Murim Login - Chapter 297

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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 297
Inhale. Exhale.
Choi Min-woo drew a long, deliberate breath.
As I accepted the vital energy permeating the air, I awakened the dormant mass of power slumbering in my lower abdomen.
‘Mana.’
The wellspring of power granted to Awakened ones. The greatest weapon with which to stand against monsters.
Yet the man who had taught me the Jin Family’s cultivation method—Jin Tae-kyung—called mana by another name.
‘Internal Force.’
Jin Tae-kyung grew more enigmatic with each passing day. He executed feats that others could scarcely fathom, and he succeeded where they would have failed.
How could anything he imparted be ordinary?
The dantian, internal force, breathing techniques, the Jin Family’s cultivation method….
Each new facet of him left me astonished, but this time, I found myself genuinely bewildered.
‘To reveal the Mana Cultivation Method so casually.’
Choi Min-woo understood just how formidable the Jin Family’s cultivation method truly was.
Not merely among Hunters, but even laypeople with any discernment would recognize its worth immediately.
If a Hunter is a blade, then the Jin Family’s cultivation method is the whetstone.
No matter how dull the blade, it becomes sharp when honed upon stone.
Considering both the efficacy of the Jin Family’s cultivation method and its rarity… its value would be nothing short of astronomical.
‘Such tremendous secrets revealed without hesitation, the prowess to slay Named Monsters alone, the audacity to stand unflinching before Lee Jung-yong and the Ares Guild… could another such person exist?’
Choi Min-woo was coming to understand it more with each passing day. Just how extraordinary Jin Tae-kyung truly was. And how fortunate I myself had become.
‘I cannot betray his expectations.’
This was precisely why Choi Min-woo devoted himself to the Jin Family’s cultivation method, sparing not even his sleeping hours.
And the fruits of that labor were manifesting even now.
Whoooosh.
Lost in the breathing technique, time slipped away unnoticed, and the vast energy coursed through hundreds of meridians, swelling infinitesimally in magnitude.
Mere weeks ago, I had been utterly unaware of this power’s existence.
In that instant, a conversation with Jin Tae-kyung from that day flickered through my mind.
‘Say, Team Leader.’
‘Yes?’
‘Did you happen to consume anything exceptional in your childhood? Mountain ginseng, perhaps, or those round medicinal pills?’
‘Not at all. My meals were always organic, but I’ve never consumed anything special.’
‘And you’ve never caught so much as a common cold from childhood until now, correct?’
‘That’s right. How did you know?’
‘Your physique… rather, your body is simply exceptional.’
‘Is that so? But wouldn’t any Hunter possess a superior body?’
‘It’s not because you’re a Hunter. Your fundamental physical constitution is extraordinarily superior. I suspect your Grandfather may have intervened on your behalf.’
‘My grandfather…?’
‘Yes. Does nothing strike you as peculiar?’
‘I’m afraid not. My memories from that age are hazy. According to Kim Butler, he visited me very occasionally… that’s all I know.’
‘Hmm. From my perspective, that seems to be the only plausible explanation.’
Choi Min-woo suddenly recalled his grandfather. The last time he’d seen him was probably before elementary school enrollment, wasn’t it?
The face he remembered was hazy, while the photos online were crystal clear. The two of them were clearly distant from what one might call a close grandparent-grandchild relationship in many ways.
‘But the fact that such a tremendous force was hidden within him… Did Grandfather really intervene after all?’
At this unexpected trace of his grandfather, Choi Min-woo’s heart pounded wildly.
As if resonating with his emotions, the energy coursing through his body trembled violently.
The massive force that Jin Tae-kyung called the “Celestial Stem” made one final grand circuit before settling gently into the dantian below his navel.
In that instant, with a tingling sensation of pleasure, Choi Min-woo’s eyes snapped open.
“Phew.”
The lingering resonance of his breathing cultivation echoed in his long exhale.
Choi Min-woo didn’t realize it, but he had just reached the fourth stage of the Jin Family’s Heart Method. The speed of his progress in merely a week was almost unbelievable.
Yet it was possible precisely because of the tremendous accumulated power of the Celestial Stem and Choi Min-woo’s exceptional physique, which even earned Jin Tae-kyung’s nod of approval.
‘The others haven’t finished yet.’
As Choi Min-woo glanced around, three figures absorbed in their breathing cultivation came into view.
