Player of a Ruined World - Chapter 90

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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 090
Kim Hanna remained motionless for a while, concentrating on the information flowing into her mind, then picked up her notebook and began writing characters rapidly.
-Yes, there are.
“Are they Reinforcement Types? Or Water Demons?”
-Survivors.
“…Pardon?”
I was taken aback by the unexpected news.
I had sent my subordinates to search for Mutants, but something else had been discovered instead.
As I looked at Park Sangil with a bewildered expression, he swallowed hard and asked.
“How many are there?”
-Exact numbers cannot be confirmed.
“Where were they discovered?”
Kim Hanna raised her right hand and pointed diagonally.
Everyone’s gaze followed the direction of her fingertip.
Hong Yeonhui then checked the characters written on the apartment’s outer wall and asked.
“There are survivors in the Riverside Apartments?”
-Multiple survivors. Water Demons have not been discovered yet.
“Weren’t you tracking the Water Demon’s blood trail?”
-Detailed orders are difficult. My subordinates cannot distinguish between Mutant blood and other blood.
I had imagined my subordinates in combat with Mutants, but now survivors had been discovered.
With no other choice, I spoke to my companions.
“We’ll track the Water Demon ourselves. Hanna, please focus on identifying the survivors.”
Elder Chulmin then looked back and forth between Kim Hanna and me with an anxious expression.
“Hanna’s subordinates won’t attack the survivors, will they?”
In response to Elder Chulmin’s concern, Kim Hanna quickly wrote in her notebook.
-My subordinates cannot distinguish blood trails. However, they can distinguish human faces.
We gathered around to check Kim Hanna’s notebook, and I spoke to Park Sangil.
“Sangil, you take point. Elder Chulmin, cover the left flank. Hong Yeonhui, cover the right flank. Hanna, you handle rear support.”
“Let’s move.”
Park Sangil loaded a bolt into his crossbow and took the lead.
Elder Chulmin and Hong Yeonhui also shouldered their crossbows.
Since we still didn’t know the number of Mutants or the size of the survivor group, we chose crossbows instead of rifles, which would easily give away our position.
The crossbows and rifles used by the Hunting Dog Alliance were equipment reinforced three times, and the bolts and ammunition used with them were also in an enhanced state.
“Everyone, remember this. Use basic ammunition and bolts only against ordinary zombies, and reserve the three-times reinforced bolts and ammunition for hunting Mutants.”
After a brief explanation, we immediately left Riverside North Road and moved toward the road’s sound barrier.

* * *
I passed through the soundproof wall and checked the 3D terrain map.
Roughly five apartment buildings clustered together.
Given that all the alleys appeared to be one-way, the road width seemed narrow.
If there were mutants in a place like this….
‘It’s not a threat.’
Only three shooters.
If any mutant targeted us, Elder Chulmin, Park Sangil, and Hong Yeonhui would spot it immediately.
-Riverside Apartments. Confirmed survivors: 50.
“Those people haven’t attacked Hanna’s subordinates?”
-No signs of attack.
There are survivors who don’t attack when they see zombies?
With zombies right in front of them?
Shouldn’t they pick up weapons to survive?
Something feels off.
Especially since the area’s already been cleared, yet they ignore the zombies?
There’s a foul stench….
Tap—
At that moment, Kim Hanna behind me grabbed my shoulder.
When I turned my head, Kim Hanna quickly began writing characters.
-New ability. Going to try it.
“A new ability?”
-Subordinate’s vision. I can see it too. But I can’t move. Duration is short.
An ability similar to Whisper’s power.
Instead, it’s a skill limited to my own subordinates, not a specific target.
Since more information was always better, I positioned Kim Hanna beside the wall and surrounded the area.
“Use it. We’ll protect you.”
-I trust you.
When Kim Hanna activated the skill, I could see her eyes turn crimson red.
Followed by Kim Hanna becoming rigid as stone.
It seemed one of her subordinates had discovered something… and that’s why she activated the skill.
Hong Yeonhui glanced around nervously, then spoke with narrowed eyes.
“This neighborhood has a bad feeling.”
