Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

Then Leon spoke.

"I have to catch guys like raw chicken to get to the armory."

"Raw chicken?"

"No, should I say frogs?"

"Anyway, there are guys crawling around on all fours that look like their skin has all been peeled off."

"They attack with long tongues, and they also leap up high and strike with sharp claws."

"Those guys were wandering around near the armory, so we couldn't get to the armory either."

"They're incredibly fast and agile, so we almost got killed too."

I quickly realized what kind of creature Leon was talking about.

Their name is 'Licker,' a creature notorious as a beginner crusher.

According to the lore, Lickers are evolved specimens born when a zombie infected with the T-virus undergoes extensive physical mutations due to the activation of the virus within its body.

Their eyesight has degenerated, but their hearing is extremely developed, so they react instantly to even the smallest sound.

The moment you recklessly run or fire a gun, they rush at you in an instant.

"We've encountered many creatures too, but just from the description, I can't tell what kind they are."

"I need to see them for myself."

The police armory was near the darkroom.

I came out of the darkroom and slowly walked along the corridor toward the armory, surveying my surroundings.

The others followed quietly, keeping their distance from me.

Then, from around the corner, I heard a bizarre crawling sound: slosh, slosh.

I stopped walking, held my breath, leaned against the wall, and carefully peered around the corner.

Around the corner were two Lickers.

One was crawling on the floor, flicking its long tongue, and the other was clinging to the wall.

They were definitely creatures with much more grotesque visuals than what I had seen in the game.

The strategy for these guys was surprisingly simple.

Since they rely only on hearing, you could avoid them by moving quietly, and if you had enough firepower, you could also get close and then wipe them out with a surprise attack.

But reality was different from the game.

Broken glass and assorted debris were scattered on the floor, so moving without making any sound at all was not easy.

So I took out one grenade.

After warning the people following me with hand signals, I carefully pulled the pin and threw it between the two Lickers.

Clatter!

"Kyaaah!!"

As the sound of the grenade hitting the floor rang out, the Lickers instinctively rushed toward where the sound came from.

Boom!!!

The explosion shook the corridor.

I had been hiding behind the corner, and at the same time as the explosion, I leaned out and pulled the trigger of the Origin shotgun repeatedly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

One of them had taken a direct hit from the grenade and was already motionless.

The other barely survived, but its movements were greatly slowed by the shock of the explosion.

I poured shotgun blasts into the remaining one, and it collapsed without lasting much longer.

"Wha, how is that possible... How did you take down those fast ones so easily?"

Marvin asked in surprise when I easily dealt with the Lickers.

"When I took a quick peek around the corner, one of them was looking at me."

"For a moment I thought I'd been spotted, but it didn't react at all."

"So I realized it was a creature that moves by sound."

"So that's why you used the grenade."

"Yeah."

Leon also admired the explanation.

"Wow, that's amazing?"

"We thought about focusing fire to take down one, but with two we couldn't even get close."

"I never thought you'd take them out this easily."

"I just got lucky."

"Now that we can get to the armory, we should check what's there."

"Okay."

We stepped over the Lickers' bodies and entered the armory.

Most of the weapons in the armory were locked, but Marvin had a keycard, so we could open them without issue.

There was a 'GM-79 Grenade Launcher,' one 'W-870 Shotgun,' and a few 'M19 Handguns.'

Unlike in the first game, the GM-79 grenade launcher could not be fired in succession; it was a single-shot grenade launcher.

"Oh, perfect timing."

"The gun I use is weak, and it's a western-style revolver, so reloading takes a lot of time."

"I'm glad there's a usable handgun here."

Claire picked up one of the M19 handguns and said that.

"Really?"

"Then give me your old one."

"I'll give it to another survivor if we see one."

"Okay."

When I said that, Claire handed me her 'Quickdraw Army.'

This gun, Claire's signature weapon in the original, was a western-style single-action revolver.

I had sold all the other firearms, but I had never sold the Quickdraw Army.

I planned to keep it as a collector's item this time.

"Then I'll take the shotgun."

Marvin said that and picked up the shotgun, and Leon took the remaining GM-79 Grenade Launcher.

With this, everyone now had one handgun and one shotgun each, and Leon additionally got the grenade launcher.

Originally, it was Claire's weapon, so seeing Leon holding it felt strangely out of place.

Anyway, we spent a moment resupplying, loading magazines for our newly acquired guns.

"It's nice that there are weapons and ammo that the police used, but there don't seem to be any explosives, do there?"

"Right."

"Can we really take down the Tyrant like this?"

After roughly finishing our resupply, Leon and Claire worried that there was nothing usable for booby traps in the police armory.

