Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 3

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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 003
The character Buster.
A character with no outstanding abilities and inferior early-game stats compared to others.
Back when I played No Way Home, questions like this used to pop up on Yanben.
-Are people who play Buster masochists?
-Only moss-covered veterans who enjoy self-imposed hard mode play this character.
To casual players, it could only appear that way.
No abilities whatsoever, and even the early physical stats were seriously inferior compared to other characters.
But if you just survive long enough, the survivability and attack power become absurdly good.
In an apocalyptic world, zombies aren’t the only threat to watch out for.
Especially if the setting is No Way Home.
Conflicts with other survivors, battles against zombies, threats from all manner of mutations.
The core of all survival comes down to physical ability.
They say if your mind is weak, your body suffers. But conversely, if your body is excessively strong, your mind doesn’t need to suffer at all.
“Use points.”
[Would you like to move to the points shop?]
“No need to move. I’m going to raise my stats with points.”
[Using Buster’s ability.]
[100 points are required to raise one stat. Will you still invest?]
“15 each for stamina and agility, 10 for strength.”
[Consuming 4,000 points to raise stamina and agility by 15, and strength by 10.]
While other characters can only raise their stats through equipment, Buster can convert points directly into stat increases.
Having obtained 4,000 points for free at the start, Buster was simply the best choice for me.
“Show me the stat information.”
[Stats: Stamina 20, Strength 15, Agility 20, Epidermis 5]
The epidermis stat might seem somewhat cryptic.
It’s also a stat that other characters don’t have.
Here, epidermis literally refers to the rigidity of the outer skin.
In a world where being bitten by a zombie means infection with the virus, what if you had tough epidermis?
Naturally, it would mean you could become immune to the zombie virus.
The problem was that without raising the stat considerably, you couldn’t withstand the bite force of zombies, so raising epidermis early on was unrealistic.
I experimented several times while playing the closed beta, and found that you needed to raise the epidermis stat to at least 110 to withstand the bite force of regular zombies.
It might sound broken at first, but it only allows you to withstand regular zombie bite force.
And converting 110 stats into points comes to a whopping 11,000 points.
The efficiency is abysmal.
Armor that can withstand zombie attacks is sold in the points shop and can also be obtained through the Maker’s crafting equipment.
In terms of cost-effectiveness, it’s a useless stat at the level of trash that doesn’t even qualify for recycling.
But this stat had a hidden function.
If you raise the epidermis stat to 100.
As long as you hit 100 somehow.
Buster gains a skill.
And it’s an overwhelmingly powerful skill that can’t even be compared to other characters.
Buster, whom I thought had no abilities whatsoever, is actually an esper with the highest power in this game.
Of course, if I don’t distribute my stats evenly from the beginning, the probability of meeting Ms. Yoo Da-hee is 99.9%, let alone acquiring skills.
So right now, it’s best to raise Strength, Agility, and Vitality—stats that are advantageous for earning points and survival.
Skin can be allocated appropriately as the episode progresses.
I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly, sitting down and standing back up.
‘So light.’
Is it because I raised Vitality and Agility to 20?
My body feels so much lighter than before.
At this rate, I feel like I could even run a marathon.
“Open the coin shop.”
[There are currently no items available for purchase with 1 coin.]
If there are no items to buy, it won’t even show them?
Should I call this audacious or shameless?
“Are you BJ Gaia?”
[…]
“Who is BJ Gaia? A god?”
[…]
“What do you gain from this? What do you get from putting 8 billion humans in danger?”
A rather blunt question.
But it couldn’t be helped.
The game had suddenly, far too abruptly, become reality.
When I first opened my eyes in the mist, I was bewildered, and when I arrived at the Shelter, I felt wronged.
I couldn’t understand for the life of me why humanity had to play such a nonsensical game.
The System Message offered no answer.
As if it had no will of its own.
As if it forbade communication with individuals.
Frustrating as it is, what can I do?
If I can’t find answers, I’ll have to find them myself.
I’ve become part of the system, and I can’t defy its will in this situation.
There’s nothing I can do except clear the game based on the information I know.
Ding!
[Now beginning the first episode.]
[First episode Safe House….]
“Wait, just tell me one thing.”
I crossed my arms and stared at the System Message.
“Korea doesn’t appear in No Way Home. Nowhere in this world does. The game’s setting is a fictional world, after all.”
[….]
“Could that background update have meant this? Did you overlay the game’s worldview onto reality?”
[That is correct.]
“So the game information I know… won’t help me at all in reality?”
[The starting point is a virtual space based on the game’s setting. Once you travel beyond a certain distance and reach the Shelter, you can register your character and enjoy the main game.]
“I asked whether my memories would be helpful in reality. That’s what I was asking.”
[Please experience it directly.]
Damn this thing.
So… no matter which direction the other survivors from my location move, they all end up arriving at Haengdang-dong?
“Everyone’s summoning location is different, right? You didn’t cram the entire population of Korea into Seongdong-gu.”
[All players’ summoning locations are based on their registered addresses. You have been registered as a survivor belonging to Seongdong-gu.]
“Belonging to Seongdong-gu?”
[The activation conditions and progress of emergency episodes differ by district.]
[Once the main episode is completed, all regions’ main episodes advance to the next cycle.]
The flow of the main episode is the same across all regions?
“So if I reach the Safe House now, everyone who hasn’t reached it yet will also proceed to the second episode?”
[Correct. Please grow steadily so you don’t fall behind in the main episode.]
It won’t answer personal questions, but it answers doubts about the episode.
So it refuses questions outside the game, is that it?
And it told me to enjoy the game, but this isn’t a situation I can enjoy at all.
[Beginning the first main episode: Safe House…]
[Confirming survivors…]
[Reviewing episode…]
I thought the main episode was starting, but what’s this review about?
Ding!
[The majority of users have not yet recognized the current situation.]
[Too many users have not left the starting point.]
[Emergency episodes will proceed in all regions.]
Ding!
[Emergency Episode: Right to Survive]
[Please survive for the given duration.]
[Humanity without survival value cannot proceed with the main episode.]
[Time Limit: 72 hours]
[Clear Condition: Survive]
[Clear Reward: 1,000 Points]
[Failure: Death]
I couldn’t close my gaping mouth as I read the messages appearing before my eyes.
Is this thing actually insane?
“Hey, what are you trying to do?”
[98% of users have not left the starting point.]
“…”
[There would be no point in proceeding with the main episode as things stand, so I will proceed with the emergency episode.]
“It’s only natural you can’t accept reality. Zombies suddenly appeared, and some bastard….”
[You have succeeded.]
“….”
[You are the player who arrived at the Shelter before the game explanation and episode description could proceed.]
“I’m someone who played the closed beta, and the others….”
[Inferior beings have no value in survival. Citizenship in Another World is wasted on them.]
“….”
The system’s resolute message.
I furrowed my brow and asked.
“What exactly is Another World?”
[I cannot tell you.]
The message that had appeared in the sky before I was summoned here.
The fourth game—Another World.
Was that place also a world like this current reality, where episodes were predetermined like a game?
If I had to live in such a world… I felt like refusing to survive.
Rage bubbled up inside me.
But there was nothing I could do in my current state.
Complaining about how much I hated this situation wouldn’t change anything.
The system’s creator, BJ Gaia, seemed to want humans dead.
“If I clear this game… can I meet the creator too?”
[BJ Gaia will personally present gifts and citizenship to users who clear the game.]
Fine then. I’ll survive to the end and return the favor to the creator’s throat.
I opened my bag and pulled out the notebook I’d stored inside.
I briefly organized the current situation and thought about the direction ahead.
If I’m a survivor belonging to Seongdong-gu, then the thousands of people I saw in the rain moments ago must be people with addresses in Seongdong-gu.
What if they also arrive at the same Shelter as me?
Soon this place would become a gathering of all sorts of people.
Among them would be madmen who rejoice in a ruined world, and fanatics who see this as divine punishment.
There would be spineless people swayed by others’ opinions, and herbivores without the will to live.
The worst among them would be….
‘Those who ride on others’ backs.’
Humans who do nothing themselves while demanding others do this and that.
If such people formed factions and just flapped their mouths from the sidelines?
Just thinking about it made my teeth chatter.
I could hide in this Shin OO Apartments and solve food problems by ransacking room after room, but if I had to live with those kinds of people, I could never be safe.
‘It’ll interfere with the main episodes that unfold later.’
I have no intention of getting caught up in factional disputes, and I won’t sacrifice myself for anyone.
As soon as I organized my thoughts, I stood up.
Since everyone was suddenly summoned, there should be plenty of food in residential areas.
So I’d go somewhere people wouldn’t be crowding.
A place familiar to me, where it’s easy to shake off both zombies and people.
I would head to the Villa Village.
I gripped the baseball bat I’d set down on the floor and made my way toward the shared entrance.

