World Gate Online Volume 10 Chapter 2: World Skeleton Key

"You guys should just stay there. In a while, I'll kill all the zombies in the building." (Lucas)

Seeing the others who didn't move at all and the supposed attack team also on the other side of the barricade, I sighed and sat down for a while to take a rest for a bit.

Well, I didn't really need to rest but I'm still getting used to this body. It won't be funny if this body breaks down while I'm fighting.

I need to observe how this zombie body will react after the strain of that fight I just had...there doesn't seem to be any problem though. Looks like this body is tougher than I thought.

Looking at the heaps of corpses, I pondered whether I made the right decision on killing them. After all, there may be a cure...actually, I did try to cure them with my [Earth] body's healing power earlier but nothing happened. Best guess is that I may be able to cure only those who were just infected...

I sighed once again, thinking just what is wrong with my life...to think that I can casually guess things like that now as if it's normal…

And to think that only a few years ago...well, [Earth] years...I was still just a student here.

Nostalgia surged through me as I look at these familiar walls and floors...that the sleeping guy in cla.s.s had turned into a [Hero] of many worlds...

And now I'm back to this school...in a parallel world...with parallel counterparts of me and the people I know...which is now experiencing a zombie apocalypse…

...Really...fate is such a weird thing…

Sighing again for the nth time, I noticed Mii approaching me.

"L-Lucas...are you alright?" (Mii)

"Hn? Yeah. These blood aren't mine. I'm not injured." (Lucas)

"I-...I see..." (Mii)

...I wonder, will she think that I'm a monster? Well, technically I am one. A zombie...

She just saw the impossible happen in front of her. I used my divine sense after all and the way I fought was extremely brutal which decapitated and slashed on real flesh and blood.

The most strangest thing is probably what I'm doing now. Even after killing a horde of zombies, I'm still calm and didn't seem bothered at the gory sight in front of me.

If it was the me from before, the past me who is just a normal college student, I would've vomited ten times today already…

But after everything I've been through, I've reached the point where I can just sigh after killing.

Some [Hero] I am…

"I'm glad that you aren't hurt..." (Mii)

Contrary to my thoughts, [Earth-2] Mii heaved a sigh of relief and embraced me. Her tears washing away the blood on my face.

For a while, I didn't know what to do upon suddenly being hugged...no, actually, I still don't know what to do!

I'm not the Lucas of this world, what am I supposed to do in this situation!?

Should I hug her back? If I did, I felt like I just betrayed my uhh...other self? And it also would feel weird for me…

If I didn't hug her, she might notice something's wrong.

Then that brings us to the next question. Should I tell her I'm not the Lucas she knows or not?

Agghh! I don't know!

"H-hey! Lucas! Just what was that!?" (Angela)

"Right! J-just then, how come the zombies suddenly get flattened around you!?" (Jason)

Angela and Jason to the rescue!

...Ugh, if Jason turns out to be Crow in my world, this would be so awkward…

Anyway, I used this opportunity to push Mii away and explain...wait, what am I going to explain?

Actually, I'm a zombie...I can't just tell them that right?

"Actually, I'm a zombie." (Lucas)

Ah, s.h.i.t. I went and blurted it out…

Everyone's eyes went wide and they all backed away except for Mii, Angela, and Jason.

...Sigh, fine. I already said it anyway.

"Well, don't freak out. Look, can't I talk? I did became a zombie earlier when I went out but for some reason, maintained clarity. Now, I have insane strength and reflex." (Lucas)

I didn't say any lie because it will damage my dao heart of a hero...not like what I said is the complete truth anyway...

Thought they were still afraid, after thinking about what I said, they were all convinced. After all, with my insane power, I can just kill them right here and now. There isn't a reason to make such excuses if I'm going to betray them later.

Of course, they're still vigilant about me.

"Do you also need to eat brains?" (Angela)

After Angela said that, everyone backed up again...oi, this girl...still, she asked a good question.

Pondering for a bit, I looked over the pile of corpses but didn't have any urge to eat them.

Then, I looked at Mii closely...still not hungry…

"I don't think so? Though I'm not that much affected at the sight of gore, I don't seem to have any urges to eat such things. I also don't have the feeling of wanting to eat living people." (Lucas)

Everyone sighed in relief after my explanation.

"It's not lunch time?" (Angela)

"Oi, what kind of zombie makes a schedule and wait to eat humans!?" (Lucas)

"I don't know, what kind of zombie are you?" (Angela)

"...Touche...Well, you can wait and see. For now, I'm not hungry" (Lucas)

"Haha, I was just joking. But you will definitely eat Mii up tonight. If you know what I mean. Fufufufu." (Angela)

Mii blushed upon hearing Angela's remark.

