Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 40

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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 040
Park Sangil crossed his arms and pouted his lips before nodding after a moment.
“Okay.”
“Park Sangha, Sanghun, Elder Gwak Cheolmin, and Lee Kwanghyun will each need to serve as party leaders.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, but Gwak Cheolmin wore a bitter expression.
I looked at him and asked.
“Elder Cheolmin, is this perhaps difficult for you?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m the only elder who survived… I’m not sure if someone like me should be representing the group.”
At Gwak Cheolmin’s words, the high school students waved their hands dismissively and spoke up.
They said it wasn’t true, that they were all grateful he was alive.
Everyone comforted Gwak Cheolmin.
Until now, I’d only been thinking about the high school students, but now that I considered it, wasn’t Elder Gwak Cheolmin the one most troubled?
After all, he had lost friends his own age.
It was possible that among the deceased elders, there was an old friend of Gwak Cheolmin’s.
Because he was such a solid person, I hadn’t noticed.
I had unconsciously assumed he would be fine.
While I felt apologetic, I couldn’t grasp what words to offer.
Fortunately, Elder Gwak Cheolmin received the students’ encouragement and spoke with a kind smile.
“Thank you all for trusting me.”
Thanks to the children, Elder Gwak Cheolmin smiled once again today.
Now that I thought about it… my shortcomings were being filled by our group.
How had I not realized this?
Suddenly, Park Sangha’s words came to mind.
-Don’t try to carry everything alone.
-If you have difficulties, you can tell us.
-We have our strengths too.
So that’s what he meant.
At some point, I’d started acting as if I were truly the leader.
I lashed myself for my arrogance and refocused on the current situation.
“Then, if there are no objections, let’s begin forming the parties.”
Since everyone was trustworthy, no one objected to the party leaders I designated.
Of course, it’s not that I don’t trust the high school students.
The high school students are reliable when fighting zombies, but since I couldn’t predict how they’d react when facing a murderer, I excluded them from party leader positions.
Some students might develop trauma, and others might panic.
Or some students might act emotionally and rush in.
Since there were no objections, I continued speaking.
“Each party needs a Shooter and a Healing Factor as essentials. Since we’re currently short on Whispers, we’ll assign one to the offensive team and one to the defensive team. Please consult with the students who have the necessary abilities.”
Park Sangil, Elder Gwak Cheolmin, and Lee Kwanghyun’s classes were Shooter.
Park Sangha was a Maker.
Park Sanghun was a Whisper.
The party leaders assembled their teams by recruiting members for the lacking roles.
Kim Suhan, who had been observing the situation, kept grinning from ear to ear.
I looked at him and asked.
“What’s got you so happy, Suhan?”
“Well! I’m in the same party as you, hyung.”
“That’s not exactly good news.”
“No, no! How could I be scared when I’m going around with you, hyung? I have nothing to fear now.”
“If you go around with me, we’ll be hunting down the most dangerous ones out there.”
“Huh?”
Kim Suhan stared at my face with a blank expression, then let out a nervous cough before asking.
“Um… can I change parties?”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Ha ha! Just kidding. I prefer going around with you, hyung.”
His words sounded good, but his expression was filled with worry about the future.
I ruffled his hair as I spoke.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything dangerous happen to you.”
“Ha ha!”
Kim Suhan laughed brightly and scratched his head.
Really… such a pure student.
If I had a real younger brother… would it feel like this?
Assembling the parties took longer than expected.
There were seven children under ten years old, and we needed at least one adult to look after them.
The discussion about how to handle this took considerable time.
“With seven children, wouldn’t it be difficult for just one adult to manage them?”
Everyone agreed with Park Sangil’s opinion.
While it was true we lacked combat personnel, having one adult handle seven children in a world overrun with zombies was simply impossible.
After discussion, we reached one conclusion.
Kim Heejoo and Jo Yunhwan would look after the children.
The problem was that neither Kim Heejoo nor Jo Yunhwan were shooters.
Jo Yunhwan’s ability was a healing factor.
There was no way to detect the approach of zombies, mutants, or killers.
