January 20
Kyoko tore off her helmet and gulped in air. Her face was flushed red from the brutal fight, and sweat practically drenched her from head to toe.
Her arms and thighs throbbed from the impact. Every blow from that fat monstrosity had landed like a sledgehammer. Whenever she failed to dodge in time, she had been forced to block and absorb the force head-on.
Even her all-metal assault rifle had been beaten loose and twisted, its metal stock, rail attachments, tactical box, and optic all wrecked in the process. It was probably beyond saving now.
Even her Bloodthirsty trait had failed to activate, because at that stage of the fight she simply had not managed to inflict the kind of deep, gushing wounds it required. There had not been enough blood.
Ye Ling had fared a little better. She had not confronted the monster head-on the way Kyoko had. Otherwise she would have ended up among the people lying on the ground right now. She stood beside Kyoko, still gripping the spear that had pierced straight through the Glutton.
The section of the shaft that had passed through the creature's belly was smeared with thick, yellow grease. It looked disgustingly oily, though Ye Ling avoided touching it as best she could.
The others came running at full speed and hurriedly hauled Kyoko to her feet, while Dorothy picked up the equipment the two had dropped on the ground.
"Kyoko, are you hurt?" Huaxiu asked anxiously. The others were just as worried about Kyoko and Ye Ling.
Watching Kyoko fight that special infected up close had left them all on edge. In terms of sheer strength and mass, Kyoko had been completely outmatched. The ground still showed the deep gouges where she had been driven backward. One furrow stretched nearly half a meter.
"I'm fine. Let's get back inside. It'll be dark soon," Kyoko said, waving off their help—only to stagger as soon as she tried to stand properly.
"This is no time to act tough," Huaxiu scolded, slipping Kyoko's arm over her shoulders.
With everyone supporting the exhausted Kyoko and Ye Ling, who had both spent themselves fighting the special infected, the group slowly made their way back into the motel.
Behind them, the battlefield was a mess. Corpses lay everywhere in grotesque poses, golden shell casings littered the snow, and the Glutton's body sprawled across the center of it all. Its blood had stained the white ground green, a splash of color that from a distance looked almost like a lonely alpine flower blooming in the snow.
In truth, though, it was nothing more than foul, corrupt blood. If someone set the carcass on fire like a giant funeral pyre, all that fat might burn for ten days and nights.
The six of them returned to the motel's first floor, where the broken windows still gaped open. The glass had only shattered because the infected inside had burst through them.
Well, the broken windows meant the place leaked cold air now—but at least the infected inside were dead.
"Kyoko, sit down here first."
"Yeah. I'll be fine after a bit."
Huaxiu helped her over to a sofa in the lobby, then hurried off to help with the other chores. Everyone had something to do, while Kyoko remained seated, staring at the ruined Little Princess in silence.
The aches coursing through her body were already easing. The Samurai-3 suit had absorbed a considerable amount of the damage for her. After the battle, the armor itself was mostly intact, with only the helmet and the pouches taking visible wear.
Ruining a rifle this thoroughly had taken some doing. The whole gun was bent out of shape, its rail accessories missing, the gas block and other parts gone or broken. It was hopeless.
"No point keeping it. I'll toss it."
One glance was enough to decide. She would switch weapons.
Little Princess was finished. And honestly, the 6.8mm ammunition had become more trouble than it was worth. Its power could not match a proper 7.62 round, and the stability of the experimental 6.8 barrel was worse than the 5.45 version.
Worse, 6.8mm ammunition could only be bought through the system. With her daily expenses already climbing, constantly restocking that caliber was becoming a financial burden.
Austerity measures, then. She would make do for now with the Howa Type 20 assault rifle they had captured earlier. Back then they had not only taken some Type 89 rifles—they had also recovered a Type 20, the newer rifle the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force had begun issuing in 2021 to gradually replace the aging Type 89.
It fired standard 5.45×45mm NATO rounds. The stopping power and rate of fire—650 rounds per minute—could not match her modified Little Princess.
But ammunition for it was plentiful. She could keep resupplying it, and there were still over a thousand 5.45×45 rounds stashed in the jeep Miranda and the others were using.
At least that would ease her financial pressure.
She had just pushed herself up from the sofa when Miranda emerged from another room where they had been sorting supplies.
"You're up already? Are you really okay?" Miranda quickly set down what she was carrying and moved to help.
"I'm fine," Kyoko said, waving her off again. "Not even a real injury. There's no way I'm that fragile. I just need the jeep keys. I'm heading to the vehicle."
After taking the keys, Kyoko carried the mangled remains of her rifle outside. She was going to retrieve the Type 20.
By then, the snow had visibly eased outside. Kyoko had a feeling the weather was finally about to clear up for a few days. She desperately wanted the snowfall to stop. In some places, the snow was nearly waist-deep already.
The main roads were still passable, barely. Daylight and traffic softened the accumulation enough that vehicles could still move through.
But if this kept up, the mountains would be sealed off, and they would be stranded here.
Her black leather boots crunched through the snow. Brushing the buildup off the jeep door, she unlocked it and climbed in to find what she needed.
"There you are."
She did not even need to rummage. Everything inside was still neatly arranged. The weapons stood out clearly on the gun rack.
Several rifles leaned together there, and as a proper military vehicle, the jeep had dedicated mounts for them.
Kyoko reached for the most distinctive one.
"It really does look like a SCAR. So compact."
Even the handguard mounting clearly borrowed from the SCAR family design.
While stripping whatever surviving accessories she could salvage from Little Princess, Kyoko compared the two rifles. Her custom-modified Little Princess still looked better. The Type 20 was shorter, but it lacked style.
