Murim Login - Chapter 571

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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 571
Busan.
Before the Great Upheaval and after, it was a metropolis boasting a population ranking among the top three in the nation.
Long ago, a handsome and intelligent elementary school student who had come on a family trip to Busan practically lived pressed against the window every night.
“Tae-kyung, what are you staring at so intently?”
“The bridge! It’s sparkling! It’s so pretty!”
“Wow, really? Are you a fitting model or something?”
“…That’s not the kind of bridge, Dad.”
“Oh.”
“That bridge over there! The long, sparkling one!”
“Ah, the Gwangandaegyo Bridge?”
“The Gwangandaegyo Bridge? What’s that?”
“That’s the name of the bridge. You saw it earlier too, but it’s definitely prettier at night, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, yeah! I want to go see it! Take me to the Gwangandaegyo Bridge right now!”
Father gazed at his petulant young son with eyes that radiated boundless affection.
“Good grief, my boy. Your old man has been driving all day and is exhausted, but look at you—only thinking of yourself. Who could you possibly take after?”
“Can I ask Mom what a fitting model is?”
“…You’re definitely my son. Go grab your bag.”
It was one of those unforgettable moments in life. Holding my melancholy father’s hand as we made our way to the Gwangandaegyo Bridge, that memory etched itself indelibly into my young mind.
It was impossibly grand and glittering, and beside me stood my father—a man I rarely spent time with due to his constant busyness.
I even blackmailed my father, who complained of cervical disc problems, into giving me a piggyback ride, and in that moment, I wanted for nothing in the world.
“Dad, let’s come back next week, and the week after that too! And next month! Give me a piggyback ride then too!”
“Ha ha. What should I do? If things go as you say, I don’t think I’ll be able to come next month.”
“Why?”
“Because by the week after next, your old man’s neck will be broken. How many bowls of rice are you eating a day these days, Tae-kyung?”
“Lately I haven’t had much appetite, so just five bowls!”
“…You’re impressive, my boy. No wonder the night sky looks yellow to me.”
It was a happy memory. That day we shared many conversations, and in my excitement, I boasted endlessly to my younger sister Ha-yeon and my mother who had remained at the hotel.
Watching me, Father rubbed his neck with a soft chuckle and made a promise.
“When Ha-yeon gets a bit older, when you become a middle schooler, Tae-kyung, let’s come back to see the sea then. Understood?”
“Really?”
“Of course. Here, a promise.”
The promise was never kept.
As my two siblings grew, expenses mounted, and when my mother, who had been overworking with a side job, fell ill, Father naturally became busier.
On an ordinary day, he departed this world in an extraordinary accident.
Yet I remembered that promise from back then.
Though Father was no longer by my side, the image of the Gwangandaegyo Bridge I had seen in childhood remained vividly imprinted in my mind even now, twenty years later.
And now.
Crumble, crumble, crumble.
Before my eyes, the Gwangandaegyo Bridge was collapsing.
“Ah.”
An involuntary sigh escaped my lips.
My mind screamed at me to rush toward that place with every ounce of strength I possessed, yet my body remained frozen, as though gripped by invisible hands.
‘It’s already… too late.’
The thought wasn’t mine alone.
Skeleton King, who had arrived with me, and the Mage who had transported us here—both watched the catastrophe unfolding kilometers away with exhausted eyes.
“No, this can’t be!”
The nameless Mage’s cry was hollow, and the sight sprawling before us was overwhelming.
‘That is…’
A wave.
What crashed upon the place where a promise could no longer be kept—where thousands upon thousands of vehicles crossed daily—was a colossal wave towering dozens of meters high.
Roooaaarrr!
The wave, laden with tremendous weight and force, struck the middle section of the Gwangandaegyo Bridge, which stretched 35 meters in height and 7,420 meters in length.
Amid the spray and white foam scattering in all directions, human screams were buried, and hundreds of vehicles moving leisurely at regulated speeds were flung about like toys.
Craaaaaash!
With a deafening roar, the main towers and anchors of the suspension bridge called Gwangandaegyo shattered.
Hundreds of cables supporting the bridge snapped simultaneously, becoming massive whips that lashed out in all directions.
Whiiiiing, crash!
It was truly a fleeting moment.
People and automobiles, appearing as small as ants, were swept away by the cables and vanished.
In the place where they had stood, unable even to leave a final cry, blood pooled red, followed by successive explosions and the screams of those miraculously spared.
And the frenzied blaring of car horns pierced through my heightened senses.
Honk! Honoooonk!
– Back up! Back up now! You bastard!
– Kyaaaaaaah!
– Please! Get the child out! There’s a child here…!
It felt as though I were dreaming, my mind hazy and distant.
The advanced civilization built upon magic and science crumbled like a sandcastle.
The Gwangandaegyo Bridge, where childhood memories lingered, collapsed under the weight of destruction and death, and those who survived abandoned their vehicles and ran like madmen.
Desperately calling out for someone’s help.
– Save us, please save us!
– Mom!
And their screams awakened me, who had been frozen like a statue.
“Ah.”
I had to save them. I had to stop this catastrophe.
The frozen moment lasted only tens of seconds, yet hundreds had already perished, and if I hesitated any longer, thousands—tens of thousands—would die.
Slap!
I struck both my cheeks hard, and sharp pain jolted my mind back to clarity.
Spitting out the blood flowing from my split lips, I seized Skeleton King’s collar without hesitation.
Grab!
“Wh-what?”
“We’re going. Get your head straight.”
