My sponsor and I stared at each other. He was sipping the biggest slushy I had ever seen in my life, and I was drinking the best frozen lemonade that had ever graced my tongue.
My sponsor was another version of me; apparently, he was reincarnated many years ago, and now he does the same for other versions of us.
With a content sigh, we both finished our drinks before he started to speak.
"Alright, so, the way this works is simple. Depending on the world you've rolled, you can get different types of Essences."
"For high-tier worlds like Marvel, DC, Cultivation and such, you would be able to pick whatever one you want; unfortunately, you rolled a lower tier, so what you'll get to choose will be a bit more restricted."
"Damn, and here I wanted to go to DC so I could talk Wonder Woman out of her star-spangled trunks," I said with sarcasm and a bit of truth. While I would love to smash Diana Prince, the gods and monsters of that universe are a serious turn-off.
"So where will I be going, oh great me of the multiverse? I hope there's gonna be beautiful women." I smirked at him.
And he smirked right back, but his next words made me pale a bit.
"Well, good news for you, it does indeed have wonderful waifus; bad news is it's a zombie apocalypse crossover world."
"Oh...Okay, well that's not so bad-"
"High School of the Dead, Dead Island, Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead, and Dying Light crossover along with a few other characters sprinkled in here and there."
"...Well... Shit."
"Indeed... Anyway, let's get you your overpowered blessing, shall we?"
As soon as he said that, his desk was cleared, and on it lay about twenty vials of liquids.
"Alright, so these are the Essences you can choose from, but just so you know, since you'll be going to a world without esoteric powers, if you choose something like the Essence of the God of War, your race would not change to demigod but instead will be nerfed down to peak 'human.' And by that I mean you'd basically be at a comic-book Captain America level of strength. You also wouldn't get any of Kratos' cool toys like his Leviathan axe or those blades of chaos."
"Wow, that's REALLY nerfed then. I looked over that essence CYOA, and that was one of the stronger ones." I sighed. "You know, I thought that if I was being reincarnated, I'd at least be able to use magic in my new life."
"Well, don't look so glum. If you want magic so bad, I'm sure you could come up with something yourself as long as you choose wisely."
"Well, I'm not really that interested in magic; I just thought it would have been cool. Besides, I've already thought about my choices after you said zombie world.
"Uh-huh, sure. So what are you picking?" He spoke in a deadpan, sarcastic tone.
"...Right. Well, before I take them, I just have a few more questions. Where will I be timeline-wise? I really don't want to be dropped into somewhere like Raccoon City five minutes before the bomb drops."
"Relax, we would never put another Jasper into immediate danger upon arrival to their new worlds. The base of the world is High School of the Dead, so you'll start there. And before you ask, you've got one week before shit hits the fan. After the infection starts, you've got one week before runners start showing up and two weeks before the special infected start showing up, and yes, that includes volatiles. What it doesn't include is whatever the fuck bioweapons Umbrella have cooked up; those will show up as soon as everything kicks off, so maybe stay out of the sewers."
"I see. Alright, thanks for the info."
"Don't worry about it, most of us don't really ask questions when we show up here. Most of us just learn the world, pick our powers and move on. Hell, some of us don't even tell the others what world they're going to, just give hints." He shrugged. "Now tell me your choices.
"Alright, let's see, I'll start with Essence of the Crafter. I want to be able to make my own weapons and things. Especially since the weapon laws are so strict in Japan, it would be impossible to get anything more than standard kitchen knives within a week."
"Yeah, that's fine, but as I said before, these unfortunately need to be nerfed a bit. No making reality-breaking weapons, and while you'll still be able to summon materials, you won't be able to summon any magical material. So no Nth metal for you."
"Can you specify what you mean when you say 'reality-breaking' weapons? Like could I make a gun that never overheats and has unlimited ammo?" I asked.
"I'm not exactly sure how you can make physical ammo infinite without magic, but if you can figure it out, go for it. When I say 'reality-breaking', I mean you won't be able to make things like Gae Bolg or EA"
"I'm okay with that. Next, I'm taking Essence of the Combat Master. I can't fight for shit, so this will fix that and give a peak human body made for fighting. It even covers unarmed combat, weapon wielding and marksmanship."
