I was excited to finally ride the tank, but thinking it over, the difficulty was high.

Unlike the original, the S.T.A.R.S. members weren’t under surveillance yet, so with luck, I might not have to face Nemesis.

But since Jill was still investigating Umbrella, it was hard to say.

Raccoon City always had Umbrella’s eyes and ears everywhere.

I also had to consider that Umbrella was an unethical corporation.

Since the S.T.A.R.S. members had survived fighting various B.O.W.s in the mansion, Umbrella might release another test subject to gather combat data.

’With the timelines being complex and variables present...’

After much thought, the best approach seemed to be to quickly progress through the RE3 route and then switch to the RE2 route.

So I planned accordingly.

But given the difficulty, I was a bit worried whether I could handle it using only firearms and the tank, without relying too much on my abilities.

With that decided, I first decided to leave a gift for Leon and Claire to help them survive.

So I prepared some things and headed to the police station.

"Marvin, long time no see."

"Hey, Jin. What brings you here today? Another thing with the Chief?"

When I arrived at the police station, a black officer I knew, ’Marvin Branagh,’ greeted me warmly.

"No. I heard there’s a new recruit coming to the station. So I thought I’d leave a gift before I leave."

"You’re thoughtful enough to think of that. You’re a good guy. It’s a shame we couldn’t work together longer."

"Well, that’s how it goes. Everyone has their own circumstances."

The gift I prepared was .44 Magnum ammunition and a Desert Eagle that used it.

I had carefully wrapped them in a red gift box.

"The new recruit’s locker has been assigned, right?"

"Yeah, it’s downstairs. You can leave it there."

"Got it."

I placed the gift box inside Leon’s assigned locker and left a note on top of it.

-Congratulations on becoming a cop. Work hard.

-Senior Jin.

I figured he’d find it on his own.

Leon and Claire’s route isn’t too dangerous in the beginning, so I trusted they’d manage with this much help.

After leaving the gift, I spent my weekends in Chicago playing with Anna, and when I returned, I went on dates with Jill and stocked up on food and drinks.

Such preparations were surprisingly important.

As I had experienced before, most Resident Evil episodes take place from late evening to the next day, and the amount of physical activity is enough to exhaust a normal person.

Plus, with the whole area contaminated, even finding drinking water was difficult.

So this time, I planned to prepare in advance.

Eventually, the time came: late September 1998.

I filled the tank and backpack with ammunition, weapons, and supplies at the rental house, turned on the TV to monitor the situation, and waited.

Then, as I was having dinner after sunset, the news started reporting that some crazy person had bitten someone else.

Hearing that, I knew it had finally begun.

I finished my meal, washed up quickly, and since I wouldn’t be returning to this rental house, I used [Life Magic] to thoroughly sterilize the Rezvani Vengeance and various supplies, stored them in my inventory, and climbed into the Metal Slug.

"Sorry for making you wait all this time. Let’s show them what you can do."

I lightly patted the Metal Slug tank, which had been waiting for its moment to shine, and drove the tanks toward Jill’s apartment in the heart of Raccoon City.

’Wow, it’s chaos out there.’

Normally, driving a tank around would have people taking photos and staring in awe.

But in a city overrun by zombies, they had no time for that.

People were screaming and running for their lives, and zombies were chasing them.

The police seemed to be trying to hold them off, but they didn’t yet understand the zombies’ nature, and the creatures were tenacious enough to withstand several shots.

Eventually, even the police had no choice but to flee after putting up a fight.

It was still early in the outbreak, so there were far more living people than zombies.

But with the infection spreading rapidly, it wouldn’t take long for the city to be overrun.

I arrived at Jill’s apartment and tried calling, but the line was busy.

Crash!!

Suddenly, a loud crash and the sound of something breaking came from Jill’s apartment.

A moment later, Jill rushed out of the building, with Brad by her side.

As in the original, Brad must have called Jill and come to rescue her.

I opened the Metal Slug’s hatch, waved, and called out to them.

"Over here, Jill! Brad!"

"Jin! You’re here too. And these tanks... are they the ones you’ve been building all this time?"

Jill and Brad were happy to see me, but also amazed by the tanks.

"Yeah, I actually finished them a while ago, but I didn’t say anything so I could surprise you."

"Well, you succeeded. I’m definitely surprised."

"Get in. It looks dangerous. The front one is a two-seater, so Jill rides with me, and Brad, you take the one in the back."

