Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 136

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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 136
Meanwhile, a lone man carved through the battlefield, unlike those sheltering with the group.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Splurt—Crack!!
With each step, zombie heads severed from their bodies, and the acrid stench of blood spread through the haze.
Boom—!! Boom!! Bang!!
Whenever explosions thundered overhead, I pushed off the ground without hesitation, launching myself skyward.
Beyond the billowing smoke and gunpowder reek, the face of a Giant Zombie came into view.
Sangil and Elder Chulmin at the Brain Research Institute provided gunfire support whenever Liquefaction Types and Giant Zombies appeared.
Whoosh—!
I kicked off the air and delivered a spinning heel strike without pause.
Crack—!!
The Giant Zombie’s temple caved in, its eyes rolling back as it collapsed.
I accelerated through the landing and plummeted vertically onto the fallen Giant Zombie’s face, and once its skull was completely crushed, I resumed clearing the remaining zombies.
I had lost track of how much time had passed.
More than an hour had elapsed since the battle began, yet the onslaught of zombies and Mutants showed no signs of diminishing.
Boom—!!
Dozens of zombies came hurtling toward me.
They weren’t simply charging—they were literally flying.
I adjusted my grip on my curved blade and severed every zombie that flew at me, then fixed my gaze on the direction they’d come from.
A presence hovering roughly five centimeters above the ground.
The Eighth Mutant Variant.
“Tell me how many One Strike uses I have left.”
[You have 3 remaining.]
The Skill One Strike granted fifty uses per activation.
I’d already burned through forty-seven, using most of them against Giant Zombies, the Seventh Mutant, and the Eighth Mutant Variant.
Crack!!
As I pushed off the ground and rushed forward like an arrow, the Eighth Mutant Variant opened its maw wide, staring directly at me.
An alien energy rippled from the corners of its mouth.
It was coming.
‘Head-on.’
Boom!!
I quickly shifted direction, and I could see the spot where I’d been standing just 0.01 seconds earlier now caved inward.
Whoosh—!
After narrowly evading, I drove my fist straight into its lower jaw.
Zzzzzt—!
The magnetic field warped as its body was hurled dozens of meters away.
‘I need to be faster.’
Was my speed insufficient?
The magnetic field hadn’t shattered.
I surged toward it like a tidal wave, covering the dozens of meters in an instant.
I clenched both fists and drove another punch forward, channeling the momentum from my charge.
BOOM!!!
Its face exploded in a violent detonation.
I was engulfed in the blast, shielding my face with both hands as searing heat threatened to incinerate my entire body.
Sizzzzzzzzz—
My facial skin blistered and charred, my right hand suffering severe burns.
But my passive Skill Regeneration remained active, and the wounds began closing almost immediately.
The moment I gripped the curved blade again—
“…?”
My right hand wouldn’t obey.
Was it fatigue accumulating?
The effectiveness of Regeneration seemed to be diminishing.
Both hands trembled violently, and the blade’s grip, slick with zombie blood, slipped from my grasp.
Even wiping the hilt with my sleeve was futile—my clothes were already soaked in blood.
I transferred the curved blade to my inventory and retrieved Ssangsudu instead.
Unlike the curved blade, Ssangsudu lacked self-repair functionality, and its blade was completely chipped and broken.
‘This won’t work.’
I stowed Ssangsudu back in my inventory and clenched both fists.
“How much time is left on Frenzy?”
[Skill Frenzy Remaining Time: 2 minutes]
The Frenzy that lasted an hour had dwindled to just 2 minutes remaining.
In that time, I’d eliminated hundreds of Stage 5 Mutants and the Seventh and Eighth Mutant Variants.
But they kept surging forward endlessly.
BOOM!! BANG!! BANG!!
Explosions thundered from all directions.
Was it because I’d stopped moving?
My companions at the Brain Research Institute were unleashing a barrage of explosive fire at the zombies and Mutants surrounding me.
They must have thought I was exhausted.
There was no other choice.
I had to endure, no matter what.
“Hehehehe.”
At that moment, a Stage 5 Water Demon rushed toward me, evading the explosions.
Whoosh—! Whoosh— Whoosh!
It attacked relentlessly, and I dodged every strike while waiting for an opening.
Without the curved blade and Ssangsudu, I couldn’t afford to attack recklessly.
‘The ribs.’
As its next attack aimed at my face came flying, I spotted its exposed ribs left defenseless.
I quickly ducked and unleashed a powerful hook toward its exposed side.
