Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 76

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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 076
Park Sangil stacked the empty bowls neatly and carried them to the sink, then turned to Hong Yeonhui with a question.
“Hong Yeonhui, do you happen to have a map?”
“A map? Of course not. My phone’s dead.”
“Then we’ll need to head to the Han River and see it with our own eyes to make a plan.”
Direct observation and decision-making is certainly better.
But going all the way to the Han River at this late hour to verify things carried far too many risks.
“Let’s discuss it while checking the 3D topographic map first. We can do the site survey tomorrow after sunrise.”
When I unfolded the 3D topographic map, Hong Yeonhui’s expression shifted to one of astonishment.
“Huh?! Wow, where do you buy this?”
“It’s not for sale.”
Hong Yeonhui’s face filled with regret at those words.
Since she seemed unable to let go of her attachment to the 3D topographic map, I furrowed my brow and spoke.
“Focus. We only get one chance at this.”
“Understood.”
Hong Yeonhui sighed, resting her chin in one hand.
We spent the late hours of the night formulating our plan.

* * *
“Is this the secondary-grade reinforced protector?”
Park Sangil examined the protector Park Sangha handed him, turning it over in his hands as he asked.
Park Sangha, exhausted from reinforcing and crafting items all night, yawned widely with his mouth stretched open as he spoke.
“Yeah, try it on.”
“The color is kind of….”
A dark crimson-colored protector.
Park Sangil donned the secondary-grade protector, and upon seeing the message that appeared before his eyes, his jaw dropped open.
“All abilities increased by 30?!”
“Pretty amazing, right?”
“Wait, what’s this damage reduction of 15% about?”
“What do you mean? It means exactly what it says—damage taken is reduced by 15%.”
Park Sangha distributed the reinforced protectors to all the members of our group.
“Doyun.”
“Yes, Sangha.”
“Put it on and tell me how your stats change. If it’s not enough, I’ll reinforce it more.”
I equipped the protector Park Sangha handed me.
[Baster’s ability resists the protective gear effect!]
[The ability increase effect is reduced by half.]
[Strength, Vitality, and Agility increase by 15.]
[Damage Reduction: 10%]
Yeah, this is how Baster should be.
The reduction in stats is disappointing, but still—what more could I ask for?
Park Sangha came to my side to check the System Message, then extended his right hand.
“Give it back to me. I’ll enhance it one more level before returning it.”
“Won’t that cost a lot of points?”
“The higher the enhancement level, the more it costs.”
“How much does it cost?”
“The first enhancement wasn’t that expensive, but starting from the second enhancement, there’s a damage penalty effect attached, so it costs five times more.”
“Then the third enhancement must cost even more.”
“Still, it has to be done.”
I shook my head and spoke.
“It’s fine. Rather, please save the points and upgrade the modified vehicle instead. And we need to manufacture the bus anyway.”
“The bus is already being manufactured. Sanghun said the Maker students at the Safe House are working on it?”
When I looked at Park Sanghun, he nodded.
“Kim Miyeon told me yesterday. They’re manufacturing the bus.”
Since we earned points in Gangnam, the group at the Safe House would have received the same amount of points.
They’re pooling those points together to manufacture two buses.
After deducting the points needed for bus manufacturing, they sent the remaining points to Park Sangha, apparently.
‘Do they all have that many points?’
Well, since I have over 25,000 points, everyone probably has a similar amount.
Since they funneled it all to the Maker, it’s natural there’s plenty left over after manufacturing the buses.
I let out a bitter laugh and spoke.
“No, really. I’d feel bad spending points on my protective gear anyway. The effectiveness is already cut in half.”
“Still, there’s enough room to enhance it one more time.”
“Please save it. We don’t know when we might need it.”
“Alright then. And this.”
Park Sangha opened his inventory and pulled out a pair of gauntlets.
“These are the gauntlets you requested. I’ve enhanced them to level 2, so they have a strength-boosting effect.”
“These… look more like leather gloves than gauntlets?”
“They look like leather, but they’re much tougher and harder. And the finger sections are made of steel except for the joint areas.”
“Are your points okay? You enhanced my curved sword to level 2 yesterday too…”
“We earned plenty.”
Park Sangha smiled faintly, then yawned so wide his mouth nearly split, and spoke.
“Ugh, I can’t help it. I’m going to sleep in the car for a bit. Wake me when we arrive.”
It was natural to be tired after running enhancements all night.
I told him to get some rest and looked at the people behind us.
Hong Yeonhui, conversing with the Shelter-affiliated survivors at the parking lot entrance.
They seemed to be exchanging words about staying safe before departure and how to respond if they encountered other survivor groups.
Hong Yeonhui and the Shelter-affiliated survivors had volunteered to help entirely, but I had opposed it.
They hadn’t awakened yet, and they had only just begun wearing the protective gear they’d manufactured.
Fighting the Zombie King would be no different from suicide.
Yet those who stepped forward to help were Hong Yeonhui, Park Youngsu, and the Middle-aged Man.
The same Middle-aged Man who had regarded me with displeasure before.
The man who had told me to take the shelter’s location to my grave and opened the entrance for me.
It turned out he was Jeong Siyun’s Father and the Zombie King’s husband.
“Wooheok!”
“Yes! Sister.”
Ah, there was one more person.
The healing factor—only two people in the shelter.
Jang Wooheok.
The man who had treated my limbs before.
Though timid by nature, he seemed to execute his tasks with remarkable efficiency.
I hadn’t known his surname until now—his full name was Jang Wooheok.
Hong Yeonhui tossed the car keys to Jang Wooheok and spoke.
“Park Youngsu will handle the driving, and Wooheok, you assist him from the passenger seat. Jeong Siyun’s Father, Jeong Siyun, and I will take the back.”
A single vehicle sat in the parking lot.
All electronic devices in this reality had become useless.
The same applied to automobile batteries.
But this vehicle alone could still run.
I had heard that the Maker at the shelter had been an automobile mechanic before the world’s collapse, and the only battery he had salvaged was this vehicle’s battery.
I looked at Hong Yeonhui and spoke.
“Hong Yeonhui! We’ll handle the vanguard and rear guard, so follow us from the middle!”
“You’d better do proper escort! We have a distinguished guest aboard!”
Hong Yeonhui cradled Jeong Siyun in her arms, smiled contentedly, and boarded the vehicle.
Once everyone had boarded, Park Youngsu started the engine and spoke.
“Let’s try to revive this ruined game.”
“Let’s give it a shot.”

