Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

And not long after, another group of survivors joined us. They were none other than Jolene and her daughter, Danielle.

They brought quite a lot of supplies with them, saying they had taken as much as possible from a large discount store.

In the original work, Danielle suffers a horrific fate at the hands of the raiders at the Save Lots discount store and is killed, and that incident becomes the trigger that completely breaks Jolene. But this time, because we dealt with the raiders first, that tragedy did not occur, and Jolene and Danielle were able to safely join our group.

This was precisely why the raiders at the Save Lots discount store were truly human scum. At first glance, Danielle was a young child not even ten years old. If such a young child had gone through something like that, it would have been stranger for Jolene, as her parent, to remain sane.

But at least this time, that tragedy did not happen. Jolene did not lose her daughter, and Danielle was able to survive as well.

When I thought the time was right, I gathered everyone together and told them about the "St. John’s Dairy Farm," where people ate human flesh.

Everyone looked shocked.

"There were crazy people eating human flesh...? Shouldn’t we take care of those bastards quickly?!"

When Kenny spoke with an angry voice, the others nodded in agreement.

"I don’t know their location yet. So from now on, wherever you go, at least three people must move together. You never know what might happen anywhere."

"Just when things were starting to get a little livable, all kinds of crazy bastards start causing trouble."

Then Larry raised his hand and spoke.

"I think we should stop accepting new people now. Thanks to the solar panels we brought last time, electricity isn’t that scarce, but food could run out anytime, and the rooms are getting tight."

It was true that the number of people had grown significantly. With as many as twenty-one people living in a small motel, Larry’s point was valid.

"Anyone opposed to Larry’s suggestion?"

Since everyone was aware of the current situation, no one readily raised an objection to Larry’s words.

"Then for the time being, we won’t accept new people, and when we have more room, we can discuss it again."

This time, Mark raised his hand and offered an opinion.

"Shouldn’t we all join forces to reinforce the fence for a while? Not just walkers, but cannibal bastards are wandering around too. I think we should be concerned about ammunition as well."

"That’s a valid point. Except for the people working on the farm, we should focus on reinforcing the fence for a while. And personally, keep practicing with your guns. The cannibals are a problem, but raiders could show up again anytime. As I’ve said repeatedly, you need to be able to protect your own body by yourself."

At that, the people nodded in agreement.

From that day on, the motel people began reinforcing the fence in earnest. Along with a few men, I rode in a truck around buildings and warehouses near the motel, tearing off roofing materials and steel frames and transporting them back.

With many people working together to repair the fence, the defenses that had seemed flimsy at first gradually began to look quite respectable. At this level, even if walkers swarmed, it didn’t seem like they would collapse easily.

And while we were at it, we decided to put up a fence behind the motel as well and start farming in earnest. The motel parking lot was heavily trafficked and had many of our vehicles parked there, so it wasn’t suitable for farming.

Now that the motel affairs were somewhat settled, I began preparing to leave. The time for The Walking Dead drama to start was approaching.

— "Captain Jin Harrison, please respond. Code Red 923. Captain Jin Harrison, please respond. Code Red 923."

While spending a peaceful day, a call suddenly came through the radio installed in the Scorpion MRAP. I quickly answered the radio.

"Yes, Captain Jin Harrison. Responding."

— "As expected, you’re not someone who would die easily. Proceed immediately to ’Ziking Island.’ A vaccine is under development, and support is needed."

"Is that true?!"

— "Yes. Details are classified, so I cannot share them. Please understand."

"Then, about bringing other survivors with me..."

— "Only one person is permitted."

"Understood."

When I ended the radio transmission and turned around, all the people at the motel were looking at me. It seemed they had heard everything I said over the radio.

"They say a vaccine is being developed, shouldn’t you go quickly?"

"Then who’s going to lead this place? Without Jin, can we survive on our own?"

"Exactly... This is tough."

As the voices of people began to overlap one by one, I rubbed my forehead as if I had a headache.

"I need to think about it first. So give me a little time."

At that, the people went back to their tasks. In truth, this was all part of a plan I had set up with my clone. You could call it the ’move into the drama’ operation. So it was all an act.

"Oppa, do you really have to go?"

