My Reality Became a Zombie Game World, but Only I Can Use the Game System - Chapter 3: Common Zombie

Chapter 3: Common Zombie

“Aaa… Aaahhh… It hurts so much! It hurts so much!”

The girl with strangely pale skin lunged at me with force, and I let out a scream.

I couldn’t support her weight, and I fell to the floor, hitting the back of my head.

Her hands were on my neck, and I shuddered at her terrifyingly cold body temperature.

It was clearly not alive, a skin coldness that a human shouldn’t have.

“Is this… really a zombie?! Is there no way to deal with this, Message Person?!”

“…”

It seemed something unexpected was happening, as the message window displayed nothing, and I couldn’t hear the girl’s voice.

No way! You’ve been talking non-stop when it wasn’t necessary, and now you’re silent?

As I was thinking this, the situation progressed.

The zombie was forcefully choking my neck, and I struggled desperately to get free.

My arms were occupied with resisting, and in that state—the zombie opened its mouth wide. Oh no! It’s going to bite!

“This is bad! This is bad! I’m going to die!”

“…”

The message window still displayed nothing.

Perhaps because I was in a state of danger, my concentration was heightened, and I could see the zombie’s mouth approaching in slow motion.

As its face got closer, I could see its expressionless face more clearly. Its pale skin, the prominent veins, and its left eye was strangely protruding, as if it was about to fall out.

Slowly, slowly, the zombie’s mouth approached my neck. It felt like I was climbing the steps to the gallows.

I had to do something!

“Aaa… Aaahhh… Iiiii…”

And then… the zombie bit down hard on my neck!

The zombie’s teeth sank into my flesh.

I felt intense pain, and it was only then that I finally understood that this was reality.

An overwhelming reality that couldn’t be a hallucination.

It was comical that the health bar in the bottom left only decreased slightly despite the pain I was feeling.

It was a given that humans bitten by zombies would become zombies themselves.

Was I going to die here? While my heart was giving up, my body desperately resisted, trying to get the zombie off me.

“Do you understand now?”

The girl’s voice finally became audible, after it was already too late.

I focused on the message window, hoping there was something I could do to turn the situation around.

“Do you understand how I felt being ignored? So don’t ignore me anymore, okay?”

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t the time for that! I’m being bitten by a zombie!”

It seemed she had been silent as a form of retaliation for me ignoring her. It was the worst timing.

As the zombie bit my neck, the message window continued its lecture.

“If you had listened to me, this situation wouldn’t have happened. You’re always like that. You never listen to me, Ritsu-san.”

“Stop with the dramatic partner act! We’ve only just met today! And please do something about this situation quickly!”

I couldn’t afford to indulge in the message window’s drama now.

I tried to escape from the zombie, which was biting my neck, by lying half on my back, but I couldn’t seem to get free.

“A low-information value common zombie like this is no problem. As a player, Ritsu-san already has physical ability information and combat technique information installed. The important thing is to be aware that you already have these abilities installed.”

I didn’t understand half of her words, but at least I understood that I already had the power to counter zombies.

I had physical ability and combat technique.

It was like installing software on a computer to make it usable. The computer was my body, and the software was the ability.

I had physical ability and combat technique.

With that in mind, I felt a surge of strength. I had a muscular strength far beyond what I thought was my limit.

I easily pulled the zombie’s arm off me and, without thinking, I struck the zombie’s temple with the palm of my right hand. The impact caused the zombie to fall next to me. After standing up, I realized that my series of movements was the same as the motion for pulling zombies off in “DL4.”

“Aaaah… Aaa… Ta… Aaa…”

Pulling the zombie off didn’t kill the girl zombie.

Rather, if it was the same as the settings in “DL4,” she wouldn’t die unless her HP was depleted or her head was destroyed.

In my current state, without a weapon like a “DL4” player, I couldn’t do any of the two.

I kicked the zombie, which was trying to get up, and I was shocked.

The zombie was blown away, taking several desks with it. It was impossible for my kick to blow away a person’s weight like that. But this was reality.

… This is the physical ability of a player…?

I was horrified by the overwhelming physical ability that could easily kill a person if I wasn’t careful.

