Murim Login - Chapter 278

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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 278
The once-beautiful two-story house had transformed into a cursed dwelling.
Had the dozens of layered defensive barriers not absorbed some of the impact from the Exterminating Divine Fist, everything would have been reduced to ash.
Then, footsteps approached from behind, and a quiet voice reached my ears.
“Jin Tae-kyung.”
Sitting on the half-charred sofa, I turned my head and replied.
“Yes.”
Choi Team Leader, Kim Butler, and Song Song-i.
Their gazes toward me seemed complicated. It was only natural, given that they’d seen corpses strewn pathetically across the garden.
My appearance, drenched entirely in blood, probably didn’t look particularly good either.
Song Song-i asked carefully.
“Did you… kill them all?”
“Yes.”
“…!”
“I’m joking. I spared those who surrendered.”
I added gently.
“For now.”
Though my answer was directed at Song Song-i, it was also meant for Choi Team Leader and Kim Butler.
Choi Team Leader asked with a worried expression.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
“What about the survivors?”
“I’ve gathered them in one place.”
“Without any measures taken?”
“Of course I did. For the next several hours, they’re essentially breathing corpses, so rest assured.”
The personal measures I’d taken were acupuncture strikes.
After sealing the Arm Gate, Leg Gate, and Water Gate, I’d neatly stacked the Black Hunters in the only remaining room.
I’d subdued them by force, but I wasn’t some blood-crazed murderer, and I had no intention of killing those who surrendered.
Besides, they might prove useful later.
“Well done. However….”
Choi Team Leader’s gaze turned toward someone collapsed at my feet.
“Who is that?”
“The owner of this house.”
As I flipped the man’s body over with my foot, the figure of a man in his forties came into view.
Lim Young-jun—the homeowner and leader of the Black Hunters.
His entire body was covered in blood as if he were a corpse, yet he was clearly alive. Moreover, without a single wound on him.
Kim Butler, observing him, murmured knowingly.
“You used potions. Multiple times, repeatedly.”
“Yes.”
“Did you torture him?”
“You have a keen eye.”
“During the Great Cataclysm, that was commonplace. There were plenty worse than Black Hunters.”
At the mention of torture, Song-i’s complexion darkened. But soon she exhaled a shallow sigh and placed her hand on my shoulder.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
Resistance was natural. Even I, accustomed to the Murim, felt unsettled.
But Lim Young-jun proved to be far more tight-lipped than I’d anticipated, and ordinary intimidation wouldn’t have loosened his tongue.
“These aren’t ordinary people. It was something that absolutely had to be done.”
“If Hunter Jin Tae-kyung hadn’t done it, I would have. Please don’t trouble yourself over it.”
Choi Team Leader and Kim Butler each added their own words.
They were right. Like they said, it was something that had to be done. With blood already on my hands, there was no reason to hesitate over torture.
I shook my head to dispel the unease and opened my mouth.
“There’s no physical evidence. The moment I broke in and the alarm spell triggered, he deleted all related information.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. There’s no computer at the residence, and only two people had mobile phones—Lim Young-jun and one other. Both were burner phones with untraceable origins.”
I showed them the remains of the phone I’d prepared in advance.
Even someone as blind as me in this regard could see recovery was impossible. All the components were crushed, and the SD card had been burned, or so he claimed.
Choi Team Leader clicked his tongue softly upon seeing the wreckage.
“Thorough. At this level, there’s no way documents could have survived.”
“Correct.”
“What about the other Black Hunters?”
“Ten survived, but none of them know anything. The one acting as sub-leader died by my hand. Everyone here was recruited and trained by Lim Young-jun.”
Based on what I’d learned, they operated in a strictly compartmentalized structure.
From identity laundering to compensation distribution. Everything involving the Black Hunters went through Lim Young-jun.
“At least Lim Young-jun survived. What did he say?”
“That’s….”
I suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
The words that man had screamed after enduring three bone-breaking dislocations still echoed in my ears.
‘The Myeongdong Guild! The Myeongdong Guild!’
A major guild that could confidently rank in the top twenty domestically, if not the top ten. And….
‘Ji-hoon.’
The guild my old friend, whom I’d recently reunited with, belonged to.
After deliberation, I spoke again.
“Could you give me some time?”
“…?”
“There’s something I need to verify personally.”
Choi Team Leader, who had been staring at me intently, nodded.
“We’ll clean up the scene first. Verify what you need and let us know.”
“Understood.”
“Let’s begin immediately.”
At Choi Team Leader’s words, Kim Butler swung the staff he’d been leaning on like a cane.
The firmly shut door swung open, and ten Black Hunters with their blood pathways activated floated into the air one by one, slipping out of the house in succession.
Lim Young-jun was naturally among them.
“Everyone, step back.”
Kim Butler, who had issued the warning in a low voice, began chanting an incantation.
As mana surged, a colossal inferno consumed the two-story mansion that had barely maintained its form.
The flames swept across the garden and would not cease until everything was obliterated.
Whoooosh!
Acrid smoke billowed up alongside the fire.
Yet the peace of the quiet rural village where the mansion stood remained undisturbed.
The mansion, shielded by magic that blocked all sight and sound, would not be discovered for quite some time.
“Will this be sufficient?”
“This much is enough. Even without us, they’ll step forward and erase this place’s existence.”
A person had vanished and a house had burned in a single night, but that was all.
For a while, it would be the talk of the villagers, but nothing more would come of it.
