Murim Login - Chapter 556

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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 556
I exhaled slowly.
With that breath, my gaze swept across the surroundings.
The interior of the damp, cool cave. Narrow passages twisted like a labyrinth, with sharp stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Faces etched with exhaustion and fear.
‘It’s exactly like back then.’
Three years. Or rather, if I counted the time spent in Murim, it had been four years.
That day’s tragedy had remained in my heart like an indelible brand, and even now, after I’d already completed my revenge, I couldn’t fully forget it.
“Damn, this brings back memories.”
Unlike me, muttering with a bitter taste in my mouth, the Skeleton King smiled contentedly.
“I feel the same way. This is like returning to what you call a hometown.”
“….”
That’s not quite right, you bastard.
It seems we’re remembering very different parts of this place.
Perhaps this creature was the Skeleton 1 I’d encountered back when I was wandering through lower-rank Gates.
Anyway….
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
‘The surge of mana is far stronger than I expected.’
It was fortunate I happened to be nearby—otherwise, twenty innocent lives would have been snuffed out in an instant.
I gestured toward the Hunters who were staring at me with vacant expressions.
“It’s dangerous here. Come this way.”
A man in his late twenties who appeared to be the Team Leader blinked.
“W-what?”
“Come on. Hurry.”
“W-who are you?”
In the dim interior of the cave, at such a considerable distance, their level of perception was far too low to recognize my face.
I scratched my chin awkwardly and opened my mouth.
“I’m… uh, look behind you.”
“Huh?”
Their reaction was slow. Instead of answering, I flicked my finger.
Whoosh, boom!
A subtle sound of tearing air accompanied green blood spraying in all directions. Simultaneously, a rusty axe slipped helplessly from the hands of a goblin that had been approaching behind one of the Hunters.
Then the headless body crumbled like rotten wood.
Thud!
“Gasp!”
“Behind! Watch your backs!”
“W-what is this?”
What else? A Finger Wind technique.
Muttering to myself, I watched the Hunters hastily regroup and suddenly understood something.
‘It would be faster if I went to them rather than waiting for them to come here.’
Besides, watching them struggle against goblins at the midway point made it clear they weren’t just low-rank Hunters—they were inexperienced as well.
The Skeleton King swept back his blonde hair, his expression turning serious.
“Hmph, it seems I must take action.”
“Stay put. Don’t interfere.”
….
With my task decided, there was no reason to hesitate. I advanced toward them at a measured pace—neither rushed nor leisurely.
Thud.
One step. And in that same instant, ten streaks of wind energy erupted from my outstretched palms, tearing through the air.
Whoosh, splatter splatter splatter!
Once more.
Whish whish whoosh!
Again.
Boom!
From the apparent leader—a Hop Goblin—to the last of the thirty goblins, it took merely an instant for them all to become headless corpses scattered across the ground.
And….
Thud.
With the third and final step, a nameless mage’s Light magic illuminated my face with its radiance.
Flare.
“…!”
“…!”
An invisible shockwave of astonishment swept through the cavern.
In that moment when everyone stared at my face with vacant expressions, cries burst forth from every corner like a dam breaking.
“T-That bastard!”
“That damn bastard!”
“J-J-J-Jin Tae-kyung!”
At least the last one was better.
Though my name stretched to six syllables, it was far superior to those nicknames. Comparatively speaking, it was almost respectable.
And in a way, it fit the current situation perfectly.
The tremors that had been intensifying were now shaking violently—a full-fledged earthquake.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
The Skeleton King approached with a shuffling gait, dodging stalactites falling from above as he muttered.
“This much commotion suggests something’s not right.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
The magical energy here was at most E-rank, possibly F-rank—yet it carried the same intensity as the distance between Hanan and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
I clicked my tongue softly and gestured toward the still-shocked Hunters.
“Like I said before, it’s dangerous, so come this way—”
Patter patter patter!
“Whoa. Startled me.”
“Good grief, the undead.”
What was that, a blink spell?
Indeed, having such a recognizable face certainly had its advantages.
Even a grandmother living in the remote mountains would have heard my name, so what more could be said of Hunters in the same profession.
Before my words even finished, twenty Hunters rushed forward at the speed of light, their eyes brimming with fear and trust as they gazed upon me.
“Elder Brother. We’re fans. We’re really fans.”
“Oh my. What do I do. What do I really do.”
“…I appreciate it, but are you all in your right minds?”
It seemed such words came naturally in this situation. Shaking my head in bewilderment, I searched for the Team Leader.
Perhaps the Team Leader alone grasped the gravity of the situation properly, for he dug through his pocket with a stern expression and handed me something.
“Could I trouble you for an autograph? If you could write ‘Lee Seung-yeop Hunter, fighting’ on it.”
“….”
“Please. I’ll pass it down as a family heirloom for generations to come.”
“….”
Ah. I was at a loss for words.
With a heavy heart, I scrawled my signature across the briefing board, and the Team Leader added carefully.
“And if it’s not too much trouble, could you curse once?”
“Pardon?”
“A curse. It’s my wish.”
“…You damn bastard.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much!”
“I was serious.”
“Gasp.”
And there was one figure watching this scene with evident envy. No—a monster.
“You’re quite popular. Cunning human. They say if you defecate, you become famous and people applaud you.”
“….”
Something felt backwards about that. If you defecated in public, you might become famous, but usually people would slap you rather than applaud.
But I wasn’t given enough time to correct the Skeleton King’s distorted perception.
