*Bang!*
Panicking, she accidentally bumped her head.
A groan escaped from her mouth.
It's over, she got caught!
"Are you okay?" Shiryu asked.
"I-I'm fine... I just... Ahh!"
Mikazuki came out from behind the counter and stood up. Now, she faced Shiryu and looked at each other.
"What's wrong?"
Shiryu made a confused expression. There was no surprise on his face.
However, the corners of his lips lifted higher when he saw the appearance of the woman in front of him.
In the anime he had watched in his previous life, he had seen her.
And yes, he remembered what her name was.
"You already knew there was someone hiding here from the beginning, right?"
"Yes.
"How come?"
Mikazuki did not expect that she would be discovered in the first place.
Shiryu honestly answered, "I have very sharp hearing. From this distance, I can hear the sound of your breathing and heartbeat."
"Is that something a human can do?"
"Do I not look human?"
Shiryu asked back.
Mikazuki was stunned because at this moment, she realized that the man in front of her was too handsome, right?
Her face feeling hot, she pulled her hood up over her eyes to hide her embarrassment.
Shiryu thought this woman was even cuter than the original work. He remembered when the protagonist met Mikazuki at the convenience store, she was cold to him.
But now?
She wasn't as cold as he thought.
As expected of a figure like Captain America. With a face and body shape like this, who wouldn't be mesmerized by him?
[You're narcissistic.]
Shiryu didn't bother to refute System-chan.
Mikazuki said, "It's my fault, I'm leaving here."
Come to think of it, the man in front of her was indeed human, but he had super abilities.
Not long ago, she even knew he could kill a mutated zombie or Alpha with just his bare hands.
But just like her original plan, she didn't want to get involved with him!
What he didn't know, Shiryu couldn't possibly let go so easily. He placed both hands on the counter and leaned his face towards her.
Their distance became closer.
Mikazuki subconsciously stepped back and her back hit a shelf of goods including condoms behind her.
"Wh-What is it?"
"I feel familiar with you."
"No way, it's our first time meeting. Sir, are you trying to woo me? I'm sorry, but it won't work on me."
She felt Shiryu was just trying to woo her.
But she remembered about the heroines he often mentioned in his diary.
Don't tell me she was one of them?
After all, she also had a copy of Shiryu's diary.
No, no, there was no way Shiryu would recognize her because she was...
"Open your hood and show me your face."
"No."
"No? Then, I won't let you go."
"Sir, you're being unreasonable!"
Mikazuki glared at the man in front of her. She knew he was a pervert, but she did not expect him to do this to her.
Shiryu took a step back and said, "Don't misunderstand, I just want to confirm something."
As a veteran, he knew how to advance and retreat when trying to woo a woman.
However, he had to be rather forceful to woo a woman like Shizuka Mikazuki. In the original work, she even refused to go out with the protagonist many times just because she didn't want to take a big risk that would endanger herself and others.
Mikazuki bit her lip and sighed. It seemed like she had no other choice. She removed her hood and revealed her face to Shiryu.
However, she was also curious if Shiryu really recognized her?
"Are you satisfied now?"
"How beautiful."
"Hey... I-I'm asking you!"
Mikazuki blushed slightly and stammered.
However, instead of answering and letting her go.
"Wait a moment."
Shiryu took out his diary and started writing.
Mikazuki could not help but look at what he wrote in his copy of the diary.
[As I thought, there's no way I could have misrecognized one of my future wives!]
One of your future wives?
Mikazuki's lips twitched.
She was going to ignore what he had just written.
Even so, Shiryu's next words left her stunned.
[I didn't expect to meet a heroine from another zombie anime. She is none other than Shizuka Mikazuki.]
[I recognized her appearance from the original work entitled "Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead". In a previous life, I had watched the anime version and liked her character personally.]
Sure enough, her concerns were correct.
She was the heroine of an anime!
At least from Shiryu's point of view.
Mikazuki widened her eyes.
[Speaking of her, I don't know if she has met the protagonist Akira. The two were destined to meet at the convenience store and from then on, they often met 'accidentally'.]
Why the quotation marks?
Was it really accidental or...
Wait, is she going to date the protagonist or something?
Mikazuki was curious.
But one thing was certain, she didn't know a man named Akira. Shiryu knew this from the quest details System-chan had given him.
And he added a little spice in his writing.
In other words, he lied. He had to do this to completely prevent Mikazuki and Akira from meeting at the convenience store like in the original work.
[Correction, actually Akira often stalks Mikazuki. When they first stopped at the convenience store, he fell in love with her and decided to add her as ''A beautiful woman he wants to get pregnant'' in his list of 100 wishes before dying.]
[That's somewhat similar to the title in the original work. After all, the anime is about the protagonist who suddenly finds his world hit by a zombie pandemic and he wants to fulfill every random wish he wrote down in his book before dying.]
