#average translation

I peered out of the cab window to find the Administrator groaning and motionless on the cold ground. “Looks like good effect on target. I think we can catch You!”

I pulled my head back inside before rappelling down the makeshift bedsheet-rope. The friction burned my hands before I could reach solid ground.

There You was in her unassuming bob cut and peach-colored dress...still hammering away the Administrator with the butt end of an empty gun.

“What are you doing?! Let’s get out of here already!” My screaming didn’t seem to get through to her, leaving me with no choice but to get physical. Unfortunately, she had the upper hand; I was about to wrestle her away but she flung me off. “Boof!”

“Take it easy, Sera! Now that we’ve rendezvoused, couldn’t we just all travel together to some other game? Check the phone!” As always, Kiryu had a practical solution.

“Oh... Yeah, maybe. Hold on, let me check really quick!” I opened the app on my phone, and it left me wide-eyed. It was the exact same as before. “...It’s still gray...”

“What? Why the hell is it still gray? Why can’t we move her somewhere else...?” Kiryu furrowed his brows as he stared at You, who was still thrashing away at the Administrator like a feral beast.

“What...what do we...” I muttered with my head in my phone, but I couldn’t look away. There was something different.

“Is something the matter, Sera?” Elizabeth voiced her concern for me, having noticed I was frozen in place.

“Uh, look at this...” I pointed to the screen. The three of us plus You were in a game titled “??????????????????????????????????????????”. Deadman’s Conflict 3 was no more.

“Wha...—” She crumpled to the ground.

“What? What’s wrong?” Kiryu knocked You out before coming over, before the three of us fell into a silence.

“Do you have any idea what this means, Kiryu?”

“...Not much to go off of. But judging from what’s happening around us, I think something must’ve replaced the world of Deadman’s Conflict 3,” he said as he stared into my phone. “I thought it was weird how the Administrator totally ignored us earlier. Must’ve bugged out or something.”

I took in his words and then looked over at the lump of flesh. The Administrator had already regenerated all the damage it received from the collision. It clambered upright and started tearing apart the world again, like ripping tiles off the floor.

The dark, purplish skybox peeked through the spots of missing background. I wasn’t sure what it exactly was. It seemed like some sort of pixel art, but I knew it was definitively not DC3.

“Crap. The world’s coming apart. Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible,” Kiryu warned.

“Yeah, you’re right...but what about You? I’d like to get her out of here too, but she’s still grayed out.” I trembled as I flickered my gaze at my phone and then back to her.

Elizabeth was observing You as well, and she pointed at her, “Hey, hold on. Look... She’s injured.”

I looked at where she was pointing. On You’s neck was a humanoid bite mark.

Oh no.

Attentive as ever, Kiryu saw me fall into utter despair immediately then looked where I was looking. His look was one of immense pain.

“...This might be a dumb question, Sera, but people turn into zombies when they get bitten here, right?”

“...Yes, they do. Well, no, umm... Like many other games, the player in DC3 doesn’t get infected when bitten by any regular old zombie. I think it’s different story with the sequels, but getting bit in this game shouldn’t zombify the player.”

“So, there’s a chance that You hadn’t been infected by the bite then?”

“...I’m afraid not. That bite mark looks to be from a special infected, never mind the whole being grayed out and unable to travel out of this world thing. She must’ve been bitten in the story event.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the middle of the game, there’s a fight where the protagonist gets infected with the zombie virus and then has 24 hours to find the vaccine. If not, then the protagonist gets turned into a zombie.

I’m thinking that’s what happened to her. She must’ve triggered the ending before managing to find the vaccine. That’s something that can happen in the game as well.”

“Argh,” he spat out his frustration, “the road we came from got blasted all to hell by the missiles, so no turning back for the vaccine either. If we can’t save You and we can’t move her out of game, then...I don’t think there’s much we can do for her at all…” He followed up with a deep sigh.

You’s breathing was rough as she fell into a coma. Kiryu could only silently shake his head at the sight. “…We’re out of time, Sera. Let’s leave this game before it’s too late for us.”

I turned to Kiryu’s somber face. I felt the need to say something—anything at all—but I had no words. I looked at the Administrator who was still peeling away at the backdrop before finally checking the Vital Watch. There was no telling whether the thermobaric missile ending had been canceled or not. And if not, we would have less than 20 minutes before reduced into a fine mist.

“…Kiryu. Elizabeth. You two should leave for the dating sim world,” I pleaded.

Kiryu looked as though he detested the idea.

Neither was Elizabeth accepting of it, asking, “What are you planning to do?”

“I’m…going to make my way back to two levels ago, go to the pharmacy, and get this drug called Zombinal.”

“The name suggests otherwise, but I’m guessing Zombinal is the vaccine?”

As I responded “Yes,” Kiryu delicately lifted up my wrist to check the Vital Watch on my forearm.

“Let’s see… You’ve got 20 minutes until the bombs drop. You’re making the trip only because you know you’ll make it back, I presume?”

“I...should make it back.”

“What you’re saying is that there’s no chance in hell.”

“…”

“…You’re going to throw your life away like that?” His question was sober.