Then Jill offered an opinion.

"Then let's check the S.T.A.R.S. armory upstairs too."

"There might be something usable there, since we have the stuff we used last time."

However, when we went up to check, the S.T.A.R.S. armory had only one 'MQ-11 Submachine Gun' sitting there all alone.

And judging by the S.T.A.R.S. dissolution documents with the chief's signature on the desk, it seemed the weapons we had taken from the mansion last time had been moved elsewhere.

"Damn it, that bastard chief!!!"

Jill saw those documents and trembled with rage, cursing.

"Let's go to the tank right now!"

"There are plenty of bombs there!"

Jill fumed, unable to contain her anger.

At that moment, Leon, looking like something had come to mind, spoke with a bright expression.

"There are bombs!"

"When we were escaping from the library upstairs, someone had set up C4 in the storage room we passed through."

"We can use that!"

"Oh, really?"

"But why would there be C4 in a police station..."

"I'm not sure about that either, but from a note in the storage room, it looked like someone who got fired from the police station was so resentful that they tried to blow up the station with C4."

At those words, Jill made a bewildered expression.

"So, if it weren't for the zombie outbreak, someone would have blown up the police station?"

"Uh... probably?"

"Heh... oh, for crying out loud..."

This was also content that appeared in the original game.

Honestly, it was absurd.

But in the Resident Evil universe, there are so many insane people, and considering Chief Brian Irons's usual behavior, it wasn't entirely impossible.

We went to the storage room, carefully removed the C4, and returned to the darkroom.

After discussing where to install the booby trap, we decided on the operations room as the installation site.

The operations room was spacious and had small windows connected to the corridor, so the opinion that the person luring the Tyrant could escape through those windows was adopted.

"With six grenades and C4, it'll definitely die, right?"

"But who's going to lure it?"

After the booby trap installation was complete, Claire asked that, and I stepped forward.

"I'll do it."

"I know the police station layout well, and I'm pretty fast at running."

"You guys hide in the police armory and watch, and when I escape into the corridor through the window, you just press the detonation switch."

But Jill looked worried.

"Are you sure?"

"Are you okay doing it alone?"

"I appreciate my lover worrying, but don't worry."

"And it's better to do this alone."

Then Marvin asked in surprise.

"You two were dating?"

"Yeah, it hasn't been a few days, but that's how it is."

"Wow... the more easygoing than a man Jill finally has a lover."

"This is truly amazing."

At those words, Jill frowned and snapped.

"Wha, what did you say!?"

"What exactly is my image at the police station!?"

"Hmm... outside a woman, but inside a man?"

In the end, Jill couldn't hold back and kicked Marvin in the shin.

Thump!

"Ugh!"

Marvin grabbed his shin and hopped around in place, while Leon and Claire covered their mouths, struggling to hold back their laughter.

"I'll be back."

"Get ready."

"Okay."

"Be careful."

"Don't overdo it."

"Okay."

I left my backpack with Jill and started walking around the police station to find the Tyrant.

It didn't take as long as I thought.

As soon as I stepped into the central hall, I spotted the Tyrant slowly patrolling along the second-floor railing.

As soon as I spotted the Tyrant, I drew the Mallorian Arms 3516 and immediately pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The power of the Mallorian Arms 3516 was undeniable.

The bullets pierced through the Tyrant's bulletproof coat and embedded deep into its body.

The Tyrant, staggered by the impact, wavered for a moment, then turned its head and stared at me.

Then, with heavy footsteps, it began its pursuit.

Thud, thud, thud!

I figured that was enough.

Keeping a suitable distance from the Tyrant, I began luring it along the first-floor corridor toward the operations room.

Most of the zombies had already been cleared, so there was nothing to obstruct me.

Moreover, the darkness was no hindrance to me thanks to the [Naked Eye] ability, and the Tyrant also persistently chased after me, so I succeeded in luring it to the operations room as planned.

"Now!!!"

I used the foothold I had prepared in advance to quickly get out into the corridor through the window, and then I shouted.

Immediately afterwards, a tremendous explosion erupted from the operations room, and the windows spewed flames, with vibrations felt as if the entire building was shaking.

KABOOOOOM!!!!

After the explosion subsided, the people in the armory came out and first checked on my safety.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah, damn... my ears are ringing."

"I'm glad you're alright. Nothing happened."

"What did you say?!"

When I pretended not to hear, Jill chuckled and shouted.

"I said I'm glad!!!"

I started brushing off my clothes.

Because I had been right next to the operations room window, glass shards and dust from the explosion were all over my clothes.

Jill helped me too and asked.

"Do you think that was enough to take care of it?"

