Murim Login - Chapter 135

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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 135
Slash!
“P-please help me!”
“There’s no one here to help you.”
Slash, slash!
“S-save me!”
“No, I won’t. Get out of here.”
Slash, slash, slash!
“J-just kill me instead….”
“No, you’re fine. Words are still coming out of your mouth, aren’t they?”
Slash, slash, slash, slash!
“Ugh, ugghhh.”
“Yes, that’s the reaction I wanted.”
Only then did I finally stop.
The young master’s face, which had been passable until now, was swollen like a steamed bun, and instead of the rosy flush on both cheeks, dark purple bruises were etched across them.
“Our Jin Tae. Did you do wrong or not?”
“Ugghhh.”
Watching the wreck of a boy whimpering, I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Yes, he was someone else’s precious son too….
“You did wrong, didn’t you?”
“Ugh, ugghhh!”
“So why did you ignore what I said? If you’d just apologized right away when I told you to, wouldn’t that have been great? Wouldn’t it?”
“Uhhh.”
“Let’s live righteously from now on. Do you understand?”
“Ugh.”
I watched Woo Jin-tae nodding vigorously, then opened my mouth.
“But you….”
“Uhh?”
“Why have your answers been like that this whole time? Can’t you speak properly?”
In that instant, his whimpering stopped abruptly.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“You can do it? You could do it but chose not to? Why were you crying? Like I’m in such pain and suffering. You’re trying to show that off?”
“No, sir!”
“Now your voice is getting louder too? You’ve got good vocal projection. Have you been practicing diaphragmatic breathing? Are you trying to burst my eardrums and escape this predicament?”
“No, sir. Really, no, sir. Please, please stop now, sob….”
“Huh? You’re crying again? Why are you crying when you haven’t done anything right? Does crying end your life? And you’re asking me to stop? If someone saw this, they’d think I’m the perpetrator.”
“I apologize. I won’t cry anymore.”
“Wow, look at how quickly the crying stops. You’re creepy, you know that? If I were you, I would’ve cried myself to exhaustion from guilt over touching an innocent person and then fainted. Are you really sorry?”
“J-just a moment. If you’d just listen to my side of the story….”
“Listen to what? Do you even have the right to speak? Is this some kind of awards ceremony? Am I supposed to sit quietly while you talk and then smile warmly and applaud?”
“….”
“Now you won’t even answer. You must be so full you don’t need to eat, right? If you keep chewing up other people’s words like that, you’ll feel so good….”
The moment I was about to continue speaking, Woo Jin-tae slammed the back of his own head into the floor with lightning speed.
Thud! Crash.
What a shame. I could have kept needling him for at least another hour.
As I turned away from the unconscious Woo Jin-tae, countless gazes rained down upon me like arrows finding their mark.
“The Young Lord of the Seongyun Escort Agency went down just like that….”
“Who exactly is this young man?”
“His speed is one thing, but his tongue is sharper than a viper’s fang.”
Murmurs of shock and fear rippled outward in waves.
There were nearly a hundred guests on the first floor alone. It was hardly surprising that some of them recognized my face.
“It’s the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon!”
“What? From the Taewon Jin Family?”
“How could there be two Shanxi Sleeping Dragons? No wonder he looked familiar from earlier.”
The reputation of the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon truly shook the heavens.
I was about to wave at the crowd with a pleased smile when——
“Are you certain? I saw the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon once at Honghwa House around this time last year, but the person I remember looked somewhat….”
“Friend, don’t you remember we were both there together?”
“Ah, were we?”
“Yes, his build and aura have changed considerably, but it’s definitely the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon. I can still vividly see that young master from the Taewon Jin Family making a complete scene, demanding to take a courtesan to his family.”
“….”
Damn. They remember everything.
As I lowered my hand with an embarrassed expression, several guests who had been whispering among themselves suddenly raised their hands.
“I was there too!”
“Hyung-jang was as well?”
“I remember it clearly. That fellow—or rather, that gentleman—fell down the stairs and grabbed hold of what was below me…. Phew, just thinking about it now makes me dizzy.”
“My goodness, how scandalous. Are you alright now?”