The Type 20 had an unloaded weight of 3.5 kilograms, an overall length of 852 millimeters, a 330-millimeter barrel, and a 30-round magazine. It used a Magpul PMAG GEN M-LOK handguard system, with a standard Picatinny rail on top and expansion slots along the sides and bottom. That allowed direct mounting of accessories or extra rails as needed.
Once she had stripped off everything reusable, Kyoko consigned the ruined Little Princess to the system and began attaching the parts to the Type 20.
In truth, she did not need to add much. The rifle's previous owner had already set it up. She only needed to fine-tune it.
Especially the optic.
"What was this idiot doing? It's way off zero. Was the previous owner trying to imitate some manga sniper or what?"
With the new rifle ready, she headed back inside. Her stomach was starting to grumble.
When she returned, the others were already waiting for her to come eat. Near the side of the room lay a pile of unfamiliar gear—clearly items they had found in the motel rather than anything they had brought.
It was a gleaming suit of Western plate armor.
"Is that some sort of decorative suit for greeting guests?" Kyoko asked, rubbing her chin.
"Mm-hm. Ye Ling found it."
"That huge display mannequin got dragged down just so she could get it," Dorothy added.
Miranda looked thoughtful when she saw the armor, but said nothing. Perhaps she recognized it. Being Italian and heir to an old family, she was probably more familiar with old European pieces than anyone else here.
Kyoko's only thought was that this newly recruited fox girl really was absurdly strong. Two meters tall… she really was a monster in human form.
Since the others were speaking in Japanese, Ye Ling could not understand a word. Kyoko crouched beside her and spoke in Chinese instead.
"Are you getting used to this food?"
As she spoke, she accidentally brushed one of Ye Ling's pink fox ears.
Ye Ling nearly jumped out of her skin. Her tail shot straight up at once.
"I-I'm used to it," she stammered. "I'm not that picky about food."
She had gone so long in Japan without hearing her own language that now, after finally meeting someone she could speak to, even forming sentences felt difficult. It was embarrassing.
"If you like it, then eat as much as you want. Don't hold back. We've got plenty of supplies left," Kyoko said sincerely.
And she meant it. On Ye Ling's very first day with them, the woman had already shown her worth. Even after days of hunger, she had fought like that. If she were in top condition…
Kyoko did not even want to imagine it.
Compared to gaining a capable ally like that, a little food was nothing.
"...Thank you. Really," Ye Ling said after a moment of silence.
She had no better words. After spending so many days stranded in Japan, unable to communicate, isolated in a foreign country, now someone had suddenly extended her a hand. No wonder the fox ears drooped while her tail wagged of its own accord.
It kept brushing against Kyoko.
So itchy. How can I still feel that through all these layers?
Dinner ended soon after, and only then did everyone have time to talk.
What exactly had happened? Why had there suddenly been so many infected? And where had that terrifying Glutton-like special infected come from?
Before Kyoko could even ask, Huaxiu explained.
Apparently, while the group had been clearing infected around the motel, they noticed figures moving in a building across the road. At first they ignored it, planning to keep killing infected quietly with melee weapons.
Then the infected went mad.
They began hammering at the windows, and Miranda's group opened fire. But the first wave to come out had not even been from that building.
A much larger, more luxurious structure farther away suddenly disgorged a great mass of infected. After that, everything unfolded just as Kyoko had seen when she arrived.
As for why so many infected had gathered there, no one knew.
Maybe some unfortunate survivor had once drawn a horde there and died. Maybe something else had happened. There was no way to tell now.
I should take a look over there later, Kyoko thought. I might be able to scrape together some more reward points.
She was becoming increasingly aware that she was heading for a budget crisis. The Glutton alone had to be worth something. At least a hundred points, surely.
She rose, picked up her rifle, and prepared to go out.
"Ye Ling, come with me. The rest of you stay here and keep watch—especially on the road out front."
The first line she said in Chinese so Ye Ling would understand.
No one objected. The two of them headed for the door. Just then Huaxiu caught up.
"Should I come too?" Huaxiu asked.
"No. Stay here. We'll be right back," Kyoko replied with a smile, sending her back inside.
Soon the only things accompanying Kyoko and Ye Ling into the night were the moon now emerging from behind the clouds and the beam of the tactical flashlight illuminating the road ahead.
The two of them walked side by side. Kyoko was outfitted in full modern tactical gear, rifle at the ready, while Ye Ling wore the decorative plate armor they had found in the motel lobby. She still carried her spear. She had heated the shaft and scraped the oily residue off the part that had pierced the Glutton.
One looked like a late-medieval spearman in plate armor, the other like a modern soldier.
Quite the mixed pair.
"Ye Ling, that decorative armor looks flashy, but the material's got to be poor, right?" Kyoko asked.
"Not really," Ye Ling replied at once. "I think this was a genuine old piece the motel owner collected. It's an Italian Milanese-style plate harness. It won't stop bullets, sure—but against infected? It's more than enough, unless it's something like the big fatty from earlier."
She went on enthusiastically, completely in her element.
"Look at the asymmetrical structure and the functional design—fantastic. And there's a heraldic crest on it too. It probably belonged to some noble family. The motel owner wasn't simple at all. And the best part is, whoever wore it before must've been over two meters tall too. It fits me perfectly. What a coincidence!"
"So you really do know your stuff," Kyoko said.
"Of course. I'm an expert in this. But Kyoko… your Chinese really is incredible. It sounds practically native."
"It's because I've always been interested in Chinese and in that country," Kyoko answered. "From when I was little until now. I loved it, so I kept at it."
The real answer was her memories from another life, of course. But that was hardly something she could say aloud, and her current explanation was convincing enough.
"That's amazing," Ye Ling said sincerely.
"Nothing special."
Kyoko let the topic drop and looked ahead.
"We're here."
In front of them stood several dozen fairly spacious detached houses.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
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Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
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From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
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Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
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The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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