Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Player of the Ruined World – Episode 001
-END.
“That’s it!”
A roguelike zombie game that Battlesteam, the gaming company, had ambitiously prepared.
No Way Home.
After a grueling struggle, I finally cleared the last episode after a full two years.
The reputation of being the most exquisite among countless roguelike zombie games wasn’t undeserved.
Should I call it a hybrid that combined the brutal realism of one famous game with the ruthless difficulty of another?
Put kindly, it has high freedom of choice. Put bluntly, it’s infuriating.
Because of that high freedom, naturally multiple endings existed, and I’d witnessed countless despair endings.
Throughout my playthrough, the urge to delete the game came several times, but who am I?
Once I start something, I can’t rest until I see it through to the end.
“That’s not happening to me, Baek Doyun.”
Finally, today.
I witnessed the true ending of No Way Home.
I leaned back comfortably in my chair and watched the ending sequence.
With this, I’d cleared all three games released by Battlesteam.
Most could be finished in a year, but No Way Home took unusually long.
Even Korean gamers, second to none in game strategy, had cursed and turned back after hundreds and thousands of attempts.
And I, Baek Doyun, had done it.
I recorded a clear celebration video and immediately went to Yanben to post.
-No Way Home True Ending (Confirmed).
I uploaded a screenshot of the ending scene with a brief title.
Comments flooded in immediately after uploading.
-What? This is a No Way Home ending?
-For real?
-Wow lol this guy’s insane lol
-You actually finished this?
-Is this the first clear?
└Seems like it? The screen color is completely different from the despair endings.
-Even Western masochists gave up on this game, yet you’re still playing it…
-Masochists are always right.
-The game itself is well made though? Since you cleared it, let’s celebrate!
The difficulty is tough, but if you look at the game itself, it was well-received.
I smiled contentedly as I read through comments that were praise and insults all at once.
There’s something satisfying about hitting refresh.
-Lol check the author’s nickname lol
-Baekdo? Is he famous?
-Baekdo<<Isn't this the guy? The clear master who stakes his life to see the ending once he picks a game?
That's right.
—So no clear videos came out for a while, but you finally cleared No Way Home too?
Battlesteam appeared like a comet amid all the mass-produced games.
Battlesteam released three games simultaneously upon its debut.
Each game had its own charm, and players praised the graphics, character design, animations, scenarios, and worldbuilding across all titles.
As someone who styled myself a new game reviewer, it was a refreshingly shocking experience.
I wrote a comment with a satisfied smile.
—Everyone check out the ending and sleep well.
└Oh, the man himself appears.
└What's your next game?
└Baek Do, please show us the dependent character ending too.
└What's a dependent character?
└You don't know the characters from the zombie game? It's the zombie game.
└Never heard of it lol
I was checking the comments with a bland smile when an interesting one caught my eye.
—Does the timer at the bottom of the screen keep showing?
└Seems like it? It showed for me too.
└Wasn't it the episode playtime?
└Nah, it shows on the ending screen too.
└The time keeps decreasing, so how is that playtime? lol
└It says 5 hours remaining? I'm playing No Way Home right now and the remaining time is exactly the same.
└You too? Dude, me too lol
└It shows up even when I'm playing a different Battlesteam game.
└What are you playing?
└Giant Punisher. It shows 5 hours there too.
└Haha lol, smells like a newbie lol Back in my day the timer was 5 years.
└5 years? What's that?
└No clue?
Right, that small number displayed at the bottom of the screen.
The count keeps decreasing, but what does it represent?
I wondered about it throughout the game, but it had no connection to No Way Home.
The interesting part was that the same number appeared in Battlesteam's other games too.
Since it had no relation to the games themselves, I eventually started ignoring it.
Could it be the release date for a new game?
With 5 hours remaining anyway, I'd find out after sleeping.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted."
I stretched and closed Yanben.
Then I saw the creator's name displayed at the end of the No Way Home ending video.
