Murim Login - Chapter 38

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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 38
My first instinct was bewilderment.
“Departure?”
Gwak Jun answered.
“Yes. We need to move on our end to stay on schedule.”
Hyuk Moo-jin stepped forward at his cryptic words.
“Hold on, you from Samdo Gate. Seems like you’ve got it wrong—our orders are to wait here in the rear with the Young Master.”
“Is that so?”
Gwak Jun’s eyes widened. At his reaction, the Scout Unit members nodded knowingly, as if to say, “Of course.”
“I must have misunderstood.”
“It happens. Sure. It happens.”
But my thoughts diverged sharply.
‘Misunderstood? That’s rich.’
Twenty Samdo Gate warriors remained in the rear. Gwak Jun was their de facto leader.
‘A man like that forgets his orders?’
Disagreeable as he was, he didn’t strike me as that foolish.
Dread crept through me, coiling around my entire body.
“That’s unfortunate. My orders differ somewhat.”
“How so?”
As I spoke, I pressed down firmly on Hyuk Moo-jin’s foot. The man babbles constantly, but he’s no idiot. His eyes widened as he caught my signal.
“Commander. My foot—it hurts.”
“….”
Damn it.
Gwak Jun’s lips curled upward as he watched my exasperation.
“Sharp instincts. Or perhaps your subordinates are simply dull? Either way, let me relay what he said.”
In the next instant, the smile vanished from Gwak Jun’s face. A cold, emotionless killer’s gaze continued.
“Eliminate them all and rejoin the main force.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The moment the words left his lips, dozens of sword lights erupted. Twenty Samdo Gate warriors under Gwak Jun’s command, and the Scout Unit members drawing their blades half a beat too late—between them hung killing intent and tension.
“These bastards are insane….”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s teeth ground together as he glared at them.
“You dare betray the Main Residence? Have you lost your minds?”
“Betray? Lose our minds? You’re sorely mistaken.”
A sneer played at Gwak Jun’s lips.
“We’ve betrayed nothing, nor do we have anything to lose. Especially not to the likes of you.”
“You bastard!”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s eyes blazed as he hurled himself toward Gwak Jun. Or rather, tried to.
“Stay still.”
“Commander?”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s eyes went wide.
“Samdo Gate. Second-rate sect rabble, the lot of them! We should crush those bastards right now and——”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“They’re not rabble.”
Their keen aura and murderous gaze told a different story. These were no mere warriors from some minor sect. The system transformed my suspicion into certainty.
[Lv.30]
The average level of these men, as I perceived it through my aura sense.
Each one a master-class martial artist. Damn it all—I’d spent four days with these monsters and never caught on.
‘I was too fixated on logging out.’
A lapse born of carelessness. I bit my lip, studying them—or rather, the dense undergrowth rustling behind their backs.
It was the faintest of movements, yet it could not escape my perception.
‘They’re hiding.’
Beyond the range of my aura sense, so I couldn’t confirm it directly, but my instincts screamed certainty. Spies and ambush tactics both. Thorough operators.
“Who are you really?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where is the real Samdo Gate?”
Samdo Gate was a minor sect—second-rate rabble, as Hyuk Moo-jin had said. Such people couldn’t simply materialize overnight.
Could it be?
“Did you come from Hangsan Inspection Bureau?”
Gwak Jun let out a soft chuckle.
“Hangsan Inspection Bureau? Well, I suppose you could think of it that way.”
Damn it. A third faction entirely.
With logout so close at hand, something like this had to happen….
‘Shit, my luck is absolutely cursed.’
My courage drained away even as Gwak Jun’s confidence surged. The more I faltered, the more he flourished.
“It’s too late for regrets now. The grand scheme has been in motion for far longer than you know.”
“Tch.”
Gwak Jun’s voice dripped with exultation as he made his declaration.
“Today… Shanxi Murim welcomes a new master.”
Ding.
– Quest created.
Quest
[Eliminate the Assassins]
Someone who has waited long has finally moved. First, eliminate the assassins sent by the traitor!
Difficulty
: Peak
Restriction
: Jin Tae-kyung
Objective
: Eliminate the Assassins (0/20)
Reward
: Experience and Reputation
Linked Quest
Failure
: Death
I blinked. Had I misread the Quest window?
‘Twenty people?’
