Murim Login - Chapter 485

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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 485
Thump. Thump.
The sound of my heartbeat echoing within my body thundered deafeningly in my ears.
One step, then another. With each stride closer to ‘it,’ my chest pounded with increasing ferocity.
My mouth felt gritty as if I’d bitten down on sand, and my eyes, wide open without my realizing it, grew dry and irritated.
And finally, the moment my hand touched the crevice of the cliff, I could confirm the true nature of this ominous sensation.
Beep beep.
– This Gate has already lost most of its functions!
– Entry into the Gate is impossible!
–
[Gate Conquest]
Quest cannot be generated!
The notifications burrowing into my ears, the holographic windows flooding my vision, the gazes of those around me fixed upon me….
Before all of it, I slowly uttered a single word.
“…Damn it.”
Crack.
Without realizing it, strength surged into my grip, and my hand gouged into the cliff face.
From the crevice of the cliff—no, from the Gate itself—the faintest trace of demonic energy seeped out, and my vision swam.
‘I had hoped, until the very end, that it wouldn’t be.’
A cursed Gate. It truly was a Gate.
How? Why? What was the meaning of this?
For a long time afterward, unanswerable questions refused to leave my mind.
* * *
My thoughts were in turmoil. From the moment I witnessed it through the [Fragment of Memory], I had harbored suspicions, but facing this incomprehensible reality, words came with difficulty.
‘A Gate, here in the Murim of all places.’
This was a massive fracture. It was a signal that the laws governing this world were crumbling, the first step of catastrophe.
‘Dark Heaven.’
Their true nature ran far deeper and darker than my wildest imaginings.
Standing apart from the crowd, I gazed upon the blackened waters of Dongting Lake and picked up a stone lying at my feet, hurling it toward the river.
Splash.
‘The blood massacre at Shaolin led to Sichuan, and ultimately brought me here.’
The past several months had been nothing but an endless succession of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
While the Seonglae Tournament unfolded in Hanan, Shaolin—called the Northern Dipper of the Orthodox Martial Arts World—was attacked, and the flames of Dark Heaven spread to Sichuan.
What mattered was that incomprehensible phenomena occurred throughout this process.
‘The Blood Lord, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, and the existence of Lee Dong-jin.’
It remains vivid in my memory. The sight of the Blood Lord recovering even after suffering Jeok Cheon-gang’s Fire God Ghost Dance, a technique staked upon death itself.
‘No, what I witnessed couldn’t even be called recovery.’
That’s right. The ability the Blood Lord displayed then was closer to regeneration than recovery.
Fresh flesh sprouting as if time itself were running backward, bones finding their proper places, everything charred black as ash regenerating in an instant.
And as I beheld that unbelievable sight, a far too familiar entity surfaced in my mind.
‘A Troll. Yes, it was just like a Troll.’
Or perhaps a Potion…. Damn it, a Troll with a Potion. It’s a mad thought, but one I’ve conceived.
What’s even more maddening is that it might actually be true.
I picked up another stone and hurled it even farther.
Splash.
The bizarre phenomenon the Blood Lord displayed didn’t end there. When the Sword Saint appeared and I was driven into a defensive position, didn’t he vanish as cleanly as if washed away while crying out for the Heavenly Master?
At the time, everyone concluded it was one of the Demonic Heretical Way’s mysterious forbidden techniques, but now that I’ve confirmed the existence of Gates, things were different.
‘Teleport.’
Though there were subtle differences from the Teleport I’d experienced through Magic Johnson, if that wasn’t Teleportation, I’d stake my life on Hyuk Moo-jin’s hands.
‘Now that I think about it, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord had more than one or two suspicious aspects.’
During the Sichuan Blood Calamity, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord had to forfeit one arm as the price for eliminating Dok Wang.
Yet when I actually confronted him in the Underground Prison beneath the Sichuan Tang Sect, he possessed a new arm.
And no matter how many angles I considered or what possibilities I calculated, there were only two things that could make that possible.
Either the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s true form was a biological construct, or some incomprehensible power was at work.
