Murim Login - Chapter 535

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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 535
“Great Martial Master. Rather, the Alliance Master seeks you.”
At Jin Wi-kyung’s sudden words, I paused and asked in return.
“Me, sir?”
“Yes. And Cheong So-hyup as well.”
Me and Chung Poong both?
Just as I was about to ask Jin Wi-kyung the reason, a familiar face suddenly popped out from a window in the Pavilion.
“Grandfather! Are we going to see Grandfather now?”
At Chung Poong’s excited cry, Jin Wi-kyung smiled faintly and shook his head slightly.
“It’s not your grandfather who seeks you, but the Alliance Master.”
“Yes. So that’s Grandfather!”
“They’re the same yet different. In any case, Cheong So-hyup, prepare yourself and come down promptly.”
“Wait a moment! Let me grab some dumplings!”
“Yes, gather them all. And the sweets too.”
He’d gained some experience. Not a single blink of hesitation.
Jin Wi-kyung had seen Chung Poong enough times that his response now flowed as naturally as water.
As Chung Poong disappeared with a thunderous clatter, Jin Wi-kyung’s gaze turned toward me.
“You’re not asking why.”
“…I suppose I haven’t had the chance to ask.”
“That’s true enough.”
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll hear it directly. Besides, I already have a sense of what this is about.”
“What sense?”
“Well, it doesn’t feel like he’s calling just to see his grandson’s face.”
He seeks me and Chung Poong.
Geom-seong Maejong-hak—no, the Alliance Master of the Martial Alliance.
The same person, yet the meaning changes depending on which name is spoken. Jin Wi-kyung’s earlier correction of Chung Poong’s address must have carried that implication.
‘The Martial Alliance Master.’
That title carries weight. And the fact that this giant who straddles the Nine Provinces and bears the burden of all martial arts under heaven on both shoulders wishes to see me means…
‘No matter how I think about it, something feels off.’
Had another incident erupted in the meantime?
It was precisely as I harbored such thoughts.
Whoooosh!
With the sound of wind, Chung Poong appeared. In his hands was a silk bundle bulging with contents, and across his upper body gleamed a brilliant silver armor.
Wait. Armor?
Chirp.
“I’m here. What is it, you bastard.”
“It’s Mi-mi. She’s grown so much I can’t carry her in my arms anymore.”
“…Then why not leave her behind?”
Chung Poong tilted his head in confusion.
“Why?”
“Are you seriously asking me because you genuinely don’t know?”
“Yes!”
“Wow… not a shred of hesitation in that answer. This is driving me insane.”
It’s a snake. Not just any snake—a horned one at that.
At this point, the creature’s massive frame made the name Mi-mi seem like a cruel joke.
To put it plainly, regardless of how many snake enthusiasts existed within the Martial Alliance, this particular serpent was hardly the sort of companion one would welcome.
“…What in the world have you been feeding this thing?”
“Hehe. It’s grown tremendously, hasn’t it? Take a guess, benefactor.”
I answered without hesitation.
“Steroids.”
“Mostly dumplings and confections, actually. Oh, but ever since I started feeding it blood fish, it’s definitely grown much larger.”
I was about to demand why anyone would feed a snake dumplings and sweets when I stopped short.
“Blood fish?”
“Yes.”
Blood fish are the creatures dwelling in Dongting Lake, corrupted by magical energy.
In other words, it had been consuming thoroughly spoiled food….
“This won’t do. Mi-mi stays behind.”
“It’s fine, though.”
“It’s not fine for everyone else. It might bite someone.”
“No, it won’t. Mi-mi doesn’t bite even when told to. Want to see?”
Chung Poong’s face grew desperate as he extended his hand toward Mi-mi.
“Mi-mi, bite!”
Screech, snap!
It happened in an instant.
Mi-mi’s jaws gaped wide and lunged like lightning, while Chung Poong’s hand vanished at an even faster speed.
Mi-mi’s teeth clacked against empty air, and the serpent’s tongue flicked out regretfully.
Slither.
“See? It didn’t bite, right?”
“….”
“….”
Is this man insane?
‘No, it just missed, that’s all.’
As we all stood speechless, Chung Poong muttered with a dejected expression.
“Moon Kyung-i said it was fine….”
“Moon Kyung-i?”
“Yes. I see him often these days. He checked on Mi-mi’s condition then.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen Chung Poong and Moon Kyung-i much lately. While my own busyness played a part, his mention of seeing each other frequently suggested there was more to it than that.
‘This man who showed no interest in anyone else. What wind suddenly blew his way?’
Chung Poong swallowed nervously as he noticed my eyes narrowing.
“Gulp.”
“Why?”
“It’s nothing. Really.”
The more she denied it, the more suspicious it seemed.
Still, I ended the matter with a shrug of my shoulders. I could see Jin Wi-kyung growing increasingly anxious.
