Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 139

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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 139
“Park Sangha!”
As Bae Hyeonseok called out to him with a half-choked voice, Park Sangha slashed at the Mimicry Species without blinking.
“Check Song Junhyeok’s condition first!”
Clear fingerprints remained etched across Song Junhyeok’s neck.
Fortunately, he was still breathing.
“Junhyeok, Junhyeok!”
“Cough! Brother… Cough!”
Song Junhyeok coughed violently, tears streaming down his face.
“Are you okay?! Your neck isn’t broken?”
“I’m… Cough! I’m fine.”
His words said he was fine, but his condition was far from it.
“Healing Factor, Healing Factor! Where is Do Sohee?!”
As Bae Hyeonseok searched for Do Sohee, Park Sangha severed the Mimicry Species’ head while speaking.
“So Hee isn’t here.”
“What?! Where did she go in this situation?!”
“She went outside and is fighting.”
“…What?”
Do Sohee was just a middle school student.
Hearing that such a young girl was fighting outside, Bae Hyeonseok was left speechless.
He himself had faced death confronting a Stage 2 Mimicry Species, yet she was battling zombies in what amounted to hell itself.
Park Sangha swept back his sweat-dampened bangs, then exhaled a long sigh before speaking.
“I apologize. She’s slippery as an eel… I let her slip away.”
“What about the others? What are they doing?!”
“We changed our plan due to Baek Doyun and Kim Hanna’s stamina issues.”
“Ah….”
“We’ve been holding out with alternative methods until Baek Doyun and Kim Hanna regain their strength.”
“….”
“I didn’t tell them because I didn’t want to worry them, but I was careless. I apologize.”
“….”
“Are you alright?”
Bae Hyeonseok’s lips trembled, but he offered no response.
While grateful for being saved, he felt a sting of exclusion at having the plan changed without any explanation.
Recognizing this, Song Junhyeok spoke up instead.
“It’s fine. Thank you.”
“…I’m sorry for being late.”
“No. Your timing was perfect. And… the cure was successful.”
Park Sangha’s gaze followed Song Junhyeok’s toward the man restrained to the bed.
A man who had been a zombie just twenty minutes ago.
Since Park Sangha himself had brought him here and laid him on the bed, the man’s transformation was immediately apparent.
“Grraaahhh!”
“Kahahaack!”
“Kieeeek!!”
Followed by the screams of zombies and mutants echoing through the corridors of the Brain Research Institute.
Park Sangha adjusted his grip on the sword hilt and surveyed the corridor.
“I’ll hold the line here. Please, both of you focus on developing the vaccine.”
“Has the Brain Research Institute been breached?”
“I opened it intentionally. To fight more effectively.”
“….”
“I apologize for not informing you beforehand… I know it sounds shameless, but please understand. The situation is developing far more urgently than we anticipated.”
While Kim Hanna entered the Brain Research Institute to recover her stamina, the five Generals who originally defended it were holding back the zombies outside.
Additionally, with Park Sangil, Elder Chulmin, and Do Sohee venturing outside, gaps had formed in the perimeter defense.
Park Sangha and Park Sanghun were rapidly responding using the barricades installed inside the Brain Research Institute, but controlling all entrances was beyond their capacity.
‘I should have brought more people.’
Park Sangha furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue.
The final episode.
I had anticipated that defending the Research Institute would naturally be difficult.
But fearing the Alliance Members might be endangered, I had deployed only minimal forces for defense.
Wasn’t that a miscalculation?
If this place falls, the group at the Shelter won’t be safe either….
Had excessive consideration invited disaster? I suppressed my anxious thoughts and swallowed my worry.
Patapatapata—!
Followed by the sound of palms slapping against the corridor floor.
Two Enhanced Creepers were crawling madly toward me.
Park Sangha quickly drew a crossbow from his inventory, shouldered it, and fired bolts in rapid succession at the one in front.
Thud-thud-thud! Thwang!
As bolts embedded themselves in the face of the leading creature and it collapsed, the one behind trampled over its fallen ally.
Park Sangha threw the crossbow he had been shouldering to the laboratory floor and drew the curved blade from its sheath.
Swhack!
Drawing the curved blade, I cleaved the Enhanced Creeper’s head clean in two.
“Both of you, focus on vaccine development!”
The situation was far from conducive to research, but there was no other option available.
Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok hurried back to their stations and refocused on vaccine development.
There was only one way these two could end this situation.
Completing the vaccine as quickly as possible was the path to salvation for everyone.

* * *
“Squeeeeeeeal!!!”
