Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 27

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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 027
“Sangil, where are those people right now?”
“Building 105, where we were initially.”
“They’ve been there since the beginning?”
“No, we found them in Building 201.”
Building 201 was to the northwest of the Safe House.
It was a building located at the edge.
Then….
They had positioned themselves in a place easy to escape from, keeping in mind the possibility of failing to activate the Safe House.
What a slippery bastard.
“Would it be alright if I met them?”
“Huh? Are you planning to travel with those people?”
Park Sangil stared at me in disbelief.
I shook my head and answered.
“No. I need to see what kind of people they are. They’ll probably stay here until the second episode begins for them.”
“That’s what bothers me. We can’t kick them out, and they don’t seem like they’d leave even if we told them to.”
“They won’t leave even if it kills them. This is their last chance to earn points safely.”
“Earn points safely?”
“Yes. Once the Safe House disappears, we’ll have to take turns standing watch every night.”
“Ah….”
“This is the only time everyone can sleep peacefully.”
The expressions of the people in the living room turned serious.
I looked at Park Sangha and asked.
“Sangha, I’m sorry to ask, but could you make me just one weapon?”
“Should I make it identical to the others? Or would you prefer a blunt weapon?”
“A curved blade, please. Weapons made with the Maker’s ability work well against both zombies and mutants.”
“That works well? Against zombies sure, but against mutants… it’s not that easy.”
“All mutants possess regenerative abilities. Weapons made with the Maker’s ability nullify that.”
When a zombie’s neck is cut with a weapon crafted by the Maker, it dies instantly on the spot.
With other weapons, even if the head is severed, the zombie often remains alive for several seconds or even minutes.
To prevent the misfortune of being careless and attacked at the ankle, the Maker’s weapon is essential.
Similarly, the Maker’s crafted weapons possessed the power to diminish a mutant’s regenerative ability.
Park Sangha shrugged and spoke.
“You’re heading out right now? Wait five minutes.”
“I’ll go with you.”
As Park Sangil stood up and grabbed his weapon, Park Sanghun, Gwak Cheolmin, Kim Suhan, and Kang Haneul also equipped their weapons.
Somehow, the people who had hunted mutants together had become an elite team for outdoor activities.
I smiled bitterly and spoke.
“I could go alone….”
Then Park Sangha, who was crafting the weapon, looked over at me and spoke.
“Doyun, didn’t I tell you about this before?”
What did he say before?
Ah, that thing he told me on the stairs last time.
He said not to carry everything alone.
‘Is this about that?’
I’m just more comfortable doing things by myself…
There was no need to bring up that conversation again here, so I chose silence instead of words.
Then Park Sangil, who had been observing the situation, spoke while putting on his protective gear.
“I’m coming with you. Those people felt oddly distant somehow.”
“Distant?”
“Like they were intoxicated with some kind of superiority complex or something. Living off our Safe House like that—it’s irritating.”
“…”
“If you go alone, a fight might break out. I should go and keep an eye on things.”
“Hyung, you seem more likely to start a fight.”
“Puhaha! What kind of joke is that. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
Then Park Sangha, Park Sanghun, Gwak Cheolmin, Kim Suhan, and even Kang Haneul all stared blankly at Park Sangil’s face.
No one spoke, but their bitter smiles conveyed their true feelings.
Park Sangil felt their gazes and smacked his lips while scratching his head.
“Really… you all think that? That I’m likely to start a fight?”
“Hahaha.”
Park Sangha only laughed instead of answering differently.
That was answer enough.
Once the equipment was finished, Park Sangha spoke while inspecting the curved blade.
“It’ll be better than the weapon you used before. My proficiency has improved from constantly crafting equipment, so it’s become much sharper.”
I received the equipment from Park Sangha and examined the blade.
The satisfying weight when swinging it felt just right, and the sharpness of the blade was excellent.
“I’ll use it well. Thank you, hyung.”
“Just tell me anytime you need something else.”
Park Sangha smiled contentedly, put on his protective gear, and picked up his weapon.
Was Park Sangha planning to come along too?
I waved my hand and spoke.
“No. Sangha hyung, please stay here.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just in case.”
As I spoke while looking at the children in the living room, Park Sangha understood my intention and lowered his curved blade.
“Right, we need a defensive team too.”
There’s Lee Kwanghyun, high school students, middle school students, and elders, but we need at least one person who can act calmly with rational judgment in urgent situations.
Lee Kwanghyun was good at following orders, but he was weak at taking the initiative.
The elders were somewhat stubborn and could make poor decisions in urgent situations.
This was the assessment of our group’s personalities that I had gathered while enduring the zombie waves.
That’s why it’s right to leave Park Sangha here—he’s the most composed and rational among us.
“Let’s head to Building 105.”
I spoke to the elite team.
The street was still drenched in heavy rain.
Part of me wanted to rest for a few days, but if not now, there would be no time to focus on “hunting” with peace of mind.
So before setting out to hunt, I needed to meet with these troublesome roommates first.

