Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 100

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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 100
After severing the creature’s limbs, I shoved the curved blade into its loud mouth.
“If I push just a bit further here, I’ll put a hole right through the back of your skull, won’t I?”
“…!”
“I have some questions for you. Answer them honestly, and I’ll let you live—as a special favor.”
“…!”
“If you understand, bite down on the blade twice.”
Clack, clack.
As I slowly withdrew the curved blade, the Joker swallowed hard and smacked its lips.
“Tell me where I can find traces of the research facility.”
“….”
“I know you understand human language. If you pretend otherwise, I’ll just kill you.”
“….”
“You’ll die either way if you don’t answer.”
“U-up, there’s one up there. Up there, there is one.”
The Joker stammered out a halting response.
Crunch—crunch.
Even as we spoke, the severed limbs began regenerating, so I relentlessly hacked away at its arms and legs like pruning branches while continuing my interrogation.
“Where exactly up there? Speak clearly.”
“The… the lookout? The observation tower, the look… tower?”
Judging by its speech patterns, this creature hadn’t been alive for long.
Enhanced Jokers, like Euitaejong, developed better speech the more humans they consumed.
“So there are traces of the research facility at the observation tower?”
“Yes? Yes, that’s right? That’s it.”
As I heard its answer and raised my curved blade to strike, the creature shrieked in terror.
“You promised! You said you’d let me live?! If I talk, you’ll spare me!”
I smiled coldly and spoke.
“I never promised to let you live.”
“Liar! You lied!”
“That’s right. This is a lie.”
Thud!
I pierced its heart straight through, and the creature’s eyes went wide as lanterns as it began spitting up thick blood.
Its gaze held fear, despair, and bitter resentment.
Crunch—
I twisted the blade.
Ting—!
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Joker.]
[You have been awarded 20,000 points.]
A creature that gave substantial points relative to the ease of the hunt.
This Enhanced Joker was still practically a juvenile among its kind.
Thanks to that, I easily gathered information and earned points.
“Suhan, go tell the people….”
“Kyahahahahaha!!”
In that instant, an eerie laugh echoing from a distance snapped me to attention.
It wasn’t the laugh of an ordinary Joker.
It was the laugh of an Enhanced Joker.
Without time to be surprised, my legs moved reflexively first.
The sound had come from the direction where my companions were.
There wasn’t just one Enhanced Joker.
What in the world happened at L Tower?
The moment I arrived in a panic at where my companions were, I witnessed an unbelievable sight.
“What is this….”
Two Enhanced Jokers were with my companions.
Not attacking them, but truly alongside them.
Following that, I could spot Park Sanghun surrounded by the two Enhanced Jokers.
“No, what’s going on here?”
“Ah, Doyun.”
Park Sangil looked at me with a flustered expression, then wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and spoke.
While waiting briefly for Kang Haneul’s treatment to finish, the Enhanced Jokers had rushed at my companions, he said.
Park Sangil, Elder Chulmin, and even Hong Yeonhui couldn’t react in time, he said.
Just as the two Enhanced Jokers were about to attack Park Youngsu and Park Sangha near the railing.
Park Sanghun had used a Skill, he said.
Park Sanghun, who possessed the Whisper ability, had saved them all.
Checking Park Sanghun’s condition a beat later, he stood blankly, staring straight ahead.
His pupils flickering with violet light.
Following that, I could see blood trickling from his nose.
“I can’t hold them much longer.”
“What?”
“Enhanced Jokers aren’t creatures I can control at the auditory hallucination level right now.”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be twenty minutes of control?”
“That’s only when dealing with creatures of similar or slightly greater strength. Right now, just holding them is a burden.”
Since both were clinging to Park Sanghun, it seemed one was captured by the Skill auditory hallucination and the other was using Seductive Breath.
The Whisper Skill, Seductive Breath.
A Skill that could temporarily make a single target into a subordinate.
The fact that both Jokers clung to Park Sanghun without moving….
He had commanded them to stick to him, keeping them away from my companions.
At this stage, holding Enhanced Jokers was his limit, so I believed he was buying time however he could until I arrived.
I gripped the curved blade and dealt with the Enhanced Joker awaiting orders first.
Slash!!
