Revelation

When Mendell saw the familiar black portal before him, he knew he was back inside his dream. This time, he could move his body with ease, and he turned around. True enough, his other self was standing in his previous spot. He smiled, "Hello, other Mendell. Nice to see you."

His other self smirked. "I didn't expect you to come back right away."

"Okay. You better stop being a jerk, okay. I already know what you're thinking."

His other self laughed like he was hearing a very funny joke. When he was done, he said, "Okay, fun time's over. Don't worry about your body every time you're inside this place. Anyway, congratulations on reaching the next level. As you can see, killing those monsters created by the Ancient Legend increases your soul power, which in turn enhances your physical ability and mental strength, which is needed to unlock your latent skills and abilities. Remember, you need to unravel the mysterious powers that are hidden within every Chronicler to successfully face any threats bombarded by the Ancient Legend."

Mendell nodded. He remembered something and said, "Anyway, I've got something to report." He recounted everything that happened during his stay in the Arklay Mountains until his very moment when he was fending off the spiderlings. When he was done, he asked, "Do you know why this is happening?"

His other self frowned. "Interesting. I'm not sure what's happening but I have a hunch."

"What is it?"

"You caused a great disturbance to the plot of Resident Evil. You see, the Bravo Team's decimation resulted in many things which greatly affected the fate of the main characters. First, it's the reason why STARS was disbanded because of a lack of people. It was then replaced by Raccoon SWAT as suggested by Umbrella. Second, their deaths strengthened the motivation and molded the main characters to become how they'll be in the future plot. Lastly, Enrico and the rest of his team are individuals who excel in their respective expertise, which might play a good role in the future. If you play things right, we might see some interesting results."

"But what about the randomness of enemy encounters?"

"Maybe by saving the Bravo Team, you fulfilled an achievement and unlocked one of the Ancient Legend's schemes? You know, like changing the difficulty setting from normal to difficult. I'm not sure. But there's one very clear thing. The Ancient Legend can alter the structure of a building, encounter rates, and minor plots as long as the major plots were not disturbed."

Mendell's brows furrowed as he analyzed everything that happened, and inquired, "Then how do you differentiate between a major plot and a minor plot?"

"I'll give you some examples. The Arklay Mansion Incident and the Raccoon City Incident, I am very sure that they're major plots. The death of the Bravo Team is a major one as well, I believe. So, what do you think will happen when you stop the destruction of Raccoon City? Will the difficulty goes to hell level? Heh! But I guess it's super difficult to stop the spread of the virus. In one way or another, it will happen."

"If that's true, then if I wanna have an easier time inside this Alternate Earth, I just have to sacrifice the lives of those 100,000 innocent people...not that I care, anyway. After all, they're fake, just like in a game."

His other self's face became gloomy. "Then what if I say that these people are real? Like you, like me, having souls and dreams. Would you still feel that this is a game? Would you still act like you're unconcerned about it?"

Mendell's eyes widened when he heard the sudden revelation. "What?! Ever since our souls assimilated, I've always thought that this world was just a game-like dimension. So, are you telling me that my mom, my dad, and my sister...all of them are true, flesh and blood?! Enrico and the rest of his team, they're not just game characters? I know that I care about them but I thought they would just be revived if this world resets..."

"As you become stronger, you'll come to understand the truth behind these Alternate Earths. Just remember this, follow your conscience. Treat the Resident Evil world as your true origin. Even though we have one soul, your body and identity are different than mine. We do share the same abilities and personality because we are Chroniclers."

"But - "

His other self raised his hand, cutting him off. "Whatever your decision is, I won't get angry. Why? Because your personality is the same as mine. If I were in your shoes, I'd do the same. See you next time..."

Mendell's eyes dimmed and just like the last time, he lost consciousness.

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"Mendell! Mendell! Can you hear me?"

Mendell slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing that he saw was the dark-skinned man, who was smiling. "Uh...good to see you, Kenneth."

"Thank God you're awake," Kenneth replied after exhaling deeply. "You're feeling okay?"

Mendell stood up and found out that his strength was back. He did some punching and stretching and realized that he was physically stronger, but he did not know the extent of his enhancement. He gave Kenneth a thumbs-up sign, "Never felt this good." He touched his belly and noticed that there was no pain. "My wound's healed."

"You're really...not normal." Kenneth scratched his head. "You're covered in blood and guts but why do I feel that you're happier than ever?"

Mendell laughed. "Yeah, you're correct. Anyway, how are you feeling?"

Kenneth squirmed in pain when he stood up. "I can move now but the pain's still there."

"I see. We shouldn't stay here. I hate to say this but I think we gotta move."

Kenneth nodded but felt worried as he remembered something. "Do you think Captain and the rest are safe? I never saw them again ever since they separated from us due to that zombie attack."

"Hundred percent. Cheer up! Don't you trust your Captain?"

Kenneth grinned. "With my life."

"Have you contacted them through your radio?"

"Yeah. He's not responding."

Even though Mendell was worried about the Bravo team, he knew that they were more prepared this time compared to the original plot. He hoped that they would be more cohesive and strategic with their actions, thus saving themselves from certain deaths. He looked at the entrance at the end of the staircase, and muttered, "Are you ready?"

