Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

For some reason, Lilly gathered everyone together and made a proposal.

"We still have enough food, but there's no guarantee that will last. So I was thinking we should check out the Air Force base I used to work at. They should have a lot of food stockpiled there. With luck, we might even find ammunition and fuel. It's on the outskirts and not too far from here."

After Lilly finished, murmurs spread through the group.

"Hmm... Lilly has a point. We're fine for now, but we need to prepare for the future. Food won't last forever. And if we don't take it first, other survivors might."

I agreed with Lilly's idea.

"But if it's a military base, there are probably a lot of Walkers. Will it be okay?"

"We have guns and enough ammo."

"I'm in favor. Like Jin said, if we don't take it, someone else will."

"That's true..."

Opinions were divided, so we held a vote.

The result was 5 in favor, 2 against, and 1 abstention.

"Since the vote passed, we'll go to the Air Force base. Larry, who's not feeling well, Carley, who manages the food, and Katjaa will stay at the motel with the kids to guard the base. The rest of us will go. We might have to fight a lot of Walkers if things go wrong, so rest up today and prepare yourselves. We leave early tomorrow morning."

After I gave the instructions, the group seemed a bit uneasy.

The thought of possibly having to fight a large number of Walkers made everyone nervous.

To ease their tension, I built a small outdoor oven and baked some pizzas.

Luckily, we had ham and bacon, so making them wasn't difficult.

But just like when you're out with friends and everyone devours freshly made food, the group grabbed the hot pizzas as soon as they came out of the oven.

"Hey, hey! If you take them all as soon as they're done, what's everyone else supposed to eat?!"

"I mean... it's been so long since we've had pizza, and the smell was just too good to resist."

"Still... fine. I'll make a bigger one this time. Let the people who haven't eaten yet go first."

"O, okay."

When the next one came out, people were still quick to grab a slice, but at least they let those who hadn't eaten go first.

In the end, we had to bake seven pizzas before everyone was full.

"Man, that was delicious. Is it because we haven't had pizza in a while?"

"No, it's because Jin makes good pizza. I'm basically a pizza sommelier."

"What's a pizza sommelier?"

"It's a thing."

As I baked the last pizza, I said, "This is the last one. I'm splitting it with Clem, who didn't get much because she was squeezed between the adults, and myself since I was busy baking and didn't eat any."

Everyone understood.

"It's so good!"

"Glad you like it. This one's just for us, so eat as much as you want."

"Okay."

Clem really enjoyed the pizza.

I don't know how she fit it all in that tiny stomach, but she ate four whole slices—and she's only eight.

After the meal, everyone seemed more relaxed, and their faces looked brighter.

That night, everyone slept well.

The next morning, the group heading to the base checked their weapons and prepared to leave.

We would take the Scorpion MRAP and Kenny's truck.

I, Lee, and Lilly—who would guide the way—rode in the MRAP, while Kenny and Doug took the truck.

"That way. Turn right there."

Lilly, familiar with the area, guided us along the outskirts of the city, avoiding populated areas.

We encountered few Walkers and reached the base safely.

"See that building? That's the food storage warehouse."

Lilly pointed to a building, and I plotted a route.

"Good. I'll take point. Follow quietly and take out any Walkers we see. Let's reduce their numbers as much as possible. We'll need to bring vehicles in to load the supplies."

"Got it."

We moved as quietly as possible, using the spears we'd made to take out Walkers that hadn't noticed us.

Some charged at us, but we knocked them down and finished them off with a blow to the head.

All the training we'd been doing paid off.

"We've taken out about twenty. Are there more?"

"There might be more inside. Stay alert."

"Got it."

We entered through the back door of the warehouse and saw several Walkers pounding on a large door inside.

We quietly approached and took them out as well.

"Phew... glad we didn't have to fire a shot to get here. Is this the right place?"

Lee asked again, and Lilly nodded.

"Yes, this is it. I used to see them stock food here every morning."

"Then we just need to open this door. Stand back."

Lee swung the axe he'd brought at the lock.

Thwack! Crack!

The lock broke, and the door creaked open.

"Kenny, give me a hand."

"Got it."

With Kenny's help, Lee opened the warehouse door while I, Doug, and Lilly kept watch.

"Huff!"

Creak—thud!

When the door opened, we saw large sacks of flour, canned goods, ham, sausages, and MREs.

But we weren't alone.

"Don't shoot! I haven't turned!"

We quickly aimed our guns at the man inside the warehouse, but he raised his hands and shouted.

"Who are you? A survivor from the base?"

"Yeah. A survivor. I tried to hold them off with my gun when the infected swarmed, but there were too many, so I hid in here."

"Then there are no other survivors?"

"No... they've probably all turned."

Lee stepped in. "We're survivors too. Come with us to our camp. It's relatively safe."

"Really? That's a relief. Nice to meet you. I'm Mark. I worked as a controller in the Air Force."

Mark looked like a soldier—short black hair, glasses, a white male in his mid-30s.

We exchanged brief greetings with Mark, brought the vehicles around, and started loading the food through the back door.

Mark helped us too.

With this, we wouldn't have to worry about food for months.

"Mark, do you know where the ammunition and fuel are stored?"

"The armory is a bit far from here, but the fuel storage is nearby."

"Really? Where exactly?"

"There are a lot of similar-looking buildings around here, so it's hard to explain... Can you follow me for a minute?"

We followed Mark toward the airstrip, but had to quickly take cover.

The runway was swarming with huge groups of Walkers.

