Murim Login - Chapter 410

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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 410
‘Thirty years… has it truly been that long?’
Lee Jung-yong murmured to himself.
The stench of countless monsters mingled with the wind, reeking of blood and decay. It was the scent of a battlefield—one that stirred the nostalgia of days long past.
‘Yes, it has been far too long indeed.’
His eyes, sharp and seasoned in a way his appearance belied, traced the slowly advancing mist. The pale fog, concealing thousands of monsters by his estimate, emanated an ominous presence merely by its sight.
While most of the soldiers wavered with unease, for Lee Jung-yong—a living witness to the Great Cataclysm—this was a sight as familiar as his own hand.
“How old are you, if I may ask?”
At Lee Jung-yong’s sudden question, Seok Go-jun, the security team leader standing a step behind, answered.
“Thirty-five, sir.”
“A fine age. Looking back, I was much the same. Every day was a struggle to survive, yet in those times, I harbored dreams.”
Lee Jung-yong gazed into the distance with profound eyes.
It seemed as though the figure of his younger self brushed past somewhere in that void—a young man burning with the will to survive and the ambition to become the greatest.
But now, thirty years later, the man standing here was an old master on the threshold of seventy.
“Sometimes I find myself plagued by doubt. Whether everything I have built over these long years might crumble to dust.”
“I harbor no such doubts whatsoever.”
“Why is that?”
Seok Go-jun’s lips moved slightly.
– Because you are here, Master.
Lee Jung-yong let out a soft laugh before responding.
– And if I were to fall?
– I am certain that day will never come.
– There was a time when I thought the same of another. Someone stronger than anyone, a wall that could never be overcome no matter how much one devoted themselves to the task.
– …!
– He was the beginning and the end of the Great Cataclysm, its very entirety. He was humanity’s savior, a god in all but name. Yet he too was merely human.
The hero who had accumulated immortal Achievements had not shown his face for ages, and only a handful knew the secrets surrounding him.
Lee Jung-yong, one of those few, continued quietly.
– Nothing is eternal, nothing is certain. Of late, such thoughts visit me often.
– Is it because of Jin Tae-kyung?
– Once a crack begins to form, collapse is but a moment away. He is the crack itself.
– Then we must seal the crack before collapse comes.
Lee Jung-yong watched the mist slide across the Desolate Battlefield. From between his lips flowed a soft voice that concealed the edge of a blade.
“Are you prepared?”
“I stand ready to obey.”
Seok Go-jun, bowing deeply in response, drew his sword.
Shing. Clang clang!
In his wake, hundreds and thousands of weapons were drawn simultaneously.
The elite of the Ares Guild, forged through countless Raids and training, and the weapons held in the hands of numerous Chinese Hunters gleamed like waves in motion.
“Awaiting your command.”
At Seok Go-jun’s words, Lee Jung-yong began to walk forward slowly.
There was no place here for soldiers and firearms. This was purely a battle between superhumans called Hunters and monsters, and Lee Jung-yong would reign as the god of this battlefield.
“Let’s go.”
Lee Jung-yong shot forward like the wind with those words. The mist that filled the desolate plain split apart on both sides, following the trajectory of his sword.
Kwaaaaaa-!
* * *
Splurch!
The young man, drenched in foul-smelling green blood, barely managed to suppress his nausea.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he wasn’t even given the chance to do so.
Whoosh, crash!
The top of the tower shield shattered, and sharp fragments grazed the tip of his nose. Blood sprayed, and the metallic scent pierced his nostrils.
Thanks to that, the unbearable stench had faded somewhat, but before the young man stood an undead ogre that appeared to have been dead not long ago, raising a massive iron club.
– Grrrrrr!
Whoooosh.
The terrifying sound of the air splitting was enough to make one’s hair stand on end just hearing it.
The young man gritted his teeth and bent his legs. He protected his head with the tower shield infused with mana.
Crash!
