Chat Group: Traits, Gacha, and Crossovers

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About half an hour later…

The survivors were gathered in the main hall of the Amundsen-Scott Station.

After listening to everything Veyron had just told them, the nine of them sat there, staring at each other in stunned silence.

The fusion of worlds… their Earth, now reduced to just nine living people, was going to be merged into another Earth that already had over 20 billion people?

They thought the zombie apocalypse three years ago had already shattered their concept of "normal"—but that was apparently just the appetizer.

"Well, it's not like things could get worse than they already are," Saya Takagi muttered, not entirely sure if she was trying to convince herself or the others. Then she turned to Veyron and asked, "So… can you explain more about this 'bond' thing? Like, how do we actually build it?"

"Honestly? That part's still a bit fuzzy on my end too," Veyron admitted with a shrug. "The two worlds where it's worked before were… kinda unique cases. Not really situations we can just copy."

In the "Time-Stopped School" world, for example, he'd gotten his hands on a key artifact—a time-stopping pocket watch—right from the start. Plus, he'd set himself up as the chairman of Excellent Girls' Academy. He didn't even need to show up much—his bond value just shot up automatically.

In the K-On! world, the bond had formed because Chika had fully participated in the Light Music Club's journey—from its founding all the way to their first big performance at the school festival.

If forming bonds was really just a matter of tagging along for a story arc, he wouldn't mind jumping in again. The problem was, when he and the others first arrived in this world three years ago, its story was already over.

…Wait. Not exactly.

Thanks to a little push from the World Will, the supposed protagonist of this world, Takashi Komuro, had already been scooped up by Umbrella Corporation as an experimental subject when he was still just a kid.

So basically, the original Highschool of the Dead storyline had already fallen apart more than ten years before it even began.

"Bonding, huh…"

Yuriko Takagi thought aloud, "If we go by the literal meaning of the word, maybe all we need is to spend enough time around you—build some kind of meaningful connection, right?"

"In theory, yeah." Veyron nodded. "But based on what happened the last two times, it's really about latching onto the core theme of the world."

Like the time-stopping watch and the academy in the "stopped time" world, or the music and the Light Music Club in the K-On! world.

So then… what's the core of Highschool of the Dead?

Apocalypse? Survival?

If it's the apocalypse, then all he has to do is throw down the special zombie-virus serum created by Eirin Yagokoro. Once it spreads, the virus ends, and the end of the world is officially over.

If it's survival, then honestly, just the supplies the other group gathered during their last visit would be enough to keep these nine alive until Alice Maresato, the youngest, lives out her natural life.

"I'll go deal with the zombie virus first. As for the bonding part… you guys can brainstorm ideas on your end."

Veyron stood up from his seat and pulled out a test tube filled with a glowing green liquid.

"…Can we come with you? Just to see?"

The survivors exchanged quick glances. One of them finally spoke up, cautiously testing the waters.

"Feel free," Veyron said casually.

With a flick of his hand, a glowing portal opened in the air—it led directly to Tokonosu City.

"Wait… is this—?"

Cautiously stepping through the not-at-all-normal-looking portal, the four who followed him—Saeko Busujima, Rei Miyamoto, Saya Takagi, and Shizuka Marikawa—were instantly stunned by what they saw.

This was… their school rooftop?

"Technically, the serum would work even if I used it at the South Pole—it'll still spread across the planet. But since this is where we first arrived last time, and nearly half of you were originally students here… I figured this would be a fitting place to begin."

As he spoke, Veyron gently tossed the test tube into the air—then snapped his fingers.

Crack!

The vial shattered in midair from the force of his finger flick.

The glowing green liquid inside dissolved into the wind before it even touched the ground, dispersing instantly and vanishing into the air.

"…That's it?" Shizuka Marikawa blinked, watching the fragments drift away. "That's all you have to do?"

"For a professional, this kind of thing's really not that complicated," Veyron said, completely relaxed.

He then pointed toward a shady corner of the building across from them. "See that mushroom-looking corpse over there? Look—down it goes."

In the Highschool of the Dead world, the source of the zombie virus was a mutated strain of cordyceps fungus. Over time, it had gone through multiple rounds of mutation and eventually fused with a T-virus that the World Will pulled from the void.

Even after the outbreak, the infected still retained some fungal characteristics—if they didn't get fresh flesh in time, they'd go dormant, clinging to dark corners of walls or floors like some grotesque parasite.

They weren't like those zombie types in other worlds that could just keep going forever without food.

But now, after the test tube shattered, those dormant corpses began peeling off the walls in droves, like lifeless husks. Whatever force had been animating them—was gone.

"At this rate, I'd say the whole planet should be mostly cleansed in about seven days."

Veyron closed his eyes for a moment, sensing the spread of the serum through the air. By normal physics, of course, it'd never move that fast—not just through air or water. But with the World Will nudging it along? Totally different story.

Satisfied, he turned back toward the others on the rooftop.

"So, what do you guys want to do in the meantime? Head back to Antarctica, or stay here?"

The answer was obvious the moment he looked at them. The nine survivors, who were more than sick of snow and ice, practically lit up.

"…We can stay here?"

"Why not?" Veyron said with a nod. "This place is now completely free of the virus and the infected. Since this is where the serum was released, there's nothing dangerous left—no zombies, no spores. Just bring some still-good supplies from the Antarctic side through the portal, clean up a building or two, and you'll be good to go."

"Hm… well then, I'll handle the cleanup," he added, raising a hand. "Maybe it'll even boost our bond score a bit."

With a snap, a tiny black-and-white flame ignited on his fingertip.

Veyron gave it a gentle blow.

The little flame caught the wind—and instantly exploded into a roaring blaze that swept across the entire city like a living storm.

In just half a minute, the black-and-white fire faded away.

And with it, every trace of the infected vanished—corpses, fungal growths, bloodstains, and the rotten filth left from three years of hell were all reduced to nothing.

Veyron opened his mission panel and glanced at the update. The fire had netted him a 3% boost to his bond value.

He snorted. "…That's it?"

Still, 3% was better than nothing. Way better than burning an entire city and getting zero for it.

Wait—huh?

"..."

"You damn world, what do you mean 'only one city'?"

He looked up to the sky in exasperation.

"You think it's easy to micromanage the flames of Destined Death like that? Deciding exactly what to burn and what not to?"

"If I'd so much as zoned out for a second, the only thing left here would've been a smoking crater the size of a city block."

「...」

"…What? You're saying I should've gotten a separate mission reward for that?"

"You seriously should've told me that earlier!"

"Well damn—that changes everything."

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