Murim Login - Chapter 301

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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 301
Seok Go-jun was brimming with certainty.
‘I can do this.’
It was roughly thirty years ago when he, orphaned and bereft after losing his parents in the Great Cataclysm, first met Lee Jung-yong.
‘I’ve had my eye on you for some time now. Will you not follow me?’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. You possess exceptional talent.’
Only then did he understand.
How a mere orphan like himself had managed to receive the finest education in the most optimal environment. Who the anonymous benefactor was—someone he had never once laid eyes upon until now.
He was no fairy tale Daddy Longlegs, but that alone was reason enough to follow him.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘From now on, you shall address me as Master.’
And so everything began.
Mingled among other children, he had to learn movements and breathing techniques he had never witnessed before, yet Seok Go-jun found everything wonderful.
Blisters formed on his fern-like hands, soon hardening into calluses. They burst, healed, and toughened—and so too did Seok Go-jun’s life mirror this transformation.
Hardened by suffering as much as by growth, he came to stand at Lee Jung-yong’s right hand.
‘From this day forward, you are my security team leader.’
‘Please instruct me on what I must do and what I must not.’
‘Follow my orders and never defy them. That is all.’
My master Lee Jung-yong’s answer etched itself deeply into my mind.
I lived by the milestones he set for me—sometimes in shadow, sometimes in light.
I handled countless matters for Lee Jung-yong, always without flaw.
Unlike hunters who inflated their own worth and lived flamboyant lives, I concealed my true strength and quietly resolved every task my master assigned.
Within the Ares Guild, everyone could only speculate; only Lee Jung-yong knew my true power.
‘Does it not frustrate you?’
‘What do you mean, sir?’
‘Remaining only at my side.’
‘I have never given it thought.’
‘With your abilities, you could make a name for yourself anywhere right now.’
‘I have no interest in such things. I will always guard your side, Master.’
‘Ha, you seem even more dependable today.’
It was genuine. Though the entire security team received Lee Jung-yong’s teachings, no disciple worshipped and respected him as blindly as I did.
Exceptional skill and unwavering loyalty.
These two virtues I possessed were, ironically, the very reason I defied my master’s orders.
“Had it not been for Master’s special directive… you would have died here.”
“Master? Ah, Jung-yong?”
“…!”
“Is Jung-yong doing well? Shouldn’t he be looking at houses in Silver Town soon?”
It was an insult I could not bear. For me, Lee Jung-yong was parent, master, and a being akin to divinity itself.
It was only natural that the eyes of a fanatic whose god had been insulted would turn mad with fury.
‘This bastard deserves to be torn apart….’
The moment my master’s instruction to avoid conflict with the Peace Guild was wiped clean from my mind, aura was already coalescing around my fist.
“If you think it’ll be the same as last time… I’ll make you regret it.”
Seok Go-jun had already gauged Jin Tae-kyung’s abilities from their brief clash at the Hospital a week ago.
However, that had been under my master’s orders. I hadn’t even displayed half of my true power back then.
Now Jin Tae-kyung would pay dearly for that carelessness.
‘I’ll end this with all my strength, in one breath.’
I had no concern for the aftermath. I simply wanted to punish this fool who had insulted my master with utter brutality.
And I had absolute confidence in my abilities.
“Die!”
Whoooosh!
With a terrifying sound of air splitting, my fist shot forward at a speed like a beam of light.
The distance between me and Jin Tae-kyung was merely three steps.
The way he stood there grinning widely with both arms spread open was defenseless itself.
In the slowed world, while my fist advanced with the momentum to pierce through his chest, Jin Tae-kyung didn’t move an inch.
‘It’s over, kid.’
That was the very moment a smug smile formed at the corner of my mouth.
Crack-!
A sound as if the heavens themselves were splitting apart.
But Seok Go-jun didn’t hear that sound. Instead, he felt an enormous recoil force at the tip of his fist, followed by a searing heat like molten lava sweeping through his insides.
‘This is….’
In an instant, his vision turned pure white, and a pain like a red-hot blade raking through his abdomen crashed over him.
Without realizing it, something poured out through his gaping mouth.
“Kuh-wheeeek!”
Splurt.
Seok Go-jun, bent like a shrimp as he vomited, opened his eyes wide.
Blood, nothing but blood. Among the dark red liquid pooling on the ground, whitish objects of indeterminate shape were visible.
It didn’t take long to realize those were fragments of organs.
“This, what on earth….”
As Seok Go-jun stared blankly at his own blood pooling on the ground, a foot suddenly intruded into his vision.
“Didn’t I say I’d make you regret it?”
“…!”
“Strange. To my eyes, you don’t seem like much.”
I didn’t need to lift my head to confirm it.
I knew who owned the foot stepping on my blood. I knew whose voice was as cold as ice yet burning with heat.
‘How did I, how did I fall in a single exchange….’
Just one clash. It was a pillar of fire that had reduced the tower I’d built over thirty years into ashes.
‘Is this even possible?’
Seok Go-jun’s entire body trembled violently.
Pain?
No. What dominated him now was a fear—an emotion he had felt only once before, from his master, Lee Jung-yong.
“Lift your head.”
That very fear seized Seok Go-jun by the hair and slowly raised it.
Feet submerged in pools of blood. Past legs as rigid and unyielding as steel, a torso of muscle lean and taut as a predator’s. And then….
