Chapter 2: Welcome to Racoon City
"So, we're playing the hero before we even have our license plate Gerald? Follow me" she got up and paid for her coffee, I didn't even have time to drink something. I just followed her. An awkward silence settled and after almost 10 minutes of walking, we arrived next to a police car with Joseph Frost at the wheel. I remember that he is the first to die in the Alpha team devoured by the Cerberus or zombie dog. I hope I can help him and save most of the STARS members, I don't know how yet but I'll find a way.
He's a nice guy with some pretty impressive feats of arms like dismantling a drug trafficking ring from the inside in less than a month or solving a hostage situation with only two throwing knives. He thinks I have a drug cover to help Jill in her various affairs in Racoon city. "Hello Joseph, how are you? You didn't wait too long" Jill asked.
He smiled as he looked at us before continuing. "No, normally you should have arrived in 20 minutes, and alone. By the way Gerald, Marvin told me that you want to join us. I can't wait to see you at work".
I smiled, he really is a good guy. Fucking Wesker, wait I'll throw you a party at the manor. "Don't worry Joseph, I'll outdo myself and surprise you all" I said before shaking his hand and getting in the back while Jill got in the front.
The rest of the trip was quick because Joseph activated the siren and we arrived in 5 minutes in the parking lot of the police station. We went into the room behind the kennel to go back up the east corridor of the police station on the ground floor.
I still walk behind Joseph and Jill as she goes through the office to hand the bag of drugs to a police officer before continuing on her way down the hall. Nothing to do with the games, it's absolutely huge.
My god, it's really beautiful but a bit of a mess with the various statuses here and there. We go upstairs, then through the library before emerging into the famous corridor that brings us closer to the STARS office.
I stay in front of the office door as it's a restricted area and I hear Jill talking to Chris. "Chris, can you pass me the analysis kit and also your key for the training room. Rebecca, can you follow me please?"
"No worries, Jill, here. Do you want me to come with you for a little sparring?" Chris says, laughing a little.
"Very funny, Chris, I'm going with Gerald to judge his condition, he said he wanted to take the test to join the unit and since there's a session the day after tomorrow, I'm going to judge first if he's fit, are you coming Rebecca? »
"Right away, Jill" I hear Rebecca's small, thin voice as footsteps signal me that they are about to leave. Jill and Rebecca walk through the door with Chris and Barry on their heels as they both give me a strange look.
They both know that Gerald frequently uses heavy drugs so I can see in their eyes that he is waiting for my reaction to Rebecca's blood sample.
Too bad for you, I am completely clean thanks to the system on the other hand, is the G virus in my blood detectable? System? I say in my head.
DING
The host need not worry, all present and future special characteristics will be undetectable.
"Hello Mr. King, can you hold out your arm for me?" Rebecca asked with a slight smile.
No worries, Miss Chambers, you can just call me Gerald" I said. Holding out my arm, she took the equivalent of a small dose before putting it in her famous mixer and waiting for a chemical reaction. However, as the system had planned, no reaction.
"You can call me Rebecca too, Gerald" she smiled at me before turning to Barry and Chris, holding out her hand. "Now, you two, $50 each, I'll take you" she asked them.
I'm sweating profusely like Barry and Chris before bravely stepping up next to Rebecca because I definitely know what the bet was on. "Rebecca, I think you should have waited until I left with Jill before claiming your due" I said with a little spite in my voice
She looks at me and doesn't seem to understand, fortunately, my friend Joseph comes to the rescue with Enrico and Wesker. "Rebecca, if Gerald ever manages to join the STARS, he must be able to trust each of his teammates, right? » asked Joseph
« Yes, that seems logical, but why are you telling me that Joseph? » I will excuse her, she only turned 18 this year.
"Very simple Rebecca, now that you are asking for a bet right after his blood test which is clean as we can all see, it means that Chris and Barry both bet that he would have drugs in his blood and so he might doubt Barry and Chris. Do you understand?" Enrico said.
"Yes, chief. Sorry Gerald, I lacked tact" she told me while bowing slightly.
"And you two, guys, you don't have something to say, after all, even if he is not part of the unit, he helped us on quite a few investigations during this year." Wesker said while looking at Barry and Chris. The worst part is that he really seems like a good captain, luckily I knew the games because the memory of the old Gerald almost idolizes him.
"Sorry Gerald, for our lack of respect" Barry and Chris told me.
"It doesn't matter, if you doubted me, it means that my disguise was ingenious enough to fool you, no hard feelings, Jill, shall we move on to your test?" I said before walking back to the library with a relaxed step.
After the library, I followed Jill but I don't know where the weight room is, plus all the rooms are much bigger than in the game. We finally arrived in front of a room where there is a dumbbell symbol.
