Murim Login - Chapter 1

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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 1
“Garbage.”
Sung Jin-ho delivered his verdict with the solemnity of a judge. He was the administrator of the Gosiwon where I lived, a thirty-year-old test-taker this year.
We were three years apart and fairly close, and since he always prattled on about being well-versed in IT, I’d picked up this capsule to show him—but….
“Is it really that bad?”
“No. It’s garbage.”
Wow, not a shred of hesitation. For some reason, my pride stung.
“You didn’t even look at it properly.”
True enough—he hadn’t examined the interior at all. He’d merely glanced up and down before declaring it garbage outright. I, who had been contemplating a reasonable secondhand resale price, suffered a considerable emotional blow.
“Jin Tae-kyung. Jin Tae-kyung. Jin Tae-kyung. You’re laboring under a grave misunderstanding.”
“…?”
“Shit is shit, that’s all. There’s no need to dig through the shit just to confirm the bean sprouts you ate yesterday. It’s obviously shit at first glance.”
“Ah.”
“Shh. Don’t say another word. I didn’t say this to hear empty platitudes between us.”
“Hyung….”
I wanted to kill him. As my fist trembled with murderous impulse, Sung Jin-ho flinched. Unlike him, who had spent his entire life hunched over a desk, I possessed a rather imposing physique.
“Jin Tae-kyung. Let us recall the Awakened Special Law, Article 1, Section 12. What you’re about to do constitutes assault on a civilian by an Awakened….”
“I’m not even an Awakened—I’m just an F-rank Hunter like you said.”
“Me? When? Was I drunk?”
Seeing him panic like that, I could only sigh.
My fist lowered slowly.
“Right, good thinking. The field’s already cramped enough—if word got out that I assaulted a civilian, the Guild would fire me too….”
“I already got fired.”
“What?”
“The team lead told me as soon as I clocked in. Said I’d worked hard all this time.”
I’d started the job at twenty. With my Father gone, I had to support the family, so I chose to become a Hunter.
F-rank. The lowest tier of Hunter, without any particular talent, but I’d worked diligently—or so I believed. With the money I earned, I’d paid for my Mother’s medical treatment and supported my Younger Sister.
But now… it felt as though seven years had vanished entirely. The team lead’s blank expression as he’d informed me of my termination hours ago haunted my chest with a dull ache.
“Uh, yeah.”
Seeing Sung Jin-ho’s flustered state, I let out a bitter laugh.
“You feel sorry?”
“Honestly… kind of.”
This guy. Suddenly putting on a serious face like it suited him.
“Then buy me a drink. That’s what older brothers are for in times like this.”
“Listen to you. You treat me like an older brother and then say things like that.”
He said that but jerked his chin toward the door. From his expression, it looked like we’d be drinking heavily tonight.
* * *
A Gate is the boundary of the world. Outside the Gate—the modern era we know—is civilized society, but stepping inside reveals monsters beyond imagination teeming everywhere.
The most common among them are weak monsters that even an F-rank Hunter like me can hunt: Goblins.
So why am I explaining this now?
Heave. Heave.
‘How can a person be like this?’
Is that even human, or a monster? Sung Jin-ho leaning against the telephone pole and retching looked exactly like a goblin that had taken a solid punch to the gut.
“Hey. Sung Jin-ho. Get it together, will you?”
“Heave?”
…Just keep doing what you’re doing.
‘I told you to drink slowly.’
Ever since the first round, he’d been chugging like a madman, and now look at him. Never mind that I paid the bill—I ended up carrying this unconscious bastard all the way to the Gosiwon, and I’m soaked through.
Sweat is the baseline; vomit is optional. It’s painfully obvious whose mouth it came from.
I watched the sun dip below the horizon, using the occasional retching sounds as background music.
‘Laid off and everything, and now this. Damn it.’
The memories of today flickered past like a panorama.
What a day it’s been.
“Ugh. Uhhh. Where is this, driver? Huh?”
And you’re the crown jewel of it all.
“It’s home. We’re here now, so snap out of it.”
“Home? Our home is in Gangwon Province. Oh, Mother. Mother! I want the doenjang-jjigae Mother made.”
“Oh, please. It’s the Gosiwon, hyung.”
“Gosiwon? Hope Gosiwon?”
“Yeah. So come on, get your head straight.”
“Hope… Right, hope can’t be bought with money. It lives in everyone’s heart, that’s what my Mother always said. She made the doenjang-jjigae so well.”
I waited patiently, then drove my elbow into Sung Jin-ho’s stomach at the mention of doenjang-jjigae.
Even as he vomited, he mumbled Article 1, Section 12 of the Awakener Special Law, thereby proving he was indeed a civil service exam candidate.
* * *
“Damn, I still feel grimy.”
I’d rushed to the shower room in the Gosiwon and scrubbed for thirty minutes, yet the stench of vomit still seemed to linger at the tip of my nose.
When I returned to my room reeking of soap, two pieces of junk were waiting for me.
“Heave….”
One was Sung Jin-ho, now unconscious. The other was.