The moment I opened my mouth, violent tremors suddenly erupted throughout the cavern as if an earthquake had struck.
Boom, crack!
The ground split open, and spider-web cracks spread across the ceiling with sharp snaps. One of the Hunters murmured like a groan.
“A collapse…?”
Half right, half wrong.
While everyone stared at the ceiling threatening to collapse at any moment, only I, who perceived what was happening beneath the ground, knew the truth.
Crack, crackle.
A sprout pushing through the hard stone bedrock beneath.
That blood-red thing was growing fearfully even as I watched.
It formed thorns, burst open flower buds, and the seeds scattered in all directions began to spread.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
“Wh-what is this!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“Ugh!”
“Cut it! Slash it down!”
Only then did the Hunters realize what was happening and scrambled into action.
But their screams and the endless vines they slashed at with their weapons proved useless.
Because what was unfolding wasn’t limited to this single location.
Even with Skeleton King and me intervening, there was no way we could traverse the entire Gate and eliminate all of them in this short span of time.
‘This is….’
Not a simple collapse. A transformation.
The entire Gate was metamorphosing into a new form.
‘Literally a mutation. Itself.’
And so, beneath the horrified gazes of the people, the mutated Gate was completing its final transformation.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Boom!
The hairline fractures spreading across the ceiling deepened, and the cracks yawned open. The sight resembled a colossal egg—the cavern itself—shattering.
And….
Crack!
From beyond the ceiling where nothing should exist, something emerged—shrouded in crimson light and murky fog.
A space incomparably vaster than the cavern. Lush vegetation and a humid warmth like a sauna.
“That’s….”
“A, a Jungle?”
As everyone stood speechless from the shock, Skeleton King whispered in a voice only I could hear.
“Wicked human. My power grows stronger.”
Though concealed by illusion magic for now, Skeleton King’s true nature was that of a monster. His growing strength meant one thing.
‘The quantity and density of mana.’
Invisible. Yet I could feel it.
Whoooosh.
The formidable mana that permeated all directions.
Mana swollen as if about to burst was pressing down upon the Jungle.
This level of mana was difficult to sense even in an A-rank Gate. Ordinary low-rank Hunters had no chance of enduring it.
“Ugh. Gasp.”
“I, I can’t breathe….”
Their eyes rolling back and their bodies swaying.
Among the twenty or so Hunters, not a single exception remained conscious. As I watched them lose consciousness one by one, Skeleton King furrowed his brow.
“Wicked human. You….”
“This is better.”
“What?”
“Those people being awake wouldn’t help anything.”
“…!”
Skeleton King’s existence had to be hidden at all costs. If so, it was better to exclude them from the start, as long as their lives weren’t in danger.
The fewer witnesses, the better.
Thump.
As the last person lost consciousness, Skeleton King nodded at my glance and snapped his fingers.
Crack, crack, crack!
Countless bones of unknown origin wrapped tightly around the Hunters with no gaps. The Skeleton King spoke with a smug expression.
“There. I have personally demonstrated my power, so the safety of those humans is now guaranteed.”
I stared intently at the small dome-shaped structure and muttered.
“I don’t know. It seems like it needs more reinforcement.”
“Tsk tsk. What a cunning and distrustful human you are. At this level, even a horde of Ogres would be powerless against it.”
Ogres, regardless of rank, were always counted among the monsters with the most terrifying physical strength.
But even with the Skeleton King’s boastful claims, my thoughts remained unchanged.
“Ogres would be fine. But those things look different.”
“Huh?”
In the direction the Skeleton King turned with a dumbfounded expression, a single entity was slowly rising from the vast jungle.
A height of a full twenty meters. Arms and legs thicker and longer than the countless ancient trees that filled the jungle. And….
A single enormous eye gazing down upon the earth.
A Cyclops.
The single eye of the mythical giant, shrouded in mist, turned toward us.
Then a chilling voice thundered forth.
– Intruders. Humans. Kill them.
And in the next moment.
Ding.
– You have been forcibly transferred to a mutated Gate!
– Sudden Quest,
[Giant’s Forest]
has been created.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Along with the system notification that pierced my ears, the jungle trembled.
No, it would be more accurate to say it came alive.
Whoosh!
Beneath the flapping wings of countless unnamed birds soaring skyward, hundreds of trees rose with terrible cries.
The ancient tree spirits that adorned countless tales. The Ents awakened from their slumber and wailed.
– Groooooaaaar!
– Gruuuuuuuu!
And one being who had been silently observing this entire spectacle—no, one monster—quickly corrected his thinking.
“…I will reinforce the humans’ defensive barrier.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Crash. Bones far more numerous than before surged forth and stacked in layers.
The Skeleton King, having completed the reinforcement work with careful deliberation, gazed with serious eyes at the jungle advancing toward this place.
“Ready, Jin?”
“Of course, King… Wait, where did you even learn this from?”
“The internet. It’s fun.”
“You bastard. Once we get out of here, I’m confiscating your phone first.”
I issued a threat toward the Skeleton King and muttered quietly.
“Inventory open. Summon.”
With the command, the shaft of the White Flame Spear materialized in my empty grip. A familiar sensation I hadn’t felt in far too long.
As I surveyed the surroundings transformed into a battlefield, a smile bloomed across my lips.
‘Let’s go.’
A roaring inferno.
The thirty years of scorching energy I’d drawn from my lower dantian transformed into a fire dragon, spreading through every limb and corner of my body.

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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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