Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 160

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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 160
A birthday?
I have never blown out birthday candles in my entire life, so such words hold no meaning for me.
“Why a birthday?”
“Come on, you know.”
“I don’t know, so spit it out. If you don’t tell me now, I’m leaving.”
“Wait, wait! Just a moment, big brother!”
“….”
“Could you… give me this as a birthday present?”
Kim Suhan stood with his hands placed demurely at his navel, twisting his legs nervously.
Park Sangha then approached and flicked Kim Suhan on the forehead.
“Shouldn’t you ask me first? I’m the one who made it.”
“Oh come on, you love me anyway, big brother Sangha.”
“What? Look at this guy. Is today really your birthday?”
“Oh, you fell for it completely.”
Kim Suhan poured out a lifetime’s worth of aegyo all at once.
Park Sangha burst into hearty laughter at the absurdity of it all.
Meanwhile, Elder Chulmin, seemingly anxious, crossed his arms and asked me a question.
“Doyun, didn’t you say earlier that piloting that massive weapon could cause magical runaway?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then… isn’t that machine far too dangerous?”
“With sufficient training, it should be fine. And if it’s Unique grade, the burden shouldn’t be too great.”
“What exactly is this Unique grade?”
At Elder Chulmin’s question, everyone’s gaze turned toward me.
I proceeded to give a brief explanation about the massive weapons.
“Fundamentally, massive weapons exist in five grades: Mass Production, Tactical, Assault, Fortress, and Annihilation—those five.”
“Annihilation is the highest?”
“Yes. All the weapons here currently… fall under Mass Production grade.”
“Then what’s the criteria for distinguishing between the standard grades and the exceptional ones?”
At Elder Chulmin’s question, I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
If he’s asking what the criteria is, what should I say?
When I couldn’t answer immediately, Do Sohee, who had been watching, spoke up.
“Weapons that cannot be manufactured from Giant Punisher’s resources, or cannot currently be manufactured, can be classified as exceptional grade.”
“So there’s more than one exceptional grade?”
When Park Sangha asked at Do Sohee’s words, she nodded and continued.
“Yes. Giant Punisher players called exceptional grade machines ‘Relics.'”
“Relics? Why?”
“Because from the Relic tier onward, each machine has its own name, and mass production isn’t possible.”
“You mean they can’t be mass-produced?”
“That’s right.”
“So I can’t make any more either?”
“I’m not sure about that. Your ability is a setting that doesn’t exist in the game, so… maybe it’s possible?”
At Do Sohee’s explanation, Park Sangha placed his hand on the right foot of the colossal weapon once more and spoke.
“Fabricate immediately.”
[You have exhausted your daily usage count.]
Both I and Park Sangha knew that the usage count had been depleted.
What Park Sangha wanted to know was the next problem.
“So I can fabricate it again tomorrow, right?”
[Your request could not be understood.]
“I’m talking about this colossal weapon I’m touching right now.”
[The Maker Skill is applicable to all devices…]
Zzzzzt— Zzzt— Zzzt—
[Verifying data…]
I thought it would say it was possible, but static-like noise erupted from the message, and text appeared saying data verification was in progress.
And then.
Ding—!
[The above device cannot be fabricated again.]
“What? Why?”
[Unique-grade weapons cannot be mass-produced.]
“So every weapon I fabricate is automatically Unique?”
[The colossal weapon fabricated by Player Park Sangha was not made from minerals existing in Giant Punisher.]
[It is a weapon made from No Way Home’s steel and minerals, and identical units cannot be fabricated.]
In other words, because the colossal weapon was made from No Way Home’s materials, anything I fabricate becomes Unique-grade by default.
However, since the inability to mass-produce Unique-grade items was the fundamental system underlying Giant Punisher, I couldn’t fabricate any more.
The logic was too clean to argue against.
Rather than harboring resentment, Park Sangha simply smacked his lips regretfully and acquiesced without complaint.
He then looked at Do Sohee and asked.
“Continue, So Hee.”
“Yes?”
“Keep explaining. About the Relic-grade you mentioned earlier.”
