Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 73

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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 073
How did he get here already…!
I didn’t even have time to be shocked.
The Zombie King’s fist was already hurtling toward my face.
‘Left.’
I threw up my guard in panic, but it was too late.
Crack—!!!
The impact was devastating.
Along with the sound of stone shattering, I felt my entire body weightlessly hurled to the right.
I had no time to feel pain.
Everything happened in an instant.
Boom—!!
I flew all the way to the wall and crashed into it before the weightless sensation faded, replaced by the bitter cold of the ground beneath me.
I tried to push myself up, but my left arm wouldn’t move at all.
Through the haze of shock, I looked down and confirmed it—my left arm was bent in a direction it should never bend.
“Aaaah!”
The Prophet watching the situation screamed and bolted toward the iron door.
At the same time, she pressed a red button visible beside the iron door.
Beep beep beep— Beep beep beep—
The red lights in the ceiling began flashing, and a fire alarm started blaring from outside.
All electronic devices that existed in the real world had gone dead, so was this alarm also made by the Makers of The Great Dominion?
Click—! Screech!
The Prophet unlocked the bolt and rushed outside.
Seeing her escape, I gasped out with difficulty and shouted.
“Don’t… you can’t leave…!”
My words came out slurred, probably from the impact.
It seemed my arm was broken and my jaw was dislocated.
That stupid woman…!
If she leaves like this, she’ll release the Zombie King into the world!
The Prophet started to close the iron door behind her.
She wasn’t simply running away—she was trying to trap both me and the Zombie King inside.
Boom!!
In that instant, the Zombie King kicked off the ground and charged toward the iron door.
His lower body strength was so immense that spider-web cracks spread across the spot where he’d launched himself.
Enough force to shatter a concrete floor.
How was this even possible?
Boom—!!!
As the Zombie King kicked the iron door, the thick metal swung wide open in an instant.
The Prophet, who had been trying to close it, was crushed between the door and the wall, her entire body compressed.
“Gaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
A thunderous roar echoed through the air.
Ding—!
[Skill: Summons of the King is activated.]
[All Zombies within a 300m radius gather in response to the King’s Summons.]
Ding!
[The torrential downpour reduces the skill’s range to 150m.]
Ding!
[No Zombies exist within a 150m radius.]
At least this place had already been cleared of Zombies.
If the Zombies had rushed here in response to the King’s Summons….
‘This would be the end.’
The Zombies that rushed to answer the King’s Summons temporarily gained a portion of the Zombie King’s physical abilities.
At No Way Home, they had received 50% of the Zombie King’s physical capabilities.
In other words, each Zombie that answered the call possessed physical abilities identical to mine.
The Wall of Lamentation I had feared… had become reality.
Crash!!
Followed by the sound of glass shattering outside.
The Zombie King, now unleashed upon the world, burst through the building’s windows and escaped outside.
Tap-tap-tap—tap-tap!
“Doyun!”
My companions rushed in from the staff room, and their jaws dropped at the sight of me.
Do Sohee hurried to my side and treated my broken arm and dislocated jaw.
“Doyun, what was that System Message just now?”
….
“Did the Zombie King really go berserk?”
Instead of answering, I nodded, and my companions’ expressions grew grave.
Park Sangil spoke with a troubled expression.
“You should have just killed it.”
….
“I hesitated because I might become the Zombie King in the fourth episode?”
I said nothing in response.
Park Sangil’s words weren’t wrong, but the truth was that I had missed my opportunity.
Who could have known the time remaining before its rampage would be so short?
I moved immediately upon hearing it was the full moon, but it was already too late to stop the Zombie King from going berserk.
I glanced up at Park Sangha, and he spoke as if to reassure me.
“We’ve dealt with all the Prophets. We also handled the Sentries entering the staff room.”
“The basement… the auditorium….”
“Huh?”
“The auditorium storage… confirmed.”
My jaw still hadn’t reset, so my words came out slurred.
I had no choice but to stand up from my seat and head toward the stairs.
“Don’t move! The treatment isn’t finished yet!”
Do Sohee rushed after me with quick steps and grabbed my chin.
