Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 149

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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 149
“Elder Chulmin, are you finally opening that liquor you brought from Seoul?”
Park Sanghun made a sharp clicking sound with his mouth as he spoke, and Elder Chulmin nodded vigorously in response.
“Excellent, excellent! So then, how about we head back to the Shelter?”
“Everyone, I should have mentioned this earlier… The Shelter has collapsed. Because of the Reinforced Giant Zombie.”
“Ah… So that’s why we came to the Brain Research Institute.”
At Lee Kwanghyun’s words, Elder Chulmin scratched his head, and this time Bae Hyeonseok opened his mouth.
“The Large Apartment Complex across the way should still be intact. Since all the Zombies are now incapacitated, wouldn’t it be good to go there?”
“Haha! Does the location matter? What’s important is the company you’re with. Anywhere is fine!”
Elder Chulmin took the lead toward the Stairs, and everyone gathered on the Rooftop followed behind him.
I set aside thoughts of parting for now and decided to savor this moment with them.

* * *
After finishing a warm bath, I emerged with a tranquil mind as serene as my languid body.
The group already gathered in the Living Room was in the midst of a drinking party.
The adults’ faces had turned red as they raised their glasses, and Elder Chulmin was cheerfully singing a song.
The high school and middle school students laughed while eating snacks and drinking soda, and the children under ten were playing and showing off in front of the adults.
When Kim Suhan pouted about wanting to drink soju, Park Sangha flicked his forehead and spoke.
“Just one glass.”
“Yes!”
High school student Kim Suhan.
He grimaced at his first taste of soju and complained about why anyone would drink such a thing.
The adults watched his expression with affection.
Lee Kwanghyun placed a pretty cherry tomato into Kim Miyeon’s mouth, and she glared at his face as she spoke.
“It won’t work. Don’t even think about following Baek Doyun.”
“Come on, you heard it too, right? We need someone here to handle a Tier 5 Reinforcement Type.”
“…Really?”
“Of course it’s real. How could I go anywhere without you?”
They were a couple with a strong bond.
Meanwhile, Jo Yunhwan gazed warmly at Yeonya as she drank her milk.
From what I’d heard in passing before, Jo Yunhwan had an older sister.
When I asked why Jo Yunhwan was raising his niece, he said this.
His sister’s family had been in a car accident, and Yeonya was the only one who survived that crash.
His older sister, who had filled the void left by his parents in childhood, had passed away, and so he came to raise his sister’s daughter as his own child.
-Because Yeonya is here, I’m not alone either. If Yeonya had also been taken by an accident… I would have had no attachment to this world.
I understood why Jo Yunhwan cherished his niece as dearly as his own life.
Nothing in this world goes according to one’s wishes, yet each person overcame their trials in their own way.
So many tumultuous lives had gathered in this place.
I picked up a fruit platter and stood from my seat.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to blend in with them, or that this gathering felt uncomfortable.
There was still something to settle before moving to Channel B.
I picked up the plate and climbed to the rooftop, settling my weight onto a wooden chair.
Gazing out at the world now free of mist, I popped a cherry tomato into my mouth.
Behind the initial tartness came a subtle sweetness that bloomed across my palate.
I chewed the cherry tomato thoughtfully and murmured aloud.
“Use Skill Conversion Voucher.”
[Please specify which Skill you wish to convert.]
“Whirlwind.”
[Loading….]
The loading message dragged on for quite some time.
Ding-!
[Conversion failed.]
[The special effect of Skill ‘Whirlwind’ cannot be converted.]
“Are you serious….”
I nearly cursed without thinking.
What is this hollow feeling?
Gaia talked as if giving some incredible gift, but then hands me a conversion voucher with restrictions? Seriously?
“What do you mean by special effect? Are you talking about health recovery? That’s the problem?”
[If player Baek Doyun converts Whirlwind, you may reach the limits of a living organism.]
[This could result in fatal consequences for life maintenance.]
So if health keeps recovering, my heart can’t handle it?
What’s the problem with being healed?
This is ridiculous.
And thinking about it… when I pushed my physical abilities to the absolute limit while dealing with the Ninth-Tier Mutant, losing control of my body wasn’t an error either?
