Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 6

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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 006
“Damn it…!”
A normal person would instinctively throw out their arms when falling or stumbling.
But these creatures… they think about biting first instead.
I twisted my upper body sharply and hurled the one gnawing at my forearm away from me.
The padding tore, and a hole opened up in that brief moment.
If I hadn’t covered my forearm with the notebook, I would have been bitten.
“Kaaagh!!”
The creature that had fallen sprung back up like a tumbler doll and charged at me.
Without even time to check for injuries, I grabbed the dropped baseball bat and swung it at the creature’s temple.
Crack-! Crack! Thud- Whack! Smash!
I bashed the creature’s head with the bat without pause for breath.
This was exactly why I wanted to avoid fighting multiple zombies.
As I caught my ragged breath and surveyed the villa entrance, no more zombies emerged.
This didn’t make sense.
I’d only killed about eight at most.
The footsteps I’d heard weren’t from just eight creatures.
“Sister-in-law, move back!”
“Graaaah!”
I finally understood the reason.
The survivors on the rooftop were coming down the stairs.
The zombies on the stairs had split into two groups, above and below.
I quickly entered the building and dealt with the confused zombies.
“Huff… Huff… Huff….”
How many minutes had I been fighting?
I succeeded in eliminating all the zombies, but I failed to manage my stamina.
The situation was urgent, and I lost my composure and rushed in recklessly, handling it stupidly.
“Are you alright?”
An unfamiliar man’s voice came from the stairs.
I lifted my head to see a man who appeared to be in his early thirties looking down at me.
Behind him was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, and a child who appeared to be about five years old.
The man bowed his head slightly as he spoke.
“Thank you for saving us.”
“….”
“You deliberately lured the zombies… down to the first floor, didn’t you?”
It seemed they had also heard the sound of me tapping on the stair railing.
Instead of answering, I nodded.
My heart was pounding so fast I didn’t have the strength to speak.
The torn padding and the stinging sensation on my forearm.
If it hadn’t been for the notebook wrapped tightly with packing tape… I would have turned into a zombie.
I swept my bangs aside and asked.
“Where’s the child’s father?”
“Pardon?”
“The child’s father. He’s not your child’s father, is he?”
“How did you….”
“I heard you talking upstairs.”
The man let out a short exclamation and his expression brightened with emotion.
He seemed to think I had rushed over after hearing the child’s voice.
The man’s lips trembled slightly before he suddenly bowed at a ninety-degree angle and spoke.
“I’m truly sorry for this sudden encounter… but I’m begging you. Please help us….”
“I came to help anyway, so do you know where the child’s father moved to?”
“He said he was luring them toward the Church with my brother.”
The Church… I think I know where that is.
“Is that older brother the child’s father?”
“Yes.”
“Is he a Shooter?”
“…!”
The man stared at my face with startled eyes.
How did I know?
You can’t lure zombies toward the Church unless you can see them.
And the first thing I heard earlier was ‘they’re coming.’
Without secured visibility, it’s impossible to say something like that with such confidence.
While I did react unconsciously to the child’s cry, if my assumption is correct… these people could make a decent combination.
“The child’s father chose the Shooter ability, and he’s luring the zombies right now, correct?”
“…That’s right.”
“What are the others’ abilities?”
“We each picked one. Shooter and Maker, Whisper. The sister-in-law here chose Healing Factor.”
Just as I thought.
When given five characters and suddenly told to choose one, the wisest choice is for each person to pick a different character.
Above all, I’m relieved there’s no Buster.
Without bonus points like I received, surviving as a Buster would be impossible.
‘A decent party.’
Someone who lures zombies to save their companions in a life-or-death situation.
Someone willing to return to where the zombies are to save their brother.
I don’t know about their skills, but they have loyalty.
They’ve survived this long with a child, so they must have some skill.
Being with people like this would help with survival.
You think they can do this because they’re family?
Even family shows their true nature in life-or-death situations.
Conversely, what if they’re too tightly bonded and I end up isolated?
There’s a way to do this.