“Oh, yes! There are a total of three grades within Relic-grade.”
“Is Unique the higher one?”
“No. Unique is on the lower end of Relic-grade.”
Park Sangha looked regretful at Do Sohee’s words.
He seemed disappointed that the weapon he’d fabricated was the lowest among Relic-grades.
“What are the remaining two grades?”
When Hong Yeonhui, who had been listening quietly, asked, Do Sohee counted on her fingers and answered.
“Well… Unique, Legend, and Transcendent. That’s how it goes.”
“Transcendent is the hardest to obtain, right?”
“Yes, there is only one colossal weapon that has ever received the Transcendent grade.”
Everyone’s attention turned toward me.
Park Sanghun asked with a sinister smile.
“You know, don’t you, Doyun?”
“Know what?”
“Where the Transcendent-class colossal weapon is.”
“I do.”
“Just as I thought!”
“But it can’t be operated.”
“Huh?”
As I spoke matter-of-factly, Do Sohee opened her mouth instead.
“That’s right! The Transcendent-class is… already broken.”
“It’s Transcendent-class? How does something like that break?”
“That’s how the setting works. After humanity was defeated in war and fled underground, they created the Transcendent-class unit as a culmination of all scientific technology to fight the monster again… but it was buried underground in an incomplete state due to the earthquake.”
“Incomplete, yet it’s called Transcendent-class?”
“It’s purely a matter of setting. No one has actually confirmed the weapon with their own eyes—it’s only regarded as a legend passed down by word of mouth.”
Park Sanghun smacked his lips and looked at me.
I shrugged, and Park Sanghun turned to Park Sangha and asked.
“Couldn’t the older brother just repair it?”
“Whether it’s repair or construction, I need the Blueprint of the finished product. If it’s incomplete, there’s nothing I can do either.”
Unable to let go of his regret, Park Sanghun sighed and looked at me.
“Doyun, you’re the only one I can trust.”
“I’m not even a game creator—what could I possibly do?”
“You’ve seen the Transcendent-class colossal weapon that no one else has.”
“I only saw it buried underground. And even then, only the head remained.”
It was the same in the game.
Back then, I searched every village like a madman to find the Transcendent-class colossal weapon, digging into the ground like a mole.
All I found was a head, one arm, and one leg.
“Still, if it exists… ”
“Give up.”
“”
“Besides, we can clear the game even without the Transcendent-class weapon.”
“How?”
“A Legendary-class is enough.”
Then Kim Suhan, who had been listening quietly, took on a tense expression.
“In that case… my shoulders feel quite heavy.”
“Huh?”
“The older brother, uncles, grandfather, and So Hee are all Builders. I’m the only one who can pilot a weapon, so I’m the key to this game.”
“”
“Just trust me. I’ll do my best!”
A high school student burning with resolve—Kim Suhan of Korea.
I laughed heartily and spoke.
“I never said a Builder couldn’t pilot a giant weapon, did I?”
“…What?”
“I wanted to choose Builder from the start. The system picked it for me, so I just went along with it.”
At my words, Elder Chulmin’s expression, which had remained composed until now, shifted.
“Don’t tell me Doyun, you….”
“Yes, sir. From the beginning, there was only one giant weapon I was targeting. It’s the weapon I piloted in the game.”
“Could the rank be…?”
“Legendary.”
Clap!
Elder Chulmin clapped his hands vigorously and laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Of course! Doyun, you really are! I knew it would be like this!”
“I told you, didn’t I? My goal is to finish this game as quickly as possible.”
“I heard only Riders can pilot giant weapons. How is there a weapon that a Builder can pilot?”
It might sound like a setting error.
But this too is merely part of the setting, absolutely not an error.
It might look like a bug to others’ eyes, but so what?
Every rule has loopholes.
The twenty-first century world we lived in was no different.
Just as some people exploit legal loopholes, I will exploit the system’s loopholes.
“Legendary rank is called an exceptional grade or artifact grade, as So Hee mentioned earlier. You understand up to here, right?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Let me explain why it’s called an artifact.”
