Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 86

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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 086
No matter how long I waited, I heard no response from Gaia.
What was she thinking?
I was bluffing just as much as she was, so the pressure weighed on me equally.
Since losing this battle of wills meant the end, I snorted dismissively and took another step forward.
As I finally reached the Main Gate, the figure of Zombie King Kim Hanna came into view in the distance.
Her husband and Si Yun had already returned to Building 118.
Kim Hanna stared blankly at me.
I had to threaten someone who knew nothing of what was happening.
‘What will you do now, Gaia?’
I had conviction.
Absolute certainty that I would not lose this battle of wills.
Gaia was the Maker who created the game, while I was the player.
No creator wants their game to be ruined.
If only the three games Gaia had created so far had become reality, I wouldn’t have been so certain.
But hadn’t Gaia done exactly that?
She told me to play and enjoy the first three games in preparation for the fourth game, Another World.
This meant there was a long-term plan.
A being with a plan doesn’t abandon it to fall apart.
I stood before Kim Hanna and sent her a wink.
“…?”
Kim Hanna’s eyes widened as she wore a confused expression.
I raised my sword with the momentum to cut Kim Hanna down decisively.
Kim Hanna looked at me with an innocent expression, seeming slightly flustered.
Whoosh—!
{Stop!!!!}
Just as I was about to swing my curved blade, Gaia’s voice came through like a scream.
As I frowned at the ear-piercing shriek, I could see Gaia’s message appearing in succession.
{Fine, fine. Let’s stop here.}
“Stop? Why would I stop?”
{You wouldn’t want this either!}
“It’s not a matter of what I want.”
{What?}
“I’m simply enjoying the game as you intended.”
As I gripped my sword again, Gaia’s message came through urgently.
{I understand, I understand! What is your plan? I find your audacity commendable, so I shall hear you out.}
“Don’t pretend to be merciful now. It’s annoying.”
I smirked and snorted dismissively, and Gaia’s trembling voice came through.
{How…! How can you be so cunning!}
“That’s just how humans are.”
{I didn’t make humans that way. I didn’t create them to be like this!}
“You think it ends once you’ve thrown it all away?”
{What?}
“Whether it’s my parents or you. You think it ends once you’ve discarded everything?”
{….}
“Regardless of how you made them, the hardships people face throughout their lives shape them into what they become.”
{….}
“You know one thing and miss two.”
When I hold the upper hand, I might as well say everything I want to say.
As I spoke with a firm expression, Gaia’s composed voice reached me not long after.
{Very well. I shall acknowledge my mistake in this error.}
“….”
{Let us recalibrate.}
“What’s your fourth game?”
{…What?}
“What is the fourth game Another World? Release that information.”
As I spoke casually, I could tell without seeing that Gaia was flustered.
When no answer came even after waiting, I slung the curved sword across my shoulder and wore a displeased expression.
“No answer? I can hear the sound of your mind grinding from here?”
{No matter what you do, I cannot release information about Another World.}
Gaia came back firmly.
I wanted to extract everything if possible, but it was better to back off here.
Unnecessary greed only invites disaster.
“You said you’d acknowledge your mistake earlier, right? So how should we handle this?”
{You’re asking me that?}
“You need to compensate me, my friend. Or rather, deity.”
{….}
“Let’s be clear about this. I’m the victim, you’re the perpetrator.”
{….}
“Forget that nonsense about returning points. How will you compensate me?”
I didn’t mind if she thought I was shameless.
You suck the honey when you can, and you act shamelessly when the moment calls for it.
{Would points suffice?}
“And.”
As I crossed my arms and stared, I heard Gaia’s sigh reach my ears.
Followed by an incantation reaching my ears and Gaia’s message appearing before my eyes.
{Speak honestly about what you desire. I shall hear your wishes and grant them to the extent that I can accept.}
She’s still playing it this way to the end.
But it wasn’t unexpected.
Gaia would rather not commit to a specific compensation, as this way she could at least engage in some negotiation.
If I make demands here based on what I want, I’m giving Gaia justification.
So that no matter what restrictions come later, I’ll have nothing to say about it.
So there’s only one thing I want.
“Stop paying attention to me.”
{…What?}
“From now on, don’t talk to me about restrictions or errors or any of that garbage. Just sit there and watch quietly.”
{….}
“Don’t touch me. That’s what I want. Surely even you can accept something at this level?”
For Gaia, this would be an irritating demand as well.
But she’d know better than anyone that any further interference would cause the main episode—and my future plans—far greater disruption.
“Are we making a deal?”
{Fine, I’ll make an exception and listen to your wishes.}
“Good. I’d shake on it, but I don’t have hands, so I can’t.”
{But know this one thing.}
The words I least wanted to hear came out.
What other condition was she about to attach?
{You’re aware that the Korean Peninsula’s episode progression is outpacing other nations, aren’t you?}
“So what?”
{The start of Another World is simultaneous across all nations by law.}
“Then we just break through first and rest, don’t we?”
{No, there is no rest until Another World begins.}
“Even if we develop a vaccine, the zombies don’t disappear—is that it?”
Even if we succeed in developing a vaccine and see the game’s ending, we can’t return to the world as it was before.
Is this another system that was created?
Since Gaia can’t modify systems already in place, there’s no point in arguing about it.
Then Gaia’s message came to mind.
{Moreover, if the twelfth episode of No Way Home starts like this, how many survivors do you think will remain on the Korean Peninsula?}
I tilted my head at Gaia’s words and asked back.
“Why do I need to know that? And when did you start caring about something like that?”
{….}
“You said people were too numerous and demanded they prove their right to survive. You even ran an emergency episode yourself. Did you forget?”
{That was….}
“Too many surviving is wrong, too many dying is wrong, me killing them is wrong. What exactly are you doing?”
As I lifted my chin with an irritated expression, I heard the sound of a tongue clicking near my ear.
Yeah, you have nothing to say.
Balance of life? Equality?
Such things don’t exist in this world.
Especially not in a realm of survival of the fittest.
“If you’re done talking, get out. I have a game to play.”
As I spoke with a frown, Gaia’s voice came through.
{Very well. From now on, I won’t impose restrictions on you. But remember this.}
“I don’t need your advice.”
{Just as I won’t interfere with you, you must not oppose my will.}
“What?”
Don’t oppose her will?
I questioned this troubling condition, but Gaia offered no further response.
Instead, only the familiar System Message appeared before my eyes.
Ding—!
[Epidermis stat has reached 300, 450, and 600!]
[Baster’s hidden function activates.]
[Checking newly unlocked skill list.]
[Whirlwind: For 20 seconds, you become free from all status ailments and perfectly recover all bodily wounds and fatigue. During the 20 seconds Whirlwind is active, Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Epidermis stats increase twofold.]
-Cooldown: 3 hours.
Ding—!
[Currently, only one skill is available to learn.]
[The remaining 2 functions are replaced with Skill Enhancement Vouchers.]
[Skill Enhancement Voucher X 2]
Looking at the explanation before me, I clenched my fists tightly.
So Whirlwind is finally unlocking.
When I cleared No Way Home, Whirlwind was the skill that played the greatest role.
“Acquire Whirlwind.”
[You have acquired the skill ‘Whirlwind Lv.1’.]
Without hesitation, I immediately used the Skill Enhancement Vouchers.
“I’ll use the Skill Enhancement Vouchers too.”
[Please specify which skill you wish to enhance.]
“One Strike and Whirlwind.”
[Enhancing One Strike and Whirlwind.]
Ding—!
[One Strike Lv.2: Attack an enemy with powerful force.]
[Applies in conjunction with other skills, dealing damage equivalent to twice your Strength stat.]
-Usable 15 times per day.
[Whirlwind Lv.2: For 1 minute, you become free from all status ailments and perfectly recover all bodily wounds and fatigue. During the 1 minute Whirlwind is active, Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Epidermis stats increase twofold.]
-Cooldown: 2 hours 30 minutes.
Unlike other skills that only raise Strength, Agility, and Vitality, Whirlwind also increases Epidermis.
Moreover, since it can heal all accumulated fatigue and wounds on the body, there’s no better skill for prolonged combat.
One Strike deals damage equivalent to twice the total of all stat increases from skills—truly a one-hit kill.
One might think enhancing Frenzy and Balhwa would be better, but enhancing Frenzy only reduces its cooldown.
Since the duration doesn’t increase, it wasn’t efficient enough to invest vouchers in it.
And Balhwa…
‘I can enhance that with points.’
The first Skill I’d ever learned, and the one requiring the fewest points to strengthen.
If my memory serves, strengthening Skills in reality cost roughly three times more points than in No Way Home.
Moreover, each time I strengthened a Skill, the consumption points nearly doubled, so using a reinforcement voucher on the cheapest Balhwa felt wasteful.
-What’s wrong?
Kim Hanna, standing in front of me, then showed me the characters she’d written in her notebook.
She must have been quite startled, seeing me suddenly grab a curved sword and attempt to swing it.
I apologized sincerely with a deep ninety-degree bow.
“I’m sorry, Hanna. I acted recklessly without thinking of you.”
“…?”
After I explained the whole situation, Kim Hanna silently patted my back.
She could have felt resentment or betrayal, but….
-Baek Doyun, sincere, wasn’t. I, kill thought, didn’t have.
Seeing the characters written in her notebook, I nodded, and Kim Hanna eagerly moved her pen to write another message.
-Damn Maker. Baek Doyun won. That’s enough.
Instead, Kim Hanna comforted me and praised me for doing well.
That she became a Zombie, that the world fell into this state—it was all Gaia’s unilateral decision.
She regarded me with admiration for successfully negotiating against such a Gaia.

