Murim Login - Chapter 275

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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 275
‘How naive.’
That single phrase from yesterday wouldn’t leave my mind.
Sitting in the caregiver’s chair beside the bed, I stared blankly at the humidifier misting the air before a thought suddenly escaped my lips.
“No, it wasn’t naivety.”
The Murim was a world that perfectly embodied the phrase “a mountain of blades and forest of swords.”
Bloodshed was commonplace, death was routine. Strength was justice, and the survivor was the victor.
Every time I witnessed the brutal face of the Murim, I thought of the modern world.
Systematic welfare and law. People’s ethical consciousness. A civilization incomparably superior to the Murim.
But I was wrong.
“It wasn’t naivety—it was stupidity.”
Martial artists wear swords at their waists, but modern people conceal daggers in their sleeves.
Monsters didn’t exist only inside Gates—they thrived outside them too.
Those who dressed themselves in fine clothes and virtuous images while commanding the Building District. Those who were beginning to reveal the daggers hidden in their sleeves—they were the real monsters beyond the Gates.
‘Like Won Myung-hun.’
I’d been far too soft in my thinking. Even knowing the world was unfair and cruel, I couldn’t shake my complacency.
This was the modern era. A 21st-century democratic society. There might be fierce competition to prove one’s abilities, but I’d believed something like today would never happen.
‘And this is the result.’
I stared at the sleeping Lim Hyuk-jun. Both his arms, severed below the elbows, had been treated with high-tier healer magic and superior potions.
Daily life shouldn’t be too difficult, but… his return as a Hunter was uncertain. Potions weren’t omnipotent, after all.
‘Who was it?’
Multiple thoughts swam through my cold, calculating mind.
Who. Why. What purpose did they have in sending a Black Hunter.
Cutting off Lim Hyuk-jun’s arms could be a warning to stop here, or a signal flare announcing the beginning.
‘I’ll find out what it meant soon enough.’
I had no intention of waiting idly until then.
Neither did I, nor Choi Team Leader.
“Get some rest, sir.”
That was when I pulled the disheveled blanket over Lim Hyuk-jun.
Buzz.
My smartphone lit up brightly in the darkness, vibrating.
A brief text message. The sender was Choi Team Leader.
〈 Choi Team Leader
Choi Team Leader
Guild House.
* * *
I left the hospital immediately after checking the message. In the deep night, with everyone gone from the Guild House, two people were waiting for me.
“Ah, Jin Tae-kyung.”
“Welcome.”
Choi Team Leader, and Song Song-i.
Kim Butler, whom I naturally expected to be there, was nowhere to be seen.
Choi Team Leader, noticing my gaze, spoke first.
“He stepped away for a moment.”
“Is that so?”
It was unexpected that Kim Butler, who shadowed Choi Team Leader like his own reflection, was absent, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
I cut straight to the chase without preamble.
“What’s this about?”
“I should offer you coffee before explaining, but… let me show you this first.”
Instead of a coffee cup, Choi Team Leader handed me his smartphone. The screen displayed the nation’s largest portal website.
When his long fingers touched the news article window, articles sorted by category scrolled down in succession.
I scanned the article positioned at the very top.
[The judiciary bowing before the fame brought by the masses. Where is fairness?]
[Unity Party Supreme Councilor Yun Seo-yun: “A death brought on by an individual’s hasty actions. Won Myung-hun should have faced legal judgment.” Strong criticism…]
[Self-defense or murder?]
Articles decorating the politics and society sections. Though no names were explicitly written, it was unmistakably clear who they were referring to.
“When did this go up?”
“An hour ago. But it’s already hit 100,000 views with over 5,000 comments.”
“An hour ago would be around four in the morning.”
“Netizens seem more diligent than expected. Or should I say, the part-timers are.”
“Amusing.”
Choi Team Leader took a sip of coffee that had grown cold as my smile, then spoke.
“There’s an even more interesting article.”
“More than this?”
“Scroll down a bit. It’ll exceed what you’re expecting, Tae-kyung.”
Choi Team Leader was right. My scrolling finger stopped abruptly without my realizing it.
I stared silently at the boldly printed article headline.
[Exclusive pre-release interview with former coworker K. “Famous Hunter J is a despicable human being.”]
When I touched the article, a pre-release interview video of just over three minutes appeared. After a 15-second luxury cosmetics advertisement, the screen filled with a portly middle-aged man in a suit.
Though his face had some pixelation applied, he was instantly recognizable.
“Ha.”
The moment I realized the identity of the middle-aged man—’former coworker K’—a hollow laugh escaped me.
A face far too familiar. A person I thought I’d never see again was right there.
“I never thought I’d see him again like this.”
Song Song-i, who had been looking at the smartphone over my shoulder, asked.
“Do you really know this person?”
“Of course I do. How could I not?”
“If he’s willing to do an interview this shitty, you two must have had a terrible relationship.”
“No.”
“Then maybe you were close?”
“That’s not it either…”
How should I describe the relationship between that man and me? I pondered for a moment before opening my mouth.
“It was absolute shit.”
“Ah.”
No matter how I thought about it, that word fit perfectly.
Our relationship had been that catastrophic. Given everything that had tangled between us, it was almost strange that we hadn’t come to blows even once.
I stared intently at the face that had grown noticeably heavier since we’d last met.
‘Kim Sang-sik. It’s been a while.’
Kim Sang-sik. Team Leader of the Sopoong Guild.
Back when I was an F-rank Hunter, he was the one who’d instigated the Guild Master into firing me.
The last time I’d seen him was when I stopped by the Hunter Association for a rank re-evaluation… and now we were meeting again like this.
‘I heard he got fired from the guild after that.’