A tremendous impact swept across the young man’s entire body. His ears rang and his head throbbed, his arms aching as if they were broken.
‘Or maybe they already are.’
But broken arms were hardly a priority.
Not when a ferocious five-meter-tall monster was wielding an iron club the size of an adult man like a toy.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Under the relentless assault, the young man let out a cry tinged with despair.
“Damn it, you bastard! Why are you so strong!”
The young man was a veteran B-rank Hunter and naturally had experience fighting ogres.
Ogres, befitting A-rank monsters, possessed tremendous strength and stamina, but they weren’t this powerful.
They definitely weren’t.
Crash!
The young man stared with vacant eyes as the high-grade tower shield he’d purchased for a fortune earlier this year shattered from merely five blows of the club.
‘This is insane… Did these things all take some kind of drug?’
They were far too strong. Watching the iron club rise once more through the pale mist, the young man sensed his end.
At the same moment, a name flashed through his mind.
‘Jin Tae-kyung.’
This death was entirely because of that bastard.
If Jin Tae-kyung had simply ignored him that day, he wouldn’t have had to report to his superiors and wouldn’t have been drafted as a frontline tank. And he wouldn’t be dying like this.
And he wouldn’t be dying like this.
Whoooosh!
He couldn’t even muster the will to dodge. He lacked the courage to even face the iron club rushing toward him head-on.
With his eyes squeezed shut, the young man let out an involuntary scream.
“Jin Tae-kyung, you bastard-!”
And in the next moment.
Crunch! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
My vision flooded with absolute darkness. A cool wind swept across my entire body, and something poured down like a downpour.
Then a voice pierced through my ears.
“What the hell?”
「…Huh?」
The Young Man’s eyes snapped open. Scattered droplets of green blood hung in the air. I saw the massive corpse of an Undead Ogre slowly toppling over, its head severed. And the deeply furrowed face of someone else.
「…Huh?」
“You’re that bastard from last time. Buddy.”
Slash, crack!
I couldn’t see it, and I couldn’t have seen it.
As I reached out, a flash of light—unmistakably a short blade—pierced through several monsters. The creatures crumpled like puppets with their strings cut.
Words tumbled out between the Young Man’s lips almost involuntarily.
「N-no, that’s not it.」
“Like hell it isn’t. Damn bastard.”
Pap-pap-pat! Bang!
“I saved you because you looked like you were in danger. What, bread? You better survive. I’m going to make you my bread shuttle until you die of old age.”
Crunch, whoooosh!
Could this possibly be a dream?
Every time I blinked, the monsters around me collapsed like straw.
Blue flames erupted, and when the shockwaves detonated, the densely packed space was swept clean without room to stand.
It all originated from the fingertips of a single person, and it didn’t look like something a human could do at all.
The Young Man stared at him with a vacant expression and asked.
「Are you perhaps… a Divine Physician?」
After a moment of silence, Jin Tae-kyung countered.
“Are you perhaps… an idiot?”
Boom-boom-boom-crack!
Blue flames swept across the earth. Steel melted, and a monster caught in the inferno shrieked in agony.
Jin Tae-kyung, who had obliterated dozens of monsters with a single swing, glanced at the Young Man.
“Hey.”
「Yes? Yes?」
“Survive. I’m going to make you my bread shuttle.”
「Huh?」
“I’m not joking. If you die, it’s on my hands.”
「…!」
“Oh, and this.”
Slash, crash!
Something flew like a beam of light and shattered against the Young Man’s forehead into pieces.
Before I could even react, drenched in a translucent liquid, a low voice seeped into my ears.
“You should be fine now. Fight again. If you mess with the Ogre carelessly, you’ll be done for, so focus on the weaker ones. Got it?”
Whoooosh.
A liquid—no, a potion—seeped through me with a faint warmth.
The Young Man nodded blankly, feeling the wounds covering his entire body and his broken arm mending.
「Y-yes, yes.」
“Then I’m going.”