“Fortunately, everything is fine. In fact, it seems to have grown slightly longer since then.”
“….”
Is that even possible?
I barely managed to suppress the urge to ask the man who had just spoken exactly how much it had grown. There was still the matter of dealing with the dregs calling themselves the Sanseo Five Gates or whatever.
But then….
“Huh?”
What caught my eye were four late-stage martial artists lined up with their heads bowed and Hyuk Moo-jin standing with his neck stiffly erect.
“We are ready.”
“Did I ask you to do this?”
“They say even a dog can recite poetry after three years at a village school. Now we’re quick to act, aren’t we?”
“You little…!”
I was seized by an indescribable emotion.
At first I thought he was a fool, but the more time passes, the sharper he becomes.
I suspect he’s been dumping stat points into intelligence instead of me.
“You’ve grown. I praise you greatly.”
“You’re too kind. But what should we do about these people?”
“Hand me the sword gauntlets.”
“As you command.”
It was like a scene from a grand historical drama. I accepted the sword gauntlets Hyuk Moo-jin offered and brought my palm down against them. The grip felt excellent, and the impact was satisfying.
“Everyone, get up.”
Before the words even finished leaving my mouth, all four of the successors scrambled to their feet.
Ignoring their terrified gazes, I scrolled through the level window again. Sure enough, these were barely first-rate masters at best.
“You already know what you did wrong… and you’re the successors of the Sanseo Five Gates?”
“Y-yes!”
“Third son, youngest daughter. Something like that, right?”
“No, sir!”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
Their voices rang out with proper spirit, echoing sharply through the inn. I tapped the sword gauntlets and muttered to myself.
“Really? Then the Sanseo Five Gates isn’t much after all?”
“…”
“…”
Their faces all flushed red with shame, but none of them could speak.
Now they knew who I was.
Setting aside the vast difference in power between us, the Sanseo Five Gates couldn’t hold their heads high before the name of the Taewon Jin Family.
“You’ve had it good all this time, haven’t you?”
“…No, sir.”
“Don’t lie. No money worries, solid backing. You believed in that and strutted around confidently until now. Picking fights here and there, right? Hm?”
“…”
“But then war broke out between the Taewon Jin Family and the Hengshan Sword Sect? The Taewon Jin Family had been good to you, but you got scared of the retaliation if the Hengshan Sword Sect won, so you’ve been tiptoeing around until you ended up here. Am I right?”
“W-we didn’t really…”
“You’re successors, aren’t you? Each a minor lord, minor family head. Something like that, right? Oh, that one was a minor country lord.”
The four of them trembled as they looked in the direction I was pointing.
Woo Jin-tae, who couldn’t endure the harsh slaps and trash talk and chose to pass out instead, lay on the ground like a corpse.
“Anyway, when things are like this, you should stay quiet and humble. Why come all the way here acting arrogant? Is the Taewon Jin Family a joke to you? Should I tattoo ‘Shanxi Sleeping Dragon’ on my forehead and walk around?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“If sorry fixed everything, would I need to apologize after crushing your skulls?”
“Eek!”
Look at those terrified eyes. I felt like a walking calamity.
No more words were needed. I raised the sword gauntlets.
“Historically, this is the cure. Everyone, lie down flat.”
And as the four trembling successors prostrated themselves, I asked in a cold voice.
“How many strikes do you need before you’ll reflect? Each of you, tell me.”
“Y-yes?”
“Speak. That bastard Woo Jin-tae was being too arrogant, so he got what he deserved. But since you all turned yourselves in voluntarily, I’ll show leniency.”
A heavy silence fell over the room. The four of them exchanged quick glances before shouting in unison.
“P-please, just one strike!”
“One strike? That’s all it takes?”
“Yes!”
“If you take one strike, you swear this will never happen again?”
“I swear by Heaven and Earth!”
I gripped the sword scabbard firmly in my hand.
“Fine. Then ten strikes each.”
“…!”
“…!”
“I just asked Heaven and Earth about it, and they said one strike isn’t nearly enough for you lot. So it’s ten.”
