Murim Login - Chapter 392

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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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Chapter 392
‘Damn it. Faster, faster.’
Screeeech!
I squeezed out every ounce of strength, channeling my divine technique to its limit. With each blur of scenery rushing past, the Ruined City drew rapidly closer.
But I could sense the outcome of everything before even arriving. Or rather, someone had informed me of it.
But the outcome of everything could be known even before arriving. Or rather, someone had told me.
Beep.
–
[???]
has completed their objective and vanished.
– The sudden Quest,
[Unexpected Ambush]
has been cancelled.
– You have failed to complete the Quest. As a failure penalty, a random stat decreases by 10.
–
[Strength]
decreases by 10.
The moment I heard the system notification, the tension that had been coiling tightly within me snapped away.
Not because I had failed the Quest, nor because my stat had decreased. It was because I understood what this meant.
And as I drew closer to the city, the desolate silence I felt, combined with the scene that unfolded before my eyes moments later, transformed my suspicion into certainty.
“….”
Blood drenching everything. Corpses scattered in grotesque disarray. Even I, who had grown accustomed to death through countless battles, felt my body stiffen for a moment.
‘A massacre.’
Yes, this was a massacre. Burst open, torn apart, crushed to pulp.
The traces of living humans being slaughtered like ants left me breathless.
If even I, a foreigner and complete stranger, felt this way, the sorrow and rage experienced by the Public Security Armed Force hunters who arrived afterward was beyond words.
“Zhang Wei! Lang Lang!”
“Who—who were those bastards! Who were they… *sob*!”
“No! Aaaaah!”
They were comrades who had trusted each other with their backs. Among the cold corpses lying here were their brothers and lovers.
Amid endless wailing and screams, one figure who had been standing silently in place suddenly began to move.
Thud, thud.
His hollow footsteps rang out unnaturally loud, perhaps because his expression—unlike his usual demeanor—was completely devoid of emotion, utterly numb.
Choi Team Leader, standing beside me, called out to me in a hushed voice.
“Jin Tae-kyung.”
“I know. So do I.”
There are things that must be done, even if you don’t want to. Now was one of those moments, and I forced my lips to move.
“Shen.”
“…..”
“Shao Shen!”
Thud, thud, thud.
Even as I called out with all my strength, Shao Shen’s footsteps did not falter. He simply walked toward some unknown destination, searching for the Hyung Soo that had slaughtered his subordinates.
In the end, I had to approach him directly and seize his shoulder.
A sharp grip.
“Stop.”
A hollow, lifeless voice emerged from my lips.
「…Release me. I must go.」
“Where?”
「Where?」
Shao Shen, his eyes vacant and hollow, looked around before continuing.
「I don’t know. But they must be somewhere.」
“You….”
「I must pursue them. By any means necessary, I will find them and take my revenge.」
“…!”
For a moment, words escaped me.
The man before my eyes was not Shao Shen. He was me from years ago.
And so I could not easily speak what needed to be said.
‘I know how you feel.’
He wants to kill, and he wants to die.
The emotions left behind by the death of those close to us are not merely rage and sorrow. For the survivor, there awaits a guilt far heavier than the sum of those two.
The guilt left by a hundred lives—it was a weight far too heavy for a twenty-one-year-old to bear.
‘Damn it.’
I swallowed the curse that lingered on my tongue and gripped his shoulder firmly.
“It’s too late.”
「….」
“It’s already too late. You can’t find them right now. This isn’t a guess—it’s certainty.”
The system notification had confirmed it. Faced with my unwavering conviction, Shao Shen muttered vacantly.
「It is too late. Truly too late.」
“I hate to admit it… but yes. That’s reality.”
I expected him to unleash the rage and sorrow he had been holding back.
Just as I had years before, I thought he would cry aloud and smash everything in sight.
But I was wrong. The target of Shao Shen’s vengeance was not merely monsters.
Rumble. Boom.
Now the tanks were entering the city.
What had been a distant speck grew larger as it approached, and Shao Shen’s eyes burned like flames as he watched the advancing procession.
「Then I must kill that bastard instead.」
It was unmistakable who ‘that bastard’ referred to.
General Liao. The architect of this cursed order.
A hundred Hunters and hundreds of soldiers had died from his worthless command alone. In my mind, he was undoubtedly someone who must pay the price.
But….
“Damn it, I’m sorry.”
I reached out, my heart heavy with sorrow.
Shao Shen sensed something amiss and tried to evade, but my hand, gliding smoothly through the air, had already grazed his vital meridians.
Tap. Tap-tap-tap!
The numbing point, the silencing point, and the sleep point.
What awaited Shao Shen, whose entire body was paralyzed and whose voice was sealed, was the embrace of profound slumber.
His eyelids trembled faintly as he fought desperately against the overwhelming drowsiness.
“For now… just sleep well. Their deaths are not your fault.”
Softly.
His eyelids finally closed. The last thing I saw in Shao Shen’s eyes was unmistakable confusion.
‘Why? How could this be?’
And that question was not his alone.
「Commander!」
「Jin Tae-kyung, you!」
Whoosh! Crack!
Five streaks of piercing force erupted forth, accompanied by furious cries.
The company commanders under Shao Shen’s command—A-rank Hunters.
I flicked my hand without hesitation toward them as they charged forward.
Boom!
With the sound of compressed air bursting outward, the weapons aimed at me hastily changed direction.
The figures of the company commanders, barely blocking the palm force that tore through empty space, were pushed back in a rush.
It was fortunate that I had controlled my strength; had I been serious, it would not have ended so lightly.
“Everyone, calm down. I didn’t want to do this either.”
