Murim Login - Chapter 409

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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 409
The unexpected visitor arrived before dawn had fully broken.
As he carefully entered the tent, his eyes met mine as I sat in a cross-legged position.
“You were awake.”
“As you can see.”
I shrugged my shoulders toward Choi Team Leader.
“I haven’t been sleeping much lately.”
To be precise, I should say my sleep had simply decreased.
With physical capabilities that transcended human limits and martial prowess accumulated over three decades, I could dispel most fatigue through breathing techniques.
“Were you cultivating the Mana Cultivation Method, or rather the Jin Family’s secret technique?”
“Yes, well. Something like that.”
To be exact, it was the Blazing Divine Art, the secret technique of the Yeolhwa Sect, but I couldn’t reveal every detail truthfully.
“I should have come later.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Didn’t you say that any disturbance during cultivation is forbidden? If interrupted midway, one might fall into demonic possession….”
“Ah, that applies to you, but not to me. We’re on different levels.”
….
Your brutal honesty. It could wound someone.
For a moment, it seemed as if such a public service announcement had flashed across Choi Team Leader’s face.
He looked at me with a deflated expression and shook his head slowly.
“I have nothing to say since it’s the truth.”
“Still, someone of your caliber has extraordinary learning ability. I’m being sincere, so have more confidence.”
I mean it. As the descendant of Cheon Tae-min, the hero who achieved an unparalleled achievement in human history, Choi Team Leader possessed exceptional natural martial talent.
Moreover, for some reason, the inner energy accumulated within his body was considerable, so his progress in martial arts was astonishingly rapid.
In a word, he was a prepared talent.
‘If he had learned martial arts from childhood like Wu Hei-xing… he would probably be occupying a position among S-rank Hunters by now.’
Choi Team Leader’s expression softened slightly as he nodded.
“How do I compare to Jin Tae-kyung?”
“Are you joking? Of course I learned faster.”
….
There’s no comparison.
No matter how much Choi Team Leader was raised under Lee Jung-yong’s surveillance and restraint, our life foundations were fundamentally different when compared to mine.
Even after obtaining the System, I nearly died several times. Completely different.
“Anyway, what brings you here? And at such an early hour at that.”
“I came despite the intrusion because I have something troubling me.”
“Something troubling you?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Did Johnson confess something?”
“I’m not concerned about that. I understand it’s his way of expressing familiarity. Rather, it’s about Guild-related matters.”
“Guild matters… Did some bad news come from Korea?”
At my worried question, Choi Team Leader shook his head.
“That’s not it. I’m concerned because one of our guild members seems to be in danger.”
“Ah.”
Now I understood what he meant, and I let out a soft chuckle.
“I think I know who you’re talking about. Tall, handsome fellow, right? Incredibly charming personality too.”
“I can’t speak to other qualities, but his personality does seem… exceptionally problematic. In multiple ways.”
“Hmm, then I don’t think I know the person you mean.”
“Jin Tae-kyung.”
Choi Team Leader, who had been exchanging words with me in a joking manner until now, spoke in a lowered voice.
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“This operation is dangerous.”
“Team Leader Choi. You don’t trust me?”
“How could that be? Jin Tae-kyung, you are one of the people I trust most in this world.”
Choi Team Leader fixed me with a gaze that had grown deeply serious.
“And yet you’re attempting a dangerous operation with people I trust less than anyone else in this world.”
Without hesitation, two names came to mind.
Lee Jung-yong and Wu Hei-xing. Those bound to me by bitter fate, and soon to become comrades whose backs I must trust with my life.
I scratched my chin and answered.
“Untrustworthy people. There’s no better way to describe them.”
“Jin Tae-kyung…”
“Team Leader Choi?”
Choi Team Leader, who seemed about to say something, closed his mouth. I quietly raised my hand and pointed toward the tent entrance.
“As you know, my training isn’t finished yet.”
“…!”
“Before today ends, combat will begin. Clear your mind and prepare for the battle that’s coming soon.”
Choi Team Leader, unable to continue speaking, looked at me with conflicted eyes. Then he let out a deep sigh and rose from his seat.
“I’ll see you in a moment.”
“Yes. I won’t go far.”
I felt Choi Team Leader’s presence gradually fade as he left the tent.
Then the Skeleton Warlord, who had been gloomy ever since losing the wish token, opened his mouth with a hopeful tone.
– A very intelligent human indeed. Since it’s not too late, why not accept that human’s advice?
“I appreciate it.”
– No, if you’re going, go alone. Why are you dragging this commander along?
“Dying alone is lonely.”
– What the hel—!
“I’m joking. It’s just that this is the best option.”
– Breaking through an enormous legion of monsters and confronting the Arch Lich is the best option? Are you perhaps not a cunning human, but a mad one?
Listen to this undead fool talk.
As I considered whether to punish him, I unfolded my legs and reclined diagonally on the bed.
“It’s a risky operation, true, but the odds are favorable enough. Don’t be so pessimistic.”
– What if we get there and it doesn’t work?
“Then we fight with everything we have. That’s how possibilities are born.”
The Skeleton Warlord murmured in a detached tone.
– The logic of miracles, is it? That I, a commander, find myself alongside such a madman.
“Yet you haven’t left.”
– Haven’t left? I can’t leave!
“You’re a funny one. When will you walk back on your own feet? Ah, scratch that. It’s a skull, not feet.”
– With all these vicious humans lurking about, targeting me, what exactly am I supposed to do?
At the Skeleton Warlord’s aggrieved protest, I let out a quiet chuckle.
‘Complaining like that.’
