Murim Login - Chapter 243

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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 243
Hyuk Moo-jin was living through days that felt like a dream. He even occasionally pinched his own cheek to verify it was real.
‘Moo-jin, are you really allowed to be this happy? Is this a dream?’
It was understandable.
Just over a decade ago, he had been nothing more than a boy who admired martial artists.
‘Actually, I don’t even need to go back that far.’
Even just two years ago, he had viewed his reality as utterly miserable.
Work hours were long and tedious, and his martial progress had stalled completely.
And when the person he encountered most frequently was Sam-gong-ja, a drunken fool, anyone short of a saint would grow cynical about the world.
‘I held it in and held it in, then finally threw one punch.’
The day I drove my fist into Sam-gong-ja’s jaw, my life changed as well.
Countless battles, an endless succession of death and crisis….
Sam-gong-ja—or rather, the Commander—was like a magnet that drew every danger in the world toward himself.
I fought through the perils raining down from all directions alongside him, and when I came to my senses, I discovered I had grown tremendously.
‘Ooh, power, power is surging through me!’
‘…Patient. Come here. Since your madness has flared up, it’s time for you to get hit.’
Smack! Crack crack crack!
I took a beating quite often. There were times I even secretly set out water for purification, hoping Jin Tae-kyung wouldn’t notice.
‘Please, please don’t let the Commander hit me anymore. Just take me far away instead.’
Did that wish come true?
One day, Jin Tae-kyung suddenly departed.
Watching his back as he left with the Fire King, I felt both loneliness and a sense of liberation simultaneously.
And then, at last, the prime of my life arrived.
‘Are you Hyuk Moo-jin?’
‘Gasp, how does the great master Wi Paeng know of me….’
‘Draw your sword. Let me see your skill.’
I received instruction from Wi Paeng, the Sword Demon, a master of the highest caliber.
‘You mentioned the Jinryong Squad?’
‘That’s right. It’s where the Main Residence’s finest are gathered. I’ve taken command of the Jinryong Squad.’
‘Wow! The Jinryong Squad! My deepest gratitude!’
‘Pack your things.’
‘Pardon?’
‘You are the vice-commander. As this is the lord’s command, there must not be a single mistake.’
‘Gasp. I pledge eternal loyalty to the Taewon Jin Family. I obey! I obey!’
I became vice-commander of the Jinryong Squad, which could be called the elite of the Taewon Jin Family.
A young man who had once dreamed of becoming a mere Gate Master had, in just a year and a half, become a skilled warrior standing shoulder to shoulder with the family’s senior figures.
It was truly a dreamlike existence.
…At least, until a moment ago.
“You’re Hyuk Moo-jin, right?”
“…!”
With disheveled hair and a scraggly beard, the well-built beggar’s words made Hyuk Moo-jin’s limbs go numb.
That achingly familiar voice. Why hadn’t he recognized it immediately?
There was something odd about the way the back of his head had been itching earlier….
‘Where did things go wrong?’
Was it coming to Hanan as Jin Wi-kyung’s attendant?
Or was it inspecting the Hyuk Family Fabric Shop’s Hanan branch at Father’s request?
He didn’t know. The only thing he could be certain of now was one thing.
‘I’m screwed.’
As cold sweat slid down his spine, a single phrase transformed the journey to Hanan into a descent into hell.
“Three seconds. Headbutt me.”
Unlike his mind screaming refusal, his body was honest.
Hyuk Moo-jin, the rising talent of the Taewon Jin Family and vice-commander of the Jinryong Squad, the family’s elite force, charged forward with a thunderous cry.
“Chaaaaaarge!”
Crash!
* * *
White stone walls and five or six roofs visible beyond them.
The large estate where the Taewon Jin Family was currently staying drew steadily closer.
“Is this the place?”
“…Yes.”
Hyuk Moo-jin answered in a half-dead voice. His once-impressive martial robes hung in tatters, and one eye was swollen a deep purple.
Borrowing his words from about an hour ago, this was the price of recklessness.
“Oh. You’ve secured a nice place. Business must be booming lately?”
I wasn’t the only one who had changed in the past year. Hyuk Moo-jin and the Taewon Jin Family’s standing had transformed as well.