I bit my lip unawares before responding, “…It’ll be fine, Kiryu. I’ve made sure that you and Elizabeth will get away safely, even if I were to die. There’s nothing you two need to worry about.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking if you’re planning to throw your life away.”

“…I know I’m being selfish,” I said as I looked up from the Vital watch and locked eyes with Kiryu. “I’ve always wanted to be a nurse—a public health nurse—because I’ve seen too many people mourning their loved ones when a simple vaccine could have prevented all the suffering. If only I could prevent those cases… You know?”

Kiryu listened in silence as I strung together the words in my mind. His facial expression did all the talking—he understood of my feelings, yet he was telling me to save myself.

I understood him back completely fine, but still I shook my head. “I started on this career path hoping to save just one life, to prevent just one grieving person in this world. I might have forgotten why because of my bullshit working conditions, but I know I’d never forgive myself if I were to give up on You. I can’t let go of this.”

“…I see. I never knew how serious you are about being a nurse,” he replied with a sigh.

“Not just any nurse—a public health nurse! I studied real hard to get my license, you know?” I pouted.

“No offense, but I don’t think your average Joe has any clue what the difference between the two are,” Kiryu quipped as he pokes at the phone in my hand before continuing, “And Elizabeth…”

“Umm… Yes?” Elizabeth flinched when he suddenly called out to her.

“Unlike Sera, you actually properly play your otome games, right? Of all the ones we can jump to, which one do you reckon would be the safest?”

“Uh, umm… The safest world would likely be Mabataki Academy Memorial. The game is set in modern day and it features the least combat in its series,” she points to one of the games listed in my phone.

“Alright. Elizabeth, then that’s where you’re going. It’d be dangerous for you to stay here any longer, seeing how you’re not much of a fighter.”

“…Okay. I’ll conquer the world of Mabataki for us.”

“‘Conquer,’ huh? It sure sounds like a peaceful time.” My sarcasm didn’t detract from Elizabeth’s determination.

“It won’t be. Look—there’s already two people there,” she pointed to the screen. Elizabeth looked worried for a few seconds, before finding her seriousness again.

“…Look. I haven’t brought it up until now, but only in-game items have been replenishing here—items like weapons and equipment that we can normally purchase from shops. But background objects, like food or bottles of water? Those don’t respawn when we take them out of the supermarket.

So it would only be natural that people fight over a device that let them move between worlds. Do you see what I mean?”

“You’re saying sustenance and survival comes into play too. That’d be a reason that people would kill each other for if things take a turn for the worse.”

“The fewer the mouths to feed, the more food there is to go around. It’s been on my mind this whole time...but I couldn’t find the courage to tell you two. I’m sorry.”

“But you just did, so thank you,” I said to Elizabeth with a warm smile. She had her face turned away in fear of how we would react. I could tell that deep down she was inherently a good person.

“Hey, Elizabeth?”

“…What do you want?”

“When you get inside Mabataki, don’t worry about conquering it or anything, okay? Just do whatever you can to survive for, like, twenty—no, fifteen minutes. After that, you’ll know whether I manage to catch up to you two or whether you’ll return to the real world without me.

And I know you’re not one for violence. I could tell by the way you held that rifle in your hands that it didn’t sit quite right with you. Don’t force yourself to fight.”

With tears in her eyes, Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but her anxiety was holding her back. She finally found her words and told me, “…I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t go dying on me!”

“Of course not. We’ll get out together,” I agreed with a smile before returning my focus to my phone. It was my first time on this app, but it wasn’t anything too hard to figure out. Elizabeth disappeared before my very eyes the instant I tapped the OK button.

Damn. I really just teleported her.

“Your turn now, Kiryu.”

As I was about to send him to another world, Kiryu forcefully snatched the phone out of my hands.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Which way is it?”

“…huh?”

“Which was is the vaccine?” Kiryu asked, as he stuffed my phone into one of his pockets.

I pointed towards the direction of the medicine, as if his calm yet firm voice compelled me to do so. “T-The door there…it’s all bombed out of shape. But it’s not a destructible object in the game, so I’m not sure how we’ll find our way back…”

Almost instantaneously did Kiryu quickly step towards the metal doors to mow them down with his crowbar.

“Wha…” I was flabbergasted when I saw the doors creaked and bent back open. What the hell is he capable of…?

“I thought I told you already. I’m not about to let you die.”

I had no answer for him.

“Why do you look so surprised? You were the one ripped the “KEEP OUT” tape apart in the beginning. Showed that it doesn’t make a lick of difference whether the environment is supposed to be destructible or not.

I’ll throw You over my shoulder and we’ll march back with the remnants of our troops. Let’s go get that vaccine.”

■Vaccine

While they are normally to prevent disease, there are also vaccines effective after exposure to the pathogen. For example, with post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies, it can be effective when taken generally within 24 hours of exposure to the virus and prior to onset (though it is not useful after onset.)

In the game, the definition of “vaccine” is ambiguous and the workings of the zombie virus vaccine are vague. The effects of the vaccine also change if it is taken in a cutscene versus in-game.