I had plenty to say, but decided to hold back. That was something he needed to realize on his own.
– You laughed? You definitely laughed just now!
“When did I?”
I played innocent and changed the subject.
“Regardless, the key is defeating the Arch Lich. Once we take the head, the body won’t move.”
– Dullahan doesn’t work that way.
“….”
He had a point there.
Momentarily convinced yet utterly exasperated, I pulled the Skeleton Warlord from my inventory.
“Man, this bastard has been really something since earlier.”
– C-calm yourself, human. I spoke no falsehoods.
“Right, Dullahan moves fine without a head. Let’s see what happens to the Skeleton Warlord.”
Crack!
I flicked a chop at his skull with lightning speed, and the Skeleton Warlord shrieked.
– Ack, a crack! There’s a crack in my forehead! A real crack, I tell you!
“I held back on the force, so what are you—wait, you’re serious?”
I should have been gentler. A fine fracture runs across the gleaming black skull with its lustrous sheen.
When I lightly touched the bone fragment lifted by the impact, the Skeleton Warlord wailed.
– My bones! My bones!
“Enough with the screaming, will you?”
– My bones have been tingling and sensitive lately, and I’ve been worried, but this madman just had to—sniff.
“….”
Dry bones, what else.
At this rate, he’d soon open a channel on some streaming platform and rake in a million subscribers as an undead beauty specialist.
‘This creature might not actually be a monster….’
The more I saw him, the more peculiar he became.
Staring at the Skeleton Warlord with bewildered eyes, I suddenly opened one side of the tent. The sun was slowly rising from the east.
It was a signal for today, and for the battle that would soon arrive.
* * *
Suining City, located in the central region of the Sichuan Basin, boasts two municipal districts, three counties, and a vast expanse exceeding 5,000 square kilometers.
From ancient times, it had been called the heart of central Sichuan Province, renowned for its refined culture, serene landscapes, and the flourishing of agriculture, industry, and commerce—yet those glories had become nothing more than echoes of the past.
Caw, caaaaw!
Above the overcast sky, countless flocks of crows that had been circling in formation descended upon the corpses scattered across the earth. There was no territorial dispute among the birds over their feast.
Hundreds upon hundreds of bodies lay strewn about in every direction, and the crows gorged themselves on the putrefied flesh that had once belonged to humans, their bellies swelling with satisfaction.
What was catastrophe for humanity was, for them, an age of peaceful abundance.
Yet the crows’ tranquil meal was not destined to last long.
Crunch, crunch-crunch.
At the rumbling and vibrations transmitted from the ground, the crows let out irritable cries and took flight in unison.
Several of their black feathers, cast into the air, drifted on the wind and crossed the vast Basin.
What trampled the feathers as they fluttered downward were countless footsteps and the wheels of metal-clad tanks.
Thump, thump, thump.
A human army that filled the horizon.
The tower shields held by the tanks at the vanguard scraped against the ground, and behind them, thousands of Hunters marched in perfect formation and alignment.
Beneath deeply lowered helmets, the clenched jaws of countless soldiers were visible.
Thousands of humans, enveloped in an invisible aura of war, advanced in silence.
Toward the distant city shrouded in pale mist. Toward the battle that would soon unfold and the glorious victory that awaited.
And from the center of their ranks, one man suddenly opened his mouth.
“Damn, look at that fog. It looks like something straight out of one of those disaster movies with monsters. Anyone here seen that film?”
Jin Tae-kyung’s sharp-tongued curse, delivered so unexpectedly amid the grave atmosphere, drew suppressed chuckles from various points in the formation.
「Heh.」
「Snort.」
“What, did only I watch that masterpiece?”
Just as Jin Tae-kyung shrugged, a response came from his right.
“I’ve seen it as well.”
“Really? I’m a bit surprised, Choi Team Leader.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you strike me as the type who’d watch musicals or orchestral performances rather than films.”
The Hunters who glanced at Choi Min-woo bit their lips to suppress their laughter.
The bodies that had grown rigid gradually loosened, and breathing stabilized. They felt their tension ease considerably.
Meanwhile, the conversation between the two men continued.
“I do occasionally watch films for a change of pace. I quite enjoyed the one you mentioned, Jin Tae-kyung.”
“Oh, then you’d know the final twist as well.”
“Of course. Personally, I found it quite tragic.”
“Right? That’s exactly what I thought watching it.”
Jin Tae-kyung continued slowly.
“If they’d only refused to give up until the end, they could have lived. They should have fought with everything they had, no matter what. That’s what I thought.”
His voice was low, yet it carried weight.
The sonorous tone, infused with profound power, rippled through the air and reached the ears of all present.
And thousands of Hunters and soldiers belonging to the Western Front understood.
Jin Tae-kyung’s words were, perhaps, advice he was directing at them as much as himself.
“By now, the other fronts must be encircling Suining City just as we are, wouldn’t you say?”
“We’re closing in without a single gap.”
“And soon, battle will be upon us.”
「We will emerge victorious.」
At Shao Shen’s resolute reply, Jin Tae-kyung let out a laugh.
“Yes. It must be so. But….”
Jin Tae-kyung’s laughter died abruptly. In the next instant, the playful glimmer in his eyes vanished, replaced by a gaze grown cold and fathomless.
The vast Basin was reflected in those icy pupils.
“It seems they have other intentions.”
Thud, thud-thud-thud.
Crrrk…
Corpses rising slowly to their feet. Skeletons. And a mist sliding across the Basin like a living thing, carrying within it the cries of monsters.
“From this moment….”
Jin Tae-kyung drew a deep breath.
“It begins.”

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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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