Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 132

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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 132
Bae Hyeonseok wiped the cold sweat from his brow and continued.
“There should be antibodies in the Zombie King’s blood. The previous researchers all died because they couldn’t find them.”
“….”
“If we can just find the antibodies, we’ll have more than enough to create a cure.”
Ding—!
[The final episode ‘Vaccine Development’ zombie wave is now beginning.]
[Please survive the total zombie assault and complete vaccine development to clear the game.]
The moment Bae Hyeonseok finished speaking, a System Message appeared before my eyes.
I closed the System Message and looked at Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok as I spoke.
“I’m placing my trust in both of you.”
“….”
“The fate of the Korean Peninsula rests in your hands.”
The two of them clenched their fists tightly and nodded with determination.
I looked at Kim Hanna and spoke.
“Let’s head downstairs.”
As Kim Hanna and I descended to the 1st Floor, Park Sangha, who had finished installing the barricade, waved at us from there.
“Doyun! Is this good enough?”
The height, texture, and thickness of the barricade were far from ordinary.
It seemed like quite a lot of points had been used….
“How much did you spend?”
“We have plenty left anyway. Might as well use it all.”
Thinking it was the end, Park Sangha had spent the points he’d been saving without hesitation.
Kang Haneul, who stood beside Park Sangha, checked the point message and asked me.
“Brother Doyun, but there’s something strange.”
“What is it?”
“At some point, the first-clear rewards stopped coming in.”
Now that I thought about it, first-clear rewards existed in the early stages, but just as Kang Haneul said, they stopped being provided at some point.
It seemed the rewards stopped coming in from the moment we skipped the twelfth episode in one go….
“It seems they were deleted when we skipped a main episode at once. Gaia said our growth speed was too fast anyway.”
“But to stop giving what they were giving….”
“Don’t be greedy. Having no restrictions on physical abilities is already plenty.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Do we have enough ammunition?”
“Yes! We’re still making it.”
After hearing Kang Haneul’s response, I looked at Park Sangha and spoke.
“Brother Sangha and Haneul, please make ammunition next to the research lab. The 1st Floor could be dangerous.”
“Understood.”
After confirming the two had moved, I put force into my voice and shouted.
“Sanghun!!”
-Tell me what happens.
Then I heard Park Sanghun’s voice in my mind.
He seemed to be somewhere in the building, but fortunately, he could hear my voice.
“Kim Hanna and I will hold the line at the plaza in front!”
-I know, you mentioned that earlier.
“Let me know if the Mutant enters the Research Institute!”
-Okay.
When I looked at Kim Hanna beside me, she was checking her stats as she spoke.
“The Royal Guard Captain and five Generals will fight outside with me.”
“Understood. You’re positioning the two Grand Marshals here, correct?”
“For now, yes.”
The awakened Zombie King’s abilities.
She could command one Royal Guard Captain, two Grand Marshals, and five Generals.
When a General was among the zombies, all subordinates within a 500-meter radius gained a 1.5x boost to their physical abilities.
This meant each individual zombie’s base physical stats exceeded 100.
The Grand Marshals possessed physical abilities identical to Zombie King Kim Hanna, while the Royal Guard Captain received stats even higher than the Zombie King.
Specifically, physical abilities twice that of Kim Hanna.
This was a passive skill, and the Royal Guard Captain, Grand Marshals, and Generals each possessed individual skills as well.
Last night, while we held our meeting, Kim Hanna had converted nearby zombies into subordinates.
From what I heard, she had only made those with intact bodies into subordinates and allowed the rest to pass on.
Thus, she had become the King of the Zombies commanding ten thousand subordinates.
“We’ll move to the Main Gate, and have the Generals and subordinates position themselves to encircle the Research Institute.”
“I’ve already given those orders.”
“Let’s go.”
With a deep breath, I stepped through the Main Gate first.
The wave had begun, but there was no significant movement yet.
It was partly because Kim Hanna had cleared the zombies in the area, and partly because we had cleared nearby zombies with our modified vehicles.
A world with no sound whatsoever.
Standing at the center of hell, yet the world was eerily silent.
Was it because of the thick fog blocking my vision and the white noise where nothing could be heard?