“W-wait. Where are you—!”
Before Skeleton King could finish his question, I completed my running start and hurled him out the window with every ounce of strength I possessed.
No—I launched him.
Crash! Whoooosh!
As the reinforced glass shattered, Skeleton King’s body shot forth like a cannonball.
Hearing his screams swallowed by the wind, I kicked off the ground with all my might.
I didn’t forget to leave one final instruction for the exhausted Mage.
“Use my name and call for rescue immediately. Anywhere, right now!”
Whether the utterly drained figure heard me properly or knew where to send the distress call, I couldn’t say.
Right now, nothing mattered more than the situation unfolding before me.
Boom!
With the full force of my leap, the high-rise building housing the teleportation magic circle trembled violently.
As I shot through the vast sky, someone’s furious cry reached me.
“You insane bastard!”
Skeleton King. Using his own power, he’d fashioned wings of bone and was approaching at tremendous speed with rapid wingbeats.
Or rather, he would have, if I hadn’t intercepted him first.
“Different location.”
“What?”
“The area’s too wide. We split up and cover both.”
A Monster Wave. And it was happening in Busan, a city with extremely high population density.
Unlike the desert or sparsely populated military zones I’d seen in the footage through Magic Johnson, Busan had thousands upon thousands of people crammed within just a few kilometers radius.
I had to prevent the disaster from spreading by any means necessary.
“I’ll handle the bridge first. You—”
“Damn it, understood.”
My words were clipped due to time constraints, but Skeleton King grasped the meaning well enough.
His gaze, after swallowing hard, turned toward the distant ground below.
His eyes, which had been sweeping across the roads consumed by screams and chaos and the people fleeing for their lives, suddenly trembled.
“What the hell is that?”
“What else would it be?”
I answered tersely, retrieving a spare spear from my inventory and aiming it toward the ground level.
Through my maximized vision, its form was as grotesque as any monster—the scales covering its entire body and the fins extending down to its jaw were repulsive.
‘A Merman.’
An aquatic monster inhabiting environments like the sea.
The male humanoid creature bore no resemblance to the beautiful, gentle depictions found in fairy tales.
One glance at the hundreds of Mermen surging up from the sea and overwhelming people in this very moment made that abundantly clear.
– Hisssss!
– Kraaagh!
Emitting incomprehensible shrieks, they charged forward, their clawed hands wielding tridents encrusted with barnacles that gleamed menacingly.
At the end of that bridge, a Young Girl sat crouched, weeping.
“Waaaaahhh! Mommy!”
“Min-hee!”
The child’s cries. Her parents’ screams as they spun around.
And hundreds of monsters rushing toward their first prey.
‘Now.’
I shifted my center of gravity.
My body, tilted at an angle and cutting through the wind, suddenly plunged downward, and the vital energy flowing through my core erupted from my feet.
Boom!
A rapid descent that began by treading through empty space itself.
But no matter how fast I moved, at this rate the child would lose her life before I could reach her.
‘Go.’
Drawing a sharp breath, I released the spear I’d been aiming at the ground below.
Whoooosh!
A single spear descended from a dizzying height like lightning, piercing downward.
Cutting through wind, erasing space, carrying within it the two characters of ‘certain death’….
It penetrated its target.
Splurch! Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The Merman leading the charge toward the child, along with a dozen monsters surrounding him, became nothing but pools of blood.
Simultaneously, hundreds of merfolk froze in place, their mouths agape as they stared skyward.
In their eyes—a mixture of ferocity and bewilderment—I muttered.
“What are you looking at, you bastards.”
Inventory open. Summon.
The moment two spears materialized in my hands, my arms were already swinging toward the ground.
Boom! Crack!
Scales harder than steel shattered, and fins tore apart.
One Merman, fortunate enough to lose only half its body, released a mournful death cry.
– Croak, croooooak!
Shut up.
‘Inventory open. Summon.’
Whoosh! Boom!
Midday, when the sun hung high in the sky. Fireworks exploded out of season.
Sticky blood trickled down the railing of the tilted Gwangandaegyo Bridge.
‘More. More. One more time.’
Open. Summon. And summon. Again summon.
It was truly a fleeting moment. The system operated instantaneously, and my movements were faster than wind and more devastating than lightning.
My hands, extending with my thoughts, grasped dozens of spears in mere seconds and scattered them toward the ground below.
‘Die.’
Whoooosh, boom-boom-boom!
They split. They burst.
Those who had tried to block with their tridents fell alongside their weapons, while those who had desperately attempted to flee never even managed to take a step—they all perished in that instant.
When the child sitting three meters away began to hiccup through their tears, nothing remained in the vicinity.
“Hic… sniff.”
Perhaps nine years old. Muffled hiccups mixed with sobs escaped from the small mouth covered by tiny hands.
How did my form appear reflected in those wide, glistening eyes?
A monster that slayed monsters? Or perhaps an angel descended from the heavens?
I couldn’t say. But one thing was certain.
‘You… unlike me, will carry no fond memories of this place.’
A bitter taste coated my mouth. Landing softly upon the ground, rather than console the child, I flicked my fingers.
Whoosh.
Void absorption. The gently extending force pushed the child away.
Toward the parents rushing toward their child in the distance, their cries piercing the air.
Yet this family’s misfortune had not yet concluded.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble.
The sea, darkened despite the sun hanging in the sky.
Gazing at ‘that thing’ concealed within the dozens of meters of waves rising once more, I extended the blade of my White Flame Spear.

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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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