A piercing shriek like a pig being slaughtered tore through my eardrums.
In that instant, my legs went limp, and my vision plunged into darkness.
Ding—!
[Challenge of the Tyrant activates.]
[Challenge of the Tyrant: All status abnormalities are cleared, and you gain immunity to status abnormalities for 1 hour.]
Fortunately, as Challenge of the Tyrant activated, confusion didn’t set in.
My ruptured eardrums began healing thanks to my passive Regeneration skill.
But since they weren’t fully recovered, I stumbled as I rotated to the right.
Vroooom—!! Vrooooom!!!
The moment Vehicle 1 and Vehicle 2 heard that pig-slaughter shriek, they surged forward and surrounded me, and Park Sangil rolled down his window, shouting.
“Get in! Fight while you recover!”
“….”
I complied without resistance.
I had 12 uses of Shockwave remaining.
The Seventh and Eighth Mutant Variants kept appearing, and the Giant Zombies couldn’t be ignored either.
The long limbs of the Level 5 Mimicry Species served as obstacles, and the Severing Types and Water Demons that appeared sporadically exploited our weaknesses.
As I climbed into the vehicle, exhausted and drenched in blood, Park Sangil frowned and spoke.
“We need to switch vehicles.”
“What?”
“The modified vehicle’s effects are spent. We need to switch to Vehicle 3 at the Brain Research Institute.”
If the modified vehicle’s effects were exhausted, I could no longer face Giant Zombies and Level 5 Mutant Variants.
I gripped the radio and asked.
“So Hee, how many uses does Vehicle 2’s effect have left?”
-All spent! What about Vehicle 1?
“Head back to the Brain Research Institute. Once we’re inside, we’ll make our stand indoors.”
-Indoors? Roger!
It had been about 40 minutes since we drove out in the modified vehicle.
Zombies still surged forward like a tsunami, but the number of Mutant Variants had clearly decreased.
More than 2 hours had passed since vaccine development began, so the Level 5 Mutant Variants from Seoul must have arrived long ago.
Which meant… there were no more dangerous ones left.
It bothered me that I hadn’t seen the Ninth Mutant Variant yet, but perhaps I was just being overly cautious.
After all, the Seventh and Eighth Mutant Variants weren’t at No Way Home originally.
So the Ninth Mutant Variant might not exist.
Honestly, if a Ninth Mutant Variant existed in this situation… that would be crossing the line.
Thud-thud!! Crash!! Crack—!! Bang!!
As I trampled through the zombies and reached the plaza of the Brain Research Institute, I noticed the zombies there suddenly parting to create a path.
I grabbed the radio and shouted.
“The zombies opening the path are Kim Hanna’s subordinates! Elder, please drive carefully!”
Vehicle 2, which had been charging toward the zombies, suddenly wrenched the steering wheel and fell in behind Vehicle 1.
The hill that had been 4 meters high had somehow doubled in elevation.
An ordinary mound now loomed like a mountain.
“Sangil’s Hyung, over there—let’s go up the gentler slope.”
“Okay.”
Was it because the hill was made from zombie corpses?
No matter how gradually we angled our approach, the wheels spun uselessly, unable to crest the hill.
Eventually, we abandoned the vehicles at the base and proceeded on foot.
Clang!
As I forced the door open roughly, what greeted us was not our allies.
“Grraaagh… Cough! Cackle!”
“Screeeech… Kyaaaaa!”
The 1st Floor of the Brain Research Institute was packed with zombies.
Park Sangil, Elder Chulmin, and Do Sohee, without hesitation, began pounding the zombies while clearing the interior.
“Doyun!”
Park Sanghun’s voice called out from the 2nd Floor.
Looking up, I spotted Hong Yeonhui and Park Sanghun on the stairs leading to the 2nd Floor, firing bolts at the zombies.
Urgently cutting through the horde, I climbed to the 2nd Floor as Hong Yeonhui continued firing bolts while asking:
“What’s the situation outside?!”
“I don’t see any Stage 5 Mutants anymore. What’s happening here?”
“Mutants and zombies keep pouring in through the interior.”
“Kim Hanna’s subordinates are holding back the zombies outside, but what about these ones?”
“They’re coming through the side entrance! A gap opened up when Elder and Park Sangil pulled back!”
The side entrance—that would be Research Wing B’s entrance.
The Brain Research Institute consists of three wings total.
Research Wing A and Research Wing B, plus the Experimental Animal Center.
Thunk! Thunk-thunk! Thunk!
