Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 110

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

Player of the Ruined World – Episode 110
Vroooom— Vraaaoom—!
Vehicle 3 surged forward at increased speed.
Park Youngsu alternated his gaze between the 3D terrain map and the surrounding landscape as he asked me a question.
“What should I do once we arrive?”
“I’ll take down the Reinforcement Type first. If it’s outside, we’ll just ram it directly.”
“Ram it? I don’t even know what a Reinforcement Type looks like.”
“There should be something that looks like a cocoon. Vehicles 1 and 2 will have exhausted all of the Sandworm’s effects on the way to and from L Tower, so we need to use Vehicle 3 to ram it.”
The Sandworm’s effect—capable of blocking powerful impacts, limited to five uses per hour.
Vehicles 1 and 2 would have depleted all remaining uses during their round trip to L Tower.
That’s why I had to rely on Vehicle 3, which had remained dormant until now.
“What if it’s not outside?”
Park Youngsu’s anxiety was laid bare across his expression.
I drew my curved sword from my inventory and checked the blade as I spoke.
“Then I’ll get out and handle it myself, so keep circling to prevent the Zombies and Cells from approaching.”
“…Understood.”
As we continued northwest past Gwangyang High School, I noticed two red dots on the 3D terrain map beginning to move.
The Severing Type’s main body and the Resonance Species had started moving.
Less than 100 meters from here.
Had they noticed?
Where we were heading.
I picked up the radio and relayed my conversation with Park Youngsu to Vehicles 1 and 2.
Then Park Sangil’s voice came through the radio.
-Is the Severing Type’s main body strong?
“No, it’s Level 5, but its combat ability is significantly inferior compared to other Mutants.”
-What Skills should we be cautious about.
“Hong Yeonhui is with you, right?”
-Got it, I’ll ask Yeon-hee.
“And what we need to be more careful about than the Severing Type’s main body is…”
Crackle— Crackle—
Static began emanating from the radio.
When multiple people use the same channel simultaneously, this kind of interference occurs.
-You mean the Resonance Species?
Hong Yeonhui’s voice came through the radio.
“Yeah, if you see a Level 5 Resonance Species, avoid it at all costs. Don’t even think about fighting.”
-I’ll handle it myself. You focus on the Reinforcement Type.
Since Hong Yeonhui spoke with such confidence, I refrained from offering further advice.
This wasn’t the time for me to be nagging out of excessive concern.
Screeeech—!
A tightly sealed iron door came into view, and Park Youngsu brought the vehicle to a stop there as he asked a question.
“Is this the right place?”
“Let’s break through.”
A red dot marked on the 3D terrain map.
It hadn’t moved an inch until now, and even now it remained in the exact same position.
The words “Elementary School” caught my eye on the building’s outer wall.
A Stage 5 Reinforcement Type was here.
Crash—!! Clang!!!
Vehicle 3 smashed straight through the iron gate and entered.
We drove directly onto the playground in one go, but not a single creature was visible.
I turned to Park Sangha and Park Sanghun in the back seat and spoke.
“I’m counting on you, Kim Hanna.”
“Leave it to me.”
Click!
The moment I opened the car door, Park Youngsu, who was gripping the steering wheel, frantically slammed on the brakes.
“Keep driving around this area! You can’t stop!”
As I shouted while heading toward the school building, Park Youngsu closed the passenger door and drove away from the playground.
When a Reinforcement Type evolves to Stage 5, it transforms into a cocoon-like shape, leaning against places like buildings or walls.
If it were on the school’s exterior, I would have rammed it with Vehicle 3, but if it’s not outside, there’s one place I can predict.
Rather than heading to the classrooms, I made my way to the gymnasium with its vast auditorium.
The size of a Stage 5 Reinforcement Type can’t be pinpointed to a specific number of meters like other mutants.
It continues to spread while attached to walls like a vine.
I had to find something like a massive egg sac within it.
That’s why I would have rammed it with the Sandworm if it were outside.
But if it’s not outside, there’s only one place where it would settle best.
Clang!!
As I kicked open the gymnasium door and entered, I discovered jade-colored vines spreading in all directions like pumpkin tendrils, accompanied by a nauseating stench.
The blood vessels of the Reinforcement Type.
A Stage 5 Reinforcement Type that had already enveloped the entire gymnasium interior.