CRACK—!!!
The Water Demon’s ribs and spine shattered in one blow, the sound like splitting stone.
Ding—!
[You have exhausted all uses of One Strike.]
[You cannot use One Strike for 6 hours.]
Perhaps it was because I had only one use of the One Strike Skill remaining.
The Water Demon’s flank tore open from its ribs down to its lower abdomen, spilling its entrails.
“Kiiieek?!”
Yet it didn’t die, staring up at me with panicked eyes.
Boom!!! Crunch— Crack!!
As I drove my fists repeatedly into the fallen creature’s face, its skull caved in completely and it breathed its last.
“Hah….”
I caught my breath and looked around.
An endless tide of zombies.
The zombie wave was far from over.
But….
‘Just a little longer… and the Seventh Mutant will disappear.’
I had fought without rest for over an hour and thirty minutes.
An hour and thirty minutes was enough time for the Seventh Mutant in Seoul to arrive.
Which meant the Seventh Mutant I was seeing now was almost the final wave.
The problem was that Frenzy had very little time remaining.
Whoosh—!
Preparing for the rebound, I hurried toward the Brain Research Institute.
As I reached the main plaza of the Brain Research Institute, avoiding the zombies, a mound of corpses from zombies and Mutants had formed to a height of 4 meters.
“Baek Doyun!”
At the voice from atop the mound, I looked up and spotted Kim Hanna standing on the corpses.
There was no time for lengthy explanations, so I spoke as I climbed the mound.
“The Skill duration doesn’t have much time left.”
“Come back here. Do you need anything?”
“Can you hold the line?”
“How long?”
“I cannot tell you the exact number of minutes. Based on my current fatigue, it’s probably….”
Ding—!
[The duration of Skill Frenzy has ended.]
Immediately after, a System Message appeared before my eyes.
At the same time, a dizzying shock struck my heart, and strength drained from my limbs.
A sensation of oxygen deprivation washed over me, followed by vertigo, and an endless ringing in my ears began.
“Ugh…!”
Unable to maintain my balance, I dropped to my knees, and Kim Hanna examined my condition with an alarmed expression.
“Baek Doyun!”
“Just five minutes… please hold on a little longer.”
“….”
Kim Hanna didn’t respond with words. Instead, her expression filled with concern as she looked at me, then turned back toward the zombies and let out a roar.
“Grrrraaaaaahhhhh!!!”
The moment Kim Hanna’s roar echoed out, the zombies crawling up the mound suddenly turned in unison and charged at the Street Zombies.
“I can buy you some time.”
“…Thank you.”
“Recover quickly and come back out. Without you, Baek Doyun, I won’t last long either.”
Kim Hanna, who had been facing off against Mutants and zombies of Stage 4 and below in this place.
Now that I’d left the battlefield, the Stage 5 variant and the Seventh and Eighth Mutant Variants would come rushing in.
Kim Hanna alone wouldn’t be able to handle that.
My vision spinning, I shook my head vigorously as I entered the Brain Research Institute, and I could spot Do Sohee rushing toward me.
“Lie down!”
Without preamble, she told me to lie down, then placed her hands on my head and heart.
A soft, amber-colored aura began to swirl from Do Sohee’s palms.
“Gasp… your condition is…”
Do Sohee was visibly flustered.
With half-lidded eyes, I looked at Do Sohee and spoke.
“Don’t worry about healing the wounds. Just lower my fatigue.”
“Ah, yes!”
Once the fatigue lifted, the effects of my passive Regeneration Skill would return.
Do Sohee squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on reducing the fatigue accumulating in my body.
“Baek Doyun!!”
Park Sanghun came rushing in right after.
Park Sanghun scanned my entire body with his eyes, then let out a sigh of relief and spoke.
“You’re okay, right? Why are your hands shaking like that?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, how are things inside?”
“The cure development is finished.”
“Already?”
“The System seems to be helping with vaccine development. Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok were surprised too.”
“…What about the others?”
“There’s been no direct damage to the Brain Research Institute yet, so everyone’s fine. But what about the situation outside?”
In response to Park Sanghun’s question, I raised my upper body and spoke.
“We need to move to the next phase.”
“Next phase? What do you mean by that?”
“Kim Hanna and I holding the line outside has its limits. We need to start using the modified vehicles.”
“Then… what should I tell them?”
“Just call Elder Chulmin and Sangil’s Hyung.”
Park Sanghun closed his eyes and pressed his temples firmly, and soon Park Sangil and Elder Chulmin came down to the 1st Floor.