“I can do it!”
A child suddenly raised her right hand and volunteered.
It was Jo Yunhwan’s niece, seven-year-old Cho Yeonah.
We had reached a point where we needed to rely on the strength of a seven-year-old child.
Then two more children, one eight and one six years old, raised their hands and spoke.
“Me too! I’m a shooter!”
“I chose shooter too!”
Three out of the seven children were shooters.
Could we really ask children to take on guard duty?
Of course not.
If anything, it makes me more anxious.
In the end, after coordinating, we decided that one party would take on defensive duties.
“What? Why me again?!”
As Lee Kwanghyun grumbled, his wife smacked his back and spoke.
“If you go out, you’ll only cause more trouble!”
“What trouble have I caused?”
“Everyone unanimously agreed, so stop complaining and just go along with it.”
Lee Kwanghyun was once again barred from outside activities.
Though Lee Kwanghyun grumbled, since everyone insisted, he didn’t object further.
After deliberating several times about party composition, we finally finished coordinating.
Twenty people would engage in combat.
Sixteen people, including children, would handle defense.
“Elder, I’m counting on you.”
“I’m counting on you too, Sanghun.”
After coordination, Gwak Cheolmin and Park Sanghun decided to take the same party.
Thus, Party 1 with me as leader, Party 2 with Park Sangil as leader, Party 3 with Park Sangha, and Party 4 with Gwak Cheolmin were complete.
Parties 1 through 4 became the combat and reconnaissance teams.
Defense would have four members per party.
Party 5, led by Lee Kwanghyun, who was capable of combat.
Party 6, led by Kim Miyeon, Lee Kwanghyun’s wife, who chose the Whisper ability.
And Party 7 led by Kim Heejoo, filled with children who had no combat abilities, and Party 8 led by Jo Yunhwan.
Ding!
[You have completed Episode #2-0!]
[Awarding 500 points as clear reward.]
Ding!
[The second episode’s ally recruitment has been updated to Strong Bonds.]
[#2-1 Strong Bonds]
[You need training to synchronize with survivors in your party while hunting zombies.]
[Eliminate as many zombies as possible within the time limit.]
[Zombies eliminated: 0]
[Time limit: Same day]
[Clear reward: 1,000 points]
[Failure: No additional points awarded]
Additional points listed in the failure condition.
This was a feature that didn’t exist in No Way Home.
Additional points, you say…
‘Could there be a ranking system?’
This time, they didn’t specify a number of zombies.
Since they said to eliminate as many zombies as possible, perhaps like the emergency episode I received initially, the party that eliminates the most zombies might receive additional points.
Rather than that, the fact that I haven’t received the initial clear bonus suggests there’s a group that formed their party before us?
We spent a lot of time coordinating opinions, but to think there’s a group that formed a party without even having this much discussion.
It’s unfortunate that I didn’t receive the additional points, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
After forming a total of eight parties, I accepted the emergency episode reward.
Ding-!
[League Formation Coupon has been issued.]
[League Formation Coupon x1]
A coupon?
A coupon that allows me to form a league…
‘This means there could be other leagues besides mine.’
It means there could be other people holding coupons as well.
Since this is a reward from the emergency episode, it’s not a privilege given only to me.
“Use League Coupon.”
[Congratulations! You are now the Leader of the League.]
[Please set the name of your League.]
The name of the league, huh.
This really isn’t even a mobile game…
Since I had no talent for naming, I looked at my companions beside me.
Kim Suhan, who was next to me, stared intently at the System Message, then raised his right hand and spoke.
“Nightmare! How about Nightmare?”
“That means nightmare. We’d sound like villains.”
“Then Night! Or Dark Knight?”
“Don’t you have any normal names besides Knight?”
Then Kang Haneul, who was next to Kim Suhan, cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“How about Children of the Stars?”
“Weren’t you a science major? That’s too humanities-oriented.”
“Carbon is an essential element for life. But carbon is only created when stars explode, right? So all living things are fragments of stars, which means…”
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
Another science lesson was about to begin.
Following that, Park Sangha, who had been quietly stroking his chin, opened his mouth.
