Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 117

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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 117
How far had we traveled along the highway?
Park Sangil, who had been gripping the steering wheel, slowly reduced speed and asked.
“Jo Yunhwan, you said Innovation City is in Dong-gu, Daegu, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then which exit should we take?”
“The Dongdaegu IC would be the fastest. However, since it leads directly into the heart of the city, there will likely be many zombies.”
“Is there no other route?”
“If we take the Gyeongsan IC, there shouldn’t be many zombies, but it’s quite a detour to Innovation City.”
At Jo Yunhwan’s response, Park Sangil glanced back slightly and asked.
“Doyun, what do you think?”
“What’s your definition of ‘not many’ zombies?”
Jo Yunhwan scratched his head and recalled his memories from the past.
“The last time I came was two years ago… I remember the route from Gyeongsan IC to Innovation City had almost no apartment buildings.”
“So it’s mostly single-story buildings?”
“Mostly farmland and greenhouses. There shouldn’t be any apartment complexes along the main road on our route.”
I wanted to take the Dongdaegu IC and clear out the zombies as we moved through.
But right now, we had the bus carrying the children.
No matter how sturdy the bus was, it wasn’t invincible.
It would be better to secure the children’s safety first before going hunting.
“Let’s take the Gyeongsan IC.”
“Taking Gyeongsan IC means we’ll have to go quite far out of the way.”
At Jo Yunhwan’s response, I checked the 3D terrain map and asked.
“How long will it take?”
“Just to reach the entrance of Innovation City, it’ll probably take 30 to 40 minutes?”
Looking at Park Sangil, after a moment of consideration, he pressed the accelerator and spoke.
“Let’s go safely.”
“Understood.”
We abandoned the closer Dongdaegu IC and headed toward Gyeongsan IC.
Questions from the other group came through the radio.
Everyone was asking why we were passing up Dongdaegu IC.
After briefly explaining the situation, everyone agreed to follow Vehicle 1’s decision.
Before long, Gyeongsan IC appeared, and as we followed the road, a vast boulevard stretched out before us.
A road spanning nearly nine lanes.
I opened the 3D terrain map and showed it to Park Sangil and Jo Yunhwan. Jo Yunhwan confirmed Innovation City’s location and began giving directions.
“Don’t make a U-turn. Just keep going straight.”
“But isn’t that going in the opposite direction?”
“No, we’ll continue straight along the road and enter a neighborhood called Hayang-eup.”
“But that’s the opposite way from Innovation City.”
“That’s the safer route.”
Since Jo Yunhwan confirmed it, Park Sangil moved forward without objection, glancing around at the surroundings instead.
Do Sohee pressed her face against the window, gazing outside as she asked.
“There are no apartments around here?”
“There are. They’re just not right in front of the main road.”
“It seems like a really quiet neighborhood.”
Do Sohee was right.
There were hardly any vehicles parked on the road, and no zombies were visible.
Jo Yunhwan spoke while checking the directional signs along the roadside.
“Once we enter the residential areas, there will be plenty of zombies here too. We’re just moving along routes with low foot traffic.”
“If this were Seoul, I’d still see zombies scattered about no matter what….”
As Do Sohee spoke with a tone of regret, I laughed flatly and asked.
“So Hee, are you disappointed there are no zombies?”
“I’m relieved, but somehow I feel like something’s missing.”
Using the modified vehicle to earn points was the safest and most convenient method.
Though the person holding the steering wheel would feel the burden.
We continued moving along the main road following Jo Yunhwan’s guidance.
There were no large apartment complexes visible along the roadside, and it wasn’t a path suitable for pedestrians either.
Occasionally, desolate apartments appeared dimly in the fog far ahead, but they were quite distant from our route, so we weren’t attacked by zombies.
Zombies gather where people congregate, after all.
Our route was essentially a road guaranteed to be safe.
But as we approached the place Jo Yunhwan called Hayang-eup, apartments and various commercial buildings gradually came into view.
“Now I see them. The zombies.”
Park Sangil gripped the steering wheel tightly as he spoke.
“Everyone hold on tight. We’re going to push through.”
“Are there many?”
“Around 400 at the intersection. There might be mutants hiding, so hold on tight.”
Do Sohee and I grabbed the headrests of the front seats.
Then Jo Yunhwan in the passenger seat spoke.