Seated at regular intervals were Kim Butler, Song Song-i, and Lim Hyuk-jun.
The fact that four people were learning the Jin Family’s Heart Method was classified information of the highest order.
The place where they currently were was Choi Min-woo’s privately owned Training Room, equipped with airtight security.
‘I mustn’t disturb them.’
He’d already heard Jin Tae-kyung hammer into his ears the dangers of the phenomenon known as deviation from the path.
Choi Min-woo slipped out of the Training Room with extreme care and retrieved his phone, which he’d turned off earlier. Within less than a minute, his jaw dropped.
Breaking news was updating across his phone’s screen at a dazzling pace.
– Named Monster Resurfaces! South Korea in Crisis!
– Anomaly Occurs at A-rank Gate, [Black Forest of the Dark Sorcerer].
– Jin Tae-kyung Volunteers as Bait. Witness Testimonies: ‘He possesses sublime self-sacrifice,’ ‘A lifelong benefactor we’ll never forget.’
– Hunter Association Formulates Countermeasures and Prepares Rescue Team Deployment.
– Peace Guild Representative: ‘Currently unable to reach the leadership….’
– Netizens Flood Social Media with Criticism Over Association’s Sluggish Response. Jin Tae-kyung Isolated for 20 Minutes.
– Will a Miracle Occur?
“What… what is this?”
Sacrifice? Isolated? What was this nonsense?
Jin Tae-kyung was supposed to be clearing Gates with the guild members. How could he be making a sacrifice?
And a Named Monster, out of nowhere!
Choi Min-woo, who had been frozen with wide eyes, snapped back to attention in panic.
‘This isn’t the time for this.’
He knew Jin Tae-kyung’s abilities well enough.
But if he’d volunteered as bait to let the guild members escape first, he must be facing an enormous threat.
‘This is… truly dangerous.’
The moment he clenched his phone so hard it nearly crumpled, the firmly shut door of the Training Room swung open, and three figures emerged.
“Ah, refreshing!”
“Sir. Doesn’t your skin look better?”
“Ah, Young Master. You’re already out….”
“Kim Butler!”
A single urgent cry was all it took. The three of them sensed something was terribly wrong, their faces hardening in an instant.
Kim Butler asked calmly.
“What has happened?”
“We need to find Jin Tae-kyung. Right now!”
* * *
The entrance to the A-rank Gate, the Black Forest of the Dark Sorcerer, was already teeming with gathered crowds.
Hunters dispatched from the Hunter Association for safety, hunters from other guilds, and reporters who had come to cover the story at the risk of their lives.
The voices of hundreds of people echoed in all directions.
“Do you think Jin Tae-kyung is dead?”
“It’s difficult. He’s been silent for an hour already.”
“Still, he’s already proven he can take down a Named Monster….”
“Ah, that Wyvern from back then? It was impressive, certainly impressive, but….”
The senior reporter conversing with his junior colleague tapped ash from his cigarette.
“If you’re going to call yourself a hunter beat reporter, think about it. Didn’t you hear the interview with the Peace Guild member who was with Jin Tae-kyung earlier? There weren’t just one Named Monster—there were hundreds more. The situation is entirely different.”
“To that extent?”
“Well, it’s only this manageable because it’s Jin Tae-kyung. If it were someone else, words like ‘probably’ or ‘difficult’ wouldn’t even leave their mouth. What hunter do you think could last an hour alone? Rescue preparations? Nonsense. He’d already be dead, and they’d be preparing to recover the body.”
The junior reporter let out a quiet groan.
“It’s that dire a situation, then.”
“Completely screwed. And here we are, crazy enough to be scribbling out articles in the middle of all this.”
“But they wouldn’t have approved coverage unless some safety was guaranteed, right?”
“Don’t you see over there? More than thirty A-rank Hunters have shown up.”
Where the senior reporter gestured, dozens of hunters who looked impressive at first glance had gathered.
Most striking among them were the hunters bearing emblems of crossed sword and shield on their chests.
“The Ares Guild has dispatched people too.”
“They just arrived. Those bastards ignore even government requests if the profit doesn’t look good… I have no idea what wind brought them here.”
“Did they come to rescue Jin Tae-kyung?”
“Who knows. Could be. Or they could be thinking of swallowing the Named Monster themselves.”
Named Monsters possessed immense value.
