Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

The train ran for quite a while longer than expected.

It seemed we had completely left Raccoon City.

Eventually, the train stopped at a desolate, abandoned train station with no one in sight.

Dried-up brown grass swayed in the wind, and scattered rocky hills surrounded the area, creating an even more barren atmosphere.

Such a remote location would have been perfect for Umbrella to secretly bring in supplies for the lab without being noticed.

"I never knew it connected to a place like this."

"What do we do now? Walk?"

"We have injured people, so that'll be tough."

When the group expressed concern, I spoke up.

"Don't worry. I have someone coming to pick us up."

I took out my phone and immediately called Brad.

—"Thank goodness, you're alive! They're bombing Raccoon City right now, you know."

"Really? I guess Dr. Bard's persuasion didn't work."

—"I'm not sure about that. Dr. Bard was talking to some people and then left somewhere. I don't know what happened after that."

As I mentioned before, Dr. Bard had likely been dealt with already.

"I see... Anyway, we need a ride. We're at an old-looking train station on the northeast outskirts of Raccoon City. It's big enough to be easy to find."

—"Got it. I'll be there soon."

The group sat on the train, waiting for the helicopter.

In the meantime, Jill woke up.

"Hon, our kids won the World Cup... Huh! It was a dream..."

She woke up talking nonsense again.

"You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Ah, yeah... I'm fine. Where are we? And where's Sherry?"

"Sherry hasn't woken up yet. But don't worry, she seems okay. We escaped by train. I contacted Brad, so he should be here soon."

"I see. That's a relief."

Jill sighed in relief that it was all over, but then she noticed Ada sitting nearby and frowned.

"Why is she here?!"

"Her leg was broken, so we brought her along."

"She should have found her own way out after leaving like that. No conscience."

Jill bluntly scolded Ada as soon as she saw her.

But Ada just glared at her for a moment and said nothing.

Thwup, thwup, thwup...

"It's a helicopter. Brad must be here."

When the group spotted the helicopter in the sky, they all waved their arms to signal their location.

Brad was still flying the same white Umbrella helicopter he had escaped in.

"I'm glad you're both safe. I take it you destroyed the new virus?"

"Yeah, we destroyed it. The lab self-destructed too, so there shouldn't be any more problems."

"That's a relief. We shouldn't stay here. Right now, the military sent by the government is controlling all people and supplies coming out of Raccoon City. This place is a bit away from Raccoon City, so it seems okay for now, but the military could show up anytime. If we get caught by them, it'll be a real headache."

At Brad's words, we quickly boarded the helicopter.

Once the military got involved, the situation would get much more complicated.

The government was already aware of the virus outbreak in Raccoon City.

If they found out we had escaped from there, we had no idea what kind of interrogation or quarantine measures awaited us.

It was the same in the original.

When the government learned that Sherry had been infected with the G-virus and treated, she was put in a position to become a test subject for various experiments.

Fortunately, Leon protected Sherry on the condition that he would join a government intelligence agency, which saved her from being a test subject and secured her safety.

Sherry was also quite a pitiful character.

We flew the helicopter to the outskirts of Chicago, ditched it, and took a taxi to my mansion.

"Wow... Jin, you're really rich. Living in a place like this. With employees and everything..."

The group seemed quite surprised by my mansion.

I assigned rooms to everyone.

They washed up, bought new clothes, and we admitted Ada to a nearby large hospital.

When Sherry finally woke up, I personally explained what had happened to her parents and that Annette had entrusted her to me.

"I already expected it. I did, but..."

Sherry began to cry bitterly, and Claire and Jill hugged and comforted her.

Just then, Anna (Lisa Trevor) returned home from school.

"Sister Jill, long time no see!"

"Anna, have you been well?"

Anna ran up and hugged Jill as soon as she saw her; she must have really missed her.

"Wow! Who's this doll-like girl?"

"She's my little sister, 'Anna.'"

"Jin is really handsome, but his sister is no joke either. She's adorable."

Claire marveled at Anna, and funny enough, Linda, the nanny standing nearby, looked incredibly proud, as if Anna were her own daughter.

"Hi Anna, I'm Claire. I'll be staying for a while, so let's get along."

"Hello. I look forward to it too."

"Oh, how cute."

Anna politely bowed to Claire, and the sight was so adorable that Claire pulled her into a tight hug.

"I can't breathe."

"Ah, sorry. You're just so cute, I couldn't help it."

Linda nodded in understanding and said, "No one can resist the young lady's cuteness. I completely understand. But please restrain yourself a little. Even I, her nanny, am only allowed to hug her once a day with permission. I wait eagerly for that time. Hah..."

"I, is that so?"

