When Brunhilde spoke, Kevin Cross finally understood. While he wouldn't call himself particularly brilliant, Brunhilde's meaning was obvious enough if he wished to win her over and obtain the power of a demigod, he needed to find someone powerful enough to fight alongside her against the gods.
If he couldn't do that, then she would never truly devote herself to him. And if he were desperate to get closer to her now, the best route would be to convince Izumi to help her.
Kevin shook his head. This wasn't something to force. If Izumi chose to help of her own volition, he'd support her wholeheartedly. But if she had no desire to assist Brunhilde, then he wouldn't push it. After all, Izumi was already his in every sense of the word, while Brunhilde at least for now was still just an alluring vision, a dream out of reach. Kevin knew exactly where his priorities lay.
In truth, Kevin wasn't the only one who understood Brunhilde's message. In the group chat, aside from the ever-naïve Izumi, most others had also caught on.
Especially Izumi herself. When Kevin didn't follow up with any suggestion or pressure, she understood his stance and her affection for him quietly deepened.
As her feelings grew, she felt a corresponding rise in her chakra. It made her murmur thoughtfully, "So it's true… affection really is linked to power in this place. That means… the chat group isn't just talking about physical intimacy. Even our emotions are meant to belong to him. Only then is it considered a complete bond."
Meanwhile, Brunhilde noticed the group had gone quiet. She frowned.
She didn't actually dislike Kevin. In fact, after seeing his picture in the chat, she'd found herself rather impressed. Even among the gods of the heavens, his looks were top-tier. Under different circumstances, she would've gladly dated a man like him.
If only the timing were different…
Damn those gods! If it weren't for them, I could've had my first real relationship already! Bastards! Brunhilde's face twisted with frustration.
"B-Big sis, are you okay?" asked Gray, the youngest of the Valkyries, startled by Brunhilde's sudden change in expression.
"I'm fine," Brunhilde said, her face instantly returning to calm.
"Big sis, the Thousand-Year Cycle… there's only a year left. If the gods stick to their usual cruelty, I'm afraid humanity"
"Don't worry about that, Gray," Brunhilde said coolly. "Everything's been arranged. Just focus on what you need to do."
"Really? That's a relief." Gray exhaled, clearly reassured. She trusted her sister more than anyone.
Elsewhere, Kevin was still thinking about Brunhilde's situation.
To be precise, it was her request for help. Most group members either lacked the strength like Saeko or the will like Izumi to assist.
If things stayed that way, the chat group's function would remain limited.
Just then, a sudden notification popped up:
"System Notice: Chat Group is upgrading in response to Host's needs…"
It's upgrading? Just because I was thinking about this issue? Does that mean the new functions might fix what I was just worrying about? Kevin's eyes lit up.
…
Meanwhile, in the lab-
"This corpse virus… it's extraordinary. If I were allowed to conduct unrestricted research, I could make groundbreaking progress in no time. Boss, are you absolutely sure we can't go all out?" Dr. Stern looked at Kevin, a plea in his eyes.
To a scientist, few things were worse than having a rare, promising project held back by red tape. Dr. Stern was clearly suffering from that frustration.
"Nope," Kevin said bluntly. "That virus is far too dangerous. If I let you run wild, you'd probably end up mixing it with the Hulk's genes. Next thing I know, we've got an army of undead Hulks running around. That'd be the end of the world."
"You're exaggerating," Dr. Stern replied with a sheepish grin.
Even though Kevin had used Kotoamatsukami to implant himself as a supreme authority in the doctor's mind, it hadn't erased Dr. Stern's independent thoughts. He was still very much a scientist eager, curious, and obsessed with pushing limits. The only thing stopping him was Kevin's restrictions.
As for calling Kevin boss, that was Kevin's own requirement. If it were a beautiful woman, he wouldn't mind being called master, but having a middle-aged man call him that? No thanks. Boss would do just fine.
"Just focus on what you're allowed to do. Once you crack this corpse virus, I'll give you something even more incredible to work on," Kevin said, shaking his head.
"More incredible?" Dr. Stern blinked, unconvinced. As far as he was concerned, nothing topped the corpse virus. Not even the Hulk's blood, which he still secretly longed to analyze. He'd already made plans: once he finished the virus work, he'd shift his focus back to the Hulk's DNA whether Kevin approved or not. Whatever that "more incredible" thing was, it'd have to wait.
Unaware of Dr. Stern's intentions, Kevin wasn't particularly interested in the project details. He was only here to check in and make sure things were moving along.
After all, the corpse virus had been spreading in Saeko's world for quite some time now. Saeko had since led a group of survivors to a small island near the coast. She frequently ventured off alone to fight the infected or rather, to massacre them. Occasionally, she even cleaned up the scum of the human race she encountered along the way.
In truth, she preferred killing the latter. Dead flesh didn't satisfy her the way warm, corrupt blood did.
Saeko had found a certain contentment in this life. But there was still one thing that left her dissatisfied: everyone in this world humans and zombies alike was far too weak.
To her, the zombies posed no challenge at all. The humans, even less so.
What she really craved was to battle the gods from Brunhilde's world.
Unfortunately, even with the massive power boost she'd gained from Kevin, she still wasn't ready. At best, her strength now matched that of Sasaki Kojirō when he first appeared in Record of Ragnarök barely enough to put on a show, but nowhere near enough to face a god.
And if she did, there'd only be one result.
Instant death.