Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 68

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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 068
Whoosh—!
As I hurled the man with all my strength, Park Sangil, standing atop the wall, caught him.
The raw strength to effortlessly toss a man weighing roughly 62 kilograms over a 4-meter-high wall.
The man, thrown like a sack of grain, hung his mouth open vacantly as if his soul had left his body.
Park Sanghun and I vaulted over the wall in one breath, and the man sitting collapsed on the ground stammered as he spoke.
“I-if you’re going to do this, then the junk we left by the side gate… we didn’t need to worry about it in the first place, did we?”
“Someone else could pass by besides us.”
“…”
“We need to check. I hate getting caught from behind.”
I spoke while forcibly pulling the collapsed man to his feet.
“Guide us. Show me the way to the rooftop without being detected by The Great Dominion.”
The man complied without further protest, moving his feet obediently.
He must have felt it from witnessing the raw strength to hurl him like a light box and that impossible sergeant jump.
Words about handling 1,400 zombies alone were less effective than experiencing it firsthand.
He had clearly come to understand exactly what kind of people had captured him.

* * *
Members of The Great Dominion were stationed throughout the apartment complex.
The man leading the way moved like a mouse, evading their eyes.
He knew when the sentries of The Great Dominion changed shifts, how long each shift took, and their movement routes.
This was no amateur’s work—he had been here more than once or twice.
“Wait here for a moment.”
The man climbed the stairs silently, then pressed his ear against the iron door leading to the rooftop.
Soon he turned to face Park Sangil and me, gesturing with his hands.
On the rooftop, sentries, four of them.
That seemed to be what he was saying.
His eyes then widened in alarm, and he hurried back down, speaking urgently.
“They’re coming, they’re coming out. Shift change time…!”
“All four?”
“Hide, hide! We’ll be in trouble if we’re spotted…! This way!”
The man, flustered and anxious, descended the stairs and ducked into a random unit just below the rooftop.
“Tonight too?”
“Yeah, that’s what they said. More pork again.”
“Isn’t the ration way too meager?”
“The Prophet said food’s been scarce lately.”
“How are we supposed to work on that?”
“We should complain to the scout team.”
“Pfft! You? You’ll just get beaten and cry.”
Two men descended the stairs, chattering and laughing.
It seems the discontent here stems from food shortages.
It’s only natural—securing provisions is far more difficult here than in the apartment complexes.
Moreover, with the group’s size being what it is, feeding so many mouths would be a considerable burden.
But more than that… a Prophet?
‘Are they calling Players prophets?’
I pondered this internally while waiting for the sounds of activity to fade.
Once the footsteps ceased entirely, I carefully opened the entrance and stepped outside.
As I made my way back to the rooftop, Park Sangil raised his crossbow and looked toward me.
I could read his expression by now, so I grasped the door handle and folded my fingers down from three.
3, 2, 1.
Click!
I yanked the door open, and in the distance beneath a tent, I spotted two men smoking cigarettes.
Thwip—Thwip—
The moment we were spotted, two bolts pierced through the rain and flew toward them.
The men smoking never even had time to react before they collapsed.
The bolts struck precisely between their eyebrows.
Because the crossbow and bolts were crafted with Points, they didn’t merely embed themselves between the brows—they pierced clean through the skulls.
With bolts like these… couldn’t we hunt even multiple Giant Zombies?
Park Sangil’s marksmanship was equally impressive.
To aim so precisely at the space between the eyebrows in that split second.
And without even using a Skill.
I checked to ensure there were no other sentries on the rooftop, then walked toward the tent.
Two rifles in their possession.
They were slung across their shoulders with straps, which is why they couldn’t react when they saw us.
Each carried a full ammunition magazine as well, so I collected everything and stored it in my inventory.
Finally, there was one more item at their sides.
A telescope.
The sentries’ level of armament was impressive.
They were incomparably better equipped than the group we’d dealt with before.
I handed the telescope to Park Sangil, and he began surveying the surrounding area.
“Huh, we got lucky.”
“Sir?”
“The direction we came from was a blind spot. The road cuts through at an angle, so they couldn’t see us from here.”
