Murim Login - Chapter 360

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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 360
I have no idea how much time has passed.
My time moved with agonizing slowness, while the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s time flowed as swift and violent as the Yangtze River currents I’d witnessed weeks before.
One thing was certain: time continued to flow, even in this very moment.
Thwack!
I couldn’t even see his preparation or movement. By the time I thought the Western Heavenly Demon Lord had taken a single step, my head was already snapping back.
Before I could even straighten my stance, the piercing sound of his strike tore past my ear.
Whoosh, crack! Crack-crack-crack!
Shoulder, chest, abdomen. Palm strikes and fists infused with qi rained down upon my upper body like flowing water.
With the sickening sound of bones grinding, my vision turned white with agony, and I clenched my teeth.
Crunch—my molars shattered, and for a brief moment, clarity returned to my mind.
“Arrrgh!”
Whoosh!
I threw a punch, wringing the cry from the depths of my lungs. The Western Heavenly Demon Lord caught my clumsy, sluggish fist and clicked his tongue in disdain.
“Still have strength left?”
“…!”
Crack!
Even muscles and bones hardened like steel were nothing but kindling before the Western Heavenly Demon Lord.
His hand, curved like a hook, seized my wrist and twisted. Flesh and bone were crushed together.
The bones in my left arm—already broken once before—shattered into fragments, sending waves of excruciating pain through me.
“Kaaahhh!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have skilled healers brought in later to mend you.”
“Go to… hell!”
Toward the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, who wiped blood from his face, I thrust forward with my remaining right arm.
A faint spear light shimmered along the blade of my White Flame Spear as it drove toward his lower body.
Whoosh. Clang.
But the spear blade was blocked far too easily.
Not by the Black Dragon Armor or protective qi, but by the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s bare hand.
“How futile.”
His hand, wrapped in dark qi, tightened its grip on the spear blade. The faintly shimmering energy dissipated like it was being consumed by darkness.
“Give up. The outcome won’t change anyway.”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord spoke in a low voice as he pulled the spear blade toward him.
I desperately clung to the spear shaft, trying to wrench it free from his blood-soaked, flayed grip.
Searing pain flooded through me, but it was bearable.
I’d endured pain countless times before, and I was enduring it now.
Whoosh, boom-crash!
I tumbled forward with the spear shaft. A handful of dirt entered my mouth, mixing with blood.
The floor of the Underground Prison—cold as ice and reeking of stench—felt strangely more comfortable than ever before.
‘I’m so tired.’
If I closed my eyes now, I felt I could fall asleep instantly.
When I awoke from a long dream stretching across days and nights, perhaps I wasn’t in the Murim at all, but in the modern era.
A plush private jet seat bound for Sichuan, China would be nice, or even a cramped studio in the Hope Gosiwon reeking of stale bachelor air wouldn’t be so bad.
‘Perhaps all of this could be nothing but a dream.’
In that span of over a year, I experienced far too much.
From F-rank Hunter Jin Tae-kyung to the reckless third son of the Taewon Jin Clan. From a disgrace to my family’s name to the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon.
I witnessed brutal warfare and countless deaths, and met many people.
Jin Wi-kyung, who would die for his older brother, to Jin Moo-kyung, who wanted to kill his older brother. Hyuk Moo-jin, who always stood by my side through thick and thin, and Chung Poong, who was both friend and rival.
And….
‘Old Master Noya.’
My eyelids, which had been closing without my awareness, came to an abrupt halt.
That’s right. Fire King Red Sky River.
He stands behind me, and I stand before him.
Therefore, I cannot fall, nor can I flee.
‘That arrogant bastard. Tae-kyung, go on ahead.’
‘Y-yes, Elder Brother!’
‘I’ll catch up soon.’
Three years have passed, yet that day’s memory will never fade for as long as I live.
I failed to protect those dear to me, and I survived through their sacrifice.
Yet even after gaining power beyond what my past self could have imagined, I repeated the same mistake.
‘How is it? Flame God Returning Void. Magnificent, isn’t it?’
Red Sky River was smiling then.
In that smile lay the joy of avenging his dearest friend’s death, and the relief of having protected a blood-soaked wretch—whether disciple or enemy, he could not say.
“Yes. It is magnificent….”
A small voice escaped between my torn and swollen lips.
The floor of the Underground Prison no longer felt comfortable beneath me.
I began to push myself upward, feeling the unpleasant cold and stench.
With my intact right arm, I pressed against the ground, supporting myself on both knees.
My body felt as though it might shatter at any moment, and my movements were sluggish, but I did not surrender.
When I finally stood on trembling legs, the first thing I met was a pair of eyes sunken deep with malice.
“Impressive. Almost pitifully so.”
Crack!
My nasal bone shattered and my head snapped back. Yet I did not fall or stumble backward.
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s grip clamped down on my shoulder like a shackle.
“How many times must I say it? It’s already over.”
Crunch.
My shoulder blade crumbled. The spear slipped helplessly from my weakened grasp.
Terrible pain should have followed in succession, yet what I felt was strangely muted.
“If you’re waiting for help, you’ve miscalculated. The Sichuan Tang Sect will be annihilated. In fact, it may already be done by now.”
Snap!
This time, my legs. Both shins of my remaining intact legs shattered simultaneously, and I lost my balance.
