Chapter 22: Let Me Show You a Treasure

"Shaky boobs? Shaky Boobs Apocalypse? What kind of name is that?" Saeko Busujima looked genuinely confused.

"It's actually High School of the Dead," Kevin Cross explained. "But the anime adaptation leaned heavily into fanservice, so people started calling it that as a joke. The original light novel was more serious, but the anime really went all in on exaggerating certain... assets. Most of the female characters were ridiculously well-endowed, especially you. There's even a scene where you dodge bullets by well, you know. It became such an iconic moment that fans couldn't help but give the whole show that nickname."

Saeko glanced down at her chest, which was indeed enough to command attention. She couldn't exactly argue. But... dodging bullets? That part confused her. Why would she be dodging bullets? Was she fighting someone with a gun? The Yakuza? The police? Was she caught up in something so dark that it attracted that kind of danger? Or perhaps, somewhere down the line, her thirst for battle and bloodshed spiraled out of control until she ended up a wanted criminal?

Various grim possibilities began forming in her mind.

"So... do I end up getting shot to death?" she asked quietly. Though she had confidence in her skills, she also understood the cold truth of modern weaponry. A single gun, she might handle. Two? Maybe she could escape. But against multiple armed opponents, she knew her odds plummeted.

"No, of course not," Kumoko interjected loudly. "Why would you get killed? You're one of the main characters! The most popular female lead, actually. Unless the author's a complete sadist, there's no way they'd kill you off!"

"I'm a main character?" Saeko mused, deep in thought.

"Here, let me show you a treasure," Kevin said with a grin. He promptly uploaded a file to the chat labeled: Shaky Boobs Apocalypse.

"This... this contains the story of my world?" Saeko narrowed her eyes. "So I really am, like Kumoko, a character from some anime?"

Thankfully, Kumoko had already paved the way for this kind of revelation, and she'd handled it with remarkable calm. Thanks to that, Saeko found herself surprisingly composed as well. Still, seeing that nickname in bold print left her feeling... odd.

"That's right. Actually, all the members of the chat group are like this," Kevin confirmed.

"All of them?" Saeko asked, her voice softening. "Even you, Group Leader?"

"Maybe. I mean, I transmigrated too, didn't I?" Kevin replied.

"Wait, Group Leader, you transmigrated too?" Kumoko jumped in, suddenly even more animated. "So what kind of world did you end up in? Is it like mine some fantasy isekai? Wait, no, you mentioned pizza earlier, didn't you? That means your world must still have modern comforts! A modern world! That's so unfair! You get to eat good food, surf the internet, watch anime and read novels, and here I am stuck as a poor little spider, risking my life against monsters every day just to avoid starving!"

Kevin shook his head. "Even if I'm in a modern world, it's still dangerous in its own way."

"Oh? What kind of world is it, then? Come on, spill it!" Kumoko urged him eagerly.

"Not long ago, I saw a news segment featuring Stark Industries. Tony Stark was in it, playboy and all."

"Wait, Tony Stark? Are you saying... the Marvel Universe?!" Kumoko cried out. "Seriously?!"

"Marvel? What's that?" asked Uchiha Izumi, clearly lost.

"It's another world," Kumoko explained. "Just one that people from our worlds already know a lot about. Marvel can be dangerous, yeah, but honestly, if you don't go looking for trouble, it's one of the safer ones. I mean, you've got to be pretty unlucky to be in the half that gets dusted by Thanos, but other than that, you can live a decent life. Compared to what I'm dealing with, that's basically paradise!"

"Luck. It all comes down to luck," Kevin replied with a smug smile. Compared to being trapped in a magic-infested wilderness with no internet and daily life-or-death fights, a modern world even a Marvel one felt like a blessing.

"Hmph. Luck, huh? Well, everyone who joins this group must be lucky to some extent. Even if it's your personal harem chat group or whatever." Kumoko pouted, then perked up again. "Hey, hey, Group Leader! Upload the anime about me, too! I want to see what happens in my story!"

"Alright, give me a second," Kevin replied. "To be honest, I only watched about twenty episodes before I transmigrated, so I don't know much myself. There's still a lot I missed. You probably won't find it all that helpful."

"It's fine! I'll take whatever I can get. Even if it's just the early part of the series," Kumoko chirped.

"Got it." A moment later, Kevin uploaded twenty-plus episodes of So I'm a Spider, So What?

The group chat went quiet after that. The two new members, Saeko and Kumoko, were fully absorbed in their respective videos. Izumi and Yi Lin also remained silent likely engrossed in the same content. After all, anyone would be curious about worlds so different from their own. And even if they weren't, at the very least, the videos served as decent entertainment.

In the world of Smiling Proud Wanderer, Yi Lin started with Saeko's anime. At first, she didn't think much of it. But when she saw the shikabane the dead that walked and bit and infected others her expression changed dramatically. One by one, the living fell, only to rise again as flesh-hungry corpses. Her face turned pale with fright.

"Yi Lin, what's wrong? You look unwell," asked the woman known as the Silent Granny Yi Lin's birth mother, now reunited with her.

"I'm okay, Granny... I just saw something terrifying in the chat group. One of the newcomers... her world is really scary," Yi Lin replied, shaking her head to clear the lingering images.

After learning the truth of her own story, Yi Lin had confronted her so-called Granny. At first, the older woman had feigned madness and kept up her act. But in the end, she confessed to everything. Since then, she'd taken on a new role in Yi Lin's life: a real mother, watching over her, openly and sincerely.

"The newcomer's world? Is it like that Fire Shadow place you told me about? The one with people who breathe fire and spit water?" Granny asked curiously.

"No, it's different. In her world, the dead move. They bite people. And when they do, the bitten ones become the same kind of monster..."

Yi Lin's voice trembled as she recalled the horrific scenes from High School of the Dead.