Murim Login - Chapter 33

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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 33
“Please, kill me.”
A young man with disheveled hair, caked in blood and dust, knelt before him. His name was Lee So-gwang—the elder brother of the deceased Lee So-gun and the Sect Leader of the Hangsan Inspection Bureau.
“Speak. Tell me yourself.”
At that cold voice, everyone in the military camp froze. Each one of them was a pillar of the Hangsan Inspection Bureau, masters who had traversed the Murim for decades.
Yet even they had to bow their heads before this one man.
“Father…”
“That is not the answer I seek.”
Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheon-baek did not even turn around. Lee So-gwang forced his trembling voice to emerge.
“The survivors number twenty-three, including myself. The rest… their fates remain unknown.”
A heavy silence descended upon the assembly.
Two hundred soldiers had been killed or captured, and three masters at the peak of their power had been lost. This alone would be difficult to escape censure for, but the true problem lay elsewhere.
“What were your orders?”
“…To annihilate the branch of the Taewon Jin Family and advance to Jeong-yang.”
“And after that?”
“To seal the roads and await the arrival of the main force.”
“Why did you advance all the way to Hongjoo?”
“We received… information.”
“Information?”
“Yes. We were told that Jo Pil had pursued Jin Tae-kyung to Hongjoo and captured him. However…”
“The Taewon Jin Family’s pursuit unit was chasing you, so you asked for help.”
Lee So-gwang lowered his head, and Lee Cheon-baek let out a hollow laugh.
“Who gave you this information?”
“A rogue under Jo Pil’s command.”
“Do you still believe that?”
“…No, sir.”
Crack!
Lee So-gwang’s face snapped to the side. Above it, the fierce gaze of Lee Cheon-baek poured down like flames.
“Be grateful you were born as my son.”
With Lee So-gwang’s dismissal and orders to return to the Hangsan Inspection Bureau, the matter was temporarily concluded. Now was the time to view reality with cold clarity.
“What is our current situation?”
“We lost two hundred soldiers, but more than half were hastily assembled rogues, so the damage is not as severe as it appears. The problem is…”
“We lost three masters at the peak of their power.”
Lee Cheon-baek’s heart ached. The Hangsan Twin Ghosts, whom he had fought alongside for twenty years. And Jo Pil, whom he had hired at great expense, was also dead. Masters at the peak could turn the tide of battle. The void they left had to be filled somehow.
“Recruit more. Whether you buy rogues from the black market, hire bandits, or use whatever means necessary.”
“The expenses are too great. By now, word of what happened in Hongjoo has spread everywhere. They will demand higher prices.”
“These are not trustworthy men either. Especially the bandits—they are like human butchers. If we hire such men, it will damage the sect’s reputation in the future…”
But Lee Cheon-baek did not blink an eye.
“Good. Hire them all.”
“Sect Leader!”
“There are roughly five hundred skilled warriors gathered here. Even accounting for double their numbers, we don’t fall short in the count of peak-realm masters.”
“My son thought the same way. He got utterly crushed in Hongjoo.”
“That was….”
“Never mind whether it’s some human butcher or whatever—pour everything into this war. If we lose, it won’t be our reputation we forfeit, but our lives!”
At Lee Cheon-baek’s fierce command, the senior officers realized that persuasion was futile. Yet that didn’t mean the discussion had ended.
“The morale of our warriors is in shambles, sir.”
“Beyond the defeat in Hongjoo, rumors that Jin Tae-kyung killed Jo Pil are causing unrest among the troops.”
Jin Tae-kyung. Hearing the name of his enemy, Lee Cheon-baek’s insides twisted.
‘Are there actually fools who believe such nonsense?’
That pathetic Jin Tae-kyung—not content with poisoning his son, now he’d supposedly slain a peak-realm master. The scheme was transparent. Lee Cheon-baek trembled with rage at the depravity of the Taewon Jin Family.
“Hunt down everyone spreading such baseless rumors. Not a single one escapes!”