Clem asked with a face like she was about to cry. She probably thought I was going to abandon her.

"I don’t know. But even if I go, I could pass through Savannah, so I might be able to help find Clem’s family."

"Really?"

At that, Clem’s face brightened again.

I called Lee, Kenny, Lilly, and Carley.

"What did you decide? Are you really leaving?"

As expected, the impatient Kenny asked first.

"I think I have to leave. I haven’t gotten detailed information yet, but if they say they need me, something serious must be going on."

"This is... Then who are you planning to make the next leader?"

"Honestly, I’d prefer Lee. Lilly and Kenny are too assertive, and Carley is too weak by contrast. Lee seems like he’d be able to mediate people’s opinions well from the middle."

At that, Lilly immediately objected.

"No. Lee hesitates too much. Remember the raider incident last time? He hesitated and almost let them get away. If that hesitation had let a raider escape and they came back and hurt us, or if someone died, who would take responsibility?"

Listening to Lilly, it seemed that even at the last moment when I was pretending to let the raiders go, Lee had hesitated considerably even just to pull the trigger.

Certainly, Lee’s strength was being cautious and listening well to others’ opinions, but conversely, that personality could become a fatal weakness in emergency situations.

"Then, who would you prefer, Lilly?"

"Honestly, I want Jin to stay. Jin does a lot of work and firmly holds power, so even taking in this many people doesn’t cause trouble. If Jin leaves now, this place might split apart soon. Plus, the cannibal group issue hasn’t been resolved yet."

When Lilly surprisingly pinpointed the problems sharply, Lee and Kenny also agreed.

"Lilly’s right. Without Jin, the motel will split apart soon."

"Certainly, Jin has played that big of a role..."

I sighed and said.

"What if I stay here and the vaccine ends up not being made because of that?"

At my words, Carley asked back.

"Isn’t there no guarantee a vaccine will be made either? From what I heard, they’re still researching."

I don’t know why these guys are so sharp today of all days. Plus, the fact that they were talking this much seemed partly because I had taken too much initiative.

"Aren’t you guys too dependent on me? If the group would fall apart without me, wouldn’t it be better to find another group right away? You might not know this, but the motel people are better trained than you think and have a high survival rate. There’s no group this good anywhere. And you’re talking about splitting that up? I think I might seriously have to question your intelligence."

"That’s true..."

Then Lilly thought for a moment and said.

"Then I’ll do it. Be the leader, I mean. The more I think about it, the better that seems."

At that, Kenny immediately objected.

"No. Like Jin said, you’re stubborn and tend to push things through. I acknowledge your drive. But doing that will tire people out quickly. How about I do it instead?"

"You’re just as stubborn! Plus, you only think about your own side too much!"

"What did you say!?"

As the two looked ready to start arguing at any moment, Lee and Carley quickly stepped in to calm them down.

"Whoa, whoa. Both of you calm down."

"Right. Let’s calm down and talk."

Watching them, I sighed.

"Hah... This is why I said to leave it to Lee."

I thought for a moment and then offered a compromise.

"Then how about this? Lee takes the role of leader, and Lilly and Kenny take the roles of co-leaders. Lee handles overall operations, but important decisions are made by the three of you discussing together. And I’m not completely leaving either. I have a feeling they’re preparing something over there. If things work out, I might even be able to move you all to a better place. If it doesn’t seem right, I’ll come back."

When I said that, Carley nodded first. Whether she just didn’t want to see the two of them keep arguing, or whether she genuinely thought it was a good idea, I wasn’t sure.

"I’m in favor. This way, there’ll be no end to it."

A few more words were exchanged after that, but starting with Carley’s agreement, it was eventually decided that Lee would become the new leader.

The next morning, I announced this to everyone.

"I can trust and leave it to Lee."

"Right. He’s always been good at mediating between Lilly and Kenny."

"Since Jin isn’t completely leaving either, this might be the best option."

Surprisingly, people’s reactions were quite positive. It seemed that everyone had witnessed how Lee would step in to calm them down and mediate whenever Lilly and Kenny bickered over trivial matters.

I began packing. Not that there was much—just food, a bit of medicine, and guns and ammunition—but it was enough to last Clem and me several days.