"Again, sure, but no Chi/Ki manipulation, and I'm putting a cap on infinite growth; at your strongest, you'll be able to lift an 18-wheeler with some strain.
"Got it, next I want Essence of the Human Science God."
"Not an actual god despite the name, so it's allowed, but you do realize that a lot of things will be cut out, right? No Magitech, no Psitech and definitely no earth-sized megastructure and all its additions."
"That's okay, I really only wanted it for the intelligence upgrades and the uncorruptible technology. I may be going into an apocalypse, but that doesn't mean I can't eventually cure it. Now for my last one, I would like Essence of the Blank!" I smiled.
I had this figured out already. When he told me I would be in a world without esoteric powers was the moment I knew I needed Blank. With it, I would have the potential to have any supernatural power I want. Chi, Ki, Chakra, you name it. With enough training, I'll be able to use any of it!
I'll be the only one in the world with those powers, not to mention that Blank synergizes with essences and makes them stronger over time. So even if all my powers are nerfed right now, taking this will return them to their peak and then go even further beyond! I really thought I had it all figured out; that was until I saw my sponsor's stolid face.
"Are you done with your inner monologue about beating the system?" He spoke wearily.
"Uhh, yes?"
"Great, now, as smart as you think you are, I'm going to tell you that you are an idiot if you think you're the first Jasper who's had the same idea, and I'm going to warn you why what you're about to do is a bad idea as well."
Okay, well that's fair; infinite universes means infinite other versions of me, so I'm sure a few of them had the same idea...
He then continued, "Yes, using Blank will give you the potential for the more esoteric power, but you don't have an internal generator as an archmage, or a sorcerer lord user does. So where do you think that energy needs to come from? Of all the Essences, Blank is the most distinctive in how it affects not only the user but also the world the user is in. If you drink this, the laws of that universe will bend and open up new pathways for it to evolve."
"It will slowly saturate the universe with all the different energies, and then it will be bumped up from low tier to mid tier to high tier."
"Wait, if it's gonna be high tier, then can't I just change my essences since they should all be available to me soon?" I asked with some hope, but he shook his head.
"You haven't taken any of the essences yet. Meaning, for now, it's still a low-tier world, so you are still restricted to what's here."
"So why was Blank even a choice for me in the first place then?"
"Well, for mid and high-tier worlds, esoteric energy is readily available, so usually a Jasper takes Blank as an afterthought or sometimes not at all. But for those of us who rolled low-tier worlds, we offer it as a challenge. With all the new energy flooding the world, enemies will be stronger, along with a slight history adjustment. Now those old tales of eastern cultivators or western mythology might have some truth to them."
"Look, the point is, if you drink blank, then your life will be a bit harder. Buffed zombies, buffed humans, and after a while, buffed whatever the hell umbrella makes. I mean, just imagine a nemesis that has teleportation magic or something."
Well, that thought does make me shiver a bit, but at the same time... "You said over time the world would upgrade. How long would I have?"
"Hmm, well, most esoteric worlds only have one power system. Dragon Ball has Ki, Naruto has chakra, Fairy Tail has ethernano, etc. But if you take blank, then your world will eventually have them all. I give it about six months before the world is mid-tier, and then high-tier maybe a year after."
"Hmm, well that's not a lot of time." I sighed.
"Oh please, with just the essences you've picked, I can think of a dozen different ways to make you more than powerful enough in a very short amount of time. But that doesn't really matter if you don't make a choice now. So what will it be? Take blank and plunge that world into even more chaos, or leave it be and live your new life with what you already have?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm taking blank. Even if it does make my new life harder, It's worth it to have the full range of essences unlocked from the start." I said before grabbing my chosen powers and gulping them down one by one, starting with blank.
"Full range from the start? That's funny." His voice was full of mirth.
"What?" That was all I could say before a portal opened up under me
"Bye-bye" Was the last thing I heard before I was gone.
-o-
Landing on my ass with a thud, I looked back at the portal only to find a manila envelope and a vial fly out right into my hands before the portal snapped shut.
