Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 62

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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 062
Park Sangha knew it well.
Baek Doyun possessed both strong patience and a strong sense of responsibility.
But someday, those very qualities would become his poison.
Baek Doyun was, after all, only human, and there would come a moment when he grew weary.
Until that moment of exhaustion arrived, Baek Doyun would never stop.
He was the type who pushed harder when someone tried to hold him back.
So rather than stepping forward to stop him, it was better to stand beside him in the moment when he collapsed from exhaustion.
That was what the Hunting Dog League should do, he believed.
When Han Hye-ri made a sullen expression, Park Sangha tilted his head and asked.
“What? Is it still not enough?”
“It’s just… a bit…”
“Keeping pace with Doyun’s speed is already remarkable. Not everyone can support someone who moves without rest like that.”
As Park Sangha spoke in a gentle voice, Han Hye-ri fell silent in thought.
The desire to do something.
The desire to be helpful.
That alone was admirable and sufficient.
Ding!
[An intruder has appeared at the Safe House!]
[Multiple intruders are approaching through the rear entrance!]
[If you wish to assess the enemy’s scale, please check the Safe House Status.]
At that moment, a System Message appeared before Park Sangha and Han Hye-ri’s eyes.
That explained why it had been so quiet.
Han Hye-ri looked at Park Sangha with startled eyes, and he shouted so everyone inside could hear.
“Everyone gather in the living room!!”
The group hurried into the living room.
“Did everyone confirm this message?”
When Elder Chulmin asked, Park Sangha nodded and spoke.
“Since we’re in the Safe House, it seems they give us advance notice.”
“Thank goodness. We almost got caught without knowing anything.”
“Who’s standing watch right now?”
“The students from the 5th party should be on watch.”
Park Sangha looked at the people gathered in the living room, then called out to Kim Miyeon, who was in front of the sofa.
“Kim Miyeon. Tell all the students on watch to come inside.”
“Understood.”
Kim Miyeon, Lee Kwanghyun’s wife.
The defense team’s only Whisperer.
While Kim Miyeon called the students, Lee Kwanghyun hurriedly gathered protective gear, a curved sword, and a pistol as he spoke.
“Like we discussed earlier, Building 118 is our last stronghold. The defense team will hold it with our lives on the line, so the 3rd and 4th parties move to your positions.”
“Everyone move quickly! Hurry!”
Park Sangha shouted toward the three members of his party, and Elder Chulmin, who was in charge of the fourth party, clapped his hands to urge the students forward.
The group rushed down the stairs in panic.
The third party moved to Building 116 on the right side of Building 118, while the fourth party moved to Building 117 on the left and the parking lot entrance.
The fifth and sixth parties, who were capable of combat among the defense team, descended to the first floor and hastily blocked the entrance with miscellaneous items they had gathered in the corner.
As if they wouldn’t let anyone in until the situation was resolved.
“Kim Miyeon! Please contact Park Sanghun!”
Jo Yunhwan, the strategist managing a three-versus-five-hundred scenario, called out to Kim Miyeon, who closed her eyes tightly and used the Whisper ability.
-Park Sanghun, can you hear my voice?
Had it been transmitted correctly?
Unlike a chat app where the number one disappears, and unlike text appearing before my eyes, there was no way to confirm whether Park Sanghun had heard my voice.
-I can hear you. Go ahead.
Park Sanghun’s voice answered Kim Miyeon’s call.
Kim Miyeon exhaled in relief and conveyed the current situation.
-An intruder has entered the Safe House. A message appeared saying multiple intruders have entered the Safe House.
-Hold out for thirty minutes. I’ll get there as fast as I can.
Kim Miyeon checked her wristwatch and shouted to the people.
“Thirty minutes! Just hold out for thirty minutes!”
“Okay, thirty minutes!”
Lee Kwanghyun checked the hastily stacked barricade of miscellaneous items and shouted to the people around him.
“All shooters to the fourth floor! Everyone else, take these and defend the barricade!”
As Lee Kwanghyun set down a large box, members of the fifth and sixth parties gathered around.