If he made examples of a few and had them executed, morale would suffer but collapse could be prevented. Now was the time to suppress and push forward.
“Four days. In four days, we march on Taewon!”
Such is the nature of grudges in the Murim. The cycle of enmity never breaks until one side falls.
‘I will take everything from you. Just as you did to me.’
* * *
“Remarkable recovery, I must say.”
The Physician clicked his tongue in amazement. It was the second day since I’d regained consciousness. Overnight, the scabs had fallen away, revealing fresh, pale new skin beneath.
“In ten years of practice, I’ve never witnessed anything like this.”
Even I found the healing speed miraculous. The flesh melted away by the Flame Divine General’s heat, the fractured bones and deep sword wounds—none of it remained. And on top of that, the internal injuries too.
‘It must be the effect of leveling up.’
There’s only one method in reality that produces similar results.
The healing magic used by an extremely rare few Hunters called Healers, that’s what it is.
‘Complete recovery in one go—was that too much?’
It was somewhat disappointing, but perhaps it worked out better this way. If all my wounds had healed from a single level-up, it would have been difficult to avoid suspicion.
Even now, the Physician kept glancing at me as if I were some sort of monster.
“Hmm, how extraordinary. It seems excessive even for the efficacy of Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng….”
“Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng?”
I had a vague memory of reading about it in a martial arts novel. A ginseng root a hundred years old, something like that?
‘Why is that suddenly coming up?’
The Physician explained to my bewildered self. He was one of the few NPCs who knew I’d lost my memory.
“About a year ago, the Medicine King Storehouse was robbed.”
Ah, I catch his meaning immediately.
The Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng must have been among the stolen medicinal materials, and the culprit was obvious….
“The Medicine King Master was absolutely furious.”
The Physician offered an awkward smile.
“After all, Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng isn’t something you can simply purchase with money. You stole a miraculous elixir that grants twenty years of cultivation in a single dose.”
“Twenty years of cultivation?”
Suddenly, something came to mind. That third force of internal energy that hadn’t obeyed my control.
‘So that’s what it was.’
At the same time, a wave of regret crashed over me. In that final moment, as I activated the skill, most of the twenty years of cultivation I’d accumulated from the Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng had vanished.
It was a catastrophe born from a runaway—something beyond my control, not by my own deliberate choice.
‘I used it as a disposable item.’
The Physician, misinterpreting my pained expression, spoke urgently.
“Of course, Young Master must have had a greater purpose in mind to make such a decision.”
Greater purpose, my foot. I’d eaten it simply to recover my health.
I’d survived thanks to the Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng’s cultivation, but the waste of it still gnawed at me. It was absolutely infuriating.
“You’ve recovered almost completely, so there should be no issues with your mobility. I’ll take my leave now.”
The moment the Physician hurriedly left, I opened the system window.
‘Status window, open.’
Ding.
Status Window
[Lv.30 Jin Tae-kyung]
Occupation
: Second-Rate Martial Artist
Renown
: 410
Titles
: 4 (Title Effects Active)
– Scion of a Noble House (All Stats +5, Renown +50)
– Family Disgrace (All Stats –5, Renown –50)
– Novice Cultivator (Training Speed +10%)
– Gambler (One-on-One Combat: Combat Stats +10%)
Strength
: 115
Endurance
: 120
Agility
: 116
Intellect
: 15
Charm
: 15
Cultivation
: 15 Years
Remaining Points
: 0
A surge of satisfaction washed over me as I gazed at the window.
‘I’ve grown considerably.’
It felt like only yesterday I was trembling before petty bandits, yet now I’d become a master of sorts. My level had skyrocketed after capturing Jo Pil, and I’d gained an enormous amount of renown in the process.
That wasn’t all. By absorbing a portion of the remaining Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng’s essence, I’d gained an additional four years of cultivation, and on top of that….
Skill Window
[One Slash]
Rank
: Peak
Realm
: Second Stage
Restriction
: Jin Tae-kyung
Effect
:

Expend vitality and cultivation to deliver a devastating strike. Depending on severity, the user falls into a state of helplessness for a certain duration.
