Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template

Chapter 924 The One Bearing the Burden of Saving the World? They're Everywhere in Mech Wars!

"Ahhhhhh~~~~"

Inside EVA Unit-01, a fourteen-year-old boy, upside down, was sobbing while clutching his head.

In the void, shattered, and pitch-black space just now, Shinji Ikari, who was trying his best to activate the AT field to protect himself and obtain Unit-00, still felt his brain was still throbbing.

The feeling is like having your brain forcibly stuffed into a blender, mashed into brain mud, and then reassembled like a clay sculptor—it's incredibly painful.

The fourteen-year-old girl inside Unit-00 wasn't much better off, except that she was experiencing a different type of pain, and she seemed to have an even higher pain tolerance. So even though her body was bent over like a shrimp, she still managed to hold back her cries of pain, and she was almost unconscious.

However, the throbbing pain in his head was not over yet. The intense physical impact caused by EVA's headfirst fall further intensified the pain, but at the same time reminded the boy that he was no longer in that void space, but could now stand on solid ground.

The 80-meter-tall behemoths are so powerful that even a slight turn of their bodies is enough to shake the earth, let alone two of them together. As a result, the already chaotic mountain beasts were startled away by the movements of the two EVAs and a large number of them fled.

However, after struggling to recover from the head-down state, Shinji Ikari looked bewildered as he gazed at the bright sun in the sky, and even for a moment forgot about the headache.

"Daytime? How can it be daytime?! Where am I? I clearly remember fighting the Sixth Apostle—"

Shinji Ikari's words came to an abrupt halt, because he had already seen a group of small flying saucers that could only be seen in science fiction movies streak across the sky... no, they were flying towards his location with a very clear objective!

This is definitely not Hakone!
Almost instinctively, the boy pulled out a high-frequency combat knife from his shoulder and controlled Unit-01 to protect himself against the approaching swarm of UFOs in the sky. But his mind was still desperately trying to figure out what had happened before.

All he remembered was that he first hit the Apostle with a positron sniper rifle, but that shot might not have hit the core, or the Apostle itself might have had multiple cores, so it didn't kill it in one hit. Then the Apostle seized the opportunity and fired a high-energy ray back at him.

At that time, the sniper rifle was still on cooldown and there was nowhere to escape. Unit-00 rushed forward, using its shield and body as a barrier to buy time. When the sniper rifle finally cooled down and recharged, it pulled the trigger. The high-energy beam from the positron cannon collided head-on, but it was as if the space was shattered after the wave collision. What followed was a powerful suction force that even the EVA and AT field could not repel, which pulled both Unit-00 and Ayanami into it.

Then the scene shifts abruptly, from nighttime to daytime, and this area is clearly no longer the one originally famous for its hot springs.

With too many questions in his mind, the boy still dared not be careless, especially since the cable behind him had been cut. At this moment, the power of Unit-01, which had already activated its backup power, was left with less than 3 minutes of operating time. Once the power was completely cut off, Unit-01 and Unit-00 would be nothing more than objects to be slaughtered (not really).

"Miri-nee!? Headquarters!? This is Shinji Ikari, pilot of EVA Unit-01! Please answer! Answer me now!!!"

While maintaining a defensive posture, the boy frantically tried to contact the command center through internal communications.

Unfortunately, the communication channel was just a dead tone; no one responded to his urgent call.

Even though he was still a teenager who had received emergency systematic training, his heart sank.

In theory, even if the machine is completely powered off, it should still be able to maintain basic communication functions by generating electricity from its own body.

There are three possibilities for the current situation where there is no response at all.

One possibility is that the signal is blocked, and the command center cannot receive it.

Another possibility is that he and Unit-00 were thrown into a place so far away that even headquarters couldn't contact them.

The last possibility, and the most unacceptable, is that headquarters has been severely damaged by the Angels, to the point that communication has been cut off. Thinking of these possibilities, Shinji Ikari, whose mouth was full of orange juice, inexplicably felt his throat go dry.

Despite his dryness, the boy's expression became even more determined than before.

Although he didn't have a good impression of his father's side, and he didn't care what would happen to EVA in the end, even if there were problems at headquarters, it was beyond his current ability to handle, but at least... at least he had to protect Ayanami!
The delicate age of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), combined with the hormones of puberty and the fact that he was armed with a weapon, led him to repeatedly want to escape and remain a teenager before joining the battle. However, in this completely unknown situation, he used "protecting the girl he likes" as the theoretical basis to build "the courage to face difficulties and desperate situations"!
However, at that moment, the cluster of flying saucers that was rapidly approaching Unit-01 suddenly stopped.

The boy saw that these flying saucers had formed a rectangular array facing him in the clear sky, like a huge LED sign, and soon the array of subtitles resembling dot matrix graphics lit up on it.

[Shinji Ikari?]

The moment he saw his name, the boy inside Unit-01 immediately bristled.

It's impossible to be completely indifferent to having one's identity seen through at a glance in an unfamiliar place, but as a teenager is in the age group with the richest psychological activity, they immediately make many more connections.

For example, the current situation between me and Ayanami is actually caused by this guy!?

[A brief explanation follows.]

[This is Orange, the leader of the Blazing Sun Legion and captain of the Blazing Sun. You can call me Mr. Orange, or Boss Orange, but it's best not to call me Commander Orange.]

[Young man, your Unit-01, Unit-00, as well as the Sixth and Ninth Angels, were all transported to this world by a spatial phenomenon known as Dimensional Tremor.]

You can think of it as being forcibly influenced by an unknown force and transported to another world.

This world is a fusion of multiple dimensions, where natural and unnatural disasters, as well as enemies comparable to apostles, occur more frequently and in greater numbers.

[Currently, no trace of the NERV branch has been found, and it is impossible to determine whether they were transported like you.]

The Sixth and Ninth Apostles are located 45 kilometers and 80 kilometers east of your current location, respectively, which corresponds to the old Tokyo region of your world.

The Ninth Apostle is currently under my temporary control, but the Sixth Apostle is a huge variable, and it's uncertain whether he will continue to target you.

I am now formally extending a temporary employment invitation to you.

We can provide the technology for logistical support and energy replenishment for EVAs, as well as a range of services for pilots' accommodation and treatment. In return, you may need to face the Sixth Angel and other enemies once again in the upcoming battles.

If you agree, please follow the UFO's guidance to this coordinate point as soon as possible. I suspect you're running out of power.

【and……】

The subtitles for the UFO group pixel art image paused noticeably for a moment.

Your girlfriend's health isn't great; please make a decision as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)