Elder Chulmin’s eyes widened as he asked me back.
“Could it be a difference in manufacturing period?”
“Yes. It’s a weapon manufactured during an era when humanity couldn’t harness mana.”
“…!”
“Remember when I said humanity awakened to mana through long underground living?”
“Ah! Then before the underground period, humanity had no mana…!”
“Exactly. The first giant weapons weren’t mana-powered machines.”
“How did such a precious legacy….”
“Frequent earthquakes destroyed records from the past, and when humanity awakened to mana, new giant weapons and new ranks simply emerged.”
This was information only those who had played the game knew, and specifically only those who had reached the final episode of Stage 2.
This background story appears at the end of Stage 2.
Elder Chulmin asked with wonder, marveling repeatedly.
“Then the legendary rank is also buried somewhere underground?”
“Yes. It’s buried deep underground. We need to find it.”
“So that’s why you said you weren’t interested in factional conflicts.”
It was the reason I hadn’t readily stepped forward when Kim Suhan suggested forming a faction upon arriving in Japan.
Forming a faction would naturally entangle me in factional struggles.
I had planned to search for ancient weapons quietly, away from everyone’s attention.
“Originally, I was going to visit each village and search for traces of legendary weapons.”
“Ah….”
“But after rescuing Lord Sato Takuni’s Faction, things went slightly off course, and a Unique-grade colossal weapon appeared… so I’ll need to revise my plans.”
“Hmm… now that you mention it, we really did stick our noses where they didn’t belong. Sorry about that, Doyun.”
“No, it’s my fault too for not explaining sooner.”
Truth be told, even if I had explained, it would have been difficult for them to understand.
If I’d laid out all this information the moment we arrived in Japan, everyone’s heads would have just been spinning.
So I had planned to explain things step by step as we found each legendary-grade machine one by one, but circumstances spiraled in a different direction.
Park Sanghun approached with a light step and spoke while patting my back.
Thwack—
“Yeah, man! If you’d explained earlier, we wouldn’t have… huh?”
“What? What’s this sound?”
When I glanced over my shoulder, Park Sanghun’s wrist—the one that had just patted my back—was bent at an unnatural angle.
“Ugh, ugghhhhh!”
Park Sanghun grabbed his broken wrist and collapsed right there.
Park Sangha let out a deep sigh and pressed his forehead with his palm.
“Do you have no learning capacity? Last time you hit Doyun’s forearm and broke your wrist, and now you’re doing it again…! Ugh… tsk tsk.”
Here was an older brother sighing instead of worrying when his younger brother’s wrist was broken.
So this is what real siblings are like.
Do Sohee approached with a complicated expression and began treating Park Sanghun’s wrist while speaking.
“Sanghun, please stop hurting yourself like this.”
“Ugh…! No, I was just….”
“That habit of casually tapping people while talking—let’s fix it this time.”
“Ugh… they say old habits die hard….”
Feeling oddly apologetic, I looked at Park Sanghun, and Park Sangha placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke.
“Don’t worry. So Hee will treat him. He’ll be fine.”
“….”
“By the way, you said those ancient colossal weapons were made in an era without magic, right?”
“Yes.”
“How many legendary-grade machines are there among them?”
“As far as I know, about three units. Each one has different characteristics.”
Park Sangha showed curiosity about the legendary-grade colossal weapons.
“Different characteristics? In what way?”
“Long-range specialization, defense specialization, combat and mobility specialization. That sort of thing.”
“Are there legendary-grade colossal weapons that even you don’t know about?”
“Yes, I believe there are more. For now, I’m only telling you what I know.”
After hearing my explanation, Park Sangha seemed to have a question and tilted his head as he asked.
“Then the legendary-grade colossal weapons must have different designs and blueprints from current weapons, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Exactly. There wouldn’t be any space for the mana solution in there.”
“…Ah!”
Could it be?
As I stared at him with widened eyes, Park Sangha’s lips curved upward as he spoke.
“Transcendent-grade crafting might actually be possible?”

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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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