The fact that they had rented an entire grand estate like this, with the Seongnae Daeyeon just around the corner, was proof enough.
“Lead the way, you bastard.”
“Ugh! It hurts, it hurts!”
“That’s why I’m hitting you, you bastard.”
I kicked his rear end repeatedly as we walked.
Two Taewon Jin Family martial artists standing guard at the estate entrance with rigid posture spotted their superior and their jaws dropped.
“Gasp!”
“Vice-Commander!”
Hyuk Moo-jin averted his gaze and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem. You’ve been standing watch well? This person is….”
Screech, clang clang!
“You bastard!”
“How dare you strike our vice-commander!”
So the vice-commander of this newly established Jinryong Squad had considerable influence among his subordinates.
I chuckled at the Jinryong Squad members drawing their blades.
“Lower your swords. I’m affiliated with the Taewon Jin Family.”
“Vice-Commander, are you alright!”
“What nonsense is this beggar spouting!”
Watching his subordinates’ reaction, Hyuk Moo-jin nodded with a grim expression.
“Not a beggar, but Sam-gong-ja himself.”
“Pardon?”
“No matter how I look at it, he’s just a beggar….”
I could let it slide once, but not twice.
Noticing the shift in my expression, Hyuk Moo-jin opened his mouth with a somber tone.
“Ho-chul.”
The squad member called Ho-chul answered promptly.
“Yes, Squad Commander.”
“Plant your face in the dirt.”
“….”
Right. This is what a right-hand man should do.
Leaving Ho-chul to commune with the earth, I stepped into the courtyard. And almost simultaneously, I collided with someone strolling through the yard.
“…!”
“…!”
Eyes trembling with emotion.
Even if ten years passed instead of one, he would recognize me. No matter how wretched my appearance.
That’s what blood means. That’s what brotherhood is.
“Well, well. So it’s you.”
The burly man, Jin Wi-kyung, who had been staring at me like a statue, broke into a radiant smile.
He approached me with long strides and opened his mouth.
“Have you come from the Beggar Clan?”
“….”
Brother, my foot.
* * *
“Truth be told, I recognized you at first glance.”
“Are you joking?”
“I’m serious. How could I not recognize my youngest brother!”
“Do I look like a crippled beggar to you?”
Where did that come from? He’d even asked what position I held in the Beggar Clan.
Jin Wi-kyung, flustered by my reaction, turned to Hyuk Moo-jin.
“Listen here, Commander Hyuk. Didn’t I send you a secret message earlier? I said to play along as if I didn’t recognize him.”
“Well, about that…”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Hmm?”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s brow furrowed.
“Ow. Young Master. Why are you suddenly stepping on my foot?”
“W-wait, Commander Hyuk!”
“Aaaah. It hurts!”
“….”
They’re trying. Really trying.
Without even looking, I can tell exactly what’s happening beneath the table.
As I watched them, I let out a soft laugh.
‘Still the same.’
Jin Wi-kyung and Hyuk Moo-jin.
They’re the same two I knew. Though they’ve gained composure and ease after experiencing so much in the past year, their essence remained unchanged.
The fact that they hadn’t changed—that alone was enough.
‘I wonder what happened to the others?’
My curiosity was answered soon enough.
Jin Wi-kyung explained in detail what had transpired since my departure, and within that account lay the whereabouts of those I hadn’t yet reunited with.
Eun So-wol, still struggling to restore the Hangsan Inspection Bureau’s former glory, and Wol-hwa, who was building an entertainment district in the once-barren Northern Shanxi region.
And then…
“Chung Poong has gone missing?”
“Yes. Not long after you left, he headed to the Hua Mountain Sect with the Plum Blossom Three Absolutes, but he escaped along the way.”
That’s not missing—that’s desertion.
From what followed, it seemed Chung Poong’s disappearance had caused quite a stir.
An elder of some standing from the Hua Mountain Sect came in person and even asked directly—to contact them if I saw Chung Poong.
“When the sect’s foremost elder and his successor both vanished in succession, it’s no wonder. It broke my heart just watching it unfold.”
Between the Sword Saint and Chung Poong, I was beginning to suspect they weren’t actually blood relatives at all.
“The Hua Mountain Sect seems to be managing well enough, though.”
