Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 82

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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 082
Elder Chulmin’s mouth fell open in bewilderment at Hong Yeonhui’s explanation.
How could anyone think of such a thing?
The word “unique” hardly sufficed to describe it.
Regardless, Hong Yeonhui continued speaking.
“I don’t think of the character as a person—I just think of it as a vehicle I’ve acquired.”
“How could you… isn’t that abandoning all humanity?”
“It’s a game. In a game, anything you can imagine is possible.”
When Elder Chulmin offered no rebuttal, Hong Yeonhui gazed at Baek Doyun trapped in the tank and spoke.
“Doyun has an absurdly powerful skill right now, but I also know how to turn that skill into a fool’s ability.”
Baek Doyun lay in the tank, blinking his mouth and eyes like a goldfish.
While some laughed and delighted in watching the character reduced to idiocy, others like Elder Chulmin gazed upon him with pitying eyes.
He was an Elder with abundant compassion and affection.
“So what do we do? Just wait like this?”
When Park Sangil asked, looking at everyone, Park Sangha gazed toward Sebit Island and responded.
“We’re waiting, but just in case, I’ve been turning it around. Even if Doyun can’t smell, his vision hasn’t completely disappeared.”
“Does using Frenzy expand the field of vision?”
“I don’t know. But just in case.”
“So you’ve been rotating the tank because you’re worried the Zombie King might see it and burst out?”
“This damn thing is heavy. Help me out.”
The Park Brothers grunted and strained as they rotated the tank, which easily exceeded a ton.
Baek Doyun, trapped in the tank by his own doing.
He gazed at the Han River landscape beneath the falling rain until his Frenzy ended.

* * *
How much time had passed?
A pungent, musty stench assaulted my nostrils, and my eyes snapped open.
Startled, I tried to sit up, but I felt hands pressing down on the back of my head.
“Don’t move!”
Do Sohee’s muffled voice reached my ears.
When I turned my head, Do Sohee held my head firmly in place with a sullen expression, keeping me pressed against the floor.
What was this?
What had happened?
“Doyun!”
I could see Park Sangil rushing toward us.
“Are you awake?”
“Ah… yes.”
A world shrouded in dark clouds.
By now I’d grown so accustomed to it that I could tell whether it was day or night just by observing the shade of the clouds.
Right now… it must be around 4 in the afternoon?
“What happened?” I asked, looking at Park Sangil.
He exhaled a sigh of relief and sat down beside me.
“What happened? We waited until your Frenzy ended.”
Waited until my Frenzy ended?
Fragments of memories from when I’d lost my sanity began surfacing in my mind.
Like scattered puzzle pieces clicking back into place one by one.
I’d subdued the Zombie King and pummeled him until my fists tore open.
At the end of it, the Zombie King had collapsed, and I’d carried him on my back as I ran toward the Han River.
When my companions weren’t visible at Rabbit Hole, I’d come to Sebit Island, our next destination, and fought a Giant Zombie immediately upon arrival.
After dealing with the Giant Zombie…
‘Fish?’
All I remembered was watching fish leisurely swimming before my eyes.
Ah, that’s right.
I’d discovered an aquarium and jumped right into it.
Fortunately, the remaining twenty minutes seemed to have been spent quietly in the tank.
Park Sangil spoke while examining my hands, head, and eyes.
“You lost consciousness after the Frenzy ended, so we pulled you out right away.”
“…Thank you.”
“I didn’t do much. So Hee and Uhyeok worked hard treating you.”
Do Sohee still held my head in place.
Apparently, my skull had been fractured.
I remembered taking a spinning kick to the head while fighting the Zombie King—it must have cracked then.
Now the broken bone and torn skin had been fully healed, and I was recovering from the accumulated fatigue in my body.
I’d used both Frenzy and Balhwa simultaneously, and on top of that, I’d used Ichigeki, so the accumulated exhaustion had to be considerable.
“What happened to the Zombie King?”
“Kim Hanna? She’s resting over there.”
“Has her sanity returned?”
“Yes, it came back just as you said.”
“I should go see her.”
As I tried to get up from my seat, I felt a hand strike my back.
Startled, I turned my head to find Do Sohee glaring at me with a sullen expression.
Park Sangil, who had been watching this unfold, let out a dry laugh and spoke.
“If you don’t want to get scolded by So Hee, stay lying down.”
