Murim Login - Chapter 470
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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 470
What in the world is happening here?
Even as every second counted, I found myself momentarily dazed before I managed to open my mouth.
“Wait, hold on. Chung Poong, So-hyup.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life! Just as Grandfather said, the world truly is vast! We made the right choice leaving Huashan!”
“No, the world being vast is one thing, but that has nothing to do with—”
“Wow! It moved again!”
“….”
He wasn’t even listening.
I’d known for some time that Chung Poong had a few screws loose, but I never imagined it would be to this degree.
‘What kind of human being is this?’
Even a veteran Hunter who encountered monsters more often than their own parents would naturally feel fear when confronted with a colossal beast of such proportions.
Yet here he was, not succumbing to fear at all—instead, he was practically bouncing with excitement.
I had unconsciously underestimated Chung Poong. He wasn’t just a little mad; he was thoroughly, completely insane.
‘Still, it’s far better than the others trembling like leaves.’
He operated from an entirely different starting point than ordinary people. The primal terror of encountering something never before heard of or seen simply didn’t apply to him.
Because for this bastard, everything was fascinating and entertaining.
‘Point a gun at a newborn who doesn’t even know what a gun is, and they’ll just laugh at how interesting it is.’
I’d stake Hyuk Moo-jin’s manhood on it—if I searched through the entire Murim and turned it upside down, Chung Poong would be the only martial artist capable of such a reaction upon witnessing a monster of such terrifying magnitude.
‘…Yes, this is far better.’
Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin were still half-catatonic.
In a situation where I needed every available hand, Chung Poong’s immunity to fear was invaluable.
I grabbed Chung Poong’s shoulder as he alternated between staring at the cowering Mi-mi and the transformed water dragon with gleaming eyes.
“Just staring at it won’t make it evolve, so snap out of it. Protect the Old Boatman and the Dongjeong Fisherman Elder.”
“What about you, benefactor?”
“First, I need to bring those two back to their senses.”
Before my words even finished, I dashed forward and struck both Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin across the face as they stood frozen in place.
Crack! Crack!
The sharp sounds accompanied two bodies crumpling to the ground.
Like men jolting awake from a nightmare, they thrashed about, their unfocused eyes turning upward to meet mine.
“Gasp, cough.”
“C-Captain.”
I’d put considerable force behind those slaps.
Blood streamed from between their split lips—the impact had torn the inside of their mouths—but neither Gung Ki-bang nor Hyuk Moo-jin had the luxury of feeling pain.
“…I thought it was a dream. Why can I still see things that aren’t there?”
“What, what is that?”
Even with my help pulling them free from the fear state, one cannot completely erase the primal terror inherent to human nature.
As the two men stared over my shoulder with vacant eyes, a deep, guttural roar echoed across the entire area.
– KRAAAAAAAA!
Damn it. I didn’t even need to turn around to know that this enormous monstrosity was thoroughly, utterly enraged.
The terrifying sonic boom approaching rapidly from behind—its identity was finally revealed.
“Chung Poong!”
I shouted his name and grabbed the nape of Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin’s necks, hurling us all forward.
At that same instant, something massive crashed down mercilessly upon the spot where we had just been standing.
Whoooosh, CRASH!
Sand and mud erupted skyward with a deafening roar.
The object that had missed us by mere steps was a jagged boulder—a grotesque rock formation that towered nearly thirty feet high.
‘…They hurled something like that all the way here?’
A boulder weighing thousands of pounds, thrown from such a distance.
The sheer force was terrifying, but the accuracy was even more so. Had I not moved with absolute speed, I would have been crushed flat without question.
‘What kind of throwing arm is that? Did this thing play in the major leagues?’
As I stared at the creature with a look of utter disgust, a familiar notification pierced my ears, accompanied by a roar of fury.
Ding.
– Sudden Quest,
[Fallen Spirit Beast]
has been generated.
– You cannot refuse this Quest. It has been forcibly accepted!
– While this Quest is in progress,
[Logout]
is impossible!
Quest
[Fallen Spirit Beast]
For countless ages, this noble being waited for ascension in the depths of the river. Yet it has been corrupted by an unknown force.
The spirit beast, once radiant with brilliant intellect and beautiful form, has transformed into a hideous evil creature. The countless deaths it has wrought ensure it can never reclaim its former glory.
And now, you must stop this wretched yet formidable evil creature.
Dispel the dark clouds that loom over Hubei Province!
Rank
: Peak
Restriction
: Jin Tae-kyung
Objective
: Eliminate [Mutated Water Dragon] (Incomplete)
Reward
: Linked Quest
Massive Experience and Renown
???
Failure
: Death or equivalent penalty
I scanned the Quest window at lightning speed, and my assessment was brief and blunt.
“…This is absolute garbage.”
A Quest befitting the worst of circumstances—the worst Quest imaginable.
Forced acceptance of the Quest, followed by a logout prohibition. And to top it off, they’d driven the final nail in, ensuring I couldn’t even flee if things went south.
Either I defeat that colossal monster, or I die here.
The system was demanding I choose one of the two.
‘And a penalty equivalent to death, no less. What kind of penalty could it possibly be?’
I didn’t even want to think about it. Or rather, I wasn’t given the luxury of thinking about it any further.
*Crash! Whoooosh!*
In the next instant, I could see it.
