Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 102

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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 102
The wind blew so fiercely that my hair whipped around my face, making it impossible to keep my eyes open.
I swept my bangs aside at the sound of wails echoing from all directions, surveying my surroundings.
Clear mutant footprints were stamped on the stairs.
I couldn’t believe there was anything higher than this, but I climbed the stairs following the mutant anyway.
From the 124th Floor, I’d ascended roughly 4 more floors via the outdoor stairs.
A narrow cloud bridge, barely wide enough for a single person to pass through, came into view.
Metal plates resembling sewer covers served as footholds, with holes punctured throughout the gaps between them.
The moment my foot slipped….
‘I’m dead.’
From the 128th Floor to the 1st Floor—free fall with no safety measures.
My knees trembled so badly I couldn’t take another step.
“Give it.”
The voice of the seventh mutant came from across the cloud bridge.
I looked up and forward, and there it was—using its long hair like limbs, clinging to the metal structure.
At first glance, it resembled a hanged corpse swaying in the wind.
I sheathed the curved sword in my hand and pulled a rifle from my inventory.
I loaded the 3-times Enhanced rifle with 3-times Enhanced bullets and took aim.
A rifle couldn’t kill it anyway.
But… I could at least gauge its reflexes and physical capabilities.
The mutant swayed irregularly with the wind.
“Hah….”
I exhaled slowly, held my breath for a moment, and placed my index finger on the trigger.
And then.
Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!
I pulled the trigger in rapid succession.
Thunk! Ping! Ping! Pinging- Ping!
The first shot struck precisely between its eyes.
But every bullet after that missed.
It wasn’t because my marksmanship was poor.
The mutant, unfamiliar with rifles, seemed startled by the first shot and took the hit. After that, it adapted.
It stretched its long hair in all directions, moving like a monkey across the building’s exterior wall.
Judging by how its head snapped back from the bullet impact, it wasn’t particularly durable.
But its speed….
Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Clang! Thud!
The mutant moved rapidly, wrapping its hair around the metal railings.
Without a pillar to grip, it shattered the glass below while moving with its hair coiled around the support columns.
Its speed was beyond imagination—my rifle barrel couldn’t keep up with its movements.
And just when I thought I’d finally landed a shot on its body….
Ping!
Solid hair strands that could deflect incoming bullets.
“Damn…!”
I couldn’t let it descend.
The creature evaded my fight and continued downward.
Unable to get a proper angle, I climbed onto the cloud bridge and took aim at it once more.
Tug!
I felt a hand seizing my ankle.
“…What?”
Like dust sucked into a vacuum, I tumbled and was dragged along helplessly.
Panicking, I grabbed the railing and looked down at my ankle, only to see something blurry dragging me down.
An Enhanced Creeper.
I hadn’t noticed it until now because of its camouflage.
I could see dozens of blurry shapes writhing as they approached.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Tug! Tug!
Like a Water Demon dragging me down, dozens of hands seized my lower body and wouldn’t let go.
“X…!”
As I kicked with all my might, I felt the distinct sensation of striking a hard skull.
But since there were multiple Enhanced Creepers, I couldn’t easily shake off all the hands.
If I was dragged down like this, I might fall from the 128th Floor.
I couldn’t let go of the railing, nor could I shake them off.
If there’s no way, I’ll create one.
This wasn’t the time to think.
This was the time to crush them with overwhelming force.
“Balhwa, Frenzy…!”
Thump-
My heartbeat echoed clearly, and I felt the searing heat of blood igniting throughout my entire body.
Ding-!
[For 10 minutes, your Stamina, Strength, and Agility stats increase by 2x, and your movement speed increases by 1.5x.]
Ding-!
[For 1 hour, you become immune to the virus, and all physical abilities increase by 3x.]
Thanks to maxing out my Mentality stat, I had no fear of losing my sanity.
Additionally, I wouldn’t collapse after the Skill duration ended.
However, with a 24-hour cooldown, it was a Skill I normally saved for the very end.
Since this was that moment, I activated Frenzy without hesitation.