I never thought I’d find myself in a situation like this. It felt like I’d become a physical education entrance exam instructor from my school days, the kind who swung a bat at every opportunity.
Bathed in a strange nostalgia, I swung the bat—or rather, the scabbard.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Crack!
“Gasp!”
“Don’t move. You’ll break a bone. Now, again.”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
For the crowd filling the Honghwa House, it was surely a rare sight. The so-called heirs of the Sanseo Five Gates were crawling across the floor like worms. And among them were two women.
The murmurs of the people surrounding us pierced my ears.
“Is that even allowed?”
“Right? No matter what, they’re from the Sanseo Five Gates… Won’t this spark another major conflict over some grudge in the Murim?”
“How frustrating. Don’t you people know what’s happening these days? If the Hangsan Inspection Bureau were still standing, maybe. But to stop the Taewon Jin Family now, even if every minor sect in Sanseong Territory banded together, it’d be touch and go.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Even if you gathered everyone, they might have the numbers, but the quality is different. You can tell just by looking at the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon, can’t you?”
“That’s true. Those Sanseo Five Gates heirs and successors were acting so high and mighty, but they’re nothing compared to the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon.”
“And if you think about it, they were the ones who started the trouble first, weren’t they?”
“That’s a fair point.”
“And now that we’re on the subject, all those calling themselves the Sanseo Five Gates these days reek of corruption.”
“Corruption?”
“I mean, they call themselves righteous, but they’re sucking the marrow from common folk without anyone knowing. Just look at the Seongyun Escort Agency—merchants talk about them all the time.”
“Are those rumors true?”
“But what about the Taewon Jin Family? When famine struck ten years ago, they opened their granaries for relief. And long before that, they stopped the Demon Cult bastards too. Those are vicious killers who slaughter commoners like us. If it weren’t for the Taewon Jin Family… ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.”
“That’s right. I heard the Taewon Jin Family also drove back the horse bandits that came over from the highlands.”
“Haven’t you heard that rumor yet? They say the Jin Cheon Sword and the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon wiped them all out completely.”
“Wow.”
“So what’s the problem if war breaks out again? I swear by my honor, if the Sanseo Five Gates make an issue of this, I’ll enter the Taewon Jin Family immediately and fight!”
“Hear, hear!”
“What a spirited young friend! Now that I hear it, you seem right. Here, have a drink with me!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
I turned my head toward the sound of a voice, having turned three out of four of the later members into dung beetles.
Listening to how passionately this person was defending the Taewon Jin Family, I found myself wanting to buy him a drink.
‘With a mindset like that, he’s already one of us at the Taewon Jin Family.’
If his level were just a bit higher, he’d be my top recruitment priority. I smiled contentedly and checked the level window of this magnificent orator.
[Lv.15 Jang Chil-deuk]
“…What the hell.”
Jang Chil-deuk? The same Jang Chil-deuk I knew?
Looking more carefully, it was definitely a familiar face. The servant who used to bring us meals regularly during those days when I received one-on-one intensive training from Jin Moo-kyung.
That Jang Chil-deuk was the true identity of this magnificent orator.
‘Damn, that’s creepy.’
No wonder he was so biased toward the Taewon Jin Family.
Of course, nothing he said was false, but manipulating public opinion like this?
I felt my body trembling as if I’d just uncovered some massive political conspiracy.
“Um….”
Chung Poong, whom I’d momentarily forgotten about, opened his mouth with clear eyes.
“There’s still one person left.”
“Huh.”
The last thug lying prone flinched. This Chung Poong seemed innocently naive yet terrifyingly dangerous.
Not that I was planning to go easy on him just because he was last anyway.
“I was about to hit him anyway.”
Just as I was about to swing the sword gauntlet, Chung Poong spoke again.
“Um, if I may, could I ask for one difficult favor?”
“We’re out of Bing Tang Hu Lu.”
“That’s not it. Well, you see.”
Chung Poong hesitated quietly and pointed at the sword gauntlet.
“I’d like to try hitting the last person myself.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve never done something like this before….”
“….”
I’ve seen all sorts of lunatics in my life, but a first-timer villain asking for their debut is a first.

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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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