Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 87

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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 087
Right, that makes sense.
It has to be that way.
Common street zombies shouldn’t possess such absurdly enhanced physical abilities.
“What are Kim Hanna’s physical stats?”
-Average Physical Ability: 150.
During the Second Episode, the Zombie King’s physical ability in a berserk state was 120.
But now 150 is her baseline physical ability.
That meant her subordinates had a physical ability of 75.
I stroked my chin thoughtfully and asked.
“Then, aside from Hanna’s subordinates, do you happen to know what the physical ability of ordinary zombies on the streets is?”
-Approximately 65.
Common street zombies had a physical ability of 65.
It wasn’t a burden for me, but it would be for my companions.
“Doyun!”
I spotted Park Sangil rushing toward the apartment entrance.
“Were you with Hanna?”
“I had some experiments to conduct. What’s the matter?”
“Sangha said to tell you that he’s finished with the work.”
Finally, the equipment modifications and reinforcements were complete.
“How’s the performance?”
“We reinforced the protective gear up to 4 times, and now we have an average physical ability of 70.”
“70? Even with 4 reinforcements, why didn’t it increase more?”
“Hong Yeonhui said the same thing. The physical ability increase is far too low compared to the game.”
In No Way Home, equipping 4-reinforced protective gear would have given an average physical ability of 90.
It’s not even a Baster—why did the performance decrease?
“Instead, the damage reduction we receive increased.”
“By how much?”
“40%.”
40% is acceptable.
Even with an average physical ability of 70, the increased damage reduction means we can withstand attacks from Mutants and Mutant Zombies sufficiently.
“And we reinforced the modified vehicles twice as well.”
“That must have cost a lot of points?”
“We’re broke now.”
“How’s the performance?”
“After reinforcing 2 buses and 3 compact cars twice each, they actually gained names?”
Right, during the crafting stage they’re simply listed as modified vehicles, but through vehicle upgrades they gain names and set effects.
“At 1 reinforcement, they were called enhanced modified vehicles with improved ground adhesion.”
“At 2 reinforcements… they get special names, right?”
“You already knew. They’re called Sandworms.”
“What’s the effect? Is it a protective barrier?”
“A protective barrier? Did something like that exist in the game?”
“Reality is different?”
“There’s no barrier, but it says it can block strong impacts up to five times per hour.”
Perhaps protective barriers were difficult to implement in reality?
And the definition of “strong impact” was vague anyway.
“We’ll need to test that too. How strong of an impact it can actually block.”
“Sangha, Sanghun, and Suhan already went out to run experiments.”
“All three of them? Going out with just three people is far too dangerous…”
BOOM—!!!!
At that moment, a thunderous sound echoing from a distance made me reflexively turn my head.
Had a building collapsed?
Park Sangil scratched his head as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“They said they’d experiment in the shooting range, but that sounds like a Sandworm experiment?”
“If such a loud noise rings out, it’s dangerous. The heavy rain has stopped now, so the sound carries much farther.”
“Forgot already? Everything within a 3-kilometer radius of the safe house is secure. How hard did we work cleaning up zombies?”
“Still…”
“I told them not to experiment if they spot a dangerous mutant and to come back instead. The fact that they’re making such a commotion means it’s safe.”
In the past, I needed to verify whether my companions had the courage to fight zombies, but now I’m the one holding them back.
If that’s a positive change, then it’s a positive change indeed.
I nodded and spoke.
“Then let’s prepare so we can move immediately once Sangha, Sanghun, and Suhan return.”
“Where will we start?”
“We’ll check the nearby L Tower first.”
There are three locations I need to verify to clear the twelfth episode.
L Tower, the World Cup Stadium, and Gimpo Airport.
If my memory is correct, the locations specified in the twelfth episode at No Way Home had no connection to the research facility.
Yet there’s only one reason why I need to check those places.
It’s because of story progression.
New mutant zombies first appear at those designated locations, so we undergo a survival trial there.
If we survive there, we obtain clues about the research facility.
Since I can’t know how it will unfold in reality, I must prepare thoroughly and verify it with my own eyes.
“Hanna, when we tested two days ago, what was the maximum distance you could issue commands to your subordinates?”
—5 kilometers.