The Wyvern that Jin Tae-kyung had recently defeated, the one-eyed Karus, was a newly awakened Named Monster, yet it possessed value in the hundreds of millions.
“But… shouldn’t they start the rescue operation now? They have enough forces.”
“They have enough. But those bastards might think differently.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. Forget it.”
The senior reporter fell silent after that.
He was a veteran among veterans, having worked this beat for nearly twenty years. His eyes and ears were everywhere, and he saw and heard much because of it.
‘Jin Tae-kyung must have rubbed them the wrong way.’
Recently, from a reliable source, I had heard peculiar news.
Strange currents had been detected between Myeongdong and Peace Guild—that was the information.
Few people knew of it, and it had proven to be mere gossip that quickly faded, but… the instincts honed over long years of journalism whispered that something was happening.
‘The Ares Guild showing up like this…’
It wasn’t unusual for the nation’s largest guild to mobilize against a Named Monster.
Yet something felt off. An inexplicable unease gnawed at me.
The Reporter, who had been watching the leadership gathered in one spot, suddenly furrowed his brow.
‘His palms must be raw by now. This bastard.’
The Seoul Branch Association Director—effectively the one in charge of this entire operation—was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, and he was rubbing his palms together obsequiously before him.
‘What was that guy’s name again? Seok Go-sang? Seok Go-jun?’
The security team leader of the Ares Guild, or so he’d heard. Essentially the right hand of Lee Jung-yong, who was all but the Guild Master himself.
Watching the Seoul Branch Association Director fawn over him like he’d give up his own liver, the Reporter began to understand why the rescue operation was being delayed.
“These bastards sure know how to have fun.”
It was the moment the senior Reporter muttered those barely audible words and stubbed out his half-burned cigarette.
“It’s the Peace Guild!”
“What? Where!”
“Hey, hey! Get the cameras ready!”
With the atmosphere growing tense and the broadcasters’ shouts, all eyes converged on a single point.
Just four people. Three men and one woman—they parted through the crowd like Moses splitting the Red Sea and took their stand before the Gate Entrance.
Before the Seoul Branch Hunters could block their path.
“Stand aside.”
Choi Min-woo, standing at the front, spoke in a cold, measured voice, and the Seoul Association Director, who had rushed over in alarm, responded.
“Safety hasn’t been confirmed yet. We need more time before executing the rescue operation…”
“Time? You’re still talking here?”
“Just a moment. A very brief moment will suffice.”
“Nearly an hour has already passed.”
His voice remained composed, yet his eyes flickered with barely contained fury. The three behind him burned with the same intensity.
“We must rescue them immediately.”
“Not now. Follow protocol.”
“Whose protocol? The Association’s? Or…”
In that fleeting instant, Choi Min-woo’s gaze swept past the Association Director to Seok Go-jun standing behind him.
His lips pressed into a thin line as he continued.
“Release the Association Hunters to us. Let the Peace Guild enter alone.”
“Surely you’re aware that violates regulations?”
The Association Director answered with an authoritative tone and snapped his fingers. The Seoul Branch Hunters, their expressions darkening, surrounded the Peace Guild members.
“It won’t take long. Show some patience and wait.”
That single statement shattered Choi Min-woo’s patience. He erupted like a volcano spewing molten rage.
“My friend is in there! Do you understand!”
Click, flash!
Cameras captured the moment, brilliant flashes erupting. But Choi Min-woo paid no heed. His furious cry continued.
“He could die! We have to save him!”
A Named Monster commanding hundreds of Skeleton units. Thinking of Jin Tae-kyung fighting for his life against such a foe, rage erupted from within like a volcano.
“Get out of the way, you bastards!”
* * *
The Skeleton Warlord spoke in a voice brimming with authority.
– By the name of the Commander, I command thee. Rise. My faithful servants. Stalwart soldiers of the legion!
In that instant, someone’s hand moved with the speed of lightning, striking the Warlord’s skull.
Crack!
“Damn it, seriously. One spell shouldn’t be that unnecessarily long. I told you to hurry.”
– ….
“You’re not answering?”
– …Yes.
The Warlord muttered in a resigned voice.
– Y-yes, rise. Bones, bones….
Whoooosh!
Demonic energy erupted from the Warlord, swallowing the Black Forest whole.
A brilliant smile bloomed on the Young Man’s lips as he watched skeletons sprouting up from the clearing.
“Ah, this harvest looks bountiful too.”

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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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