Murim Login - Chapter 433

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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 433
Inside the state-of-the-art hologram television, a distinguished middle-aged news anchor opened his mouth.
– Twenty days have passed since the tragedy in Sichuan Province known as the Monster Wave, named the “Calamity of Lesser Tribulation.” Across the Continent, the screams of suffering people fill the air. CCTV correspondent Wei Ja Zhang is on the scene.
As the words ended, the screen changed.
In the ruins, completely collapsed and reduced to ash, a young reporter wearing various protective gear stared at the camera and began to speak.
– Currently, large-scale reconstruction efforts are underway throughout Sichuan Province. Aid continues to arrive from nations around the world, but the scars of war remain devastating.
The camera slowly panned across the surroundings.
It was not only the young reporter dispatched for coverage who occupied that space. Countless people of different nations, languages, and nationalities filled the ruins.
– On three, lift! One, two.
– Heave!
Thud-thud-thud. Crash!
A space where heavy machinery could not enter.
Hunters with massive builds lifted stone and concrete fragments instead of weapons, while mages ceaselessly cast detection spells to search for any possible survivors.
– Any luck?
– There don’t appear to be any survivors within a hundred-meter radius. Let’s move to a different location and try again….
– Here! Survivor detected here! Hurry!
When a critically injured survivor was extracted, healers rushed forward, unleashing potions and healing magic.
As the young child, who had teetered on the brink of death, finally drew a steady breath, people exchanged moved smiles with one another.
But the joy was fleeting.
The reporter’s following words awakened them to a cruel reality.
– According to government announcements, the confirmed death toll currently stands at 4 million casualties. Property damage reaches 2.3 trillion yuan. This represents the greatest loss since the Great Calamity, exceeding the damage from the great Sichuan earthquake of the past by several dozen times.
Within a single month, millions had died or been injured, and an astronomical sum had evaporated.
More terrifying still was the fact that all of this represented only the damage “tallied thus far.”
Considering the plummeting stock market and the damage this incident had inflicted across various industries, China would face severe hardship in the months ahead.
In the face of these facts, the Chinese people were consumed by grief and rage, directing the arrows of anger from a billion voices in a single direction.
The young reporter standing here was no exception. His voice that followed trembled with indignation.
– This Monster Wave was a natural disaster beyond human power to prevent. However, had everyone united in preparation and responded swiftly to the calamity, the situation would have been vastly different. Chairman Xiao Yang has offered a deep apology in this regard and has released the recording of a meeting held last month.
The contents were shocking.
The meeting recording of the Communist Party’s highest committee, previously shrouded in secrecy, contained the sharp confrontation between the Xiao Yang Faction’s argument to immediately seek aid from other nations and the Crown Prince Faction’s insistence on drawing upon China’s strength to fight with the spirit of chivalrous heroes.
And among them, one figure stood out most prominently.
An aging politician who had lost everything following the death of his only son, Wu Hei-xing, became the central figure of the recording.
– Wu Xueming, Premier of the State Council and Standing Committee member of the Central Political Bureau, has been implicated in numerous corrupt practices over his fifty-year career in politics, leading the Crown Prince Faction, the nation’s largest political faction.
Had the results been favorable, such a situation would never have occurred.
However, the strength of China and the spirit of chivalry that he had invoked during the early meetings of the “Calamity of Lesser Tribulation” sounded like nonsense even to those devoted to Chinese ideology, becoming the laughingstock of the entire world.
Furthermore, when it became known that past military corruption had caused tanks to stall and helicopters to crash, Wu Xueming was driven to the cliff’s edge.
And the seasoned politician Chairman Xiao Yang did not miss this golden opportunity.
– Wu Xueming has embezzled astronomical sums through his connections with key figures in the military, government, and financial sectors, and investigations are underway to uncover all circumstances connected to this incident.
In fact, large-scale purges have already begun.
Among the seven Standing Committee members who represent the highest echelon of the Communist Party, the senior figures of the Crown Prince Faction, including Wu Xueming, were summoned one after another, and a sweeping military reorganization was also carried out.
The media and cameras simply film where the government points and report only what they are shown.
Everyone knew that despite the investigations and trials still to come, they were merely formalities.
– Fellow citizens of the people. They will receive the punishment they deserve. That is justice…!
– Excuse me, sir.
A young Reporter’s voice, shouting in anger while forgetting his journalistic duty, was abruptly cut off by someone. At the same moment, his mind went completely blank.
‘What kind of lunatic interrupts a live broadcast….’
This was a massive broadcasting disaster.
The staff on-site, the main anchor at the broadcast station desk, and even the bureau chief watching TV in his office all dropped their jaws.
But the mastermind behind all this chaos remained utterly composed.
Rather, he spoke to the Reporter in an irritated tone.
– Move aside, would you. It’s fine that you’re covering this, but you’re getting in the way of my work.
– Yes, yes?
– Did you stuff tofu in your ear canals? I’m telling you not to block the path while I’m working and go somewhere else instead.
The young Reporter, his face turning pale as a blank sheet, looked around stammering.
There were the terrified staff members thanks to the massive broadcasting disaster, and the Hunters around him sporting expressions of satisfaction.
In a brief moment, the Reporter, barely escaping from panic, forced a smile and spoke to the man.
– I, I apologize. It seems we made a mistake.
– Apologize and all that nonsense… Ugh, my throat.
Hack, ptooey.
From head to toe, covered entirely in dust, the man spat out black phlegm and continued speaking.
– A mistake is only a mistake when you didn’t know, but I saw you all slip bribes to the person in charge before coming in, so what’s this about.