* * *
Whoooosh—!
Running through the rain, I constantly checked the 3D terrain map the size of a smartphone.
With such limited visibility, I couldn’t make out the surrounding terrain, making it difficult to confirm what lay ahead with my own eyes.
“Cough hack!!”
Every time a zombie lurched out from within the mist, I couldn’t help but startle.
I hastily shoved the 3D map into my pocket and swung the baseball bat, smashing their skulls.
Still in the early stages of the episode.
No, I hadn’t even started the first episode yet.
If this place truly matched the information about No Way Home, the initial zombies shouldn’t be too threatening.
The torrential downpour numbed human sight and hearing, creating a sense of dread, but viewed differently, it was an opportunity.
For zombies with keen hearing and sense of smell, this heavy rain would be devastating.
My visibility was limited, so their senses were equally dulled.
Even so, moving along the main road felt too risky, so I stuck to the narrow alleys.
About fifteen minutes had passed like this.
Gradually, the silhouettes of villas began to come into view.
Since I lived here, I could navigate this place with my eyes closed from now on.
My legs, heavy from being soaked, began to feel lighter bit by bit.
Just a little further, just a little more, and my villa would appear.
“…Huh?”
Then suddenly, a signboard caught my eye, making me pause.
-Suni’s Kimbap
A snack shop at the corner of the alley.
Was there something like this here?
This was supposed to be where the lottery shop I visited every week to buy tickets was located, wasn’t it?
Puzzled, I looked around and noticed shops that differed slightly from what I remembered.
There was a cafe where the hardware store should be, and an arcade where the cafe should be.
On the main road where the wedding hall should stand, there was a mixed-use building instead.
The terrain was identical, but the buildings that occupied it looked subtly different.
“Grrrrr….”
At that moment, a chilling growl reached my ears.

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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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