Murim Login - Chapter 597

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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 597
The path I had walked thus far was layered thick with countless deaths and screams.
But I could say with certainty that I had never felt such a quiet, suffocating sorrow as I did now.
Tap. Patter-patter.
Beyond the silence, fierce rain drummed against the windowpane.
All that needed to be said had ended long ago, yet only silence hung heavy in the room where we two remained alone.
Choi Team Leader, who had been gazing endlessly out the window with his head turned away, suddenly opened his mouth.
“I was seven years old. That’s when Kim Butler came to me.”
Childhood memories already faded and indistinct. More than twenty years had passed since then.
The young child who had suddenly lost his parents had become a man, and frost had settled upon the butler’s hair.
“Now even my parents’ voices have grown hazy, yet every memory with that person remains crystal clear.”
When his parents died and even his only grandfather vanished from sight, Kim Butler had always been at his side.
“One day, I suddenly realized. The magnitude and weight of the devotion I had received was immeasurable. But then….”
As his words trailed off, Choi Team Leader turned his head.
Perhaps from having gazed out at the rain for so long, his eyes as they looked at me were already drenched with tears.
“Now I can never repay it. Not ever, for all eternity.”
Tap. Patter.
It was the first time I had seen him like this since I’d known him.
With a voice heavy and sunken, tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto the pristine white bedding.
No—that was just the sound of the rain drumming against the window. At least, I chose to believe it was so.
“Jin Tae-kyung.”
I nodded instead of answering.
Choi Team Leader had spent more time with Kim Butler than anyone. The sorrow I had felt earlier was nothing compared to what he must be carrying now.
‘Because family has died.’
To Choi Team Leader, Kim Hwa-jong was not merely a butler—he was family. The sole pillar of support who had remained at the side of a child left alone.
So he had every right to resent me for not saving him, to grab me by the collar and curse me out.
It was acceptable now. It was better to pour out what overflowed than to silently suppress what rose within.
I did not want to see Choi Team Leader floundering in emotions that had risen to his throat.
And in the next moment, his words pierced through me.
“Thank you.”
“…!”
“For watching over his final moments, for doing what I could not… I thank you from the depths of my heart.”
Suddenly, words failed me. I wanted to say something, but something rising from within my chest felt like it had locked my throat shut.
I gazed at Choi Team Leader in silence for a long while before finally drawing out my voice.
“Choi Team Leader.”
Before I could continue, he shook his head slightly.
“I am fine. Truly.”
It was an obvious lie, a lie I could see through yet had no choice but to accept.
Choi Team Leader offered me a faint smile as I clamped my lips shut before they could tremble.
“I’m embarrassed to have shown you such a sight. Would it be alright if I had some time alone for a moment?”
What more could I possibly say to him now? I am neither capable nor qualified to offer such words.
Choi Team Leader still needed time.
Time to accept the death of someone as precious as blood kin. And time to gather the courage to face his corpse.
“Then please rest well. We have personnel standing by, so feel free to call if you need anything.”
I answered with forced brightness, rose from my seat, and headed toward the door.
And the moment my hand touched the doorknob, the final words I wanted to say to him came to mind.
“Choi Team Leader.”
“Yes?”
“It’s alright to waver sometimes. Even if you cry aloud, no one will hear it. Except for that person.”
“…!”
“I’ll take my leave now.”
Since I had already turned away, I couldn’t know what emotion he felt upon hearing my words, or what expression crossed his face.
But perhaps that was a mercy.
Click.
The moment I stepped out and closed the door behind me, a faint sob drifted through the gap.
It was the quietest, most sorrowful weeping I had ever heard—the sound of a man who had never wavered in any circumstance finally breaking.
“Tae-kyung, how is Choi Team Leader doing…?”
That man’s weeping was not something only I could hear.
Lim Hyuk-jun, who had been waiting with a worried expression as I emerged from the room, suddenly fell silent.
The two others standing with him in the corridor did the same.
“Ah. I’m exhausted. I should grab a coffee.”
Song Song-i stretched languidly and disappeared down the corridor at a brisk pace, while the Skeleton King, whose eyes met mine, scratched his chin and spoke.
“This one also, what was it. I should go get some coffee too. Haven’t been sleeping well lately, feels like I might collapse….”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah. Me too.”
As for Lim Hyuk-jun, well. An undead monster claiming drowsiness as an excuse for coffee—such an absurd pretext drew a quiet laugh from me as I patted his shoulder.
“Get me a cup too.”
“Damn human. Do you have no hands, no feet?”
“But I have a spear.”
The Skeleton King, who had fallen silent for a moment at my response, spoke with intensity in his gaze.
“…Black?”
“Mix.”
“A man who doesn’t even know coffee taste. I’ll make it just this once specially. Just this once.”
When the grumbling creature departed down the corridor, followed even by Lim Hyuk-jun, the sound of footsteps echoed from afar.
Tap. Tap.
Three men in black suits came into view.
From their measured breathing and restrained gait, I could sense they were exceptionally trained masters—no, A-rank Hunters.
