Streamer in the Omniverse

Unusual night and a policewoman.

I drove for a few hours while listening to the rest of the group singing along to the songs I played on the radio. I left the playlist on shuffle, so it didn't get too repetitive; I even hummed along to some.

After a while, I stopped the Humvee in case anyone in the group needed to use the bathroom or just stretch their legs. Having Saya in my lap while driving was nice; I could tease and play with the tsundere the whole way, but it also cramped my legs' circulation, which wasn't so great.

While the rest of the group did their thing, mostly loitering around the Humvee, I took the time to update the map, as I needed to start using the stream more effectively. I don't want to rely on luck again.

[Live Map LV4: 50000 SP]

[VoidBag LV5: 200000 SP]

(SP: 13482)

Ignoring the fact that it was getting worryingly expensive, the map update was more significant than I thought, as it literally disappeared!

I was worried for a moment before realizing that the map hadn't actually disappeared. It had appeared in the upper right corner of my vision; literally, it had turned into a minimap, just like in Terraria.

It retained all its functions and gained a few more. Also, of course, it became a minimap in my vision. It had a kind of "alarm" system that I could set up in case someone approached me, whether that person was a friend, foe, or neutral. I could also set the distance, which was good.

Now, I didn't have to worry about getting caught in an ambush like that so easily, as I could know who my "enemy" was just by looking at the map with a simple mental command.

The rest of the journey was peaceful, with not many surprises other than the occasional zombies with a higher desire for being run over. Of course, these also ended up in my inventory, as I could collect them from a distance now.

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Want to take a quick look down? Just for me to test something. (Iron Man smiling innocently emote).

Stark was the only one who really noticed something, or at least the only one who commented on it. The rest of the (CHAT) just enjoyed the scenery, as I switched the camera to the outside of the car from time to time before returning to the first person.

Interesting fact: now I could "talk" to the (CHAT) without seeming crazy. I just needed to use the waypoint function of the map, as the stream could see the map too. I didn't even really need to write; just think about what I wanted to appear.

("Nah, I'm good like this, you know? It's dangerous to take my eyes off the road")

It wasn't entirely a lie; I had stopped teasing Saya a while ago, as the little lion had fallen asleep in my lap, forcing me to drive with one arm, as the other was supporting her head.

She wasn't the only one; practically the whole group was asleep.

Saeko was slouched in the passenger seat, drooling over the seat. In the back seat, Kohta and Takashi had found a strange way to sleep side by side, still sitting.

Rei and Shizuka were already asleep, both sitting together while holding little Alice in their laps, who seemed to be the only one, aside from Saya, who was comfortable while sleeping.

The only one who wasn't, curiously enough being Zeke, was looking out the window with a half-closed gaze at the zombies. I checked the map; they were just zombies, as people I didn't know appeared in yellow, not red.

Even the (CHAT) was practically empty, with only three viewers remaining, those being Stark, Wizard, and our mysterious friend, whom I wasn't sure about.

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] You're lucky, you know, as no one seemed to notice that you were playing with the "little lion." Teasing the girl like that is mean... (Iron Man approval emote).

[WiseWizardGleam] Leave the boy alone, Anthony. We've all been young. Don't tease him for that. (Emote of an old wizard with disapproving eyes).

[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot] It's true, the kid didn't do anything wrong. If he were my idiotic disciple, he would have done much worse and probably gotten a beating. At least Devas is someone with morals. I'm sure if Saya wasn't willing, he wouldn't have done anything. (Frog emote waving in approval).

("Of course, I wouldn't do anything. What do you think I am? And by the way, don't you guys sleep?)

I could speak, of course, since everyone was asleep, but I didn't want to wake anyone up, so it was easier to just "talk" using the map. Looking at the night sky, I could see that the moon had already risen high; it was late.

("It's late. It must be night there too, as the stream equalized the time between worlds. I get Stark wandering off, but what about you two?)

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Hey! Know that I'm a very busy man; I just delegate my responsibilities, the privilege of being rich and all. It's late indeed, but I'll stay a little longer. I don't have anything to do anyway. (Iron Man yawning emote).

[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot] I really have nothing to do. Ma has already gone to sleep, and I find it fascinating to watch you; it's quite different from ninjas and frogs, the way you act, I mean. (Frog emote waving).

[WiseWizardGleam] I'm used to staying up late. I'll keep you company; it seems tedious just driving like this at night.

An image of a small glowing frog flashed in my mind. Could it be? That would explain some things, like how he seemed to know the three sennin and all. I just didn't understand why he had pretended to be Orochimaru and imitated Jiraiya.

("Well, thanks for the company, but I'll stop the car soon. The stream is also about to shut down, so you can go to sleep. Good night.")

They kind of ignored it and stayed with me until the stream turned off on its own. Nice guys, I appreciated them staying here to keep me company, even though it wasn't necessary.

I ended up stopping the car in a park near a mall I found. I threw a green tarp over the Humvee to camouflage the car and some tree branches I picked up using the inventory. I set the minimap "alarm" to alert me if something came within a hundred meters of the car.

