Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 104

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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 104
My mind churned constantly as I made my way toward Jamsil Bridge.
All my skills were on cooldown, and I had forty minutes remaining on Frenzy.
Balhwa and Whirlwind’s cooldowns were nearly finished, but I couldn’t rely on skills alone in combat.
There was certainly a Stage 5 Severing Type waiting at Jamsil Bridge.
How could I locate its true body?
I also couldn’t rule out the possibility of another Stage 5 Mutant being present.
After turning the problem over in my mind repeatedly, a single solution emerged to resolve the current situation.
But… I wasn’t sure if Hanna would follow my plan.
Beyond the thick fog, the forms of Zombies came into view.
“Gaaaaahhh!!”
“Kieeeeeek!!!”
Mutants and Zombies tangled together in a chaotic battlefield, attacking one another.
In that distant hellscape painted with blood, a solitary figure unleashed slaughter.
It was Hanna, moving ceaselessly between the Euitaejong and Water Demons, raining down attacks.
“Hanna!!”
At my shout, she turned her head sharply to look at me.
But without time to respond, she faced forward again and deflected the Water Demons’ relentless assault.
Since this wasn’t the moment for a situation report, I gripped my curved blade and charged toward her side.
“Kraaaaaahhh!!”
I couldn’t distinguish whether the Zombie rushing at me was one of Hanna’s Subordinates or a street Zombie.
I treated all who came at me as enemies, slashing their throats and carving a path forward.
Whoosh—!
As I reached Hanna’s side, an Euitaejong’s right arm whipped toward my right cheek.
By its thickness, skin texture, and length, it was a Stage 3 Euitaejong.
Under the influence of Frenzy, a Stage 3 Mutant posed no threat whatsoever.
Crunch— Slash—!
In the blink of an eye, I severed the Euitaejong’s arm into seven pieces and sheathed my blade, turning to face Hanna.
Blood streamed from her forehead.
Whether from blood loss or accumulated fatigue, her wound recovery was sluggish.
“Are you alright?”
Hanna had no time to answer—she grabbed my collar with her right hand and yanked.
Crack—!
Simultaneously, a bursting sound erupted at my feet.
It was the sound of Hanna’s fingernails clashing with a Water Demon’s fingers that had been aiming for my throat.
At first glance, her ability seemed similar to the Water Demon’s, but it was fundamentally different.
When Mutant Zombies grow stronger, the word “Enhanced” is added before their names.
The same applied to the Zombie King, a type of Mutant Zombie.
The Enhanced Zombie King’s ability was partial body enhancement.
Unlike Giant Zombies, whose size and defense increased uniformly, it could selectively strengthen necessary body parts depending on the situation.
Kim Hanna knocked aside the Water Demon’s fingers, then in an instant stretched out her arm and seized its throat.
Crunch-crunch-crunch-!!
Accompanied by the sound of bones shattering, the Water Demon collapsed.
I was inwardly startled by Kim Hanna’s strength, but now was not the time to marvel.
With no time to explain the current situation in detail, I looked at Kim Hanna and asked.
“Kim Hanna, have you seen a Stage 5 Mutant?”
Instead of answering, Kim Hanna pointed forward with a tilt of her chin.
It was toward the riverside apartment complex.
I gripped the curved blade I’d sheathed at my side and spoke.
“Is there a Stage 5 Severing Type as well?”
“Yes.”
“Kim Hanna, time is short, so I’ll explain briefly.”
“Speak.”
“Go to where the Stage 5 Mutant is and fight it until you’re near death.”
“…?”
Kim Hanna’s upper body flinched.
Her expression showed she wanted to ask me what I meant.
But words wouldn’t come out as easily as she thought, and this wasn’t the moment to write in her notebook, so she hesitated.
“Kiiiieeeeek-!”
Following that, a Water Demon took a crouching start position and fixed its gaze on us.
It appeared to be around Stage 3, but no amount of physical training could withstand the shriek a Water Demon unleashed.