Such was the way of monsters wielding strength and power.
What I was curious about, however, was one thing.
[Garam Middle School Classmate Park Ji-hoon]
Which side did the owner of this number, now saved in my phone, truly belong to?
* * *
In the early dawn, before darkness had fully lifted, Park Ji-hoon dressed and left his house.
A uniformed limousine driver awaited him at the entrance.
“You’ve arrived.”
“What’s this about? Calling me out at this hour?”
“I’m not entirely certain. I simply received orders from the Guild Master to fetch you from your residence.”
Well, what would a mere driver know?
Park Ji-hoon clicked his tongue softly and got into the car. The road was quiet, as it was still early morning.
How much time had passed? The limousine, gliding smoothly, came to a halt somewhere in Hannam-dong, where luxury apartments and villas lined the streets.
A sprawling mansion. One of the security guards stationed along the stone wall hurried over and bowed to Park Ji-hoon.
“He’s waiting inside.”
Park Ji-hoon passed through the iron gates reminiscent of a European aristocratic estate, crossed a garden wider than a sports field, and only then met the person who had summoned him.
“Have you eaten breakfast?”
He was a man in his fifties with graying hair. Despite his age, his physique carried an undeniable presence, and well-developed chest muscles were visible beyond his white robe.
Park Ji-hoon bowed and answered.
“I haven’t eaten yet.”
“Then come and have some. The beef soup turned out exceptionally well today.”
It was barely six in the morning. There was no reason to be grateful for breakfast eaten after being woken at such an ungodly hour.
Yet Park Ji-hoon, without complaint, offered his thanks and picked up his utensils.
“Aren’t you eating, Guild Master?”
“I’ve already eaten. Don’t worry about it and finish your meal.”
He answered casually and unfolded a newspaper. Today’s morning edition.
The front page featured a photograph of a middle-aged man in a suit, his head bowed with a solemn expression.
Park Tae-seop, Myeongdong Guild Master, visits the mortuary of the late Hunter Jung Hyun-woo. “My heart is heavy with sorrow. I can only bow my head in apology to his bereaved family.”
Park Ji-hoon finally understood why he’d been summoned.
‘The old man’s lost his temper.’
The man, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the middle-aged figure in the color photograph, kept his eyes fixed on the newspaper as he spoke.
“How does the photo look? Turned out well?”
“Yes. You have such a distinguished appearance, sir.”
“That’s your problem. Everything you say always sounds hollow, no matter what.”
“I mean it sincerely.”
At the unhesitating response, Park Tae-seop’s eyebrows shot upward.
It was a sign his patience had snapped.
“Jung Hyun-woo. Why did you kill him?”
Here it comes.
Park Ji-hoon set down his spoon quietly before answering.
“I smelled something rotten.”
“Then you should have just plugged your nose.”
“That’s the Myeongdong Guild’s job. My job is to snap the necks of stinking rats before they start squealing somewhere.”
“Without my permission?”
“Do I need permission for that?”
Crash!
Park Tae-seop’s fist came down on the dining table. With a splintering crack, the table shattered, sending glass and food scattering in all directions.
“Guild Master!”
The bodyguards who rushed in were met with a furious roar.
“Get out, all of you! Don’t take a single step inside until I give the order!”
“…!”
The men hesitated for a moment, then bowed and withdrew.
Park Ji-hoon casually pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the broth from his face.
“What a shame. It was delicious.”
“You milk-scented bastard, how dare you.”
“We both reek anyway. Adding a bit of milk-scent won’t make much difference.”
“This is my guild, built with my own blood. And you kill one of my members without a word?”
“Well, Guild Master.”
Park Ji-hoon’s smooth brow, unmarred by a single wrinkle, furrowed.
The handkerchief in his hand fluttered down onto the shattered remains of the table.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“What?”
“Don’t you know what happens when stinking rats open their mouths? One spark and the whole house burns down. If you were only burning your own house, I’d say nothing. But the fire spreads to us too, so I stepped in.”
“Still, this bastard…!”
“And I’d appreciate it if you’d speak straight. A war hero who bled and sweated through the Great Cataclysm? I acknowledge that. But claiming the Myeongdong Guild as your own personal guild is a bit….”
Park Ji-hoon let out a soft chuckle and rose from his seat.
“I ate breakfast. Though I could barely manage a few spoonfuls.”
Park Tae-seop, who had been trembling at the sight, finally spoke.
“Sit down.”
“If you have more to say, please call me. The way you keep doing this is making my respect for you as a senior fade away.”
“I said sit down.”
The air around us violently churned.
Park Tae-seop, the Myeongdong Guild Master, was a hero born from the Cataclysm and one of the nation’s top-ranked hunters.
Yet Park Ji-hoon knew that he could not lay a hand on him.
“I’ll take my leave.”
It was the moment he turned away with a respectful bow.
“The sparks you flew have nearly set the entire house ablaze. You didn’t know that, did you?”
“What do you mean? I handled the Jung Hyun-woo Team Leader situation cleanly—no loose ends.”
“The Black Hunters. Didn’t they recently touch a D-rank hunter from the Peace Guild?”
Park Ji-hoon’s face hardened like stone.
He instinctively realized that something grave had occurred.
“…What are you talking about? What happened?”
At that moment, Park Ji-hoon’s phone vibrated in the coat pocket where he’d placed it.
As if possessed, he pulled out the phone and stared at the name filling the dark screen.
[Jin Tae-kyung]

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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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