Ironically, the very reason I could stand at this moment was because the Western Heavenly Demon Lord had not released me.
“Just as in Hanan, who could possibly come to your aid? The Sword Saint, who will only hear of this after a fortnight? The Sword Saint’s successor, struggling as we speak? Or perhaps….”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s gaze shifted.
Beyond the devastated and crumbling underground prison, ravaged by our collision, a single iron gate sealed shut reflected in his pupils.
“Your master, still unconscious?”
“Cough.”
“Nothing will change. Today, the Tang Sect, Blue Star Sect, and Emei Sect will be annihilated. And you all….”
“Cough!”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord could not finish his words.
A viscous mixture of earth and blood covered his face.
He clearly had not anticipated that I, with my limbs already shattered, could do such a thing.
In a moment brief enough to be called an instant, while his grip remained locked around my throat, I drove my forehead forward with every ounce of strength I possessed.
Crack!
With a heavy impact, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s head snapped backward.
My martial energy had long since depleted, and with severe internal injuries making even a finger’s movement agonizing, I myself could not fathom where such strength had surged from.
And….
‘There’s no time to think anymore anyway.’
That had been my final desperate struggle.
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord, touching his flushed forehead, let out a low chuckle.
“You truly are… a dangerous fellow.”
I answered in a hoarse voice.
“I should have crushed your skull.”
“Had you not drawn upon your life-preserving energy at the end, perhaps you would have.”
“Monstrous bastard.”
“Heh, hearing such words from you is rather peculiar.”
Unreadable emotions flickered across the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s eyes as he regarded me.
At first glance it seemed like rage, yet at the same time it felt like admiration.
But before I could properly discern what those emotions truly were, an unexpected roar erupted.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, crash!
The source of the sound was neither me nor the Western Heavenly Demon Lord.
The underground prison. This entire space, spanning hundreds of paces, trembled violently. Fist-sized stones fell from the ceiling, and cracks spider-webbed across the ground.
The noise and tremors ceased quickly, but a deep furrow carved itself between the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s brows.
“…I must hurry a bit.”
The moment the Western Heavenly Demon Lord muttered those words while glancing upward, heaven and earth inverted. Then a small impact transmitted through my back.
Thud!
A wall. He had hurled me against the stone face.
As I coughed up blood, a calm voice reached my ears.
“Stay there for a moment. I shall return shortly.”
“You….”
“If you are still alive by then, I will take you with me, and should you happen to be dead….”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord, who had been silent for a moment, continued speaking.
“That wouldn’t be so bad either. You are a dangerous person, after all.”
“W-wait. Stop.”
I stretched out my hand with all my remaining strength toward the receding figure of the Western Heavenly Demon Lord.
I had to seize him. I had to prevent Red Sky River and the Divine Physician from being captured.
But nothing obeyed my will.
“Cough. Cough-hack!”
Dark crimson blood poured from my gaping mouth.
The chunks mixed throughout… damn it. Pieces of my organs.
It wasn’t something I was seeing for the first time, nor was it unexpected, yet a suffocating despair crushed my entire body.
Crippled limbs and fatal internal injuries.
My mind wanted to block the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s path, but my shattered arms and legs couldn’t move a single step.
“Ah.”
With a groan, I lifted my head blankly.
The corridor where the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s figure had vanished was empty.
The place, devastated by my collision with the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, was filled with traces of large and small craters and collapsed walls.
Until half a day ago, the Underground Prison where prisoners had been confined was littered with bent bars, fallen rocks, and broken chains.
Looking at that sight, I understood.
‘It’s over.’
I fought, and I lost.
I tried to stop him but couldn’t. I tried to protect them but failed.
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord. What he said was true.
The luck that happened in Hanan won’t occur again. The Tang Sect, Emei Sect, and Blue Star Sect will follow the path to annihilation, and Chung Poong cannot bear them alone.
‘He’ll probably die or be captured.’
I’d rather hope he escapes, but that won’t happen.
Because Chung Poong is that kind of person. Even drenched in blood, he’ll return to the Underground Prison, determined to save his benefactor.
I gazed into that dark expanse beyond where the exit lay, and laughed weakly.
‘Damn it….’
It all felt like my fault. Chung Poong, Red Sky River, and the Divine Physician, who would suffer calamity caught up in this needless affair.
I was at least grateful I hadn’t brought Hyuk Moo-jin and Gung Ki-bang along.
Boom-boom-boom-boom.
A small tremor accompanied a sound that seemed to rise from deep beneath the earth.
The sound announcing the end of the match.
There was no need to go all twelve rounds like in boxing. I collapsed in merely three rounds, and I would probably die soon.
‘I’m sorry. Everyone.’
The simple rules written in the capsule’s instruction manual.
If I die in the Murim, I die in reality as well.
Everything I had built, crossing between two worlds, was crumbling down, just like this Underground Prison.
“I never thought I’d die like this….”
My vision blurs. The pain felt throughout my body and the sounds reaching my ears gradually fade away.
And in that moment when I was slipping away from all sensation, an old man’s face suddenly filled my vision.
Chains bearing marks of something torn away. A frame so gaunt the bones protruded, yet towering with an imposing height.
I called out to him in a voice devoid of strength.
“…Cheon Ryeok-ma.”

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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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