Murim Login - Chapter 738
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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 738
The word “new year” carries a peculiar enchantment.
The thrill of beginning another year. The vague expectation that everything will improve from last year.
Yet on a day in January, before the first page of the new calendar could even be turned, the excitement and hope people had harbored crumbled in an instant.
– This is an emergency broadcast. Following the news from Paris delivered just an hour ago, a second Monster Wave has erupted in London, Britain. The city center of London is currently engulfed in extreme chaos, and King Philip II of Britain….
– Another emergency broadcast! A Monster Wave has struck Mumbai, India once again! This marks the third Monster Wave in a single day—an unprecedented occurrence since the Great Cataclysm….
– Good heavens. Are you all witnessing this? The symbol of Rio de Janeiro, the Christ the Redeemer statue, is collapsing!
It was the beginning of catastrophe.
First, Luxembourg Park in France was drenched in blood, the historic London Bridge crumbled, and Brazil’s colossal statue of Jesus, weighing over 600 tons, toppled and crushed buildings and people beneath it.
Boom!
The ground trembled with a deafening roar.
What awaited those barely managing to keep their footing was the cry of something echoing beyond the flames that erupted with the explosions.
– Grrrrr….
Monster Wave.
True to the name that had become synonymous with calamity, the horde of monsters that tore through space became a wave, sweeping across all directions.
– Shrieeeek!
“M-Monsters!”
“Run!”
“Kyaaaah!”
The Building District, erected with brilliant civilization, was consumed by screams.
Some fled, others were seized by monsters and torn to shreds, while still others wielded gleaming weapons to face off against creatures not of this world.
“Formation! Hold your ground!”
“Ranged units, fire!”
Boom. Crash!
Humans and monsters. Monsters and humans.
Two races incompatible from the start rushed toward each other, and the flames that began in Paris spread to every corner of the world.
[Red Square in Moscow, drenched in blood by monsters]
[Calamity strikes China once more, the Forbidden City engulfed in flames]
[Five Monster Waves in a single day. Pope Urban VIII, upon hearing the news: “Oh, my God.”]
[The sixth Monster Wave erupts in New York. Wall Street gripped in shock.]
[Tokyo Tower occupied by flying monsters. Secondary damage brought by the crashed Self-Defense Force aircraft.]
[Odin Guild Master Michael Silbert, who swiftly suppressed the first Monster Wave, releases CCTV footage obtained in Paris: “This is no mere catastrophe—it is certainly a deliberate act of terrorism.”]
Major cities with populations of at least several million, if not over ten million, were plunged into chaos.
People watching the relentless stream of shocking news on televisions and smartphones were left speechless.
Catastrophe.
The only word capable of describing everything unfolding now.
And simultaneously, fear spreading like a plague numbed people’s reason.
“Hello? Did you see the news? I’m coming to pick up the kids from school right now….”
“No, what are you doing right now?”
“Can’t you see? We’re packing our things.”
“What are you talking about? I still have hours before I can leave work.”
“Damn it, is that really what matters right now? I need to get to my family first.”
“Hey, hey! Manager Kim!”
A Monster Wave was like a natural disaster no one could predict, and people abandoned their tasks, moving about as if their souls had fled their bodies.
Toward their homes where families waited. Or toward emergency shelters with even the slightest chance of survival.
Most businesses and roads ground to a halt, as if to prove the emptiness of the Office, and people crowded into the subway, unable to release their smartphones from their hands.
What pressed down upon them now was an invisible, overwhelming terror and anxiety.
The fear that a Monster Wave might erupt here at any moment. The dread that they or their loved ones might lose their lives because of it.
Weeeeee.
– Temporary emergency status declared. Temporary emergency status declared. Residents in nearby areas are advised to proceed to emergency shelters in preparation for contingencies…
Emergency declarations issued simultaneously across nations worldwide.
Alarm sirens wailed ceaselessly through the streets, and armies armed with heavy weapons alongside hastily mobilized Hunters waited with tense faces for government orders.
Until the sun or moon overhead vanished according to each nation’s time zone.
Until a new government announcement came after the long wait.
– The temporary emergency status is hereby lifted.
It had been twenty-four hours since the first Monster Wave erupted in Paris, France, and the calamity that had seemed destined to continue until the world’s end finally ceased in Cairo, Egypt.
Leaving behind an unprecedented and horrific record: ten Monster Waves in a single day.
And the hero who had successfully stopped five of those Monster Waves stepped before countless cameras.
“Going forward, the Odin Guild will remain your sword and shield, fulfilling our duty.”
Michael Silbert.
People wept alongside him as he shed hot tears in honor of the fallen.