The stench made breathing difficult, and my mind was becoming hazy.
I covered my nose and mouth with my left arm as I stepped into the gymnasium.
“Ah… Ugh….”
“Save… me… please….”
Survivors wrapped in vines came into view, pleading for help.
Among them, I could spot a familiar face.
The Zealots I’d seen at the riverside apartment.
They were already becoming nutrients for the Reinforcement Type.
Just looking at the vines embedded in their carotid arteries, these people were already beyond saving.
This place originally was….
‘A safe house.’
When reality became no way home, all the locks on every door were released.
However, just from the fact that the school’s main gate was locked, there was a high probability that this place had been a safe house where numerous Survivors lived.
The people from the riverside apartments who had destroyed this place and attached themselves to the Euitaejong.
Ignoring their screams, I surveyed the interior of the gymnasium.
The Reinforcement Type must have established itself here for quite some time—vine-like blood vessels of the Reinforcement Type were stacked in layers upon one another.
Like pruning branches, I slashed through the vines with my curved blade, examining every corner.
Screech—Screech—
At that moment, a faint crackling sound came from my right.
When I turned my gaze, something resembling a basketball hoop appeared above the tangled vines.
I had thought it was a wall until now, but I could tell because the upper part of the hoop was exposed outside the vines.
Without hesitation, I rushed toward it and swung my curved blade.
Whoosh—!! Splurt—!! Crash!!
From the vine-like blood vessels, the blood of the Reinforcement Type gushed forth like a fountain.
Sizzzzzzle—!
Everything that touched the blood began to corrode.
I hastily dodged, but the Survivors behind me were already bound by their limbs and couldn’t escape.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
They screamed in agony.
Soon I could see their heads drooping.
Rather than prolonging life in such pain… perhaps that was better?
“When did it create something like this?”
I furrowed my brow and increased the distance.
In No Way Home, there was no setting that a Level 5 Reinforcement Type’s blood was acidic solution.
Was reality more difficult than the game?
That Gaia bastard added settings that didn’t exist before.
I sheathed the curved blade I was holding and pulled out a rifle from my inventory.
Judging from how the blood vessels were sliced like soft tofu, my rifle should be able to pierce through it easily.
After creating some distance, I unleashed rapid fire.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
Thud-thud-thud!! Thud-thud!! Boom!!
Sizzzzzzle—
Blood scattered in all directions.
Following that, a hole large enough for a person to pass through opened up, and beyond it, the shape of an egg sac began to become visible.
I couldn’t easily approach because of the blood spraying out like a fountain in all directions.
So I emptied all my remaining ammunition.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
With a much larger hole pierced, the egg sac became even more clearly visible.
It was not an ordinary-sized egg sac.
It was a massive egg sac that must have been about 3 meters wide and 4 meters tall.
“Open wide.”
As I aimed the gun barrel at the egg sac and murmured, the tightly sealed egg sac slowly began to open.
It looks like an egg sac on the surface, so No Way Home users call it that.
But that thing….
“Buuuuuuh….”
A maw that spewed spore-like particles along with a murderous stench.
That was the Reinforcement Type’s mouth and heart.
When a Mutant entered that mouth, dozens of tentacles resembling a tongue would connect to the Mutant, supplying nutrients through a structured system.
Whoooosh!
Followed by long tongue-like appendages whipping toward me.
Clang clang clang clang!!
I drew my curved sword from its sheath and sliced them apart in an instant.
Simultaneously, I shouldered my rifle and unleashed a barrage toward its maw.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
The Reinforcement Type became riddled with holes, spurting blood relentlessly.
After emptying all 30 rounds, it was left in a tattered state, unable to close its mouth.
Yet it still lived, so I pulled out a spherical object from my inventory.
A Grenade that Park Sangha had made for use in emergencies.
I pulled the safety pin and hurled it straight down its throat.
Boom-!!!!!
The maw swallowed the Grenade and exploded, and with a dull blast, I could see the Reinforcement Type had become completely shredded.
Ding-!
[You have eliminated a Stage 5 Reinforcement Type!]
[50,000 Points awarded.]
Compared to other Stage 5 Mutants, this one was relatively straightforward to handle.
It possessed no exceptional Skills, no outstanding attack power, and no remarkable defense.
The only reason it couldn’t be left alive was its ability to strengthen other Mutants.
And….
Dash!