Confused, I slowly looked down and opened the envelope. Inside were some papers, what looked like transcripts, and a note.
Even if the world is about to end, you still need an identity for the few days that civilization is still around. You are a 23-year-old former Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit member and the current CEO of a small tech startup (You are the only member). You moved to Japan after being stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and liking the country. Good luck - Jasper the Rob #65564. P.S. I dropped you off at your new house, and since this is an 'naughty world,' I gave you a freebie.
"Holy exposition, Batman!" I chuckled as I glanced down at the vial in my hand. As I did, my face went flat as I saw what it was. Essence of the Harem Protagonist.
"Really, dude?" sighing, I shook my head and drank it anyway. Even if I didn't really want or need it, what else was I gonna do with it? Leave it in a closet somewhere that somebody would eventually find? That would be fucking dumb. Give it away? That would be fucking dumber.
So I drank it and sighed once again. "Well, it's not like I don't want a harem of beautiful women, so whatever. It's time to prep; I've got seven days till the outbreak and a few weeks till the special infected start showing up. It's time to get this ball rolling.
Making my way through my new home, I found that it was a fully furnished single-family home with a garage.
Walking into the garage, I didn't find any vehicles, so that sucks, but there was a basic workbench and a large toolbox beside it. Reaching inside the toolbox, I grabbed some stuff before going back into the house and towards the old-looking computer.
The computer looked like it was from the mid-two thousands, and that just would not do. Taking it apart, I ripped out all the old components and started summoning new materials to upgrade this thing.
Half an hour later, I had rebuilt it, and now I had a functioning supercomputer. Externally it looked no different, but internally it was now the most powerful computer on the planet. 'This can totally run Crysis'
Now, the reason I did this was to test my essences, and safe to say, they work just fine; 'I don't even feel any strain.'
Sitting down and booting up the PC, it was time to do some research on this world. Judging from the look of the PC, it was probably sometime in the two thousands, meaning I would be way past the events of Raccoon City and Code Veronica, possibly even Leon's little escapades in Spain.
Opening the calendar, I found it was April of 2006. "So that means I've missed everything before Resident Evil 5. But it also means the original Umbrella should be gone by now."
Doing a quick Google search gave me results I was not expecting. Not only was Umbrella still up and running, but Raccoon City was also not a massive crater. 'Well, I guess I know who the cause of the outbreak will be.'
Closing out the internet, I got to work on my first project, an artificial intelligence. I know, I know, very cliché, but it will be needed for the future. After all, I will be making my own base somewhere away from the infected world, and I'll need somebody to run it. Not to mention, any survivors I help will need weapons to protect themselves, and having artificial intelligence run an automated weapons production factory would be good.
-o-
A few hours later, Ava, my Automated Virtual Assistant, was done, and I had moved on to upgrading my home into a defensive base. The full plan is to find a small uninhabited island and build a permanent base and production facility, but for now, a reinforced home is my best bet.
If I can't find an island to use, then I'll make one. Unfortunately, I can't do that until after the world ends because if I do, then a bunch of governments will be asking how it got there.
For now, I'm working on stuff that will be useful for the initial outbreak.
I built a full wall of replicators from Star Trek, and they are producing ammo, food, and basic medical supplies nonstop. I also made some construction droids which will all but rip down my house and rebuild it for mass defence.
Of course I can't just do that in broad daylight with anyone to see, so I made the illusion shield that Wakanda used in Marvel; it even has built-in noise suppression.
Right now, as I stand here, aside from my wall of replicators, most of the house has already been demolished and is being rebuilt with much stronger materials. It shouldn't take more than a day; it will look the same to blend in, but it will have state-of-the-art defence systems that can even survive Tsar Bomba being dropped on it.
And speaking of bombs, there is a high-altitude nuke that's going to EMP the entire region, so of course my home will need to be protected by a faraday cage. That will be kept under the illusion permanently, and I'll need to make it double-sided so people in my home can't see it either. I'm not explaining to people why my house is covered by a giant cage.
So that partially solves the problem, but even with the cage, I'd still have no power because the power plants will be producing nothing. There is a very easy solution though, and for that I thank Howard and Tony Stark. An Arc reactor can theoretically power over 750,000 homes, so installing one in my house will easily keep the lights on and my more advanced tech running.