Hong Yeonhui continued firing bolts, then her hand moved toward a box on the floor.
Molotov cocktails.
Whoosh—!
She lit one and hurled it straight through the gaps in the 1st Floor barricade.
Crash! Flames erupted!
As the zombies with burning lower bodies tangled together, Hong Yeonhui shook out her tingling right hand and asked:
“There are barely any Stage 5s left now, right?”
“Why is your hand like that? Are you hurt?”
“I’ve been pulling the trigger for hours. My fingers barely move.”
Blisters covered Hong Yeonhui’s index finger, burst and weeping.
The way her hand trembled suggested she no longer had the strength to pull the trigger.
“Where is Kim Hanna?”
There was no time to ask if she was okay.
Everyone was exhausted, wringing out every last ounce of strength they had left.
When Hong Yeonhui glanced at Park Sanghun beside her, he gestured for her to follow.
“They’re in the Research Laboratory.”
“The Research Laboratory?”
“Yeah, all the Mutants that came inside are heading there.”
“Show me the way.”
“Come on.”
As I followed Park Sanghun toward the Research Laboratory, Park Sangil’s voice called out from behind me.
“We’ll hold the line here!”
“Understood!”
Since I couldn’t leave Hong Yeonhui alone, Park Sangil, Elder Chulmin, and Do Sohee helped defend the Main Gate.
Hong Yeonhui finally relaxed and sank to the ground.
Do Sohee tended to her wounds while keeping watch over the situation.
Now that I thought about it, where were Kim Suhan, Kang Haneul, and Han Hye-ri?
“Sanghun, where are the kids?”
“They’re holding the back entrance.”
“Where’s the back entrance?”
“The Experimental Animal Center, then left down the Corridor.”
“Can the three of them hold it?”
“Three is plenty.”
Should I have brought more people?
My companions possessed physical abilities twenty times that of ordinary humans.
I’d thought our current numbers would be sufficient, but we were falling short.
No matter how much I enhanced my stamina and strength, facing an endless tide of zombies like this was overwhelming.
But calling in the Defense Team was out of the question….
‘Who would protect the children?’
I couldn’t bring them here either.
Damn it.
Clicking my tongue sharply at the seemingly endless situation, I headed toward the Research Laboratory.
The Corridor leading to the Research Laboratory was strewn with congealed blood and fragments of flesh I couldn’t identify.
Then Park Sangha and Kim Hanna came into view.
“Baek Doyun!”
Park Sangha rushed toward me in a single stride and suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me forward.
“Baek Doyun has arrived!”
Bae Hyeonseok and Song Junhyeok gasped as if they’d encountered a savior, rushing toward me.
Song Junhyeok immediately seized my wrist and spoke.
“Please, we need your blood.”
“What?”
“The vaccine. The final component appears to be Buster’s blood.”
As I faltered at the sudden request, Bae Hyeonseok beside me opened his mouth.
“The cure was successful. So hurry and give me your blood.”
Her words tumbled out in disarray.
Everyone looked pressed for time, so I first washed away the dried zombie and mutant blood caked on my wrist.
As soon as I drew my curved blade and sliced my wrist, Song Junhyeok thrust a syringe forward as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“Now, could you explain? Why is my blood necessary for vaccine production?”
“We need the antibodies in Buster’s blood to complete it. The antibodies from just those two people over there aren’t enough.”
Those two people over there?
I understood about Kim Hanna, but the other man was someone I’d never seen before.
“He’s the one who showed the cure’s effects.”
At Park Sangha’s words, I let out a brief exclamation and nodded to the man who had returned to human form.
The man accepted the greeting with a bewildered expression.
Bae Hyeonseok examined my blood under the microscope, then clenched his fist tightly as he spoke.
“This is indeed the final key.”
“What do you see?”
“Baek Doyun, do you remember Buster’s character setting?”
Of course I remembered.
We’d touched on it briefly before, but Buster was originally a person with a physical disability.
Someone who used a wheelchair, and whose body began to change after being bitten by a zombie—that was the setting.
It was information I’d heard from a man named Yun Taeseong long ago.
Bae Hyeonseok continued examining the microscope as he spoke.
“To create the vaccine, we need a total of three antibodies: viral envelope destruction and replication enzyme suppression, toxic protein decomposition, and immune response induction with mutation suppression.”
“….”
“The antibodies from the person who returned from zombie to human contained the first element, and Kim Hanna’s antibodies contained the second element.”
“Then the final immune response induction and mutation suppression….”
“Yes. It exists in Buster’s blood.”

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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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