Kim Sang-sik was a man lacking in ability but overflowing with greed. Despite his name suggesting otherwise, he was equally deficient in common sense, doing every conceivable stupid thing before eventually getting fired.
Being the very embodiment of a petty man, it was certain he’d been grinding his teeth at me this whole time.
That’s why he’d even done this interview.
‘Let’s see what bullshit he’s spouting.’
Just then, the video began with the Reporter’s question.
「We heard you have something to say about the recently famous Hunter J. First, is it true that you were former coworkers?」
Kim Sang-sik nodded his head with an unusually serious expression.
「It’s absolutely true. I was J’s direct superior… or rather, I was his direct supervisor.」
「To be precise?」
「He was a member of my team. I became Team Leader after the Gate accident two years ago. I was the one who notified J of his termination this past summer.」
「My. Was there a reason?」
「There were more than one or two reasons.」
After that, Kim Sang-sik poured out his grievances about the reasons for my termination in a voice full of resentment.
Each point was utter nonsense, but the final exchange with the Reporter was the crowning touch.
「I was falsely accused of employment fraud and expelled from the guild where I’d spent over twenty years, but firing J was not for any personal gain whatsoever.」
「You’re saying there was another reason?」
「Yes.」
There was a reason he’d released this three-minute preview video. Kim Sang-sik finished with the solemnity of a national hero.
「During the mutant Gate accident two years ago, J threw his teammates as food for the monsters and fled. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to commit every vile and filthy act imaginable for the sake of survival….」
I could barely hear the rest of what he was saying.
Even after the video ended with a caption announcing the full interview would be released soon, I stared silently at the screen for a long time.
As if by simply looking at it, Kim Sang-sik might burst out from the screen itself.
It was Choi Team Leader’s words that broke the heavy silence.
“How did you feel about it?”
Ah, how did I feel?
Well. My head felt numb, and on the other hand, I wanted to laugh. My stomach was churning with rage.
“It’s quite entertaining, just as you said, sir.”
“I laughed when I first saw it too. I know roughly what kind of person K in the interview is—Kim Sang-sik. The problem is….”
“The public won’t find it very entertaining.”
“That’s exactly it.”
The comment section was already on the verge of exploding.
With over ten thousand comments already pouring in, there was no need to read through them individually. The top-rated best comment immediately caught my eye.
(Best Comment)
I knew this would happen. I heard rumors about it secondhand and thought it couldn’t be true, but I always felt like it would blow up eventually.
What bridge are they even talking about, and what’s supposed to blow up?
I don’t know which bastard did it, but I’m grateful they’re not in front of me right now.
If they were, I’d make sure the next rumor about them spread from beyond the gates of hell itself.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t think I need to see any more.”
I let out a hollow laugh and closed the comment section.
Choi Team Leader, taking the smartphone back, crossed his arms loosely and opened his mouth.
“It’s organized. It’s now certain they deliberately sent Black Hunters from the start.”
“And they’re the ones manufacturing the negative public opinion.”
“That’s how people are. Once you start muddying the waters properly, it’s difficult to regain your footing.”
“And in the meantime, the attack on Lim Hyuk-jun probably didn’t even make it into a single news article.”
“You understand well.”
“Anyone who doesn’t understand is an idiot. What did the investigation team handling the case say?”
Choi Team Leader shook his head slightly.
“Don’t tell me they’re in on it too?”
“It seems there’s external pressure. The CCTV footage is in their hands as well.”
“Didn’t you say there were witnesses?”
“All three have gone silent.”
That’s just perfect.
Without realizing it, I heard the sound of bones cracking in my clenched fist.
“This is coming at us with real intent.”
“It seems designed to isolate me completely. The interview footage with Kim Sang-sik is part of it too.”
This wasn’t an interview with some third-rate tabloid media outlet.
A major news organization ranking in the top ten domestically.
They’d package even the most absurd nonsense in a presentable wrapper and broadcast it, adding credibility through money and influence in the process.
For example… testimonies from people who know me well.
“It’ll be nice to see the faces of my old coworkers after so long. Ah, but they’ll probably be pixelated, so it’ll be hard to recognize them, right?”
I asked Choi Team Leader, who was looking at me with an indecipherable gaze.
“Why are you asking that?”
“I recall that Jin Tae-kyung had a good reputation within the Sopoong Guild.”
“I got along with everyone. The guild was so small anyway.”
“Then why would you think such a thing?”
“Well, getting along with everyone like that… it comes down to this, doesn’t it?”
I pinched my thumb and index finger together and shook them.
In the end, it’s money. Money is everything.
For hunters willing to stake their lives to earn money, that temptation hits all the harder.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve been blindsided repeatedly, but these people I’ve been getting along with just fine for the past seven years… I can’t bring myself to trust them.”
If this had happened a few days ago, I might have naively believed in my old colleagues.
But not now. The world where dreams, friendship, and common sense made sense has already vanished from my mind.
“I saw an article in the politics and society section, so it looks like some congressman’s pockets have been lined too. Surely they can’t be bothered to squeeze a few struggling low-rank hunters for pocket change?”
“….”
“It’s obvious. I’ll become the villain everyone loves to hate, getting torn apart online. Everything I’ve built up until now will crumble, and our guild will go down with it.”
Choi Team Leader, who had been wearing a peculiar expression the whole time, let out a dry laugh.
“You’ve improved somewhat. At least you’re capable of thinking like a tainted adult now.”
“Are you taking back what you said about me being naive yesterday?”
“I’ll decide that based on what you do from here on.”
“What?”
“I can’t just sit back and let this happen to us.”
As he spoke, his finger pressed the screen of his smartphone. The call connected, and someone picked up.
– I found it. The thread.
Kim Butler’s low, smooth voice flowed through the speaker.

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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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