Naturally, the former held no possibility. Of course, I would have preferred it that way.
‘Lee Dong-jin’s existence is the same.’
Lee Dong-jin. A mysterious formation capable of transporting hundreds of Dark Heaven’s Black Robed Organization members at once.
Since Dark Heaven is called the successor to the Demon Cult, if the Demon Cult had possessed such a thing, they would have used it fifty years ago and more.
If so, the Great Demon War would have ended in the Demon Cult’s victory, and I would have become the Sam-gong-ja of some Black Path sect like the Black Dragon Faction, not the Taewon Jin Family.
‘Why didn’t I realize it?’
A truth even I, the sole outsider in the world of Murim, failed to predict.
The faint thread of suspicion that occasionally crossed my mind was buried beneath talk of the Thousand-Year Demon Path’s mysterious forbidden techniques, and erased by the power the Western Heavenly Demon Lord called the force of bizarre strength and chaos.
But now it was different.
I had confirmed the existence of Gates, and I realized that the common sense and laws of Murim, which had become familiar to me, were crumbling away.
And the fact that the bizarre abilities of Dark Heaven, which the people of Murim called mysterious forbidden techniques and the force of bizarre strength and chaos, could be explained in just two characters.
‘Magic.’
With that single word filling my mind, my vision brightened and my forehead, which had been burning hot, grew cold.
And with it, words referring to an existence that had yet to reveal itself flowed from between my lips.
“…The Heavenly Master.”
The one who reigns at the apex of Dark Heaven.
An overwhelmingly powerful existence such that beings like the Blood Lord, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, and the Nantian Demon Empress call themselves insignificant servants.
‘What on earth is your true identity?’
Merely thinking of the Heavenly Master sent a chill through my entire body.
If, by any chance, this being called the Heavenly Master was exactly the entity I had unconsciously conceived of in this very moment….
Splash!
“…!”
Water spraying high and the river churning.
I jolted awake from my reverie as if drenched in cold water. When I turned my head, a familiar face I hadn’t even noticed approaching entered my field of vision.
“What are you so lost in thought about?”
A blunt voice. Yet within the eyes visible between the wrinkled, weathered features lay emotions of concern and worry.
I let out a small chuckle at Jeok Cheon-gang’s expression and opened my mouth.
“You startled me. What is it?”
Jeok Cheon-gang, who had collapsed onto the spot beside me, answered.
“I hadn’t seen you in so long, so I came to check.”
“If you were going to come, you could have done it quietly. Why are you throwing rocks out of nowhere?”
“Watching you flick pebbles around like a seven-year-old child was so frustrating that I did it. Do you have a problem with that?”
“What if I do?”
Whoosh!
Before I could even finish speaking, I ducked my head, and an ominous sound of wind tore through the air where my head had been, striking empty space.
Jeok Cheon-gang clicked his tongue after failing his sneak attack on the back of my head.
“Your instincts are sharp as ever.”
“This isn’t the first or second time. I can dodge with my eyes closed now.”
“Try it then.”
“…I’d rather not.”
“Cheeky brat. But why were you so lost in thought earlier? In the Murim, that’s a sure way to get yourself killed.”
“So, are you trying to send me to my grave?”
“Well, if that’s what you want, I could oblige.”
“Then you’d have to find a new disciple. Oh wait, I’m not even your disciple, so it doesn’t matter much, does it?”
“Ahem. Ahem, ahem!”
Jeok Cheon-gang forced out a fake cough that never came, then suddenly spoke up.
“So what’s troubling someone whose head is filled with nothing but shit?”
“I was wondering where to take a shit.”
Smack!
Ah, this time I couldn’t dodge. Jeok Cheon-gang, who had successfully struck the back of my head even using his inner energy, widened his eyes.
“Do you want to shit blood?”
“Ow, why? You said my head is filled with nothing but shit, and I was thinking about shit—what’s the problem?”
“Answer me sincerely before I swap the positions of your mouth and your ass.”
“Ah, yes.”
I rubbed the throbbing back of my head and thought for a moment before speaking.
