[Brain Storage Here!]
[Zombies Stay.]
————————
In 1968, an old man in a wheelchair drew a circle on the map of Raccoon City.
The famous Umbrella Corporation research base was built here.
Asa never expected that just by glancing a little too long at a dump truck transporting construction waste on the road, he would be sent crashing into Raccoon City on January 1, 1998.
And become an ordinary researcher in an underground research base.
Instantly transformed from a promising successor of socialism into a low-level grunt in the greatest criminal organization of the Resident Evil world, Asa initial reaction was refusal.
Not to mention, in about half a year, the Resident Evil incidents in Raccoon City would erupt one after another, with all sorts of bizarre biochemical monsters taking the stage. Even if he miraculously survived the various dangers, he would ultimately be reduced to ashes in the nuclear blast on October 1st.
However, his current identity was a researcher at the Umbrella Corporation research base, bound by a lifetime employment contract, with even his trips for fresh air closely monitored by specialized personnel. Escape from the base?
Wearing his research uniform, Asa took a moment in the restroom to sort out his current situation, an expression of helplessness on his face.
No hope, just wait for death!
Wait, I've already crossed over, and no golden finger is given?
Forget about Deer's nanny system or Dian Niang's diligent system. As a fan of Tomato Novels, at least the standard Tomato System should be given, right?
Asa was absolutely certain that this body was identical to the one he had before being sent here—whether it was the scars or the impressive 'dragon-like spear' he felt when he reached down.
The only extra from crossing over was fluent English.
"Ding!"
A heavenly sound rang out. Asa looked incredulously into the mirror, where a faint blue progress bar quietly appeared.
"System awakening in progress. Current progress: 1%. Estimated remaining time: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes."
It really awakened!
Overjoyed, Asa thought of check-in systems, simulation systems, or fertility-blessing systems—any of them would be great.
But if it was a useless system from Cat Site, then he might as well wait for death directly.
Confirming that the progress bar only appeared on his retina and wouldn't be seen by anyone else, Asa let out a long sigh of relief.
For the next month, all he needed to do was stay steady, avoid trouble, endure the development period, and wait for the system to fully awaken.
The current date was January 1st. There were still five months until the Ecliptic Express incident. Time was still ample.
Washing his face and adjusting his expression in the mirror, Asa pushed open the restroom door, ready to leave.
"Ouch!"
The sound of running footsteps, an unexpected soft cry, followed by the noise of someone falling.
Did someone fall?
Asa stepped out of the room and saw a little girl with golden hair in a single ponytail, clutching her head as she sat on the floor.
"Are you okay?"
Asa instinctively stepped forward to check the girl's injury.
The girl opened her palm. Her forehead was slightly swollen but not broken.
Even though she was the one who had been knocked down, the girl timidly apologized:
"I'm fine, I'm sorry..."
Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William Birkin, the head of the research base.
At this point in time, the only little girl who could appear in the underground base of Raccoon City was her.
Instantly recognizing the girl's identity, Asa didn't act overly familiar. Instead, he behaved like a remorseful passerby who had accidentally bumped into her. After helping her up, he fetched ointment for Sherry, apologized a few times, and then let the girl leave.
Currently, his superior was Supervisor John, and the supervisor's superior was the head. It wouldn't be wise to appear in the boss's sight right now.
Watching the little girl's departing figure, Asa gently shook his head.
Might as well keep coasting along. This isn't called exploiting capitalism—the Old Buddha already paid for it long ago.
What Asa didn't know was that after he turned around, a small head peeked out from around the corner of the pristine wall, silently observing his retreating figure.
To the 12-year-old Sherry, the world seemed exceptionally simple.
The big brother with Eastern features just now was different from the other hurried researchers.
But how exactly he was different, Sherry couldn't quite put it into words.
Sherry's feeling was correct—this was the impression given by a salary thief.
Everyone else is busy, but you're idle.
...
Life in the base was dull and monotonous.
Asa daily work involved recording instrument data and compiling reports. Once he got the hang of it, it was straightforward.
But if he were actually expected to develop some kind of biochemical virus, he'd probably fail spectacularly on the spot.
During these days, Asa wasn't just idly waiting for the system to awaken. For one, he figured out the hierarchy of his position.
His boss was Supervisor John, an unknown extra.
His boss's boss was the head of the branch base, the genius researcher William Birkin!
He also gradually understood why he, at the ripe old age of eighteen, was able to work as a researcher at the research base.
In short, a loyal researcher couple sacrificed their lives to protect important experimental data, and their dying wish was for the company to take care of their only child.
Thus, Asa got this cushy, do-nothing job.
The company's benefits were so good that anyone unaware might mistake the company for their own family.
But Asa knew that, leaving aside the original nuclear bomb, once Head William decided to betray the Umbrella Corporation, to prevent the virus from leaking, the base's researchers and security personnel would be turned into infected in the early stages.
Those who miraculously survived would be trapped in the sealed base, with no one to hear their cries, slowly waiting for death.
The entire research base would become a massive slaughterhouse.
This made slacking off even more justifiable.
The peaceful days weren't entirely without ripples.
Ever since that accidental encounter with Sherry, whenever weekends came around—the times Sherry was allowed to visit the underground base—she often wandered into the area where Asa worked.
Over time, Asa gradually became familiar with Sherry.
After all, she was just a little girl, chronically lacking parental affection, and Asa was the only person in the entire base close to her age.
Asa finally got a taste of what it was like to look after a child.
"System awakening in progress. Current progress: 99%. Estimated remaining time: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute."
For the final minute, Asa sat in his room, quietly waiting.
"3, 2, 1."
The progress bar finally reached 100%.
There were no earth-shattering special effects, no sudden surge of warmth flooding his body.
Once the progress bar maxed out, the light screen naturally transformed into a brand-new status panel.
[Username: Asa]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Level: Lv1]
[Body: 5 points]
[Mind: 5 points]
[EXP: 0/100]
[Talents]
[Goddess Covenant: For each important female protagonist from the original storyline with whom a bond is established, receive a reward, including talents, items, skills, or system items.]
[Go With the Flow: Upon arriving in a new world, this talent transforms into an ability fitting the current world's setting. The transformed ability is only effective in the current world. (Currently untransformed.)]
[Skills: None]
[System Inventory: Empty]
[Storage Space: 1 cubic unit]
[Unlocked Worlds: None]