Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 45

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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 045
The Hunting Dogs wore black protective gear.
The dark brown protective gear worn by the group was equipment purchasable from the Point Shop.
Its performance was far inferior to what we wore, yet the price was exorbitant—that kind of protective gear.
Only those who believed something was better than nothing would buy such equipment.
I judged it wiser to invest points in raising my stats rather than such gear, so I grew stronger while protecting my forearms with magazines and notebooks.
‘That’s why we’re taking the Maker.’
The Maker’s crafted equipment had superior performance, and future equipment upgrades were possible, so we were taking them.
Such people weren’t far away—they were to the north of our group.
Should we eliminate them before they grew larger and caused more trouble?
Since we couldn’t determine the enemy’s scale, I couldn’t make a hasty decision.
For now… I needed to deal with the giant zombie first and think about it later.
Thud—
I shoved the boy I’d been holding toward the middle-aged man, and the boy stared at me with a bewildered expression.
“Go.”
“….”
The boy hesitated for a moment, then scurried to the middle-aged man’s side.
The middle-aged man sent the boy behind him and spoke.
“I sincerely apologize for attacking your group.”
“An apology won’t settle this.”
“….”
“People’s lives are at stake.”
The middle-aged man lowered his head with a troubled expression.
A man too ashamed to even lift his head.
Then the middle-aged woman beside him spoke up.
“Um… I know this sounds shameless, but could we join you?”
“Yes, it’s a shameless request.”
“….”
“Your group attacked my companions. That’s something no apology can forgive.”
When I didn’t yield, the middle-aged woman spoke with an anxious expression.
“We… have many children, and as you can see, we don’t have many people capable of fighting.”
“That doesn’t seem to be my concern.”
“If we stay here, we’ll suffer at the hands of those group members again. That scarecrow outside—it was made by those group members.”
“Didn’t your group make it?”
“That scarecrow… it means they’ve already stripped it bare, so there’s nothing left to take.”
“….”
“But we can’t let our guard down either. We don’t know when they’ll come back.”
Marking places stripped bare in such a way.
These people weren’t in their right minds.
The middle-aged woman continued, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.
“My sister too… and the wife of the police officer here… they all died because of those bastards.”
“Did they die by those creatures’ hands?”
The woman nodded, wiping away tears instead of answering.
I looked at the people in the entrance and asked.
“How many of you are there?”
“Pardon?”
“Your total numbers.”
“Nine of us. Two of them are still too young.”
“What’s your definition of too young?”
“They haven’t even reached seven years old yet.”
After hearing the woman’s answer, I brushed back my bangs and asked.
“Are all of you Shooters by profession?”
“Five are Shooters, one is a Whisper, and one is a Healing Factor. We could definitely help you…”
“No. You can’t help.”
Speaking bluntly, the woman’s lower jaw began to tremble.
Soon she was sobbing, her face covered by both hands.
The elderly man in his seventies patted the woman’s back, and the middle-aged man who had been watching the situation also bit his lower lip.
‘Five Shooters…’
No matter what happens ahead, more Shooters are always better.
But the profession our League needs most is Whisper.
Our League already had enough Shooters with our current members.
We couldn’t accept five more Shooters when we had limited capacity for League Members.
Just looking at the character ability descriptions, not many people would choose Whisper.
It wouldn’t seem like a profession advantageous for survival.
But I knew better.
After the Second Awakening, Whispers become indispensable to a party—perhaps even more important than Shooters.
I spoke to the people here.
“I can’t help you, but perhaps there’s someone who might be able to help you.”
“What?”
The middle-aged woman hurriedly wiped her tears, her eyes widening.
“W-who? Where should we go?”
The fact that there were young children, and moreover a combination with many Shooters.
There was someone who needed them.
Hong Yeonhui, whom I’d seen at the Shelter.
I hadn’t confirmed all her members, but it appeared only two people had chosen the Shooter ability.
Hong Yeonhui was a Shooter, and the middle-aged man guarding the entrance would be a Shooter too.
After all, you need to see ahead to stand guard duty.
If I handed over armed Shooters to them… Hong Yeonhui wouldn’t refuse either.
“Go to Majang-dong.”
“Majang-dong? Where exactly in Majang-dong?”
“I’m unable to provide you with an exact location.”
“Pardon?”
“Go to Majang-dong and survive. If you prove that you’re people capable of surviving, that person will find you first.”
The one who witnessed my rampage was Hong Yeonhui.
This meant she was monitoring every situation unfolding in Majang-dong.
If I showed her that these people could survive in Majang-dong while caring for a young child… that would be more than enough to capture Hong Yeonhui’s interest.
The middle-aged man swallowed hard, then spoke in a noticeably serious tone.
“Is the person in Majang-dong… trustworthy enough that we can move with the children?”
“You’ll find out when you go.”
“Still, couldn’t you give us a bit more information…?”
“You’re the people who attacked my companions. Technically, you’re my enemies.”
“…”
“I’ve already told you this much. Isn’t that asking for too much?”
“…I apologize.”
The middle-aged man bowed at a ninety-degree angle to apologize.
Given that he was even using formal speech, it seemed he’d finally decided I was someone worthy of being treated as a proper person.
The other companions behind him also bowed their heads in apology to me.
But this apology should have been directed at Elder Chulmin, not me.
“We don’t have much, but… is there any way we could compensate you?”
At the middle-aged woman’s words, I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
Yes, to keep things clean between us, it would be good to receive appropriate compensation.
“How many handguns do you have?”
“W-weapons? You want guns?”
“Is that difficult?”
Taking their points would be one method, certainly.
But since we could earn points easily enough ourselves, I should take something difficult for us to obtain.
So I needed to get handguns.
The middle-aged woman began glancing at the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke.
“We can give you handguns. But ammunition… we don’t have much of that either.”
“Just having the guns is enough.”
“Pardon?”
“Just the guns will do.”
The middle-aged man looked utterly bewildered.
What would I do with just guns and no ammunition?
That was the expression he wanted to ask.
They didn’t seem to know, but the group hadn’t captured the Maker simply for protective gear.
A Maker could learn weapon crafting methods upon acquiring new weapons.
This meant they could craft both handguns and ammunition.
The middle-aged man looked at the boy behind him and spoke.
“Would you go get the handguns?”
“Ah, yes.”
Not long after, the boy returned carrying a box containing five handguns.
Inside were two Smith & Wesson M10 4-inch .38 caliber revolvers and three Smith & Wesson M60 3-inch .38 caliber revolvers.
The middle-aged man showed me the handguns and spoke.
“Have you ever fired a handgun?”
“No. I’ve never done live fire before.”
“It’s not difficult, so I’ll teach you.”
I would have preferred a semi-automatic pistol with a magazine, but both the M10 and M60 were revolvers.
Since reloading takes time, if you fire carelessly, you might get caught while reloading.
I looked at the middle-aged man and asked.
“The lengths seem a bit different. What’s the difference?”
“The M10 here is an older model used previously, and the M60 is the new model that was replaced starting in 2005. We still have inventory because the shooting range uses the M10 for training purposes.”
“The replaced handgun is smaller?”
“Yes. The M60 is smaller and lighter, so it’s better to carry.”
It seemed to weigh less than a kilogram.
At first glance, it felt like a toy.
To think this was a weapon capable of killing someone.
Either way, they both used the same .38 caliber, so they were compatible and that was good.
After learning how to use handguns from the middle-aged man, I received the firearms and ammunition in the box.
Since the situation was roughly settled, I spoke to them.
“You all need to move immediately. If it gets any later, the sun will set and we won’t be able to do anything.”
The middle-aged man consulted with his colleagues, then looked at me calmly.
“We’ll move right away as you say. But what will you do now?”
“I still have business in this neighborhood.”
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a slight cough.
“May I offer you some advice?”
“Please do.”
“There won’t be any survivors in this area. Since there’s a zombie den to the north… there are no groups of survivors nearby.”
“Then why are you here?”
“We judged that organized groups were more dangerous than zombies. We came here to avoid them, but in the end… we still fell victim to them.”
After hearing the full story, the middle-aged man left one final word.
“I’m not in a position to say this, but if you encounter survivors, attack them. The survivors in this area are overwhelmingly likely to be organized groups.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
“Then…”
The man bowed slightly and left through the entrance with his colleagues.
Advice to move to Majang-dong.
Whether they believe my advice or not is their choice.
But they would have sensed it instinctively.
The fact that I didn’t attack the young girl.
The fact that I didn’t kill the boy.
By approaching it rationally through conversation first, it proved my words held credibility.
Through the window, the evening dusk was gradually settling in.
I needed to move before it got any later.
I hurried back to where my companions were.

