Murim Login - Chapter 562

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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 562
The Wasteland stretched endlessly in all directions.
Though no sun existed here, a dark luminescence woven from mana suffused the air, and hundreds of orcs roamed in packs, hunted by Hunters—or so it had been.
Or rather, so it had been.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The ground trembled beneath me. The mana saturating every direction swelled as though ready to rupture at any moment, strangling the very breath from our lungs.
Gasping. Wheezing. The acrid stench of blood wafted from the mouths of the breathless Hunters.
Around the group huddled back-to-back, more than a hundred orc corpses lay scattered, yet beyond them, a horde of monsters ten times that number surged forward.
“T-Team Leader.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to survive, no matter what.”
The Team Leader’s voice rang hollow as he answered the terrified voice.
Both questioner and answerer already sensed it dimly—that none of us would leave this place alive.
Even if we miraculously broke through the monster encirclement, there was one creature we could never hope to defeat.
– KWAAAAAAAGH!
An Orc Lord.
Born with odds of one in a million, the roar of this formidable mutant specimen sent over a thousand orcs crashing their weapons together with bestial shrieks.
– SHRIEEEEK!
Clang! Boom boom boom!
Despair flickered across the eyes of the Hunters witnessing this spectacle.
‘It’s over.’
The enemy was a monster horde made even more formidable under the Orc Lord’s command.
With a powerful commander, the orcs were no longer the disorganized rabble that roamed in packs of dozens—and our numbers barely reached twenty.
‘This… this is a battle we cannot win.’
The thought flashed through everyone’s mind simultaneously.
Even if they were elite Hunters who dominated peers of equal rank, that fact remained unchanged.
The pride of the Ares Guild crumbled helplessly before the death bearing down upon us.
“…Damn this mutant Gate.”
As the muttered curse slipped from someone’s lips, the monsters filling every direction launched their assault in unison.
And at their vanguard stood the Orc Lord—a creature worthy of a thousand deaths.
– KARJIK! KALIPTO!
Boom boom boom boom boom!
An incomprehensible demon tongue accompanied the charge of the massive form.
The Raid Team Leader, gritting his teeth, raised his shield and rushed forward to meet it.
His teammates’ cries echoed from behind, but he channeled every nerve and ounce of strength toward the enemy before him.
“HAAAAH!”
A mighty shout that forced fear aside.
The instant the Orc Lord’s eyes locked onto him, a crimson gleam flashing across its pupils, the massive axe in its grip came crashing down toward the Team Leader’s crown.
Whoosh, CRASH!
A single blow. That was all it took.
Impossibly swift and devastating, the strike shattered the Tower Shield—reinforced with advanced magic—into fragments, and the Team Leader’s eyes went wide, the pain of his shattered arms forgotten.
Whoooosh.
Before the axe blade even made contact, my flank was already sliced open.
Within the slowed world brought by the Horse Stance, a second attack was hurtling toward me to cleave my body in two.
‘No, this wouldn’t be the second—it would be the last.’
The Team Leader closed his eyes. He didn’t want his final sight in life to be that hideous, cursed monster.
And in the next instant. Pitch-black darkness engulfed his vision, and a sharp piercing cry tore through the air.
Screeeech, splurt!
The pain he’d braced for never came. Surprisingly enough. So much so that he doubted whether this was truly death.
“…?”
The Team Leader cracked his eyes open belatedly, his mouth hanging agape in a daze.
Less than five paces away. The massive form of the 3-meter-tall Orc Lord stood motionless.
Its head simply gone.
“…!”
“…!”
The world seemed to have frozen.
Neither human nor monster moved. All eyes fixed on that sight. In this moment.
In the endlessly sprawling Wasteland, only one thing was moving.
Crack, crack, crack.
A single spear, having burst through the Orc Lord’s head and pierced the ground, trembled violently.
And the Hunters present knew exactly who wielded that spear, which radiated such a mysteriously subtle light.
‘Jin Tae-kyung!’
As that name struck their minds like lightning, the spear embedded deep in the earth shot upward and was sucked into someone’s grasp.
Screeeech, snap.
As if by agreement. Those who slowly turned their heads finally understood.
“You lambs wandering outside the Gate’s boundary. Run like hell and get behind me.”
The shadow of death that had loomed so close had vanished without a trace.
* * *
Step. Step.
The middle-aged man’s stride was confident and unobstructed.
Even after entering the interior of the High-Rise Building from which the Blue House and National Assembly Building could be seen at a glance, it remained so.
“If you’re a Guild member, please present your access credentials first….”
“I haven’t seen your face before. Are you a Rookie?”
“Yes? Yes. That’s correct, but….”
“Well, seeing how you’re acting, you must be a Rookie. Seems the Team Leader didn’t brief you.”
The Security Team Hunter who’d been staring blankly at the middle-aged man swallowed hard.
“Gasp. My apologies. I failed to recognize you….”
“It’s fine. I’m busy, so just clear the way.”
“Yes, understood.”
The security checkpoint that everyone, outsider and insider alike, had to pass through couldn’t stop the middle-aged man either.
He glanced at the Security Team Hunter who hastily bowed and proceeded toward his destination.
A microscopically small communication device implanted behind the ear through a simple surgical procedure was already transmitting someone’s voice.
– They are waiting for you.
The Middle-aged Guard’s lips moved subtly.
“What’s the location?”
– Area A.
Though the High-Rise Building stretched across 150 floors, the name “Area A” appeared nowhere in the architectural blueprints or internal directory signs.
That space was reserved exclusively for an extremely select few among all the guild members.
Naturally, the Middle-aged Guard was one of them.
“Open the teleportation gate.”