My heartbeat grew louder, and sweat pooled in my palms from the tension.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud- Thud-thud-thud-thud-
Before long, the sound of multiple footsteps echoed from a distance.
I drew the curved sword from its sheath and glanced at Kim Hanna beside me.
Kim Hanna glanced at my face briefly, then transformed her ten fingers into sharp blades as she asked.
“Nervous?”
“Nothing to be nervous about. We just do what we’ve been doing.”
I didn’t show it outwardly, but I adjusted my grip on the sword hilt several times due to the tension.
I had no idea how long we’d need to hold out or how many zombies we’d have to eliminate.
There was only one clear condition.
Protecting the Research Institute until vaccine development is complete.
-Doyun, can you hear me?
Park Sanghun’s voice came through next.
-Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok say vaccine development shouldn’t take very long.
At Park Sanghun’s words, I felt an unexpected surge of hope.
Even though development hadn’t succeeded yet, just hearing it wouldn’t take long gave me strength.
-They said research materials are already sufficient, and once they isolate the antibodies from Kim Hanna’s blood, they should be able to make it quickly. They spoke with confidence.
-Kim Hanna’s blood contains neutralizing antibodies, so they’re planning to extract the antibodies from the plasma and test it on mice first.
-According to Bae Hyeonseok, they’re not making the vaccine first but the cure first, and then going through some process to make the vaccine afterward… but I didn’t understand that part.
-Anyway, once it succeeds, they’ll move to the next stage immediately.
If the success of vaccine development remained uncertain, it would be mentally unbearable.
We’d have to continue fighting an endless battle, losing sleep night after night.
As if Park Sanghun had already grasped my psychology, he explained what would happen next and bolstered my spirits.
That hope wasn’t far away.
That we just needed to hold on a little longer.
That we were nearing the ending.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!
Following that, the sound of footsteps approaching this place grew increasingly distinct.
Like hundreds or thousands of buffalo crossing a prairie, the footsteps thundered.
The faint vibration felt through the ground spoke to the scale of the enemy.
Bang-!! Bang!! Ratatatat!! Bang!!
The Shooters at the Brain Research Institute opened fire on the approaching zombies.
Boom-!!!! Boom!!! Boom!! Crash- Kaboom!!
With the thunderous explosions, red light began to shimmer through the fog.
The limbs and blood of the zombies rushing toward us embroidered the empty air, and torn flesh scattered in all directions.
As the fog that had blocked our vision cleared, I could see zombies and Mutants closing in from 100 meters away.
“Wow….”
Seeing their numbers, admiration escaped me involuntarily.
This wasn’t a situation to admire, yet before such an overwhelming force, even fear vanished.
Instead, adrenaline surged, and the pounding of my racing heart felt like exhilaration.
Had I become too accustomed to situations like this?
It seemed that I… was no longer normal.
Boom!!
As I kicked off the ground and charged forward, Kim Hanna, who had been watching the zombies, also cried out to her Subordinates.
“Krrrraaaaaahhhhh!!!”
“Kahaaaaack!!”
Hearing the King’s roar, her Subordinates resonated in turn and charged at the zombies.
But that wasn’t all.
The zombies on the street rushing toward us also began foaming at the mouth and attacking each other.
Even when the number of Subordinates that could be commanded reached its limit, zombies within a certain range who heard the King’s roar would temporarily obey the King’s command.
I knew it was a skill with a daily usage limit, but Kim Hanna had apparently decided this wasn’t the time to count each use carefully.
“Kaaaaaahhhhh!!”
“Crack— Grrrrr… Kahahh!”
In an instant, the plaza transformed into a scene of utter chaos.
A crimson rain poured through the mist, and the dangling flesh and blood vessels of the zombies turned the entire area into a muddy swamp.
Within it, a man wielding a curved blade like a blood-crazed berserker.
Beside him, a woman tearing through zombie bodies like a malevolent spirit intoxicated by slaughter.
Kim Hanna and I became emotionless killing machines, shredding everything that rushed toward us.
Not allowing a single step forward.
A clear line began forming between the Brain Research Institute and the plaza.
Like where a sea and river meet.
The boundary between untouched pavement blocks and earth drenched in blood and flesh.
Ding—!
—Skill ‘Balhwa’ has been activated!
—For the 10 minutes Balhwa remains active, strength, agility, stamina, and movement speed increase by 2 times.