"I haven't checked yet, so I don't know, but wouldn't it be dead with an explosion that big?"

"Then let's go check."

We all headed to the operations room and looked inside.

The operations room door had been ripped off, unable to withstand the explosion, and the floor inside was blown open to the point where you could see the basement below.

And on top of that, the Tyrant, with its upper body half blown away, was writhing.

Those who saw it were incredulous.

"Wow... that's insane... it's still alive after that explosion."

"Step out for a moment."

"I'll finish it off."

I immediately drew the Mallorian Arms 3516 and began firing wildly at the Tyrant's heart and head.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!

Before long, its heart seemed to stop functioning, and the Tyrant could no longer move.

Unlike Nemesis, the Tyrant does not revive or anything once its heart stops, so it was now truly dead.

"Phew... it's finally dead."

"Let's take a break for now."

"Okay."

We went back to the darkroom, ate and drank from the backpack, and made plans for the future.

"We need to find the chief and get information about the other viruses."

"You guys should just focus on escaping this city."

When Jill said that, Leon shook his head and spoke.

"I'll help too."

"I can't just pretend I didn't hear that kind of story."

Claire also agreed.

"Me too."

"Viruses like that shouldn't exist."

Then Marvin stood up and spoke.

"Then it's settled."

"Let's find the chief first."

When they all said that, Jill looked a little moved.

Indeed, they were the Resident Evil protagonists, overflowing with a sense of justice.

We packed our things again and moved to the second floor, where the police chief's office was.

With the food gone, the backpack had gotten considerably lighter.

Bang!

Click!

"Wow... is it okay to do this?"

"What if there's trouble later..."

Leon said the exact same thing as Jill when I opened the locked door with the shotgun.

"Don't worry about that in this situation."

"Still..."

Despite my words, Leon looked like he had been caught doing something bad.

The funny thing was that Claire next to him had the exact same expression.

'Well, Leon and Claire will get used to it like Jill.'

Anyway, we moved by breaking down doors like that, and when we arrived at the chief's office and opened the door to enter, the chief was pointing a gun at us.

Somehow, the timing worked out, and we were able to meet the chief right away.

"Don't come any closer!!!"

Then Jill confronted him outright.

"We know everything, Brian!"

"We know you're being paid off by Umbrella!"

"Do you even know that Umbrella caused this whole situation!?"

"I know."

"I didn't expect it to come to this, though."

"I was the one supplying the materials for that research."

At those words, Jill frowned and tried to aim her gun at the chief, but I quickly stopped her.

"We're not interested in you."

"We just want to know the research facility where the virus is being made."

"Just tell us that."

"Then we'll leave quietly."

At that, the chief pondered for a moment, then spoke to us.

"I don't know why you want to know that now, but since you say you'll leave quietly, I'll tell you."

"If you go through the underground passage of the building under construction behind the police station, there's a cable car connected to the lab."

"You can use that to get to the lab."

The chief told us the location of the lab surprisingly easily after we said we would leave quietly.

Whether he wanted to get rid of us quickly and continue enjoying his own 'hobby,' or whether he wanted to hide by himself until the situation calmed down, I couldn't tell.

"I hope what you said is true."

"I'd rather not see you again."

Leaving those words, I left the chief's office with the others.

Then Jill asked me.

"Are we just going to leave that bastard?"

"We have no choice."

"If we tried to subdue him by force, someone might get shot."

"Getting shot in this situation is dangerous."

"Hah... this is crazy."

"Fine."

"Then let's go the way the chief told us."

We went down to the underground parking lot to go to the back of the police station, as the chief had told us.

But suddenly, I heard someone running around underneath the underground parking lot.

"Did you hear that?"

I asked the others after hearing that sound.

"What sound?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"Me neither."

"I didn't hear anything either."

It seemed I was the only one who heard that sound.

Probably because my physical abilities were at a level incomparable to ordinary people.

Jill asked me.

"What kind of sound was it that made you react like that?"

"I can't tell for sure just from the sound, but it was the sound of someone running."

"From the stride length of the sound I heard, it was the sound of a child running."

"I know for sure because Anna lives with me."

"Surely, you don't mean there's a child hiding in the police station basement?"

"That seems to be the case."

Then Marvin asked.

"Could it be that you misheard the sound of a zombie?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

"But unlike zombies, the footsteps were regular."

I handed my backpack to Jill and spoke.

"I can't just leave it."

"I need to check it out."

"I might have misheard, but just in case, if a child is really hiding in the police station basement from the zombies, I can't just leave them."

"Jill, wait with the others at the tank."

"I'll be right back."

Then Leon also spoke.

"I'll help too."

"For some reason, I feel like I can't just go."