"...I'm not doing that." (Lucas)

"Eh?" (Mii)

"Eh??" (Lucas)

...This girl...why did she just 'eh?' at me!? Eh? Was she expecting me to sleep with her tonight? Could it be, [Earth-2] Lucas has s.e.x with her on a daily basis???

Is it the other me who's always inviting her or maybe...it's Mii who's always pushing the other me down?

"*Cough* Anyway, we can't do that. As I said, I'm a zombie. G.o.d knows what will happen if I do it with a living human..." (Lucas)

"...Are you a necrophilia now, Lucas?" (Angela)

"Oi." (Lucas)

I scowled at Angela who said something rude. This girl...how did she even arrive at that conclusion!?

Angela just laughed and shrugged off.

"Right, Lucas. What about that thing. When the zombies around you gets suddenly flattened?" (Jason)

...Right...how am I supposed to explain this?

"Em...Super powers?" (Lucas)

"So cool!" (Jason)

...Is this eye-glittering guy really that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Crow's counterpart?...I should take a picture so I can rub it on him when I see him again.

Wait...see him again?

I shook my head once I thought that. That guy's dead so there's no way I would see him again.

Besides...uhh, there's no phone in my pocket…

"Anyway, that's enough resting. Attack team should stand on the front lines of the barricade while the others continue their work. I'll deal with the zombies in the building so that in a while, everyone can freely walk around the building. I'll also be sending survivors here if there are any so just let them in." (Lucas)

Saying so, I stood up and patted my pants. Stretching for a bit, I walked away from everyone...especially Mii…

For now, it's best to avoid any contacts with her until I figured out the whole situation or how to deal with this problem.

If it turns out that I can leave, then it's best to tell her. But if I can't...should I just live here? But I can't possibly leave behind everything in my world...I don't belong here.

"Lucas!" (Mii)

Mii's voice shouted from behind which halted my train of thoughts. Looking back, Mii's expression is full of worries and hesitation.

Maybe she's wants to tell me that I shouldn't go, but also knew that only I can go so now, she's conflicted in what to say.

"...Be careful." (Mii)

"Of course. Then, I'm going." (Lucas)

"...Un." (Mii)

Like that, I started my zombie hunt in a parallel world…

+ + +

Meanwhile, back on [Earth-1], the people began to search for a way to find Lucas.

"How do you suppose we search Lucas' soul?" (Eu)

"Soul..." (Aeran)

Everyone frowned, thinking of a way and Aeran was also trying to search her memories, hoping a way existed in there somewhere.

"...Let me try the [Bonds of Connection] skill of Lucas." (Freya)

Freya, remembering she can use Lucas' skills, activated [Bonds of Connection] to feel out Lucas' presence however…

Seeing Freya frown, the other girls became anxious.

"What is it? Did you find him?" (Lily)

"No...The only connection I have with Lucas is the one here, his body. This skill probably doesn't work on souls..." (Freya)

"How can that be...what are we supposed to do now?" (Aeran)

"...Maybe I can help." (Mii)

Suddenly, they heard a cold yet gentle voice coming towards them. The person had long violet hair and wore clothes like that of a j.a.panese miko. It was none other than Mii, who was also present as a [Gatekeeper] on the scene.

Like everyone, she also witnessed Lucas' sacrifice earlier and was greatly affected. She tried to approach Lucas earlier but upon seeing Freya and the other girls gather there, she hesitated.

Now, thinking that she may be of help, she no longer hesitated to join in.

"You are..." (Lily)

"...Mii Shiratori, I'm...an acquaintance of Lucas..." (Mii)

The girls looked at each other and nodded. They've also known her from the party they had when Lucas returned so they didn't doubt her.

"Can you search Lucas' soul?" (Eu)

"...I can perform [Heaven's Divination] on him to search anything that is connected to him. If we're lucky, one of those connection will lead to his soul." (Mii)

"Then please help." (Freya)

Mii nodded and walked over to Lucas' body.

Misty glanced at her for a while then no longer paid any attention. She wasn't that far from them and she has superior hearing so she already knew what she will do and let her.

Touching Lucas' bare chest, Mii looked at his face deeply for a second before activating her skill.

The [Heaven's Divination] is a skill of a [Shrine Maiden], a new job that was discovered due to the integration of different worlds. It is a bit similar to a [Priest] but [Priests] tend to focus more on healing while [Shrine Maidens] focus more on the onmyou arts.

"...[Heaven's Divination]!" (Mii)

Upon Mii's chant, a pentagram symbol expanded below them which glowed brightly. Suddenly, from Lucas' body, strings of light shot out, connecting to various objects or persons in the world.

