Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

"Thank you. I will eat it well."

"Thank you for the food."

Then Rick asked.

"Do I have to give bullets for this too?"

"No, it’s fine. That came from when I robbed a convenience store on my way here, and I just gave it because it was hard to watch the kids like that."

"Thanks for caring."

"Instead, I hope you’ll listen to my story."

This camp had a slightly unusual point. The women were taking charge of laundry and various chores, while the men either stood guard with guns or often just loafed around without even doing that.

I cautiously brought up the topic.

"I know this might be meddling. But this is also where my acquaintance Glenn is, and I’m saying this because I want this camp to survive as long as possible, so I hope you won’t misunderstand."

People began to listen quietly to me.

"Honestly, I don’t think this camp will last long. The reason is simple. The people who can fight against walkers are too limited. I’ve seen many survivor camps during this time. Among the places I’ve seen, this one looks the most dangerous."

I told them about the things I had experienced one by one. I explained everything without missing anything, from being attacked by raiders, to them kidnapping women from other camps and making them sex slaves, to crazy humans who hunted people for food.

"Up until now, you might have been lucky. But there’s no guarantee that luck will continue. Whether it’s walkers or people, problems can arise anytime, anywhere."

The camp people couldn’t easily continue the conversation. Some had shocked faces from the stories I told, and others were looking back at their own situation with serious expressions.

"It doesn’t matter who is male and who is female. To survive, everyone needs to be able to protect at least their own body. That way, even if one person falls, someone else can take their place. So if you want to survive long, everyone should learn how to handle weapons, of course, and it would be good to share chores like laundry and cleaning without dividing by gender."

After saying that, I stood up and looked around.

"This place here, isn’t it too open? If walkers suddenly swarm in, how will you block them? So it would be good to basically use vehicles to set up barricades around the perimeter. Even in the Wild West era, they used to arrange wagons in a circle to create defensive lines against wild animals or Indian attacks. It would be much better than having nothing."

At that, Shane nodded.

"That’s right. We need to abandon the idea that this place will always be safe. Starting tomorrow, we should at least make simple barricades by arranging the cars."

Then Dale asked the people. Dale was an elderly man with white hair, and he was the only person in this camp who had an RV.

"But how will Daryl Dixon take it? He left his brother Merle behind in the city."

Andrea answered.

"Merle was drugged out and out of control. He was making noise that would attract walkers, and he even threatened us by pointing a gun at us. Rick subduing him was unavoidable."

They had gone into Atlanta a while ago to procure supplies. At that time, they happened to meet Rick and joined up, and because Merle, who was high on drugs, caused an incident, they subdued him and handcuffed him. But as the situation became urgent, they couldn’t escape with Merle.

Dale asked again with a worried expression.

"Should we just tell the truth? Will Daryl accept that calmly? He’s definitely going to be pretty frantic when he gets back from hunting."

At that, T-Dog, who had come out last, spoke. T-Dog was a slightly chubby bald black man.

"I chained the door to the rooftop where Merle was with a chain. The walkers probably couldn’t undo the chain. Merle is probably still alive on the rooftop."

At that, people were silent. It was too late to go back to rescue him, and there was no one willing to step up for Merle.

’That Yondu bastard, his networking is a mess here too.’

Anyway, after that story, people began to go to bed one by one. Clem and I also returned to the armored vehicle, washed up, laid out the cots, and tried to sleep.

"Was it a mistake for me to give out candy? I feel a little sad because it seemed like they fought because of me."

Clem seemed to have been bothered by what happened earlier.

"In those cases, it’s better to break the candy into pieces and share it. That way they won’t fight each other. It’s the same with other things."

"You’re right. I think I should do that from now on."

"And like I said before, you can’t give guns to people just because they ask for them. Especially kids who don’t know anything. They’ll definitely have an accident while playing around."

"Got it."

Clem was still young, so in this regard, her lack of experience seemed inevitable. She would just have to learn one by one through various experiences over time.

When morning came the next day, we got out of the armored vehicle, did some stretching exercises, and went for a light run. Since we always lived in the armored vehicle, this kind of exercise was essential. With the world being the way it was, taking care of your body was directly tied to survival.

"Early riser and diligent."

At that voice, Dale seemed to have woken up too and greeted us.

"Well, it’s something I’ve always done. Maintaining fitness is important."

"Are you leaving now?"

"I have to. I have a mission I accepted. But I’m not leaving right away. I need to make a plan. I have to think of places where there might be other survivor camps and move along a safe route. Still, it shouldn’t take too long."

"I see... But I hope you’ll refrain from talking about reality so bluntly like you did yesterday. Everyone is more than worried because of what you said."

I had no idea what this old man was talking about.

"If that happens and victims appear because they weren’t properly prepared for danger, can you take responsibility then? The things I talked about yesterday are things that are actually happening. And they’re things you’ll soon encounter directly as well. Of course, I understand your concern. But at least you should be mentally prepared."

Dale looked flustered when I pointed out the facts one by one.

"Hoo... I wish everyone were as strong as you, but the problem is they’re not, so I hope you understand."

"Fine. Well, how you take it is up to you, so it’s not my place to tell you what to do."

I could have argued more if I wanted to. But I didn’t want to get into a verbal fight with Dale in the morning, so I ended the conversation there.

Dale was a good person with high moral standards and a lot of compassion. However, in an apocalypse situation, that kind of morality could sometimes become a weakness. It would have been fine if his problem stopped there, but the issue was that he also tried to persuade or impose his moral standards on others.

Because of that, the people around him also ended up making emotional judgments, and sometimes they hesitated on decisions that needed to be made coldly. In the apocalypse, that moment of hesitation could lead to fatal consequences.