The man behind us scratched his philtrum and wore a satisfied expression.
“Ah, sirs, it wasn’t luck. It was thanks to me guiding you along the safe route.”
“….”
Fair enough. I’ll give him credit this time.
The man walked toward the rooftop railing and glanced in a specific direction before speaking.
“That direction is toward N Elementary School, and right below us here is the interior of the Third Barricade.”
Park Sangil carefully leaned his head out to observe the situation inside the barricade.
Ten people gathered in front of a campfire beneath a tent.
They called it a guard post, but in reality, these were people shivering from the cold in the open air.
With them stationed like this, they wouldn’t even notice us crossing the road.
“The third barricade shows only the ten sentries—no other survivors visible.”
“Can you see inside the second barricade from here?”
Park Sangil raised his binoculars, focusing on the second barricade 150 meters away.
“The second barricade has too many tents to see everything clearly.”
“Then the third barricade seems like a sacrificial position.”
“Sacrificial position?”
“It looks like they handle zombie attacks and survivor recruitment from the third barricade.”
“What should we do? Clear the third barricade and move forward?”
“They’re probably watching this side too, so clearing the barricade will be difficult. We could end up stirring up a hornet’s nest.”
Charging straight through the front was one option.
It wouldn’t be difficult for me now.
But The Great Dominion might have someone like Yun Taeseong, whom I’d encountered with the group.
Or rather, there could be more than one such person.
I had to reach the first barricade somehow and learn about those “Prophets” I’d just heard mentioned.
“They’re coming up.”
At that moment, Park Sanghun, standing behind me, spoke while placing his hand against his temple.
“They’ve arrived?”
“Yeah. They just crossed the side gate.”
Elder Chulmin, Park Sangha, and Do Sohee had arrived.
I looked at the man beside me and spoke.
“Follow me.”
Since there were sentries posted at the apartment building as well, I needed the man’s guidance to ascend safely.

* * *
“You’ve already repaired it?”
“Yeah. The moment I got out of Vehicle 2, Vehicle 1 looked red to me.”
Park Sangha had noticed a problem with the rotation axis of Vehicle 1 and came up after completing the repairs.
It would need to be lifted for repairs… but there wouldn’t be any special equipment here. How did he manage it?
Apparently, there was a repair shop on the way here, and he had the vehicle lifted and repaired there.
In any case, he’s fast. Really fast.
I pulled out the Twin Blades and handed them to Park Sangha.
“Hyung, could you repair these as well?”
“I repaired them right before we departed, and they’re already like this?”
“Something happened.”
I skipped the detailed explanation and looked at Do Sohee beside me.
“So Hee, what’s my fatigue level?”
“It’s already at 82%. What on earth have you been doing?”
“…Something happened.”
“Sit down. I’ll treat you right now.”
I had defeated 1,400 zombies.
And that was while using Balhwa as well.
Even now, every time I lifted my arms, I felt a dull ache and sharp pain.
Park Sangha repaired the Twin Blades as soon as he arrived, and Do Sohee focused on treatment.
Elderly Grandfather Kwak Cheolmin began discussing the surrounding terrain with Park Sangil to identify the entry route.
About 10 minutes passed like that.
“No matter how much I look, I can’t find a path.”
Elderly Grandfather Kwak Cheolmin approached me with a bitter expression.
Park Sangil seemed to agree with Elder Chulmin’s words, scratching his forehead and smacking his lips.
Then… I had to use the last method.
I spoke while looking at Park Sanghun.
“Sanghun, is the cooldown for Hallucination ready?”
“It’s been 4 hours already.”
“Then…”
As I looked at the man beside me, Park Sanghun licked his lips and asked.
“…Use it on this guy?”
“Yeah. There’s no other way to check the interior.”
…
Park Sanghun seemed to have lost his nerve, scratching his head with a troubled expression.
I reminded him of the situation once more.
“He’s the one who pointed a gun at Elder Chulmin and me.”
“I know.”
“If you hesitate, our group in Seongdong-gu could be put in danger.”
Park Sanghun exhaled sharply and stared intently at the man’s face.
