Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 83

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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 083
Over the course of several hours, I relocated every single person from the shelter to the safe house without exception.
Though I moved quickly, evening had already slipped away before I knew it.
“Come now, let’s proceed.”
Park Sangil squeezed through the crowd and positioned himself in front of the balcony.
“Please, everyone, focus for a moment!”
Park Sangil spoke while holding his glass high.
We’d managed to find whiskey and soju from the convenience store and liquor shop.
Since today was a special occasion, we decided to celebrate together with food and drink.
Following Park Sangil’s lead, people filled their glasses.
Beside them, children watched the glasses with curious eyes.
Some children wrinkled their noses at the smell of whiskey, while others clamored to taste it.
Of course, I didn’t give them a single drop.
“To commemorate this historic day when two alliances have formed a pact, I’d like to propose a toast to our leader, Baek Doyun. What do you all think?”
“That sounds great!”
“Excellent!”
“Show us what you’ve got, Doyun!”
Suddenly?
The living room was packed so tightly there was barely space to stand, and everyone turned to look at me at once.
As I stood up with a bewildered expression, Park Sangil smiled warmly and spoke.
“Let’s give him a hand!”
I walked toward the balcony while receiving applause from the crowd.
This is so awkward.
As I hesitated, feeling embarrassed, Park Sangil smiled warmly and spoke to me.
“Say a few words. Leader.”
“Leader? I’ve told you I’m uncomfortable with that title.”
“If not you, then who would be the leader?”
“You could do it, or Elder Chulmin is here too….”
At that, Elder Chulmin came over with a glass and handed it to me, speaking.
“Our leader must have a drink.”
“Not you too, Elder….”
“Ha ha! Youth is truly wonderful.”
Unable to resist the atmosphere, I smiled wryly and spoke.
“Everyone has worked hard until now. Let’s continue forward without getting hurt and persevere together until this game ends.”
“Come on! Is that all?”
Hong Yeonhui, who had climbed onto the sofa, asked, and I scratched my eyebrow while thinking.
I’d never even given a toast back when I worked at a company….
Then suddenly, I recalled the toast my department head had given.
“Then… I’ll make this toast in blue jeans.”
“You know about that too?”
Park Sangil asked with curiosity, and I responded with a bitter smile.
“I used to be a salaryman myself, back in the day.”
“That’s right, jeans are great!”
“So… when I say youth is, please do it right now.”
Contentment bloomed across everyone’s faces.
I raised my glass high toward my companions and shouted.
“Youth is!”
“Right now!”
Clink!
Laughter blossomed across everyone’s faces.
The children didn’t understand what was happening, but seeing the adults enjoying themselves, they laughed brightly along with them.
Si Yun was initially shy, but Kyeongeo and Yeonah welcomed him warmly, and he quickly grew close to them.
The Hunting Dog Alliance had 36 members in total.
Shelter Vermilion had 14 members in total.
The Safe House had become a sanctuary where 50 survivors now lived together.
Watching the lively living room brought joy, yet at the same time felt strangely unfamiliar.
A landscape I still wasn’t accustomed to.
So I quietly slipped outside through the entrance without anyone noticing.
Opening the rooftop door after climbing the stairs, a downpour and gloomy world came into view.
For me… this kind of scenery brought far greater peace.
Since my companions assigned to guard duty were watching the surroundings from the rooftop, I could see tents, chairs, and tables scattered about in various places.
I walked under a tent and sat in a chair.
Now that I think about it… it hasn’t even been a month since the world became this way.
Measured against a human lifetime, it’s merely an instant.
But because the time has been so intense, the 28 years of my life that have passed feel even more distant, like a dream.
I gazed blankly at the rain-soaked world, lost in contemplation for a long while.
Creak—
“Doyun! What are you doing over there?”
Behind me, the rooftop door opened, and the Park Brothers with flushed faces, Elderly Grandfather Kwak Cheolmin, Kim Heejoo and Kim Miyeon, Lee Kwanghyun, and Jo Yunhwan entered.
People who had been with me since the Safe House’s early days.
Crash!
“Ouch, noona! Walk straight, will you!”
“Ahahaha! Cel, e, brate! Wait!”
