Night Shift I

I enjoyed my meal with the girls; there was a bubbly aura in them, I managed to satisfy them tonight, thankfully. When we finished we decided to sleep in this room, they're so confident and naive... there are still minor bumps resonating from the main door downstairs, the zombies are nearby and they can even be seen through the windows, yet they talk about sleeping soundly as if this was a Friday after school.

Wearing their pyjamas they fell asleep quite quickly. Saeko embraced me to sleep while Shizuka took both Lucy and Saya... she had enough chest for two. I looked at the ceiling as Saeko began to drift asleep after kissing me goodbye like the rest... we were tired and demolished, not even in our spartan training with Yuriko where we pushed to the limits like today.

I'm sure Hirano is not going to be waking up until midday and I can't blame the boy for it, he fought hard for his survival and the groups.

Nevertheless, even as my eyes threatened to close... I just couldn't sleep.

Because this is the catastrophe... something completely out of my expectations already happened once. Yuuki's betrayal. I think it affected me more than I thought it would.

She is a psycho... but she's a psycho I have memories of for the last four years. The first year as friends until she confessed to me; from then on... as enemies.

And for her to actually want to kill my whole group... just because I didn't choose her, that's another level of a psychopath, I can't make the same mistake again; it could have cost us our lives.

If I fall asleep now, what assures me that one of those guys isn't going to go insane?

Very carefully I left Saeko's grasp, she didn't even budge... every time I sleep with her she always notices, this time she's so wasted that she doesn't even care.

I looked at all of my girls and they were deeply asleep, just as I wanted... I need them to rest because the following days might not be easy.

With careful steps I walked upstairs to the room where Rei and Kyoko were, I tried to twist the knob and it was locked; I sighed in relief, at least those two know what kind of situation we were in.

I did the same with the boys and theirs was unlocked, I peeked inside and they were all asleep as well or at least, that's what I could see. They're males but even they should have locked the door; none of them is missing a lock from the inside so they could have been more careful.

I walked down the stairs into the kitchen... how I wished there was some coffee here.

The Kitchen window gave me a view across the street, I couldn't see much because the lights were dim, the rain had already dissipated the fire that I caused and scarce zombie bodies were down there, there weren't as many as before. They either dispersed somewhere else or were consumed by the fire.

"Show me my stats, Hollow..."

**

[Name: Brand Mercer].

[Age: 17].

[Gacha Points: 1235 -> 2530]

[Skills:]

*Kendo.

[Powers:]

*None.

[Inventory:]

*Crossbow Excalibur TwinStrike x1.

*Glock 17 3rd Gen x1.

*.38 9mm Special Cartridge x10.

*Twin Strike Specialized Arrows x20.

*Bandage Roll x5.

*Katana 'Kuroikazuchi O Kiri' x1.

...

[Summons:]

*Lucy (Cyberpunk Edgerunners)

**

'So many points...'

[You killed a lot of zombies indirectly with the fire you caused, Brand... that's the reason]

'Do the kills of my girls don't count as indirect?' I asked with a smirk, trying to swindle the system... but, the system can't be swindled.

[You know that's not how it works... if they do obtain power from you, however... it could count as an indirect kill if they use it].

'What do you mean?'

[Once you become stronger, you will be able to unlock the section of powers in the Gacha... at that time you will also be able to gift the powers away].

'S-Seriously?!' My eyes literally turned into stars, not only could I get powerful, but I could also give my girls those powers as well, increasing our chances.

[Yes, and once you do... the individuals you choose would be considered something akin to your summons, thus their kills will also be counted by the system].

'How strong must I become?'

[You must accumulate a million gacha points before this feature is unlocked].

My mouth almost touched the ground, 'A million?!'

Let alone I didn't understand how that would work as an index of strength; wouldn't I have to kill a hundred thousand zombies to accumulate that much? are there even that many zombies in this country already?!

[Remember that what you have been killing are alpha types... more powerful types are bound to give you more gacha points, it all depends on the degree of infection].

'I see... tell me the truth, hollow, how do you know this information? how do you know there are more powerful alpha types?'

[It is simple... the current infection you're facing is an artificial disease that has an origin... the curse of a god].

'...'