“Wouldn’t a name that feels reassuring and has strong survival instincts be good? There’s even a saying like that—a person’s life follows their name.”
“How about this then?”
Park Sangil snapped his fingers as he spoke.
“Like you said, it’s a symbol of tenacious vitality, and since we’re the Park family, how about Park Cockroach?”
“Are you seriously insane, hyung?”
Park Sangha looked at Park Sangil with a bewildered expression.
Park Sangil had excellent emotional intelligence.
Each member of the group threw out their own opinion.
Black Hair Something, Apocalypse Something, Northern Something.
“How about Forest? It has a clean and pure feeling…”
“Sounds like an apartment name.”
“Cheongrim?”
“Sounds like an investment company name.”
“New—as in starting fresh?”
“Sounds like a film distribution company.”
We all huddled together, racking our brains, but a decent name didn’t come easily.
At that moment, Kyeongeo, who had been eating diligently, lifted his fork and spoke.
“Hunting Dog!”
At Kyeongeo’s words, everyone’s gaze fixed on him.
I looked directly into Kyeongeo’s eyes and asked.
“Kyeongeo, do you know what a hunting dog is?”
“Yes! When you hunt, it’s a good puppy that helps you from the side!”
“You’d like Uncle to become a hunting dog?”
“Yes!”
From the perspective of helping the master with the hunt, he seemed to think of a hunting dog like a savior or an angel.
But a hunting dog carries connotations and undertones that….
‘Wait, maybe this could actually work?’
There was something about it that felt tenacious and loyal.
Thinking of relentless survival and the deep bonds we shared with each other… it wasn’t bad.
Besides, when you heard the name, it somehow seemed dangerous too.
If the Hunting Dogs League made a move, it felt like people would hesitate to approach easily.
Looking at my companions, they all seemed pleased with the idea.
Park Sangil must have felt it too, laughing heartily as he sat Kyeongeo on his lap.
“Hahaha! Who does our Kyeongeo take after to be so clever? Did you get this smart from Dad?”
“Mom!”
“Oh… right! Hahaha!”
Everyone seemed to agree.
So I made one final confirmation.
“Is Hunting Dog okay with everyone?”
“It gives off the feeling that it won’t stay quiet if bitten, so it works.”
“It seems better than stray dog.”
“What about fighting dog instead?!”
“Fighting dog isn’t bad either?”
“Fighting dog just sounds like a brawler. Hunting dog is better. It sounds sharp.”
After hearing everyone’s opinions, I looked at the System Message and spoke.
“Let’s go with Hunting Dog.”
[League: Hunting Dogs.]
[Will you confirm the league name?]
“Yes.”
[Congratulations! From now on, you are the Leader of the Hunting Dogs League.]
[The League can form 10 parties, with a maximum capacity of 50 members.]
“Accept these people here as League Members.”
[Please specify the scope of ‘here’.]
“Here—the people in the living room.”
[Scanning…]
After a brief moment, a System Message materialized before me.
[Will you enlist a total of 35 Survivors into the Hunting Dogs League?]
“Yes.”
[Task completed. For information regarding League Members’ abilities and stats, please check ‘View League Members’.]
[Emergency Episode: Angel of Malice reward granted.]
[Clear Reward: 500 points awarded to all League Members.]
Ding—!
[You have been registered as the first Leader of the League! An additional 500 bonus points are awarded to you.]
Ding—!
[The League ‘Hunting Dogs’ is the first League! A first-time reward of 500 points is provided to all League Members, and all Survivors affiliated with the League may proceed with the Second Awakening Episode.]
System Messages cascaded down relentlessly.
Among them, the Second Awakening Episode naturally caught my attention first.
Clenching my fist at the unexpected rewards, I turned to face my companions, and System Messages materialized before everyone’s eyes.
[Second Awakening Episode: Giant Zombie Hunt]
[Please hunt the giant Zombie inhabiting the Zombie nest.]
[Time Limit: 15 hours]
[Clear Reward: 1,000 points]
[Failure: Permanent Awakening Failure]

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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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