Murim Login - Chapter 183

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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 183
A massive figure reminiscent of a minotaur glared at me with eyes the size of bulging marbles.
“Hey there, friend. What brings you to these parts?”
It was a way of saying: pretend you didn’t see anything and move along.
The dialogue bore no difference from the cheap thugs in movies, but according to my [Sense], this hulking brute was neither a third-rate gangster nor an amateur rogue.
[Lv.95 Chul-woo]
‘He’s as formidable as he looks.’
In terms of the Murim, he was a master at his peak—by modern standards, at least an A-rank Hunter.
If a man like that were truly a gangster, then even the people’s walking stick wouldn’t suffice; they’d need the people’s cudgel.
‘Where in the world did this man crawl out from?’
For a moment, the aliases I’d just heard—Hua Mountain’s One Stroke and Three Plum Blossoms—flashed through my mind, but that was as far as it went.
Looking at him from every angle, he seemed far more suited to nicknames like “Majang District Blade-wielder” or “Seocho District Twin-axe” than crane or plum blossom.
As I stood there silently observing, the hulking Chul-woo’s brow furrowed.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Are you deaf? Or perhaps mute?”
Before I could even respond, Hyuk Moo-jin stepped forward.
“What an absurd wretch! How dare you show such disrespect to our young master!”
“Pretending not to hear someone speak—is that considered good manners?”
“How dare you!”
“How dare I? Just how precious must you be to ignore a question?”
“You scoundrel! You need a proper beating to come to your senses!”
I reached out to stop Hyuk Moo-jin as he moved toward his sword.
“That’s enough.”
“Please don’t stop me, sir. A man like that deserves a harsh lesson!”
“He’s stronger than you are.”
“Ah, I see this is not a matter for me to intervene in.”
“…”
“…”
Chul-woo opened his mouth with an expression of disbelief.
“Your subordinate?”
“…For now, yes.”
“You must have your hands full.”
“Every day is a battle with my patience.”
After sizing up our entire group from top to bottom, he clicked his tongue.
“You look like Murim folk. I’d suggest you just go on your way. This man here made a grave mistake with me.”
Chul-woo seized the collar of “this man” and hoisted him into the air. His strength was so tremendous that the portly middle-aged man shot upward like a cork.
“Eeeek! P-please, help me!”
Above the terrified middle-aged man’s head hovered the level window I’d already sensed.
[Lv.60 Woo Hwang-tae]
A name that made one crave hangover soup.
It was also a name that felt strangely familiar for some reason.
‘Woo Hwang-tae, Woo Hwang-tae… where have I heard that name before?’
While I was thinking for a moment, Chul-woo grabbed Woo Hwang-tae by the collar and shook him roughly.
“Help? What help? Stop dragging innocent people into this and just take your beating like a man.”
“G-great warrior. Please, let’s talk this through. We can settle this with words.”
“Words?”
“Yes, yes! Words!”
“Fine, words it is. Let’s have a nice, intimate conversation somewhere without all these people around.”
It was clear he meant a conversation conducted with his fists.
Woo Hwang-tae, being dragged along against his will, let out a cry of desperation.
“I-I was invited here by the Taewon Jin Family! I have an appointment to meet privately with the family head!”
“We were invited too. Besides, I’m a simple-minded bastard who doesn’t really care whether you’re meeting the family head or the patriarch.”
“Kyyyyyeeeek!”
This won’t do. Someone’s going to die before I even remember his name.
I’d rather not get caught up in pointless trouble, but I can’t just ignore this and walk away either.
‘From what I hear, he seems to be quite an important guest.’
The mention of a private meeting with Jin Wi-kyung bothered me, and so did Chul-woo’s casual dismissal of the Taewon Jin Family.
I smacked my lips and stepped forward.
“Excuse me.”
“All that bloated flesh just sitting there making people tired… did you just call me?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
“Oh, nothing serious.”
I continued speaking to the momentarily stunned Chul-woo.
“It’s such a good day—wouldn’t it be better to settle this with words instead?”
“That’s all?”
“I know it’s overstepping, and I apologize, but wouldn’t it look bad for the Taewon Jin Family if their guests started fighting on a day like this?”
“Hey, little one.”
Chul-woo rubbed his neck with an annoyed expression. At the same time, his half-respectful tone from moments before dropped away entirely.
“This is personal business. You’ll only wear yourself out getting involved.”
“I’m already tired anyway. What can I do about it?”
“Your words are short?”
“Yeah. Same goes for the rest.”
“How old are you, kid?”
“Twenty.”