[BJ Gaia]
Seeing the creator's name, my eyes widened involuntarily.
"BJ Gaia?"
Wasn't the creator of those other games also Gaia?
The other two games from Battlesteam were also created by Gaia.
Did one person really make all of them?
"That's quite impressive."
Games with such flawless quality, all made by a single developer.
Now I understand why there haven't been any new releases.
Three games released by Battlesteam five years ago.
The creator must have poured their entire life into these games.
To create games of this caliber alone, and three of them no less—surely the developer must be recuperating in a hospital by now.
[Baek Doyun, you have confirmed the endings of all games prepared by Battlesteam!]
Huh?
As the ending video finished, a message appeared on my monitor.
[Thank you for your continued love and support for Battlesteam.]
Was this message being delivered in real-time based on my account information?
Or perhaps it was an automatic message sent to everyone who cleared all three games.
[The fourth game that Battlesteam is preparing is called 'Another World'.]
[We sincerely hope you will successfully clear Another World as well.]
Battlesteam is releasing a new game?
So that timer displayed on the game screen was indeed a notification for the new release!
In the past, I would have immediately searched for information about it without hesitation.
But now I'm a twenty-eight-year-old office worker, worn down by society.
I don't have the energy I used to.
"I'll check it out tomorrow, tomorrow."
I rubbed my aching shoulders and stood up from my chair.
The hour hand was pointing to 2 AM.
I needed to get some sleep if I was going to make it to work in the morning.
An ordinary life, enjoying games after work like everyone else.
I was content with my current routine.

* * *
Beep—!! Beep—!!
"Ugh… what is this?"
A loud emergency alert message blared across my phone.
Wait, was this a disaster alert?
Half-asleep, I grabbed my phone and checked the screen.
[Tutorial completed.]
[Battlesteam's highly anticipated fourth game, 'Another World,' has had its release date confirmed!]
[Time remaining until new game launch: 3 years.]
[Open beta testing for existing games will be conducted until the new release.]
I stared blankly at the cascade of disaster alerts flooding in.
Was this a dream?
Still half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed.
The current time was 6:55 AM.
I needed to start getting ready for work soon.
Pushing aside the scattered thoughts swirling in my mind, I blinked hard.
'Why would this come through my phone?'
This was the first time Battlesteam had ever sent a message like this, wasn't it?
And as a disaster alert no less, blaring across my screen early in the morning.
This didn't make any sense.
Was it because I'd just woken up?
Unsure if I was dreaming or awake, I got out of bed and peered out the window.
I needed to feel the cold air to clear my head.
Creak—
As I opened the window, a cool early autumn breeze drifted in.
Flash—!
In that instant, a blinding light poured through the window, and I reflexively raised my left arm to shield my eyes.
It wasn't the sun rising, nor was someone shining a flashlight at my face.
Above the dim dawn twilight, a massive message window hung suspended in the air.
[Open beta testing begins at 7:00 AM.]
[Three games are available. Please select one and clear it!]
[Users who clear the open beta will be granted citizenship in 'Another World'!]
[Should you fail to clear a game within the time limit, this world will lose all reason to exist.]
[Please do your best for the sake of a new world!]
The text glowed with such brilliance it looked like a drone light show in the sky.
Wait… only I can see this, right?
Beep—!! Beep—!!
My phone rang again.
[The disaster alert sent at 06:55 this morning is unrelated to the government, and we are currently investigating the cause…]
What in the world was happening?
Boom-! Bang! Boom-!
In that instant, fireworks erupted along the borders of an enormous message window visible through the window, and another sentence appeared.
[We are now beginning the open beta!]
[We will provide a brief explanation of the game.]
[Last Odyssey: An action-adventure game featuring swords and spears, unfolding in a world of martial prowess, a tale of drifting across the seas! Leave your name in history!]
[Giant Punisher: The last of humanity standing against colossal foes! Become an executioner facing the apocalypse and protect the world!]