[Because of this, he's a bit crazy and will do whatever it takes to fulfill his every wish.]
[Shizuka was initially reluctant to be seen with such a man because in her opinion, she would often be in danger. And that's right, she often almost lost her life and those around her because of following protagonist Akira.]
[But, when she fell in love with him, she no longer cared about all that.]
"Really!?"
Mikazuki asked with a hint of fear on her face.
She was now reluctant to meet the protagonist.
Shiryu refrained from laughing and closed his diary. Then, he looked at the copy of the diary in Mikazuki's hand and replied. "I never lie about what I write in my diary. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten any rewards. But as I suspected, you have it too."
"To be precise, a copy of my diary and you also recognize me, right?"
Mikazuki felt embarrassed, she now couldn't argue and stopped pretending not to recognize him.
"I know you are the owner of the diary, Shiryu."
"Then, let's exchange Line contacts." Shiryu shamelessly took out his cell phone.
You might be wondering if the internet network still existed after the EMP explosion a few days ago.
The answer is yes.
In some cities including Tokyo, the internet network still exists although it sometimes disappears.
People out there must have fixed it.
"Huh?" Mikazuki was confused and asked, "What does all this talk have to do with giving out my contacts?"
"I won't let you leave before we exchange contacts."
"....."
The man in front of her...
What should she call him?
He was shameless!
However, having a way to contact a diary owner like Shiryu might come in handy for her.
Although Mikazuki was still reluctant to get involved with him, she had to admit that the super abilities or other things Shiryu possessed made him different from other men including the protagonist.
Should she make an exception for him?
Mikazuki hesitated, but she took out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and they eventually exchanged contacts.
Sooner or later, protagonist Akira would lose his future girlfriend!
Shiryu cheered in his heart.
[It seems that instead of completing the quest and getting a reward, you're happier because you managed to get the contact information of a beautiful woman.]
System-chan, you're wrong.
I did all this purely to complete the quest.
[I see.]
System-chan obviously doesn't believe it.
But whatever.
"You should be satisfied now."
"Thank you, I'm very satisfied. See you soon, Mikazuki."
Shiryu put his cell phone back into his pants pocket and picked up his shopping cart again.
Under Mikazuki's dumbfounded gaze, he exited the convenience store.
"That man... In the end, did he just want to get my contacts?"
"He wooed me?"
Mikazuki wasn't stupid, but compared to the approach made by the man named Akira who she found scary, she felt Shiryu was better.
However, she knew he seemed to have built a harem. From his diary, he even told all the readers that he liked many women.
He's a man who rides many boats!
How could she...
Mikazuki decided not to think too much about it and quickly left the place.
However, it wasn't long before that.
She and even Shiryu did not know a man with short black hair parked his bike in front of the convenience store.
He was none other than the man they were talking about earlier.
It was the protagonist, or rather, Akira Tendo.
"Beer! Beer! Beer! Today, I'm going to drink beer and laze around to the fullest!"
Cheerfully and without worrying about the zombies hearing his overly loud voice, he walked into the convenience store and grabbed a bunch of beer.
Still, he suddenly frowned and felt like he was missing something important.
"What happened? Did I forget something?"
He scratched his head with a puzzled expression.
Akira didn't realize he had missed his first meeting with his future girlfriend.
Even if he visited the same convenience store after this, he would not meet Mikazuki.
After getting a spoiler about her future, Mikazuki decided that she would go to the supermarket or some other place to get food and water supplies.
She avoided the possibility of meeting her own protagonist!
...
[Ding! The host has prevented heroine Shizuka Mikazuki from meeting protagonist Akira at the convenience store.]
[You managed to change the plot that this world created. As a reward for your hard work, you get one random reward.]
"Don't ask, just check the reward I got this time."
Before System-chan could ask 'Yes/No', Shiryu interrupted her.
Without another word, System-chan did what her host wanted.
[You have obtained the super ability: Shallow Breathing.]
[Description: Can control breathing capacity and heart rate.]
"It doesn't sound very powerful, but it's useful in various situations."
Shiryu was not too disappointed.
With Shallow Breathing, he could stay in the water for a long time. Of course, he could also use it to do other things.
"Not bad."
By the way, he and the women in his group were now in a hospital.
While he was checking the rewards he had just gotten. Chika, Yukana, Osaragi and Miko were slaughtering the zombies. The first three had no problems, they were quite skilled in using their respective weapons.
But Miko...
"Graurr!"
A zombie ran towards her, she panicked and pressed the trigger of her gun while closing her eyes.
*Bang!*
The shot hit its target in the chest and exploded its body. She knew she managed to kill another zombie, but when she opened her eyes again—
"Ugh..."