“Twenty? Ha, you’re fresh as a daisy. Fresh as a daisy indeed.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five. You little punk.”
I was shocked twice over.
Once at the curmudgeonly attitude of a twenty-five-year-old, and again at the fact that such a face belonged to someone in his mid-twenties.
Even if he’d been fed protein supplements instead of mother’s milk as a child, he shouldn’t have ended up like this. I asked, unable to hide my considerable astonishment.
“Twenty-five? Don’t tell me your name is Benjamin. You’re living life backwards all by yourself.”
Benjamin Chul-woo’s eyes blazed with fury.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“It’s not nonsense—it’s the truth. You must have had a rough time with premature aging.”
“Premature aging? Shut your mouth! Everyone around me thinks I look young!”
“Everyone around you? First, your mother. Second, your father. Third, your grandmother. Pick one of those three. Oh, and fourth, let’s say your youngest aunt.”
“You beardless little brat….”
“Drop your pants. Let me see if you’ve grown any hair down there.”
“You bastard…!”
“Woof, woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Chul-woo released his grip on Woo Hwang-tae’s collar. The creature who had been trembling while alternating his gaze between earth and sky took a deep breath.
“You, huff. Huff huff.”
“Are you angry, Benjamin?”
“Shut that mouth of yours!”
It seemed his temper had truly snapped beyond repair.
‘I never intended to go this far.’
But by countering each jab, here we were.
Chul-woo, snorting like a frenzied minotaur, forced his lips open with tremendous effort.
“You, what kind of bastard are you.”
“What kind of bastard do I seem like?”
“One who’s obsessed with dying.”
Crack. The sound of bones dislocating echoed from a fist the size of a shovel handle.
Chul-woo glared at me while grinding his teeth.
“Do you understand what it means to meddle in personal grudges within the Murim?”
“That’s why I apologized for sticking my nose in where it didn’t belong. But if guests start throwing punches at each other, what does that make the one who invited them? You should think about the Main Residence’s position too.”
“The Main Residence?”
“Yes, the Main Residence.”
“Are you perhaps a member of the Taewon Jin Family?”
“I’m not a parasite, if that’s what you mean.”
“Make one more joke like that. I’ll have you bedridden for three years.”
“Watch your words. Before we have to conduct a three-year mourning ceremony.”
Chul-woo laughed with a sneer. It wasn’t the laughter of joy, but the involuntary grin that surfaces when rage reaches its peak.
“Elder Brother gave me strict instructions… but you won’t do. Let’s exchange a few blows.”
Boom!
Before the words even finished, a tremendous crash erupted as the ground shattered.
The two-meter colossus launched like a cannonball reached my face in mere moments.
“This will hurt.”
Screeeech!
Along with the eerie sound, the wind scattered. No—it was obliterated.
A simple punch with no technique or subtlety whatsoever. The force contained in that fist unleashed a tremendous momentum capable of shattering even massive stone boulders.
But….
‘If it doesn’t land, so be it.’
Boom! Crack-boom!
I arched my back as if lying down. A palm’s width above, compressed air exploded from the tip of his fist that had struck empty space. A tree beyond ten paces flew away as if caught in a typhoon.
‘Wow, this bastard was serious.’
I clicked my tongue at that tremendous force.
If a first-rate master had taken that blow, it wouldn’t have ended with mere pain. Once his eyes rolled back, he couldn’t see anything.
“Hey, hey, take it easy. Easy.”
“You damn rat!”
Whoosh! Whiiiish!
First strike, second strike, third strike. Each time I effortlessly evaded his successive punches, my suspicion transformed into certainty.
‘I think I can win this.’
Even a thousand-pound boulder shatters only if it’s hit.
No matter how powerful the attack, if it doesn’t connect, it’s meaningless.
Especially since he hasn’t even reached the stage where he can emit fist energy—he’s only at the threshold of perfection. If our understanding of martial arts is comparable, I have an overwhelming advantage.
Because I alone possess a special power.
‘Stats.’
Screeeech! Boom!
After yet another miss—I’d lost count—Chul-woo exploded in frustration.
“Damn it all!”
“You’re too worked up. Take a deep breath and relax your body. That’s the only way you’ll land even a hair.”
Meanwhile, I had completely regained my composure. Hyuk Moo-jin and Chung Poong were watching from across the river, and Woo Hwang-tae stood with his mouth agape, observing our exchange.
Given the situation, Chul-woo seemed quite flustered as well.
“Who the hell are you?”
“A member of the Taewon Jin Family.”
“There’s no way someone like you exists in this backwater… Wait.”