“Why.”
“It’s too quiet. Mutants and survivors coexisting is strange too.”
“We can’t confirm anything yet. Let’s keep an open mind.”
“….”
“If we go a bit further north, there are elementary, middle, and high schools. The lair of Reinforcement Types or other mutants might be in those schools.”
Hong Yeonhui, still uneasy, asked with an anxious expression.
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“What?”
“Didn’t Hanna say earlier? That there were more than fifty survivors.”
“….”
“This isn’t a safe house or a shelter. Do you really think that many survivors could have made it?”
Yes, honestly it’s difficult.
But difficult doesn’t mean impossible.
There was no reason why survivors couldn’t exist here.
“It might be because of the terrain.”
“Terrain?”
“You saw it too. The road sound barriers.”
“….”
“The riverside apartment has the riverside north road to the south and a high school to the north. The east is also blocked off by the main road.”
“Those roads acted as shields?”
“Yeah. If I were a clueless survivor, I’d probably settle here too.”
Only the west side needed to be properly secured.
Even the west side was protected by villas and other apartment buildings acting as screens.
All the alleys were one-way streets, making it convenient to hold back large numbers of zombies.
In the early stages, it would be hard to find a safer location than this.
Then Elder Chulmin, who stood beside Hanna, opened his mouth.
“Everyone, take a look at that over there.”
Elder Chulmin pointed to an alley leading to the opposite apartment.
All I could see was mist, but Park Sangil and Hong Yeonhui showed signs of agitation at the clue Elder Chulmin had found.
“Is that flesh?”
At Park Sangil’s words, Elder Chulmin spoke while shouldering his crossbow.
“It’s not zombie flesh.”
“The Water Demon’s leg was scraped, so its flesh must have fallen off.”
Park Sangil moved cautiously toward where the Water Demon’s flesh lay.
Since the Water Demon might be nearby, I put on gloves and followed him with my sword in hand.
Park Sangil examined the flesh on the ground and the blood trail, then spoke.
“It seems to have moved away from the riverside apartment to the opposite side.”
Like the siblings dropping breadcrumbs in Aesop’s fable, a long trail of blood stretched along the one-way street.
As Park Sangil tried to follow the trail, I urgently grabbed his arm.
“No, let’s stop here.”
“What? Why?”
“The bleeding is stopping.”
I could see the long blood trail gradually fading.
It was a good example of a Mutant’s regenerative ability.
Park Sangil looked at the traces and asked.
“Isn’t this regeneration too fast?”
“Since it’s a Stage 4 Mutant, its regeneration speed is quite rapid.”
When I first encountered the Euitaejong, it tried to flee to the balcony to buy time for regeneration.
If it’s a Stage 4 Mutant, then….
It’s probably already finished regenerating.
“Once regeneration is complete, it will come back. Whether it comes alone or brings others with it, I can’t say for certain.”
“….”
“We should leave a trail too. Guide the Water Demon to follow us instead of heading to Gangbyeon North Road.”
“How?”
I removed my gloves and dragged my bare hand across the brick wall.
Park Sangil, finding my actions peculiar, scratched his sideburns and asked.
“Will that really leave a scent?”
“A Stage 4 Mutant’s sense of smell is sharper than a dog’s.”
“….”
“If it’s not far away, it’s probably already tracking our location right now.”
“So….”
“We’re showing it our path of movement. Making sure it doesn’t go toward Gangbyeon North Road.”
Park Sangil and I moved along the brick wall, leaving our scent behind.
Dragging my palm across the wall, and whenever we spotted a chair, we’d sit for a moment to rest.
We circled the area once, checking for any signs of zombies or mutants.
The neighborhood was silent as a graveyard.
That eerie silence felt all the more unsettling.
After circling the district and returning, I spotted Hong Yeonhui communicating with Kim Hanna.
“Is there anything distinctive?”
-There is. The survivors are strange.
“In what way?”
-My subordinate is a zombie. But the survivors walked toward it.
I quietly approached and checked the contents of the notebook.
They walked toward a zombie?
What does that even mean.
“They approached the zombie without any weapons at all?”