[Like Lady Sonasha may have told you, a powerful entity is threatening this world with this infection... but it is not only this world... many worlds have already fallen and just having that information I, the system, can know... that what you are facing are nothing more than mere Alphas].

'...'

[In fact... they may be even less than Alphas].

'What do you mean?'

[As I just said... this is an artificial virus derived from an Evil God's curse... this curse has been manipulated by humans and transformed into what you are currently facing. They seem to have come in contact with it and arrogantly believed they could manipulate it, a big mistake...]

'They lost control of it, thus the current predicament'.

[Possibly...]

'What about Sonasha, where is she?'

[Lady Sonasha should be fighting her own battles in other worlds... waiting for you to become strong enough to assist her].

'I see, I will work hard then... at what point is this mission finished? what do I have to do to accomplish it?'

[Completely erase the Evil God's seed in this world, dispersing the infection or at least creating a self-preservation mechanism for this world to survive...]

'For example?' I wanted something more conclusive.

[You could either destroy every single infected organism; effectively getting rid of the infection... or you could create a contagious cure... a cure that would eventually clean this world even without your presence].

'Hollow... do I have to save the world... or humanity?'

[The World].

'...' That's what I feared, seeing the situation this world is heading to, what if I take too long? what if most of humanity is infected, how can I save the world then? the answer is that I'd have to kill all of humanity to save the world.

Shaking my head I decided to leave that topic for another day, perhaps talk about it with Saya and Yuriko.

'I have a last question... what sort of individuals would I summon with a rare summon gacha? someone that could assist me immensely?'

[I do not recommend going beyond the common gacha for summons in this world, Brand... gods are unable to completely intercede in mortal worlds, otherwise... Lady Sonasha would have sorted this issue herself].

'...'

[The same can be said for the rare items and rare weapons... you're still a mortal, as weak as they get, the current you would be unable to brandish a godly weapon... but if you want to give it a try, all you have to do is roll a gacha].

'I have to admit it sounds tempting...'

[Starting from a rare summon... you have the small possibility to summon either a God, a Demon... or an individual that could possibly kill you before you could even press the 'delete' button...]

'Scary... so summoning a God is useless?' If I had the slightest idea of using a rare gacha just now, it was gone.

[In a mortal world like this, yes... a God's assistance can is limited, but they can indeed help you with punctual things, such as knowledge, and techniques or they would perhaps give you inheritances... it all depends on your luck... it is you who decides what sort of 'use' you give to your summons]

'I see...' well I'm certainly giving my beloved Lucy a good 'use'.

...

My conversation with Hollow gave up great insight... that had been my plan... you know how the Ludomania works, if you get a lucky chance once, you will try twice... I love Lucy and she was a lucky encounter for me in the gacha. I thought by summoning another but rare... I could speed things up a notch.

But the last incident I desire is to summon some crazy shit that will plunder my soul from the get-go.

For all I know, any of those girls that were on the list with Lucy could have been a psychotic bitch worse than Yuuki Miku, and yes... from now on she's quite high up there in the standard of psychotic bitches.

I was thinking about what to do with the points I got when someone entered the kitchen, I immediately went on guard until her visage became clearer through the dim night light coming from the window.

"Brand-kun... you're awake?"

It is Kyoko... she was rubbing her eyes as if to see clearly, not wearing her glasses.

"Why are you here?" I asked her; a little intrigued... I thought she'd be so dead tired that she wouldn't wake up until midday, just like Hirano she was one of the least physically prepared for the runner that we did.

Kyoko didn't answer me and instead leaned against the fridge.

"Did you try to come into our room a few minutes ago?" She asked, giving me a sidelong glance and holding her elbow.

I sighed, looking out the window towards the serene night with a bright moon; barely visible through the buildings.

"I didn't... I merely wanted to see if you were prudent enough to lock up your door... the two of you are females so you're in a vulnerable position" I didn't mind sounding sexist, it is the truth... in a world like this where wickedness abounds, there are no gentlemen or ladies.

"Rei-san didn't want to do it, but I convinced her..."

"Then you took the right decision, Kyoko... trust nobody".

"I trust you" She looked at me, extending her hand towards me and placing it on my shoulder, I detected something subtle coming from her.

That gaze, I can recognise it, a bit... back then from the dirty merciless streets of America; the gaze of someone that wants to survive.