Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 33

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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 033
That voice.
Park Sanghun, Kim Suhan, and Kang Haneul all remembered it with perfect clarity.
“Sanghun hyung, this is….”
“Focus. Tell me the moment you see it.”
“Yes!”
Kim Suhan’s hands trembled as he gripped the curved blade.
A piercing sound that stabbed at the eardrums.
It was the shriek of a Mimicry Species.
Was it writhing in agony from the toxic gas?
Though the reason remained unclear, knowing what Mutant remained was somewhat reassuring….
“Huh?”
Kim Suhan’s expression turned ashen in the next instant.
Thud-thud! Thud! Thud-thud-!
Thud-thud! Crunch-! Thud-thud-!
Things crawling down the wall.
Literally, multiple things.
Using their elongated limbs exceeding two meters, two Mimicry Species were crawling down along the balcony railing and the shattered window frame.
“T-two of them! Sanghun hyung, there are two Mimicry Species…!”
“Run!”
Park Sanghun, confirming there wasn’t just one Mutant, grabbed and dragged Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul by their arms.
One he could manage to buy time against, but two was beyond their capacity.
The three bolted frantically down the left path.
“Kiiieek- Kieeeek!”
The Mimicry Species spotted the three fleeing figures and began pursuing them.
“Hyung! They’re coming after us?!”
“Just run!”
Thanks to their increased stamina and strength, the three covered 100 meters in less than ten seconds.
But the Mimicry Species were drawing closer with each passing moment.
Park Sanghun glanced back over his shoulder and, seeing a Mimicry Species already at his heels, cried out in alarm.
“Follow me!”
These creatures had limbs as elongated as a Gakdagwi’s.
If that were the case, the strain on their limbs when changing direction would differ drastically from ordinary humans.
With this thought, Park Sanghun cut his direction at a sharp ninety-degree angle.
As he abruptly swerved right, Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul twisted their upper bodies nearly to the point of falling and followed behind.
Scraaape-!
The sound of claws scraping against the ground echoed from behind.
Glancing back, the Mimicry Species, unable to match his speed, were tumbling across the pavement.
The unpleasant sound of claws raking the ground reached his ears.
But the creatures quickly rose and began running on all fours.
Visibility was limited to twenty meters.
The torrential downpour and fog obscured everything ahead, but Park Sanghun ran without pause, desperate to shake off the Mimicry Species.
“Shrieeeek—!”
Kim Suhan screamed as the Mutants drew closer, his voice desperate as he called out to Park Sanghun.
“Run! Keep running! If you stop, you die!”
There was no other choice.
The probability of winning in a fight?
Zero percent.
As I ran forward without rest, my eyes caught sight of a spot where two buildings met.
Could I shake them off by using the narrow gap between the buildings?
“This way!”
A gap so tight that only one person could barely squeeze through.
As I quickly entered the gap, Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul turned their bodies sideways and followed.
Having entered at full speed, we took brutal impacts to our shoulders and backs during the passage.
But the terror of death numbed the pain, and we crawled deeper into the gap as fast as we could.
“Kieeeeeek—!!”
“Craaaak— Kiaaaaak!”
The two Mimicry Species couldn’t enter the gap, so they stretched their long arms, trying to grab the three of us.
But when their arms couldn’t reach, one of them began climbing the outer wall to come around from the other side.
The Mutant’s speed climbing over to the opposite side was far faster than our crawling pace through the gap.
“Huh?! Back, back! Go back!”
“We can’t! We’ll be caught!”
The three of us were trapped in the building gap, unable to move forward or backward.
Mimicry Species in front, Mimicry Species behind.
The narrow space prevented their long arms from fully entering.
“What, what do we do now?! What do we do?!”
As Kim Suhan asked with his shoulders hunched up, I swallowed hard and looked left and right.
A space so tight that even turning my head was difficult.
There’s… no way out.
Entering here was a mistake in judgment.
My miscalculation had put Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul’s lives in danger.
I grimaced, then after a brief moment of thought, made my decision.
“I’ll let myself get caught so you two can escape in that moment.”
“…What?”
“The one on the left—when it grabs me, there’ll be a gap for a moment. That’s when you run.”
“No, no way! We have to go together!”