“Don’t go through the intersection.”
“What?”
“Turn left here.”
“Is there a road?”
“Yes, there’s an unpaved shortcut road.”
Park Sangil glanced to the left with the corner of his eye, confirmed there was a path, and turned the wheel.
A narrow side road that appeared to be made with concrete.
It wasn’t completely unpaved.
As we moved along the bumpy road, Do Sohee asked with curiosity.
“How is there nothing around here?”
“There is. Just at a distance only a Shooter’s eyes can see.”
Park Sangil laughed flatly as he moved along the winding road.
Until this morning, I had been in a world teeming with zombies, but coming down to the provinces made me feel a strange disconnect.
“People whose registered addresses are in this area seem like they’d have a high survival rate?”
I nodded in agreement with Jo Yunhwan’s observation.
Unlike Seoul’s cramped residential areas packed like chicken coops, the provinces with their spacious, scattered buildings seemed to have higher survival rates.
Fewer people meant fewer zombies as well.
Park Sangil spoke while surveying left and right.
“Look at that residential area over there—it has everything. This neighborhood is nice to live in.”
“I’ve thought the same thing every time I come around here. I’d love to retire and live somewhere like this.”
Park Sangil was having an ordinary conversation with Jo Yunhwan.
Watching them from behind, I felt an odd sense of discomfort.
I had been running every single day to clear the game.
Fighting for survival in a place swarming with zombies and all manner of mutants.
Yet here was a paradise just four hours away.
Contrary to my expectations, it was so comfortable that I even felt drowsy.
After driving through the narrow back roads for quite a while, a four-lane highway appeared, with mountains surrounding the right side.
The left side had fields and railroad tracks, making it a path where zombies could not exist.
After traveling along that road for a while longer, Jo Yunhwan pointed ahead and spoke.
“Wait, wasn’t there a gas station back there?”
“Yes, why do you ask about the gas station?”
When Park Sangil asked, Jo Yunhwan craned his neck forward and stared straight ahead.
“Is there a fork in the road up ahead?”
“Yes, I can see it.”
“That’s the boundary between Gyeongsan and Daegu. If we go right, we’ll be at the entrance to the Innovation City.”
At Jo Yunhwan’s explanation, Park Sangil cleared his throat and licked his lips before asking.
“Is… the Innovation City as quiet as it is here right now?”
“My friend said this place is a ghost city.”
“A ghost city?”
“Most Innovation Cities are like that. They forcibly relocated public enterprises and government offices, so the cities are clean and pretty, but there are no people.”
“I see.”
A faint smile spread across Park Sangil’s lips.
If the Innovation City had as few zombies as this place, there would be no threats to the children.
I felt the same way.
If the research facility had been located in Seoul, I would have had plenty of headaches dealing with all sorts of zombies and mutants.
But based on the atmosphere so far, it seemed I could clear the game smoothly.
Of course, that was only if the research facility’s location was indeed where Jo Yunhwan said it was.
Fluttering— fluttering—
As we approached the entrance to the Innovation City, a fallen banner was swaying in the wind.
-A city good to live in….
Only part of the letters were visible, but it was a sentence that contradicted reality.
A city long devoid of human presence.
The desolate landscape made me tense without realizing it.
“Doyun, show me the 3D terrain map.”
“Ah, here it is.”
Park Sangil’s expression grew troubled as he examined the map.
“Can’t you search for specific locations?”
“There’s no search function.”
“Then how do we find the Brain Research Institute?”
We’d made it to Innovation City, but we couldn’t determine the research facility’s exact location.
Then Jo Yunhwan, sitting beside me, pointed ahead and spoke.
“Just keep going straight.”
“You know the location?”
When Park Sangil asked, Jo Yunhwan answered with confidence.
“From here on, I remember clearly. I’ve come here to visit at least once a year.”
“But you said two years ago was the last time you were here….”
“That was on the Gyeongsan side.”
“I see.”
“Just keep driving straight until I tell you to turn right.”
True to its status as a new city, the avenues were laid out in a perfect grid pattern.
There were no winding roads—everything was straight and orderly, making it easy for even first-time visitors to navigate.
Buildings with shattered windows appeared here and there, and zombies loitering in front of them gradually came into view.
Since there was no need to provoke the zombies, Park Sangil reduced speed and picked up the radio.