With Balhwa and Frenzy active, my physical stats were 816 for Stamina and Strength, and 884 for Agility.
Crunch-
My grip strength had increased so much that I bent the railing with my bare hands.
Numbers that far exceeded the system’s limits.
The grip strength of the Enhanced Creepers pulling at my ankle now felt like the playful tugging of children.
Crack!!!!!
I drove my foot forward with all my strength, and the Enhanced Creeper’s head burst open, spraying blood in all directions.
Ting-!
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Creeper.]
[10,000 points awarded.]
Significantly fewer points compared to the Enhanced Joker.
Still, it matched the points of a 4th Floor Euitaejong or Water Demon.
As I rose to my feet, I drew the curved sword from its sheath.
The Enhanced Creepers nearby had blood splattered on them, causing their camouflage to fail.
I quickly scanned my eyes to count their numbers first.
Four were clearly visible, while six blurry ones moved across the iron railing on the other side of the bridge.
Thanks to my enhanced dynamic vision, I could even read the movements of the blurry ones.
It was like confirming an observer through the terrain’s rippling alone.
Slash- Thwack! Slash- Crunch- Slash!
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Creeper.]
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Creeper.]
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Creeper.]
[You have eliminated an Enhanced Creeper.]
….
….
System messages cascading upward one after another.
As the Creepers that had rushed at me became corpses in an instant, those beyond the suspension bridge began scattering in all directions.
An annoying setting where even if I blocked the points message alert, I had to block it again whenever I eliminated a new mutant.
I blocked the points alert that obscured my vision and continued pursuing the Creepers.
They were twice as massive as regular Creepers.
Since their characteristic was crawling along the ground, they were equally skilled at scaling exterior walls.
But with my current physical abilities….
Boom!!
I kicked off the metal panel and launched myself toward the external stairs.
The exhilaration of leaping 5 meters at once from a height of 128 floors.
The rough wind sound grazing my ears and the blurry sight of Seokchon Lake below my feet sent adrenaline surging.
Thud-!
I gripped the railing with my left hand and landed on the lower floor stairs in one motion.
I could see the shapeless form that had been moving sluggishly stop in shock.
I swung my curved sword at it.
Crunch-!
I found an Enhanced Creeper with its camouflage broken, its head and upper body separated.
Crunch-! Slash!
I quickly disposed of the ones behind it and scanned my surroundings again.
I could see blurry forms moving toward the opposite stairs.
Judging by how they split left and right, two Enhanced Creepers remained.
Thud!
I kicked off the iron railing and sprang upward like a flying squirrel.
Crash!!
A window shattered beside me, and long strands of hair shot through like arrows.
‘A Mutant!’
It hadn’t gone down after all?
Clang!!
By the narrowest margin, I swung my curved blade to deflect its hair, and with a sinking feeling, I glanced to my left from the corner of my eye.
Thunk!
My head struck the iron railing, and I felt my body lurching backward.
The Mutant had caused me to miss my landing point.
If I fell from here, I was dead.
A single moment stretched like taffy, and everything began to appear in slow motion.
I rolled my eyes rapidly, searching for a pillar I could grab.
‘I have to catch it!’
A pillar visible to my right.
I threw the curved blade I’d been holding and grabbed the pillar instead.
Thump!
A tingling shock transmitted through my right arm.
But thanks to my enhanced physical abilities, my recovery was swift.
As I pulled myself up with one hand and landed on the stairs, I felt a biting force clamping down on my ankle.
Crunch, crunch—
The teeth of these creatures gnawing through my protective gear.
Did they gain confidence after seeing me throw my blade?
I clenched my fist and swung it directly at the creature’s temple.
Crack!!!!
The sound of a watermelon splitting, and the impact reverberating through my knuckles.
I crushed the Enhanced Creeper’s brain in a single blow.
Watching the Enhanced Creeper go limp, I rolled my eyes to find the remaining one.
“Give it here.”
Whoosh!
I could see the hair wrapped around my ankle.
I hastily bent my lower body and grabbed the hair.
If I pull first before being dragged, that’s all there is to it.
Let’s see whose strength is greater.
