Murim Login - Chapter 43

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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 43
Shhk.
A sharply honed dagger plunged into the corpse of the Hop Goblin.
Body fluids sprayed and a foul stench wafted through the air, but I didn’t stop. I discarded the head, then cleanly stripped the back and belly skin, stacking them in neat piles.
“You have quite the skill.”
“…Thank you.”
It was Choi Team Leader. At his kind-hearted tone, I felt a pang of guilt. To harbor such petty jealousy toward someone like him.
Especially after I’d already decided to forget that phantom.
‘I’m not even a teenager.’
In the end, I finished the work with my face burning red.
About ten minutes total—so roughly twenty seconds per corpse? At that swift pace, even Lim Hyuk-jun, who’d drifted closer, dropped his jaw.
“Damn, is this all you’ve done since eating?”
“Plenty of people can do this much.”
“Plenty? You’re a complete professional.”
Hmm. I felt a little pleased.
I’d been somewhat modest earlier, but truthfully, there aren’t many Hunters who can maintain this speed while butchering so cleanly.
“I do have quick hands.”
During my school years, I’d worked factory shifts and even done doll eye applications. In a way, this was something I started before becoming a Hunter.
“I continued doing it even while raiding.”
“Did you shift your focus entirely to this?”
“No. I just did both. Two jobs.”
“Two jobs?”
Choi Team Leader, who’d been listening quietly to the conversation, suddenly interjected.
“Yes.”
“Precisely what kind?”
“Just carving out time during breaks after combat to do the work.”
“Do you receive additional compensation?”
“Of course. It’s work too.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Continuously. From the beginning until now.”
Lim Hyuk-jun clicked his tongue.
“You’re relentless. I couldn’t do that.”
“Once you get used to it, it becomes manageable. It even helps build stamina.”
“Build stamina when your life hangs in the balance? Ha ha. Team Leader Choi, didn’t I tell you? There’s no one as tenacious as Tae-kyung here.”
Did he say something like that?
“Hmm.”
Choi Team Leader stared at me intently instead of answering, then turned away.
“Since the work is done, shall we depart again?”
What was that reaction? As I stood bewildered, Lim Hyuk-jun let out an enigmatic laugh.
“Keep working hard.”
What the—what is this?
* * *
The raid proceeded smoothly. The E-rank Hunters, now moving as one body after years of coordinating their movements, whittled down the monster count, and Choi Team Leader took over from there.
Splurch—
Every swing of his blade unleashed an inevitable geyser of blood.
I absorbed every detail of the battle unfolding before my eyes.
‘He certainly fights well.’
Of course, I couldn’t help but think of Murim.
Not the dance-like movements I practiced at Citizen Park every dawn, but genuine martial arts that I’d witnessed and learned with my own eyes.
‘…Huh?’
No way. Come on. But what if?
It’s absurd. It shouldn’t be possible. But I’ll try once.
‘It won’t work, it won’t work… but I hope it does.’
That was the moment I carefully tried to shift my stance.
“Tae-kyung. Please handle the cleanup.”
Choi Team Leader’s voice snapped me back to reality. I’ve truly lost my mind. Losing focus during a raid.
‘Get it together.’
Whatever I do later, the raid comes first right now.
It’s the courtesy I owe my teammates, and the conviction that will keep my life secure.
“Yes! Right away!”
I rushed like the wind and began dismantling the corpses.
Choi Team Leader and Lim Hyuk-jun lingered around the area throughout the break, seemingly unbothered.
‘Damn, they’re getting on my nerves.’
* * *
Lim Hyuk-jun showed up again at the next break without fail.
“Tae-kyung. How long have you been wielding a spear?”
“Seven years.”
“Wow, that makes you a real master, a real master.”
“…?”
And at the next break too.
“Tae-kyung. You were top of your Training Facility class, right?”
“Yes. But it was only top among F-rank trainees, so it doesn’t mean much.”
“Come on. That’s impressive. I graduated dead last.”
“…You’re amazing too, Elder Brother. But I need to get back to work.”
“Oh, right.”
And at the next, next, next break as well.
“Tae-kyung. Tae-kyung. Tae-kyung.”
“Elder Brother. I think my cochlea might be torn.”
“You said you worked at your previous Guild for several years, right?”
“Yeah.”
I wish I could switch to being a Mage right now. I’d cast a silence spell on that man’s mouth.
‘I’m going insane.’
There’s only one way out of this. I have to finish this task before my ears actually start bleeding. I gritted my teeth and got my hands moving.
Scritch, scritch, scritch.
“Tae-kyung.”
Save me.
I sent a distress signal to Choi Team Leader, who was sitting nearby, but he simply stood up and left instead of answering.
* * *
“The work is finished.”
I hoisted the bag, which had grown considerably heavier, onto my shoulders. The Hop Goblin was a monster that gave generously. Leather with poison-resistant properties, a few usable weapons, and even two E-rank Magic Stones.
‘The leather is in good condition, and two Magic Stones. This should fetch a decent price.’
Choi Team Leader, having contributed the most, would probably take roughly half, but with so few team members, there would still be plenty left for the others.
Of course, not me. According to my contract, the 300,000 won base salary is all I receive.
‘If he’s in a good mood, he might throw in a little extra. Whatever.’
Choi Team Leader is quite a generous employer. Despite being a distant C-rank Hunter, he consistently speaks respectfully to me, and though his personality is a bit eccentric, he’s practically a paragon of virtue in this line of work.
‘And he’s a skilled operator I can trust.’
Thanks to him, I’ve been able to climb this far at a steady and rapid pace.
Now all that remains is the final stretch of the Gate. The Boss Zone.