Everyone cheered for the hero who had saved countless lives and the Odin Guild.
Well, not quite everyone.
* * *
Crash!
With a deafening roar, a dozen hologram TVs shattered like dust.
I stared at the empty space where a single face had been displayed moments before, and suddenly opened my mouth.
“Should I apologize?”
Choi Team Leader, seated on the nearby sofa, shook his head.
“It’s fine. If Jin Tae-kyung hadn’t stepped in, I would have smashed them myself.”
That was no exaggeration or empty talk.
I gazed at Choi Team Leader’s clenched fists. Blood droplets fell steadily from his knuckles, now pale white.
Along with the monster’s green blood he hadn’t managed to wipe away.
Drip. Plink.
The pristine white wool carpet was becoming stained with red and green, yet no one in the room paid it any mind.
Everything surrounding us simply felt cold and hollow.
‘We were played. Completely.’
Ten times.
Out of ten Monster Waves, we failed to stop even a single one. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say we couldn’t have stopped them.
‘Because it was planned from the beginning.’
It was impossible to stop a Monster Wave occurring in a major city thousands, or even tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Even if I had been alongside Magic Johnson, the situation would not have changed.
The Monster Wave that erupted today was a planned act of terrorism from beginning to end—a bomb detonated without regard for time or place.
And what awaited us upon our belated arrival was yet another expanse of ruins and corpses.
If there was one difference compared to the Monster Wave in Paris, it lay in the locations where subsequent waves had manifested.
‘What they were targeting was not an overseas branch of the Ares Guild.’
The terrorists who had joined hands with Michael Silbert had struck at diverse locations—crowded tourist attractions, headquarters of major corporations whose names were household words.
Yet among all their targets, the ones most frequently hit were none other than the branches of massive Guilds like Ares.
“What on earth is the reason?”
As I blurted out the question, Choi Team Leader lifted his head, and I added a single word.
“Targets.”
That explanation sufficed. Choi Team Leader, who had been staring into empty space with vacant eyes, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Isolation.”
“Isolation?”
“Yes. Isolating the Ares Guild. That must be Michael Silbert’s true objective.”
“But why, like the Paris branch…”
I trailed off mid-sentence.
Thoughts tangled like threads of yarn raced through my mind. Somewhere within that labyrinth lay an answer I had failed to see.
‘The Middle Eastern Terrorist Organization.’
The mission of those who had joined hands with Michael Silbert was not yet complete.
The final blow to conclude this terrible day—a blade of icy blue aimed at isolating the Ares Guild from the entire world—was being raised against us.
Perhaps even at this very moment.
* * *
Thud. Thud.
The sound of footsteps echoing through the darkness resonated with unusual clarity.
Whether this was due to the dozens upon dozens of people or the dim, cavernous space they traversed remained uncertain, but one thing was undeniable.
This was a place no one knew of, a location no one could ever find.
Thud.
The footsteps that seemed to advance endlessly came to a simultaneous halt.
Something rippled within the pitch-black darkness.
“Inshallah.”
At the whispered word that seemed to brush against their ears, dozens of people fell to their knees and prostrated themselves.
And at the same moment, they opened their mouths in response.
“Inshallah.”
By God’s will.
It was an incantation that bound them as one, a prayer that reaffirmed the greatness of the Divine, and the silhouette that had rippled beyond the darkness finally revealed itself.
Swish.
A long robe swept across the ground. The people bowed their heads even deeper, murmuring in unison.
“We, humble servants of Allah, are honored to behold the great Prophet.”
The Prophet.
That three-letter name—referring to an entity so formidable that none dared meet its gaze directly—occupied a realm of absolute sanctity within their hearts.
“Lift your heads.”
At the enigmatic voice—one that transcended gender and age—the assembled figures trembled violently.
Yet they pressed their faces deeper into the earth as they answered.
“How could such wretched servants dare to face the great Prophet?”
“We beseech you to withdraw your command.”
A gust swept through.
From somewhere unseen, a ribbon of wind enveloped them completely.
Carried within that wind came The Prophet’s voice, reaching their ears.
“What has become of them?”
No one present needed to wonder whom The Prophet meant by “them.”
The Old Master, prostrate at the forefront of their ranks, opened his mouth.
“They have completed their appointed tasks and returned to the Divine’s embrace.”
The Prophet nodded gently.
“Inshallah. It could be no other way.”
“Inshallah.”
Ten warriors scattered across the five continents and seven seas beyond the Desert.
They had fulfilled their duties as Divine warriors and returned to the Divine’s embrace.
And now came the time to collect the price of blood. The Prophet spoke in that mysterious voice.
“Let all the world know. From whence all this calamity has arisen.”
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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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