Seeing some threads of light connect to Freya and the other girls, Misty included, but not hers, Mii couldn't help but be disheartened.

The [Heaven's Divination] isn't like [Bonds of Connection] where simply acquaintances or friends are included. [Heaven's Divination] only focus on the target's vital essence. Things he's connected to by some sort of bond, the paintings he personally made or things he personally crafted, and of course, people he slept with.

The girls saw the lines of light connect on their stomachs and understood what it meant so their faces quickly went deep red. Only Misty was laughing proudly.

"...I can't hold this for long...please look at where the other lines are connected." (Mii)

"...Okay." (Freya)

The girls weren't idiots, when they saw that she wasn't connected to Lucas and heard her cold yet disheartened voice which followed after, they knew that her relationship with Lucas wasn't simple at all.

They all thought that, most likely, she's another one of Lucas' victims who fell for him somehow.

They sighed at first then separated from each other, each going to different directions where different lines of light are stretched.

Freya found herself in their house and found an object which Lucas made before, connected to the string of light so she left immediately to look for another.

The others also found themselves in the homes of people who had bought something Lucas made Or to the prison which led to the handcuffs he made to capture the criminals before.

In the end, they didn't find anything that connected to his soul. Actually, they didn't really know what to expect if his soul was indeed connected. After all, they don't know what a soul looks like so they've only been hoping on finding one which was connected to something in mid air or something.

"...There are two possible reasons. The first and most unlikely is that his soul is no more. The second...somehow, his soul is in another world..." (Mii)

"It's definitely the second one!" (Aeran)

The others also nodded. No matter what, they couldn't accept that Lucas' soul has dissipated, so they have no choice but to accept the second option.

Suddenly, an excited shout resounded from the side.

"Boss! Boss! Quick! Take a look at these readings!"

Bryan Maize quickly ran towards his employee who was doing some inspections on the explosion site.

"Sir! Readings show some sort of fluctuation in s.p.a.ce at the center of the site! Further a.n.a.lysis leads to similar readings when a recently closed spatial tear appears in [Earth]! However, there are some differences so we're still not sure."

"Spatial tear? You mean to say, that Lucas' soul might've traveled to another world?" (Bryan)

"Presumably, yes."

Bryan pondered for a bit then frowned.

"Even if that's true...how do we know which world he went? If it's not in any discovered worlds, then we will have even more trouble." (Bryan)

"Papa! Does that mean Lucas is stranded in an unknown world!?" (Sh.e.l.la)

Sh.e.l.la was on the verge of tears once she heard her father speak, making Bryan hesitate on how to answer his daughter.

Just then, Aeran had appeared on the side and shook Bryan's employee.

"Is that true!? There's was a spatial rift here!?" (Aeran)

"Y-yes! Look, see?"

The employee was overwhelmed and pointed towards the device he used to scan the site.

Aeran looked towards the monitor displaying the data and became excited.

"Call Ban and the others quickly! Tell them to prepare for the [World Skeleton Key] project!" (Aeran)

Not wasting any time, Aeran quickly shouted to one of the low ranking [Gatekeepers] nearby.

"[World Skeleton Key] project?" (Bryan)

"Right. The point is to reopen closed spatial tears so that we can immediately send a rescue team to those who accidentally stumble upon one." (Aeran)

What Aeran didn't tell them was, if completed, it may be able to open gates to other undiscovered worlds without the need to wait for a spatial tear to open up.

Hearing this, everyone was excited as well.

"However, this project has just finished the prototype stage and hasn't really been tested. We can only hope that the prototype is enough." (Aeran)

Bryan and the others' mood dropped down again. However, the situation isn't totally hopeless now so they weren't too depressed.

Like Aeran said, they can only hope for the best.

After a few minutes, Ban and Trask appeared along with a couple of personnel with them.

"We heard the situation. Immediately prepare the equipment!" (Trask)

"Yes sir!"

The [Gatekeeper] personnel moved quickly and set up the equipment around the closed spatial tear.

The closed spatial tear isn't exactly visible with the naked eye but with the use of some equipments, seeing it is possible.

"The prototype for the [World Skeleton Key] isn't completely finished but it should be able to open a recently closed spatial tear." (Ban)

"Nn." (Aeran)

Ban went over to Aeran and the girls to rea.s.sure them, however, they still don't completely believe that it will work. If they have too much hope, they'll despair more if it fails. It's better not to expect too much.

"[WSK-000] Test #1. Beginning sequence."

"Magnetic pulses are stable."

"Spatial distortion are within acceptable readings."

"Foreign objects are cleaned, ready to reopen the spatial tear."