"Yes. So if you wish to hug the young lady from now on, please ask for permission."

"..."

Linda's flushed face and strange words left Claire speechless for a moment.

The others also seemed to instantly grasp what kind of person Linda was.

Several days passed.

But there was still no news coverage of the Raccoon City incident in Chicago.

The government seemed to be struggling with how to announce it.

Honestly, any country would be the same.

If they announced that an entire city had been overrun by monsters due to a virus and essentially collapsed, it was impossible to predict how the public would react.

During that time, Marvin and Brad, worried about their families, left first.

Leon used the Chief's money I had given him to buy a used car and, with fruit and snacks in hand, visited Ada in the hospital whenever he could.

He seemed quite worried about her broken leg.

Jill and Claire, along with Linda, took Sherry and Anna around Chicago, enjoying some sightseeing for a change.

Anna quickly became friends with Sherry.

She had the nanny, but she also had to go home, so apart from the security guard, there was no one at the house in the evenings, and she was often bored.

So she was delighted to have Sherry to play with.

I was also busy—taking care of Sherry's identity.

Unlike the original, Annette had entrusted Sherry to me, so to protect her from a bad fate, identity laundering was essential.

I changed her surname to 'Sherry Harris,' taking my own surname in the Resident Evil universe.

I had already informed the group about this.

With the growing family, I sold the old sailing yacht and bought a used 'Sunseeker Manhattan 62' power yacht instead.

To be honest, it was hard to find a yacht with a design I liked in 1998, but fortunately, I was able to get a Sunseeker series, which was the most stylish and popular at the time.

I only did minimal modifications.

I replaced the engine with a hybrid electric system and added a gyroscopic stabilization system since the kids would be riding.

The rest was just a slight modern touch-up on the interior.

I also crafted the Yukimura pistol Ada had ordered, precisely from a standard alloy.

This time, I also made a new 'Grapple Gun,' Ada's signature weapon from Resident Evil 4.

It was light, sturdy, and improved in various ways for practical use.

Actually, this was more for my use than Ada's.

When vehicles couldn't go, I often had to move on foot while cosplaying as an ordinary person, which significantly reduced mobility.

So I put extra effort into making it, resulting in a Grapple Gun with better performance and design than the original.

"Do we really have to go? I don't like her."

"Don't be like that. She had surgery. We should visit."

Leon said Ada had undergone surgery for a complex fracture, so we all decided to visit her.

Jill wasn't thrilled, but she came along anyway.

We took the Rezvani Vengeance to the hospital.

Ada was lying in bed with a cast on her leg, watching TV, while Leon sat beside her reading a book.

"You came too. I thought you wouldn't show."

" We heard you had surgery, so we came to see you. We're not strangers. How are you feeling?"

"Once the bone heals enough, I'll need another surgery to remove the pins. This job is a total loss."

Jill chuckled and said, "That's what you get for not living right. It's divine punishment."

"Maybe."

When Ada readily admitted it, Jill was a bit taken aback.

Despite Ada's words, her belongings were all in the hospital closet, but William's fang was nowhere to be seen.

That meant the G-virus had already been successfully delivered to her client.

I had no idea when she had passed it on, but she was certainly a mercenary who got the job done.

She had probably already received her payment.

I took out the colorful permanent markers I had brought.

"Why are you taking those out? Surely not..."

"Yeah, that 'surely not.'"

The group gathered around Ada's cast and started writing messages or doodling on it.

Leon: [Next time, wear safety boots instead of high heels.]

Me: [Green herb prescription needed.]

Jill: [Cat thief.]

Anna: [Sister, get well soon! Fighting!]

Sherry: [Leon's girlfriend ♥]

Claire: [Stinky foot.]

What was funny was that Sherry had written [Leon's girlfriend ♥], and Leon cleared his throat awkwardly when he saw it.

"I thought I'd never see this kind of thing again after childhood..."

"You need stuff like this to have personality in the hospital."

"I'm not interested in that."

Ada pretended to dislike it, but she chuckled at the doodles on her cast, so she didn't seem to mind too much.

"Oh, I'm working on your gun. You can pick it up when you're discharged. I'll only charge you for the materials, as promised."

"You remembered. Okay."

We chatted a bit more and then returned to the mansion.

After that, rumors that Raccoon City had completely disappeared spread uncontrollably through word of mouth.

Umbrella announced through the media that the city was destroyed by a nuclear meltdown at a power plant.

The government, unable to cover up the incident any longer, began airing special reports about Raccoon City on TV.

The government placed full blame on Umbrella and took a hard line, vowing to hold them legally accountable.

But Umbrella showed no signs of backing down.