After all, even eardrums don’t become that resilient.
Tug!
I grabbed Kim Hanna’s collar and burrowed through the zombies.
“Squeeeeeeeeal-!!!”
Following that, a sound like a pig being slaughtered echoed through the area, and the zombies in front stopped moving like discharged robots.
Their eardrums had ruptured, causing them to lose their balance.
Kim Hanna and I were able to limit the ringing in our ears to a tolerable level thanks to using the zombies in front as a shield.
I looked directly at Kim Hanna and shouted.
“Go forward! Fight the Stage 5 Mutant!”
“….”
“You must be in danger! That’s the only way the path opens!”
“Don’t. Understand.”
“This is not the time to understand and move!”
Kim Hanna wiped the blood flowing from her forehead with her collar, her expression bewildered.
Her hesitation was natural.
It sounded like I was telling her to go to her death.
So I looked directly into Kim Hanna’s eyes and spoke.
“Trust me. This is the only way we all survive.”
“….”
“Of course, that includes Kim Hanna as well.”
“….”
“When you feel like you can’t hold on any longer, use your subordinates to signal me.”
Perhaps my expression had been too serious?
Kim Hanna suddenly sprang to her feet, ceased asking further questions, and began advancing toward Jamsil Bridge.
“Kieeeek!!”
Stage 3 Water Demons rushed toward Kim Hanna.
I gripped the curved sword in my hand, dispatching the Mutants and Zombies to allow Kim Hanna passage, while watching her receding figure.
Kim Hanna limped forward on one leg.
With her body in such a damaged state, complying with my will could not have been easy.
Yet upon hearing that this was the only way to save everyone, she willingly chose sacrifice.
‘Hold on.’
I swung the curved sword at the rushing Zombies while praying silently.
I could dispose of street Zombies or Mutants of Stage 4 and below at any time, but I deliberately refrained from acting.
Not yet.
If I know No Way Home as I do.
If I know Gaia as I do….
She won’t let Kim Hanna die like this.

* * *
About fifteen minutes had passed?
“Kruck? Kraaaaa!!”
“Krueeeee!!”
Several Zombies in the vicinity suddenly turned toward the Gangbyeon Apartments and began shrieking in unison.
A signal.
A signal that Kim Hanna had reached her limit.
Though I wanted to rush forward immediately, I waited with patience.
“Kahaaaaak!!”
Schwick! Schwick-schwick!
I slit the throats of the charging Zombies while staring in the direction Kim Hanna had gone.
She should be appearing soon.
Frenzy has only about ten minutes remaining.
As anxiety gripped me and sweat beaded on my palms, my heartbeat growing louder.
Ding-!
Along with the sound I’d been desperately waiting for, a System Message materialized.
[Emergency Episode has been triggered.]
[Emergency Episode: Crossroads]
[The King of the Zombies stands at death’s door.]
[His life rests in your hands.]
[Please select one of the available choices.]
[1. Rescue him.]
[2. Pass by.]
An urgent episode offering a choice.
Since more detailed explanation was necessary, I gazed at the System Message and asked.
“Tell me the consequences of each choice.”
[If you choose ‘Rescue him,’ you must eliminate the target threatening the Zombie King, then actively assist the Zombie King in completing the remaining Quest within the time limit.]
[If you choose ‘Pass by,’ the main episode progression will be suspended until a new Zombie King appears.]
“I’ll choose the former.”
Ding-!
[You have selected ‘Rescue him.’]
[Eliminate the target threatening the Zombie King and actively assist in completing the Zombie King’s Quest.]
[Time limit: 10 hours]
[Clear conditions: Eliminate the threatening target, complete the Zombie King’s Quest.]
[Clear reward: Zombie King survival and awakening, Legendary Skill Book.]
[Failure: Zombie King death and main episode progression temporarily halted (duration unknown).]
The activation conditions for No Way Home’s urgent episodes.
