Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 163

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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 163
As I furrowed my brow and asked, the man approached me with both fists trembling.
“Why? Should I hit you?”
Smack!!
He actually did it.
The man struck my cheek with all his might using his right hand.
The result was….
“Huh?”
“You asked for it. You asked if I would hit you.”
“Ahhhhh!”
Just as it had happened with Park Sanghun, the man’s wrist shattered.
Was it because he struck with all his strength?
His wrist bent at an unnaturally grotesque angle.
“What are you doing!”
The remaining three Lords shot to their feet and gripped their weapons.
Giant Punisher, themed after the Industrial Revolution era.
Yet they wielded katanas in their hands.
As if they had collectively regressed, it evoked images of Japan’s Sengoku period.
Regardless, I swept my gaze lightly across the Lords’ expressions and asked.
“Who is Rank 24?”
“….”
“You, sitting at the head seat. Are you Rank 24?”
“This is a gathering of representatives from each faction. Show some respect, Korean.”
“That’s rich coming from people who shackle guests and strike them across the face.”
Crack!
I tore the shackles apart with raw force, dusted off my palms, and walked to an empty seat to sit.
“H-how did you break the shackles…!”
“…!”
“C-could they be defective?”
Bewilderment flickered across their faces.
Yes, I knew well that Giant Punisher’s shackles were no ordinary restraints.
Ordinary people couldn’t break free even if they died and came back, and even fighters capable of using mana found it difficult.
That was only from the perspective of ordinary people.
Since I was far from ordinary, how could they possibly restrain me ordinarily?
“Why are you all standing? Sit down. My neck hurts.”
“….”
“I said sit.”
As I spoke with creases forming on my forehead, they exchanged glances with Rank 24 and gradually took their seats one by one.
“Sato! Come in!”
I called out while gazing toward the outside, and Sato, still bound in shackles, entered.
I tore off Sato’s handcuffs with brute force and turned to the Lords seated around the table.
“Gentlemen, don’t you have another chair?”
“….”
“Our representative has nowhere to sit.”
“A, a chair is….”
“What’s your rank?”
“What?”
“I’m asking what rank you are.”
Looking at the man on my left, he stammered out a response.
“I’m… Rank 50.”
“Why aren’t you getting up?”
“But… you just told me to sit.”
“Now that our representative is here, you should give up your seat.”
I shouted with irritation, and Rank 50 Lord glanced at Rank 24 before standing up.
It seemed Rank 24 was the leader here.
Not equals in alliance, but hangers-on trying to scrape together scraps from Rank 24.
“Hey, Rank 50.”
“Huh?”
“Take Rank 79 out of here.”
“I, I have an obligation to attend this meeting….”
“You’re not leaving?”
“What gives you the right to be here?”
“Me? I’m Sato’s right hand.”
“That means you’re not even a Lord!”
“So, are you confident about that?”
I stood up and stared at Rank 50’s face so intensely it seemed to bore through him. He swallowed hard and looked at the fallen Rank 79.
“H, he looks like he needs urgent treatment. I’ll help him out.”
With no choice in the matter, Rank 50 helped Rank 79 to his feet and left the room.
Now only Rank 24, Rank 29, Sato, and I remained.
I slouched back in my chair with both legs propped up on the table.
Arms crossed, legs crossed, I spoke while looking at the three Lords.
“Shall we talk?”
“Baek Doyun, even so, this is a bit….”
“This is the forum for dialogue that Sato wanted. Try to convince us with words.”
“….”
Sato glanced at Rank 24 and Rank 29, his expression awkward.
He was the strongest force here, yet he was taking a submissive stance.
I had deliberately set the mood to tell him not to lose confidence.
“Are you… Sato Takuni?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Younger than I expected.”
The Rank 24 Lord seated at the head of the table interlaced his fingers as he spoke.
A man who appeared to be in his fifties.
The Rank 29 Lord beside him looked to be around the same age.