"Got it."

I unhooked the tow chain connecting the tanks and climbed into the front one.

Brad, who took the rear tank, sounded surprised over the comms.

—"Wow, what is all this!? There are all kinds of weapons, ammo, and grenades!? And chocolate bars, hot bars, even drinks..."

Jill was equally amazed.

"Wow... this one’s the same. It even has a small fridge."

"I prepared everything just in case we needed it."

"Aren’t you a little too prepared?"

"It was just a hobby."

"Right, I remember. Now I can’t say anything about your tank-building hobby."

My setting that tank-building was a hobby finally paid off.

"See? Anyway, let’s go."

"Where to?"

"Spencer Memorial Hospital. I heard they’re working on a vaccine there. If we’re lucky, we might be able to contain this situation."

Jill was shocked and asked, "Is that true?"

"Yeah. And there’s more info. I don’t know exactly where, but there’s another virus in an underground lab in Raccoon City. Even stronger than the T-Virus we saw."

"Hah... so even if we get the vaccine, it might not work."

"Right. So we need to secure the vaccine for the T-Virus that’s currently spreading, and also stop the new virus."

"This is insane... Anyway, I understand. Let’s go."

With that, the Metal Slug took the lead, and Brad followed in the other tank.

—"Jin really did a great job building these. It drives almost like a car."

"That’s good."

—"Jin, ahead!!!"

Brad shouted as a horde of zombies appeared ahead.

I signaled to Jill.

"Jill, let ’em have it!"

"Yeah. But how do I... oh, I think I’ve got it."

The triple-barreled Vulcan cannons mounted on both sides of the Metal Slug were designed to be operated like a fighter jet’s joystick, making them easy to use.

Jill quickly adapted and immediately opened fire on the zombies ahead.

"Fucking zombies!!! All of you, die!!!"

Ratatatatatata—!!!

Splat, splat, splatter!!!

The Metal Slug’s triple-barreled Vulcan cannons lived up to their overwhelming power.

The zombies clustered ahead were torn apart into chunks of flesh and blood in an instant, as if they had been fed into a giant blender.

"Phew... that was satisfying."

—"Wow... what kind of firepower is that..."

Brad sent an incredulous message, but Jill looked relieved.

Though she didn’t show it, the mansion incident seemed to have left her with some trauma.

Watching the zombies get mowed down so effectively seemed to ease some of the pent-up frustration she had been carrying.

"Ugh..."

But then Jill groaned, clutching her abdomen.

"What’s wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Ah, I’m fine. I forgot to mention it because I was so shocked by the tanks, but there’s a pursuer. A creature similar to the Tyrant we saw before. Brad warned me, so I was able to get out of the apartment alive. I saw it get buried under debris, but I’m not sure if it’s dead."

From what Jill said, it seemed Umbrella had released Nemesis to eliminate the S.T.A.R.S. members, just like in the original.

Typical Umbrella, not disappointing expectations.

—"It’s probably a creature Umbrella released to take us out."

"Right. I’ve felt someone watching us for a few days. Umbrella must have realized we were investigating them."

I hadn’t been put under surveillance.

Umbrella seemed to have judged that Jill and Brad, the S.T.A.R.S. members who were still actively gathering information in Raccoon City, were the priority targets for elimination.

"So the thing you were clutching..."

"He kicked me. That’s why it hurts. It still stings a bit."

"I haven’t even touched your stomach yet!!!"

Jill looked exasperated and smacked the back of my head.

Smack!

"Ugh."

"Stop joking and just drive!"

"Yes, ma’am. And I know you’re stressed, but you went a little wild with the cannons. If you use them like that, they’ll run out fast."

"Got it. I’ll be more careful."

We headed for Spencer Memorial Hospital.

The roads were a mess with zombie corpses and stalled vehicles, but they were no match for the tanks.

They crushed the corpses and pushed the vehicles aside without hesitation.

In this kind of situation, nothing beat tracked vehicles.

Then Brad asked.

—"By the way, are you two dating?"

"Yeah. Just a few days in."

—"Wow... there are a lot of surprises today. I always wondered who’d end up with a tomboy like Jill, and it turns out it’s Jin..."

Jill snapped.

"What did you say, you bastard!!!??? You’re dead later!!!"

—"Cough... Jin, please calm her down."

Brad asked me for help, but I couldn’t say anything.

Jill was glaring at me from behind.