A new martial technique had emerged—or rather, a new skill. But it differed significantly from the skills I knew in reality.
‘I can control the amount consumed and the power output.’
A full-force thrust. This skill, now named One Slash, couldn’t be spammed carelessly. It could unleash destructive power several tiers above my current level in an instant, but it would exhaust all my strength in a single strike.
‘Or perhaps this skill was always meant to be adjustable.’
In reality, I’m an F-rank Hunter. My physical abilities and mana reserves are negligible. But here, in this game, in Murim, it’s different.
With fifteen years of cultivation and physical prowess superior to NPCs twenty or thirty levels above me, I’m a martial artist of considerable standing. The vessel that contains power had changed, so the original potential of the skill had finally revealed itself.
‘I’ve grown stronger again.’
It felt like just yesterday I was getting thoroughly beaten by Hyuk Moo-jin while learning martial techniques, yet now I’d defeated a peak-stage master.
Outside my window, my name echoes multiple times a day.
They call me the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, the hero of the family.
‘A hero, they say.’
I never thought I’d hear such words in my lifetime. An F-rank Hunter nobody like me, whose life motto is safety first, has no business with such a title.
I lay still, flexing my fingers. The soft, pale palms of a young master had become covered with calluses.
‘With these hands, I defeated Jo Pil.’
The number of enemies I’ve defeated now exceeds dozens. Bandits, rogues, and even those regarded as first-rate masters—yet I survived. I even defeated Jo Pil, the peak-stage master of One Stroke One Kill, whom I thought I could never overcome.
Suddenly, words Wi Paeng had spoken came to mind.
‘The one who survives is the strong one, he said.’
By his logic, I’m undoubtedly strong. I’ve survived against all the enemies I’ve faced, and I’m being called a hero.
Yes. To be honest….
‘It doesn’t feel so bad.’
In reality, I’m pathetic.
I eat and sleep in a three-pyeong Gosiwon studio apartment, supporting my family as the breadwinner. I can never be a hero, nor do I wish to be.
Just a lowest-rank Hunter named Jin Tae-kyung, fighting each day in prayer for survival.
That was me.
‘But in this game, it’s different.’
F-rank Hunter Jin Tae-kyung has accomplished many things I couldn’t do. At the very least… I can protect those who believe in me and follow me from my enemies’ hands. I’m recognized by people, called a hero.
Even if everything here is merely virtual and the people I see are just NPCs, that fact doesn’t change.
As I entertained such thoughts, laughter suddenly bubbled up from within me.
‘This is why games are so terrifying.’
Was this game addiction?
I had discovered that I was actually enjoying living as Jin Tae-kyung in Murim. Because this was a game. Because it could transform every impossibility into possibility.
But now it was time to leave. To that place brimming with impossibilities—reality. Where my family waited, where my true self existed.
‘Check the Quest window.’
Ding.
Quest
[Logout]
Now you must navigate through this treacherous Murim.
Grow ever stronger, achieve greater renown.
For that day which shall come someday….
Rank
: Main Quest
Restricted to
: Jin Tae-kyung
Objectives
: Achieve [First-Rate] Realm (Incomplete)
Reach Lv.30 (Complete)
Achieve 500 Renown (410/500)
Reward
: [Logout]
Logout. The moment those four glittering characters met my eyes, my breath caught.
Only two conditions remained before logout. Renown could be resolved by time—it would continue climbing as rumors about me spread. The real problem lay elsewhere.
“First-Rate.”
What exactly was needed to achieve First-Rate?
Not level, not attributes, not renown….
‘Internal force? Or must I elevate my martial technique realm further?’
At that moment, a respectful voice called from beyond the door.
“Young Master. The Sect Leader seeks you.”
“Ah.”
Right. When in doubt, asking was always best. In that sense, Jin Wi-kyung, a supreme master at his peak, was the perfect tutor.

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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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