Immediately after I pressed they (YES) option, my screen went white and after a few seconds, I was greeted with the Fallout 4 standard loading screen. I spun the T-45 Power Armour model around while spamming the button that turns the model into a green hologram. On the lower left corner of my screen was a tip.
Did you know, shooting or hitting an enemy with your weapon kills it?
I gave a short chuckle at the rather obvious tip. Another solid ten seconds pass and I start to get worried and think that maybe trusting an anonymous person online was a bad idea-
"Oh, it actually loaded in." I said, cutting my line of thought as the loading screen finally disappeared and replaced with a white screen.
Colour bled back into my eyes as I registered where my character has been transported to. The first thing that noticed is that I spawned in a rather quiet street, the second is the lack of post-apocalyptic theme around the place. Using my mouse, I looked around my immediate area and notice that rather than the post-World War 2 architecture that you would normally see in the Fallout franchise, most of the buildings that surround me are more akin to the buildings of the current year. Which surprised me a little, considering that the mod creator probably had to create the models for each of these house templates from scratch.
Props to him
As I admired the buildings, not a second too soon, a quest was shoved to my screen.
Main: Not in Kansas no more
Look for any sign of direction
After reading the objective on the screen another window opened up with a short paragraph.
Welcome to Japan, a country that was once filled with culture and history. A virus is slowly spreading, not just here but also throughout the world, bringing the dead back to life, and infecting anyone through bites. Once you are bitten, it is over for you and your only saving grace is a bullet to the head.
You, [Lyra Bodewig] must survive in this nightmarish world where dead men walk and the living fight for the smallest of resources. The choice is yours, build connections or watch as the country burns down.
[Okay.]
"Sheesh, talk about a grim start." I mutter to myself as I moved my mouse and clicked the 'Okay' button.
I pressed the tab key on my keyboard and pulled up my Pip-boy and took stock of all of my things.
That is if I had anything…
Looks like upon starting this mod it stripped me away from all of my weapons. The only thing that remained was a Vault 111 suit. A sigh escaped my mouth. Great, I'm in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and the only thing that the mod gave me is a blue suit.
Fortunately, I didn't lose everything. I kept my current level, which was level 286 by the way, and all of my perks so strolling through zombie-infested-Japan shouldn't be too difficult. I pushed onwards and started exploring the neighbourhood. Multiple houses lined up beside me, which was weird considering how I'm much more used to the chaos that the Commonwealth provided. Continuing to walk down the road, without a goal in mind since the quest objective is rather vague, I came upon a crossroad that split up into three directions.
The paths to my left and ahead of me led to more houses while the path to my right led to a road. I was about to take the right path when I noticed something move from the corner of my screen. I moved my mouse so that my crosshair would centre on the shambling figure that stood in the middle path.
He wore a standard police uniform accompanied with a police cap. A prompt appeared on my screen.
[E] Call Officer
"Oh, I know where this is going" I say to myself as I pressed the E key on my keyboard.
"Excuse me, officer?" I called out.
Immediately, the 'officer' responded and turned to face me. A disgusting sight stood before me, the walking corpse shambling towards me had a half-eaten face, half of his neck is also torn apart, probably by another infected, his arms have multiple bite marks as well telling me that he was feasted upon before he turned.
A chill goes down my spine.
I have to give credit where credit is due, the mod developer knew how to make a scary looking zombie. As I continued to observe it, I noticed that the officer has a gun holstered on his hip. Well, isn't that convenient.
"Alright, officer, you have something I want. Just to let you know, I fought a Deathclaw with my fists in the Glowing Sea naked!" I say as I stare at my screen with reignited motivation.
Bringing up my fists, I charged the undead and did a power attack. A resounding crack echoed through my headphones as Lyra's fists connected with the zombie's face. The power attack staggered the zombie which gave me an opportunity to press on. I punched it again twice before quickly backing off just as soon as I saw it lift it arm up to grab me. Once its attack finished and left it overextended, I pushed in again and did one punch followed by a power attack.
Fortunately, I didn't have to fight for long. The power attack changed to an execution animation. I grabbed the zombie by the leg and violently pulled, the zombie lost its balance and fell on its back. Standing on top of it, I did a right-left-right combo with my third right blowing the zombie's head to nothing but a red paste on the ground.
Once the execution animation ended, I proceeded to loot the zombie's body for his gun.
Zombie
New Nambu M60
.38 Special calibre (25)
[A] Take All
[X] Exit
I looted all of it and continued onwards. Seeing as how the zombie came from the middle path, I've changed my mind and decided to head down the middle path.
After all, where there are enemies is where the story will continue.
After walking for a while, I head a shriek from one of the houses. Immediately after, my Pip-boy's objective updated.
Main: Not in Kansas no more
Investigate the noise
Finally, a quest marker appeared on my HUD. I sprinted towards the marker, which led me to a two-story house. The front gate was opened and past the front gate I could see the front door of the house wide open. Standing the door was another zombie. Without missing a beat, I pushed past the front gate and aimed down the sights of my newly 'acquired' weapon. Aiming the iron sights on the back of the zombie's head, I pulled the trigger.