Chul-woo, who had been staring at me intently, suddenly furrowed his brow.
“Are you Jin Cheon Sword?”
“I have some connection to that man. If I’m not mistaken, we came from the same place.”
“Then… the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon?”
I grinned widely.
“Bingo.”
Though he didn’t know the meaning of bingo, he read the affirmative tone and clenched his fist.
“I had a feeling you had some skill.”
“Try landing a single blow before saying something like that. They say it hurts, but it just feels refreshing.”
“I’ll concede. Even if not a dragon, you’d make a decent imoogi.”
“Mother, your evaluation is stingy.”
“Your mouth has reached the realm of enlightenment.”
“This is all psychological warfare. Look at yourself. Your eyes are rolling back white and you keep throwing wild punches.”
“Don’t be mistaken. I simply didn’t want to display my master’s martial arts against a nameless soldier like you.”
“Where is your sect master from? The Dodong Sect?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
The fellow who had just spat phlegm muttered under his breath.
“Damn it, the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon. How annoying.”
We were in the same boat.
At a glance, he looked like a disciple of some reasonably renowned sect, but if we fought until one of us collapsed, both he and I would face the consequences.
“I’m holding back because of my Elder Brother.”
“I’m letting it slide because of my Senior Brother.”
We exchanged glares, having spoken similar sentiments simultaneously.
“What, look at this bastard.”
“Bastard? You little punk, talking to your elder like that!”
“Elder? Don’t make me laugh. Do you even know how old I am?”
“You’re barely twenty—what else would you call that but young!”
“That’s not what I meant——!”
Combining my age from both the Martial World and the modern era, I was nearly fifty, but there was no point in reasoning with him.
I swallowed the words that were about to burst out.
“Fine. What’s the point of talking to someone like you? In the Martial World, the stronger one is the elder.”
“What! Are you saying I’m weaker than you?”
“Obviously. Didn’t you just feel it? The difference between us?”
“I could chew you up and still not be satisfied!”
“Try then, if you can.”
“What makes you think I can’t!”
It was the moment Chul-woo raised his fists with a grinding sound.
“I think it would be best if you both stopped here.”
A voice suddenly interjected. Wi Paeng, who had descended with an ethereal movement technique, swept his cold gaze over us.
His eyes passed over Chung Poong and Hyuk Moo-jin, and over Woo Hwang-tae, who had been dragged along and looked a mess, before piercing toward Chul-woo and me like arrows.
“Pae Hwa-kwon, and the Third Young Master.”
“No, Senior Wi. It’s not like that, the situation——”
“That’s right. I was merely——”
A voice colder than the bitter north wind froze the words we were about to speak.
“Did you both conspire to disgrace your sect?”
Chul-woo and I fell silent.
* * *
“How long has it been since Pae Hwa-kwon left?”
“I don’t know. Seems like more than an hour.”
“Why hasn’t he come back?”
“Guess he ran into trouble.”
“A Hua Mountain Sect master?”
“What does that have to do with anything? Just because he’s a Hua Mountain Sect master, should his bowels work better?”
“Fair point.”
Just as Chul-woo’s constipation theory had become nearly certain, people who spotted a group of riders descending the hillside erupted in cheers.
A face that no martial artist in Shanxi Province could possibly fail to recognize was among them.
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon!”
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon! The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon is coming with Pae Hwa-kwon!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
The arena grew white-hot with the arrival of these two brilliant young prodigies.
The two rising stars—whom everyone believed without doubt would become the future pillars of the Martial World—walked side by side, waving their hands.
With each gesture, cheers erupted from all directions, and hands reached out from every side, desperate to touch even the hem of their robes.
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon!”
“Pae Hwa-kwon!”
“My, they look quite friendly. Did you two know each other before?”
“Does that matter? True talent recognizes true talent. It’s hardly strange for two such figures to build a deep bond in a short time.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. They really do look good together.”
While everyone gazed at them with satisfied smiles, Jin Tae-kyung and Chul-woo, grinning broadly, exchanged words in barely audible whispers.
“You saw earlier, right? You couldn’t even touch me.”
“Nonsense. I didn’t even use half my strength.”
“I didn’t use even a third of mine.”
“That was a slip of the tongue. I didn’t use even a tenth of my strength.”
“My mistake too. Truth is, I didn’t use even a hundredth of mine.”
“Now that I think about it, neither did I.”
“You’re completely insane.”
“Says who!”
Amid the tremendous roar of the crowd, it was a fierce exchange that only masters of the highest caliber could hear.

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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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