“The truth is, I’m not originally from this world. In my original world, there’s a malevolent force that seems deeply connected to Dark Heaven. You know that water serpent that went berserk earlier? That was all their doing. There’s a crack in the cliff—it’s called a Gate. If it opens properly, monsters will just… pour out endlessly.”
“…”
“When that happens, everything will be finished, completely finished. And probably not, but there’s this guy called Demon King Asmodeus. If that bastard is still alive and targeting the Murim, then everything will truly go to shit…”
“I understand.”
It was an absurd story that no one would believe anyway. I, who had been speaking freely without reservation, swallowed the words I was about to continue at Jeok Cheon-gang’s response.
“Pardon?”
“I said I understand.”
“…”
“Everything you said—I understood it all clearly, so there’s no need to say more.”
Wait, why is his reaction like this?
I was bewildered, more confused than taken aback. At the same time, an indescribable emotion surged up from deep within my chest.
‘You believe me? Such an absurd tale? No, me?’
In the gaze of Jeok Cheon-gang, who stared at me in silence, my chest suddenly swelled and my throat tightened.
A little over a year—short if you measure it one way, long if you measure it another.
In the eyes of the Old Master, with whom I had endured countless trials and tribulations, there gleamed something that could only be called absolute trust.
‘…He trusted me that much.’
There are moments like this sometimes. When seized by inexplicable emotion, when no words come forth. Times when even I don’t know what to say.
But in this moment, I realized it was time to speak the words I had been turning over in my heart for so long.
“Old Master. No….”
A single word drawn out after long hesitation.
And as I opened my mouth with trembling heart, Jeok Cheon-gang smiled benevolently and nodded.
“I understand perfectly. You certainly take your time saying you want to die.”
“I, yes?”
“Yes? What kind of damn fool says yes?”
Crack!
What the hell.
A sudden mental shutdown. As I stood there dumbfounded, cradling the back of my head, an angry voice lashed out.
“Does this old man look like an idiot to you? What? Not of this world? I was a commoner in that other world, but a supreme master in the Murim. What kind of nonsense is this!”
“The title is actually quite trendy and good, no, rather, please listen to what I’m saying.”
“I’ve already heard it. Your last words.”
“No, no, wait!”
“Wait? Even after being beaten like that, you can’t regain your senses and still use informal speech? You damned fool…!”
Thud thud thud thud!
Dozens of palm shadows filled my vision, striking my entire body.
Feeling the scorching heat penetrating my body, I thought to myself.
‘What the hell, Master.’
I was an idiot for being moved even for a moment.
* * *
“If you spout such nonsense again next time, I’ll tear you in half and kill you. Understood?”
At Jeok Cheon-gang’s ominous threat of murder, Jin Tae-kyung, who had been beaten indiscriminately for a moment, let out a groan.
“Ow, wait. I think I’m really dying here.”
“Silence. You’re slower than this old man’s grandmother!”
“…Say, Old Master. Since we’re on the subject, are you perhaps secretly taking out your smartphone when you visit Sophie?”
Smack!
Jeok Cheon-gang delivered one final blow to Jin Tae-kyung, who continued spouting incomprehensible words, then clicked his tongue and left.
People held their breath and parted the way as an ominous aura emanated from his entire being.
Step, step.
Footsteps heading somewhere.
On the face of Jeok Cheon-gang, now alone, a complex and subtle emotion appeared that was utterly incomprehensible.
‘…That fellow. Spouting such nonsensical things.’
But then again, who knows. Though Jeok Cheon-gang had never believed rumors or superstitions even a whit in his entire life, it was different when it came to what Jin Tae-kyung said.
No matter how absurd the tale, that person was someone more special to me than anyone else.
‘Come to think of it, I think I was about to say something…’
Could it be? No, it couldn’t be.
Jeok Cheon-gang exhaled a sigh and gazed at the moon hanging above the cliff.
Beneath the pale moonlight, not far away, I could see another soul in the same predicament as myself standing and gazing at the river.
“Want to talk for a moment?”
At Jeok Cheon-gang’s words, Moon-kyung replied.
“No. Get lost.”

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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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