The man looked back and forth between our group on the rooftop, clearly confused about what was happening.
“Why, why are you asking?”
“How often do the sentries change shifts?”
“Every three hours.”
“That’s plenty of time.”
Since the last shift change was about thirty minutes ago, using Hallucination wouldn’t strain me at all.
In fact, I had plenty of room to spare.
As I looked at Park Sanghun, he fixed his gaze on the man and whispered.
“Hallucination.”
Ding—!
[You activate the skill Hallucination.]
[You control your target for 30 minutes.]
The moment Sanghun activated Hallucination, his right eye shifted to a violet hue.
Simultaneously, the man’s entire body trembled.
“Blind the senses.”
At Sanghun’s command, both his eyes turned violet, and he gained complete control over the unnamed man.
“This is something new. Controlling a perfectly normal person.”
“This is something new. Controlling a perfectly normal person.”
The moment Sanghun spoke, the controlled man echoed his words exactly.
“Sanghun, you’ve got 30 minutes. Move quickly.”
“So I just go down there, pretend to surrender, and say I want to join The Great Dominion?”
“That’s right.”
“Got it.”
Without needing lengthy explanations, Sanghun had already grasped the situation.
He controlled the man and descended the stairs rapidly.
He made it down to the first floor in one breath, then walked openly toward where the sentries were stationed.
“I surrender! Don’t shoot!”
“I’ve come to defect.”
From my position on the rooftop, it sounded like Sanghun was talking to himself, but hearing his voice alone was enough for me to understand how things were unfolding.
“An inspection? I have no bite marks.”
“There’s a group of survivors up there in Hakdong Park. I came from there.”
“We were attacked. Some demon-like creatures from who knows where… they slaughtered all my comrades.”
I could tell what questions were being asked even without hearing them.
“Remove my clothes? Ah, yes!”
They were checking for bite marks.
Sanghun controlled the man with ease while asking questions of his own.
“Is this place really safe?”
“Didn’t The Great Dominion used to test whether recruits could fight zombies? I’m confident I can.”
“Ah, right. Well, time has passed, so that’s different now. If you’ve survived this long, you should naturally be able to kill zombies.”
“What’s for dinner tonight?”
“Does your leader stay separate here, or did everyone gather with one heart and one mind?”
Park Sanghun bombarded me with relentless questions.
“Ah, quiet! Just be quiet for a moment! What’s with all this chatter?! What kind of man talks this much?”
The irritated voice rang so loudly it reached even my ears on the rooftop.
I glanced at Park Sanghun’s expression, but he showed no concern whatsoever, breaking into a hearty laugh as he spoke.
“Haha! I’m just curious about a lot of things. There’s no harm in being careful, right?”
“Do I pass through here? Is this where we enter the next barricade?”
“Wow, I can smell something delicious from here. Is it soup?”
Park Sanghun’s inane chatter was draining the sentries of their composure.
Meanwhile, Park Sangil, who had been monitoring the movement path of the man he controlled, raised his binoculars and confirmed that the second barricade was opening.
A massive iron gate structure that opened left and right.
It wasn’t a makeshift barricade stacked with miscellaneous items, but a wall constructed from solid steel plates welded together.
“Doyun, can a Maker construct walls too?”
“With a blueprint, we can manufacture barricades as well.”
“At that level of quality, there must be quite a skilled Maker here.”
“What about it?”
“The second barricade is much taller than the first, with no gaps.”
According to Park Sangil, the barricade stood at least 5 meters high, with multiple sentries armed with rifles positioned along the top.
A barricade constructed like an iron fortress from thick steel plates.
If a Maker had built this barricade… even forcing our way through with a vehicle would be difficult.
“Sangil’s Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Can we jump across to the adjacent building from here?”
“The adjacent building? No way. The height doesn’t match.”
So was there truly no way to enter except by passing through the second barricade?
“Huh? What’s this? There’s a lever here?”
At that moment, Park Sanghun, who had entered the second barricade, spoke as if making sure we could hear him.
Park Sanghun had only blocked our vision, not our hearing.
This was meant for us to hear.
“So the door opens as those gears rotate? Wow, that’s impressive.”

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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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