News even surfaced that they were preparing a lawsuit against the government, suggesting a full-scale legal battle was about to begin.

However, not a single word was mentioned about the virus, the zombies, or the various creatures.

For those of us who knew the truth, it was absurd.

In the end, the government and Umbrella were just shifting blame, hiding the most important facts from the public.

"Are you just going to sit back and do nothing?"

"You're right, we can't just stay quiet."

As expected, Jill, Claire, and Leon couldn't just stand by after seeing the news.

"But there's nothing we can do. The government clearly knows about the virus but isn't announcing it. Even if we go to the media, it'll likely be buried. The government is probably under a lot of pressure too. That means Umbrella has been doing a lot of lobbying. Any word from Chris yet?"

"Not yet. He must be busy too."

"Then I think we should just wait. Moving now will only make us targets."

"Damn it, there's nothing we can do..."

"Well, take it as a chance to rest. You've all been working hard."

Despite my words, no one answered.

The reality of being powerless weighed heavily on everyone.

"Anna's on break, so how about taking the kids to see the Great Lakes? I bought a new yacht."

"Phew... yeah, that sounds good. There's nothing else we can do right now."

Jill agreed, having no other choice.

Leon then suggested, "How about we go in a week? Ada should be discharged by then."

"What?! You're bringing her too... Ahem... Fine, whatever."

Jill openly frowned at the idea of Ada coming along.

But a glance at Leon made her clear her throat and reluctantly agree.

A week later, as promised, we picked up Ada from the hospital and set sail from Chicago on the yacht, heading to the 'Discovery World Reiman Aquarium' in Milwaukee for a day trip.

The Sunseeker Manhattan 62 had three cabins.

Claire and Sherry took one, the master suite went to me, Jill, and Anna, and the remaining cabin was assigned to Leon and Ada.

That cabin had two single beds, and since Ada still had her cast on, Leon needed to look after her.

We brought a wheelchair along too.

"Wow~ a fish with a saw on its nose! That's so cool!"

"That's a sawfish."

The kids loved it, of course, but the others also enjoyed the aquarium.

Most of them had grown up without parents and rarely got to visit places like this.

"Leon, let's go over there."

"Yeah."

Ada was especially excited—it was probably her first time seeing something like this too.

Her background was shrouded in mystery, but as a well-known mercenary, her life couldn't have been easy.

The next day, we headed to Mackinac Island, one of the most famous islands in the Great Lakes, checked into a hotel, and rested for two days.

Mackinac Island was unique in that no cars were allowed.

Everyone traveled by horse-drawn carriage or bicycle.

Having visited martial arts and fantasy worlds, it didn't feel particularly special to me, but the others seemed to love the unique atmosphere.

"Ugh... I'm not really into snail dishes."

"Me neither. It brings back bad memories."

"Fair enough, it's a divisive dish. Let's get something else."

At lunch, we ordered snail dishes, but most of the group couldn't bring themselves to eat them.

The sight of such unappetizing food must have reminded them of what they went through in Raccoon City.

Anna and I, on the other hand, ate it just fine.

After two relaxing days on Mackinac Island, we crossed Lake Huron and stopped in Detroit.

First, we tried the famous Detroit-style pizza, then visited the Detroit Zoo, the largest in the Great Lakes region.

We then sailed along Lake Erie and the Niagara River, finally arriving at Niagara Falls.

"Wow... I've only ever seen this on TV. I never thought I'd actually be here."

"Right. It's even more spectacular in person."

The area around Niagara Falls was a tourist spot with plenty to see and eat, but it was a shame we couldn't go to the Canadian side.

Sherry's identity had been laundered, so she was fine, but unexpectedly, Ada was the problem—she was using a fake ID.

"Try living a little honestly, you mercenary!"

"I didn't plan for this to happen."

Jill scolded her, and Ada apologized.

But I could understand Ada's position—she had come to work and ended up here due to injury, not for a vacation.

"Don't be too hard on her. We can come back another time. Let's head home."

We took the yacht back to the Chicago mansion.

But as soon as we returned, the FBI showed up at the mansion.

Only two agents came, so it seemed they were here to ask questions rather than make an arrest.

"We're gathering information about Raccoon City. We know through Chris Redfield that S.T.A.R.S. members Jill Valentine and Jin Harris have collected information. We'd like your cooperation."

When Claire heard Chris Redfield's name from the FBI agent, she quickly asked, "Is my brother okay?! Where is he now?!"

"Who might you be?"

"I'm Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield's sister."

"Ah, I see. I can't discuss details, but I can tell you he's healthy and doing well."

Claire let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's step outside. This mansion has children and staff, so it's not a suitable place for this kind of conversation."

"Understood. Let's do that."