Moving on, it's time for weapons.
Let's start with guns; I've already got a bunch of different ammo being made for a plethora of weapons, including more futuristic ones to deal with the special infected and Umbrella's monsters more easily, but for now, normal guns will work just fine.
"Okay, I need to think about the type of zombies that will show up. They are always attracted to noise, but are slow, so I need quiet weapons. Suppressed guns, crossbows, bows, and cold weapons like swords."
"Alright, let's get to work."
-o-
It's been five days, and I was tired. I spent that entire time making weapons, refilling the replicators, and finishing up my new house, among other things. Now I have an entire armoury, filled to the brim, that can equip multiple squads of survivors; my home is kitted out in great defence tech, and my arc reactor is up and running.
I started with weapons.
My personal loadout will be two Colt M1911S, chambered in 45 ACP and suppressed as secondaries. I call them Mustang and Sally.
My primary will be the lovely AAC Honey Badger, which is an AR with an integrated suppressor. The main reason I picked it was that it was one of my favourite guns from when I was a kid playing Call of Duty; also, it's chambered in 7.62, which is big as hell and can knock a man's lungs out.
Finally, my melee will be a small hatchet made of proto-adamantium. I'm sure Resident Evil 9 Leon would be proud.
Once I was finished with my weapons, I made armour, yes, armour. Even if I have broken essences, I don't have Mad Doctor, so I'm not immune to diseases. And even if I were immune, who in their right mind wants to get bitten by a zombie?
I decided to go with something simple, well, simple looks-wise at least. I will be ripping off one of the OG badasses of the COD franchise and will be wearing Ghost's fit from Modern Warfare 2, and that's original Ghost, not remake Ghost. While I think new Ghost is cool, I wanted to go with the classic look for now.
I say that, but it doesn't really matter as I can change my suit on the go if I wanted. How, you may be wondering? Nanomachines, son!
That's right, my entire suit is made of nanites, and the nanites are made of a new alloy I'm calling Essence metal. I know, very original, but the name doesn't matter; it's basically an alloy made of as many different fictional metals as I could think of, other than magical metals since I still don't have access to them yet.
Of course, even with my nano machines, I don't want to be naked underneath, so I have an undersuit made of the same unstable molecules Reed Richard invented. That means no ripping and tearing in fights, and, of course, it's indestructible.
After armour, it was time to improve my body.
Two of my essences have already made me a peak human, and blank will push me further in the future, but that doesn't stop me from making myself even superhuman now.
So what did I do? Well, I did what any self-respecting reincarnator would do and gave myself the super-soldier serum, but that obviously wasn't the end. Right now I am so chock-full of performance-enhancing serums that I could make an eighties wrestler jealous.
From the good captain's super-soldier serum to Bane's venom, I was now built different.
Of course, I had to modify all of them, since they were never meant to work in harmony, and I obviously had to cut out the negative effects, like the goblin serum driving the user crazy and sometimes mutating them into an actual giant goblin.
Some other mods I made meant the physical changes were minimal as well; I don't want to be a fifteen-foot-tall hulking monster, after all.
Now I'm a few inches taller, at around 6 foot 3, and I have abs, so that's nice.
Finished with my upgrades, I had one final thing on my list: a vehicle. I needed something heavy-duty that could mow down hordes of undead while also protecting anyone inside. I went with a fully customized LAV-25. This motherfucker is an eight-by-eight light-armoured vehicle with a 25-millimetre chain gun and a top-mounted LMG turret.
It can be controlled manually or remotely. I made it with Essence metal armour, a stripped-out interior to make it more comfortable for passengers, and a remote-controlled suppressed chain gun, giving Ava control. The mounted LMG is now also suppressed and can be remotely controlled from inside the vehicle. The entire vehicle is now fully operable in any environment. It could drive across the ocean floor, and we wouldn't even feel the pressure change.
With most of my prep complete, I have two days left until the outbreak, so I guess it's about time for me to scout the area I'm working with.
Now I could leave my house and do it myself or.... "Ava, send out the stealth drone and give me a layout of Tokonosu City!" Yeah, fuck that. I'd rather deal with undead than be around actual people.
