Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 128

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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 128
The current Hunting Dog Federation members could handle Stage 3 Mutants, but they lacked the strength to suppress Stage 4 Mutants with ease.
Yet this Unknown Variant had reduced Lee Kwanghyun—such a formidable fighter—to the brink of death without lifting a finger.
At minimum, Stage 5.
Or perhaps beyond.
The Unknown Variant gazed down at the unconscious Lee Kwanghyun, curled its lips upward, and crouched in place.
The moment it reached out to consume Lee Kwanghyun—
“What are you doing?”
A voice dripping with killing intent from behind the creature.
The Mutant’s eyes widened as it spun around.
There had been no sign of anyone approaching.
Or rather, it wasn’t that the presence had been concealed—the speed was simply so overwhelming that its reaction came a beat too late.
Standing behind the Mutant, radiating lethal intent, was a woman.
Kim Hanna.
Boom—!!!
Without preamble, Kim Hanna drove her fist directly into the Mutant’s face.
The punch aimed precisely at its jaw, yet her knuckles met no resistance from skin.
The sensation was akin to striking clay—soft, yielding.
Whoosh—Boom!!!
An invisible transparent barrier enveloped the creature’s body.
Though the impact felt diffuse, the Mutant tumbled dozens of meters backward.
Kim Hanna first checked Lee Kwanghyun’s condition, confirmed he still clung to life by a thread, then called to her subordinate behind her.
With a glance, she conveyed her command, and her subordinate hoisted Lee Kwanghyun onto his back and began running.
There was no need to ask where.
The order was clear: sprint directly to the Shelter.
Click—crack—
Accompanied by the eerie sound of bones realigning, the Unknown Variant rose to its feet.
Kim Hanna watched it intently as she rolled her shoulders.
“I wondered where you’d disappeared to, and here you are causing trouble.”
Click, crack.
“Looks like you need a lesson.”
Boom—!!
Kim Hanna launched forward, her feet tearing into the ground.
In truth, it was this creature’s doing that Lee Kwanghyun, standing sentry, had been lured into the Convenience Store in the first place.
The Zombie King, Kim Hanna.
Upon completing her twelfth episode, she had acquired a new passive skill.
She could now sense Mutant presences far more vividly.
While standing watch and recovering her subordinates’ numbers, Kim Hanna had ventured out to scout after detecting an unfamiliar aura in the vicinity.
To prepare for any contingency, she had instructed her subordinates to guard the entrance.
It had been a miscalculation.
I had only ordered my Subordinates to intercept any Zombies or Mutants that approached, never instructing them to alert me if my companions emerged from the Convenience Store.
Until now, I hadn’t realized they’d left the building and had been pursuing the Unknown Variant instead.
I’d chased the creature all the way into an Apartment, but from that point onward, its presence vanished.
I couldn’t determine whether the Mutant possessed an ability to conceal its presence, or if I’d simply misread the aura due to an unfamiliar passive Skill.
The roar I’d unleashed in the Apartment wasn’t born from acquiring Subordinates or facing danger.
I’d feared that using a Skill would generate noise, drawing the creature toward me.
So I’d used the King’s Summons instead.
After that, I detected the creature’s presence once more.
I rushed over immediately, only to find Lee Kwanghyun had been struck down.
As long as he still drew breath, reaching the Healing Factor in time could save him.
Crack— crunch—
The Unknown Variant rose from its position and fixed its gaze directly on Kim Hanna, its jaws spreading wide.
Thump—
An alarm bell tolled through Kim Hanna’s mind, her heart convulsing violently.
She could sense it instinctively.
That she had to escape this place.
Whoosh!
Kim Hanna’s body reacted on pure animal instinct, her upper body dropping low.
Nearly flush against the Ground itself.
Shatter!!!
Simultaneously, every glass window behind Kim Hanna exploded, the shockwave extending all the way to the Park beyond.
The burning trees snapped like kindling in an instant.
‘Sonic wave? Magnetic field?’
In that fractional moment, Kim Hanna’s tracking vision caught something.
When the creature opened its maw, the surrounding terrain warped instantaneously.
A distortion—or perhaps a ripple—an ambiguous transformation difficult to name.
Followed by the unleashed magnetic field.
‘That must be it.’
With Lee Kwanghyun’s physical abilities, he would have found it impossible to perceive with the naked eye.
He wouldn’t have even conceived of dodging.
But Kim Hanna’s eyes saw it clearly.