「P-please be careful, sir.」
The Young Man bowed deeply, forgetting he stood in the heart of the Battlefield.
When he lifted his head again, Jin Tae-kyung had vanished, and a wave of forces swept past him.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, crack!
Two hundred Hunters charged forward without hesitation along the path Jin Tae-kyung had opened, wielding their weapons.
Among them, two figures at the vanguard stood out distinctly.
“&*^%!”
「The Jin formation has collapsed! Charge!」
A handsome man spouting incomprehensible Korean and a surprisingly young-looking Hunter.
Their movements were like wind, and their sword blades, wrapped in dazzling aura, carved through monsters.
‘The Suicide Squad.’
I’d heard the rumors. That Jin Tae-kyung and some other S-rank Hunters would lead Suicide Squads from each Battle Front in a charge against the Arch Lich.
Just yesterday, I’d thought it was ridiculous nonsense…
‘Incredible.’
Could I ever become like that?
As the Young Man gazed at the spectacle in a daze, his chest suddenly burned hot. A strength he didn’t know he possessed surged up uncontrollably.
He hoisted his half-shattered Tower Shield and charged toward the nearest monster.
「Yaaaaaaa!」
– Grrrrrrr!
Boom, boom, crash!
“….”
Damn. It was an Ogre.
Staring at his completely shattered Tower Shield, the Young Man immediately turned and fled.
‘Orc. Where’s an Orc!’
* * *
Thud!
‘It’s over.’
The sensation transmitted through my fist is perfect. With certainty flashing through my mind, the Lycanthrope’s head that had been baring its fangs at my throat exploded.
Ding.
–
[Lv.92 Darkness-Tainted Lycanthrope]
has been defeated!
– You have gained a small amount of experience!
A Lycanthrope in the level 90s?
I already knew that level wasn’t an absolute measure, but the monsters gathered on this Battlefield were definitely different from those I’d encountered at Gates.
‘Much stronger.’
Their levels are slightly higher, and their agility and strength are superior.
If it were just one or two, I could overlook it, but when F-rank goblins all the way up to A-rank monsters show this pattern, you’d have to be an idiot not to sense something wrong.
“Jin Tae-kyung!”
“Elder Brother!”
I turned at the urgent cries from behind, and saw monsters filling the path I’d carved through without a single gap.
The Suicide Squad fighting fiercely against them was visible too.
“Get out of my way.”
Boom boom boom!
To these monsters, I am an unstoppable, inescapable force.
Dozens of fist shadows, fired like artillery shells, rain down upon their heads.
Some are sent flying far away, pulped beyond recognition, while others collapse where they stand.
I surged forward into the suddenly empty space.
Screeeech!
My spear blade, infused with inner force, tears through bone and flesh as I slash in all directions. With each falling monster, system notifications ring out ceaselessly.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
–
[Lv.55 Darkness-Tainted Orc Warrior]
has been defeated!
– You have acquired a minimal amount of experience!
–
[Lv.83 Darkness-Tainted Lizard Mage]
has been defeated!
– You have acquired a minimal amount of experience…
And then, a cheerful chime I haven’t heard in a long time.
– Level Up!
– Fatigue and some injuries recover from the level up effect!
– You have acquired 10 points!
– Your body reaches peak condition!
I feel it. My inner force, which had been gradually depleting, surges back to fullness, and the fatigue accumulated in my body washes away completely.
But there was a more important fact.
“Choi Team Leader! Shao Shen!”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
I shouted with a voice loud enough to shake the entire battlefield.
“The fog! Get out of the fog’s range as much as possible!”
This isn’t just an unpleasant, damp fog—it’s a type of magic cast by the Arch Lich.
It strengthens monsters within its range, or rather, ‘taints them with darkness.’
‘Damn magic.’
At that very moment, as I glared at the mysterious fog filling my surroundings.
Boom!
A deafening roar that seemed to split the heavens reverberated across the earth.

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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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