"Right away, sir." She responded with Stephanie Young's voice. You can't go wrong with the voice of Nico Robin.
A few seconds later, my screen wall came to life, showing me multiple drone shots of the city. "Hmm, I'm not far from the academy where the main cast will be, so that's good."
"Sir, while mapping the city, I have found a large spot under the city that my scanners are having trouble penetrating"
Say what now? Pulling up the footage, indeed, I saw a massive blank spot deep under the city. "That better not be what I think it is. Ava, hack Umbrella systems and get me all the information you can about possible lab locations. Make sure they don't know you're in their systems."
"Right away, sir." She answered as I swivelled my chair; I rolled over to one of my replicators and made a new stealth drone with stronger scanners before rolling back to my computer.
If Umbrella has a Nest or a Hive or a fucking Ark under the city, then I'll need to revise my combat plans a bit.
"Sir, I've gathered the requested information, and while Umbrella has a lab and a branch here, there is no mention of any large facilities under Tokonosu City. Unfortunately, I cannot get much more information, as it seems the more classified information is stored on internal servers that are not connected to the wider web. I'm sorry, sir."
"Yeah, I figured. Scan both the lab and building branch, see if there are any hidden entrances that lead nowhere. Scan for air vents, exhaust pipes, sewer pipes, anything. And check the city's power grid; it's gonna be sucking in a lot of energy. Here, use this drone, and if you find anywhere you can get in, then send it in and get me everything. I want everything on those servers." I ordered and tossed the drone out my window, watching it fly away.
This new stealth drone was the size of a cellphone and conceptually silent. It would get what I needed.
Sighing, I continued studying the city and making a plan for outbreak Day. Tokonosu City is a coastal city in the Kantou region of Japan, and it's very densely packed. The distance from my home to Fujimi Academy is about 10 kilometres. By car, that's about ten minutes. If I'm walking, that would take around 90 minutes, and in the middle of an apocalypse with survivors on my tail, it will take much longer.
I remember the outbreak doesn't start until the late afternoon, so I can't just start the morning by rolling up to a high school in my tank. I'll need to leave it at home and either get Ava to bring it later or go get it myself.
The academy is only a few blocks from Shizuka Marikawa and Rika Minami's home, and that's not far from the Takagi estate either; we would just need to cross the river to get to it.
"Ava, make a note for when the outbreak starts. I want you to track the families of every survivor I interact with. If they are in danger, use combat drones to take out any hostiles and attempt to lead them to a safe spot for pickup."
"Understood, sir. Query, you have plenty of ways to prevent an outbreak from happening altogether, so why not do so?" She asked.
"Well, that's very simple, my dear. I was sent to a world with a zombie apocalypse, and every man dreams of killing zombies at least once in their lives! I mean, there is a reason it was one of the most popular fictional settings in my last life." I spoke with passion.
"I see, so it's an escape fantasy? Then what about all the people who will die? From what I've observed of your personality and your plans, it seems like you want to help people." She seemed very curious and confused about my actions.
"Ava, despite what you've seen so far, I wouldn't classify myself as a good person. Morally, sure, I lean more towards the good side, but I would say I'm more True Neutral or Neutral Good. Hell, the only reason I'm even helping the main cast is that I favour them over everyone else. I couldn't care less if the majority of the population dies as long as the ones I have some sort of emotional connection to are fine."
"I see, so your actions are guided by personal attachment rather than a general sense of responsibility towards others. That is useful information. I will account for it when evaluating your decisions in the future and will improve myself in accordance."
"Uh, okay... That's nice." I really didn't know what to say to that, so I'll just move on. "Anyway, I'm going to take a break. I've got two days to relax until I'll need to work almost nonstop in a zombie apocalypse. Let me know when you have any updates on the Umbrella labs." I stood up and stretched.
"Of course, sir. Enjoy yourself."
I've been working almost constantly for a week, and while my body is fine thanks to the upgrades, my mind needs some rest.
Dropping onto the couch in my living room, I grabbed my Xbox controller and booted up Halo 2. I was a small child in my last life when this game dropped, so being able to experience Prime Halo 2 on the Xbox 360 is awesome.