There was presence in those eyes.
In the Black Forest, wrapped in shallow darkness on all sides, two eyes burning with flame-like intensity fixed upon Seok Go-jun.
“Tell your master this.”
Hot breath brushed against his ear. A voice as soft as a whisper, audible only to him, continued.
“As long as I exist, no one will lay a hand on the Peace Guild.”
“…!”
Seok Go-jun’s eyelids trembled violently. A hoarse voice spilled from between lips soaked in blood.
“What… are you?”
“Me?”
The answer that came moments later resonated not in his ears, but within his mind.
– I am the successor of the Fire King, the heir of blazing flame.
A voice like an auditory hallucination.
Seok Go-jun did not even recognize it as a direct transmission of thought, nor did he grasp the meaning behind those words.
Only one word echoed in his mind.
‘A monster….’
With Jin Tae-kyung’s playfully smiling face as his last sight, Seok Go-jun’s body crumbled like rotted timber.
* * *
Whoosh. Thud!
A suffocating silence descended. No one dared open their mouth, could barely move. Hundreds of pairs of eyes swept across my entire form.
I stared at the unconscious Seok Go-jun for a moment, then let out a brief comment.
“That’s why I said—why act so tough? You’re nothing but a brat.”
“…!”
“…!”
The air froze instantly. As I turned my head away from Seok Go-jun, gasps of breath erupted from all directions.
One person’s reaction was particularly intense.
“Association President.”
“Eek!”
Lee Woo-joong, the Seoul Central Association President, startled violently and averted his gaze as he answered.
“Y-yes, did you call for me?”
“Why the sudden formal speech? You were speaking casually just moments ago.”
The Association President stammered, his face drained of color.
“M-me, speaking informally?”
“You don’t remember?”
“L-lately my memory hasn’t been so good, I forget things often….”
“Oh my, is that so? Then you must have already forgotten everything that happened between us today?”
“…!”
“Your expression suggests you have a good memory, doesn’t it?”
If you couldn’t understand after I’ve explained this much, you wouldn’t be sitting in such a high position right now.
At my question, the Association President hastily shook his head.
“No, sir. Of course not. I’ll make sure they all keep their mouths shut.”
“Keep their mouths shut?”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant.”
“So all these people who came with you also have poor memories, right?”
“Yes, yes. That’s right. These friends all suffer from short-term memory loss. Don’t they all?”
The two hundred or so Association Hunters who had entered the Gate following their direct superior, the Association President, nodded frantically like madmen.
“That’s correct.”
“Absolutely. I can’t even remember my own name.”
“Wait, where am I? Who am I?”
Who was that last one?
I barely managed to suppress the urge to check his face.
“Well, that works out nicely.”
Following my broad smile, the Association President and the other Hunters forced awkward grins.
Well, with so many eyes watching, I didn’t think this level of silence would actually hold.
Now, what comes next…
“You there, who’s in charge?”
“That would be me.”
The middle-aged man with sharp eyes who stepped forward was an A-rank Hunter and Team Leader of the Ares Guild.
He looked back and forth between me and the fallen Seok Go-jun with eyes that still couldn’t believe what he was seeing, then bit his lip.
“I don’t know what circumstances entangled you with Seok Team Leader… but you’ve made a serious mistake.”
From the way he spoke, it was clear he didn’t know the exact internal details.
I answered with a smirk.
“Life happens—sometimes one thing, sometimes another. What can you do?”
“Aren’t you worried about how the Guild Master will react when he hears about today’s events?”
“Worried? No. But I’m looking forward to it. Make sure to report this to Lee Jung-yong.”
At my response, not only the middle-aged man but all the Ares Guild members standing behind him flinched in surprise.
Whether it was because of how I addressed Lee Jung-yong or my casual attitude, I couldn’t say.
I was more curious about Lee Jung-yong’s reaction when he heard the report than what they were thinking.
‘Our Uncle Jung-yong is going to have a headache.’
In this stage, the role assigned to Lee Jung-yong was that of a janitor.
As someone who didn’t want noise leaking out, he would need to cover people’s eyes and ears, and shut off the speakers broadcasting sound to the outside.
‘And yet, less than two weeks after the final deal, he’s already baring his fangs the moment an opportunity presents itself… Impressive, truly.’
A chill ran down my spine at Lee Jung-yong’s judgment—striking immediately the moment an opening appeared, not long after the final transaction was concluded.
‘What if I had actually died here?’
This fight would have been over. Against the Ares Guild, the non-existent Peace Guild would be utterly defenseless.
At the same time, I understood once more.
‘This fight—if I let my guard down for even a moment, it’s all over.’
In this war, there is only an end—never a ceasefire. The enemies would continue to bare their fangs at every opportunity, waiting for their moment to strike.
“Sigh.”
At any rate, the minimum traffic control was finished with that.
Or so I thought.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Four pairs of eyes fixed on me with terrifying intensity. And dozens more demanding an explanation.
‘Ah, I forgot about our guild.’
I’d overlooked something crucial. But where was I supposed to even begin explaining this?
After a moment of deliberation, I opened my mouth.
“I went to use the restroom.”
“….”
A heavy silence fell.
Song-i suddenly spoke, her voice tender in a way I’d never heard before.
“Tae-kyung.”
“Hm?”
“Can I kill you?”
“…Let me go explain.”
Right, let’s get out of here first.

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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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