A loud bark erupted from the pistol followed by a spray of blood coming from the zombie, its head jerked forwards before falling over with an audible thud. Once I had taken care of the zombie, I finally saw who made the noise.
As expected, her appearance looked Japanese. She had narrow, dark brown eyes, a small nose, and a relatively normal sized quivering mouth. She black hair stretching all the way down to the base of her neck. She wore pink pajamas and had a horrified expression on her face. Her gaze never seemed to break from the truly dead zombie.
Main: Not in Kansas no more
Talk to the teenager
I slowly walked towards the crying teen. A prompt appeared on my screen letting me interact with her.
[E] Airi Nakamura
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
She had a haunted look on her face. "Y-You…" she said in Japanese.
Right. Another thing I need to worry about. A language barrier. Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised considering Lyra's Old-World American origins means she probably doesn't know a single Japanese word. At least this keeps things interesting. Perhaps later down the road, I can scavenge something that could help Lyra understand Japanese.
For now, I'm more intent with following the story.
1. You are safe now. What is your name?
2. Can you speak English?
3. Go ahead, keep crying. Not like it's going to change anything.
4. ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU SPEAK IT!
I'll go ahead and play it safe for now and pick option 1. I kneeled down to her eyelevel and spoke to her. "You are safe now. What is your name?"
My voice sounded and gentle and concerned. Tears are still streaming down her face. She tore her gaze from me and stared at the zombie whose head I just popped. "Y-You killed… P-Papa…"
Oh… shit. I didn't really get much from what she said but hearing 'Papa' gave me enough context to know who I just killed. Well, that fucking sucks, look at me now, asking the person if she's alright after I just killed her zombie daddy.
1. That thing isn't your papa anymore. (Charisma Difficulty: Orange)
2. I am sorry. I cannot just stand there and watch you die.
3. Be grateful. I wasted a bullet for you.
4. Damn, I should've let you hugged it out with him for a moment before I offed both of you.
I took a moment to think about what to tell her. I could risk it by trying option 1 but if it doesn't work I'm not so sure what she might to. While I could just do a quick save and just constantly reload until I get a load where I successfully convince her, that would just be wasting time. Again, I'll just play it safe and go with option 2.
My expression changes from worried to sorrow. "I am sorry. I cannot just stand there and watch you die."
She looked up at me with fearful eyes. While she knew that I was responsible for the death of her father, I could see a tinge of curiosity in her eyes. "What is going on?"
1. I can explain everything but first, I need to know your name.
2. Either speak in a way that I can understand you or just shut up.
3. I'm going to guess you're wondering what is happening? (Intelligence Difficulty: Red)
4. The whole world is ending! The bombs are falling!
A soft chuckle escaped my mouth after skimming option 4. As funny as that option sounds, I think establishing a communication, no matter how limited it may be is the better choice. Option 1 it is.
I gave her an apologetic look. "I can explain everything but first, I need to know your name."
Her eyes widened, in that moment, she had forgotten that I had just killed her father. She stumbled on her words, but she eventually gave me an answer. "M-My name is Nakamura Airi," while the accent is audible, it was understandable enough for me. She continued her attempt to make a sentence while I waited patiently for her to finish. "W-What… is… is ha-happening?"
1. Some kind of virus is spreading across the city. The virus spreads through bites. Those infected start attacking anyone nearby. They cannot be reasoned with, I tried. [Perk Required: Science!]
2. I don't know, I do know is that if you are bit, you will turn into one of them.
2. [Tell her nothing]
Thank god for maxed out characters! After killing her undead father, I do believe that establishing trust is important. Telling her this won't change anything but it's a better option compared to leaving her in the dark. Option 1
I looked down; a trouble look showed itself on my face. "Some kind of virus is spreading across the city. The virus spreads through bites. Those infected start attacking anyone nearby. They cannot be reasoned with, I tried."
Airi took a moment to understand what I told her. Once she did, a grim look shadowed her face. "So… father…"
1. I am sorry…
2. Mourn for him later.
3. [Remain quiet]
4. If you want, we can bury him in your front yard.
Damn, must be serious since I don't see a sarcastic quip or an edgy remark choice. I want to earn her trust as fast as possible. Option 4.
My voice came out like a whisper. "If you want, we can bury him in your front yard."
Her answer was a stiff nod.
My screen fades to black informing me that the deed is being done. While the screen was black, I could hear the crinkling sound of dirt being shovelled out a couple of times. After the third shovel, I head a dull thud, telling me that either I or Airi carried his father and laid him on his makeshift grave. I hear another set of crinkling sound as I assume that the shovelled out dirt is being shovelled back in. Finally, the audio cutscene ends and my screen comes back on.
I'm no longer inside of the house. Instead, I'm standing outside, presumably on the area where we buried Airi's father. I looked down and sure enough I see a mound of dirt just the right height for his father. My attention was pulled away from the grave and to Airi's eyes.
"Thank you," Airi said before she bowed deeply.
1. You're… welcome?
2. What a waste of time. Be grateful that I even spent time doing this with you.
3. Kind of ironic don't you think? Killed and buried by the same person in one day.
Option 1.