「Ugh!」
「What in the world are you doing!」
「How dare you lay hands on the Commander!」
「Repaying kindness in such a manner!」
Amid the ominous atmosphere, Choi Team Leader stepped forward with a quiet voice.
“Jin Tae-kyung was simply repaying a debt of gratitude.”
「What, what did you say?」
“Had we left him be, an enraged Commander Shao would have killed General Liao.”
「…General Liao deserves death. Even without the Commander, we would have acted ourselves.」
“I agree. However, I cannot speak for how your nation’s Central Committee would view this. Especially the Crown Prince Faction, to which General Liao belongs.”
「…!」
“He is the supreme commander responsible for an entire front. Killing him would not remain a personal matter.”
Choi Team Leader’s gaze swept across the Hunters of the Public Security Armed Force one by one.
A massive force numbering in the thousands. I had not counted that far, but involvement in such an incident would not spare them from disaster either.
“I will not ask you to forget what happened today. Only that now is not the time.”
I felt the ominous atmosphere beginning to settle.
To Choi Team Leader’s words—realistic yet grounded in emotion—one of the company commanders who had not participated in the attack opened his mouth.
「I agree. Dealing with the bastard right now would be simple enough, but… doing so would make it difficult to handle the aftermath.」
「….」
「Remember this. Our brothers did not die because of General Liao alone.」
Surveying the horrific landscape of the Shi Shan Blood Sea, I ground my teeth with a sickening sound.
「Just wait. Wait just a moment longer. The time will come soon enough.」
「Hah.」
「…Damn it all!」
Some lamented toward the heavens, while others could not contain the sorrow and rage welling up inside them. Yet one thing was unmistakably clear—all had tacitly agreed.
As the situation finally came to a close, Choi Team Leader released a breath of relief.
“We’ve weathered the storm. Fortunately, Jin Tae-kyung stopped Xiao Yang.”
“…It was nothing.”
Fortunate. Should I really call this fortunate?
Even knowing it was unavoidable, my mouth tasted bitter. Because I understood the rage and sorrow that Shao Shen must have felt.
“More importantly, it seems there are survivors.”
“A middle-aged couple and one child remain. They’ve lost consciousness due to extreme stress, so they’re being moved elsewhere to rest for now.”
“Any other survivors?”
“We’ll find them soon enough.”
Choi Team Leader, his brow furrowed, continued speaking as he looked past my shoulder.
“Once the incompetent commander’s orders come down.”
Drrrrrr.
The armored vehicle, which had been advancing with a thunderous roar, came to a halt about twenty meters ahead.
Moments later, General Liao emerged, his portly frame surrounded by stern guards.
「What… what is this….」
Confronted with the horrific scene before him, his already pallid complexion drained to a ghastly white.
Watching him bend at the waist and retch repeatedly, I felt a strange mixture of disgust and the sudden realization that even this bastard was human.
‘The son of a bitch. So he does have some conscience after all.’
Everyone present likely harbored the same thought.
But in the next instant, General Liao’s words made me remember something I had forgotten.
That such creatures always exceed imagination.
「No, this can’t be. This was an operation that couldn’t fail!」
“…!”
The world seemed to slow. Like slow motion, I could see shock and fury blooming across people’s faces.
Choi Team Leader’s hand reaching toward me, his urgent cry.
“Jin Tae-kyung!”
But it was already too late.
By the time he called my name, I had already crossed the twenty-meter distance and stood before General Liao.
‘An operation. An operation….’
I could not suppress the bitter laugh that rose within me.
I reached out toward him, who stared up at me with a vacant expression like one gazing upon a ghost.
Crack! Snap!
It was over in an instant.
I shattered both of his arms and crushed his kneecaps with a force devoid of any martial energy.
‘Be grateful that a shred of reason still remains.’
His mouth agape, eyes bulging wide. Then came a shriek like a pig being slaughtered.
「Krrrraaaaaahhhhh!!!」
I rolled my eyes back, spat on the writhing figure convulsing in agony, and turned away.
I didn’t forget to offer a parting word to the aide staring at me with a hollow gaze.
“If you’ve got a problem, report it to your superiors. You bastards.”
Choi Team Leader, shaking his head in disbelief, approached with a high-grade potion in hand.
* * *
The throne was colossal and grotesque.
It was only natural, crafted as it was from the bones of humans and monsters.
Yet it inspired neither the grotesqueness nor the dread of its master.
Tap. Tap-tap.
Skeletal fingers, devoid of a single shred of flesh, drummed against the skull adorning the armrest.
A frame towering well over three meters, its massive skeleton draped in a black robe that rippled like mist.
The figure resembled a king upon his throne—and it was no mere resemblance.
Arch Lich.
A being worthy of the title: lord of the undead, sovereign of death itself.
Yet the Arch Lich harbored no such thoughts. There existed a true king elsewhere, and he was but that king’s faithful servant.
And yet….
‘Is it still too soon?’
The Arch Lich felt a pang of regret.
Though he possessed formidable magical power, it remained woefully insufficient compared to his original strength. Moreover, the war was proving more difficult than anticipated.
The Arch Lich, who had been lost in silent contemplation, opened his mouth.
– Are you listening, my servant?
The figure prostrate in the darkness responded.
– Yes, my lord.
– Withdraw the front lines. Draw in the human armies.
– Your command is my will.
– Go. Relay my orders to every legion within the reach of my power.
The Black Knight rose from his position and slowly withdrew.
In that final moment, the throne upon which the Arch Lich sat was reflected in his blazing crimson eyes.
Tap. Tap-tap.

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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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