Chapter 20- A Beautiful Archer (Part 3)
"I said my name is Rain." The girl replied as she stared weirdly at Asher. "Why are you looking like that? Is my name weird?"
"Uh! What? Oh! No, it's a good name…" Waking up from his shock, Asher turned around and continued walking as if nothing happened. His expression was fairly normal but in his head, he was having the struggle of a lifetime.
'Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Ok, let's calm down. Calm down, Asher! She can't be her, right? She isn't she, is she?'
Now, to understand the reason for his shock, we must take a step back to look at the novel 'Zombie Highschool' that Asher was in. Although the story was mainly action, and fantasy, there was also another part that was as important if not even more important for some readers… The harem.
Harem is one of the main reasons why 'Zombie Highschool' succeeded and also the reason why Asher read it in the first place. The main female leads in the story were likable and very believable. Asher even became a fan of a particular female lead. That girl's name was unsurprisingly 'Rain'.
A cool beauty that used a bow as her weapon and possessed immense strength and was even rumored to have never missed her target.
'Is it really the same Rain that I know? I mean, the name itself is already rare so it could be possible that she's a different person. Ugh, if I can just see her face.'
"Are you two ok?" Rain approached the two truck drivers and asked, oblivious to Asher's thoughts.
"Y-Yes! Oi, Davey, are you ok?"
"I-I'm alive!"
"Uh, what a disaster! We will be scolded like no tomorrow when we reach the settlement. Hopefully, the goods are not damaged."
'Uh, wait, didn't the story mention that Rain was someone who came from the Forbidden Lands? And there is also the bow.'
"Can you help me here?" Asher was then woken up by Rain's voice.
'Well, there is no point in overthinking. Even if it's her, I have no reason to try and befriend her. I will just finish this trip and leave. We will never meet again.' He thought as he approached the truck and crouched down.
"We will lift on 3." Rain instructed.
"Ok."
"1…2…3."
"Hnn!!" The two then started lifting the truck. The weight was extremely heavy and so the two were unable to really push it up. Even when the two of them mustered all their strength.
"What should we do?" Asher asked as he looked at the truck with an annoyed expression.
The boy knew that even if he added the points he gained into strength, he would only be able to slightly alter the result. Lifting something that weighs over a ton is not something a normal human is supposed to be able to do.
'A normal human can't… But, the creature that was the reason for the Truck falling on the side in the first place can do the job, no?' Suddenly, an idea popped into Asher's head as he looked at the corpse of the Zombie.
"I have an idea. Everyone, get inside the truck." He said as he turned around.
"Huh?" Rain made a confused sound.
"I think I can lift the truck. But, I don't feel comfortable sharing it with anyone of you."
Whether she was the Female Lead or not, Asher wasn't dumb enough to trust her based on that fact alone. Rain wasn't his friend and Asher wasn't the protagonist. She can become a hindrance, for all he cares.
"..." Rain, however, didn't move at all as she kept staring at Asher, indicating that she had her suspicions.
"Listen, I know that we don't trust each other. But, I have nothing to gain from pulling off anything funny. So, either you listen to me and get in the truck or we will be stuck here before a bunch of Zombies come and eat us for dinner." Asher explained with an annoyed tone.
".... L-Listen to him, lady. I'm still too young and handsome to die." The truck driver said as he stood up and opened the doors of the truck from behind.
"Sigh…"
As if she was convinced, Rain sighed and entered after the two truck drivers before they closed the door.
After that, Asher walked to the other side of the road where the Crusher was.
[Zombie corpse detected. Would you like to use the Zombiemancer skill to reawaken it?]
'Yes.'
As he said those words, mana seeped out of Asher's body. Then, the giant Zombie moved and stood up slowly.
[You have gained +1 Zombie follower. However, due to the fact that the Zombie is 1 level higher than the user, the Zombie will take 2 spots instead of one. The higher the level difference between the host and the Zombie, the more spots it takes.]
'Oh?' Asher raised an eyebrow at the notification. 'So I can't just revive every strong Zombie I come across unless I'm stronger than it? I guess that closes any possible exploit of the skill itself.' Rubbing the back of his head, Asher watched as the monster stood in front of him quietly.
'Move there quietly and lift the truck gently.' He ordered the Zombie with a wary look.
Even though Asher knew it won't attack him, he still wasn't accustomed to talking with a ferocious Zombie that tried to kill him a few minutes ago.
After hearing that, the creature immediately moved toward the truck as quietly as a 900-kilogram of flesh and muscles could be. Putting its arms under the car, it easily lifted it up as if it was nothing.
"Woah!! What's happening!" The truck driver yelped as he grabbed into his seat. He looked quite frightened. On the other hand, Davey, his companion, had simply lost consciousness from fear.
The only one left composed was Rain herself as she squinted her eyes. Although she was curious to see what kind of power Asher had, she didn't want to create any more trouble.
[Would you like to store your follower and resummon it later? Know that resummoning it will cost as much mana.]
'Oh, very convenient. Yes.'
Instantly, the Zombie's silhouette vanished slowly and turned into blue particles in the air before those blue particles flew toward Asher and entered his chest.
'Interesting. I can't imagine myself going around with a giant Zombie following me like a puppy.'
Shaking his head, Asher opened the door to the truck and jumped inside.
"Let's go." He said.
"..."
"Didn't you hear me? Start the engine."
"O-Oh, yes!"
After that, Asher closed his eyes as he intended to sleep. But, a few seconds passed in silence until he had to open his eyes again with a sigh.
"Can you please not look at me? Believe it or not, I'm not someone who likes to be stared at while sleeping." He said as he flashed a glance at the archer.
"... My apologies." Rain replied. However, she still didn't fully look away from Asher. Instead, she opted to stare at him once and then look away every few seconds.
'Fuuh, hopefully, this journey won't be troublesome.' He thought as he closed his eyes again.