I could also see Hong Yeonhui, Jang Wooheok, and Park Youngsu entering while singing in high spirits.
Countless people gathered around me, sitting alone.
“Why are you sitting here by yourself?”
At Park Sangil’s question, I responded with a bitter smile.
“I wanted to rest quietly.”
“No way! On a night like this, you can’t be moping around alone.”
“Huh? No, I’m not moping or anything…”
“Let’s go! Doyun, come on!”
Park Sangil grinned widely as he spoke, and his wife Kim Heejoo smacked his back in response.
“Stop bothering Doyun and get moving!”
“What? When did I bother him? I just want to have fun with him. You know how much I like Doyun.”
“Don’t cause trouble and get inside. Go get some sleep.”
“You’re always picking on me.”
Kim Heejoo let out a deep sigh, then handed me the plate she’d been holding.
“Doyun, rest while you eat this.”
“What is this?”
“Rolled omelet and kimbap. It looked like you didn’t eat much earlier.”
“Thank you, sister.”
“I’m taking this guy with me, so you rest.”
Kim Heejoo dragged Park Sangil away by the arm and shouted at Park Sangha and Park Sanghun as well.
“Young masters, don’t bother Doyun and come down quickly!”
“We didn’t even say anything….”
“Tsk!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Park Sanghun pouted his lower lip and followed Kim Heejoo downstairs.
Park Sangha placed his hand on my shoulder, smiled warmly, and spoke.
“Don’t think about anything else today. You need days like this.”
“Yes, brother.”
Park Sangha turned toward the stairs but stopped, noticing Hong Yeonhui sprawled on the rooftop floor, whimpering. His expression grew troubled.
Jang Wooheok and Park Youngsu tried to help her up, but they seemed to struggle supporting Hong Yeonhui.
Whoosh!
Park Sangha effortlessly scooped up Hong Yeonhui in a princess carry.
Hong Yeonhui gazed at Park Sangha with half-lidded eyes, then grinned widely.
“Wow. I’m being carried.”
“How much did you drink?”
“Enough to feel good?”
Park Sangha shook his head and carried Hong Yeonhui downstairs.
Jang Wooheok and Park Youngsu followed them down.
“Yeonah, give it to Uncle.”
Jo Yunhwan and Cho Yeonah approached next and handed me something.
It was chocolate.
“Is this from you, Uncle?”
I asked with a warm smile, and Yeonah nodded vigorously instead of answering.
She beamed brightly as she handed me the chocolate, then hid behind Jo Yunhwan’s back.
She seemed cheerful, yet was quite shy.
Jo Yunhwan smiled warmly and spoke.
“Yeonah has been saving this chocolate to give to you.”
“Oh my, how precious.”
“Please enjoy.”
I looked at Yeonah and spoke.
“I’ll eat well. Thank you, Yeonah.”
“Uncle told us! He said Uncle Doyun is working hard, so we’re safe.”
“We’re all doing our part together.”
“But Uncle said Uncle Doyun is working the hardest. Thank you!”
Even at just seven years old, she spoke so well.
Yeonah waved her hand at me and descended with Jo Yunhwan.
Lee Kwanghyun handed me a cup of ramen, and his wife Kim Miyeon gave me a warm bowl of seaweed soup.
My hands were already full, so I set the food down on the small table in front of my chair.
“Come inside if you get cold. I’m going down first.”
Lee Kwanghyun and Kim Miyeon descended, and Elder Chulmin sat in the chair beside me.
He then held out the plate he’d brought with him.
“Here, something precious.”
“Oh? Fruit?”
“Yes, Heejoo set this aside separately for you and Doyun to share.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank Heejoo later. Is it alright if I stay here too? If you’d rather be alone, I can go down as well.”
“No, you can stay here.”
Elder Chulmin put an apple in his mouth and chewed while gazing at the world consumed by darkness.
“Indeed… a gloomy world.”
Elder Chulmin was right.
Yet that gloominess somehow felt poetic to me.
A strange sense of calm settling over body and mind.
Elder Chulmin handed me an apple and asked.
“When you quietly observe a world like this, doesn’t it strangely calm your spirit?”
“Yes. It’s even more so because of the sound of rain.”
Elder Chulmin nodded instead of answering.