"Begin." (Ban)

"Initiating [World Skeleton Key] in T minus 3"

"2"

"1"

Suddenly, the s.p.a.ce in front of them began to warp erratically.

Alarm sounds rang.

"S-sir! The prototype isn't holding!"

"Make it work!" (Trask)

Hearing Trask' unreasonable demand, the person in charge gritted his teeth and ordered his men.

"Cool the engines!"

"B-but how!?"

"I'll do it!" (Freya)

Freya blowed slightly on the engines and instantly, the temperature dropped slightly.

"Make sure the cables are properly attached!"

The man in charge didn't waste time to thank Freya and continued to order his men to find out where the operation went wrong.

"Cables are properly connected!"

"d.a.m.n, reboot the equipments!"

One of his men came close to one of the equipments around the s.p.a.ce distortion carefully so as to not accidentally trip and get dragged into the s.p.a.ce distortion.

Upon touching the equipment, he operated on it and moved to the next one.

It can be seen that upon rebooting one of the equipments, the s.p.a.ce distortion calmed for a bit so the others also moved onto the equipments.

After the last equipment has been successfully rebooted, the spatial distortion has calmed down and became a stable spatial tear.

"Good!"

Everyone clapped and exclaimed in excitement. However...it didn't last long.

"T-the equipments are overheating!"

"It's going to blow!"

*Boom!*

The equipments around the spatial tear exploded suddenly and some fragments pierced the nearby people with others having major injuries.

As expected, without the equipments, the spatial tear quickly closed.

But, just then...a shadow sped forth towards the disappearing spatial tear and was gone.

Everyone was still in shock after the explosion and wasn't able to react in time at all when they saw someone dart forwards.

Freya and the girls looked at each other thinking if it was one of them but they all saw that the others are still with them..

"Who?" (Freya)

"I-I don't..." (Eu)

"Did anyone see who that was!?" (Aeran)

"U-umm...that [Shrine Maiden] girl...where is she?" (Lily)

Upon hearing Lily's confused voice, the others also looked around and as she said, Mii Shiratori is really nowhere to be found!

Everyone was excited.

"This is good! Now, she can use the [World Key] to come back and all of us can also enter!" (Aeran)

"Yeah but...why hasn't she done it yet?" (Trask)

"Let's wait for a bit more..." (Freya)

Everyone was quiet and waited...still, Mii hasn't come back at all.

"...Did she make it to the other side?" (Bryan)

"She should have...unless...the [World Key] doesn't work on that world?" (Trask)

"Is that possible?" (Lily)

"Well...you tell me, which isn't possible after everything that has happened?" (Trask)

Trask sighed, thinking that things were so much easier back in the day with no magic or other worlds or immortal cultivators.

"...No matter what, we should still prepare for the worst. Find a way to repair the [World Skeleton Key] and this time, make sure it will hold. Also, keep watch in case Mii Shiratori comes back. Make a perimeter and make sure no one pa.s.ses. All unneeded people should go home." (Ban)

"Yes sir!"

After ordering the [Gatekeepers] in the site, Ban looked over to Freya and the girls, thinking whether he should let them stay or now.

Finally, he sighed.

"You girls can stay but remember to get some rest. Knowing Sir Lucas, he'll do just fine." (Ban)

"Right huh? It's Lucas after all. Even going against a dragon or a king isn't too much for him." (Freya)

"Haha, yeah. Whether it's a horde of monsters or dragons, that guy doesn't know when to give up." (Eu)

"Even poison doesn't scare him at all." (Aeran)

"Fufu, if it's him, he'l probably bring back another girl huh?" (Lily)

The girls laughed and their tension drops.

"Haha, that Mii girl seems to have already fallen for him. Look, she actually didn't hesitate to charge in." (Aeran)

"Yeah. I guess it's fine to accept her as well." (Freya)

"Speaking of new girls...this kid is?" (Eu)

Eu looked at Sh.e.l.la was was by Lily's side and laughed.

"Sh.e.l.la Maize! Lucas' Number 1 fan!" (Sh.e.l.la)

"Hehe, you should see her room. Look, I got this cute Lucas stuffed toy from her!" (Lily)

Lily began to show off the stuffed toy in front of the other girls who was also amazed and laughed.

Seeing this, Ban smiled and left quietly, leaving it to Trask to handle the things here.

Author's Notes

Well, long time no post.

It's troublesome to explain why it took so long since it's a long story so i'll just bullet it.

School (cla.s.s, project, a.s.signments -_-)

Birthday parties (two in fact)

Heavy storm (which led to brownouts and no internet T_T)

And also, there's this...which I don't know why I did it but I did anyway. -_-

WARNING! MILDLY(?) EROTIC PIC AHEAD!

Spoiler :