Ding—!
—The ‘Baldo’ effect of the curved blade has been activated!
—Movement speed increases by 20% for 30 seconds.
Faster.
Even faster.
Without a moment’s rest, I processed the zombies.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom boom boom boom boom!
Following that, the ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck, and a massive silhouette began appearing beyond the swirling mist.
Bang!! Ta-bang!! Bang! Bang!! Ta-da-bang!!
Dozens of bullets flew from the direction of the Brain Research Institute.
Their destination was.
Crash!! Boom!! Bang! Kaboom!!
The faces of the Giant Zombies approaching this position.
“Guuuuuuuh…!”
The cries of Giant Zombies echoing through the air like reverberations in a vast cavern.
Boom! Boom boom boom! Ku-boom! Boom!
A massive leg passed over my head and moved toward the Brain Research Institute.
“Kim Hanna!”
“I’ve got the left.”
Kim Hanna rushed toward the Giant Zombie on the left side and delivered a powerful kick aimed at its ankle.
I could see Kim Hanna’s shin transform in that instant.
Crash!!!
With a thunderous sound like stone striking stone, the Giant Zombie’s ankle bone shattered.
As the Giant Zombie lost its balance and fell, Kim Hanna turned her gaze to a muscular zombie beside her.
Short hair and a height reaching 190 centimeters.
Kim Hanna’s Royal Guard Captain.
The moment he received her order, he leaped onto the face of the fallen Giant Zombie.
Crash!! Crunch— Crunch!! Splat! Squelch!
The Royal Guard Captain unleashed relentless strikes until the creature became pulp.
With physical abilities twice as high as Kim Hanna’s, he could pierce through the Giant Zombie’s face without reinforcing any specific body part.
The one on the left would be dealt with soon, so I would….
Boom!!
Pushing off the ground and leaping upward, I soared more than 10 meters into the air in an instant.
As I broke through the mist, the Giant Zombie’s head came into sharp focus.
Sensing my presence, the creature turned its face toward me, so I hurled my curved blade at its eyes.
Whoosh—! Thud!
“Grrrraaaaaahhhhh!!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, it covered its face with both hands and swung its palms toward where I had been standing.
In that split second, I opened the System Message and used an item from my inventory.
“Using Legendary Skill Book. Acquiring Alert.”
[You consume a Legendary Skill Book and acquire the skill ‘Alert’.]
[Alert: You can push off up to 5 times in mid-air.]
This Legendary Skill Book was a reward for clearing the 14-0 Main Episode.
Currently, the only Legendary Skills I could learn were Alert and Lightning Flash.
I had been torn between which one to acquire, but the Giant Zombie had just given me certainty.
What I needed was the passive skill Alert.
Whoosh!
Imagining solid ground beneath my feet, I pushed off.
Tap—!
I soared another 5 meters upward and narrowly dodged the Giant Zombie’s palm by a hair’s breadth.
The Giant Zombie’s balance was shattered and its vision obscured.
I couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
Kicking off the air itself, I descended upon the Giant Zombie’s face like a meteor shower.
…Crash!!!
I struck the crown of its head at supersonic speed.
Can a human head be crushed?
Yes, it can.
The same applies even to a Giant Zombie with the hardest skull imaginable.
The creature’s eyeballs bulged outward, and with a sickening sound of vertebrae twisting, its skull caved inward.
As the Giant Zombie collapsed, I slid down its spine like a slide and landed on the ground.
Boom—!
The corpse of the Giant Zombie crushed the zombies that had been rushing toward this spot.
At the same time, I felt a murderous aura from my temple and hastily raised my guard.
“You startled me—I thought you were a zombie.”
It was Kim Hanna.
Kim Hanna mistook me for a zombie and was about to strike my temple.
At the same time, I was preparing an uppercut aimed at her jaw.
We both startled, withdrew our fists, and laughed awkwardly.
“Where did you go?”
“I needed some air. The fog was too humid in there.”
Kim Hanna smirked as if finding it absurd, then lowered her stance again as she watched Creepers and Zombies trampling over corpses and advancing toward us.
“You’re not tired already, are you?”
“We haven’t even started yet. What about you, Kim Hanna?”
“I’m going first.”
Boom—!

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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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