If they were going to set up such restrictions, they should have warned me beforehand.
I stared at the System Message before me, lost in thought.
Was there truly no way to transcend these limits?
‘There is a way.’
In Giant Punisher.
In Last Odyssey too—methods exist to surpass human limitations.
If I could grasp both methods in my hands….
Perhaps I might even set foot in the realm of the divine.
“Tell me which Skills can be converted.”
[Checking currently convertible Skills.]
[Challenge of the Tyrant, Single Strike, Frenzy.]
[These three Skills are available for conversion.]
“What?!”
Challenge of the Tyrant and Single Strike I could understand, but Frenzy is convertible?
If Frenzy is convertible… then Challenge of the Tyrant becomes a useless Skill.
I decided to ask about this discrepancy.
[If you convert Frenzy, the physical ability enhancement effect will be transferred, but the immunity to viruses and status ailments will disappear.]
“Challenge of the Tyrant is a Skill with status ailment immunity anyway. That one works, right?”
[Correct. You can only bring one effect through conversion.]
“Then what about the target detection from Frenzy?”
[It disappears.]
So Skills with multiple stacked effects can only carry one of those elements forward.
Then suddenly, a forgotten reward came to mind.
“Using the legendary Skill book I obtained after completing the final episode.”
[You will use the legendary Skill book.]
[Currently, there is only one Skill available to acquire.]
[Lightning Flash Lv.1: Powerful force is added to all starting movements.]
“Got it. I’ll learn that one.”
[You acquire the Skill ‘Lightning Flash’.]
Ding—!
[Lightning Flash Lv.1: Powerful force is added to all starting movements.]
[When moving: The moment you take your first step, you move at a speed equivalent to 3 times your current movement speed.]
[When attacking barehanded: You strike enemies with force equivalent to 3 times the damage you can currently inflict.]
[When using bladed weapons: The sharpness of the blade increases 3-fold along with the draw.]
-All Lightning Flash uses are available 3 times per hour, and the count is shared.
After checking the Skill description, I enhanced it using my accumulated points.
“I still have points left over, right? Upgrade Lightning Flash to the maximum level.”
[You enhance Skill ‘Lightning Flash’ to Lv.5.]
Ding—!
[Lightning Flash Lv.5: Powerful force is added to all starting movements.]
[When moving: The moment you take your first step, you move at a speed equivalent to 5 times your current movement speed.]
[When attacking barehanded: You strike enemies with force equivalent to 5 times the damage you can currently inflict.]
[When using bladed weapons: The sharpness of the blade increases 5-fold along with the draw.]
-All Lightning Flash uses are available once per 5 minutes, and cooldown is shared.
Once raised to maximum level, the 3-fold increase effect changed to 5-fold.
Moreover, the usage limit of 3 times per hour was drastically reduced to once per 5 minutes.
If conversion rights could be used on this as well….
“Can I use conversion rights on Lightning Flash?”
[Loading…]
If it were possible… my strength and movement speed would effectively increase 5-fold.
I waited with bated breath.
Ding—!
[This Skill cannot be converted.]
It doesn’t work.
Well, if it did, that would be too broken.
“Understood. Then I’ll use my 3 conversion rights on Challenge of the Tyrant, One Strike, and Frenzy.”
[Activating Conversion Right.]
[Which effect of Skill Frenzy would you like to apply?]
“Obviously, physical ability enhancement.”
[Beginning conversion.]
Zzzzzt—
Sparks erupted before my eyes, followed by a tingling current that spread across my entire body.
The electricity struck the crown of my head and vanished.
A faint ringing filled my ears, and a sharp pain pierced my temples.
[Conversion complete.]
[Challenge of the Tyrant, One Strike, and Frenzy are now saved as default values for player Baek Doyun.]
[The three skills saved as default values have no cooldown or usage limits.]
Default values?
In simpler terms, that’s essentially passive skills.
Wait, could it be…?
“Show me my current stats.”
[Current Stats: Health 1,224, Strength 1,224, Agility 1,326, Epidermis 1,800, Mentality 1,800]
[Damage Reduction: 15%]
[Points Held: 9,506,788,126.]