The enemy’s attack.
Kim Hanna, still pressed against the Ground, lifted only her upper body slightly.
A crouching start position.
Boom!!!
She exploded from the Ground like a tidal wave, rushing forward with devastating momentum.
Crack—
Kim Hanna’s right arm reinforced, her fist—harder and more unyielding than steel—struck the creature’s face.
Thud—! Boom!!!
The Mutant flew backward with that peculiar resistance of striking clay, hurtling through the air.
It burst through the building’s inner wall and flew outside, but the creature seemed completely unaffected by the impact.
‘This doesn’t feel like I’m actually hitting anything.’
Kim Hanna clenched and unclenched her fist, glancing down at her right hand.
Just before her fist made contact with the creature’s body, she felt the strength drain from her arm.
She couldn’t tell if her power had actually dissipated or if it was something strange about the creature’s body.
“Kim… Cough! Hanna… Hanna!”
Lee Kwanghyun’s voice reached her from a distance behind.
Clinging to the zombie’s back, he called out to Kim Hanna in a voice that sounded almost metallic.
When Kim Hanna turned her head, Lee Kwanghyun shouted with a voice cracking and splintering.
“A barrier…! Something is wrapping around that thing!”
At Lee Kwanghyun’s cry, the Unknown Variant’s gaze snapped toward him.
Spotting this, Kim Hanna shot forward like a bullet leaving a gun barrel, diving into the creature’s embrace and unleashing a spinning kick.
“I need to aim here instead.”
Thwack-!!
Lee Kwanghyun was right.
Her spinning kick aimed at the creature’s temple, but in that instant, her heel stopped short just before contact.
However, the creature couldn’t completely deflect Kim Hanna’s attack, so she was the one being knocked backward.
‘I need to attack from above.’
To prevent escape and deflection, there was only one way.
Strike down from above and pin it.
The moment the thought crystallized, Kim Hanna moved into action.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-BOOM!!!!
An assault approaching carpet bombing in intensity.
From above to below, she unleashed relentless attacks until the Mutant fell.
Crack-! Splinter-!!
Fissures spread across the ground where the Mutant stood, and the earth began to cave inward.
The creature dropped to one knee under Kim Hanna’s onslaught.
Yet no matter how many attacks she continued to deliver, she felt no sense of impact accumulating on the creature’s body.
It simply stared at Kim Hanna with pale white pupils, its expression utterly serene.
Zzzt-
Then static-like energy erupted from both of the creature’s arms.
Boom-CRASH!!!
Everything within a 50-meter radius centered on the Mutant was hurled outward.
“Ugh…!”
As Kim Hanna was knocked back mid-assault, the Mutant seized the opening and opened its mouth wide toward her.
‘No. Not now…!’
Still suspended in mid-air.
Without solid ground beneath her feet, there was no way to evade the creature’s attack.
Beep-!
In that same instant, Kim Hanna’s hearing went numb and her vision went black.
A sound compressed to the point of tearing eardrums.
A frequency so high that human ears shouldn’t perceive it.
How was this even possible?
I understood how sound could rupture eardrums and cause vertigo, but a Shockwave powerful enough to obliterate everything in the vicinity? That defied logic.
Was it the magnetic field?
Then… could sound be bound by a magnetic field?
‘That’s impossible.’
Kim Hanna’s mind spiraled into chaos as one incomprehensible phenomenon followed another.
But then again, was there truly anything she couldn’t comprehend anymore?
Her own body had long transcended the realm of understanding.
With a sharp intake of breath—
Kim Hanna pushed herself upright from where she’d collapsed, shaking her head vigorously.
Her vision gradually returned, and her torn eardrums regenerated.
“The game creator… they’ve made something strange again.”
Kim Hanna kept her gaze fixed on the creature, her arms hanging limply at her sides.
Her ten fingers then transformed into razor-sharp blades, and a venomous glint ignited in her eyes.
“Let’s see who the real monster is.”
A metallic smile spread across Kim Hanna’s lips.
Boom!!!
She charged straight at the Mutant.
Whether she could pierce through the magnetic field enveloping the creature’s body remained uncertain—nothing was assured.
But one thing was clear.
Lee Kwanghyun had returned to the Shelter.
Information about this unknown Mutant would reach her companions’ ears, and from there, it would reach Baek Doyun’s.
So until Baek Doyun arrived, Kim Hanna intended to pin this creature down.