* * *
“Baek Doyun!”
As I arrived at the park where my companions were gathered, checking the 3D terrain map, Park Sangil, who spotted me first, rushed over in a single stride.
“Are you okay?! You didn’t get shot?!”
“I’m fine. More importantly, this.”
As I handed over the box, damp and soggy from the rain, Park Sangil immediately checked what was inside.
Soon his eyes widened as he asked.
“Is, is this a handgun?”
“I think it would be best if each party’s shooter takes one. I’ll keep the remaining one since it could get lost.”
“….”
Park Sangil stared at me with a blank expression, then swallowed hard and asked.
“Did you kill everyone who was there?”
“No, they weren’t trash.”
“Not trash? Those bastards shot Elder Chulmin.”
“Would we have… not pulled the trigger?”
Survival of the fittest, an era of self-preservation.
I too had mercilessly killed those who entered the safe house.
A situation where if we didn’t attack, my companions would suffer.
I would have pulled the trigger too.
“More importantly, is Elder Chulmin alright?”
“Fortunately, treatment wasn’t delayed.”
“Where is he now?”
“Follow me.”
Following Park Sangil, I found Elder Gwak Cheolmin lying in what was once a public bathroom.
“Doyun!”
The moment the elder saw me, he sprang up from his spot and felt over my entire body.
“Are you alright? You didn’t get hit?”
“Yes. I’m fine. How are you feeling, Elder?”
“It’s still a long way before I meet the grim reaper.”
The elder burst into hearty laughter.
Then the middle school students approached and laid the elder back down.
“Grandfather, you shouldn’t be moving yet, we told you.”
“I’m fine now. Thank you, students.”
“How are you fine? You still have a fever.”
“Haha…”
“We can see everything with our own eyes, you know?”
Do Sohee, the healer of Party One, was also assisting with Elder Chulmin’s treatment.
Park Sangil handed the pistol from the box to Elder Chulmin and spoke.
“Elder, please take this. Baek Doyun brought it.”
“Huh?! This… isn’t this a gun? Don’t tell me Baek Doyun, you…”
The Elder was indeed misunderstanding.
He seemed to think I had committed a massacre.
To prevent my companions from misunderstanding, I explained everything I had seen and heard.

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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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