[Coins Held: 5]
I stared at the displayed stats, my jaw hanging open in disbelief.
This couldn’t be right.
The One Strike skill’s double attack power effect doubled my health, strength, and agility.
This meant those three stats needed to be doubled for One Strike’s effect to apply.
Moreover, Frenzy’s triple physical ability enhancement not only boosted the three basic stats but also increased epidermis and mentality.
But what truly shocked me was…
I wasn’t wearing gloves right now, nor was I holding Ssangsudu or the curved blade.
I was only habitually wearing arm guards.
Normally, equipping gloves, the curved blade, and Ssangsudu would grant me health, strength, and agility bonuses of 204, 204, and 221 respectively.
Yet the system had converted even the equipment-dependent bonuses into default values.
Given how meticulous Gaia was, this benefit felt both bewildering and suspicious.
“Wait, the stat increases from equipment were also converted to default values? My stats went up even without weapons.”
[That portion received special instructions from Gaia.]
“What kind of instructions?”
[Player Baek Doyun frequently changes equipment during combat.]
[This can cause system errors.]
“…System errors?”
[Player Baek Doyun changes equipment multiple times per second during combat.]
[This leads to overload in the physical ability application system, and the longer the battle, the greater the risk.]
“So you’re just locking everything together? To prevent the overload?”
[Correct.]
What’s going on?
If I know Gaia, when the system becomes overloaded, it would tell me to remove the stat bonuses attached to my equipment.
But it did the opposite.
It changed everything to apply even without equipping them.
Could it be… that Gaia felt sorry for arbitrarily changing the second game I wanted?
‘Well, I’m not complaining.’
Though my conscience pricks me slightly, there’s no reason to refuse.
Crack—crackle.
Following that, I felt the veins throughout my entire body bulge prominently, and a dull ache spread across the nape of my neck.
‘This is… inconvenient.’
Was it because my base physical stats exceeded one thousand?
The overwhelming power hadn’t adapted easily.
At that moment.
Ding—!
[Beginning character optimization process for Player Baek Doyun.]
Whoooosh—
Cool night air enveloped my entire body, the bulging veins subsided, and the ringing in my ears faded.
My body, which had been wrapped in scorching heat, gradually calmed, and my slightly ragged breathing returned to normal.
“What is this?”
Character optimization process?
Did the system’s assistance activate because I complained about discomfort from the dramatically increased physical stats?
It didn’t help when I dealt with the Ninth-Tier Mutant, so why now?
“Tell me about this character optimization process you just mentioned.”
[The Gaia System has maximum stat limits for each main episode.]
[When a main episode is completed, the restriction criteria are relaxed, and the system assists the player in adapting to their changed physical abilities accordingly.]
Ah, so that’s why it mentioned base values.
It seems the system applies optimization based on certain criteria, which it calls base values.
“If using Skills breaks through the stat restriction limits, does the stat program become overloaded from that point on?”
[That is correct.]
Then if I use Skills like Balhwa, Whirlwind, and Lightning Flash in this state… it would overload just like when I dealt with the Ninth-Tier Mutant?
If I use all Skills in my current state, my physical stats would far exceed ten thousand.
Then….
“Ohhh….”
How could I resist this?
When else would I experiment if not now, when it’s safe?
“Activate Whirlwind, Balhwa, and Lightning Flash.”
[Activating Whirlwind, Balhwa, and Lightning Flash.]
Sssssssss—!
My body heated intensely.
Like steam rising from my entire body after intense exercise in the depths of winter, vapor billowed forth from every part of me.
A colossal palm seemed to compress my entire body, the pressure suffocating.
My fists trembled violently as I tensed every muscle against the sudden onslaught.
‘This… this is no joke.’
I feared my own physical capabilities might spiral beyond my control.
Still…
‘Can I move?’
What mattered now was whether I could move at all.
Whether I would overload.
The moment I gripped the armrest of the chair and rose to my feet.
CRASH!!!
‘…?!!’
Moments ago, I had been on the apartment rooftop.
Now the vista from the summit of L Tower sprawled before my eyes.

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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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