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CA : 75 Zombie Again?
🕑 Added 2024-12-23 16:00:02 +0000 UTCAltair leveled up to Level 3, which made the entire Hestia Familia happy, as he was the Captain of the Familia... though the entire Familia, including Hestia, only had three members in total.
Given that the Familia was currently in a low-profile development phase, after Altair leveled up to Level 3, Hestia didn't brag about it to Hephaestus, as he requested. Since he had leveled up to Level 2 just over a month ago, she feared that if she showed off again after his jump to Level 3, she might get punched.
So, the Hestia Familia only held a small internal celebration... a family gathering of the three of them. Even so, Hestia was overjoyed because celebrations were her favorite. In the past, when it was just her and Altair celebrating, she was always thrilled.
Then, as Altair had mentioned when Hestia woke up the next morning, they were still cuddled up together, yet she couldn't see him. Just like before, she only noticed Altair after he spoke.
After getting up and making breakfast with Saeko, Altair briefly checked in with both Hestia and Saeko, then went into his lab alone.
Upon leveling up to Level 3, the system naturally refreshed a new world-level breakthrough quest.
[Level up detected. Would you like to upgrade the world level?]
[Confirm entry into the world level up event?]
[Yes] [No]
Just like last time in the Highschool of the Dead world, a new world event appeared.
Altair had already prepared for this new world level up event. He was eager to see which world he would travel to next.
Of course, it wasn't because he wanted to see if he could reunite with any of his ex-waifus and bring them back.
He checked his 4D Pocket, which was filled with enough supplies for him to survive. Based on his previous experience in the Highschool of the Dead world, he assumed that the new world-level up event would also involve saving the world, so he ensured he had enough supplies for daily living.
Next, he prepared his weapons; his beam sword, beam rocket launcher, and beam rifle were a must, as were his magic stone-powered weapons. After all, they were his standard equipment.
Once fully prepared, Altair mentally clicked [Yes]. The world instantly turned black and white, and a spectral blue portal appeared.
Gripping the hilt of the beam sword on his back, Altair stepped into the portal and disappeared from the Danmachi world.
After a flash of light, Altair's vision returned, and he felt solid ground beneath his feet. Unlike his last trip to the Highschool of the Dead world, this time, he didn't lose consciousness during the crossing.
As his sight recovered, Altair looked around and found himself in a forest, surrounded by green. Looking down, he saw he was standing on a railway track that extended deep into the forest, disappearing into the distance. Turning around, the tracks stretched just as far in the other direction.
"So, where exactly am I? There's a railroad, so it must at least be modern times."
Altair crouched down to inspect the tracks. They looked wider than the high-speed rail tracks he was used to.
"These trains must be huge."
He also noticed dark red stains splattered across the tracks... just like dried blood.
It wasn't rust; it was blood! The stains reminded Altair of the dried blood left on the ground when he'd killed chickens at home without wiping it up.
A railroad, a forest, and blood splattered everywhere.
These elements reminded Altair of an anime he had watched before... an all-star cast, top-tier animation, and a spring season hit.
That's right, it was Iron-Blooded Orphans! No, wait, the wrong one... it was Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.
"Could this be another world full of zombies?"
The monsters in this world were called Kabane, similar to zombies but stronger. Their weakness was the heart, not the brain. As long as the heart wasn't destroyed, they wouldn't stop moving. But their hearts were hard to pierce, covered in a layer of iron that couldn't be penetrated by ordinary weapons. Without specialized weapons or equipment, facing a Kabane was basically a death sentence for regular people.
There were also special types of Kabane, known as Wazatori, which could learn human combat techniques, making them extremely powerful. Even more dangerous were the Kabane that grouped together; Fused Colony, forming massive monsters akin to giants.
In short, the Kabane were like enhanced zombies, with better survival and attack capabilities, and the Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress world could be described as a supercharged version of Highschool of the Dead world.
But for Altair, none of this was a problem. If he had arrived in this world as a mere Level 2 adventurer, he might have worried about running out of supplies. Regular bullets for his AK-47 would be hard to come by, and his magic weapons, though powerful, would run out of magic stones.
But now that he was Level 3, with powerful magic beam weapons at his disposal, Altair was practically invincible in this world.
The only downside was that he wasn't particularly excited about this world... because none of his ex-waifu were here.
"Let's find a place with people first."
Altair looked up at the sun, roughly estimated the time, and used it to determine his direction. He began walking along the tracks.
After about half an hour, he spotted a moving figure ahead. His left hand automatically summoned a dialogue board... he had been placed in combat mode because the moving figure in front of him was a zombie wearing a tattered kimono, its heart flashing red under its iron coating... clearly, a Kabane!
So it really was Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.
Altair sighed, rubbing his forehead. It seemed he had landed in the Kabaneri world.
The Kabane ahead didn't react to Altair's presence. It continued shambling along the tracks like a mindless drone.
Great, his ability to lower his presence worked on the Kabane too. As long as he didn't make any noise, he could walk around undisturbed.
Altair approached the Kabane and noticed there were more of them hiding in the nearby forest, lots of them.
"Well, isn't this a trap? Baiting with one, while the rest hide nearby?"
Altair drew his beam sword, deciding to test whether his low presence skill would let him perform a stealth kill without being noticed.
After glancing at the Kabane in the forest, he slashed the one on the tracks cleanly in half, killing it instantly.
He looked back at the forest and saw that the other Kabane hadn't moved an inch.
"Oh?"
Altair's lips curled into a smirk. Not getting noticed even after that? This skill was becoming more impressive.
Then, under Altair's amused gaze, another Kabane shuffled out of the forest to replace the one he had just killed, standing dumbly on the tracks and shambling back and forth.
"...You are baiting, aren't you?"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Just as Altair was internally complaining, he heard a distant noise. The sound of metal wheels clattering over un-welded tracks... it was a train coming!