Miko could not bear to look at the bloody scene and the human internal organs scattered on the floor.
Her face turned pale and she turned around to turn her gaze in another direction. At that moment, she was surprised that in front of her, there was Shiryu.
"S-Shiryu-san?"
"Good job, Miko. But..."
Miko was happy to hear praise from the man in front of her, but what?
"You still seem to need to get used to seeing bloody scenes. And when shooting your target, you should also keep your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings. If your weapon isn't a gun where a single shot from it is enough to explode a zombie's body, there's a chance you'll get hit by your target and infected."
Shiryu advised her while placing one of his hands on her shoulder.
"I... Next time, I will try to do as you say."
Miko blushed, she could not help but remember the adult scene she saw last night.
She lowered her head and glanced at Shiryu's crotch. She had lived with him for a long time, but when would he do that to her?
'No, what was I thinking!? How could I want Shiryu-san to do those perverted things to me!'
Miko was embarrassed by what she suddenly thought in this situation.
Is she a perverted girl?
She shouldn't be!
Shiryu didn't realize the inner conflict Miko was going through, he was just happy to see the blush on her ears.
On the other side, Osaragi realized that her best friend was being wooed by a man riding multiple boats.
Under normal circumstances, she would want to stop the progress between them as she was worried that Miko would get hurt.
But after knowing Shiryu so far...
Even though he was a pervert, unfaithful to one woman and even seduced the mother of his own woman.
In her heart, Osaragi recognized that being Shiryu's woman was not a bad thing and gave them a sense of security.
Because of that...
'Miko, I support you!'
She did not want to disturb the two people despite killing the zombies around her. So, she decided to kill the zombies on the other side.
It went well at first.
But at the end of the corridor, a woman suddenly came out of the ER room. Her appearance wasn't zombie-like, but she didn't look human either.
She had white hair, pointed ears, dark skin underneath her skimpy white clothes, and strange red eyes.
When their gazes met, Osaragi was so frightened that her body froze.
"There's still a human alive here? Human, you're lucky."
In an instant, the woman whose appearance resembled that of a Dark Elf suddenly appeared in front of her as if teleporting.
She only used her overwhelming physical strength to do that.
Osaragi had difficulty breathing, she felt a sense of oppression as if she was an inferior being facing a superior being.
Their faces were so close.
Her crimson eyes that looked so clear. She could not feel anything but fear.
Was she going to die?
"Don't worry, I only bring pain and death to those who harm my majesty with my hellish flames."
"As for you? You're just a weak creature who happened to see me finish a pointless investigation."
The woman in front of her spoke dramatically without changing her expression.
Even so, Osaragi was relieved that she did not seem to be planning to kill her.
"But before I go, I would like to ask. Are you—"
Before the Dark Elf who was one of the species of Demons finished her words.
*Boom!*
She felt an oppression that made her immediately kneel down and the floor beneath her feet cracked like a spider web.
Her internal organs were also injured, she vomited a mouthful of blood because of that.
She was shocked of course.
Just then, a man's cold voice rang in her ears.
"Oi, what are you doing to my woman? Depending on your answer, I will let you live or die here."
Osaragi recognized that voice.
Still, since when did I become your woman?
"Shiryu-kun, why are you here?"
She turned around only to see Shiryu who walked over and stood beside her.
He shamelessly wrapped his arm around her shoulders before replying, "You're the only one who hasn't returned to the lobby yet, I was worried you were having trouble and my guess seems to be right."
Shiryu glanced back at the woman in front of him. While activating his Conqueror's Haki, he looked at her with a cold gaze and his eyes glowed with an eerie green light.
But in his heart, he was a little surprised.
Wasn't this a Dark Elf?
If his guess was correct, she was probably from the Taimanin series. What was she doing in the human world?
"This power... Who are you? How could a human have power almost comparable to the Queen of the Inferno."
The sexy-looking Dark Elf looked at him with fear and curiosity. There was also hostility in her eyes.
But under Conqueror's Haki, she was unable to stand up and felt helpless.
"Nothing is impossible, especially for someone like me. I am Sou Shiryu, are you a subordinate of Astaroth?"
"How do you know!?"
Shiryu looked at the woman in front of him as if she was an idiot.
The Dark Elf understood what Shiryu's gaze meant, she felt humiliated.
"You're comparing my power to the Queen of the Inferno. In the Demon Realm, only one person can be called by such a title."
"That's just Astaroth."
Shiryu remembered the figure of the extremely voluptuous red-haired demoness from the Taimanin series.
Although she was one of the villain bosses, she was one of his favorite female characters. He did not expect to meet her subordinate in this hospital.
This was his opportunity!
[You mean, you want to woo the boss villain remotely, host?]
System-chan, have you heard that being too smart is not good?
[No, I didn't.]