A way to make them absolutely unable to abandon me.
A world where no one knows what will happen tomorrow.
No, a world where we can’t even predict what will happen five minutes from now.
In such circumstances, the value of information cannot be ignored.
I’ll use the knowledge I possess about No Way Home to ensure they can never betray me.
“Follow me.”
“Wait a moment.”
“…?”
“Moving with your sister-in-law and nephew is a bit…”
“That’s exactly why you should follow me.”
I immediately entered the villa in front of us and opened the front door of the 4th Floor unit.
There were no signs of anyone moving about inside.
“The woman and child should wait here.”
“I’ll just check if there are any zombies and then we’ll move immediately…”
“There’s no need to check.”
“Pardon?”
“There are zombies in the common areas, but none in the residential spaces.”
“How can you be so certain of that?”
“I’ve confirmed it over the past two days.”
Finishing my explanation, I moved ahead toward the stairs.
The man’s expression turned bewildered, but he quickly collected himself and looked back at his sister-in-law.
“Sister-in-law, I’ll knock three times on the door when I return, so don’t come out before then under any circumstances.”
“Be careful.”
The man smiled warmly while patting his nephew’s head.
“Uncle will bring your father back.”
Instead of answering, the child sniffled and nodded.
After the farewell, the man approached my side.
“Let’s go.”
Just from watching how he treated his nephew and sister-in-law, I could tell.
That they were a close-knit family.
“May I ask your name?”
As we descended the stairs, the man’s voice came from behind me.
“I’m Baek Doyun.”
“Baek Doyun, thank you for helping us.”
“And what is your name?”
“I’m Park Sangha.”
“You mentioned an older brother and a younger brother earlier—are there three brothers?”
“Yes.”
They were brothers with a strong bond.
I spoke while checking the 3D topographical map.
“I’ll move along the shortest route, so follow me closely.”
“What is that?”
Park Sangha looked at the 3D topographical map I was holding and asked with curiosity.
I answered with a bland smile.
“I’ll explain later. After we rescue your older brother and younger brother—if we’re still alive by then.”

* * *
We didn’t encounter any zombies until we reached the Church.
It seemed the brothers had drawn away all the zombies in the vicinity.
“Park Sangha, what are your older brother and younger brother’s names?”
“My older brother is Park Sangil, and my younger brother is Park Sanghun.”
They all share the character “Sang” in their names.
Before entering the Church, I went into the Convenience Store right next to it.
I gathered soju bottles, cooking oil, olive oil, and an alarm clock from there.
“Carry this.”
“Why would we—”
“If we’re going to lure zombies, we should use our heads, not our bodies.”
Park Sangha looked bewildered, but obediently followed my instructions.
As I entered the Church’s main entrance carrying a box full of soju, the zombies inside immediately turned their attention toward us.
“Kaaaaahhh!!”
“Run!”
We couldn’t face the zombies here.
I headed toward the Stairs with Park Sangha.
According to the 3D topographical map, the Church’s Main Hall was a two-story structure.
Regardless of who Park Sangil and Park Sanghun were, if they hadn’t been taken down by the zombies, they would have gone up to the second floor.
“Kaahhh!!”
Upon reaching the second floor, I spotted zombies pounding on a door.
There were about a dozen of them.
I threw down the box I was carrying and gripped a baseball bat in my hand.
“Park Sangha! Pour all the cooking oil and olive oil on the Stairs!”
“On the Stairs?!”
“Hurry!”
The Stairs weren’t wide, but the problem was the pressure from a dozen zombies.
They pushed forward regardless of what happened to whoever was in front, so holding them off alone was beyond my capacity.
Crunch—! Crack!
These creatures were gnawing at my forearms and leather gloves.
I could endure my forearms somehow, but them biting my fingers crossed the line.
‘Damn, this hurts…!’
I shoved the zombies aside and swung the baseball bat.
Splash—!
The unbalanced creatures lost their footing on the cooking oil scattered across the stairs and slid down helplessly.
Park Sangha appeared half-conscious, frantically pouring cooking oil everywhere.