“Oh, I forgot about this.”
A capsule. I’d left this refrigerator-sized thing in a room barely three pyeong, and now the space felt cramped. I climbed onto the bed and started wondering what to do with it.
‘Should I just throw it back out?’
Or I could sell it to a scrap dealer. What’s scrap metal going for these days? It’s gotta weigh at least fifty kilograms, so I’d get enough for some snacks.
‘I thought this was supposed to be something useful.’
What a piece of garbage. Is it really that worthless?
Come to think of it, I’d never even opened the interior. Suddenly curious, I started examining the capsule.
“The exterior, at least… is pretty rough.”
The capsule surface was yellowed with what looked like nicotine or something. There seemed to be rust in spots too. Once I let go of my expectations and looked closer, I understood what Sung Jin-ho meant.
“So this is how you open it?”
I pressed the button jutting out awkwardly, the lid popped open, and the interior was revealed. I’d expected something impressive, but of course there was nothing special.
An ergonomically designed chair for extended play sessions and a VR helmet that enveloped the entire head—that was all… wait?
“What is this? An instruction manual?”
To be precise, it was a small booklet labeled “Product User Manual.”
Did people really include instruction manuals with discarded items? Especially with something this decrepit?
Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened to the first page.
[Product User Manual]
Product Name: Virtual Reality Access Device
Model: Ark – 2020
Manufacturer: H Software
Manufacturing Date: January 1, 2020
My eyes, which had been skimming the text mindlessly, froze on the manufacturing date.
January 1, 2020. It must be a printing error. Whatever.
‘What lunatic would be manufacturing gaming devices on that day, let alone during that period?’
That period referred to the “Great Cataclysm”—January 1, 2015. Humanity’s New Year’s dawn brought more than just the sunrise.
Gates, or what people called dungeons, manifested across the globe, and monsters never before seen or heard of poured through them.
Monsters and Awakened ones, war and destruction….
The unreal invaded reality, and the greatest war in Earth’s history ended with the death of the monsters’ sovereign, the Demon King Asmodeus.
That day was January 1, 2020. The so-called “Day of Victory.”
‘Which is why this makes no sense whatsoever.’
Tsk, tsk. I clicked my tongue and turned the page.
[Warnings]
– Players cannot log out at will.
– Upon death during play, resurrection is impossible.
Ah, I see. I nodded and stretched out on the narrow mattress. There were still a few pages left, but I didn’t care.
“I should just sleep.”
Better to get some rest than to sit here reading a psychotic instruction manual. I pushed Sung Jin-ho to the corner and closed my eyes.
Whirrrr. Whirrrr.
“….”
Whirrrr. Whirrrr.
“….”
Does this capsule have soundproofing?
* * *
The chair was hard. Since it was made in 2020, it was the same age as me. A chair, twenty-seven years old. The cushion had been flat for ages.
I took comfort in the fact that it didn’t smell and pulled the blanket up to my neck.
Whirrrr. Whirrrr.
…I even put on the VR helmet.
‘Sleeping in this thing will give me neck pain.’
My petty complaints vanished the moment I put on the helmet. Complete silence. A quiet so profound that not a single sound penetrated it.
But what followed was not drowsiness—it was thought.
‘What am I going to do starting tomorrow?’
Hunters certainly earn high salaries, but it all depends on rank.
Unremarkable F-rank Hunters like me are a dime a dozen, and without Guild affiliation, I have to stamp my name at the labor office before dawn every single day.
Unaffiliated Hunters have it rough. Government policy shows no mercy to independent Hunters, and the astronomical tax rates imposed on us are suffocating just to hear about.
‘So this is what it’s come to for me.’
Unlike me, my Mother and Younger Sister live in an apartment within the Safety Sector. It’s an extravagance far beyond what an F-rank Hunter’s income should afford, but for me, my family’s safety has always come first.
Until now, I’ve barely managed to scrape together enough each year to renew the lease contract, but from here on out… who knows.
‘Damn it, I have no idea.’
Suddenly, my late Father came to mind.
My Father, who devoted himself to his family and earned social respect, passed away the year I turned seven.
A monster attack caused by a Gate rupture. As an ordinary office worker, there was no way he could have escaped.
If Father were still by my side, could he have shown me the path I should take?
‘Still, I’ve lived diligently all this time. Please believe in me.’
Whether it was the alcohol from earlier coursing through my veins or the weight of old memories, my body grew heavy and my eyes began to close without my realizing it.
Surrendering to the overwhelming drowsiness, I thought to myself.
‘When I open my eyes, I hope things will be better.’
Someone’s voice pierced through my ears, but it no longer mattered. I slipped into sleep.
– Player detected. …Unregistered player. Would you like to register?
– Proceeding automatically due to prolonged lack of response.
– 1%… 27%… 94%… Complete.
– Player [Jin Tae-kyung] has been registered to the device.
– Moving to selection screen. Would you like to access [Murim]?
– Proceeding automatically due to prolonged lack of response.
– …Good fortune to you!

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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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