When the main episode progression encounters or is likely to encounter obstacles, urgent episodes provide both hardship and opportunity simultaneously.
Every urgent episode I’ve completed so far—Survivor Qualification, Fallen Angel, Lost Child—followed this pattern.
If the Zombie King dies in the twelfth episode, it’s inevitable that the subsequent main episodes will be disrupted.
Gaia understands this, which is why she offered two choices.
Either rescue the Zombie King and continue progressing through the main episode, or abandon the rescue and wait until a new Zombie King appears.
And there’s a reason I’ve been waiting for this urgent episode.
I hastily closed the System Message and pulled out the 3D terrain map I’d stored in my inventory.
The moment I powered on the 3D terrain map, I could see seven red dots marked on it.
When progressing through episodes targeting specific targets, the 3D terrain map had the function of revealing their locations.
The main body of the Stage 5 Severing Type I’d been unable to find until now.
Its location was displayed with perfect clarity.
Crash!!!
Without a moment’s hesitation, I dashed forward, and Kim Hanna’s collapsed form on the road came into view.
Mutants surrounding her, drooling with hunger.
“Balhwa.”
Thick veins bulged across the back of my hand gripping the sword hilt.
I drew the curved blade from its sheath and aimed for the mutants’ necks in a single strike.
Whoosh—
The blade swept cleanly through the air.
Followed by the mutants’ heads falling like autumn leaves.
Blood fountaining from the severed stumps.
I cradled the collapsed Kim Hanna in my arms and rushed toward the riverside apartment.
Kim Hanna, her complexion ashen, coughed up blood.
She must have had so many questions for me, yet she asked nothing.
That expression felt like she would trust whatever choice I made.
With that, I spoke as we moved toward the riverside apartment.
“Kim Hanna, we can’t delay any longer.”
“….”
“Now you must… consume human brains.”
I know this.
What the Zombie King’s Quest is.
When Kim Hanna had gone berserk, suppressing that frenzy allowed Hong Yeonhui’s group to obtain the alliance charter and achieve their second awakening.
At that time, the King of the Zombies, Kim Hanna, also received this System Message.
-The Zombie King’s frenzy has subsided.
-The Zombie King’s rationality returns.
-Upon consuming 100 or more human brains, the Zombie King will be able to use language.
After that, Kim Hanna reunited with her family, and only after the situation settled did she share her story with me.
Information that couldn’t be known from the game.
Detailed information that could only be learned directly from the Zombie King.
That she could not only use language after consuming 100 human brains, but also wield the true power of a king.
The Zombie King’s abilities that Hong Yeonhui and I witnessed in the game were already those of a Zombie King who had consumed over 100 human brains.
To fully utilize the Zombie King’s power, she had to consume 100 living human brains by any means necessary.
The problem was the gap between the game and reality.
Asking Kim Hanna, who had regained her rationality, to eat living human brains was nothing short of torture.
Ultimately, Kim Hanna kept postponing the Quest.
Since there was no time limit on the Quest, I didn’t reproach her choice either.
I simply waited in silence.
For Kim Hanna to solidify her resolve.
But now that the main episode has skipped ahead twelve times at once, and Stage 5 Mutants have appeared, I can’t wait any longer.
“You know this too, Kim Hanna. We can’t delay any further.”
“….”
“You’ve seen the survivors at the riverside apartment directly, so you know what kind of people they are.”
“….”
“Steel yourself and make them your nourishment. That’s the only way we can end this tedious game…”
Kim Hanna kept her eyes tightly shut without answering.
But not long after, she lifted her heavy eyelids and asked.
“…Possible?”
“Pardon?”
“If I consume… this situation… can end…?”
Though her sentences were fragmented, understanding her meaning was not difficult.
I nodded with a firm expression, and Kim Hanna looked toward the riverside apartment as she spoke.
“Take me there.”
Kim Hanna, her resolve now solidified.
Boom!!!
I hurried to lift Kim Hanna onto my back and made my way toward the riverside apartment.

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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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