Beyond 5 kilometers, Kim Hanna’s subordinates tended to break control and rampage.
After hearing the answer, I immediately pulled up the 3D terrain map.
Checking the straight-line distance from the safe house to L Tower, it was a full 8 kilometers.
The World Cup Stadium was 12 kilometers away.
Gimpo Airport was needless to say, even farther.
“Hanna, would you be able to move with the attack team?”
Kim Hanna then turned her gaze toward Building 118, her expression growing bitter.
She had barely reunited with her husband and daughter, and now she would have to part with them again—her heart was not at ease.
After a moment of contemplation, Kim Hanna picked up her notebook and began to write.
-Is there a way to contact the defense team?
“Yes, as I mentioned before, there’s a class called Whisperer.”
-If Si Yun is in danger, he’ll come back right away.
“Of course. There are many children here besides Si Yun. We’ll protect them.”
Only then did Kim Hanna relax, offering a faint smile.
Park Sangil, who had been observing the situation, spoke as he fastened his loosely worn protective gear.
“The attack team will move as before—Party 1, Party 2, and Hong Yeon’s team.”
“Is Hong Yeon using one of the three small vehicles you mentioned earlier?”
“That’s right. Yeon-hee said she’d drive directly.”
She’s certainly an active person.
“Where is Hong Yeonhui right now?”
“She should be at Building 118 checking the combat team’s equipment.”
“Kim Hanna, please wait here for a moment. Sangil, could you meet with Kim Miyeon?”
“Kim Miyeon? Why Miyeon?”
“Tell Sangha and Sanghun and Suhan to come back quickly.”
“Ah, got it.”
After finishing the conversation, I headed toward the entrance of Building 118 and opened the System Message.
“Open the coin shop.”
[Checking the coin shop.]
[Skill Book: 5 Coins]
-You can learn one of the skills you haven’t yet acquired.
[Weapon Enhancement Coupon: 5 Coins]
-Enhances your currently equipped weapon.
-Enhanced weapons cannot be destroyed and possess self-repair capabilities.
[Point Conversion Coupon: 5 Coins]
-Spend 5 coins to obtain 10,000 points.
Even with 33 coins, I had hesitated to use them.
Part of it was because I urgently needed to invest in points and skills and understand the physical capabilities of the zombies, but there was also a lack of certainty.
“Are there any skills I can learn right now?”
[Survivor ‘Baek Doyun’ has no skills available to learn.]
“You’re certain?”
[Yes.]
I had to raise my epidermis to 600 and obtain 3 skills, but I had only acquired one—Whirlwind.
The remaining two came from enhancement coupons.
Then perhaps….
“Purchase skill book.”
[How many skill books would you like to purchase?]
“One book will do.”
[Consuming 5 Coins to purchase a Skill Book.]
Ding-!
[Survivor ‘Baek Doyun’ has no Skills available to learn.]
[Skill Book is being replaced with a Skill Enhancement Coupon.]
[Skill Enhancement Coupon X 1]
Seeing the System Message materialize before my eyes, an involuntary “Nice!” escaped my lips.
My prediction was correct.
“Purchase 3 Skill Books.”
[Consuming 15 Coins to purchase Skill Books.]
[Survivor ‘Baek Doyun’ has no Skills available to learn.]
[Skill Books are being replaced with Skill Enhancement Coupons.]
[Skill Enhancement Coupon X 3]
In an instant, I had acquired four Skill Enhancement Coupons.
There was no need to deliberate.
“Enhance One Strike and Whirlwind twice each.”
[Enhancing Skills One Strike and Whirlwind.]
Ding-!
[One Strike Lv.4: Attacks an enemy with formidable force.]
[Stacks with other Skills, dealing damage equivalent to twice your Strength stat.]
-When One Strike is activated, 50 consecutive attacks are possible.
-Cooldown: 6 hours.
[Whirlwind Lv.4: For 5 minutes, you are freed from all status ailments and completely recover all wounds and fatigue.]
[While Whirlwind is active for 5 minutes, Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Skin Defense stats are doubled.]
-Cooldown: 1 hour.
The Skill effects had surged dramatically in an instant.
If the settings matched No Way Home, the maximum enhancement level for Skills was 5.