[You have eliminated the Enhanced Joker.]
[You have been awarded 20,000 points.]
I dealt with the one I’d restrained with Seductive Breath first, then turned my attention to the one afflicted by the auditory hallucinations.
If I killed this one now… Sanghun could be put in danger too.
The nosebleed meant that Sanghun was being consumed by the Enhanced Joker.
If I eliminated this creature now, Sanghun could fall into a comatose state as well.
So I opened my inventory, pulled out a rope, and wrapped it around the Enhanced Joker’s neck.
“Sanghun, let go.”
“…”
“I’m here now, so don’t worry and let go.”
“…”
“Release the hallucinations!!”
“…Ugh!!”
*Crack—crack—crack—!*
Watching Sanghun exhale the breath he’d been holding and cough, I pulled the rope wrapped around the Enhanced Mutant’s neck with all my strength.
“Gack…! Kyahahak…! Hak!”
The Enhanced Joker couldn’t even laugh, clawing desperately at the rope around its neck.
No matter how durable the rope from No Way Home was, it didn’t have enough tensile strength to kill the Enhanced Joker.
“Everyone come grab the rope!”
Then Sangil and Sangha approached, each taking hold of the rope I was gripping.
I picked up the curved blade I’d set down and slashed straight across the Enhanced Joker’s neck.
*Slice—!*
[You have eliminated the Enhanced Joker.]
[You have been awarded 20,000 points.]
I closed the point message appearing before my eyes and checked Sanghun’s condition first.
“Sanghun, can you hear me? Park Sanghun!”
“Ugh…! The… observation deck.”
“What?”
“The… observation deck. At the… observation deck.”
How did he know there were traces of the research facility at the observation deck?
Could he have glimpsed the Enhanced Joker’s memories?
If he’d peered into the memories of the creature controlling him, it meant he was on the verge of having his mind stolen away.
If I’d been even a moment slower, Sanghun would have fallen into a comatose state.
“So Hee, Do Sohee!”
“Yes!”
Do Sohee rushed to Sanghun’s side and grasped his head.
Then a soft indigo aura rippled from Do Sohee’s hands, and Sanghun’s expression, which had been wracked with coughs, gradually began to ease.
As I let out a sigh of relief and sank down, Hong Yeonhui beside me spoke with a bitter expression.
“The observation deck… you mean the observation deck of this building?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s over 100 floors up. The elevators aren’t working now either.”
“I understand. We’ll have to climb on foot.”
Hong Yeonhui gazed upward and sighed, then looked around cautiously as she asked.
“If Enhanced Creepers show up, moving through the stairwell would be…”
“I know.”
Then Park Sangil, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke up.
“Why would Enhanced Creepers be a problem?”
“Moving through the stairwell could be dangerous. Inclined surfaces give them a tactical advantage.”
“…”
“Moving as one large group is too risky, so we should select only a few to go.”
Hong Yeonhui suddenly raised her right hand as she spoke.
“Me. I’ll go with you.”
“No, Yeonhui. You stay here.”
“No way. Besides me, who else knows No Way Home as well as you do? I need to come so I can spot the traces.”
“I know. That’s exactly why you need to stay.”
Hong Yeonhui tilted her head, unable to understand.
I gazed at the entrance to L Tower as I spoke.
“Remember Euitaejong that we lost at the riverside apartment earlier?”
“…”
“His regeneration should have finished by now.”
“No. We fought for over an hour at Jamsil Bridge. If he was going to show up, he would have by now.”
“That’s exactly what makes it suspicious. He should have appeared by now, but he hasn’t.”
Hong Yeonhui crossed her arms and leaned her back against the wall, then looked at me as if telling me to continue.
I scratched my forehead and continued.
“If he’s abandoned the pursuit, that’s fortunate. But we should consider the possibility that he hasn’t.”
“You mean he’s waiting for an opportunity? Euitaejong?”
“He’s intelligent. There’s a chance he watched us fight the Enhanced Giant Zombie.”
“So.”
“He’s probably thought of a way to deal with us.”
“…”
“There’s a possibility he’s gathering more Mutants to strike us all at once.”
After my brief explanation, neither Hong Yeonhui nor the others offered any objection.