Beyond the translucent hologram window, a Cliff crumbling in the distance, and dozens of black specks plummeting like meteors through the vast sky above.
At that tremendous spectacle, Hyuk Moo-jin and Gung Ki-bang muttered vacantly.
“Are those stars? Yeah, they must be stars.”
“Stars seem awfully dark, though. And they’re getting closer.”
“Stars these days are all like that.”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right. The squad leader always told me to abandon my preconceptions, but….”
“You crazy bastards!”
*Grab, screeeech!*
I seized the two fools still spouting nonsense and hurled us through the air.
Chung Poong, who had issued a warning and was now cradling the twice-unconscious Dongjeong Fisherman Elder and Old Boatman in either flank, was no exception.
“Master! Big! And many!”
His vocabulary was barely elementary school level, but it was more than enough to understand. Even to my eyes, the number of those massive boulders hurtling toward us was overwhelming.
Without a doubt, they would blanket the narrow ground we stood upon completely, with room to spare.
*Whoooosh!*
Damn it, there’s nowhere to escape. I hurled the two I was holding behind me and silently chanted the activation word in my mind.
‘Inventory open, summon.’
The moment Baek Yeom materialized in my grip, the shadow of a colossal rocky formation descended overhead.
Without hesitation, I drew upon all the inner force within my body and thrust the spear blade outward with tremendous power.
*Shiiiiing!*
A cyan-white torrent of energy erupted from the spear blade, tearing through the void.
It was unleashed toward the massive boulders that had undergone countless cycles of sedimentation and erosion as part of the Cliff over eons.
‘Shatter.’
*Crack!*
Energy is the concentrated essence of force that can cleave steel as easily as soft tofu. The rocky formations caught in the trajectory of the spear blade fragmented and plummeted.
*Crash!*
With a deafening roar that shook the earth, sand and river water erupted upward.
Between the piercing screams of Hyuk Moo-jin and Gung Ki-bang, I could see Chung Poong, who had escaped the crisis using the same method.
However….
*Crack!*
‘Damn. I forgot about that.’
Seeing the fragments of the boat scattered beyond recognition, my heart ached.
Had the Old Boatman, the boat’s owner, been conscious, he might have fainted.
‘If I stay like this, I’ll be nothing but that creature’s target. I need to shift my position using the fragments, at least—!’
My body went rigid before the thought could even finish forming.
Across the water’s surface, something that should have been there was nowhere to be seen.
The massive form that had towered between the churning rapids and the flashing lightning had vanished as if washed away.
‘This is—’
A crimson alarm shrieked through my mind.
Eyes wide, I unleashed a scream that tore from my throat.
“It’s coming!”
And in the next instant.
CRAAAAAASH!
As a barrier of water ten layers thick erupted upward, a massive, pitch-black body far more dense and colossal than any jagged stone blotted out the darkened sky.
A familiar face reflected in those vertically-split crimson eyes.
– Grrrrrrr.
The breath flowing from the fallen abomination’s maw was chillingly cold, and the murderous intent and oppressive force radiating from a body larger than any monster I’d ever witnessed crushed down upon all sides.
‘What kind of monster is this…!’
It was precisely as I stared up at it in shock.
WHOOOOSH!!
Countless beams of light cascading from every direction.
Hundreds of whisker-like strands, which had covered the bridge of its nose surrounded by hardened scales, plunged downward in a fractured spray.
Each one stretching several lengths long, they shot in straight lines and curved like living creatures, raining down from all angles.
“—!”
There was no time to even cry out.
Every hair on my body stood on end, all my senses wide open. Within the slowed world, I twisted my frame.
SPLURCH! SLASH!
Searing pain spread from my shoulder. The droplets of blood scattering across the murky water—their origin was obvious.
Still, dodging an unexpected strike with only this much injury was getting off cheap.
Now it was time to make it pay dearly.
“HAAH!”
SCRAPE!
Dozens of whisker strands were severed by the spear blade I swung with my battle cry.
The long tail of flame befitting the secret technique name Fire Dragon’s Tail was unsatisfied with that alone, and just as it slashed through the air to sever the creature’s jaw—
WHOOOOOM!
With a sound that deafened my ears, everything surrounding me turned black.
Within time that had slowed as if everything had frozen, I finally could see it.
Something flying toward me from the side, tracing an enormous arc.
‘Ah, shit. The tail.’
The moment understanding struck, a tremendous impact swept across my entire body.
CRASH!
My vision, which had been sharp, blurred.
In less than a second, the sky and earth flipped countless times, and everything around me shook as if an earthquake had struck.
No, that wasn’t it. Only I was spinning and shaking.
When I broke free from the massive impact that had scrambled my mind, I was hurtling toward the cliff like a flash of light, crossing a dozen paces in an instant.
‘Damn it. I need to dodge even now….’
The force behind that blow was so tremendous that I couldn’t move my body easily.
I clenched my teeth and braced myself for the secondary impact that would soon arrive.
Or rather, I tried to brace myself.
Thud. Crack, crack, crack!
A light impact transmitted through my back. And my speed diminishing as if the ground itself were being torn apart.
As I blinked my eyes, someone’s voice reached my ears.
“Are you alright, benefactor?”
It was Chung Poong.
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and planted both feet firmly on the ground. And then I understood why this Quest’s rank wasn’t a question mark but the highest tier.
“You damn eel bastard!”
At the familiar voice, I let out a quiet laugh.
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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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