Gathering Survivors

The game industry tries to secure as many different IPs and genres as possible. Of course, some companies focus on stacking experience in a single genre rather than juggling multiple ones. The deeper their understanding of that IP and genre becomes, the more they can reach heights where no one else can match them in that field. The problem is that no eternal ruler exists in this world. No latecomer would simply leave a blue ocean untouched. When one success appears, copycats modeled after it flood the market—that's the game industry. It's common for a genre once thought monopolized to be snatched away by other companies. That's why clinging to a single genre can sometimes lead to falling behind. Securing as many genres and IPs as possible ensures that even if one fails, the rest can keep the company afloat.

Surviving in a Zombie World. A new VR survival game released by Dedraus, which had been riding high on Labyrinthos VR. It was clear they had no intention of relying solely on Labyrinthos. [You, awakened from cold sleep, learn that the world has ended. Investigate 'Sz-001' to uncover the cause of the apocalypse. And survive.] That was the entire game description. From the trailers, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like a straightforward zombie apocalypse survival game. A mix of survival, sandbox, and horror elements. The difficulty seemed extremely high. Death carried a massive risk. If the entire party died, you couldn't re-enter the existing world. A hardcore system forced you to start fresh in a new world. It could be considered a roguelike. However, the sense of loss from death was too severe, so there appeared to be some mitigation—making it more of a roguelite.

"Looks fun. I want to try it." Come to think of it, I hadn't tried any new VR games in a while. Labyrinthos was the only VR game I'd been playing. My routine had been grinding Labyrinthos until the login limit, so adding more VR games would only cut into that time anyway. In that sense, this was perfect timing. Since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I planned to take a break from Labyrinthos for the next three weeks, trying a high-difficulty VR game seemed like a good idea.

"But this game recommends party play. You know how in zombie movies, survivors hole up together in places like schools? School●life or whatever…." Leon mentioned a work I didn't recognize. Zombie stories set in schools weren't common, but I understood the point. Schools might not be typical, but survivors banding together in places like supermarkets was a standard zombie cliché.

"Do we really have to do party ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠play?"

"You can play solo, but it's an ad. We need to show the viewers what the game is really like."

Because of the cooperative elements, the promotional stream apparently required party play. "You can enter with up to four people. Find three more."

"Oh my, do I have to recruit them myself? I thought the company would handle that."

"They could, but since Dedraus Korea gave the ad to you, you're the one running the stream." So they'd reflect my opinions as much as possible. Having final say on the team wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was good. Or so I thought.

The morning after hearing about the ad from Leon, Chell was gone.

"Chell's not here. Where did she go?"

"She packed up and went home, apparently." So I tried contacting her on Discord. The reply came back like this.

She'd gone home to avoid me asking her to play together. She was bold when clinging to me, but her escapes were sudden too. Her perpetual "my pace" attitude really made her seem like a cat in human form. Anyway, the fact that Chell left without even touching Labyrinthos meant she really didn't want to play a zombie game.

Left with no choice, I looked for other members.

"S-sorry…. VR horror games are too scary……." Inagika — failure.

"I've decided not to take ad streams for a while. Lora, you handle it." Rinko — failure.

"…What am I supposed to do? PC horror games are already hard enough…." Anna — failure.

I tried asking other seniors too, but everyone refused, saying it was too scary. In mahjong, the hardest part is gathering four players. This was exactly that situation.

Guess there's no helping it…. I sighed. I'd have to use my last resort.

"Leon."

"Yeah? What's up, sis?"

"You join us."

"……What?"

In a basement where the air hung heavy and ominous, Leon opened her eyes. Whoosh. The sound of air ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠escaping echoed loudly as the capsule lid covering her slowly opened. She sat up and climbed out, feeling light. Looking closely, she was wearing only form-fitting leggings. Was this the game's default equipment?

…How did it come to this? Leon let out a small sigh. It had been a while since her last stream. She'd done her final personal stream on August 31st as a retirement announcement, so about two months had passed. It was already November. Soon, Lora and Chell's winter voice pack would be released. Streaming herself felt oddly awkward. When Lora did things like Blue Record, Leon had joined in, but this time the stream was running on Leon's own channel too. Since it was a survival game, each person's perspective was necessary. She wasn't sure if it was okay for staff like her to join just because they were short on people, and President Jung Ho-young agreeing so readily seemed strange too.

"Hoo…." With complicated feelings, Leon looked around. Lora and the others weren't visible yet.

"…You startled me." A voice suddenly echoed in her head. No, more precisely, in her ears. Checking, there seemed to be a tiny earpiece inside. Her left hand had something like a smartwatch on it too.

The voice spoke again. It was clearly artificial—synthesized, not human. An AI voice. Leon wasn't particularly skilled at games, but she had one advantage here. She knew a little about Surviving in a Zombie World (abbreviated A-Se-Eo-Sal).

"Nyaaang…. It's a bit different from the one I tried last time."

"People who know, know—but I went on a business trip to Japan last time, right? I tried it at the event hall then." The trip overlapped with the Tokyo Game Prove & Show, so she'd stopped by. Originally she'd gone to check out VTuber booths, but Dedraus had one set up too. That's when Leon had visited their booth and gotten a tiny taste of A-Se-Eo-Sal.

"During the safe time, zombies couldn't invade, I think…." That seemed right. In other words, it was safe for at least fifty hours, so Leon relaxed and began exploring. The basement was filled with nothing but cold sleep capsules. This building itself was probably a facility for cold sleep. Dozens—maybe even hundreds—of capsules. Lora and the other party members were probably inside them too. Only Leon had woken up so far, perhaps because login hadn't fully completed for the others.

She considered waiting for everyone else, but—

"Maybe I'll look around first before the others arrive." Sitting around doing nothing felt pointless, so Leon headed up the stairs.