"Phew... that was close... Anyway, the second building on the left is the armory, and the fuel tanks on the right hold jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel."

Kenny sighed. "Damn... with that many Walkers, we'll have to give up on the ammo and fuel. But we got enough food. Let's head back."

While they were talking, my eyes were drawn to something else—the F-35 fighter jets parked on the other side of the runway.

They were probably the ones that had been used to bomb Atlanta.

"Jin, even you can't take that on. Just give it up."

Lee noticed me staring at the jets and patted my shoulder, probably thinking I was about to go on another rampage.

"I'm not that reckless. I was just looking."

I brushed him off and followed the group back to the vehicles.

When we returned to the motel, the others were amazed by the massive amount of food we'd brought.

They also welcomed Mark warmly.

"We need to eat the frozen meat first. We can't keep it for long without reliable power."

Carley, who managed the food, looked at the meat we'd brought and spoke.

Kenny grinned. "Then we have no choice. Meat party, starting today!"

Kenny was clearly excited about having plenty of meat for a while.

But that excitement didn't last.

"Ugh... I'm sick of meat... Can't we have some salad... or at least open a can of fruit?"

"No! We need to eat the meat before it goes bad! Even now, it's already borderline—if we don't eat it soon, we'll have to throw it all away! And we only have a few cans of fruit left. We can't just keep opening them."

"Damn it, Carley is a devil."

The others were also getting tired of eating meat every day, but Kenny's grumbling was so funny that everyone chuckled.

A month passed.

By now, everyone had gotten used to this life.

Aside from me, people were starting to go out on their own to scavenge for supplies.

Of course, they couldn't match the quantity or quality of what I brought back, but their dependence on me had clearly decreased.

Thanks to that, our motel group probably had more supplies than any other survivor group in the area.

Our numbers had also grown.

We'd even picked up the Stone Mountain High School group much earlier than in the original.

Interestingly, in addition to teacher David and students Ben and Travis, two female students who hadn't appeared in the original also joined us.

There was a reason for this.

In the original, a survivor group that had been holed up in a Save-Lots store in Macon eventually ran out of supplies and turned into a gang of raiders.

They extorted supplies from other survivor groups and even raped women—a truly despicable group.

These two female students were probably meant to be their victims.

But this time, things were different.

Our motel group was far stronger than in the original, and our supply stockpile had expanded our operational range.

We made contact with the Stone Mountain group early, and they joined us.

For the two girls, it was a stroke of luck.

Of course, not everyone welcomed their arrival.

Larry and Lilly, in particular, weren't happy about taking in students who couldn't contribute much, but they kept quiet because of me.

A couple also formed among the motel survivors—Lee and Carley.

In the original, they had a bit of a fling but never actually dated.

Here, maybe because supplies were abundant, they were serious enough to share a room.

Lilly, who lived next door, complained about the strange noises she sometimes heard.

And I hadn't just been focused on motel life for the past month.

I was finally able to launch the nuclear aircraft carrier into the Atlantic.

After checking the situation over the past month, it seemed there were no functioning military units left.

That meant no more interference from other powers.

I finally had a space where I could conduct my research without any obstacles.

But since it was an aircraft carrier, I made sure it was properly equipped.

I'd retrieved a few F-35s from the Air Force base and placed them in the hangar, along with several helicopters.

I'd also secured enough jet fuel and various armaments.

Then I took out the 100 android units I'd stored in my inventory and put them in charge of security and facility operations.

I also brought in 2B and A2 to oversee them.

I moved the various supplies I'd collected into the carrier's storage and set up a proper research lab inside.

The lab was designed in clean white tones, befitting a research facility.

To prevent any viruses from leaking out, I installed a barrier and a triple-layered automatic door at the entrance using magic.

Even if something went wrong inside, the virus wouldn't easily escape.

After installing all the research equipment, I created three clones and placed them in the lab to study the viruses.

They all had [Nanomachines], so studying the viruses wouldn't be a problem.

That was what had happened over the past month.

"You idiot! That's not how you do it! Watch their center of gravity if you want to knock them down! And don't point the gun at people! Hah... this is why high schoolers..."

At the motel, Lilly was teaching the high school students how to shoot and use spears.

But the students weren't catching on, and Lilly was getting frustrated every day.

It was understandable.

Ben and Travis were notorious in the original for being complete trolls.

And the female students who had joined were actually learning much faster, which made Lilly even more frustrated.

"Lilly, take it easy. You'll give yourself a heart attack."

"Ugh, I can't deal with this! They just don't listen! How did they even survive this long?"

I was curious about that too—how those trolls managed to survive.

"I'm seriously suggesting we just assign them to menial labor. Though I doubt they'll even do that right."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yeah, you'll see if you try teaching them."

I called the two over.

"You two don't like fighting, do you? How about farming? It looks like we'll need to grow our own food eventually. If fighting Walkers isn't your thing, maybe you'd rather grow plants?"

They looked like they were seriously considering it.

I wasn't sure why, but they were deep in thought.

Then Ben spoke first. "I'll try harder at training. I know I'm frustrating. But if I give up now, I'll never learn anything."

"Really? Travis, you too?"

"Yeah. I'll give it a shot."

I thought they'd finally come to their senses.

But that thought didn't last long.

A few days later, instead of training, they were poring over a book called "I Can Do It! Wise Farming Life" and moving dirt around the motel, working on a garden.

I was speechless.

What was even funnier was that the female students were already going out with Lilly to take care of Walkers near the motel.

'...What's wrong with those two? Well, we did need someone to farm. But will they even do that right?'

I sighed as I watched them.