“What’s the next plan?”
Park Sangil asked about the plan the moment he arrived.
There were blisters on his fingers.
I kept pulling the trigger until blisters formed on my fingers.
At that rate, the shoulder supporting the rifle wouldn’t be in good condition either.
“Sangil’s Hyung, Elder Chulmin—can you two drive?”
“Of course. Is driving all we need to do?”
“Yes. We need to buy time by taking out as many zombies and mutants as possible with the modified vehicle.”
“Time? What time?”
“For Kim Hanna and me to recover our stamina.”
“You have a skill that recovers your stamina in one go, don’t you?”
I nodded obediently at Park Sangil’s words and explained.
“That’s true. But I’m saving it for later.”
“Why?”
“The cooldown is one hour. If I use it now, it’ll be hard to endure what comes after.”
“…You mean something bigger is coming?”
“We haven’t even seen the Ninth Mutant Variant yet.”
If the Seventh and Eighth Mutant Variants have appeared, then the Ninth Mutant Variant surely exists as well.
I haven’t seen it even once, but what if it’s an intelligent one?
What if it’s been watching the situation unfold and hasn’t made its move yet?
Whirlwind heals all wounds and restores stamina, but it creates a one-hour cooldown.
Moreover, the physical enhancement effect only lasts five minutes.
I shouldn’t use it for stamina recovery—I need to save it for when I face a powerful enemy.
Park Sangil thought it over carefully, then looked at Elder Chulmin, me, and Park Sanghun as he spoke.
“Vehicle 1 is me and Baek Doyun. Vehicle 2 is Elder Chulmin and Sanghun.”
“I’m going too?”
Park Sanghun looked back and forth between Park Sangil and me with a confused expression.
Even I disagreed with Park Sangil’s plan this time.
“Sanghun needs to stay here. If something happens at the Research Institute, Sanghun needs to alert us.”
“Ah, I see. Then Vehicle 2 is….”
“I’ll go!”
Do Sohee raised her right hand and stood up from her seat.
When Park Sangil made an uncomfortable expression, Do Sohee spoke first.
“It’s just as dangerous inside or outside anyway. I’ll go.”
“Still….”
“I can fight too.”
She was just a middle school student.
But… Do Sohee seemed to have already made up her mind.
I looked at Park Sangil and spoke.
“Hyung, So Hee is a Hunting Dog Federation member too.”
“….”
“She’s the Healing Factor who’s been active in the Search Team the longest.”
In the end, Park Sangil also nodded in agreement and spoke.
“So we just plow through all the Hunting Dogs, right?”
“Yes. Keep killing them until the Ninth Mutant appears or the car breaks down.”
“Okay, easy.”
I hurried over to Vehicle 1 and Vehicle 2, then left final instructions with Park Sanghun at the Main Gate.
“Sanghun, tell Kim Hanna to conserve her stamina.”
“How is she supposed to rest when you’re leaving?”
“Tell her to rotate with the five Generals at the Brain Research Institute.”
“Ah, okay.”
“And the cure that Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok developed—did you test it directly on zombies?”
“Not yet. The system seems to recognize it as a ‘cure.'”
“Just to be safe, verify that too. Have one of Kim Hanna’s subordinates check it—that should work.”
“Leave it to me.”
Kim Hanna’s regeneration ability was noticeably slowing down.
This meant she was accumulating considerable fatigue.
If she rotated with the five Generals inside… she’d have time to recover her strength.
“Sangil’s Hyung, let’s go.”
“Hold on tight.”
Vroom—!! Roooaaarrr!!!
The modified vehicle accelerated hard the moment the door shut.
We surged over the mound formed by zombie corpses, then plunged straight into the blood-soaked Hell.
Roooaaarrr—!!!
Vehicle 2 leaped over the mound and pulled up beside us.
-Ah, can you hear me?!
Do Sohee’s voice crackled through the radio.
Since Park Sangil was focused on driving, I grabbed the radio instead.
“I hear you. Go ahead.”
-Where should we go?
“Follow Vehicle 1. We’re heading to the Costco Intersection to hunt.”
-Roger!
Crunch—! Splat—! Crash!! Thud!!
Zombies were mercilessly shredded beneath the Hunting Dog’s wheels.
As we plowed through them, a familiar silhouette appeared ahead.
“Stage 5 Water Demon! Its mouth is open!”
Park Sangil startled and reached for the steering wheel, so I gripped it and spoke.
“Keep going straight.”

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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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