– Now, now! What are you talking about!
– What do you mean what? I saw it all. Want to bet your balls on it?
At that moment, the camera director witnessing all this unfold right before his eyes felt his testicles quiver.
‘We’re screwed.’
His workplace, CCTV, was China’s largest broadcast station and ranked among the top five in the world.
Yet here on the evening nine o’clock live news broadcast watched by tens of millions of citizens, a scene of ‘balls’ was being presented.
The young Reporter already looked as if his balls had been severed, pleading with the man.
– P, please, sir. I beg you….
– Listen, kid. Move while I’m being nice.
– This is being broadcast. So please, watch your language….
– Wow, you really can’t understand words. There’s a survivor under where you’re standing, so move aside.
– Yes, yes?!
Not just the Reporter but all the staff members jumped back as if burned, scrambling away.
Only then did the man nod and stride forward, placing his hand on the massive concrete debris.
– There we go. Don’t bother me and step back. You’ll get hurt.
Whoosh, boom!
There was no need to find help. Concrete fragments that several Hunters had been moving flew about like pebbles, and each time the man’s hand blurred, rocks and earth cracked apart like cheesecake.
Crack crack crack crack crack!
It was literally in the blink of an eye. Before even enough time to cook instant ramen, the man who had disappeared into the deeply carved pit emerged.
And cradled in his arms was a small, elderly woman.
– W-what is this….
The broadcast staff, rendered speechless by the astonishing sight, were pushed back by the Hunters who came rushing in.
As a Healer in a pristine white robe hurried over with a potion, the man waved his hand in refusal.
– Not right now. She’s too weakened to handle a potion in her current state.
– W-wait a moment. You seem like a close-combat Hunter. This is my specialty….
– Mm. I don’t think so.
The man replied matter-of-factly, placing his hand on the elderly woman’s lower back.
As warmth radiated from him so intensely it could be felt meters away, faint color returned to the old woman’s pallid complexion.
– First, move her to a warm place. Maintain her body temperature continuously with magic, and by the time she regains consciousness, potions and healing magic should be safe to use.
The Healer, staring at the old woman and the man in bewilderment, finally spoke.
– Th-thank you. Sir.
– There’s nothing to thank me for doing what’s obvious, and I’m not a sir either, so let’s leave it at that. And… well.
The man, who had hesitated briefly, continued in a subdued voice.
– She’s the last one. In this sector.
– Ah….
Those who grasped the meaning of his words let out sighs.
Among them were not only Hunters but also broadcast staff, and while they understood, they couldn’t help but feel bewildered.
‘Why?’
If they merely glanced around, hundreds of Hunters were searching for survivors using magic and cutting-edge equipment. It should have been natural to trust them over this man before their eyes. It should have sounded like nonsense….
‘Yet somehow, I believe him.’
What could be the reason?
From the minds of those who had witnessed the extraordinary spectacle unfold before them, the four characters spelling “broadcast accident” had been completely erased.
Instead, two other characters emerged.
A certain emotion called hope, however faint.
– This is merely my personal assessment. So please don’t give up until the very end.
The camera director, without realizing it, lifted the camera that had lowered to his side.
And as the man turned to leave with a slight bow, he called out.
– A-are you Jin by any chance?
His question represented the thoughts of everyone present.
A man so covered in dust that his facial features were barely discernible.
Yet the glimpses he had shown in that brief moment unmistakably reminded them of someone….
– No, I’m not.
The answer tumbled out without hesitation, and the camera director pressed further.
– N-no?
– That’s right. You’re talking about Jin Tae-kyung, aren’t you? I appreciate the confusion, but why would he be here? I saw the news, and he hasn’t shown his face anywhere since the press conference.
That was true. Jin Tae-kyung hadn’t shown a trace of himself since the press conference—hardly the behavior of a hero.
It was absurd that they had formed such a conclusion based on mere intuition.
Just as the camera director was letting out a sigh, the young Reporter suddenly spoke up.
– Then might I ask just one question?
– No. Thank you for your hard work.
– What do you think about the claim that Jin is a descendant of Chen Lin, the Ming Dynasty general who participated in the Imjin War?
In that instant, the man walking stopped dead in his tracks and spun around like lightning.
– No, what’s with all this descendant nonsense? Then what, Asmodeus is Einstein’s descendant? Even if you’re going to talk bullshit, at least make it somewhat plausible….
– …Ah.
– …Oh.
A silence fell over the world as if time itself had frozen.
Jin Tae-kyung, the man, opened his mouth to address the people staring at him with vacant expressions.
– You all understand that was a joke, right?
– ….
– Actually, I just stopped by while passing through.
– ….
– Please edit that out. And remove the vulgar remarks too.
The Reporter, recovering from the shock, barely managed to squeeze out his voice.
– It’s a live broadcast, sir.
– Ah.
Jin Tae-kyung nodded with a devastated expression and asked again.
– Live broadcast? You’re serious, not joking?
– Yes.
– Then from where to where…?
– I’m sorry, but from beginning to end….
– What about the viewership rating?
– I just got a text—it’s apparently broken through 30 percent.
– Ah. I see.
Jin Tae-kyung, who had been silent for a moment, began to walk away.
The young Reporter, whose life had been reversed from a massive broadcasting disaster into an exclusive scoop, called after him in a pitiful voice.
– W-wait, sir! Where are you going!
A hollow reply came back.
– Home.
That answer was the truth.
Dozens of aircraft formations crossed the sky and descended onto the vast, cleanly restored ground.
While he briefly traveled to another world, it was the aerial fleet that would bring him back to Korea.

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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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