Multiverse: Saving Anime Heroines in the Apocalypse

The rain from last night had poured for a long time, only coming to a sudden stop around 4 a.m., revealing a gloomy, gray sky.

At 6:20 in the morning.

After packing up their things, Sosuke Kitahara only carried essential supplies due to weight limits. His backpack mostly contained compressed biscuits, two cans of food, and three bottles of water. In the early stages of the zombie outbreak, resources wouldn't be too scarce. He could scavenge along the way. Carrying too much would just become a burden.

His explanation was simple: he was an avid backpacker, and his family had prepared these items long ago. But after reading yesterday's letter, Utaha Kasumigaoka no longer cared about these trivial details.

The black-suited zombie they'd thrown off the third floor yesterday still left a pool of pus and blood at the entrance.

Utaha gripped the specially crafted baseball bat in her hand, her expression complicated. She knew that the moment they opened that door, they would face a cruel new world. The comfort and security they had last night would soon be left behind.

She glanced back at the room, reluctant to part from the peaceful scene she wished to engrave in her memory.

At this moment, Sosuke realized his own heart couldn't calm down either it felt almost surreal.

There wasn't a trace of fear or anxiety in him. Instead, his heart was beating with an exhilarating thrill.

Suddenly, he took a deep breath.

Holding his katana, he felt the texture of the hilt beneath his palm, and his whole body's power condensed along the blade. A strange sensation spread throughout his body, and his gaze became as calm as still water.

The world around him became unnervingly silent.

It was as if everyone in the world had vanished. Even the faint snarls outside the door could be heard with perfect clarity. He could even feel the breeze from the balcony brushing against his back. In this moment, he was like a sword drawn from its sheath. The subtle airflow split neatly around the blade, gliding along its surface like flowing water.

Sosuke discarded all distracting thoughts, his focus razor-sharp. As he instinctively drew his sword, he adjusted his breathing. His breaths became lighter and more drawn out. If someone could hear his heartbeat now, they would find it gradually slowing down becoming deeper and more powerful.

That long-forgotten cold sensation once again crept over Sosuke. Memories of fighting in a sea of zombies surged back, and his body temperature rapidly dropped.

The sensation was extraordinary.

Not far away, Utaha witnessed Sosuke's transformation firsthand and was startled.

She'd seen Sosuke wield a sword before they had even been in the kendo club together. She also knew that he had personally sought out practitioners who claimed to have passed down ancient sword techniques.

But that was all.

In the era of modern firearms, swordsmanship had quickly fallen into decline. In modern society, most so-called sword masters were either frauds or simply performers.

However, the Sosuke standing before her now gave her an entirely different feeling something she had never experienced before.

There was no flair, no dazzling aura he simply stood there like an unpolished statue, like an unmoving rock.

But beneath that profound stillness, a violent storm was quietly brewing.

Utaha didn't dare to look at him too long. The air of quiet intensity emanating from Sosuke was inexplicably captivating, deeply unsettling yet impossible to resist. She quickly refocused on her task, gripping the baseball bat tightly and moving to the door.

"Open it!"

The moment the security door swung open, two zombies wandering outside immediately turned their heads. The strong stench of blood mixed with rotting flesh flooded the entrance. The living scent inside the room instantly attracted their attention.

Starving after a whole night, the zombies shrieked and lunged toward her.

Too close!

Utaha bit her lip hard, sweat instantly forming on her palms.

Just as she raised the bat to strike, a flash of silver lightning slashed through the air.

Sosuke's katana cleaved straight into the zombie's forehead. For an instant, the hideous pale face and the white blade froze in time.

Without hesitation, Sosuke twisted his blade free and stepped forward instead of retreating. With another swift motion, he thrust the katana into the eye socket of the second zombie. In the span of two breaths, both zombies collapsed to the ground. The speed of the kills was astonishing.

Only then did the foul-smelling pus begin to trickle from the zombies' heads, blending with the putrid stench hanging in the air. Even though she had experienced this before, Utaha still couldn't suppress her nausea.

Sosuke walked over to the corpse of the neighbor he'd killed yesterday and fished out a car key from his pocket.

"Stick close to me. Watch our backs."

His tone was serious. As expected, last night's thunderstorm had drawn away many of the zombies. The remaining ones in the stairwell were far fewer than yesterday.

Suddenly, a zombie lunged from around the corner dangerously close its claw swiping straight for Sosuke's face. But Sosuke had long been aware of its presence. Thanks to his breathing technique, his hearing and sense of smell had become far sharper. He had already detected the zombie several meters before reaching the corner.

He sidestepped half a step to the side, letting the zombie pass him. A withered, foul-smelling hand swiped just past his nose. In the same instant, Sosuke's katana drew a smooth arc through the air, piercing directly into the zombie's brain. He stomped on its thigh to help extract his blade, and the zombie collapsed face-first to the floor.

"That scared me!"

Utaha patted her chest, still trembling. The sudden appearance of the zombie had almost made her scream, especially since its claw had nearly grazed Sosuke's face.

At the same time, she couldn't hide her shock. With a weapon in hand, Sosuke had truly become far more powerful clean, decisive strikes taking out zombie after zombie without wasting a single movement.

"Stay focused."

Sosuke's eyes were cold. Downstairs, three more zombies approached at a human walking pace. Sosuke remained cautious. Since the outbreak had just begun, he worried about encountering an armored zombie like yesterday's, which could cause a major commotion. He had told Utaha not to intervene unless it was life or death he would handle everything himself.

Gripping his katana, he swiftly dispatched the three zombies one by one.

By the time they made it outside, Sosuke glanced back at the zombies strewn behind them and felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

His points had gone from 0 to 12.4. The extra 0.4 came from when Utaha smashed the head of a street zombie after they exited the lobby. Sosuke quickly realized that even with an 85% trust level, her kills only contributed 0.4 points. At 100% trust, the maximum gain from her would likely be 0.5 points per zombie.

Still, strength comes in numbers small amounts add up. It was clear that having more teammates was the better strategy.

Sosuke, having lived through an apocalypse once, knew that even if he didn't need teammates now, he would in the future. When zombies began evolving to the second tier and beyond, solo survival would become a massive disadvantage.

And since he could see trust levels, Sosuke had the upper hand in selecting future teammates compared to others who would only scramble after the world stabilized.

The streets outside still teemed with wandering zombies many missing arms or legs, some dragging what remained of their bodies. A few zombies had lost everything below the waist and lay sprawled across the ground, their foul mouths chomping at the air as they struggled to crawl forward using only their arms.

From the raw, bloody flesh scraping against the pavement, it was clear just how desperately they craved living flesh.

Sosuke and Utaha carefully stepped over the writhing zombies and made their way to the parking lot nearby. The apartment complex didn't have an underground garage, so most residents parked their cars there.

What used to be a packed parking lot was now surprisingly empty many people had clearly fled early or perhaps never returned.

After clearing out a few zombies lingering near the cars, Sosuke easily located his neighbor's vehicle using the key in hand.