When I asked, Kim Hanna nodded calmly.
Kim Hanna seemed to sense something odd, writing with uncertainty.
-While looking at me… they smiled.
“Not only did they approach without weapons, but they smiled at the zombie?”
Park Sangil looked at the words written in the notebook and spoke in disbelief.
“Approaching while smiling at a zombie is definitely… very strange.”
-Their behavior is strange, and their scent is strange too.
“Their scent?”
-They look human on the surface. But they don’t smell like living humans.
Upon reading the words in the notebook, I reflexively looked at Hong Yeonhui.
Hong Yeonhui met my gaze with an equally startled expression.
We both spoke up without waiting for the other to begin.
“An Euitaejong?”
“An Euitaejong!”
At the mention of Euitaejong, Elder Chulmin’s eyes widened as he asked.
“You mean that Euitaejong that’s indistinguishable from humans from behind? Like those Gakdagwi we dealt with.”
“Yes. It appears there’s an Euitaejong in the riverside apartment.”
“….”
“If the Euitaejong is with the survivors and the Water Demon has hidden itself here….”
As I trailed off, Hong Yeonhui spoke up instead.
“That apartment is a storage facility. A food storage.”
The survivors in that apartment have no idea they’re the food, and they trust the creature based on its smooth tongue.
It couldn’t be any other way.
Until the Second Episode, no zombies attacked mutants, so to those people, the Euitaejong must have seemed like a god.
Just now, since they were subordinates under Kim Hanna’s command and didn’t attack, it only strengthened the survivors’ faith.
That creature is no god.
It’s just a monster wearing a human mask.
“Let’s deal with it.”
-Give orders? Tell the subordinates to attack.
“Yes, once the survivors in the riverside apartment see the Euitaejong’s true form, they’ll….”
“Wait.”
Then Elder Chulmin, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
“Isn’t there a possibility the Euitaejong might attack the survivors?”
At Elder Chulmin’s words, everyone looked at me silently.
What am I supposed to do about it?
I can’t go in there and convince those people.
“Elder, this isn’t like the early stages of the episode.”
“….”
“They made the wrong choice from the start. They volunteered to be experimental rats.”
“….”
“They lack the courage to fight zombies and have survived by relying on the Euitaejong’s ability to make them retreat.”
“The game started long ago, and we’re already in the late stages. Those who’ve remained idle until now have no hope.”
Speaking coldly, Elder Chulmin’s expression turned bitter, and he said nothing more.
Park Sangil and Hong Yeonhui also refrained from speaking hastily.
No one’s words were wrong.
Rather, both Elder Chulmin’s words and mine were right.
A problem with no wrong answer—that’s what made it so difficult.
-A chance is necessary.
At that moment, Kim Hanna showed me what she’d written in her notebook.
“Hanna, right now isn’t the time to….”
-I was given a chance too.
“….”
-The most unlikely of us all. Thanks to you, I met Si Yun.
“….”
-There’s no harm in observing and deciding later.
At Kim Hanna’s words, everyone’s gaze converged on me once more.
From their eyes alone, it was clear they all intended to follow Kim Hanna’s lead.
Should I remain the villain opposing everyone’s wishes, or should I invite danger and head toward where Euitaejong lurked?
After a brief moment of deliberation, I spoke with a flat smile.
“It seems you’ve all already decided, so let’s do it that way.”
“Really?! Thank you, thank you, Doyun.”
Instead of answering Elder Chulmin’s gratitude, I nodded.
To be honest… I have no interest in the survivors at the riverside apartment.
What I’m after is one thing.
‘I’ll be able to handle them all at once.’
Even if somewhat risky, it was an opportunity to eliminate them all in one fell swoop.
The Water Demon that fled here was hiding deep.
If chaos erupts at the riverside apartment, both the Water Demon we missed and the nearby Mutants will converge.
When that happens, the group on Gangbyeon North Road won’t face an emergency, and I can eliminate all the Mutants in one place.
‘Let’s see what it can do.’
I could even test the performance of my newly acquired Skill, so there was no reason for me to decline.

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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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