Why twenty? There are ambushers hiding over there too?
The moment that question arose, the grass rustled and the hidden enemies charged toward us with a battle cry.
– Kweeeeek!
That’s an odd war cry. Wait, isn’t that more of a shriek?
As I stood there dumbfounded, a notification rang out that [Keen Sense] had activated.
[Lv.1 Musk Deer]
What the hell.
“Musk deer?”
The herd of musk deer rushed past us and vanished beyond the hillside. A sudden appearance. A swift departure.
Gwak Jun drew his sword with a strangely deflated expression.
“Strike!”
Twenty enemies approached slowly. Still reeling from the musk deer incident, I called out to Hyuk Moo-jin.
“Hey.”
“What is it?”
“They’re all first-rate martial artists.”
“Huh, really?”
Hyuk Moo-jin was startled.
“Yeah. You know Lee So-gun, right? Second-ranked at the Hangsan Inspection Bureau. Think of it as twenty of him.”
“Lee So-gun, times twenty?”
His reaction was peculiar. Hyuk Moo-jin fell silent in thought for a moment, then dropped a single remark.
“They’re all going to die, aren’t they?”
* * *
Gwak Jun was thinking.
‘This isn’t right.’
His gaze was fixed on one person. Jin Tae-kyung. The third son of the Taewon Jin Family, known as a supreme master. Every time his spear moved, blood erupted and his subordinates fell.
Even if they endured one strike, by the second or third, their life force was invariably severed. Each and every one of them was a first-rate martial artist trained for at least a decade.
‘What kind of monster is this guy?’
He clearly wielded a spear—a spearman through and through—yet he paid no mind whether the distance closed or not. The moment he deemed there was no room to swing his spear, hidden blades and axes would suddenly flick out from nowhere, stabbing and thrusting at anything in their path. It surpassed the tricks of an acrobatic troupe.
‘Where in the world are all these weapons coming from?’
I couldn’t even see it. I had no idea what technique he was using. It wasn’t a matter of martial skill or inner force. Jin Tae-kyung himself—as a human being—simply appeared overwhelmingly strong.
‘The intelligence was wrong.’
Twenty was nowhere near enough. He should have brought double. According to the information he’d received, Jin Tae-kyung was nothing more than a fortunate brat, nothing more and nothing less.
‘And what about those other two?’
The nine subordinates under Jin Tae-kyung’s command pressed forward slowly, their backs locked together regardless of what their captain did ahead. Individually, they were clearly lacking in skill, yet when united, they formed an impenetrable wall.
Thwack. Crack!
“Aaaagh!”
“Stab him, stab him!”
“Push in, push in!”
Gwak Jun’s lips trembled. These men had no honor as martial artists. Three or four of them would swarm each opponent, their blades flashing relentlessly, and even his first-rate subordinates were being skewered like meat on a spit.
“These bastards…!”
Rage swept away his fear of Jin Tae-kyung. As he surged forward to hurl himself into the fray, it happened.
Whoooosh—
A violent tempest erupted from the center of the battlefield.
Jin Tae-kyung’s spear tore through the wind and shattered blades. Hundreds of blade fragments scattered on the gale, sweeping across the field toward their owners and those too slow to react.
Splurt splurt splurt splurt splurt!
“…Ugh.”
Thud.
A warrior with blade fragments embedded across his entire body collapsed. Among the dozen subordinates caught in that single strike, he was the only one who managed to utter a sound.
“…!”
A heavy gulp. Someone’s throat bobbed visibly. In that moment, friend and foe alike fell silent. No one dared raise a blade to fight. Of course, there was one exception.
“One strike—that’s pretty clean.”
The instant Gwak Jun heard Jin Tae-kyung’s murmur, he surrendered everything.
‘It’s over.’
Even if the great plan succeeded, he had failed. Only a meaningless choice remained: die by Jin Tae-kyung’s hand, or die by theirs.
‘I have to run. Somewhere no one will ever find me.’
But Gwak Jun could not flee to begin a second life. A chilling voice stopped him just as he turned to leave.
“Stop right there. Unless you want to die very painfully.”
Jin Tae-kyung added in a slightly softer tone.
“Answer my questions well, and I’ll make it quick.”
Gwak Jun’s face drained of all color.
* * *
Thud—!
“Huff.”
I felt it.
