LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 40: Chapter 40
"Who am I?" Ethan repeated the question, pretending to consider it seriously for a moment. "My name is Ethan."
Jill continued to stare at him, clearly expecting more. Her expression made it evident that she wasn't going to let him off with such a simple answer.
After a brief pause, Ethan smirked and added, "I'm the savior of this world."
Jill's gaze changed almost instantly. Gone was the sharpness, replaced by a look of someone trying to humor a delusional fool.
"A savior?" she repeated, as if testing the absurdity of the word.
Ethan spread his hands nonchalantly. "You asked who I am, and I gave you an honest answer. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."
Without waiting for her reaction, he turned and walked off.
Those words weren't entirely nonsense. Ethan had long since set his sights on the T-virus hidden within the Hive. If his plans went smoothly, he might very well stop this world's apocalypse. Calling himself a savior wasn't completely unfounded.
As for whether Jill believed him? That wasn't his concern.
He didn't know her, after all. Any fondness he might have had for Jill came from the version of her character in the original games, not the movies. That faint affection wasn't enough to make him go out of his way for her.
---
The next few days passed uneventfully. Ethan continued to gather information, using every opportunity to deepen his understanding of this world. Once Arthur's dizziness subsided and his energy returned, Ethan used the Knowledge Sharing spell again to teach him English.
"This is awful," Arthur groaned, clutching his head. "Why do I have to go through this twice in such a short amount of time?"
Ethan shrugged, his expression helpless. "Because you don't want to be a permanent mute in this world."
In truth, Ethan himself was dissatisfied with the spell's current limitations. When Merlin had used it on him, his mental power had been no better than Arthur's now—perhaps even worse. Yet when Merlin cast the spell, it had been almost instantaneous, with no significant side effects or aftereffects.
In comparison, even with the talisman to assist him, Ethan's casting left Arthur dealing with lingering dizziness and fatigue. This discrepancy only highlighted how much Ethan still needed to refine his technique.
"Maybe I could alter the transmission process into a segmented system," Ethan mused aloud. "Instead of dumping everything in one go, the spell could transfer knowledge piece by piece. That way, it wouldn't overwhelm the recipient and could avoid these side effects."
Arthur nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a much better approach. Even though it would take longer, it's safer. If something happened now, my current state would absolutely affect my ability to fight."
"You're right," Ethan admitted. "It's a risk we can't afford."
Still, adjusting the spell would have to wait. For now, Ethan focused on his immediate goal: collecting resources and knowledge.
At the public library, he couldn't simply scan every book into the Book of Inheritance. That would have drawn too much attention. Instead, he used a subtler approach. He selected a few useful books each day, stacked them with the Book of Inheritance at the bottom, and let it quietly copy the contents over several hours. Though slower, this method avoided the conspicuous flashes of light and shadows that accompanied the spell's faster casting.
---
Ethan also visited a few gun shops around Raccoon City. True to its reputation as the "Land of the Free," firearms were displayed openly on counters and shelves, available for anyone to browse.
However, there were noticeable restrictions. Larger, more prominent stores carried only civilian-grade firearms, with no sign of automatic weapons. Their selection was limited to pistols, shotguns, and other basic firearms.
Ethan observed a few customers shopping for guns and quickly realized that buying through official channels was a hassle. It required a mountain of paperwork, proper identification, and going through a lengthy process.
On the surface, it seemed like this country was making a genuine effort to regulate firearms. But Ethan knew better.
Behind the scenes, private gun shops often sold "special items" to attract buyers, while mobile arms dealers operated with complete disregard for the law. These dealers would sell anything, no questions asked.
In short, the sheer abundance of firearms in this country was staggering, to the point of hopeless saturation. After observing for a while, Ethan realized he had an overwhelming number of options for collecting hot weapons. It was something he could plan more carefully once he was ready to leave this world.
"If I can't stop the spread of the bioweapon virus, I'll just stock up. If I can stop it, maybe I could... take advantage of the chaos? No, scratch that, there should already be plenty of weapons stored in the Hive."
Having gathered most of the information he needed, Ethan decided he wouldn't return to the library for now. If things went smoothly and he managed to prevent the bioweapon apocalypse, he could always come back and collect more information. But if the crisis couldn't be avoided, he'd have to move on to another city to survive.