When I entered the room, I was stunned, a large gym with various weight benches, a few treadmills, ropes hanging from the ceiling and a small training course with ropes connected to logs on the sides, I'm not surprised that Jill and Chris are so successful in fighting the various critters, they've overtrained.
"So, what do you think?" she asked me with a smile on her face.
"Okay, I'm jealous of your training equipment, so where do we start?" I asked while in my head, I asked the system for an update on my body.
Body:
- Strength: 95 kg
- Speed: 7.2 m/s
- Resistance: 74 kg/cm²
I quickly write down the data in my notebook before turning to Jill to wait for her answer while I think about the degree of improvement, it seems that it all depends on the actions I take. I used force to subdue the robber, I only ran lightly and I had a small blood sample.
"You will train for an hour here with everything you can, then we will go eat at the cafeteria outside. Afterwards, we will see your different results, if they are not too bad, you will continue to train here until the day of the test, which is the day after tomorrow. See you later, Gerald." She said, activating a clock set to one hour before leaving the room.
I start with a quick run on the treadmill, I start slowly by increasing the speed every 20 seconds. I have just reached 10km/h but I still do not feel any fatigue or shortness of breath. I continue to run at the maximum speed of the treadmill which is barely 14km/h, it is 1998 after all.
I ran for 15 minutes at full speed but I am only a little tired. Then the weight bench, I start with the bench press by immediately putting 50 kg. As the system told me, I do repetitions really easily with the bar. I am at 20 repetitions, and I do not feel any tension in my arms, I increase the weight of the bar to 90 kg before starting again.
Now, I feel the weight of the bar a little but it's still quite easy, I do 20 repetitions again before putting the weights away and doing other exercises with the heavier weights.
I have about ten minutes left now before Jill comes back. Maybe I should try the course, there's a button at the entrance to the course, I press it before launching myself at full speed.
I jump through a mini pit, narrowly avoiding a log coming from my right before heading between the posts that form a mini maze with logs coming at full speed between certain corners. I'm almost at the end when I feel a sensation of pain in the back of my head that leaves me with a blank image before continuing to go over a wall before a rope like the army courses.
Landing on the other side, I catch a log in my ribs, grimacing at the impact before finally getting out.
I take off my t-shirt to see that I have a big bruise on my ribs but I see it slowly disappearing with the naked eye. Like an ink stain flowing backwards. Touching the back of my head, I also feel a bump deflating quickly.
I have 5 minutes left according to the clock, I take the opportunity to take a last look at my status following this training, it should have strengthened well.
Body:
- Strength: 110 kg
- Speed: 12 m/s
- Resistance: 120 kg/cm²
My body remains weak, after all, I remember a boxer who had a punching force of 500 kg and I'm sure we are far from the real ones if we compare that to monsters or gun impacts.
I will train with Jill and the other members of STARS if I pass the test. Afterwards I will do individual fights with each of them by letting them hit me to improve my body. The priority for me is my defense.
A dog the size of a Doberman already has a bite equal to 300 kg/cm² and if it's a zombie, I'm sure it bites even harder. I don't know if my defense takes that into account or if it's higher. "System, what does my defense do?" »
The host's defense is expressed in kg/cm².
If the attack is 300kg/cm², then the defense is 120 kg/cm². The host's body will suffer damage equivalent to 180 kg/cm². Depending on where it hits, the body will take more or less damage.
The host can slightly lower or strengthen its defense by relaxing or contracting its muscles.
"System, can you tell me how much damage I received from the logs" I thought as I looked at the door to see if it had opened.
The host suffered 90 kg/cm² from the first log due to the hit to the head.
The host suffered 75 kg/cm² from the second log, no modifier is applied for attacks to the torso.
The host can choose to activate the damage report to be notified in real time of the damage received
Yes/No
"Activate this function" I thought. Before I could continue any further, Jill enters the room looking around. She looks at the course then looks at me with some concern, and a little anger in her eyes.
"Gerald, did you use the course? Didn't you read the note on the side?" She asked me as she got closer. I hesitated, if I told her yes, she would check my injuries and since I have none, she would probably call me a liar.
"No, Jill. I didn't use the course, I pressed the button to see and I didn't come back when I saw the logs crossing the course from all sides" I said smiling. She inspects me a little before turning around to leave.
"Okay, I believe you. Now come on. You're going to take a quick shower and I'll lend you a standard uniform, then we'll go eat.
Before showing me the laundry room so I can take a set of jogging pants and a training jacket.
After about ten minutes, I'm washed and changed. My things are in the police station's care for cleaning and Jill takes me outside to eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the STARS and some police officers including Marvin.
The meal goes well and apart from Wesker who makes me feel a little uncomfortable, overall it was fine.