He tore open bottle caps and poured the oil across the stairs without blinking once.
For zombies that mindlessly charged at prey, there was no better barricade than this.
The zombies on the first floor were tap-dancing at the bottom, slipping on the cooking oil spread wide across the stairs.
I beat the zombies on the second-floor stairs to death, and threw the ones too difficult to handle over the railing or pushed them down the stairs.
Zombies sliding down like they were on a slide.
After clearing all the zombies on the second floor, I headed toward the door, clutching my tingling hands.
“Park Sangil! Park Sanghun! Are you there?!”
A bewildered voice came from beyond the door.
It sounded like the two of them were discussing something.
“I came with Park Sangha! Your wife and son are safe! Please open the door!”
Creak—!
The door opened in less than a second once I mentioned his wife and child.
Just from his expression, I could tell who Park Sangil was.
His face held a mixture of wariness and relief, suspicion and hope.
“Who are you?”
Park Sangil asked my identity in a trembling voice.
“I’m Baek Doyun. I’ll explain the details later—let’s move quickly.”
….
Park Sangil looked at Park Sangha behind me.
Park Sangha was still relentlessly pouring cooking oil.
I approached Park Sangha and grabbed his arm.
“Park Sangha, that’s enough. Let’s move.”
Park Sangha stared at my face with an unreadable expression.
It seemed he had truly lost his senses while pouring the oil.
They say that when people become excessively tense or lose focus, they continue repeating their previous actions.
It was true.
Park Sangha, who had regained his senses belatedly, picked up the soju bottle crate he’d set on the floor and stood up.
“What should I do now?”
“Follow me.”
I had no idea how long the cooking oil would hold.
Now I needed to divert the zombies’ attention elsewhere.
I entered the main hall on the second floor where Park Sangil and Park Sanghun were, locked the door, and surveyed the first floor of the main hall.
A few zombies wandered about listlessly.
Were those who hadn’t detected the prey on the second floor behaving that way, while those who had detected it rushed toward the stairs?
It seemed that even among zombies, there were subtle differences in their sensory organs.
I pulled a soju bottle from the crate and asked.
“Is this all the soju you have?”
“Yes. I couldn’t grab much because I was busy securing the cooking oil.”
About a pair of soju bottles.
Would it work?
“Everyone, keep your heads down. You can’t let the zombies see your faces.”
After confirming everyone had hidden below the railings, I gripped one soju bottle in my hand.
Then I hurled it with all my strength toward the central platform where the cross stood.
Crash-!!
The clear sound echoed through the spacious main hall.
The sound that human ears detect most clearly is a burst.
The sound of breaking glass reached the ears of the zombies outside the main hall as well.
I relentlessly threw soju bottles, and scattered several alarm clocks in between.
I set the alarms to go off one minute later.
After throwing all the soju bottles, I hid my body behind the wall and waited for the alarms to ring.
Just from hearing the zombies’ roars from the first floor of the main hall, there had to be at least a hundred of them.
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep-!!!
“Kaaaaaahhhhh!!”
As the alarm clocks began ringing in unison, the zombies roared and started gathering toward where the clocks had fallen.
“Let’s go, hurry, hurry!”
We needed to get back to the stairs filled with cooking oil.
Park Sangil, Park Sangha, and Park Sanghun carefully opened the door and left, confirming there were no more zombies below the stairs before rushing down.
“Huh?!”
“Shh! Be careful.”
Since we could fall too, we crawled down on all fours.
“Grrr…!”
In that moment, a zombie still clinging to life snapped its lower jaw—click! click!—against the ground as it tried to bite my forearm where I was supporting myself.
I frantically struck its face with a baseball bat grip, shattering its frontal lobe.
Park Sangil, watching this unfold, swallowed hard and asked.
“What exactly… are you?”
Right, he’d never seen someone smash a zombie’s face to pieces at close range before.
What couldn’t I do when survival was the immediate priority?
“I’ll explain once we’re back.”
After herding the zombies into the first floor of the main hall, we quietly slipped out of the church.

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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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