If I’m weak, I’ll be dragged over the railing; if the Mutant is weak, it’ll come to me.
With my current physical abilities, I could match a Stage 5 Mutant without issue.
No matter how newly appeared this Mutant is, my strength enhanced by Balhwa and Frenzy cannot be overcome.
Rip rip rip—!! Snap—! Pop!
As I pulled the hair, it began to snap with the sound of a rope breaking, strand after strand.
Each time a strand of hair snapped, it became a razor-sharp whip, scattering in all directions like severed cables connecting a bridge.
A single strand of hair grazed my cheek as it broke apart.
Where the hair touched, I felt a sharp, burning sensation.
Hair capable of piercing through epidermis with 600 stats and leaving raw wounds.
“Come here, you bastard…!”
As I continued pulling the hair, I could see the creature slowly being dragged out from the floor directly below.
It was right next to the window just moments ago—when did it move floors?
It felt faster than the Enhanced Joker, at least subjectively.
Or was it just that the terrain favored it more?
Whoosh—!!
At that moment, I spotted hair dancing from the back of its head.
I thought I’d grabbed all of its hair, but there’s still more?
It’s incredibly thick too.
Whoooosh!!
Simultaneously, the Mutant’s hair came flying like sharp awls.
Clang clang clang!!
Ting ting ting!!
But what was happening?
The hair that had been flying at me like arrows suddenly sparked several times, and the attack trajectory went wide.
“Doyun!!”
A familiar voice from behind me.
Park Sangil and Kim Suhan had climbed up and were now taking aimed shots at the Mutant’s hair.
“Get inside!! It’s dangerous!!”
“Duck your head!”
But Sangil ignored my words, leaning his head and gun barrel over the railing, and murmured while watching the Mutant.
“Aimed shot, multi-hit, headshot. Explosive fire.”
Ding—!
[Aimed Shot: Increases accuracy of all weapons used by the Shooter by 50%.]
[Multi-Hit: All attacks by the Shooter land as 2 consecutive hits.]
[Headshot: Damage dealt to enemies is doubled.]
[Explosive Fire: When using ranged weapons, projectiles cause an explosion in a 10m radius upon impact.]
Click—
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!!
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!
Sangil unleashed a barrage directly at the Mutant’s face.
As the bullets detonated, the hair wrapped around my ankles and arms began to lose its strength.
I seized that moment without hesitation, pulling with all my might.
“Kieeeeeek!!”
The Mutant was dragged out like a trout caught on a fishing line.
Watching it being pulled toward me, I rapidly crossed my arms like hauling in an anchor, winding the hair around them.
Finally, as the creature’s face came within my reach, I pulled my right arm free from its hair and muttered.
“Take this.”
Instead of the head it had demanded so desperately, I drove my clenched fist toward its face.
This would end it….
Screech!
In that split second, the creature’s massive jaws snapped wide open, revealing a structure that resembled a sea turtle’s oral cavity.
I had no time to be shocked.
I frantically switched from a fist to an open palm, pressing it against the creature’s philtrum.
Kaaaaang-!!
The difference from a sea turtle was this… dozens of razor-sharp teeth began spinning like a drill at high speed.
The seventh Mutant that had demanded my head.
This creature possessed a grinding oral structure designed to pulverize heads.
What kind of abomination was this thing?
Park Sangil and Kim Suhan lowered their gun barrels once, canceling their Skill activation, then raised them again and muttered.
“Multi-hit, headshot.”
Excluding explosive fire, they used only multi-hit and headshot, pulling the trigger once more.
Tatatatatatatatat!!!!!!
The same three-times enhanced rounds, but what they fired versus what I used were worlds apart.
Rounds strengthened further by Skill struck precisely at a single point in rapid succession.
I could see the bleeding that started from the left temple pierce through and exit the right temple.
The grotesque spinning teeth began to slow considerably.
Its large eyes turned bloodshot red, and the creature convulsed violently.
The Mutant’s body gradually went limp, and I watched as it tumbled over the railing and fell.
Kim Suhan, watching this unfold, cried out with elation.
“Pathetic thing, acting so tough!”

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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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