Now wasn’t the time to sit still and wait for treatment.
I needed to get information about the Zombie King quickly and leave.
Soon, Gangnam would become a living hell.
I hurried down to the basement hall, where tables and chairs capable of seating at least two hundred people came into view.
A chapel of the sort commonly seen in religious organizations.
And a side door visible in the corner of the chapel.
Without hesitation, I opened the side door and entered, revealing a warehouse stacked with numerous documents.
Fortunately, the documents were well-organized by date.
Let’s see—when did the Zombie King enter this place?
I first checked the list of survivors who had arrived two weeks ago.
While rapidly flipping through the documents, I found a file related to the Zombie King.
-Name: Kim Hanna
-Gender: Female
-Special Notes: Husband and daughter are in Gangbuk; she was summoned alone to Gangnam.
-Presumed to have been summoned alone to Gangnam due to address discrepancy.
-Maintained rationality for an extended period after being bitten by a zombie.
-After transforming into a zombie, showed hesitation rather than attacking humans.
-Only attacked humans after her rationality gradually faded.
-Physical abilities still indistinguishable from ordinary zombies, but presumed to be the Zombie King based on external characteristics, transformation process, and post-transformation behavior.
-Urgent need to establish religious organization.
A Polaroid photograph was also attached to the upper left corner of the document.
The expression of a woman filled with worry for some reason.
Along with the document, a wallet was also enclosed.
The Great Dominion even kept the identification cards of survivors in case the information might be false.
The moment I pulled out the enclosed wallet and confirmed the information about Kim Hanna.
“…Huh?”
My eyes reflexively twitched.
In Kim Hanna’s wallet was a photograph of her smiling brightly while holding her daughter in her arms.
This child… why does she look familiar?
I took out the Zombie King’s necklace from my pocket and examined the photograph inside it.
The photograph in the necklace was too small to be certain, but seeing the photograph in the wallet made it clear.
This child—I knew this face.
Where had I seen her before?
She wasn’t one of the children at the safe house.
But why did she seem so familiar to me?
“Ah?! Hong Yeonhui?!”
I suddenly remembered where I had seen the child.
The child I had met at the shelter with Hong Yeonhui—the one I was bringing noodles to as I climbed the emergency stairs.
The same child who had stumbled, spilling the noodles I was carrying, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
That very child.
Was smiling brightly in the photograph.
How could such a coincidence exist beneath this vast Seoul sky….
Was this why people said the world was so small?
“Why, do you know her?”
Park Sangil, who had been reviewing other documents, approached from behind me.
As I tried to check the documents over my shoulder, Do Sohee, who was treating her left arm and dislocated jaw beside me, spoke with a displeased expression.
“Please stand behind Uncle Sangil! It’s cramped here.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Park Sangil left for the chapel with an embarrassed expression.
The time limit for the emergency episode was 72 hours.
I couldn’t afford to act on mere speculation.
I needed to move with certainty, so I compared and contrasted the child in my memory with the one in the photograph countless times.
No matter how many times I looked, this child seemed to be that child.
“Found her! The Zombie King’s Daughter!”
I shouted to my companions in the chapel, and they all rushed into the storage room.
Then Do Sohee furrowed her brow and spoke.
“Everyone, please stay outside! This place is too cramped!”
Do Sohee clenched her small fists and cried out in a trembling voice.
Even her irritation was timid.

* * *
“This way!”
I gathered the information related to Kim Hanna and hurried outside.
The Great Dominion’s barricade, which had seemed so imposing, was already completely destroyed by the Zombie King.
The screams of people heard from a distance mixed with the sound of rain, echoing like a mournful dirge.
We used a narrow alley to avoid the people’s eyes as we headed toward where the hunting dog was.
“Grraaahhh!!”
At that moment, a zombie burst out from the right.
Do Sohee’s face went pale with shock at the sight of the zombie.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her away, driving my fist into the zombie’s face.
Crack—!
A heavy impact resonated through my fingertips.
It was solid.
It should have been crushed like soft tofu in a single blow, but the impact reverberated through me as if I’d struck a brick wall.
Now wasn’t the time to find out why.