We sat in silence for a while, eating the food before us and gazing at the world shrouded in darkness.
When the plate was empty and only a few cherry tomatoes remained on the fruit dish, Elder Chulmin smacked his lips and spoke.
“I don’t know what kind of life you’ve lived, Doyun, but don’t drift too far away.”
“Pardon?”
“Liking a gloomy world like this is the taste of old men like me. It doesn’t suit someone like you with your whole future ahead.”
“It’s just a preference. I like this too.”
When I answered casually, Elder Chulmin furrowed his brow and looked at my face.
“Won’t you regret it later?”
“Pardon?”
“When you reach my age, you’ll find yourself looking back on the past.”
“…”
“When that moment comes, I hope you’ll have memories of fitting in with people.”
“….”
“They say to enjoy solitude as you age, but if you truly want to savor it, you need to know what it feels like to be surrounded by bustling moments too.”
Elder Chulmin’s advice gave me much to think about.
Come to think of it… I’m not sure if I dislike fitting in with people, or if I simply find it awkward.
Experience.
Just as the saying goes that you only understand things through experience, I had remarkably little experience fitting in with others.
With a cherry tomato in my mouth, I gazed at the world shrouded in darkness for a long while.
The cheerful chatter rising from below.
Laughter that contradicted the world I was observing.
“It’s not easy, fitting in with people.”
As I spoke with a bitter smile, Elder Chulmin offered a kind one.
“It all takes practice. No one is good at it from the start.”
“….”
“You can change if you want to.”
“….”
“You’re still at an age where you can.”
Elder Chulmin popped the remaining cherry tomato into his mouth, stood up from his seat, and spoke while stretching his stiff shoulders.
“Have you ever thought about why those people who just came up here went through the heavy rain just to reach the rooftop?”
“Pardon?”
“They’re incredibly good people.”
“….”
“Aren’t they people who worry about you, the strongest among them?”
“….”
“They all know it. How you feel fighting at the forefront more fiercely than anyone, how much you’re carrying on your shoulders.”
“….”
“Don’t feel burdened by receiving, and don’t push away those trying to comfort you. Just as you want to protect them, they simply want to protect you as well.”
Elder Chulmin gathered the empty plate as he spoke.
“After the Zombie King episode ended, those two skill books you received—I told the others to use them to learn the skills you hadn’t mastered yet.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“Then get some rest.”
Once Elder Chulmin descended, all I could hear was the cold sound of rain.
People who wanted to protect me just as much as I wanted to protect them.
I gathered my thoughts and slowly rose from my seat.
Right, what’s the point of pathetically sitting alone?
I gathered the remaining plate and headed toward the rooftop exit.
As I descended the stairs, I heard the children’s singing voices from beyond the entrance.
Adults clapping their hands in joy.
To be with them, I opened my heart and stepped inside.
Ding-!
At that moment, a familiar mechanical sound echoed, and a System Message materialized before my eyes.
[#2-2 The Stolen Sanctuary, The Stolen Sanctuary’s time limit has ended.]
[The Hunting Dog Alliance, which successfully attacked and defended during the time limit, receives 5,000 Points as a clear reward.]
[The Vermilion Alliance, which successfully attacked and defended during the time limit, receives 5,000 Points as a clear reward.]
[Confirming the alliance or party that acquired the highest score.]
[Confirming…]
Ding—!
[Congratulations! The Hunting Dog Alliance has acquired the highest score. All members belonging to the Hunting Dog Alliance receive an additional 10,000 Points!]
Ding—!
[Episode Two Recruitment is being updated to Episode Three Mutant Hunting….]
[——]
Normally, the update completion message should be followed by a description of the next episode.
But instead, an unknown symbol appeared, and the description of the next episode was not displayed.
The expressions of the people in the living room were filled with bewilderment.
I was no different.
Crackle— crackle— screeeeech—
[System Error, System Error, System Error, System Error, System Error…]
Like static from a radio with misaligned frequencies, error messages repeated with an unpleasant sound.
Soon, at the end of the repeating error messages, a new sentence appeared….
Ding—!
[Rechecking all episodes.]
[Skipping unnecessary update records.]
[Beginning skip process.]

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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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