"Jin... I don’t know if I can do well."

As I prepared to leave, Lee spoke with a worried expression. I lightly patted his shoulder to reassure him.

"Don’t worry too much. I believe you’ll do well. Nothing bad will happen. And I’ll contact you or come back as soon as I can."

"Yeah."

Lee also said goodbye to Clem.

"Clem, I hope you find your parents."

"Thank you, Uncle Lee. I’ll find them and come back soon."

After exchanging farewells with the others, I got into the Scorpion MRAP with Clem. We headed toward Savannah, where Clem’s parents had last made contact.

To be honest, I also wanted to deal with the cannibal "St. John’s Dairy Farm" before leaving. But if I solved every problem for them, the physical and mental growth of the motel people would be stunted.

There were only three bastards at St. John’s Dairy Farm anyway, so they weren’t that big of a threat. I decided to leave them be, believing the group would find a way to handle it themselves.

Clem sat in the passenger seat, swinging her legs with a bright face, looking forward to reuniting with her parents.

"Are you that happy?"

"Yes! I want to see Dad and Mom soon."

The distance from Macon, where we started, to Savannah was about the same as from Seoul to Busan. If the roads were good, it would take about four hours.

But this was the zombie apocalypse. There was no way the roads were fine. Abandoned vehicles and corpses were scattered everywhere, and there were walkers wandering the roads, so obstacles were numerous.

So a trip that normally would take a few hours would inevitably take much longer now. My estimate was at least two days at best.

Slice! Thump!

We stopped at a rest stop with few walkers, quickly dealt with them, secured fuel, and gathered food and necessary supplies as we moved. Before we knew it, not only the vehicle but even the fuel canisters we brought were full of gas, and food supplies were gradually piling up.

Munch, munch.

As the travel took time, Clem seemed bored and was eating snacks in the car.

"Eating that many snacks will not only make you fat but also rot your teeth. And later, you won’t have any appetite for real meals."

Clem answered nonchalantly.

"I’ll just finish these."

"No. Give me the opened ones. Let me have some too."

"Hmph..."

At that, Clem handed over the opened snacks to me with a disappointed look. Seeing her listen well, Clem really was a good kid.

As we traveled and the sun began to set, we parked the car in a quiet spot. I handed Clem a gun. It seemed time to start teaching her how to handle firearms. The gun I gave Clem was a Ruger Mark 3 chambered in .22 LR with a suppressor attached.

If this were a world like Resident Evil where walkers were strong and threatening, I would have taught her proper combat firearms from the start, but this was the world of The Walking Dead. Even .22 LR ammo was enough to take care of walkers. Plus, the bullets were small, recoil was light, noise was relatively low, and the gun itself was light, making it suitable for young Clem to use.

Honestly, I had wanted to teach her earlier. But to teach Clem, I would have had to teach the troublemaker Duck as well. The problem was that handing a gun to Duck would almost certainly lead to an accident. He was a curious and mischievous kid, and if things went wrong, it could lead to a major incident.

So I kept putting it off for that reason, and only now that we were traveling alone together could I properly teach her.

"This is a gun. I saw Duck get in trouble with Uncle Kenny for trying to touch a gun. Are you sure it’s okay?"

"Yeah. Back then there were a lot of people, but now it’s just the two of us. If the situation turns bad, you need to be able to protect yourself too. This gun uses small bullets, so its power is a bit weak, but it’s light and has low recoil, so it should be suitable for you."

"But it’s a little heavy..."

I attached a holster near Clem’s left chest and adjusted the straps. I secured it tightly so it was as comfortable to move in as possible while keeping the gun from falling out.

"There. Now it should be easy to carry, right?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Listen carefully. A gun is like fire."

"Fire?"

"Yeah. If you use fire well, you can cook delicious food, light up dark places, and stay warm in winter. Right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"But if you use it wrong?"

"It could start a fire and burn everything down."

"Exactly. A gun is the same. Used well, it can protect you from bad guys and walkers, but used wrong, it can hurt other people. So you always have to handle it carefully. That said, you don’t need to be too scared. I’ll teach you properly from the side."

"Got it."