Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 43

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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 043
“I’ll just do a quick scout and come back.”
“Alone?”
“No, I’ll go with Sangil’s Hyung.”
“Two people is still dangerous. How will your hyung keep watch front and back by himself?”
Park Sangha glanced around, spotted Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin handing out snacks to people, and waved his right hand.
“Elder Cheolmin!”
Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin poked his head up like a meerkat, handed the remaining snacks to the children, and approached us.
“What is it? What’s the matter?”
“I was hoping you’d come with us.”
“Me? Sure. But where to?”
The Elder agreed before even asking what it was about.
I could only be grateful.
“Hyung and Doyun are going to scout.”
Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin studied my face intently, then whispered so the other students couldn’t hear.
“Are you two planning to take care of something?”
“Pardon?”
“The giant zombie.”
He seemed to think that Park Sangil and I were planning to secretly deal with the giant zombie to keep the students safe.
I laughed heartily and responded.
“No, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have bought stakes and rope in the first place.”
“Hmm… right. You tend to push yourself too hard, Doyun.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“Even watching you makes me anxious, so how much more must you be feeling it. Thanks for hanging in there.”
Gwak Cheolmin gripped his curved sword and asked.
“So, where are you planning to go?”
“I’m thinking of checking out the Villa Village around here.”
“Villa?”
“Yes, there’s a Villa Village on the way from here to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station.”
“You can see it from here too. Once you get past the park, the villas are right there.”
“Oh, really?”
With visibility less than 20 meters, I hadn’t noticed it was practically right in front of us.
I thought it was close on the map, but it was close enough that I could touch my nose to it if I fell.
Park Sangil beside me alternated between checking his wristwatch and the Villa Village.
“In that case, we should take shelter there from the rain and grab a quick bite.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s already 3 o’clock.”
In a world that’s fallen to ruin, eating three meals a day is nearly impossible.
Yet we manage to do that impossible thing every single day.
Kim Heejoo, the leader of the defense team, continuously searches for food and ensures we don’t go hungry with every meal.
Anyone who has lived independently knows this.
Cook and eat, finish the dishes, and soon enough it’s time to cook and eat again, then wash the dishes once more.
Cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning.
Repeating this every single day would be impossible for anyone who isn’t exceptionally diligent.
Even cleaning up after myself—the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the place where I sleep—is this exhausting, yet our Safe House now has over thirty people.
Kim Heejoo manages all of them.
There are others helping her, but even so… Kim Heejoo is truly remarkable.
Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin, apparently hungry, spoke while checking the duffel bag he’d brought.
“For lunch today, we have this—canned tuna.”
“That’s all?”
“A portable stove would take up too much space. But I brought plenty of snacks. There’s chocolate bars too. Want one?”
Sharing snacks in the same space with my companions.
Even the chocolate bar, dampened and soggy from the rain, felt like a satisfying meal.
After chewing and swallowing the chocolate bar, I looked at everyone and spoke.
“Wait here for a moment! I’ll go find us a place to shelter from the rain!”
“Yes!”
“If anything happens, Sanghun, let me know immediately. If we need to evacuate, follow Sangil’s instructions.”
“Understood!”
After hearing everyone’s acknowledgment, I hurried toward the Villa Village.
Just as Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin said, moving slightly beyond the park, the Villa Village appeared.
Unlike Haengdang-dong where I’d lived, this place was impressive with its grid-pattern roads that were well-maintained.
Park Sangil looked around at the surrounding terrain, roads, and buildings as he spoke.
“The roads are well-maintained with no blind spots. This should be fine for keeping watch and waiting until nightfall.”
“I agree. Can you identify the tallest building around here?”
Park Sangil and Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin glanced around, then pointed in opposite directions with their fingers.
“Elder, isn’t that one the tallest?”
“That’s a building, not a villa. It’ll be crawling with zombies inside.”
“Ah, then the place you found is the highest.”
Hearing their words, I gripped my hwarang and spoke.
“Let’s go to the place Elder Cheolmin mentioned. If you see any zombies on the way, let me know.”
“Good. Let’s move.”
Gwak Cheolmin took the lead, and I followed behind him.
Park Sangil covered the rear, checking to see if any zombies were following the sound of our footsteps.
“This is strange. It’s too quiet.”
At Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin’s words ahead, I moved closer to his side.
“It’s not just the quiet—the streets are unusually clean.”
“Right? It’s as if someone deliberately cleaned it up.”
“No zombies visible, and there aren’t even any corpses. That’s what bothers me.”
….
“If you notice anything suspicious at all, please let me know.”
“That’s right.”
We crept deeper into the villa village, our footsteps muffled.
The heavy downpour masked our presence, our sounds swallowed by the rain.
We intended to eliminate any zombies we encountered and secure the area, but the excessive cleanliness only deepened my suspicion.
It felt as though someone else had already established a position here.
Thud—
In that moment, Chulmil Grandfather, leading the way, stopped and muttered to himself.
“What is that?”
Chulmil Grandfather scrutinized the blurred silhouette ahead, tilting his head as if uncertain.
Park Sangil, following behind, turned his gaze in the direction the elder was looking, then raised his eyebrows and asked.
“Is that… not a person?”
“It’s too large for a person.”
Too large?
I looked at Chulmil Grandfather and asked at his mention of size.
“Is it covered in muscle?”
Since the red markings on the 3D terrain map might indicate something other than a giant zombie, I needed to be cautious if there was something massive present.
However, no wariness showed on Chulmil Grandfather’s expression.