Playing some multiplayer for a few hours, I started thinking about the Halo world's tech. Ive already stolen Cortana's design for Ava, but should I make more Halo weapons?
"Hmm, should I make an energy sword?"
-o-
So, turns out I was right. The massive spot under the city is another Umbrella Nest research facility. This one is Nest 26, and from the data Ava has collected, there are hundreds of nest-type facilities scattered all over the world, and of course they are all stuffed to the brim with bio weapons.
Lickers, Hunters, Tyrents, Nemesis; they even found the Las Plagas.
In the normal Resident Evil universe, there's only supposed to be two Nest facilities, both in Raccoon City. In this universe, though, Umbrella is bigger and more powerful, and they have a monopoly over pharmaceuticals in most of the world.
Of course, they make their real money from bioweapons sales, and from what I've found, they've already deployed Tyrents to crush a few African warlords so they could make labs on their lands.
On the bright side, with the data Ava has collected, I was able to synthesize a vaccine to the T-Virus. It won't work if you've already turned, but for those just recently infected, it will be just fine. I've even made it so that you get to keep some of the T-Virus's perks, like enhanced strength and slowed aging.
I have found a few mentions of Elpis, but nobody other than Oswell Spencer knows what it is, but I do. Looks like I'll need to make a trip to Raccoon City's ARK in the future. I could definitely recreate Elpis myself, but it would be easier with a sample or the original research material.
In the future, I will also need to find and destroy all the Umbrella labs and their research, if I want to make sure they can't make more world-ending viruses and that this one stays gone when I'm done. "I fuking hate Umbrella," I sighed. Seriously, those people suck, and when I inevitably meet Wesker, I'm going to kick him in the nuts.
Speaking of Wesker, since I was looking into Umbrella, I also decided to find out what happened at the Spencer Mansion or if it even happend at all. It was 2006, so I initially thought most of the Resident Evil timeline was progressing normally, albeit with major differences, since the Raccoon City outbreak hadn't happened.
Turns out, no, it wasn't progressing; it had just been pushed back a few years.
The events of the first Resident Evil game were supposed to happen in July of '98, and then 2 and 3 would occur concurrently two months later, from September 28th to October first.
Well, that did not happen. Instead, the Spencer Mansion incident happend in January of 2006, and it has been two months since then, and today happend to be April 28th... Granted, I'm in Japan, so we are about 13 hours ahead, so they still have some time; unfortunately, I don't.
It's now been 7 days since I arrived in this world, which means it's outbreak day, and I need to get ready. Heading for the armoury, I grabbed my undersuit, put it on, then dipped my hand into a bucket of my nanomachines, letting them form across my body, giving me my ghost outfit, complete with mask and glasses. Lastly, I grabbed a tactical vest, not for any protection, but simply because I needed something to carry all my extra ammo mags.
Grabbing a duffle bag, I dropped a few more guns inside along with ammo and a couple of melee weapons before zipping it up and hoisting it across my shoulder.
Taking my personal weapons, I put my pistols in my side holsters and grabbed my rifle, ready to head out. "Ava, status update."
"Sir, there are reports across the country of violent attacks and cannibalism. It's a few hundred right now, but it seems to be climbing with each minute. Most of Umbrella's upper echelon have gone underground, and a lot of their facilities worldwide are experiencing unexplained containment breaches of bio-weapons. Umbrella's outbreak has begun."
"Hmm. Alright, I'm heading for Fujimi Academy. Activate the house's defences and keep it subtle. If anyone attempts to take refuge here, let them, but keep the armoury hidden. If anyone is infected, shoot them with the vaccine, and again be subtle. Oh, and initiate Project Automata. I want spiper support watching my back just in case."
"Understood, sir. Good luck." She said, her hologram waving as I left the house.
Outside, I activated my suit's stealth mode and began silently hopping across rooftops on my way to Fujimi Academy. At my speed, it took only about 5 minutes, and along the way I saw it was still mostly normal, but in the distance I could see smoke rising from multiple places.
Seeing that I was approaching the academy, I smiled. "Time to have some fun."