[No Way Home: There is no home to return to! In a world ravaged by virus, become a mutated ability user and embark on an adventure to find a vaccine!]
The descriptions were written for Last Odyssey, Giant Punisher, and No Way Home, which I had only just cleared this morning.
When I pinched my cheek, a sharp, stinging pain flooded through me.
No matter how groggy I was from sleep, I could instinctively feel it.
This is… not a dream.
Unless I've lost my mind.
All of this is reality.
[The Gaia system searches for suitable games based on national characteristics.]
Gaia?
It was a name I recognized.
I had fallen asleep thinking about that name before drifting off.
'BJ Gaia?'
Three games that displayed a quality impossible to believe came from a solo creator.
The owner of Battlesteam.
If BJ Gaia is the Gaia mentioned in this message…
[Confirming the first game for Korean Peninsula players to proceed with.]
I alternated my gaze between my phone and the message visible through the window.
The same content appearing on my phone was written across the sky.
More than that—by nation?
Then that means text like this is being displayed in the skies above the entire world?
With a desperate hope, I hurriedly accessed YouTube.
In that brief moment, real-time videos related to the text written in the sky were already being uploaded.
Text displayed in the sky, organized by country and language.
[Game selection for Korean Peninsula players has been completed!]
[From now on, we ask that you clear No Way Home.]
[Users who clear the game first will be able to participate in games from other nations!]
[To earn greater rewards, clear the assigned game quickly and participate in the next one!]
[Beginning No Way Home background update.]
[Progress: 5%…]
I couldn't close my gaping mouth as I read the message outside the window.
"…Starting with No Way Home?"
Regardless of which game it was, the desperate situation would remain unchanged.
But No Way Home is…
'A zombie game.'
I'm being thrown into a zombie world when there are other perfectly fine worlds to choose from?
And on top of that, No Way Home is known for having the absolute worst, most brutal difficulty?
"Wait, wait! Don't decide for me—let me choose!"
Shouting at my phone wouldn't get me an answer.
I swallowed hard and watched the progress bar visible through the window.
The numbers climbed rapidly.
So what could I do right now?
I hurriedly grabbed every essential item from my room and shoved them into a bag.
I packed canned food and bottled water first, then used box tape to wrap notebooks and magazines around my arms and legs.
'Leather gloves—where are they?'
I checked every drawer and closet, completing all the preparations I could think of.
In zombie fiction, the most important things were forearm guards, upper arm guards, ankle guards, and shin guards.
It was best to cover every spot where a zombie could easily bite.
Finally, I grabbed the aluminum baseball bat I kept in the shoe rack and put on my sturdy running shoes.
'If the game setting is based on No Way Home… do I need to run the moment it starts?'
I had no idea.
How closely it would match the game.
I checked my phone and saw a "No Signal" indicator on the screen.
In 21st century South Korea, in Seoul no less, and my phone had no signal.
[Progress: 100%]
[Update complete!]
[Now beginning 'No Way Home'.]
Boom—rumble rumble…
The ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
Unable to stand properly, I collapsed flat on the floor, eyes wide open.
Crackle—crack!
All the electricity went out, and I was plunged into absolute darkness.
The vibrations grew increasingly violent, and a ringing sound began in my ears.
"Ugh…!"
A ringing so intense it felt like my eardrums would burst, and a headache like a spike being driven through my temples.
My breathing became ragged for no reason, and my consciousness began to fade.
After that… I remember nothing.

* * *
Whoooosh—
When I regained consciousness, I found myself sprawled face-down on the cold asphalt.
The torrential downpour from the sky had carved potholes across the road, each one brimming with murky puddles.
I opened my eyes there.
A throbbing headache pulsed behind my temples as I blinked several times to clear my vision.
As I surveyed my surroundings, figures of collapsed people began to materialize through the thick, obscuring fog.
Just from what I could see, there were hundreds of them.
Perhaps even thousands.
Ding—!
[The Korean Peninsula's 'No Way Home' background update has been completed.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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