When the box was opened, it contained eight crossbows inside.
Crossbows that Elder Chulmin and Park Sangha had researched and crafted throughout the night.
They were crossbows infused with Elder Chulmin’s childhood memories and Park Sangha’s modern interpretation.
Even rapid-fire crossbows typically maxed out at five shots, and eighteen-round magazines were large and heavy, making them impractical to carry.
The crossbows that Elder Chulmin and Park Sangha created complemented the strengths and weaknesses of both designs as much as possible.
They were portable and lightweight.
Additionally, the metal magazine attached to the side of the crossbow could hold a total of ten bolts.
When the trigger was pulled, the lever would be drawn, and the next bolt would be pushed up onto the rail.
“You all know how to use them, right?”
The defense team hadn’t just been hiding all this time.
Everything had been prepared so that they could assist in combat at any moment and so that the reconnaissance team that went outside could return with peace of mind.
As Lee Kwanghyun asked, Kim Miyeon grasped the crossbow in her hand, loaded it, and spoke.
“We’ve done practice shots, so of course.”
As Kim Miyeon shouldered the crossbow, knelt in front of the barricade, and took her position, Lee Kwanghyun climbed the stairs and spoke.
“Dear.”
When Kim Miyeon looked at him, Lee Kwanghyun spoke in a serious voice.
“Don’t push yourself. If it gets dangerous, come up right away.”
Instead of answering, Kim Miyeon nodded with a faint smile.
Lee Kwanghyun headed to the fourth floor with the defense team’s shooters.
Shooters burst through both entrance doors.
As if they’d agreed beforehand, they hurried toward the balcony.
Frying pans and various metal sheets covered the windows in preparation for this situation.
Leaving enough space to maintain visibility, I waited with my gun barrel trained on the window for the intruders to appear.
It wasn’t long before I spotted intruders wandering through the rain about 300 meters away from Building 118.
The Hunting Dog League’s position hadn’t been discovered yet.
Seeing the number of enemies, Lee Kwanghyun unconsciously swallowed hard.
More than fifty people.
Some of them were carrying handguns.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-
Footsteps of people echoing from the first floor.
Peeking out slightly, I could confirm the 3rd and 4th parties moving to their positions.
After confirming everyone was in place, Lee Kwanghyun spoke to the 6th party’s healing factor behind him.
“Go down to the first floor and tell Miyeon. We’ve confirmed over fifty of them, and some are carrying handguns. Tell her absolutely not to leave the barricade.”
“Yes!”
As the student headed down, Lee Kwanghyun murmured quietly.
“Safe House status.”
[Current Survivors: 138]
[Danger Zones: Buildings 108, 109, 111]
The Hunting Dog League had 36 members total.
Since the 1st and 2nd parties had gone out to capture the group, 26 people remained at the Safe House.
With 138 survivors showing in the Safe House status, it meant there were 112 intruders targeting the Safe House.
“Uncle Kwanghyun! Auntie Miyeon says to tell her again when they get within 100 meters!”
A middle school student’s voice from the entrance.
Lee Kwanghyun closed the Safe House status window and shouted to the student.
“Tell everyone to get ready when they hear gunfire—I’m opening fire when they get within 30 meters!”
“Yes!”
The middle school student headed back down to the first floor to relay Lee Kwanghyun’s message.
Sweat beaded on Lee Kwanghyun’s hands gripping the handgun.
Tension and anxiety.
This wasn’t fighting zombies.
I was aiming my gun at humans—beings with reason, capable of planning and tactics, able to evade.
‘Focus.’
Lee Kwanghyun steadied himself, blinking several times.
With the thought that if I didn’t kill them, my family would die, I calmly placed my finger on the trigger.
Intruders darted through the rain, searching for League members.
Some had the build and gait of gangsters, while others fidgeted nervously with clubs in their hands.
Whether they were ones who enjoyed slaughter or ones struggling to survive, they were all the same enemy now.
Bang-!!
Followed by a gunshot that echoed through the apartment district.
The sound came from in front of Building 117.
Crack! Bang!
Then muzzle flashes appeared from the opposite direction.