* * *
Having visited several times already, the routes were beginning to feel familiar.
After passing Seongsu Bridge and arriving at Apgujeong, Park Sangil pointed to the 3D terrain map I was viewing and spoke.
“There’s a high school around here, isn’t there? Really close to the middle school.”
“You mean Gu○ High School?”
“No, not that one. The direction toward Sinsa-dong over there.”
I zoomed in on the map to check the landmarks and found the school Park Sangil was referring to.
“Hyeon○ High School and Shin○ Middle School are right next to each other.”
“Yeah, there. Behind that middle school, you can see the Large Apartment Complex, right?”
“Yes.”
“Beyond that, there should be a rabbit hole.”
“You mean the underpass that connects to the Han River?”
“Yeah.”
Yesterday, I ran simulations while revising the plan multiple times.
At the end of that process, I found a rabbit hole of appropriate size.
It was a passage so narrow that if a single vehicle blocked the entrance, no person could pass through.
“We just need to lure the zombies there.”
“Will the vehicle be able to withstand it?”
“We’ll use two modified vehicles to block that passage.”
When the zombies enter the passage, Vehicle One pushes them through, and when Vehicle One reverses out, Vehicle Two, which has been waiting, pushes them out.
It was a method to handle the zombies easily and in large numbers all at once.
Since the passage becomes inaccessible, the Zombie King will use another route.
I checked the 3D terrain map and asked.
“The Zombie King will detour through a different underpass, some distance away from the rabbit hole, right?”
“That’s right.”
Another underpass located 150 meters away from the rabbit hole.
It was a two-lane road with a sidewalk where people could pass.
It would be difficult to block with a modified vehicle, and it was impossible to install a barricade right now.
Even if we installed a barricade, the Zombie King’s subordinates would easily break through it.
“Once the Zombie King moves there, we get in the vehicle and keep going….”
“Yeah, we keep moving until we exit at Banpo Han River Park.”
First reduce their numbers, and once the zombie count decreases, move to the next location.
No matter how much they’re the Zombie King’s subordinates, they’re still zombies in the end.
They cannot escape the constraints of a human body.
If they chase a modified vehicle running at 100 kilometers per hour at full speed, the zombies without shoes will have nothing left of their feet.
Moreover, when they discover prey, they rush forward without hesitation, so many will become entangled with each other, fall, and be trampled.
Since the key is to reduce their numbers as much as possible, we adopted this method.
There was talk of using Han River water taxis to lure the zombies, but we deleted it from the plan since the boats might not exist or might not start.
We don’t have the luxury to carry such variables.
After reducing the zombies to a pitiful state, we’ll lure the Zombie King to Sebit Island, Solbit Island, and Gabit Island.
I had already run several simulations and calculated the timing of arrival and when to block off the routes.
It would be tight, but not impossible.
After finishing my conversation with Park Sangil, I picked up the radio.
Crackle— crackle—
“Sangha, can you hear me?”
-Yeah, go ahead.
“Please head into the Rabbit Hole and clear the area. You’ll need to have Banpo Hangang Park cleared by the time we bring the Zombie King.”
-I’ll clear it in 30 minutes.
“Thank you.”
After finishing the radio transmission, I glanced at the side mirror and confirmed Vehicle 2 heading into the Rabbit Hole and the vehicle carrying Siyun.
I would maximize the advantages of the modified vehicles and make this operation succeed.

