Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

Leon and I went down through a manhole in the underground parking lot to the police station's machine room.

As we moved further inside while staying alert, we heard the sound of someone running from somewhere.

"Did you hear it this time for sure?"

"Yeah. I heard it too."

This time, the footsteps were loud enough for Leon to hear clearly, so he nodded as well.

In fact, since I had played the original game, I already knew the identity of those footsteps.

It was Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William Birkin and Annette Birkin, the developers of the G-Virus, and another protagonist of Resident Evil 2.

Although Sherry doesn't have a large playable role, she is an important character in the series.

She first appeared as a child, and later, when her grown-up beauty was revealed, she became beloved by many fans, even earning the comment "thank you for growing up so well" from gamers.

We stayed alert and headed toward the machine room where the footsteps had come from.

Then we heard someone hurriedly hiding inside.

We slowly entered the machine room and spoke.

"It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. It's dangerous to stay here. We'll help you."

Leon spoke in a calm voice to reassure Sherry, who kept trying to hide.

Whether his sincerity reached her or not, Sherry cautiously revealed herself.

But then her face turned pale, and she trembled in fear as she pointed behind us.

"I'm, I'm not the one who needs help."

"What?"

Just then, we felt something massive behind us and quickly turned around.

"Oh, damn it..."

A man was standing there.

But his right upper body was grotesquely swollen, as if another torso was growing out of it, and his clothes were torn to shreds as a result.

Apart from the mutated parts, his skin was cracked and split open in places, revealing red muscle tissue beneath, and his twisted body barely retained a human shape.

Moreover, a huge eyeball bulged grotesquely from his right shoulder, constantly moving around, and his mutated right arm held a long iron pipe, seemingly scavenged from somewhere.

What was particularly eerie was his gait.

He couldn't walk straight and moved with a staggering limp, as if the mutated right side of his body and the left side, which barely retained a human form, were fighting for control.

His identity was William Birkin.

A genius scientist and the developer of the G-Virus, he had opposed Umbrella, which sought to monopolize his research results.

After completing the G-Virus, he attempted to defect to a U.S. military research facility with his research data, but his plan was discovered by Umbrella.

Umbrella immediately sent a special forces unit to recover the G-Virus samples and capture William.

However, William resisted to the end and was ultimately gunned down.

But on the brink of death, he administered the G-Virus to himself as a last resort.

As a result, he was resurrected as a monster, having shed his human form, and slaughtered the special forces unit that had killed him.

During that process, the T-Virus samples the unit had recovered were damaged, and the virus spread throughout Raccoon City through the sewers.

That was how the current zombie outbreak began.

In the end, it was the hollow reasons of greed and power struggles within Umbrella that turned Raccoon City into hell.

"This is insane. He doesn't look like he's going to listen to reason, does he?"

I quickly said to Leon.

"Let's fight him down there. It's too cramped here."

"Got it."

We quickly climbed down a nearby ladder to the lower level where the machinery was.

But William ignored us and kept trying to get to Sherry.

So I quickly fired my gun to draw his attention.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Over here, you monster!"

Whether he could no longer ignore us or not, William jumped down through the railing to the lower level and began swinging his iron pipe threateningly.

"My G!!"

But thanks to his staggering gait, his movements weren't very fast.

We were able to maintain a proper distance and keep firing.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Damn, the bullets aren't working!"

Leon kept firing at William's head and legs to try to stop his movements.

But since I knew his weak point from the original game, I knew those attacks wouldn't stop him, so I immediately shouted to Leon.

"Leon! Aim for the eye on his shoulder, not his head! That seems to be his weak point!"

At that, Leon also started aiming for the eye on his shoulder.

As expected, just like in the original, when we poured bullets into that eye, William screamed in pain and staggered backward.

"Grrraaaargh!!"

"It worked! It seems to be effective."

Seeing that, we concentrated our fire even more and pushed William back.

William, seeming to decide he couldn't hold out any longer, fled in the opposite direction.

He then threw himself into the sewer facility below the machine room and disappeared.

Splash!

Leon sighed and spoke.

"Hah... I wonder how many more monsters are out there..."

"You'll get used to it. I've been dealing with these things for a while now."

"That's not comforting at all."

Knowing how much trouble Leon would face in the future, I patted his shoulder as if to comfort him.

"Let's head back up first. We need to see the kid."

"Yeah."

We climbed back up the ladder and entered the machine room where Sherry was.

She was huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.

"Don't worry. We took care of that monster. You're safe now."

"Really? Then, can you help me find my mom?"

"Is your mom here too?"

"I think so... I hope so."

The reason Sherry had come here was that her mother, Annette, had told her to seek help from the police if anything dangerous happened.

But the police were overwhelmed by the zombie outbreak.

In the end, since no one came to help her, Sherry had evaded the zombies and come to the police station herself to find help.

That's probably why she made this request to Leon, who was in a police uniform.