“Reducing speed to 40 kilometers per hour. Report immediately if you spot any unusual movement.”
Because it was a new city, the commercial buildings stretched along the main road in long rows.
Given the possibility of mutants inside, I was especially careful not to fall behind.
After driving for some time, I noticed something.
Jo Yunhwan in the passenger seat pressed his face against the window, peering outside as he spoke.
“That’s strange. I should be seeing Costco soon….”
“Costco?”
“Yes. The Brain Research Institute is near Costco.”
At Jo Yunhwan’s words, I opened the 3D terrain map.
After repeatedly zooming in on the map, I confirmed that Costco was 1.3 kilometers ahead.
“That’s right. It’s 1.3 kilometers ahead.”
“Okay.”
“Jo Yunhwan, which direction do we go from Costco to reach the Brain Research Institute?”
“Turn right and keep going up, then you’ll see it.”
As I manipulated the 3D terrain map in various directions to verify the direction Jo Yunhwan mentioned, I spotted a statue shaped like a brain.
The Brain Research Institute appeared just 700 meters after turning right.
We’re almost there.
Park Sangil glanced at the 3D terrain map, then looked ahead and asked Jo Yunhwan.
“Do we turn right after passing Costco, or before we reach it?”
“Turn right past Costco. Then it should be a four or five-lane road…”
Flash— flash flash—
In that instant, an unidentified light pierced through the fog and struck the windshield.
It wasn’t sunlight reflected off the window.
Someone was deliberately shining a light at us.
Park Sangil quickly turned the wheel to the right and grabbed the radio.
“Survivor spotted on the left. Everyone follow Vehicle 1.”
We hadn’t been shot at—just exposed to a light signal—yet Park Sangil immediately began evasive maneuvers.
Whoever was flashing that light at us couldn’t be a zombie, which meant a group of survivors was nearby.
Since their intentions were unknown, the priority was to hide the bus carrying the children first.
Park Sangil’s judgment was faster than anyone else’s in that split second.
As we turned into a narrow passage on the right, a densely overgrown park appeared.
Large trees blocked our line of sight—perfect terrain for concealment.
Park Sangil stopped the vehicle in the thick vegetation and turned back to speak.
“So Hee and Jo Yunhwan, you stay here.”
“No, let me help as well…”
“Protect the children.”
As Jo Yunhwan tried to step forward, Park Sangil locked eyes with him and spoke firmly.
Do Sohee’s expression froze, and she could only nod repeatedly at the sudden shift in atmosphere.
When Park Sangil glanced at me, I gripped my hwandao and stepped out of the vehicle.
I could already tell what he meant just from his eyes.
Two buses and Vehicles 2 and 3 pulled up behind us in sequence.
I spotted Kim Hanna stepping out of Vehicle 3 and rushed to her side.
“Hanna, please protect the children here.”
“Understood.”
“Elder Chulmin, Sanghun, and Yeon-hee will come with us.”
Elder Chulmin and Hong Yeonhui readied their crossbows as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
Park Sanghun needed to come along for communication, and finally I looked toward Park Sangil.
“Is everyone ready?”
Park Sangil approached, already prepared.
I nodded, and he pointed diagonally to the left with his finger.
“Someone on the left used a flashlight to signal us.”
“What could they want?”
“We’ll find out now.”
Park Sangil looked at the group and spoke.
“Just in case, everyone stay in the vehicles. Keep the engines running—the modified vehicle effects only work with ignition on. Don’t turn them off.”
“I’ll refuel the vehicles.”
As Park Sangha purchased vehicle fuel from the Point Shop, Park Sangil patted his shoulder and looked at us.
“Doyun, there was an apartment building in the direction that light came from.”
“So it could turn into a hornet’s nest on the way there?”
Park Sangil nodded.
Then Kyeongeo approached and took Park Sangil’s hand.
Park Sangil smiled warmly, lifted his son up, and kissed him on the cheek as he spoke.
“Kyeongeo, you need to hold Mom’s hand tightly, okay?”
“Mm-hmm…”
As Park Sangil handed Kyeongeo to Kim Heejoo, she furrowed her brow, trying to shake off her anxiety as she spoke.
“Be careful out there.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
With that, he followed Park Sangil toward the direction where the light had flown in.

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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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