* * *
Vehicle 1 passed through the Sinsa intersection and advanced down the expansive Gangnam Boulevard.
As Park Sangil, gripping the steering wheel, crested the hill between Sinsa Station and Nonhyeon Station, he stepped on the brake and swallowed hard.
“Damn, this is a bit….”
“What is it? What’s ahead?”
“There’s a ridiculous number of them.”
I could tell just by looking at Park Sangil’s expression.
In just one night, the Zombie King’s subordinates had multiplied beyond what could be managed.
“How many do you estimate?”
“Estimate nothing—they’re packed solid from Nonhyeon Station all the way to Sinnonhyeon Station.”
Zombies filling the entire stretch from Nonhyeon Station to Sinnonhyeon Station?
That’s way too many.
The distance from Nonhyeon Station to Sinnonhyeon Station had to be at least 800 meters.
And zombies were swarming across that wide boulevard?
That doesn’t make sense.
I swallowed hard and asked.
“That can’t be right. No matter how powerful the Zombie King is… the limit of subordinates he can control initially is around 500.”
“500 is the limit?”
“Yes. At No Way Home, I’ve personally counted and eliminated the Zombie King’s subordinates one by one. No matter how many times I tried, the maximum number of subordinates he could secure initially was 500.”
“….”
“After that, they increased by a factor of two or 1.5 times with each episode progression.”
“But this doesn’t look like 500 at all. It looks like it could be over 5,000.”
If zombies filled the entire stretch from Nonhyeon Station to Sinnonhyeon Station… yeah, it would be over 5,000.
“Ugh….”
At that moment, an alien sound pierced through the heavy rainfall.
It wasn’t coming from inside the vehicle.
It was coming from outside the window.
Cautiously, I lowered the window.
“Grrrrrraaaaaahhhhh….”
The howling of zombies echoing across the area.
It was nearly a desperate shriek, as if it would drag the human soul down to the very depths of hell.
A howl piercing through such a torrential downpour—how was that even possible?
Could it be….
Did all 500 of the Zombie King’s subordinates howl in unison?
Is that why every zombie in the vicinity came rushing over?
Using the resonance phenomenon of zombies to gather even more of them.
If that’s the case, the Zombie King’s subordinates can’t simply be counted as 500.
Thousands, or even tens of thousands of zombies drawn by the sound will follow us.
Park Sangil glanced left and right with a troubled expression.
“Hey, at this rate, isn’t this basically a ‘no entry’ zone for Gangnam?”
“Except for the 500 registered as the Zombie King’s subordinates, they’re all ordinary zombies.”
“So what difference does that make? If we kill the Zombie King’s subordinates, another one over there will just become his subordinate instead.”
“Regardless of the situation, nothing changes. If we don’t finish this today, the game is truly over.”
Once today passes, the second episode ends.
The moment we enter the third episode, I have no idea how far the Zombie King’s physical abilities will rise.
The same applies to his subordinates.
Instead of Park Sangil’s hesitation, I pressed the car horn.
Beeeeeep—!! Honk!! Beeeeep!!

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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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