They all must have assumed he’d abandoned the pursuit.
But I know better.
The Mutants of No Way Home aren’t the type to give up so easily.
If they’ve been watching us enter L Tower, by now they’re either devising a way to get inside the building or waiting for the moment we emerge.
I spoke while observing the condition of Kang Haneul and Park Sanghun.
“We need someone to keep watch around the area until those two finish being treated.”
“So what are you saying?”
“Sangil’s Hyung, Suhan, and I will go up to the observation deck.”
“The three of you are going up?”
“That’s enough.”
“….”
“You three—Yeon-hee, Sangha, and Elder Chulmin—take responsibility for this floor.”
Park Sangha and Elder Chulmin nodded instead of answering.
I continued, speaking from an abundance of caution.
“If Mutants breach the perimeter, this floor could become dangerous too, so let’s ascend together only up to the 31st floor.”
“Is there something there?”
Elder Chulmin asked, and I shook my head as I answered.
“No, the 31st floor also has an observation deck.”
“An observation deck?”
“Yes. There’s a free observation deck on the 31st floor. The paid observation deck requires climbing another hundred floors from here.”
“Then we can check the outside situation from the 31st floor.”
“Yes. It’s best to position ourselves where we can see the surroundings as clearly as possible.”
After finishing the conversation, I called out to Kim Hanna in the hall.
“Hanna!”
Kim Hanna, looking toward us.
As I briefly explained our plan, Kim Hanna nodded and began issuing orders to her subordinates beside her.
The subordinates who had been clearing the 4th and 5th floors continued eliminating Zombies, while those standing near Kim Hanna scattered in all directions.
It appeared they were positioning subordinates at each entrance to monitor anything attempting to enter the building.
Kim Hanna followed behind us.
-I’ll guide the way.
Seeing the characters written in the notebook, I felt reassured.
Kim Hanna, with subordinates positioned on each floor, could grasp the situation in real time.
As long as Kim Hanna was with us, the group would be safe.

* * *
The observation deck on the 31st floor.
I spotted a café there and laid the wounded inside it.
While the Healers focused on treatment, those in our group with Shooter abilities observed the surroundings through the windows.
“Kim Hanna, still no signs of the Subordinates?”
-No movement.
“Nothing from the mixed-use complex across the way either?”
-Nothing.
Perhaps the Mutant from the riverside apartment hadn’t pursued us after all.
Perhaps I was simply being overly cautious.
But since safety could never be overemphasized, no one voiced objections to my concerns.
“Then let’s move—Suhan, Sangil, and I.”
Leaving the rest of the group on the 31st floor, Park Sangil, Kim Suhan, and I headed back toward the emergency stairwell.
Floors 117 through 123 comprised the paid observation deck.
I intended to find traces of the research facility as quickly as possible and escape this place.
Entering the emergency stairwell and looking upward, an endless cascade of stairs came into view.
“Sigh… Let’s go.”
Park Sangil also exhaled heavily at the sight of the stairs.
Still, without complaint, he shouldered his rifle and began climbing.
“If you feel anything strange while climbing the stairs, let me know.”
“Something strange?”
“Yes. If there’s an Enhanced Creeper, it could be problematic.”
“The space is narrow though, so we should be able to handle it fine?”
“I’m also grateful the emergency stairwell is cramped, but Enhanced Creepers have camouflage abilities.”
“Camouflage?”
“Like a chameleon.”
An Enhanced Creeper that could change its skin color to match its surroundings, just like a chameleon.
If an Enhanced Creeper lay in ambush and suddenly lunged, it would endanger not just the person in front but everyone behind as well.
If someone fell down these stairs… it wouldn’t end with just a fracture.
After hearing my explanation, Park Sangil hesitated, then scratched his head and asked.
“Then… should I really be taking point? I don’t even know the size or capabilities of an Enhanced Creeper.”
“Because you’re a Shooter. With a Shooter’s abilities, you should be able to detect camouflage.”
“Really?”
“Yes. An awakened Shooter can find Mutants with camouflage abilities.”
Park Sangil probably didn’t even know he possessed such an ability.
The reason I brought only a Shooter.
Since Enhanced Jokers existed, Enhanced Creepers could exist as well.

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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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