High School of the Dead: Zombie World with a Gacha

[Lucy's POV]

This is not Night City... not at all, unbelievable. I managed to flee from that accursed city!

I mean, there are crackheads here too, prostitutes, everything... but at the very least the majority of people are also... clean!

This is the year 2015... I hail from the year 2077, did I somehow travel back in time? how could the world possibly change so much in just 62 years?

It cost me at first to understand the language without a neuronal translator, but... I managed to steal a 'smartphone' from some choom and install the applications, everything here is so antiquated that it feels as if I'm in the caves.

The money that Brand Mercer gave me was enough to do several things but... it wouldn't last me for long, so I began going around, seeking opportunities.

Living without chrome also feels so odd... but I can get used to it. This world's technology is so odd, the software at least a hundred generations deprecated, hacking anything in this world was as easy as stealing a chip from a drunkard in the subway. What would have taken me unimaginable efforts to crack in Night City, here I only needed to type a few lines of code... it was difficult to get used to it, I actually had to 'type' something physically.

Ugh...

It would take me a while to properly study the myriad vulnerabilities existing in the C, Python, C++ languages which were the current timeline's standard... although most of my information would have been stored in my cloud back in Night City, I somehow have all of those memories in my head, the most useful ones at least... what intrigues me more than the time travelling itself is the condition in which I was 'summoned'. It made me once again question what this guy Brand Mercer's power truly was.

This place is called Tokonotsu City in Japan, it looks so beautiful with those natural pink trees. I got some clothes for myself and attracted the attention of some police people but managed to evade the by saying that I was a tourist and left my passport in the hotel.

Will I stay in this city or go away somewhere farther? I have seen maps and there is so much of this world to explore, 'Japan' is merely a small region, an island. As I thought about that, couldn't help but think about Brand Mercer. He said he had a mission and I was summoned to help him, shouldn't I at least try to see what it is about before permanently moving away from here?

He gave me freedom of choice, my instincts are telling me that I'm needed by him, but... what can he possibly need me for?

I sighed, taking a seat in the same park where I once met him, after pickpocketing, I made more than a hundred thousand yen... guess I was lucky to find people with quite a bit of cash, it might be roguish but this is my way of living until I find something else, my plan is to hack my way through the system, it is so antique that there should be no problem for me doing so.

I took my phone and dialled the number that he gave me.

*RING!*

*RING!*

Some phone started ringing behind me and I gasped.

!!!

I jumped from the seat only to see him standing there, smiling at me with that charming expression of his, in a black shirt, blue jeans and nice trainers... he had his hands in his pockets.

"I didn't think you'd come back to the same park".

"Why are you here?" I asked him, astonished... did he manage to track me somehow?

"I'm waiting for someone here... oh? you were calling me?" He checked his phone, looking between his and mine; he added the number, saving me in his contact list.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about… stuff, are you free?"

"No, I have a date, we can speak during the week" He looked away, searching around the park as if expecting someone.

'A date?' I frowned...

"Are you going to swindle some girl?" I asked him with a smirk, but instead of refusing me, he rolled his eyes and focused towards an incoming purple-haired girl.

"More like she's going to swindle me… talk to you later, Lucy, take care…" he began walking towards that girl, she was wearing a long dark blue skirt with a white jacket, her purple hair flowed endlessly and she focused on me.

'She's pretty…' I noted and decided to stand up and be on my way.

Tch!

I don't want to interrupt his 'date'.

**

**

[Brand's POV]

"Who was that, Brand?" Saeko immediately asked me after we hugged one another in a welcome, she had a picnic box with her.

"An acquainted…" I hadn't expected to meet Lucy here, but it was relieving. I'm not going to lie and say I was unconcerned, I brought her into this world... me leaving her to her own designs was like a test; if she couldn't at least fend for herself and contact me back... how could I know that she's living her life freely or she got imprisoned or something like that and is instead suffering out there?

Thankfully she contacted me, perhaps next time I won't just throw them at some hotel.

...

I took Saeko's hand, this is a date after all.

"She's quite pretty," she remarked, apparently not leaving the matter. I understand that Lucy's beauty can be quite threatening.

"Indeed, should we go?" I tried to divert the topic and thankfully she acceded.

"What plans do you have for today?" I asked her, seeing that she has a box with her, my plan was to look at a movie and then go to her dojo.

"A picnic… then we can go to the fountain to enjoy ourselves and lastly… we can head to my dojo~" The way she spoke the last part made me understand that -unlike my plan- we're not going to her dojo to get all cuddly and kiss a few pecks.

"And…" I deadpanned.

"And we can have a duel there, with real swords perhaps?~ come let's go~" She pulled me along to a green beautiful clearing for our picnic.

"You suck at planning dates," I remarked to finish a date fighting with real swords, yeah... another psycho.

"Did your girlfriend give your permission?~" She asked as we took a seat, I noticed that she's quite attention-wise when it comes to me and other girls, maybe because I told her I have a girlfriend and she doesn't trust me that much?

"She did, but I had to work hard for it" I literally had to waste my tongue.

"Aren't you going to tell me who is she?"

"You wouldn't believe it anyway" I tried to dismiss the topic, but Saeko smirked, opening the box that had several sandwiches and snacks in it.

"How much do you want to bet that I know?"

"I can bet you a whole day of sparring, with real swords," I said confidently.

"Promise?~" The girl literally leaned against me, her face so close to mine that I could just move an inch and kiss her, she smelled like flowers. That aside, her confidence gave me chills.

I frowned, suspicious... could she know? I have not done anything that would make anyone think Shizuka is my girlfriend, we talk to each other at school normally and some may say that I'm even cold towards her, but... it is because Shizuka herself hoped me to not allow anyone to know.

If it was me I wouldn't mind feeling her up at school.

"You know what? no… I don't bet anything, tell me who you think it is" a whole day of sparring with real swords against this cheek? I'm not seeking death that much.

"You're such a spoilsport… it is Shizuka-sensei," She said nonchalantly, making me gasp.

"H-How…?"

"You may be able to conceal beneath a facade how you look at her at school, Brand… but you can't conceal how she looks at you~"

"Are you telling me that everyone knows?"

"I'm telling you that everyone suspects that she has a crush on you… but you don't correspond to her feelings, like an age disparity issue... I merely asked a question and got an answer~"

So she just suspected it but my reaction gave me away.

"Yes, it is Shizuka…"

"How long?"

"A month".

"I see… it must be complicated".

"What?"

"Having to choose between so many~ Saya Takagi, Shizuka-senses and me".

"Not at all" I twisted my lips, of course, it is complicated...  but not to choose, it is complicated for me to convince you all to be together with me, this is not ancient Greece and I'm not Augustus. You're all capable ladies that I'd like by my side once everything starts... not just as my support but also as my companions.

"There is also Yuuki Miku," she said; my spine shivering in disgust.

"Please no…"