“But I still need to meet her and talk….”
“Yeon-hee is already talking to her. We can hear about it from Hong Yeonhui later.”
“…Understood.”
“Oh right, and our alliance—did we form an alliance federation?”
“What?”
An alliance federation?
If that’s the case… did the Majang-dong Shelter also form an alliance?
Park Sangil, who seemed quite exhausted himself, stretched and continued speaking.
“Hong Yeonhui and her group created an alliance. The name is Hongyeon.”
I see, so that’s how it is.
An alliance named Hongyeon?
Did they name it that because Hong Yeonhui’s surname is Hong?
Park Sangil continued speaking.
“And apparently, alliances can set up mutual pacts with each other?”
“What happens when you set up a pact?”
“When an allied alliance kills zombies, you receive half the points. Plus, you can also see each other’s locations.”
“You can see their locations?”
“Hong Yeonhui received something similar to the 3D terrain map you have. It apparently shows up on that device?”
“What do you mean by similar?”
“Flat and circular? Some kind of device like that. When you turn it on, you can grasp the terrain within a 100-meter radius, and you can also check the location of allied alliances and the 100-meter area around them.”
It wasn’t as comprehensive as my 3D terrain map where I could grasp any terrain I wanted, but it was quite a useful tool at that level.
Park Sangil continued to tell me about everything that had happened while I slept.
The zombies beyond the barricade lost their aggression once Kim Hanna’s frenzy state ended.
Since they were zombies that moved according to commands, they had now become like robots with drained batteries.
“Even if their aggression is gone, we still need to confirm whether it’s safe for people to approach them.”
“Sangha, Sanghun, and Elder Chulmin already checked. It’s safe.”
Zombies that don’t attack humans even when they see them.
Is this what they mean by gaining the strength of ten thousand soldiers?
The thought that we could finish No Way Home faster than expected made my fists clench with anticipation.
“Sangha and Elder Chulmin are repairing the modified vehicle, and Sanghun is helping too.”
“The Majang-dong Shelter… or rather, the Hongyeon people—what about them?”
“She’s inside one of the buildings on Sebit Island.”
That’s fortunate.
I was worried she might rampage in a Frenzy state like last time, but it seems we’ve passed through without incident.
“Oh right, Doyun.”
Park Sangil asked as if he’d suddenly remembered something, glancing toward Sebit Island.
“That… the Zombie King.”
“We should call her Kim Hanna now. She’s regained her rationality.”
“Right, Kim Hanna. A System Message appeared before Kim Hanna’s eyes too.”
“A System Message?”
“Yeah, it said that by consuming human brains, she could master language.”
A System Message for the Zombie King?
Did No Way Home even have such a system?
Wait, now that I think about it….
‘The Great Dominion had something similar.’
When the frenzied Kim Hanna broke free from the chains and escaped the warehouse, she let out a roar summoning soldiers.
The Skill King’s Call.
I’d seen this skill multiple times while playing No Way Home, so I didn’t feel the strangeness of it.
‘In No Way Home, there was never a separate explanation displayed when the Zombie King used a skill?’
Right, no matter how much I think about it, I have no memory of the Zombie King’s skill description appearing as a System Message.
That was information you could only confirm by going into game settings, then to the Mutant Zombie, Zombie King, and Skill Description sections.
They gave away that information for free.
And on top of that, by consuming 100 human brains, she could master language?
The fact that they told her that….
“Hyung, could it be that Kim Hanna was also registered as a Player?”
“Yeon-hee thought the same thing.”
A zombie as a Player.
Of course, she’s a special zombie, but….
No Way Home didn’t have a zombie mode.
Just because the game didn’t have such a mode doesn’t mean it can’t exist in reality, but….
‘What are you thinking, Gaia?’
After brief deliberation, I asked Park Sangil.
“Is party invitation possible too?”
“Yeon-hee already tried, but it said Kim Hanna can’t form a party yet because she can’t speak human language.”
“So once she consumes 100 human brains, we can form a party with the Zombie King?”
“That’s what we’re assuming, but we’re not certain.”
If party play with the Zombie King becomes possible as expected….
‘We could finish this in an instant.’
We’d be able to acquire points without any threat.
Kim Hanna could make the zombies on the streets her subordinates and order them not to attack us.
We’d just have to deal with the ones standing around uselessly.