* * *
“Healing Factor! Hurry!”
The group at the Shelter sprang into frantic action upon seeing Lee Kwanghyun’s condition.
Fortunately, the Hunting Dog Alliance had many skilled Healing Factors among its ranks, and thanks to their generous expenditure of points, Lee Kwanghyun’s treatment was completed in the blink of an eye.
His body recovered in just three minutes, but exhaustion still clung to him, manifesting as a dull, throbbing headache.
“Are you alright? Let me see.”
Kim Miyeon’s face was etched with worry.
Whether burdened by his wife’s concern or wracked with guilt, Lee Kwanghyun offered a bitter smile and waved his hand dismissively.
“I’m fine, really. It’s nothing serious.”
“Let me see!”
“Come on, I’m perfectly fine. Ha ha ha!”
“Is this something to laugh about? What’s so funny, you stubborn fool?!”
Lee Kwanghyun’s wife, Kim Miyeon.
Upset, Kim Miyeon examined his face and struck his back.
“I told you not to go out on these missions!”
“As long as I’m alive and well, that’s what matters. Why are you——”
“What do you mean ‘alive and well’? You nearly died!”
“Stop nagging. My head hurts.”
….
As Kim Miyeon’s expression twisted, Lee Kwanghyun cautiously observed her reaction.
Her eyes glistened with tears—a testament to how deeply frightened she had been.
Though anger blazed across her features, to Lee Kwanghyun, even that fury felt warm and precious.
Because it meant she cared about him.
Lee Kwanghyun smiled tenderly and embraced Kim Miyeon.
“I’m sorry. I won’t overexert myself again.”
“Again, again! Empty words!”
“I mean it this time.”
After soothing Kim Miyeon’s frayed nerves, Lee Kwanghyun turned to Han Hye-ri and asked.
“What about the others?”
“They returned safely. We were just about to dispatch a rescue team.”
Han Hye-ri’s expression was downcast.
She was wracked with guilt for having left Lee Kwanghyun behind.
Understanding this, Lee Kwanghyun spoke calmly.
“Don’t dwell on what’s past.”
….
“Now isn’t the time for regrets. We need to help Kim Hanna.”
“Hanna? Is she alright?”
“I don’t know all the details, but… Kim Hanna isn’t safe either.”
Lee Kwanghyun shared the information he had gathered about the Mutant he had witnessed and sensed.
Then Kang Haneul, Kim Suhan’s friend who had been listening quietly, finally spoke.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“What?”
“Ultrasound can rupture eardrums, but it can’t send people flying.”
Kang Haneul, a science enthusiast.
A high school student who didn’t talk much, but never missed conversations like this.
As everyone turned to look at Kang Haneul, he scratched his sideburns and continued.
“Ultrasound is a mechanical pressure wave. Unless you’re a dolphin or a bat… it’s not a high-frequency sound the human body can produce.”
“What are you talking about?”
As Lee Kwanghyun looked at the group, they all shrugged their shoulders.
Regardless, Kang Haneul continued speaking.
“And you mentioned a magnetic field, but in non-magnetic mediums like air or water, there’s nothing for the magnetic field to act upon.”
“What if… the magnetic field compresses sound to attack, or something like that?”
“A magnetic field alone can’t directly compress ultrasound. If you use a plasma structure, you could change or concentrate the properties of ultrasound.”
“….”
Everyone stared at Kang Haneul with blank expressions.
Han Hye-ri, displeased with Kang Haneul’s response, crossed her arms and asked.
“It’s not about what’s realistic or unrealistic. We’re already in a world that doesn’t follow reality, so why are you even bothering with that….”
“No, at minimum you need to understand your opponent before you can fight or do anything else.”
“….”
“The mutant Uncle Kwanghyun mentioned—knowing its characteristics is how we find a way to counter it.”
Then Kim Heejoo, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth.
“So… do you know how to counter it, Haneul?”
Kang Haneul stroked his chin quietly, his expression serious.
With his brow furrowed, he organized his thoughts, and before long, he spoke.
“If the eardrum was ruptured by ultrasonic attack… it means they’re using ultrasound in the hundreds of kilohertz range. Higher frequency than what dolphins use.”
“….”
“Then eardrum rupture, dizziness, internal bleeding—all sufficiently grounded.”
“….”
“The problem is energy density. Sound is a pressure wave with almost no mass. No matter how high the frequency, it has no force to ‘push’ objects.”

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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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