Once I open this stone door, the boss monster of this Gate and the magical field that will send us outside should be waiting.
“Phew, I’ve been moving around so much, I’m getting hungry.”
“Let’s wrap this up quick and grab some rice soup. Tae-kyung, you’re coming too, right? And Choi Team Leader as well.”
“I’m fine. I’ll have sushi delivered separately.”
“….”
Talking about food right before the Boss Zone. And there’s someone who insists on having sushi delivered just for himself.
‘Can we really afford to be this relaxed?’
Of course, I’m not one to talk. I’ve already earned a day’s wages just by carrying luggage and butchering monsters in between.
If Choi Team Leader would keep calling me for jobs like this until I get hired at a new Guild, I’d want for nothing. I could do this kind of cushy work a hundred times over.
“So, shall we head in now?”
“Yes.”
At Choi Team Leader’s response, Lim Hyuk-jun swung his tower shield and smashed it against the stone door.
Boom—!
The door exploded outward, and stone dust and debris cascaded down. I followed my teammates into the Boss Zone.
And there….
– Keruk.
It was there.
‘A shaman?’
That was the first word that came to mind upon seeing it.
A robe covered in incomprehensible symbols. An old Hop Goblin wielding a gnarled staff in one hand and a sharp dagger in the other.
– Karuk. Chui. Akto.
Despite the loud noise from the stone door shattering, it paid no mind and continued muttering something. With each syllable it finished, black energy rose from the corpses scattered around it.
‘Wait. Corpses?’
I’d seen correctly. Atop the Altar lay roughly a hundred Hop Goblins, all dead. Looking closer, these were the very creatures we were supposed to face in the Boss Zone.
‘What in the world is this?’
As everyone, myself included, froze at this unprecedented sight, Choi Team Leader thundered like lightning.
“Get out! Now!”
It was then that an ancient Hop Goblin of unknown identity turned his head. Clink. His staff swayed gently.
– Mita. Alo.
The air trembled. Magic was manifesting.
“Behind the shields!”
The tanks frantically raised their tower shields. But it was a miscalculation. The magic he’d cast wasn’t an attack spell.
Boom. Boom. Boom!
“Behind us! The passage is sealing!”
“Run, quickly!”
Damn. Too late.
The stone gate that had been shattered as if time itself reversed was now perfectly restored. The changes didn’t end there.
The rubble scattered across the floor had built walls three layers deep, and vines from the cave walls bound them firmly together.
“Everyone move!”
It was Lim Hyuk-jun. His entire body swelled with muscle as if it might burst from activating a strength enhancement skill, and he charged toward the stone gate with a tower shield.
“Hraaaaagh!”
Crash! Screech!
“…Damn it.”
Lim Hyuk-jun dropped the tower shield, now covered in cracks, his face blank with despair. An E-rank Hunter had used a skill, yet not only did it fail to break through—the shield itself was destroyed.
‘Reinforcement magic?’
Whatever it was, one thing was certain.
That elderly Hop Goblin wielding magic of this caliber was a monster at least one or two ranks above.
And…
Whoosh!
Someone among us existed who could face him.
‘When exactly?’
Choi Team Leader was already charging toward the creature. As if he’d been certain all along that the passage wouldn’t open.
“Wind descends. Haste.”
His form slid smoothly forward. The distance of over a hundred meters closed in an instant. With five steps remaining, a blade drew from Choi Team Leader’s waist.
Screeeee!
A C-rank Hunter’s all-out attack. Yet the elderly Hop Goblin merely smiled mockingly.
– Karruk. Chui. Akto.
The transformation happened in an instant.
Whoooosh.
The hundred-odd corpses strewn atop the Altar shriveled, then scattered like sand. The black energy that had been completely extracted coalesced and struck Choi Team Leader’s flank.
Thud!
“Ugh.”
Choi Team Leader bounced back rapidly, his face contorted as he spoke.
“We must stop it. Right now.”
“…That thing?”
It was already too late.
Just seconds ago, it had been nothing more than a formless aura, but now it was rapidly taking shape.
A towering frame reaching three meters tall. A monster with muscles ready to burst and wielding a colossal greatsword.
“What the hell is that….”
Someone muttered in a dazed voice. Like me, they were surely witnessing this bizarre phenomenon for the first time.
Only Choi Team Leader knew the true identity of these creatures.
“Hop Goblin Warrior. A C-rank Rare Monster.”
The fact that such a massive thing was a Hop Goblin was shocking enough, but what came after rendered that insignificant.
‘A C-rank Rare Monster?’
Damn it, why the hell did that emerge here?
Rare Monsters are rare creatures that appear with low probability in their respective Gates. Moreover, this Warrior was C-rank—a being my teammates and I would never encounter in our entire lives.
…Until now, that is.
“You want us to fight that thing?”
“Those things, rather.”
Choi Team Leader pointed toward the elderly Hop Goblin.
“Hop Goblin Priest. Also a C-rank Rare Monster.”
“Ah, damn it….”
A curse escaped my lips unbidden. Lim Hyuk-jun asked with a hardened expression.
“What are our chances? Give me a cold assessment.”
“If we eliminate the Priest first, there is hope. However….”
Thud. Thud.
Choi Team Leader’s words cut short. The Warrior was advancing toward us. Step by step. The cave floor trembled beneath each footfall.
“We need to restrain that thing for a moment.”
Who?
“Us?”
“No. All of you.”
“Roooaaarrr!”
The Warrior’s roar caused stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling to crash down. Choi Team Leader turned with a resolve I had never seen before.
“Wind descends upon me. Haste.”
Hey, you bastard.

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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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