Of course, even in this situation, it would be best if being a good person and surviving could both coexist. But reality didn’t always flow so ideally.

The camp people got up and, as I had said yesterday, made temporary barricades using vehicles. Since one side was a lake, they didn’t need that many vehicles.

But then, screams from women and children were heard. The camp people quickly grabbed their weapons and ran to where the screams were coming from. Of course, I went along too.

"There’s a walker over there!"

The children and women said that, so I went to check, and I saw a walker in the forest tearing at a deer carcass.

Seeing that, the camp people frowned and gripped their spears and axes. Then they all rushed at the walker and started stabbing and chopping it.

Thud! Stab! Thump!

With multiple people attacking at once, the walker didn’t last long. Eventually, Dale’s axe severed its neck, and it stopped moving.

Then Dale looked around and said.

"This is the first time a walker has come down this far."

"The food supply in the city must have run out."

Jim, who wore a baseball cap and had a slightly thin build, answered that.

Then suddenly, a rustling sound came from the forest.

The people tensed up all at once, raised their weapons again, and looked in the direction of the sound. They were on guard in case more walkers were coming.

But what emerged from the forest wasn’t a walker, but Daryl Dixon holding a crossbow. At the time, Daryl had shorter brown hair than now, and he was a white male with a distinctly rough and scruffy vibe. Plus, since he had been hunting for a while and hadn’t washed properly, his clothes and face looked quite dirty.

Only then did the people relax and lower their weapons.

"Damn son of a bitch! That was my deer! You filthy, diseased bastard!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Daryl was frustrated that the walker had eaten the deer he had worked hard to hunt, so he kicked the fallen walker to vent his anger.

"We can’t eat the deer now, but I still have twelve squirrels."

But then, the severed walker head moved its jaw and made a sound. When the surrounding people were startled by the sound and looked at the walker’s head, Daryl shot an arrow into the walker’s head as if it was nothing.

Thwack!

"You have to pierce the brain. That’s the only way it won’t move anymore."

Daryl definitely exuded the vibe of a quite skilled survivor. He retrieved the arrow embedded in the walker’s skull and entered the camp.

"Brother! I caught some squirrels! Brother, where are you?"

Then Shane carefully spoke.

"Daryl, wait. I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"There was a problem in Atlanta."

"What? Is he dead?"

"Not sure."

Then Rick stepped in and explained instead.

"It’s hard to say, but I’ll just say it."

"Who are you?"

Having been out hunting for a few days, Daryl was seeing Rick, who had just joined, for the first time.

"Rick Grimes. Your brother Merle was high on drugs and threatening us. So I handcuffed him to a steel rooftop fixture."

At that, enraged Daryl threw the squirrels he had hunted at Rick, then started swinging his fists to knock him down. Shane urgently grabbed and held Daryl back.

"Let me go!"

"Calm down first! I want to talk about this issue calmly."

Then T-Dog said to Daryl.

"It’s not Rick’s fault. I had the key, but I accidentally dropped it down a drain."

At that, Daryl sighed in disbelief and cursed.

"Hah... All of you, go to hell! Just tell me where he is fast. I’ll go get him!"

"I’ll help you. So that we can bring him back."

When Rick said that, Rick’s family and even Shane objected.

"Why would you risk your life to save an idiot like Merle?"

"We barely made it here, and you want to go back?"

"I don’t want Dad to go."

Rick calmed them down and said.

"You can’t just leave a person to die like that. I’ll come back safely, so don’t worry too much."

T-Dog and Glenn also stepped forward.

"I’ll go too. It’s my fault Merle ended up like that."

"I’ll go too."

At that, Shane objected even more.

"We need you guys to defend the camp!"

"To do that, wouldn’t we need more guns and ammo? Before we left, I cleaned out the sheriff’s office armory. But because of walkers, I couldn’t bring them and left them near the building where Merle is. There are pistols, shotguns, and about 700 rounds of ammo there. With that, we’d be able to defend even better."

Rick was trying to convince Shane with the weapons he had left behind in the city. Then Glenn suddenly widened his eyes as if something came to mind, rushed over to me, and begged.

"Brother! I’ll say Yoona is the best, so please help us out!"

At that, Daryl asked incredulously.

"And who’s this guy?"

"Delta Force. If this brother comes with us, it’s safe even if walkers swarm at us."

"What difference does one more person make."

"You don’t know what you’re talking about. This guy took out thirty walkers in an instant. We need him for us to go and come back safely."

I chuckled and asked Glenn.

"Really, is Yoona the best?"

"Yes, Yoona is the best."

"Sure, fine. I’ll help."

Glenn was thrilled.

I told Clem that while I was gone, she had to stay inside the armored vehicle no matter what. The armored vehicle was equipped with a solar power system, so she could use electricity abundantly, and the air circulation was good, so staying inside all day wouldn’t be a problem. Plus, she could even watch animations on the monitor inside, so she wouldn’t be bored while waiting.

"I’ll be back soon, so just watch some anime and wait inside the armored vehicle. Don’t come outside no matter what. If people find out you’re alone, you never know how they might suddenly change. No matter what happens, don’t come out."

"Got it. I’ll do that. Come back safely."

Clem now knew my abilities well, so she didn’t throw a tantrum or cling to me telling me not to go. She simply quietly wished for my safe return.

I packed the Vector and Yukimura that I usually used, and the KAC LAMG light machine gun. I also put on an empty backpack in case there was anything worth bringing back.

While I was doing that, Daryl and Glenn prepared a truck, and Rick borrowed a bolt cutter from Dale.

"Let’s go!"

Daryl shouted at us, having finished preparing the truck. He seemed to be hurrying because he was worried about his brother. So we quickly boarded the vehicle and headed to Atlanta.