The Rank 24 Lord seemed deeply uncomfortable with the current situation, exhaling a long sigh before opening his mouth.
“Your faction recently became Rank 2, I hear.”
“Not recently. It happened thirty minutes ago.”
“How did you manage that?”
“Pardon?”
“An increase of 100 in faction power means you’ve taken command of 100 Lords, doesn’t it?”
“….”
“The thing is, looking at you now, you don’t appear to be someone who just returned from war.”
The Rank 24 Lord suppressed his agitated emotions and continued speaking as calmly as possible.
Sato didn’t answer and simply looked at my face.
Was he asking for help?
This is something the leader should handle.
What good is a leader of Rank 2 if he’s like this?
He seemed uncertain whether it was appropriate to discuss the Unique-grade colossal weapon.
Left with no choice, I opened my mouth instead.
“Listen here, Rank 24. Don’t overstep.”
“What line have I crossed?”
“We ask the questions. Since when does Rank 24 take a superior tone with Rank 2?”
“The arrogance is coming from your attitude right now——”
“You put shackles on our guest from the moment we arrived. I don’t think this is a situation where I should be polite.”
“….”
“Have you ever been slapped out of nowhere? If you’re curious, we could chat after you take one.”
As I glared at the man with a frown, he drew a deep breath into the depths of his lungs and exhaled slowly.
Soon after, he rose from his seat and, bowing slowly, spoke.
“I apologize. My subordinates were disrespectful.”
“….”
What is this? Now I’ve become the villain.
In an instant, I’d been cast as the antagonist.
I straightened my posture and asked.
“But there’s something I’m curious about.”
“You think I’ll answer?”
“Of course. If you don’t answer, your lives end here.”
As I spoke with a casual shrug, the Rank 24 Lord stared intently at my face instead of responding.
The expression of someone wondering what I’m relying on.
He seemed to think I had something substantial backing me up.
“Who gave you orders to do this?”
No matter what Rank 24 said, I had already made my point.
We were the ones asking questions, not the ones obligated to answer them.
Rank 24 raised the corners of his mouth as if finding the situation absurd, then asked.
“Orders? Do you think I’m taking instructions from someone behind the scenes?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Ahahahahaha!”
Rank 24 collapsed into his chair and laughed heartily.
“Listen here, young friend. Do I look like someone who takes orders from anyone?”
“How would I know? I’m seeing you for the first time today.”
“Then what basis do you have for such suspicion?”
“Well, isn’t it obvious? Rank 24, Rank 29, Rank 50, and Rank 79 suddenly declared war on Sato’s Faction. And right at the moment we went from Rank 3 to Rank 2.”
“….”
“Not an alliance request, but a declaration of war? Is this some new form of suicide?”
When I tilted my head in confusion, Rank 24 continued with a satisfied smile.
“I mentioned it earlier—if you raised your faction’s power by 100 points all at once, it would be right after finishing a major war.”
“So you were planning to strike while we were weakened?”
“It seems you still have hidden strength. That’s not the attitude of weakened people.”
“….”
“Or is this a gambit to sway our resolve? Is that why you came running like a dog with its tail on fire?”
Rank 24 spoke as if deliberately letting me hear such thoughts.
Was he trying to provoke my pride?
Unfortunately, I possessed no such thing.
I had never owned pride since birth, and I judged everything rationally and objectively.
When I stared intently at Rank 24’s face, he didn’t avert his gaze and met my stare with equal intensity.
Sato looked back and forth between our faces, then spoke with a bitter smile.
“Well, let’s stop here. Let’s get to the main point.”
“….”
“Rank 24 Lord. Are you Aizawa?”
“Haven’t you been conversing with my right hand all this time? What good is it if you see but don’t understand?”
“I have something I’d like to ask you.”
Aizawa leaned his upper body against the chair’s backrest and crossed his arms.
Just from the way his eyes were half-lidded, it was clear he was looking down on Sato.
