54: Return

Time had flown by, time in which Cloud and his group had finally finished with the mission to help the army.

The final battle had been nothing out of this world, meaning, Amami had lied, the zombies didn't exist, and although it was annoying, Cloud and his group had already reached this place, although this cost the general a lot more.

Ichiro Shido had died in the slowest and most painful way possible, after all, he had been dragged until he was on the verge of death, only to be left halfway and devoured by a group of zombies while he was still conscious.

That left us with the current situation....

Cloud and his group were returning to Taiei after a huge victory.

"With this, that son of a bitch Amami isn't going to fool us again" - Yuriko said as she folded her arms, though inside she was relieved because she could see how the end of mission counter was about to end.

Cloud gave her a glance before nodding - "You're right."

"By the way, what are you planning to do?" - Yuriko asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"You mean the recruitment?" - Cloud replied as he looked at his companion - "It's simple, I'm going to give them the option to choose whether they want to follow me or not."

"Oh, though I feel they will accept without much trouble" - Yuriko mused as she struggled with the idea of making her daughter stay, so she wouldn't have to go through so much danger.

"You don't want me to recruit Saya, do you?" - Cloud asked as he looked closely at the purple haired woman.

"I am self-conscious, I want to stay together with my baby, but..." - Yuriko answered while letting out a sigh - "Although I then remembered that she is practically an adult and can make her own decisions, not to mention that Saya is like me, a person that after making a decision, she will follow it to the end."

"I know, though I feel like she's twice as stubborn as you, due to taking the stubbornness from both of her parents" - Cloud replied sarcastically, only to let out a groan of pain as he felt the woman twist his arm - "Stop, I'm driving!"

"Hmph!" - Yuriko let out a snort of disdain before giving him a blank look, though her expression changed as she saw the counter hit zero - "Oh, it's time."

[Congratulations, player! You've completed the world's main quest!]

"Yay..." - Cloud said as he feigned excitement poorly.

[Side quests have been successfully completed, rewards will be given out as you move to your home world!]

"I wonder what those rewards will be like" - said Yuriko with slight curiosity - "Although it looks like now comes the important part."

Cloud simply kept silent as he watched the next pop-up screen.

[It has been detected that there are characters that have met the recruitment requirements, initiating the recruitment process... time remaining, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds... after this time is up, the user will be able to activate a portal to move to his home world with his recruits, or you can also activate immediately and ignore the recruitment process, this will increase your rewards by 10% for every possible recruit you ignored...]

"Oh, this is new" - Cloud said as he frowned slightly because this information had not been given to him with the main [Origin] information - "Will there be more surprise?"

"Or maybe it's possible that the information will be unlocked after meeting certain requirements, in this case, having completed a world and completing the recruitment requirements of a few "characters"..." - Yuriko replied with a frown because she didn't like this term because it made her look like she was a fictional entity.

"It's quite possible that you're right" - nodded Cloud as he started to think - "Anyway, for now I think it's best that I concentrate on recruitment because honestly, the advantages are far greater than continuing just the two of us could give me"

"More variety of allies, that's a good idea" - Yuriko nodded while thinking specifically about Shizuka Marikawa and Saeko Busujima. Those two were different from the rest, Saeko was a strong woman with a lot of potential in swordsmanship, and even if she didn't want to admit it, Shizuka's medical skills, as well as the hidden talent that lay beneath those huge breasts, were too great to be ignored.

Cloud also seemed to have noticed these details, which meant one thing, that the nurse wasn't as stable as he thought, possibly because of all she had had to go through growing up thanks to her obvious beauty.

"I sense a dangerous vibe coming from her" - Yuriko said as she saw how Taiei was in sight - "Anyway, I think it's time we talk to the others."

"Right" - nodded Cloud as he folded his arms - "Let's go."

* * * * *

"It's a surprise that you called us to meet, Cloud" - said Kohta Hirano while frowning because he could feel something strange in his friend, as if hundreds of thoughts were going through his head.

"Because I have something important to talk about, something that could blow your minds, or you'll just think I've gone crazy" - answered Cloud as he looked at everyone present.

Yuriko, Saeko, Saya. Rei, Shizuka, Rika, Miku, Kyoko and finally Kohta, the 9 [characters] were looking at each other, although the only one who was relaxed was Yuriko, who seemed that what was about to happen, was not important to her.

"Ok, let's get to the point, I want to tell you that I am not a person of this world" - Cloud said while noticing how those present looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean?" - Saeko asked with a frown - "That you're an alien or something?"

"No, I'm more like a traveler from another dimension, one that's very different from this one" - Cloud answered as he explained everything he had been hiding. How he had come to this world, his old world, about origin, and his goal.

Saya and the others looked at each other, confused because this wasn't something they expected, they even thought Cloud had gone mad, though their expressions changed when they saw a pop-up screen appear in front of them.

"This has to be a joke" - Saya said with a frown, though she had to admit that this strange message was a slightly convincing proof - "So you're saying we're characters from a story?"

"No, you are alive, it's just that the "author" of my world created a connection with this world through his dream, getting the "inspiration" to write his story" - Cloud answered while shaking his head - "As for the destiny, I'm not sure if there are variations or not..."

"This is... interesting..." - Saeko mused while stroking her chin - "With the information you gave us, I guess you want us to accompany you?"

"Exactly" - Cloud replied, though he was surprised when he saw how Saeko agreed without much further ado to become his recruit.

"I told you I'd follow you to the end of the world, though I feel like I'm not the first" - Saeko said with a frown as she looked at Yuriko.

"It was a coincidence, though we did it because it was the only way to stay alive after finding out the truth" - replied Yuriko.

Saya frowned before accepting the recruitment, after all, she wasn't going to leave her only family behind.

Kyoko and Miku were the next to accept, after all, they had nothing to bind them, not to mention that traveling to other worlds and getting powers sounded like something interesting and fun, although there were other reasons for them to make this decision so fast.

Shizuka and Rika followed them, Shizuka because she loved Cloud with all her heart, and Rika because this was much more interesting and exciting than staying in a world where the most fun was shooting a zombie in the head.

"Can I say goodbye to my mother, or return to this world?" - Rei asked as she frowned slightly.

Cloud nodded because it was possible for them to return to the world of [Highschool of the Dead] after overcoming the next worlds.

"I accept" - Rei replied firmly, she didn't want to be left behind, which left only one person in the group to respond.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do it, not when I have someone important by my side" - Kohta answered while letting out a sigh - "I find it interesting to travel through the multiverse, get weapons that only could appear in my mind, but Asami is much more important to me than my thrill"

"I understand" - Cloud replied with a smile as he watched the black-haired boy with glasses apologize before walking over to where his girlfriend was.

"I guess it's just us" - Saeko said with pity because Kohta was a good ally - "Now what?"

"Activate the portal and go to my world" - Cloud answered honestly while sending a message to the system.

[Recruitment has been completed, initiating dimensional transport procedure, please stand back].

The girls felt a sharp headache that lasted a few seconds before they unconsciously stepped back, only to see a strange blue portal appear in front of them.

"I guess this is a new beginning" - Cloud muttered as he watched Rei go to say goodbye to her mother, and the others entered the portal without a second thought.