I exited the gymnasium the moment I confirmed the System Message.
“Ugh-hack!”
My lungs felt clogged with residue.
After breathing in fresh air repeatedly, I headed straight to the parking lot.
I gathered gasoline from the parked vehicles one by one, then re-entered the gymnasium and sprayed it everywhere.
Clink-!
Finally, I tossed a lighter and quietly closed the gymnasium door.
Whoooosh!
It’s best to burn Mutant corpses with fire.
Mutant blood contains a unique pheromone-like substance that attracts nearby Mutants.
Of course, if there are no Mutants in the vicinity, there’s nothing to worry about.
But a Stage 5 Reinforcement Type is different.
The spores it released just before dying.
Carried by the wind, it could travel even farther and summon Mutants from other regions.
Moreover, Mutants stimulated by the spores would enter a temporary awakened state, gaining approximately double their physical abilities for about ten minutes.
This was one of the other reasons I believed the Reinforcement Type would be outside.
Fortunately, this one had settled inside the gymnasium, so there was no worry about spores spreading outdoors.
So now….
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Please save me, please save me!”
“…?”
“There’s a person here…! Cough! Someone save me!”
At that moment, urgent voices echoed from the gymnasium.
Anyone could tell it was human speech.
There was a living person in the gymnasium?
When I opened the iron door, a man with his pants ablaze shot out like a bullet.
The moment he emerged, he rolled across the ground to extinguish the flames.
I closed the iron door and observed the man.
His clothing and hairstyle seemed oddly familiar.
As I approached the exhausted man and confirmed his face, my lips curved upward involuntarily.
“You were alive?”
“Eeek?!”
The man I had knocked unconscious at the riverside apartment.
He had survived all this time without dying.
Regardless of how he managed it, this worked out well.
I patted the man’s shoulder and spoke.
“Go back to sleep.”
Thud!
The moment I struck the area between his trapezius and carotid artery, his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.
I had intended to search the empty classroom for living Zealots, but this man saved me the trouble.
The final puzzle piece for completing Hanna’s Quest had appeared on its own.
I hoisted the unconscious man onto my shoulders and immediately left the school.

* * *
“Park Youngsu!”
“I know! I saw the message!”
When Park Sangha called from the back seat, Park Youngsu frantically turned the steering wheel and accelerated toward the elementary school.
A notification for defeating a Level 5 Reinforcement Type appeared before everyone’s eyes.
This meant Baek Doyun had found and eliminated the Reinforcement Type.
Crackle—
—Everyone confirm?!
As we raced down the narrow one-way street, Park Sangil’s voice came through the radio.
Park Youngsu picked up the radio with his right hand and answered.
“Confirmed! Vehicle 3 is heading for pickup!”
—Okay! Then Vehicles 1 and 2 will keep luring the Zombies!
After finishing the radio call, Park Youngsu pressed the accelerator even harder.
“Hold on tight!”
Crash! Bang! Crash!!
Vehicle 3 plowed straight through the Zombies and Severing Cells blocking the alley.
Like bowling pins falling, they couldn’t resist at all—their limbs were severed.
No matter how many Severing Cells multiplied, it meant nothing to us.
Once we eliminated the main body, that was the end.
The tedious battle was finally coming to an end.
Honk—!! Honk! Honk!
As we honked the horn and headed toward the elementary school’s main gate, I spotted Baek Doyun emerging on cue.
“Get in!”
Park Sangha opened the door, and Baek Doyun threw the Unnamed Man into the back seat before climbing into the passenger seat.
Park Sangha stared at the mysterious man with a bewildered expression.
“Who is this person?”
“A snack for Kim Hanna.”
“…What?”
Park Sangha’s face was filled with confusion.
Since there was no time to explain everything now, I spoke to Park Sangha in the back.
“Sangha, let’s switch seats.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Park Sangha and I awkwardly squeezed past each other and switched places with difficulty.
Then I… untied the rope that had been covering Kim Hanna’s mouth and shoved the unconscious man’s head toward her.
“What, what are you doing?!”
Park Sanghun gasped in shock at the sight.
I looked at Park Sanghun and spoke.
“I said it was a snack.”
Consuming the brain of a living, conscious person would be difficult even for Kim Hanna.
So while she’s being controlled by the Resonance Species, I’ll help her consume one last brain in oblivion.

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