Rather, he seemed curious about me.
“Go ahead. I’ll listen.”
When Aizawa spoke arrogantly, Sato straightened his posture and spoke.
“I’ll be frank with you.”
“….”
“Please cease your declaration of war.”
“…What?”
Aizawa raised the corners of his eyes and stared at Sato with a blank expression for a moment.
Not long after, Aizawa burst into raucous laughter.
“Puhahahaha!! So you came all this way to beg after all? Because you want to live?”
“That’s not it.”
“What do you mean it’s not? Cease the declaration of war, you say—why should we?”
“That’s because….”
“If we just take your faction, we’ll rise to second place. What reason do I have to do that?”
“Because it’s greed.”
Sato Takuni didn’t back down and stated his position clearly.
I simply stroked my chin and observed the situation unfold.
Regardless of being a figurehead, this was still Sato Takuni’s faction.
I wanted to see how resolute his conviction truly was.
Sato Takuni opened a System Message as he spoke.
“Look at this directly.”
“What is this?”
“You still don’t understand?”
At Sato Takuni’s question, Aizawa stared silently at the System Message.
I could see his brow twitch in response.
“What is this….”
“As a Lord yourself, you must check this daily. How many factions exist in Japan.”
“….”
“You’ve been checking the rankings every day, watching which factions are chasing from behind.”
A characteristic of the rankers.
Checking the rankings every single day.
How much stronger the factions above have become, how much the factions below have climbed up.
Confirming this daily, they live in constant anxiety.
The pressure of not falling behind and the unease of the gap widening.
Sato Takuni also checked his faction’s metrics daily, and he knew precisely how many factions remained.
“As you can see, Japan’s factions remain at 1,820. Unchanged.”
“….”
“We haven’t waged war. Without war, we’ve increased our faction metrics by 100.”
“How… is that possible?”
Aizawa’s demeanor grew noticeably more composed.
The System wouldn’t lie, and neither would Sato Takuni.
I could tell from his expression alone that Aizawa’s mind was in turmoil.
Sato Takuni closed the System Message and spoke.
“Are you curious?”
“….”
“Then tell me honestly. Whose orders are you following?”
Aizawa kept his lips firmly sealed, offering no response.
Aizawa stared blankly at the water glass on the table, lost in thought.
At that moment, the Rank 29 Lord standing beside Aizawa opened his mouth.
“W-we’re not just following orders, you know!”
“Now listen here!”
Aizawa’s eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at the Rank 29 Lord.
The Rank 29 Lord, no longer hiding his intentions, spoke while looking directly at Aizawa.
“Listen, Aizawa. You need to think carefully about this.”
“….”
“If what this young friend says is true, then there’s a way to increase our faction’s power without killing each other.”
“That’s….”
“We don’t need to fight among ourselves anymore. We can stop the monsters without fighting!”
It seemed the Rank 29 Lord had never wanted a war between humans in the first place.
But he had been forced to choose a side to survive, and now he harbored hope at the thought that he no longer needed to do so.
Aizawa furrowed his brow and glared at the Rank 29 Lord.
Since what the Rank 29 Lord said wasn’t entirely wrong, he couldn’t easily refute it.
Sato Takuni, observing the situation, interlaced his fingers and asked calmly.
“Just for a moment… open your hearts to us.”
“….”
“We can end this game together without shedding each other’s blood.”
“….”
“Don’t you truly understand that this war only costs us our comrades? Our real enemy isn’t each other—it’s the monsters out there.”
At Sato Takuni’s sincere words, Aizawa washed his face with both hands and remained silent for a long moment.
Was it still not enough?
Sato Takuni let out a long sigh and continued.
“To be honest… I have no talent for politics.”
“….”
“I have no scouts, and I’m slower at responding to situations than all of you. So I’m asking you.”
“…For what.”
“Give me your information.”
“….”
“If you tell me everything you know, I’ll overlook today’s declaration of war.”

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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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