Data.125 – Old Bowman, War Council

The manual that Oliver was talking about was written on paper, which was unusual for NSO.

But the setting was usually revealed to you in pieces through scattered documents in zombie games, and I suppose it was the same here.

I looked through it carefully before returning it.

“Alright, I understand the rules now.”

First, the goal was to survive for 2 hours.

And if one player out of the seven survived until the end, everyone would be able to stamp their card.

And so some people might sacrifice themselves willingly..

The enemy zombies would come from outside of the hospital.

However, that was about all that was written. And so it didn’t mean that they would politely come in from the front entrance.

And even if they did, the hospitals had so many doors that blocking all of them wasn’t a realistic option.

So, how should we stop the zombies?

The answer..was the stairs.

We were in the central hospital ward, which had two staircases. In order to move between the floors, you had to use these stairs.

While real hospitals would have elevators, this one did not.

And so if we tried to escape to the upper floors, the zombies would use these stairs to follow us.

So as long as we held the stairs, the zombies could not go up.

Split into two teams and defeat the zombies on the stairs..

That was likely to be our plan.

Furthermore, there were also special rules regarding items.

While you could bring your equipment and ME medals, you could not bring healing or other consumable items.

The HP and MP recovery items that were so important during siege battles could only be obtained through searching for them within the hospital.

And so Oliver’s friends were currently searching for the places where they were dropped.

You could only pick them up after the battle started, but it was best to know the locations beforehand.

In other words, they would have to pick them up and fight at the same time.

So there would be two teams to protect the stairs, and a third to gather items..

All seven of us would have to work hard or we would all die.

“Hey, Mr. Oliver!”

“Huh! Ah, Grey! Did you find something?”

“Yes! Oh, are these the people who are going to fight with us?”

“That’s right! The Japanese-style bowman is Kyuji, and the armored nun is Anne!”

“What!? Is it that famous Kyuji!?”

“It is!”

Oliver answered.

Grey was a boy who wore work clothes and a helmet. His eyes seemed to shine as he looked at me.

The Charin fight had a great effect..

“I’m Grey Suelo! I recently joined the Gloria Warriors! It’s nice to meet you! I saw your fight against Charin! It was very cool!”

“Thanks. Uh, it was a pretty desperate fight. But it seems like a long time ago now..”

His eyes really were shining..

I suppose I should say something.

“Wait! Let’s hear your report first, Grey!”

“Ah! Of course..”

Thankfully, Oliver changed the subject.

Well, he was prioritizing the sharing of information, but it still helped me..

“The report. Every entrance on the first floor showed the times when the zombies would start flooding in. With the largest entrance in the central ward, they will start coming in as soon as the survival battle starts, but with the back entrance, it will be 20 minutes later, and then 30 minutes later for the west and east wards.”

“I see.. So as time passes, the number of zombies will increase..!”

“Well, the times were only written for those 4 entrances. We found no hints for the other entrances.”

“Hmm. While it’s good we know where they will be coming from, we can’t say for sure that those will be the only places! They could break the glass and climb through the windows.. They tend to do that! In any case, we must watch those 4 entrances and assume that enemies will come from other entrances after the 30 minutes are up! Anything else to report?”

“Yes! The west and east wards have 5 floors, and there were various items there as well. However, you will have to go through the 1st floor of the central ward in order to reach them, so if it’s after the first 30 minutes and the zombies start appearing from the west and east entrances..”

“Anyone who goes to get items will not be able to come back..! The initial plan was to have four people fight at the central entrance and have the other three gather items from each ward. But now we’ll have to send Kyuka and Canaria to the east and west, because they’re the fastest!”

“Central, back, west, east.. If zombies really do come from all of the entrances, we’ll be surrounded. At that point, we’ll have to move the main battlefield to the staircases..”

To put it simply, there were two wards aside from the central one we were in.

They were independent from this one, and so there were no connecting passages.

The only part where they were connected was on the first floor, and so players in those wards would have to gather items from all five floors and then go back to the first floor in order to return to the central ward.

And since zombies would come in from the east and west entrances after 30 minutes, people on the 1st floor would be attacked from all sides.

You could not fight with any stability in that situation..