* * *
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The time limit for the twelfth episode was twenty days.
During that time, making thorough preparations caused a week to vanish in an instant.
The Makers focused on equipment reinforcement and modified vehicle upgrades except when sleeping, and I couldn’t simply wait idle, so I began analyzing the physical capabilities of the current Zombies.
With the help of Zombie King Kim Hanna, I gradually accumulated points and could understand the physical abilities and combat performance of the Zombies.
“Hanna, would you give the Zombies just one command?”
-What kind?
Kim Hanna, who carried a notebook and pen at all times to communicate with us.
Seeing the characters written in her notebook, I immediately pointed to the commercial building beside us.
“Please have the Zombies use Sergeant Jump to see how many floors they can reach.”
A nod.
Kim Hanna gazed at the Zombies lined up in a row.
I’d heard that when a Zombie King gives orders, there’s no need to shout.
Since the positions of subordinates are visualized in the mind, one simply gives mental commands to subordinates at specific locations?
“Grrrrr… Kahak!”
“Kahaak!”
The Zombies who received the command ground their throats and looked around, then suddenly began rushing toward the commercial building.
Since these were subordinates selected from those with intact limbs, I could verify the maximum output of a standard Zombie at this point.
Thud-!
The Zombies then leaped straight up toward the rooftop of the commercial building.
Seeing that sight, I couldn’t close my gaping mouth.
In a single bound, I grasped the window frame of the 3rd Floor.
Each floor appeared to have a ceiling height of around 3.5 meters….
As I silently observed Kim Hanna, she picked up her notebook and began writing.
-Strong. My subordinates. Compared to the street zombies.

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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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