Only confusion filled his face.
“No. It’s not the five-meter colossus you mentioned.”
“It’s too far to see clearly. Should we get closer and check?”
When Park Sangil asked, Chulmil Grandfather gripped his sword hilt with both hands and carefully moved forward.
One step, two steps, three steps.
As the distance gradually closed, the mysterious form began to come into sharp focus for both Park Sangil and Gwak Cheolmin.
Both men stood motionless, their expressions vacant.
What could they possibly be seeing?
Since I couldn’t see it clearly from my position, I moved forward slowly.
Tug—
Park Sangil grabbed my arm.
“Don’t go any further.”
“What?”
“It’s a marker.”
A marker?
Park Sangil swallowed hard, his mouth unable to form words, and glanced nervously in all directions.
Chulmil Grandfather swallowed and spoke to me.
“…They’ve tied them together.”
“Tied what?”
“They’ve bound corpses together to create a massive scarecrow.”
At Chulmil Grandfather’s words, my own mouth fell silent.
Corpses… tied together?
They’d bound them to form a giant human shape?
One would have to be mad to do such a thing.
“Are you referring to a zombie corpse? Or something else entirely….”
“I can’t say for certain. Given the numerous lacerations carved into the body… it could be a zombie.”
But why would someone deliberately hang something like that on the street?
Park Sangil had said it.
A marker.
There’s no way zombies or mutants could create something like this.
If that’s the case, then this place….
“Let’s turn back.”
“….”
“It would be best to avoid approaching this villa district. Even if we have to take a much longer route, we should move along the opposite main road.”
“Moving along the main road is risky. Didn’t we see it back at the Changsin Station Intersection? The main roads are swarming with zombies.”
“Still, the situation would be better than here.”
Gwak Cheolmin stared at my face with an impassive expression, then asked in a grave voice.
“Do you have reservations about killing people?”
“No. It’s not such a simple reason.”
A world where killing people had become a simple reason.
I explained why we needed to leave.
This was a villa village, unfamiliar terrain to us.
No matter how straight the roads were, those who had settled here would know of cover and specific locations that we didn’t.
If we were attacked in such a place… it would be difficult to gain the upper hand.
Zombies were one thing, but our opponents were human.
So far, I had only encountered people wielding melee weapons.
But there was no guarantee that someone didn’t possess a pistol or a crossbow, was there?
Given how they were lying in wait without the slightest movement, everything favored them.
Upon hearing this explanation, Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin quickly nodded in agreement.
“You’re right, Doyun. My thinking was short-sighted.”
“Not at all.”
When we had activated the Safe House episode before, Elder Gwak Cheolmin had tried to hold the 2nd Floor without giving it up.
When combat began, he displayed more aggressive tendencies than others, and that aggression had kept him alive until now.
In this ruined world, possessing such aggression could be considered a great blessing.
However, absorbed in the situation, he tended to overlook his surroundings.
How fortunate it was to have comrades who compensated for such shortcomings.
Park Sangil narrowed his eyes and examined every window in the vicinity, then spoke in a hushed voice, wary of being overheard.
“I don’t even see a shadow. Either they haven’t discovered us yet, or there are some quite cautious lunatics here.”
“….”
“There’s nothing to gain by staying longer. Let’s go.”
At Park Sangil’s words, Elderly Grandfather Gwak Cheolmin nodded as well.
Before it was too late, we turned around to leave….
Bang—!!!
In that instant, piercing through the sound of rain came a sharp crack, and I instinctively hunched my upper body.
Without hesitation, Park Sangil and I locked eyes, our faces etched with shock.
That sound was….
Bang!! Bang-!!
Two more explosive cracks rang out.
‘Gunfire?’
My eyes widened as I stared at Park Sangil and Elder Gwak Cheolmin.
Fortunately, the bullets had missed—both of them were crouched low, their eyes fixed on my face.
“Get into the alley!”
I shouted at them both and hurled myself desperately to the right.
My panic was so acute that even my speech lost its formality.
Bang!!
Seized by terror at the gunshot, Park Sangil and I dove into the right alley, but Elder Gwak Cheolmin threw himself into the left one.
“Hyung, are you okay? Did you get hit?”
“I-I don’t know. I was too startled.”
Park Sangil ran his hands over his entire body, checking for any wounds.
No penetrating injuries were visible on him.
“Ugh….”
But a groan echoed from the left.
Park Sangil and I turned our heads simultaneously.
Chulmil Grandfather and we were only about four meters apart.
A distance I could see clearly with my own eyes.
Chulmil Grandfather sat slumped against the wall.
His left hand pressed against his right side.
Whoooosh—
As the torrential rain poured down, crimson blood pooled around him, soaking into the ground.
“Chulmil Grandfather!”
I shouted toward him, and he turned to look at us with a bitter smile.
“Ugh…! Damn… luck. Got… hit once.”
He was bleeding far too much.
His complexion was already poor, suggesting he’d been struck in a critical spot.
“Sangil Hyung, can you carry Elder Chulmil and run?”
“What are you planning?”
“Draw their attention. If we all move together like this, we’ll get shot.”
“You’re not invincible. We should use whatever cover is outside or take the alleys—they won’t be able to….”
“No. It won’t end that easily.”
They would know it too.
That one of us had been hit.
The fact that they could fire in this downpour meant one thing—there was a Shooter on their side.
In a situation like this, they hadn’t even flinched.
It wasn’t merely about taking cover.
I couldn’t sense the enemy’s presence at all.

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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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