At any rate, I had bought some time. I ran away, leaving the zombie struggling to get up, entangled in the desks.

I left the empty classroom and slammed the door shut.

The zombie chased after me, but the low-intelligence zombie didn’t have the slightest idea on how to slide the door sideways. It repeatedly and stubbornly banged its head against the classroom door.

The sound of the door being knocked echoed in the corridor multiple times. I checked the situation, and it seemed there was no worry of the zombie breaking through.

I had secured a safe zone, it seemed.

I sighed with relief and collapsed on the corridor floor.

Then, I suddenly touched my neck. The pain became clearer when I touched the wound.

“I’ve been bitten…”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

If it was the same as “DL4,” humans bitten by zombies would turn into zombies after a few hours. I prayed that the zombie settings in the real world were different, and I asked the message window.

“What happens to humans bitten by zombies?”

“They turn into zombies. Do you have any last words?”

“It’s over…”

I collapsed alone in the corridor.

Happy memories flashed before my eyes like a slideshow. I wouldn’t be able to stay up all night playing the campaign mode of “DL4,” or smile as I thought about “DL4” builds, or play the horribly unbalanced PvP mode of “DL4” with Chihiro-kun and complain together with him. Was my life only about “DL4”?

“Of course, I was joking. As a player, Ritsu-san has immunity to zombies, so you will not turn into a zombie.”

“Please stop with the cruel jokes!”

Who is this girl, really?

Come to think of it, “DL4” players also had a setting where they had immunity to zombies. As long as their health bar didn’t run out, they wouldn’t game over. In other words, being bitten alone wasn’t a problem.

“So, it’s the same as ‘DL4.’ Can you also give others immunity?”

In the “Dead Land” series, there was a setting where a certain act could give others immunity. It was a setting from the erotic game days, so it wasn’t often used in the general audience versions.

“I’ll sue you for sexual harassment.”

“Ugh… Unfair…”

I had some dissatisfaction with the important information not being disclosed, but I put it aside for now. It was a dead setting I couldn’t use anyway, as I couldn’t even talk to girls properly.

“Just in case, is there a way to cure a zombified human?”

“No.”

“That’s the same as ‘DL4’…”

In “DL4,” there was a few hours of leeway before a bitten human turned into a zombie, and if immunity couldn’t be given during that time, there was no way to save them. That was the official setting of “DL4.”

Since we were talking about “DL4,” I looked at the mini-map and health bar displayed in my vision.

“The UI is just like ‘DL4.'”

“It’s a system built based on the information of ‘Dead Land 4.’ Think of it as if you, as a player, can use the game system of ‘Dead Land 4’ in reality.”

“… “

… Why?

Various questions came to mind, but I couldn’t ask them calmly as the zombie frequently knocked on the door behind me.

My head wasn’t working properly. I was just exhausted.

Game protagonists could easily deal with zombies, but in reality, I was already in this state just trying to escape from one zombie.

Um… what should I do first? Treat the wound? Call the police? Should I warn people on SNS?

… “If you have any problems, you can rely on me, okay?”

The words of my father came to mind, as my thoughts were scattered.

Yes, my father would be able to do something.

My father had never let me down. Yeah, everything will be okay.

I finally felt a glimmer of hope, and I sighed with relief.

It was night by the time I realized it. I left the school building and hurried home.

In hindsight, it was probably an act of escapism.

While I was returning home, the mini-map displayed red warnings multiple times, but I didn’t think about what they meant, and I just kept running.

*

I rushed into my home, room 808, out of breath.

“Dad!”

I had accidentally shouted, but there was no reply. The lights were also off.

The door to my father’s room, adjacent to the living room, was closed.

If things were normal, he would have finished work by now, but maybe he was working overtime.

I usually didn’t disturb my father when his room was closed, but this wasn’t the time for that.

I knocked on the door, but there was still no reply. I knocked harder and called out.

“Dad? I’m coming in?”

As I called out, I glanced at the mini-map in the top left of my vision, and my spine froze.

There was a red warning displayed in the direction of the room.

There was a zombie in my father’s room.

As soon as I realized this, there was a loud noise.

“Don! Don don don don!”

The door was being knocked on from the inside, with great force.