– It’s ready to activate. By the way, the Security Team’s new recruit—oh, I apologize. Team Leader.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Even I, the person directly involved, haven’t grown accustomed to it yet.
As the Middle-aged Guard muttered the rest under his breath, someone on the other end of the communication device continued speaking.
– In any case, I’ll notify the Security Team Leader and have the relevant personnel subjected to disciplinary measures.
It was a notification, not a transmission or a suggestion. Though it had become routine at some point, the word still felt unfamiliar to the Middle-aged Guard, whose brow furrowed slightly.
“Why go that far…”
– Team Leader?
“…No. Handle that matter as you see fit.”
– Understood. I’ll take appropriate action.
“Appropriate action” meant at minimum a salary cut, or possibly a demotion.
Recalling the young man who had briefly blocked his path, the Middle-aged Guard felt an uncomfortable sensation settle in his chest, but there was nothing to be done about it.
It was the policy of the guild he belonged to—or rather, their own policy alone.
‘And ever since that incident…… it’s been growing worse.’
He had long been aware of the guild’s iron-fisted governance, but it had intensified dramatically following the recent unexpected crisis.
Perhaps it was the impatience of a new king who had not yet earned complete legitimacy from his subordinates.
The Middle-aged Guard exhaled softly and spoke as he walked.
“Report on the VIP’s current status.”
– They are in a foul mood.
“Is that so? I thought I heard something similar yesterday as well.”
– …It’s just that they read the morning papers today.
“No need to hear more. Send me everything the VIP is reading. Right now.”
The moment the Middle-aged Guard finished speaking, a security-enchanted smartphone vibrated as if on cue.
A light tap on the screen revealed headlines from roughly twenty morning newspapers that had passed through the printing press just two or three hours earlier, densely packed across the display.
[An Unprecedented Crisis…… What Do the Successive Mutated Gate Appearances Suggest?]
[An Ominous Sign. Is the Nightmare of Sichuan Province Spreading to Korea?]
[Blue House Emergency Announcement: “To Prevent Any Unforeseen Crises, We Have Concluded an Agreement with the Peace Guild. Results Thus Far Have Been Encouraging.”]
[The Third Mutated Gate. Yet Zero Casualties? Global Praise for the Peace Guild’s Emergency Rescue Team.]
[America’s Grand Mage Magic Johnson: “The Peace Guild is the beacon of a new era. Jin and Choi are virtuous and upright young men.”]
[Former U.S. President Joseph Biden: “South Korea is an undisputed hunter superpower, and it nurtures brilliant young people who will lead this era forward. Choi, whom I met this time, is one of them.”]
[Chinese State Chairman Xiao Yang: “Choi is an unsung hero. We remember him fighting against death in Sichuan.”]
[Japan’s Prime Minister Koizumi also mentioned it on SNS. “As far as I know, Choi is Korean. Therefore, he is not Japanese.” In response, domestic netizens reacted. “Thank goodness our side isn’t the idiot.”]
[The unprecedented attention brought by successive statements from major figures. “Who exactly is this Choi that they’re talking about?” According to reports, it was revealed to be Choi Min-woo, Team Leader of the Peace Guild…]
[S-Rank Hunter Jin Tae-kyung. This morning, attending a New Year “National Communication” press conference with the President!]
.
.
.
“…Sigh.”
The middle-aged guard rubbed his dry eyes after finishing the article. A fatigue he’d forgotten about seemed to wash over him.
“Damn it.”
– Have you finished reading, sir?
“Yes. I almost wish I hadn’t read it at all.”
– …I apologize for the interruption, but it seems we should hurry a bit.
“I was already planning to. We’re almost there.”
Thud.
With his response, the middle-aged guard stepped onto a magic circle emanating faint light.
After authenticating his fingerprint and channeling mana into it, the teleportation magic circle, recognizing its user, unleashed an intense flash.
Whoosh!
A sensation of his entire body lifting accompanied by brilliant light seized him.
And in the next moment, the middle-aged guard realized upon opening his eyes that the teleportation to Area A had succeeded.
An interior decorated with pure white marble and mana stones. A dozen men and women in tailored suits bowed deeply toward him.
“Welcome, Team Leader.”
Many people, yet a single voice.
The middle-aged guard glanced at his subordinates moving like machines before slowly stepping away from the magic circle.
“Where is the VIP?”
“Alone in the private office.”
“Without security personnel? I clearly told you to station at least three people in the corridor…”
Bang!
A faint boom echoing from somewhere cut his words short. The middle-aged guard, grasping the situation roughly, clicked his tongue softly.
“I’ll check on it myself. Everyone except one person, clear Area A.”
“Yes, sir.”
The moment the order fell, the middle-aged guard began walking down the vast corridor, leaving his subordinates moving with perfect coordination behind him.
Over fifty magical traps were installed in the corridor to guard against intruders, but the access card hanging around his neck concealed a device capable of safely passing through this minefield.
Zing.
[Security Team Leader Go Se-won]
As a red glow swept past, the mana churning from all directions subsided in an instant.
The middle-aged man, Go Se-won, who had crossed the endless corridor with familiarity, stopped before a firmly closed door.
Knock knock.
“It’s Go Se-won.”
From beyond the door came someone’s impatient voice.
“Come in.”
Go Se-won slowly grasped the door handle and pushed it open.
The office lay in absolute chaos, as though a bomb had detonated at its center. A single figure sat upon the sofa, regarding him with eyes that burned crimson.
“You’re later than usual.”
Go Se-won bowed in silence. Among the scattered debris, a nameplate gleamed.
[Ares Guild Sub-Guild Master Seok Go-jun]

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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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