“There’s no other way! I’m the one who suggested coming here, so I have to take responsibility!”
I gripped the curved blade in my left hand and stretched it toward the Mutant’s arm.
In an awkward stance, I swung the blade up and down.
I could see the Mimicry Species’s finger flesh being sliced away by the sharp blade.
The creature shrieked and began forcing its arm through the gap.
Squelch—crunch! Crack!
As the Mimicry Species’s arm pushed into the narrow space, flesh tore away.
Yet driven by singular obsession to seize Park Sanghun, it endured the agony and continued forcing its limb through.
“What? Damn… damn it!”
Park Sanghun watched the Mimicry Species’s hand drawing closer and swung his curved blade with even greater ferocity.
Though his strikes were limited to vertical arcs, that was all he could manage.
Thud!
In that instant, the Mimicry Species’s massive hand seized Park Sanghun’s left hand.
Crack!
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The Mimicry Species twisted his wrist.
No—it didn’t merely twist. It crushed Park Sanghun’s hand.
As Park Sanghun thrashed in agony, the creature flashed a grotesque smile and began pulling his arm.
Powerless to resist, Park Sanghun was dragged by the Mimicry Species’s overwhelming strength toward the gap’s opening.
The Mimicry Species pulled him forward, its massive maw gaping wide.
If he was dragged out… his head would be torn off first by that enormous mouth.
“Get… ready!”
As Park Sanghun shouted, Kim Suhan began to whimper.
“Nooo… Sanghun hyung…!”
“Run… ugh! You have to run!”
“Noooo!”
“Make it to Building 118 alive… tell them! Two Mimicry Species…!”
Kim Suhan stretched out his left arm and grasped Park Sanghun’s right hand.
A desperate grip to prevent him from being dragged away.
But perhaps it only caused more pain, for Park Sanghun shook off Kim Suhan’s hand.
Kim Suhan could only watch through tears streaming down his face as Park Sanghun was pulled toward the Mutant.
“Found you.”
In that moment, a voice from beyond the wall snapped Kim Suhan’s consciousness awake.
Had it come from the left?
Or the right?
As he turned his head rightward, he spotted the Mimicry Species still struggling, unable to push through.
Since Mimicry Species could learn human language, he could only assume the voice came from one of them.
But this voice was…
Boom!!!!!
Simultaneously, the sound of brick shattering erupted from the left.
Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul turned their heads leftward without hesitation.
Park Sanghun, who had been dragged toward the Mutant moments before, now lay collapsed on the ground.
The Mimicry Species’s arm still gripped his left arm.
But…
The Mimicry Species’ face and torso that had been visible beyond the gap vanished.
Only its arm remained, hanging grotesquely from the Mimicry Species.
“…What?”
Kim Suhan stared at the spot with vacant eyes, forgetting even to blink.
The Mutant that had been gaping its mouth disappeared, and only the pouring downpour filled his vision.
Crash—!! Crack! Crunch— Crackle— Splat!
Dull sounds echoed from beyond the outer wall.
The sounds of something shattering, breaking, and crumbling came relentlessly.
Though I wasn’t witnessing the scene with my own eyes, the sounds were alien and spine-chilling, as if they were crawling across Kim Suhan’s entire body.
“Get out, get out now!”
When Kang Haneul shouted from behind, Kim Suhan snapped back to reality and scrambled forward.
“Park Sanghun, are you alright?”
“Ugh…!”
Park Sanghun was crying out in pain, clutching his crushed left hand.
I helped him up with difficulty and we all squeezed through the gap together.
“What, what happened?”
When Park Sanghun asked, Kim Suhan stammered out his answer.
“I, I’m not sure either. Suddenly I heard bricks breaking, and the Mutant’s arm that was holding you… it just snapped off.”
The arm literally tore off.
As if it had been hit by an 8-ton truck traveling at 100 kilometers per hour.
Crack— Crack!! Crunch— Crash!!
As we emerged from the gap, the spine-chilling sounds became even more distinct.
Without anyone saying a word, the group turned their heads and discovered an unbelievable sight.
“That, that’s Sanghun hyung….”
“…Doyun?”
Familiar clothing and a familiar silhouette.