It was time to find a solution.
I quickly opened my inventory and, the moment I drew my curved blade, I swung it toward the creature’s neck.
Slash—!
Its head came clean off.
“What?! Wasn’t this place supposed to be cleared of zombies?!”
Park Sanghun, who had been following behind, wiped the rain from his eyes and asked.
Right, The Great Dominion was supposed to be a cleared zone.
When the Zombie King used his skill, a message appeared confirming there were no zombies within 150 meters—that wasn’t a lie.
For a zombie to appear in such circumstances meant….
“The Great Dominion.”
“What?”
“The survivors belonging to The Great Dominion were bitten by the Zombie King.”
“…!”
“Ordinary subordinates possess one-third of the Zombie King’s physical abilities.”
“One-third? Then… these things have an average stat of 40? The same as us who’ve undergone second awakening?”
Yeah, it’s absurd, isn’t it?
But what can we do about it?
That’s simply how this game is designed.
Then Park Sangha, who had been leading the way, cupped his hands above his brow and asked.
“That roar the Zombie King let out earlier—what does it do?”
“It’s both a method to increase subordinates and a skill of the Zombie King that temporarily raises the physical abilities of his subordinates.”
“How much does it increase?”
“It raises them up to half of the Zombie King’s physical abilities.”
Park Sangha moistened his lips with saliva and swallowed hard.
Then, his expression growing troubled, he asked.
“Doyun, I heard you mention regular subordinates earlier. If that’s the case, then the Zombie King’s subordinates must also….”
“Yes. As the episode progresses, a commander zombie emerges from among the regular subordinates.”
“…!”
“It’s like a royal guard commander serving the Zombie King. I’ll explain the details as we move. For now, we need to get to the modified vehicle quickly.”
Then Elder Chulmin, who was leading the way, turned back and shouted at us.
“Why aren’t you following quickly? What are you doing there!”
“Coming!”
Park Sangil and Elder Chulmin advanced rapidly toward an area free of zombies and survivors.
Ding-!
At that moment, a familiar mechanical sound rang out, and a message appeared before my eyes.
[You have destroyed a Sanctuary!]
[Gangnam N Elementary School Sanctuary has been confirmed as a sanctuary with over 300 survivors.]
[A sanctuary with 300 or more people is recognized as occupying 16 sanctuaries.]
[8,000 points have been awarded.]
Destroyed a sanctuary?
We only killed the Prophets and Sentries?
Could it be… because the Hunting Dog Alliance is the only other faction currently in the Great Dominion?
The survivors of the Great Dominion have lost their will to fight and are being destroyed by the Zombie King.
Thanks to that, we’ve gained points without lifting a finger.
“Doyun, what does this mean?!”
Park Sanghun asked from beside me, and I closed the System Message before responding.
“What do you think? We just got lucky! Let’s run!”

* * *
Park Sangil pressed down hard on the accelerator the moment he climbed into the vehicle.
Just like when we arrived, Vehicle 1 carried Park Sangil, myself, and Park Sanghun.
Vehicle 2 following behind had Elder Chulmin at the wheel, with Park Sangha and Do Sohee aboard.
Crackle—
—Doyun, you’re certain about this?
Elder Chulmin’s voice crackled through the radio.
I had already stated our destination as we boarded the modified vehicle.
I pushed my rain-soaked hair back and picked up the radio.
“Yes, we need to head to Majang-dong.”
—I’m not doubting you, but I can’t quite wrap my head around why the Zombie King’s Daughter would be in Majang-dong.
“What do you mean?”
—Weren’t we summoned based on our registered addresses?
That was a fair point, certainly.
I explained while checking the documents I’d brought from The Great Dominion.
“It seems the Zombie King must have had some money before the world collapsed.”
—Money? Why?
“An apartment. To avoid real estate regulations, he registered his address alone at an apartment in Gangnam, while his daughter and husband registered theirs at an apartment in Majang-dong.”
Kim Hanna’s file contained a special note about this.
It stated that she was presumed to have been summoned alone in Gangnam due to the address discrepancy.
It was merely my speculation, but it was the most plausible explanation.

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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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