Elder Chulmin’s fourth party and the intruders clashed.
Clang-! Clang clang!
Simultaneously, the sharp metallic screech of steel striking steel rang out from Building 116 to the right.
Park Sangha, who led the third party, was engaged in close combat with the intruders.
Lee Kwanghyun wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand, his eyes fixed forward.
Fifty meters, forty meters, then thirty.
As the intruders approached the playground in front of Building 118, he shouted with veins bulging in his neck.
“Fire!!”
Bang-! Bang bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He pulled the trigger relentlessly at the figures before him.
People fell as bullets struck them, and crimson blood pooled where their bodies dropped.
Lee Kwanghyun didn’t blink once, mechanically reloading and firing without pause.
The adrenaline surging through him made thought impossible.
He only aimed, and aimed again, and aimed once more.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
In that instant, a burst of automatic fire tore through the fourth-floor window where Lee Kwanghyun stood.
Crash-! Rat-a-tat-! Ping-! Rat-a-tat-tat!
The window shattered, and sparks erupted from the frying pan and steel plate positioned in front of it.
Lee Kwanghyun hastily crouched low, swallowing hard.
‘A rifle?!’
He’d only recently obtained a handgun, yet these bastards were carrying rifles.
Where in the world did they come from?
The territorial conquest of Episode #2-2 would last three days.
Yesterday had been quiet, but now on the second day, this was happening….
‘Outsiders.’
There was a strong possibility these intruders weren’t survivors from Seongdong-gu.
Lee Kwanghyun, hidden behind the wall, looked toward the middle school student in the living room.
When there were no injured, the Healing Factor had relatively more flexibility, so he was acting as a messenger.
“Student!! Go downstairs and tell Miyeon! There are guys with rifles, so don’t hide behind flimsy steel plates!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Tell the third and fourth parties too!”
“Yes!”
As the student hurried downstairs, Lee Kwanghyun moistened his parched lips with saliva and cautiously raised his head.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!
A bullet grazed his hair.
With ricochet fire occurring, he couldn’t easily return fire.
It meant someone was watching this position—there seemed to be many shooters among the intruders.
“Damn it…!”
Lee Kwanghyun raised only his hands above his head and returned fire in the direction the bullets came from.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!
But countering a rifle with a pistol was virtually impossible.
Unless he could land precise shots on their heads, there was absolutely no way….
‘The head?’
In that moment, something Lee Kwanghyun had forgotten suddenly came to mind.
Hadn’t he awakened after dealing with the Giant Zombie?
Back then, he had received an explanation from Park Sangil upon his return from hunting and learned the Skill.
Lee Kwanghyun took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart, then opened his eyes wide and raised his upper body.
“Precision Shot.”
[Precision Shot: Increases the accuracy of all weapons used by a Shooter by 50%.]
-Point Consumption: 200
-Activation Duration: 1 minute (Cooldown: 10 minutes)
-If you wish to use single shots, please say “Single Shot.”
-Single Shot can be used even during cooldown and consumes 10 points per attack.
As Precision Shot activated, a red-tinted crosshair appeared before Lee Kwanghyun’s eyes.
There were four riflemen in his field of vision.
Determined to finish them all within a minute, Lee Kwanghyun pulled the trigger.
Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!
Four gunshots echoed through the District.
At the same moment, holes appeared in the foreheads of the riflemen.
When the men nearby picked up the fallen rifles, Lee Kwanghyun put holes in their heads as well.
Bang! Bang-bang!! Bang!
Ammunition depleting rapidly.
But with Precision Shot active, Lee Kwanghyun’s gun barrel never missed.
“Uncle Kwanghyun!!”
Hearing the Middle School Student’s voice from behind, he turned his head as the student cried out in distress.
“Aunt Miyeon got shot!”
“…What?”
At those words, Lee Kwanghyun’s reason shattered.
With a vacant expression, he dropped his gun and rushed toward the Stairs without looking back.
The 5th and 6th parties had already abandoned the 1st Floor and been pushed back to the 2nd Floor.
“Miyeon!”

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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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