The appearance was… definitely Baek Doyun.
Anyone would recognize it as Baek Doyun.
Even in the pouring rain, it was unmistakably clear.
That he… was drenched entirely in blood.
“Zom… bie….”
Baek Doyun was muttering “zombie” over and over, reducing the Mutant’s face to pulp.
Without even a curved sword.
With his bare fists.
Park Sanghun swallowed hard and called out to him.
“Hey, hey, Baek Doyun!”
“….”
“Doyun!”
“Zom…bie?”
Hearing Park Sanghun’s voice, Baek Doyun’s shoulders drooped as he staggered to his feet.
Upon catching sight of Baek Doyun’s expression, Park Sanghun felt his breath catch in his throat.
This wasn’t the Baek Doyun he knew.
The eyes of a feral beast devoid of reason, thirsting for blood.
Baek Doyun spotted Park Sanghun and sniffed the air, then lowered his body into a crouch.
‘Oh, he’s coming.’
Park Sanghun could sense it instinctively.
That Baek Doyun was about to attack him.
Whoosh—!
In that instant, Baek Doyun’s face appeared inches from Park Sanghun’s nose.
‘Insane…!’
Park Sanghun couldn’t even react.
It wasn’t human speed.
At this rate… five seconds would be enough to sprint a hundred meters.
Park Sanghun’s eyes widened like lanterns, forgetting even to breathe.
Baek Doyun’s eyes were bloodshot crimson.
Every part of the whites of his eyes was red, save for the pupils.
Had every blood vessel burst?
What on earth could transform human eyes like this?
“D-D-Doyun.”
Park Sanghun’s voice trembled with bewilderment.
Baek Doyun tilted his head side to side, then glanced alternately at Park Sanghun, Kim Suhan, and Kang Haneul before beginning to sniff again.
“Not a zombie… ”
“Kiiieek—?!”
At that moment, a Mutant’s cry echoed from beyond the gap.
Baek Doyun’s head snapped around, and his lips curled upward so far they nearly touched his ears.
“Found you.”
Whoosh—! Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Baek Doyun dashed around the building toward where the Mutant was.
Crack!!!
The sound of brick shattering followed, and the remaining Mimicry Species vanished from Park Sanghun’s sight.
What he thought was the sound of brick breaking was actually the Mutant’s skull cracking.
“B-Brother Sanghun. Was that… not Brother Doyun just now?”
At Kim Suhan’s question, Park Sanghun found his words catching in his throat.
It was definitely Baek Doyun, wearing Doyun’s face, and yet….
‘More terrifying than a zombie.’
His actions, his eyes, even his voice.
The shock was greater than when he’d faced the Water Demon.
“Let’s head back for now. Regardless of what happened to Brother Doyun, if we stay any longer, we might not be able to treat your left hand, Brother Sanghun.”
At Kang Haneul’s words from behind, Park Sanghun nodded.
Whether what he’d just witnessed was truly Baek Doyun or not, they needed to return and report the current situation.
Park Sanghun, supported by Kim Suhan and Kang Haneul, hurried toward Building 118.

* * *
“Doyun did that?!”
Park Sangil, mid-treatment, bolted upright and stared at Park Sanghun.
Smack—!
His wife, Kim Heejoo, struck his back.
“I told you not to move!”
“Ugh… even so, why hit the burned area like that? It stings.”
“The burns are already healed. You still need to rest!”
Kim Heejoo’s eyes glistened with moisture.
Seeing her husband return with burns, her worry was beyond measure.
When Park Sangha carried Park Sangil inside, she felt what it meant for the sky to collapse.
Fortunately, treatment came in time, and Park Sangil’s wounds were fading cleanly.
Park Sanghun, receiving treatment from the middle school students for his broken left hand and torn thigh, described the unbelievable situation he’d witnessed outside.
“It was definitely Doyun. His eyes and expression were like a zombie’s, but… it was Doyun.”
“That doesn’t make sense. How do you beat a Mutant to death with your bare fists?”
“It wasn’t just hitting. He hit, crushed, pulverized—he completely lost his reason. He didn’t even recognize me.”
….
“Did you hear anything from the eldest?”
“Hear what?”
“The plan Doyun mentioned.”

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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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