Seeing that it was really cold, I didn't want to turn on the car heater to avoid unnecessary attention. I just threw a blanket over the drooling samurai, then the two unlucky ones in rock, paper, scissors, and finally, Alice and her personal pillows called Rei and Shizuka.

With everything finished, I double-checked one last time to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before swapping my wet pants for Saya's fluids and closing my eyes to go back to sleep.

The next morning, or rather, after a few hours, I was awakened by the minimap alarm, indicating that something or someone had crossed the hundred-meter line I had set as a marker.

Pulling up the minimap quickly, contrary to my expectations, it wasn't a zombie but rather a yellow dot, a person. Glancing at my phone, I could see it was almost ten in the morning. It seems Saya left me more exhausted than I anticipated.

Waking up the group quickly, I mentioned that there was someone nearby, causing the sleepy faces to practically disappear. I ignored the look Saya was giving my crotch, as it wasn't the time to comment on anything, and stepped out of the Humvee while ordering them to stay inside, waiting for me.

Of course, they disagreed, but I simply brushed off their protest, pointing out that I alone would be faster and easier to check if the person was friend or foe. I managed to leave after promising that if I didn't return in ten minutes, they could come after me.

I walked slowly through the vegetation next to the park, following the small yellow dot. It didn't take long before I had the person in question in my sight.

It was a woman. She was wearing a police uniform, or at least it looked like one. I didn't know what kind of uniforms the police wore in Japan. Nonetheless, I didn't approach, as I didn't know how she might react, and I could see she had a weapon on her waist, which only made me more apprehensive about introducing myself.

I noticed that about three minutes had passed since I left the Humvee. I was about to turn back when I realized the policewoman was facing one zombie, pointing her gun, oblivious to another one approaching from her side.

Was she stupid? It couldn't be! Aside from the fact that shooting would only attract more zombies, why hadn't she shot yet!? She didn't even realize she was being flanked!

I sighed in disappointment and disbelief before running out of my hiding spot toward the woman while shouting.

"Watch out! Behind you!"

Not exactly behind her, but to the side. Anyway, my shout was enough to startle her, turn reflexively, and notice the zombie approaching her. Still, she hesitated to shoot! Damn it!

I ran towards her as fast as I could, but I didn't need to do anything, as before the zombie could bite her, she finally shot. She had good aim, managing to hit the zombie's head.

She turned to me while keeping the gun raised.

"Stop! Who are you?! Identify yourself!"

The idiot had forgotten about the first zombie? It couldn't be, damn it! I stopped running, as she had a gun pointed at me, and pointed behind her. I couldn't help but curse at her.

"There's another one, you dumb creature!"

I could see the recognition in her eyes before it turned into horror as she turned to the first zombie, which was just a few steps away from her. Fortunately, it was far enough for her to shoot it without getting bitten.

By the time she turned to shoot the first zombie, I had started running again. So when she killed the zombie and was about to turn back to me, I was already on top of her, holding her gun in my hands and sending it to my inventory.

The now disarmed woman took a few steps back in fear before grabbing her baton and holding it with both hands, pointing it at me.

"W...w...what did you do to my gun? Where did it go?"

She seemed even more nervous and scared when she realized her pistol wasn't with me and seemed to have disappeared into thin air. At this point, I was already regretting saving her. It would be a favor to humanity to prevent this woman from having children and polluting the human gene pool with her stupidity.

"Could you please not point that at me?" I said, looking at the baton without moving. "Didn't you notice I saved you twice just now?" I sighed as I put my hand in my pocket and took the gun out of the inventory, pretending to pull it out of my pocket.

I could see that she tensed up with the action, especially when she saw the gun in my hand. Well, at least she had survival instincts.

Seeing that I had her attention, I crouched down as I placed the gun on the ground and kicked it back to her. She quickly put her baton back on her belt while retrieving the gun and pointing it at me.

I didn't worry, as the gun's bullets were in my inventory. I just stood there, raising my hands.

"Well, now you're armed. Want to talk?"

She hesitated for a moment before lowering the gun and looking at me with suspicion and relief.

"Who are you? I patrolled this area yesterday, and there was no one here." She seemed to hesitate but ended up holstering the gun again. That was good, as seconds later, I could hear the Humvee coming out of the trees behind me.

It was her lucky day because I'm sure that if she had pointed the gun at me, Kohta, who was on the Humvee's roof, would have blown her head into pieces as small as what she called a brain.

I just sighed as I signaled to the group that everything was okay and turned to the policewoman.

"A quick summary, we're survivors." I pointed to the group that had exited the car at this point, and I looked at the policewoman with suspicion.

"I'm Devas, by the way. I thought it was polite to introduce oneself before demanding it from someone else. Not pointing a gun at someone who saved you would be nice too," I said, unable to avoid the sarcasm in my voice.

It seemed like she had caught on, as she blushed slightly while apologizing.

"S..s..sorry, these past few days have been... stressful to say the least. I'm not at my best." She lowered herself as she apologized, before standing up and continuing.

"I'm Officer Matsushima Himada. Sorry for earlier, I apologize for how I acted."