"It's dangerous here, so we need to get out first. Then we'll help you find her."

"Okay."

We headed back toward the manhole.

On the way, I asked Sherry.

"By the way, what does your mom do?"

"She works at Umbrella. She's making an important new medicine."

Leon seemed surprised at that but tried not to show it so he wouldn't alarm Sherry.

"Mom is always at the company. So I don't get to see her much."

"I see... You'll see her again soon. And your dad?"

"Dad, um... he worked with Mom... but he's not here anymore."

Sherry seemed to be aware of what her father had become and was speaking around it that way.

"Oh... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay."

In fact, I hadn't expected to meet Sherry here.

Since the timeline was different from the original, I didn't know how things would play out.

But perhaps because we had wasted more time than expected dealing with the Tyrant, we ended up arriving at a similar point in the story.

When Sherry said that, Leon brought up his own story to comfort her.

"I don't have parents either. They were caught up in some bad people and both passed away. That's why I decided to become a cop, so things like that wouldn't happen again."

"I see... I'm sorry..."

"At least we have something in common. Isn't that a good thing?"

"I, is it?"

While sharing such words, we arrived at the manhole leading to the underground parking lot.

Leon climbed up the ladder first and waited above, and I lifted Sherry up to him before following behind.

"There really was a child there."

When we came out of the manhole, the others, who had been skeptical about whether there really was a child, all looked surprised to see Sherry.

"You weren't in the tank? You were all waiting here?"

"Yeah, we got worried when we heard gunshots."

"Ah, that wasn't just a kid down there. There was a mutated monster too. That's why."

"I figured as much. Still, I'm glad you both got out safely with the child."

Claire patted Sherry's head and asked.

"What's your name?"

"Sherry. Sherry Birkin."

"I see, Sherry. I'm Claire. Let's get along from now on."

We exchanged brief greetings with Sherry and arrived at the parked tanks.

I refilled my backpack with the ammunition we had used up and also took out the grenade launcher with rapid-fire capability that I had brought from the mansion.

While I was checking my gear, the others were looking over the tanks, fascinated.

"How did you make something like this?"

"Jin is an engineer and he's been building tanks as a hobby for years. I didn't expect much at first either, but after riding in one, the quality is surprisingly high. This tank has even saved my life before, so it's pretty amazing."

"Impressive..."

Jill explained what I was about to say, which made things easier for me.

Just then, someone approached us.

The others quickly raised their guns in caution, but Leon recognized the person and calmed everyone down.

"Everyone, relax. She's an FBI agent named 'Ada Wong.'"

From the way he said that, Leon must have already met Ada Wong.

Ada Wong was a beautiful Asian woman who looked far too mature and sophisticated for her twenty-four years of age.

She wore a short haircut and, even in this horrific situation, didn't take off her black sunglasses.

Her brown long coat and high heels only emphasized her chic demeanor.

With a slender figure that even her coat couldn't hide, she was the kind of woman anyone would turn to look at on the street—if this weren't the hellish Raccoon City.

"Thanks for the introduction, Leon."

Ada said that, and I asked.

"So what's the FBI doing here?"

"I'm investigating a new virus developed by Umbrella. And to do that, I need that girl."

Ada pointed to Sherry, who was clinging tightly to Leon's leg.

"What do you mean? You need Sherry?"

"You might not know this, but the G-Virus Umbrella just created was developed by Sherry's parents, Dr. William Birkin and Dr. Annette Birkin. That's why I need her."

Everyone seemed shocked by Ada's revelation.

But I had no intention of handing Sherry over to Ada.

If I did, I'd lose my way into the lab.

Sherry had the key card needed to enter the lab, and Ada could hack the security system.

Of course, I could also use my abilities to open doors, but that would raise unnecessary suspicion or create awkward situations.

So to get into the lab naturally, I needed at least one of them to come with us.

"Sorry, but I can't trust you. I don't believe you're really with the FBI."

At that, Ada frowned and spoke.

"Handsome, didn't you hear Leon introduce me? And we don't have time for this."

"We don't have time either. So let me ask you one thing. Our S.T.A.R.S. members have been in secret contact with the FBI. Name one of the members we're in contact with. Then I'll believe you."

At that, Ada hesitated for a moment before making excuses.

"...The information I have is different from the personnel deployed in the field. Besides, even if I did know, I don't trust you either, so I can't just divulge classified information."

Then Leon stepped in to mediate.

"Whoa, whoa, everyone calm down. How about this? We all stick together. We have the same goal anyway. Besides, I trust that Ada is with the FBI."

This guy Leon.

Already taking Ada's side—it seemed he was completely smitten.

"Phew, fine. Since I failed to convince you, I'll come along for now."

Ada said that and joined our group.

But Sherry stayed glued to Leon and Claire's side, on high alert against her.

In young Sherry's eyes, Ada probably looked like a wicked witch trying to kidnap her.