Kenneth sighed. "As if I have a choice...at least I'm still alive after that awful fight against the spiders. Thank you for saving my life..."

Mendell patted his shoulders. "No problem. I know you'll do it as well if you were in my shoes. Just be positive and we'll make it out alive. And we'll find the rest of the team and defeat those motherfuckers who're messing our lives."

Kenneth chuckled. He inspected his gun to see if it was fully loaded. Then he secured the ammunition inside his vest pocket. "Let's go."

Mendell nodded. He secured his bag on his back and carried his log. This time, he could feel the difference. He could slightly feel its weight as if he was carrying a light pole. Confident with his newfound powers, he climbed up the stairs when he felt the phone vibrated. His eyes squinted when he found out that it was already July 24, 1 AM. He knew later tonight, the Alpha team would be deployed as well. He could not predict the outcome of this event anymore, so he would just have to do his best.

Mendell could have destroyed the metallic gate if he wanted to but time was running out and there were still many areas that needed exploration. He slowly climbed up the stairs, checking Kenneth from time to time. He could sense Kenneth's effort to follow him, which he highly appreciated. After knowing that they were real people just like him, he did not treat these events as games anymore.

Cautiously, Mendell scanned the surroundings, knowing that his detection skill was not foolproof. For one thing, he could not detect if the place was a trap or not, so he had to be attentive. Soon, they reached the second floor and realized that the walls were covered with cobwebs, much to their dismay.

Mendell detected the scent of spiders several meters away from him. At once, he raised his hand and whispered, "Spiders."

Kenneth nodded and aimed his gun forward.

When they were two meters away from the spot where he sensed the monsters, he said, "Wait here."

"Take care."

Mendell approached it slowly until he reached the area. It was a huge egg, almost a meter tall. Even though the spiders were genetically mutated, they still possessed some of their old characteristics, so he knew this egg would hatch into many spiderlings. He raised his leg and stomped it as hard as he could.

At once, many spiderlings crawled out of the egg. He quickly killed them all by stomping with his feet as quick as he could like he was doing a tap dance. Some of them escaped but later died on their own after a few seconds. He realized that he could just finish them by simply cracking the eggs. All those stompings were unnecessary.

He scratched his head as he approached Kenneth and explained, "Well, that was a spider egg. Just crack the eggs and the spiderlings will simply die by itself."

Kenneth laughed. "So, you just did that silly dance for nothing?"

Mendell snorted. "Well, you'll squash them as well if you see a hundred bugs crawling at you, right?"

"I'd even throw a bomb against them if I can."

"Heh! Now, that's taking it to the extreme. Anyway, I hope I can hide this log or something while I'm searching through this place, it's too big." Mendell was about to continue talking when he saw Kenneth's surprised expression, and asked, "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

Kenneth gulped loudly as he pointed at Mendell's right hand. "You're log. I saw it. It...it vanished."

Mendell checked what Kenneth was talking about and true enough, his right hand was empty. He realized something and summoned his log via soul power, then it magically appeared on his right hand.

"That...that's unscientific..." Kenneth stuttered. "You...you're still human, right?"

Mendell almost wanted to facepalm when his secret was accidentally discovered by Kenneth. Well, he knew it would be exposed one way or another if he wanted to fight against the stronger tyrants and other bioweapons. Killing Kenneth to keep his secret was out of the picture as well because his conscience would not allow it and his efforts to keep the Bravo Team alive would also be in vain. He carefully reorganized his thoughts and answered a half-truth statement. "Yes. I'm still a human being but due to certain experiments, I now possessed superhuman strength and abilities. Don't worry, I'm on your side. If I wanna kill you, I could have done it sooner."

Kenneth closed his eyes and remembered Mendell's actions from the time he met him up to now. Then he remembered the zombies and several monsters that they encountered. If zombies, mutated crows, giant spiders, and Cerberus were real, then a case like Mendell could also happen. At once, he strengthened his resolve and opened his eyes, saying, "I believe you."

"Thanks."

After this little unexpected confrontation, they continued their journey, following the only path they could take and destroying all the eggs they encountered. Soon, they reached an intersection.

"Where do you think we should go?" Kenneth asked.

Mendell refocused his senses and somehow detected a strange yet familiar scent to the east. "To the right, there are many spiders in that direction. Somehow, I can also sense the presence of a stronger variant. I suspect it's the queen spider."

"What about the left path?"

"Nothing. I can detect no danger at all. But...I'm not sure if there's a trap."

"You know what's the best path to take. Whatever you decide, I'll follow you."

Kenneth was unwell, so as much as possible, Mendell did not want to encounter any boss fights. And he knew that Kenneth did not want to go to the area filled with spiders either. After weighing his options, he answered, "Let's go west."

Kenneth sighed in relief. "Okay."

They followed the left hallway until they reached another door.

Mendell turned the knob and saw a winding stair leading down. Thanks to his excellent eyes, he could still see what was below and suspected that this might be one of the passages that connected the mansion to the Executive Training Ground. Or this might lead them to the underground catacombs. They were already too deep with their search that he decided to continue.

Kenneth followed him without hesitation.