“Still better than the Main Residence.”
“Why? Aren’t you sweeping aside the Northern bandits and winning successive victories? It seems like you’re doing rather well to me.”
Jin Wi-kyung shook his head with a gloomy expression.
“The Hua Mountain Sect at least has a sect leader and many disciples. Our family head position remains vacant.”
“Ah.”
“So it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem. We decided to help each other going forward. Struggling sects must support one another to survive.”
They were really making the best of it together.
I thought of that man—the family head whose whereabouts had been unknown for years—then erased him from my mind.
He may be my father in this martial world, but he’s a complete stranger—someone I’ve never even seen face to face.
I felt no blood ties, no desire to see him.
‘If I see him, I see him. If not, so be it.’
I was far more concerned about Jin Moo-kyung, who would growl at me whenever the chance arose.
“Speaking of which, where did Second Brother go? He hasn’t shown up yet.”
Quite some time had passed, but he hadn’t appeared.
Wi Paeng was guarding the Taewon Jin Family in Jin Wi-kyung’s stead, but Jin Moo-kyung should have definitely come…
“He’s in closed-door cultivation.”
“What? Again?”
“More accurately, ‘still’ would be the right word.”
“…Don’t tell me he’s been at it this whole time since then?”
At Jin Wi-kyung’s nod, I was utterly speechless.
In martial arts novels, it’s common to see characters spending decades in closed-door cultivation or wall-facing meditation, but attempting it in reality reveals an uncomfortable truth: it’s nearly impossible.
Even a single year requires extraordinary mental fortitude to endure.
‘When did Jin Moo-kyung enter closed-door cultivation again?’
It was right after his defeat in the martial contest against Chung Poong, so by now, it would be a year and six months.
During all that time, he hadn’t taken a single step outside the dim Training Pavilion, dedicating himself ceaselessly to cultivation.
Sustaining himself with nothing but water and qi-sustaining pills for all three meals.
“Could it be that his closed-door cultivation extended so long he lost track of time? He might not have known about the Seongnae Daeyeon.”
“I visited Moo-kyung before we departed and asked if he would join us.”
I didn’t need to hear his answer—the fact that Jin Moo-kyung wasn’t here said everything.
Jin Wi-kyung’s quiet voice continued.
“He said he wouldn’t emerge until he achieved Perfection. He asked me to relay that message to you.”
Perfection….
For Jin Moo-kyung, the Seongnae Daeyeon was a fruit hanging within arm’s reach.
With him being among the most promising late-stage cultivators in the Central Plains, his participation would prove his martial prowess and earn him even greater renown.
Yet Jin Moo-kyung chose martial arts over that sweet fruit.
‘That’s remarkable.’
While everyone else reached for the fruit and climbed the tree, Jin Moo-kyung turned his back on it and devoted himself to cultivation.
And when his training finally ended, he wouldn’t merely possess the fruit—he would possess the tree itself.
A tree laden with abundant fruit.
‘Yes, that’s what a true martial artist is.’
I respected his choice. I didn’t know what awaited at the end of the path Jin Moo-kyung was walking, but I believed his direction was more righteous than anyone else’s. That was enough.
I let out a sigh-like murmur.
“So that’s how it turned out.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“A little. I was hoping the three of us would reunite.”
“Even without those two, the realm still holds many outstanding masters. Don’t we have the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes right before us?”
“I suppose.”
At my lukewarm response, Jin Wi-kyung smiled faintly.
“I’ll have to turn that disappointment into joy.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve brought a gift.”
A gift? As I stood bewildered, Hyuk Moo-jin rose from his chair.
When he returned moments later, his hands carried something long and slender, wrapped tightly in thick cloth.
“Do you know what this is?”
Know? The moment I laid eyes on it, my heart thundered and my fingertips trembled. It was almost instinctual.
The instinct of a spear master, not Jin Tae-kyung.
“This is….”
“Fifteen days ago, Elder Jang Tae-bo placed this object in my hands and spoke these words.”
The cloth slipped away.
As Hyuk Moo-jin’s hands unwrapped the cloth, Jin Wi-kyung’s voice pierced my ears.
“Now I finally understand the hearts of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.”
A deep, resonant hum escaped from the spear.

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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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