Two or three ribs probably cracked, and my breath caught in my throat.
For a level 40, I held up reasonably well, but that was the limit.
“I told you not to run.”
“I would have bolted too, sir.”
Hyuk Moo-jin, covered in blood and dust, looked down at me like I was a beast.
“You say you’ll kill me gently? You might as well coat your spear blade with healing salve before stabbing me.”
“Want me to stab you?”
“Now that I think about it, you’re right. A gentle blade strike hurts less, doesn’t it? You could die gently too. Heh, hehehehe.”
I smacked the back of his head and hauled Gwak Jun to his feet.
“Let me ask again. Who are you?”
I sidestepped the blood spray with ease. With high agility stats, I could dodge even saliva flying inches from my face. This was valuable intel.
Of course, Gwak Jun had his own pressure points too. For instance.
“A blow to the solar plexus with fractured ribs causes considerable pain.”
Crack.
“Aaaaagh!”
“So, your answer?”
“S-Samdo Gate.”
As I raised my fist again, Gwak Jun cried out.
“Samdo Gate, it’s Samdo Gate! I’m telling the truth!”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s brow furrowed.
“That’s a lie. Samdo Gate was founded thirty years ago, though it’s closer to a martial organization than a true sect. They’re renowned for taking in orphans and training them.”
“So?”
“What if these men slaughtered all of Samdo Gate’s disciples and are posing as them?”
“Fake? Pffft.”
A deflating sound escaped Gwak Jun’s lips. He was laughing.
“You still don’t understand? Samdo Gate was established according to his will. Could you have possibly grasped a thirty-year plan? Krhehe.”
“Thirty years?”
An eternity. Over such a vast span of time, few people could orchestrate a plan to seize Shanxi Province while remaining hidden.
Only one name came to mind.
‘The Grand Elder?’
What possible reason could he have?
It was the Grand Elder who lifted Jin Wi-kyung from his self-recrimination before the children’s corpses, and who actively cooperated by ceasing all political maneuvering.
Thanks to him, the Taewon Jin Family was able to unite and reach this day….
‘Wait.’
My head spun. Could it be?
“Hyuk Moo-jin. How many warriors from the newly joined minor sects are there?”
“Combined with Samdo Gate and Gung-gwi Sect, well over a hundred.”
“And under the Grand Elder’s faction?”
“If we’re talking about the Grand Elder’s faction, perhaps nearly half the main force… Ah!”
Hyuk Moo-jin and the Scout Unit members gasped as the pieces fell into place. If my suspicion was correct—if the Grand Elder was the traitor—everything aligned perfectly.
Aiding Jin Wi-kyung was merely a gambit for this moment.
‘To gain everything through a single battle.’
He helped Jin Wi-kyung and united the family’s strength for this very day.
Suddenly, Gwak Jun’s words before the battle echoed in my mind.
That single phrase about the ruler of Shanxi Province changing hands. It didn’t sound like idle talk at all.
‘The Main Residence is in danger.’
I had to inform Jin Wi-kyung of this.
“We depart. Now!”
I was turning to shout when—
“It’s already too late.”
Gwak Jun laughed, his teeth stained crimson with blood.
“Not just me, not just you bastards. The Taewon Jin Family and the Hangsan Inspection Bureau as well. The great scheme has already begun.”
In that instant, blood poured forth from every opening—eyes, nose, mouth. Gwak Jun’s head drooped as his body hemorrhaged from every orifice.
Hyuk Moo-jin spoke with a look of exhaustion.
“He severed his own meridians.”
Gwak Jun’s death. It meant one undeniable truth.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
–
[Lv.40 Gwak Jun]
has been defeated!
– Assassin Elimination (20 / 20)
– Quest
[Assassin Elimination]
has been completed!
– Level Up!
– Reputation increased by 50!
Quest completion, level up, reputation gain. After all those notifications came a single message.
–
[Logout]
conditions have been fully satisfied.
– Logging out in 3 seconds. 3, 2….
Strength drained from my entire body. A sensation of weightlessness.
Hyuk Moo-jin, his face suddenly alarmed, rushed to support me.
“Captain!”
A voice distorted by static, my vision blurring, my body no longer responding to my will.
Not now, not like this….
‘Of all times.’
And in the next moment.
– 1.
Darkness consumed everything.

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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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