A situation where what I had only imagined could become reality.
I rose from my seat, stretching my stiff body.
“So Hee, you worked hard. Now my body feels light and refreshed.”
“There’s still five minutes left though….”
“That’s enough. You need to conserve your points too.”
After thanking Do Sohee, I hurried toward Sebit Island.
Park Sangil and Do Sohee stared blankly at me for a moment, then scrambled to their feet and followed behind me.

* * *
“Wow… Is this how you communicate?”
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”
Siyun’s Father smiled bitterly as he looked at Kim Hanna.
Kim Hanna didn’t struggle with writing by hand—it was speaking aloud that was difficult for her.
Of course, writing lengthy passages by hand was challenging, but by connecting words, she could communicate with us.
-I, going forward, what?
“Please stay with us. We can create a cure.”
-I, zombie, okay?
“Do you think of yourself as a zombie, Kim Hanna?”
Kim Hanna hesitated for a moment, colored pencil in hand.
Soon, with trembling hands, she wrote the letters.
-I… am human.
“Yes, that’s enough.”
-….
“We will help you, Kim Hanna, so that you can fully return to being human.”
At that, Kim Hanna’s lower lip quivered and her eyes reddened.
-Thank… you.
“Si Yun will stay with the other children. We have many children around Si Yun’s age, so it will help with his emotional stability.”
Kim Hanna rose from her seat and bowed deeply, folding at the waist.
“Thank… you… so much.”
Though her voice carried a guttural rumble, the sincerity in her heart was genuine.
I smiled warmly at this and looked at Si Yun.
“Si Yun, these aunts and uncles here will definitely cure your mother, so don’t worry.”
“Yes!”
Si Yun answered with a bright smile.
But his eyes were so swollen from crying.
I couldn’t tell if they were tears of joy or tears of sorrow from his mother becoming a zombie.
The bond between mother and child.
Since I had no experience with it, it was an emotion all the more difficult for me to understand.
“So then, how do we combine them?”
At Park Sangil’s question from behind, Hong Yeonhui scratched her forehead and spoke.
“I think it would be better if we combined our efforts.”
“Would you prefer to stay at the Safe House, or would the Shelter be better?”
“The Majang-dong Shelter has no space left to accommodate more survivors.”
“Then come to the Safe House.”
Everyone wanted the Safe House, but Hong Yeonhui didn’t feel the same way.
In the game, the Safe House always collapsed, so she was even more hesitant.
I spoke while observing Hong Yeonhui’s expression.
“Things won’t unfold like they did in the game.”
“Huh?”
“We already know that No Way Home has diverged significantly from what we expected.”
“….”
“Perhaps… we might actually be able to protect the Safe House.”
After much deliberation, Hong Yeonhui decided to move to the Safe House.
There was no point in wasting time here, so I looked at Park Sangil and asked.
“Sangil’s Hyung, where are our vehicles?”
“Outside the barricade. We parked them hastily, so they should be on the grass.”
“Let’s move now. We need to bring everyone from the Shelter to the Safe House before sunset.”
“Before sunset? Why, is something going to happen when night falls?”
“The end point of the second episode is tonight.”
“Right.”
“If my predictions are correct… I suspect many troublesome things will begin happening from tomorrow onwards.”
Everyone around me immediately turned their attention toward me.
Hong Yeonhui looked at me and asked.
“Many troublesome things? What do you mean by that?”
“When I first defeated the Giant Zombie, I had a conversation with Gaia.”
“G-Gaia?! You talked with the game creator?!”
“Yeah. When I obtained the Second Awakening Right after defeating the Giant Zombie, I was placed under a restriction.”
I recounted the conversation I had with Gaia at that time.
Hong Yeonhui, who had listened intently to everything, brushed back her bangs and swallowed hard.
“So basically, Gaia doesn’t want us to clear this game too easily, right?”
“Yeah.”
Hong Yeonhui then gazed up at the sky filled with dark clouds.
At the same time, she threw a punch with all her might.
That scene… why does it feel so familiar somehow?
Without thinking, I looked at Park Sangil, and he burst into hearty laughter while gazing up at the sky as well.
Then he laughed boisterously and shouted.
“Screw you! Gaia, you bastard!”
Whether Gaia was watching this place or not, Hong Yeonhui and Park Sangil kept throwing punches at the sky.

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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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