Yet the mere fact that they had set foot in this mansion meant they were no ordinary Hunters, belonging instead to an organization entirely different in nature from any Guild.
“It is an honor to meet you, Hunter Jin Tae-kyung.”
Rather than answer, I gazed at them—or more precisely, at the necktie pins they wore.
On the badge of mingled black and gold was engraved a hibiscus alongside tiny script in intaglio.
[Presidential Security Service]
It was clear whose orders they were following.
I nodded slightly and opened my mouth.
“President Baek Han-sung is looking for me, I take it?”
The lead security officer responded in a clipped, military-like tone.
“No, sir. The President departed thirty minutes ago. He asked that you understand his need to leave without notice due to pressing state affairs.”
With the time spent in the room stretching on, it seemed he had already left. I harbored no regrets—I understood his situation well enough.
“No need for understanding. It’s fine. I’m sure I’ve made his schedule ten times busier anyway.”
“….”
“…Twenty times?”
“Ahem.”
“Cough.”
Watching the security officers do nothing but clear their throats, I could tell with certainty just how swamped he had become.
Though I hadn’t checked the outside situation yet, the events from two days ago must have turned not just the nation, but the entire world upside down.
‘More than enough reason to be.’
The monster waves that erupted consecutively in a single day were an unprecedented catastrophe in themselves, but the revelation that it was artificially orchestrated and that the Ares Guild’s Sub-Guild Master was the mastermind behind it all carried destructive force exceeding a nuclear bomb.
I couldn’t easily fathom just how massive and far-reaching the aftermath of this incident would be, even with my limited understanding of the situation.
“But was it just to relay that message that you remained here all this time?”
“Well, not entirely.”
“Then….”
As my words trailed off, all three bowed respectfully.
“By the President’s orders, we have been assigned to provide temporary security for Hunter Jin Tae-kyung and your family members. Though it’s publicly known as a surveillance detail, we hope you’ll view it favorably.”
“Surveillance detail?”
“Only until this situation stabilizes. It’s been merely two days, and under current circumstances, Hunter Jin Tae-kyung is technically under investigation without detention.”
Investigation without detention. Like the surveillance detail, it wasn’t a pleasant-sounding designation.
Since childhood, whenever high-ranking politicians or corporate chairmen caused trouble, they trotted out that very title, so I was familiar with it.
‘At least investigation without detention is something to be grateful for.’
Investigation without detention guaranteed bodily freedom to the suspect or defendant, but it meant the judicial authorities had officially received and processed the case.
“What are the charges?”
“Other aspects are within the range of mitigating circumstances, but… currently, the charges related to assault are the most significant.”
The senior-ranking security officer added his words, his eyes reflecting a mixture of respect and fear.
“As you’re already aware, Hunter Jin Tae-kyung directly inflicted injuries resulting in over five hundred casualties, both major and minor.”
“I see.”
“Of course, there’s no need for excessive concern. Given the current domestic and international sentiment and the circumstances at the time of the incident, self-defense is highly likely to be established.”
While I had anticipated some level of punishment, my situation proved far more favorable than expected.
With the truth revealed, an atmosphere acknowledging the legitimacy of my actions had formed both domestically and internationally, and Seok Go-jun, who had died, now stood as a universally recognized villain—that was the gist of it.
‘I thought I’d be heading straight to a cell.’
Just before heading to Ares Guild Headquarters, the situation was so positive it made my declaration of withdrawal from the Peace Guild seem unnecessary.
Of course, given that Kim Hwa-jong’s death lay at the beginning of all this, it could never truly be called positive.
And….
‘The situation calmed down so quickly, no doubt thanks to that solid testimony.’
A conversation I’d had with President Baek Han-sung about an hour ago suddenly came to mind.
The face of the middle-aged guard in the photograph, composed even before countless cameras and microphones.
‘Go Se-won.’
According to what President Baek Han-sung had told me, Go Se-won, currently detained at the Special Detention Center, wished to meet with me. He’d said he had a debt to repay.
‘A debt to repay. What could it possibly be?’
Though our meeting had been brief, the impression Go Se-won had left on me was not that of someone who would make such a request merely to exchange pleasantries.
Even if my intuition was wrong, I should meet with him and hear what he had to say at least once.
After all, he had abandoned everything he possessed and revealed the truth.
The countless crimes Go Se-won had committed while rising to the position of Security Team Leader were an unforgivable transgression, but it was equally undeniable that I owed him a debt.
As I stood in momentary contemplation before the guards, Skeleton King appeared at the end of the corridor, shuffling forward with unsteady steps.
“Brought you coffee. Drink it.”
Staring at the instant coffee with steam rising from it, I finally ended my brief deliberation and opened my mouth.
“I’ll pass.”
“…This damn bastard, I’ve never seen the like.”
Leaving the growling creature behind, I turned to the guards and spoke.
“Let’s go. Please show me the way.”
“Yes?”
“Go Se-won. I heard he’s currently detained at the Special Detention Center.”
The guards, who had been momentarily bewildered, nodded in understanding.

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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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