I knew the performance of Skills at their maximum tier.
‘It’s not drastically different from now.’
The further you progress, the weaker the enhancement effect becomes—not stronger.
Stopping at level 4 was the most efficient approach rather than pushing to 5.
I now had 13 Coins remaining.
“Purchase 2 Weapon Enhancement Coupons.”
[Consuming 10 Coins to purchase Weapon Enhancement Coupons.]
[Weapon Enhancement Coupon X 2]
I had already decided where to use these coupons.
There was a hidden function here as well.
That’s why I had specifically asked Park Sangha to enhance only weapons, not other equipment.
Why else would the coupon be named “Weapon Enhancement Coupon” instead of “Equipment Enhancement Coupon”?
‘I should be able to implement it, right?’
There was one thing that bothered me.
The Sandworm’s protective barrier effect hadn’t manifested in reality.
Similarly, I worried that the weapon enhancement coupon’s abilities might differ from the game, and that concern weighed on me.
I’d find out the answer through experimentation.
I closed the System Message and hurried toward Building 118.

* * *
“Here, Doyun. Your equipment.”
“Thank you.”
“The gauntlet, curved sword, and twin blades are all enhanced four times.”
Park Sangha, who had returned after completing the vehicle experiment, handed over the enhanced weapons first.
I checked the weapons’ performance immediately.
[Twin Blades Enhanced 4 Times]
[Using the twin blades increases your strength by 1.2x.]
-20% chance to trigger the ‘Determination’ effect.
-Determination: Strength increases by 20% for 10 seconds.
[Curved Sword Enhanced 4 Times]
[Using the curved sword increases your agility by 1.2x.]
-20% chance to trigger the ‘Baldo’ effect.
-Baldo: Movement speed increases by 20% for 10 seconds.
[Gauntlet Enhanced 4 Times]
[Equipping the gauntlet increases your health by 1.2x.]
-20% chance to trigger the ‘Blood Combat’ effect.
-Blood Combat: Your next attack applies as a multi-hit.
From the second enhancement onward, weapons gained special effects; from the third, activated skills; and from the fourth, skills were strengthened.
They were sufficiently good equipment, but Park Sangha spoke with regret.
“I wanted to enhance them up to five times, but weapon enhancement caps at four.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Protective gear seems to go up to five times though. Why is that?”
“That’s…”
In No Way Home, maximum weapon enhancement was only possible through weapon enhancement coupons from events.
I had access to a coin shop where I could purchase coupons, but others couldn’t.
How was I supposed to explain this?
Event shops weren’t opening in reality like they did in No Way Home.
“It’s the game creator’s choice.”
I answered with a bland laugh, and Park Sangha sighed and smacked his lips.
“That creator’s a bastard. They really made such a terrible game. Did people actually play this much?”
“It wasn’t unpopular. The freedom of choice was high.”
Looking at the enhancement coupon’s description, there was a line like this.
-Enhances the weapon you are currently using.
-Enhanced weapons cannot be destroyed and possess self-repair capabilities.
Most would only pay attention to the self-repair ability and indestructibility effects.
But the statement above that.
-Enhances the weapon currently in use.
It was the only method to raise a weapon to +5 enhancement.
I examined the equipment Park Sangha had handed me and fell into brief contemplation.
Three weapons.
Two enhancement coupons.
Which of these three pieces of equipment should I use the enhancement coupons on?
My strength was already sufficient.
Then what I needed now was….
“Use enhancement coupon. Hwandao and gauntlets.”
[Using weapon enhancement coupon.]
[Enhance the hwandao and gauntlets?]
“Yes.”
[Enhancing the hwandao and gauntlets.]
Whoooosh—
A brilliant flash erupted from the hwandao and gauntlets resting in my palm, and a message materialized before my eyes.
[Baek Doyun’s Hwandao (Bound)]
[Using the hwandao increases agility by 30%.]
-The ‘Baldo’ effect triggers with 30% probability.
-Baldo: Movement speed increases by 20% for 30 seconds.
Baldo triggering at 30% probability.
Moreover, the duration had increased to 30 seconds.
At this level… once a battle began, I could maintain the effect until it ended.
After defeating just four zombies, the effect would trigger at least once.
But this wasn’t the end.

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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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