My face morphed into confusion. "You're… welcome?"
After that confusing conversation. My screen lit up and the 'Not in Kansas no more' quest came up and told me that I have completed it. Immediately after, I received another quest.
Main: How we do it back home
Talk to Airi Nakamura
I raised an eyebrow at this quest but still decided to do it. I looked over to Airi and pressed the [E] key on my keyboard to interact with her.
"Yes?" Her voice still sounds weak.
1. Come with me. This neighborhood isn't safe anymore.
2. What are you planning to do now?
3. Never mind
Hm… option 2.
"What are you planning to do now?"
Airi took a moment to understand my question and think about her answer. "I will stay in… my… my house."
1. Come with me. This neighborhood isn't safe anymore.
2. Never mind
Option 1.
"Come with me. This neighborhood isn't safe anymore."
Airi looked at me in confusion. "Why?"
1. More infected people will start coming here. [Charisma Difficulty: Yellow]
2. If you want to stay and die, be my guest.
3. Forget I said anything.
I want her to come with me. It's obviously not safe here anymore. Option 1. A yellow difficulty isn't that hard to bypass. With a Charisma 10, this is easy.
"More infected people will start coming here."
Now we wait and watch as I completely convince he-
[Persuasion attempt failed]
Never mind… I fucking hate you RNG.
"How do you know?" She asked in Japanese.
Of course, I couldn't understand anything at all.
1. I already killed an infected along the way. [Charisma Difficulty: Red]
2. If you want to stay and die, be my guest.
3. Forget I said anything.
Well, would you look at that! A red difficulty. Ah, fuck it. I already failed a yellow difficulty. Option 1.
"I already killed an infected along the way."
The bar that shows my current experience went up just a tiny bit telling me that the persuasion check worked… Of course.
Airi had a look of trepidation on her face. "I will prepare!"
After declaring that, our conversation ended and she ran back into her house, presumably to prepare. While I wait for her to finish, my screen notified me about two things: one is that the quest objective updated and the other is notifying me that Airi is now my companion.
Main: How we do it back home
Check your Pip-boy
Curious, I pressed [Tab] and I pulled up my Pip-boy.
|STAT | INV | DATA | MAP | RADIO | COMP|
What's this? There wasn't a [COMP] tab before. I quickly navigated to that tab and see what's up with that.
COMPANIONS
Airi Nakamura
I selected Airi and lo-and-behold, it's stat information about her! Displayed to the right of her name is her S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Perks and her current level!
Airi Nakamura
Level 7 (Level Up: 1)
EXP: 2326/2976
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:
Strength 6
Perception 5
Endurance 7
Charisma 2
Intelligence 5
Agility 4
Luck 1
Perks:
Big Leagues 2
Strong Back 1
Awareness 1
Toughness 1
Black Widow 1
Interesting perks she has. Now, if I'm reading this right, she levels up independently and I can pick perks that suit her best! Well, don't mind if I do. I opened her perk chart and started looking at what perk best suits her. I'm thinking of playing to her strengths for now. Looking at it, she has a pretty high [Endurance]. I'm thinking [Adamantium Skeleton] since she already has one rank on [Toughness].
After a few more seconds of contemplating, I went with [Adamantium Skeleton].
After picking the perk, I put my Pip-boy down. A set of drums boomed in my headphones letting me know that I've completed the latest quest given to me. Followed by another boom of drums, ALSO letting me know that I have a new quest.
Main: A step into the new world
Explore zombie-infested Japan
Again, what's with the vague quests? Well, I can't argue with that. One of Fallout's charm is the exploration. I looked towards the door to see Airi wearing a baseball uniform, shouldered behind her is a baseball bat case. Makes sense now why she had [Big Leagues] ranked all the way up to 2.
After all of that, I believe it's time to explore this mod's world. We both walked forward and left the house.
Here it is! The rewrite of chapter 2. Honestly, I'm liking this version better. I noticed that some of you pointed out that Lyra isn't really acting like a video game avatar. Well, here it is now. Of course, there's more shennanigans along the way as I continue to rewrite everything starting from chapter 2.
I'll also include every Fallout player's kleptomania and the building feature of the game. However, for now, I just want to establish new rules that were implemented when the stranger installed this mod for Deathslayer75. More features will come, particularly when it comes to companions but I'll tell you all about that as the story progresses.
For those who are complaining about why I removed Lyra's weapons, I have a perfect reason for that. While most guns in the vanilla game look normal enough, I'm looking at it in the perspective of the Highschool of the Dead universe. Some of the guns in the game are too 'unique' in the HOTD universe and since the cast of the anime aren't some NPCs that are much easier to convince but rather ACTUAL living people, bringing something like a Fallout: 4 Assault Rifle or a FREAKING LASER MINIGUN is bound to catch some attention.
Don't worry though, I'll be sure to implement Fallout: 4 weapons but the process will be slow. A double barreled shotgun is much easier for Lyra to explain than a freaking laser pistol. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON POWER ARMOR!
Well, that's all I have to say for that matter. And with that, I bid you all adieu!
Peace~