At that point, we would have to retreat once and move to the stairs, where the enemies movements would be limited.

In other words, if there was someone who had gone to the west and east wards and not returned yet, we would either have to keep fighting in this disadvantageous situation and wait for them, or we would have to abandon them and go up the stairs.

So, why don’t they just return early before the 30 minutes were up?

That was the clear answer.

However, as we could not bring our own healing items here, gathering a lot of them would lead directly to victory.

I used a lot of MP recovery items myself.

I just bought a lot and used them without really thinking about it.

But I couldn’t do that here.

If we didn’t gather items, I would eventually not be able to use my skills.

And so that’s why Oliver and Gray were talking about sending their fastest friends to go and gather them.

“Ah, that’s right! Kyuji and Anne! I have one question..are you two confident in your speed?”

Even Oliver’s questions were asked in a loud voice..

“I wouldn’t say that I’m slow, but I’m also not confident in my speed. I would describe myself as a little above average.”

“I am slow! And I am confident in that!”

“I see! In that case, we’ll hand the items then! You two can focus on killing as many zombies as possible!”

“Understood.”

“Leave it to us!”

“Alright, let’s go down to the 1st floor then! This nurse station is just where we are warped, but we aren’t required to protect it or anything! The battle that is about to begin is not tower defense, but about survival!”

And so I, Ann, Garbow, Oliver and Gray all rushed down the stairs.

Just as we were about to reach the 1st floor, I saw a woman who was sitting down on the stairs, and another leaning against the railing.

Apparently, they were the last remaining members of the group.

“Kyuka! Canaria! It’s almost time!”

The two looked our way and then their eyes widened when they saw me.

One had light blue hair and her gear and lips were all in cold colors.

She probably had skills related to ice.. In fact, there was something about her that seemed familiar..

In the first place, I felt that way about all of the members of the New Gloria Warriors...

Maybe it was at the south sea..?

The other had her bright green hair tied into a ponytail.

Her gear was..kind of like a school uniform-style idol costume?

I didn’t really know much about idols..

“Heh..I did not expect to meet a top player here..”

Muttered the woman with blue hair who leaned against the railing.

She had a low but clear voice.

“I’m Kyuka. Some people called me Iceflower Kyuka. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you too.”

While there was something put on by the way she talked, it didn’t feel wrong either.

I suppose it suited her.

Like Oliver, she seemed to have a lot of experience with games.

“Ah, um!”

Next, the girl who was sitting called out to us.

While she had been relaxing with her legs spread out at first, she closed them and sat up straight.

“I’m Canaria In Bloom! While I’m new in the guild, I’m a pretty successful internet idol! Um..have you heard of me?”

“..S-sorry..”

“No! Not at all! I don’t mind! In fact, I have nothing to really boast about aside from how long I’ve been doing this. And I’m practically just a karaoke singer! Things haven’t been going well recently, and so I thought I’d make some money as a pro gamer instead!”

“Uh, I really don’t know much about the idol world, and so I wouldn’t have recognized someone really famous either. So you really don’t need to self-deprecate on my behalf.”

“Y-you’re very kind..”

If anything, I would be surprised if someone didn’t do the same after hearing all that.

It wasn’t kindness. It was just normal to stop someone from saying any more.

“Haha! Sorry about that! So this is the New Gloria Warriors! Now, you take the west, Kyuka! And Canaria will get the items in the east ward! You can choose where to start, so I suggest you start in a corner on the 5th floor!”

“Got it.”

“Yes! I will do my best!”

Kyuka created blades of ice under her shoes.

She would slide on them over the floor as if she was an ice skater.

Canaria also wore roller skates on her feet.

With smooth footwork, she headed to the east.

“Gray, you get the items on the 1st central floor! We’ll be abandoning this place in 30 minutes, so we’ll need you to get the items every time we go up to the next floor!”

“Understood!”

Gray dashed away.

Now it was just me, Anne, Garbow and Oliver.

“If we fall here, the whole plan will crumble! So let’s burn brightly and fight, my comrades!”

“Yes, of course!”

“I will crush them all for you!”

“Gar! Gar!”

The 20 minutes of preparation time was almost up.

And then, from nowhere in particular, zombies began to appear and walk slowly towards the hospital.