Recently, he'd been keeping an eye on Alice, the protagonist of the movie series, and had discovered that she was already living with Spence, the first movie's main antagonist, under the guise of a married couple.
This discovery was a clear sign that the plot was about to begin. Ethan spent his nights staking out the mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City, waiting for events to kick off.
If the timeline didn't progress as expected and he wanted to access the T-virus, his only option would be to force his way in. But that was far from ideal. Umbrella's security, combined with their modern defense systems, would make the Hive a fortress. Worse, reinforcements could arrive endlessly. Unless he wanted to sign his own death warrant, a frontal assault was out of the question.
"Hopefully, I won't have to wait too long," Ethan muttered.
---
Returning to his hotel, Ethan was surprised to see Jill waiting for him again.
Since their last encounter, where he'd made the bold claim of being the savior of the world, Ethan had assumed she'd written him off as a lunatic. When she didn't follow up in the days after, he figured she'd dropped the matter entirely. Yet here she was, standing in front of his door. The only explanation was that she had been investigating him.
And Jill had, indeed, been looking into Ethan.
Initially, her curiosity stemmed from hearing about a young man under twenty managing to take down a dozen gang members and allegedly "stealing" one of their guns. (The gang hadn't outright accused him of robbery, but the missing firearm was clear evidence.)
Jill even briefly considered recruiting Ethan into STARS. However, their conversation about saving the world had made her second-guess her instincts. He seemed... off.
The more Jill thought about it, the more suspicious Ethan became. She began a personal investigation into him.
What she uncovered only deepened her intrigue.
No matter how thoroughly she searched, it was as though Ethan had appeared out of nowhere. There were no records of him prior to his arrival in Raccoon City.
His outfit had also caught her attention, prompting her to investigate local and regional events. Were there any comic conventions nearby that might explain his strange attire? The answer was no.
Jill didn't believe a person could simply pop into existence, so she concluded that someone had deliberately erased Ethan's background.
That raised even more questions.
Why would anyone go to such lengths to cover up someone's past? What kind of person needed their entire history wiped clean?
Growing increasingly unsettled, Jill expanded her search. She tracked down security footage of Ethan entering Raccoon City, only to find that he had seemingly appeared out of thin air. There was no record of him traveling to the city; he had simply walked in one day.
The pattern was equally strange. Ethan sold gold of unknown origin for cash, checked into a cheap hotel that didn't require ID, and spent his days wandering the city. He spent half his time reading books at the library and the other half aimlessly walking. At night, he returned to his hotel without incident.
It seemed innocent enough on the surface. He acted like an ordinary traveler. But what kind of tourist spent hours buried in a library, day after day?
Unable to make sense of it, Jill decided her best shot at answers was to confront Ethan directly. As for his blond-haired companion, she hadn't seen the boy speak, so she assumed he wouldn't be a useful lead.
---
"Sergeant, we meet again," Ethan said as he approached his room.
"Just call me Jill," she replied, stepping in front of him to block his path. "I've been thinking about what you said before. I'm curious, can you tell me more about your plan to 'save the world'?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow. He doubted Jill actually believed he was some kind of savior. More likely, she suspected he was planning something illegal and wanted to stop him before it escalated.
Still, this could be... interesting.
He didn't intend to do anything harmful. In fact, if his plan worked, he really would save this world from disaster. Having a witness to his actions might even make it more satisfying. And if Jill documented everything, perhaps she'd be motivated to go after Umbrella's surviving leaders once he dealt with the Hive.
"Are you really interested?" Ethan asked, studying her carefully.
"Yes," Jill replied, her tone a little too eager. Her exaggerated curiosity reminded Ethan of a child fawning over a celebrity.
Ethan smirked. "I have to say, your acting could use some work. It's a good thing you're a cop and not an actress—you wouldn't last long in Hollywood."
Waving for her to follow, he added, "If you really want to know, come along. It's not like this is some big secret. I actually need a witness."
"A witness?" Jill asked, falling into step behind him. Her eyes darted around the hall, taking in the surroundings with a professional wariness. "What are you trying to prove?"
Ethan opened the door to his room, gesturing for Jill to enter before closing it behind them.
"Prove that I saved the world."
***
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