* * *
Park Sangil, Park Sanghun, Kim Suhan, Kang Haneul, Chulmil Grandfather, and myself.
We arrived at Building 105, cutting through the downpour.
As we opened the common entrance and walked toward the stairs, voices came from Unit 106.
“Hey, can I really trust just you on this? That’s not what you said at first!”
“How was I supposed to know the episode would end this quickly? And besides, who’s the reason the zombie cleanup is taking so long?”
“Are you saying it’s because of me?”
“Isn’t it? If you hadn’t messed up…!”
“What? You punk who still has milk on your lips!”
They were shouting back and forth.
Regardless, I took a deep breath and knocked on the entrance.
Knock, knock—
The loud voices inside fell silent.
Then came the sound of footsteps approaching the shoe rack, and a youthful voice called from beyond the door.
“Who is it?”
“Who else? The owner of the Safe House.”
I needed to make this clear.
Who was the owner and who were the tenants.
Speaking calmly, the entrance cracked open and a male student, appearing to be around 170 centimeters tall, poked his head out.
He startled at the sight of our equipment, then swallowed hard and asked.
“What’s this about?”
“I heard someone here knows about the episodes to come.”
“….”
“May we come in and talk?”
The male student hesitated, but before long, he opened the entrance wider.
“Please, come in.”
I could sense it instinctively.
That this student was a No Way Home Player.
I could tell just from how he startled at the sight of our equipment.
Stepping into the living room, three middle-aged men and one woman were seated in a circle.
The young woman, appearing to be in her mid-twenties, glared at us with a hostile expression.
Ignoring her gaze lightly, I spoke to the Dae O Apartment Survivors.
“While you stay in the Safe House, we will cause you no harm.”
“….”
“In return, you shouldn’t touch us either.”
“Is that why you came here?”
One of the middle-aged men furrowed his brow and asked.
I nodded calmly in response.
“Yes. I came to say exactly that.”
“Who do you think you are, ordering people around?”
From his voice alone, I could tell he was the man who had been raising his voice at the male student.
“If you don’t like it, you can leave the Safe House.”
“Are you the leader here or something?”
“That’s not something I’d expect to hear from someone freeloading in someone else’s Safe House.”
As I spoke matter-of-factly, the middle-aged man glanced sideways at Park Sangil standing beside me.
Then he snorted, deliberately irritating Park Sangil.
“What, you’re still alive?”
“Yeah.”
Park Sangil’s answer was short and direct.
Whether that answer touched a nerve, the middle-aged man furrowed his brow as he spoke.
“Your words are few?”
“We’re not close enough for me to say much, are we?”
“This bastard… couldn’t even speak at school and just stammered.”
“My memory’s a bit different. When I suggested we go out and find food, wasn’t it you who whined that you were scared?”
“What?! Who said I whined?!”
Park Sangil shrugged his shoulders and let out a snort of laughter.
The middle-aged man then laughed as if dumbfounded and spoke.
“Puhaha! This place is a mess too. There are so many people following orders from a kid?”
“Isn’t that the same for you?”
Park Sangil didn’t back down.
Instead, he looked the male student who had opened the entrance up and down, then snorted and asked.
“What, the leader here is a minor? Hiding behind a minor—nothing’s changed from before, huh? Is that your preference?”
Park Sangil tilted his chin up, deliberately needling the middle-aged man.
As the middle-aged man’s face flushed red and then pale, Park Sangil pressed harder.
“Oh my, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you? Your face turned red.”
“What the hell is this bastard?!”
“You’re even shy, which doesn’t match your age.”
“Do I look like this bastard’s lackey?! Huh?!”
I could roughly understand the situation.
A man trying to assert dominance through age and a No Way Home Player who had lost control.
Their relationship wouldn’t last long.
I didn’t care what happened to them.
What mattered to me was one thing.
“Student, would you be willing to share the information you know with us?”
I’ve watched No Way Home’s endings countless times, even the true ending.
But there could be endings I don’t know about, and there’s no guarantee that those settings won’t manifest in reality.
That’s why I came here—to bridge the gap between what I know and what you know.
Perhaps there was a setting in No Way Home where Mutants appeared in the first episode.
The male student glanced at the people in the living room, then spoke while wetting his lips.
“Could we talk outside?”
What an idiot.
What are you doing saying that here?
Hearing the male student’s words, I reflexively looked at the middle-aged man.
As expected, the middle-aged man’s expression twisted.
“Hey, what the hell are you thinking?! Speak up here, you bastard!”
When the middle-aged man intimidated him, the male student trembled with both fists clenched tight.
It wasn’t fear making him shake.
He was angry, but the man’s presence was suppressing him from expressing it.
As the middle-aged man strode toward the male student, Park Sangil stepped in front of him and spoke.
“Why are you picking on a kid? Is it his fault you’re pathetic?”
“What the hell, you bastard?!”
The middle-aged man grabbed Park Sangil’s collar, but Park Sangil instantly seized his arm and twisted it into submission.
“Ahhh!!”
“You grabbed my collar first, right?”
Park Sangil spoke calmly while looking at my face.
His expression suggested he’d done nothing wrong.
Then Park Sanghun, who had been watching the situation, separated the two and spoke.
“Whoa, whoa, big brother, let go of his arm.”
“….”
“That’s why I came along. To keep an eye on you.”
“What am I? That bastard grabbed my collar first. You trying to fight?”
“Come on, do you think I don’t know you? You had that look like you were hoping to get grabbed.”
Park Sangil seemed confident in hand-to-hand combat.
Whether you’d call it aggressive or direct.
His emotional behavior wasn’t bluster.
He didn’t have backing or some other trump card.
He simply trusted his own fighting ability.
Park Sangil pointed at the middle-aged man and spoke.
“You should consider yourself lucky.”
“You little…!”
“What, bastard.”
“You punk…!”
“I may be young, but thirty-five means I’ve eaten enough to know better, doesn’t it?”
“….”
“And is your greatest life achievement just getting older?”
Park Sangil seemed to be enjoying this situation, his lips curling into a continuous smirk.
That sinister smile made the observer’s legs go numb.
Meanwhile, Park Sanghun exhaled deeply and shook his head.
I looked at Park Sanghun and asked.
“Sanghun, is your older brother Sangil good at fighting?”
“He became a decent person after getting married.”

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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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