“Youngest, that…”
“Ah, my apologies. Are we running very late?”
“Honestly, there’s nothing good about being late. The others are waiting for us as well.”
Others?
This gathering seemed far grander than I’d anticipated.
I concealed my unease and gestured toward Chung Poong with my chin.
“Let’s go, Cheong So-hyup.”
“Yes, my benefactor!”
Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin nodded with stern expressions.
“Right, let’s head out.”
“I shall escort you, squad leader. And young master.”
“You two stop spouting nonsense and stay behind to clean up the mess and filth.”
“….”
“….”
* * *
The Martial Alliance—a place reminiscent of a small city unto itself.
We stepped into the Alliance Master Hall, which stood prominently at its center, and found ourselves before a massive door.
“Welcome.”
Rigid eyes and expression. A perfectly controlled aura.
Without question, a supreme master who had reached the realm of Sword Qi Wounding—yet this nameless man’s role was merely that of a gatekeeper.
Having already met Jin Wi-kyung before, he offered a quiet greeting and opened the door.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
The friction sounds rang out in succession. After five doors had opened one by one, the sight before me made me murmur inwardly.
‘I made the right call leaving those two behind.’
Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin should be grateful to me.
Had they followed, they would surely be standing here reeking of stench and filth, unable to open their mouths, drenched in cold sweat.
The figures seated around such an enormous table and their presence were truly formidable.
“Wow.”
A small gasp escaped from beside me. Jin Wi-kyung, noticing Chung Poong’s wide eyes as he looked around, nudged his ribs and sent a transmission.
– This is as far as I go.
The meaning was clear enough to understand.
I nodded and stepped across the threshold.
Thud.
My footsteps echoed through the profound silence.
Simultaneously, sharp, composed gazes—tinged with admiration and curiosity—poured down upon Chung Poong and me.
“Hmm. So those are the children we’ve only heard about…”
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s remarkable.”
“Hmm. Quite impressive, indeed.”
“What are you saying? This is truly a momentous occasion. It cannot be anything less than a blessing for the entire Murim.”
The owners of those aged voices flowing from both sides.
Though they had reached such lofty martial heights that aging came slowly, their hair—white as fresh snow—spoke volumes of the time they had allowed to slip through their fingers.
‘The Nine Major Sects and One Alliance. And the sect leaders and family heads of the Five Great Families.’
Fifteen pillars supporting the martial world of all under heaven.
Even during the Seonglae Tournament, which could be called a nationwide event for Murim, they had never all gathered in one place.
Not even during the Songshan Covenant when the Martial Alliance was proclaimed. The distances were simply too great for some to arrive on schedule.
But finally….
‘They have all assembled in one place.’
If the Seonglae Tournament was a celebration of newly rising stars, then this gathering was a banquet of giants who had carved their own names and legacies into the long history of Murim.
And within this banquet, there were several whose presence radiated an unmistakable magnitude.
Though they were no longer mere family heads, their influence exceeded such stations. The martial artists of the world called them with reverence.
The One Divine, the Three Stars, the Ten Kings.
In the past, there had been a hundred thousand demonic forces launched toward the Central Plains, their backs against a crimson western sky, and heroes had risen to meet them.
They were the blades that severed enemies, the shields that protected the Central Plains, and ultimately became great and luminous legends.
When the heaven called Mu-shin vanished, the three stars that had illuminated the heavens faded one by one, and the ten kings who had descended from their thrones grew old or perished, yet some of them had returned to this gathering.
‘Chang Cheon Geom-wang, Byuk Ryuk Do-wang. And….’
Some faces were familiar, others strange.
And among them, one figure whose presence stood out most caught my eye and raised an eyebrow.
– When did I summon you? And you arrive only now. You must be dying to meet your end.
Fire King Red Sky River.
At his blunt yet warm voice transmission, a silent laugh escaped me unbidden.
– You there. Are you laughing right now?
What else would I do?
– Anyway, you’re something else. Just moments ago you were all stiff. The Nine Major Sects and One Alliance or the Five Great Families—they’re all the same in the end. Nothing special. The Main Sect is supreme.
Who else could speak so freely?
Following his confident and audacious words, a voice transmission tinged with brief hesitation reached my ears.
– So straighten your shoulders and open your eyes wide. You are… my pride.
Pride.
Words I never expected.
Though he had not spoken aloud, I had never anticipated Red Sky River would say such a thing to me.
I could not help but bite my lip.
– Old Master Noya.
The figure of Red Sky River, who had been subtly averting his gaze, flinched.
– Ahem.
– Old Master Noya.
– Why, why are you calling me?
– It seems to be time for your medicine.
– Such insolence….
– And thank you.
– …!
Red Sky River’s crimson eyebrows trembled faintly.
Turning my gaze from him, I straightened my spine with rigid dignity.
The muscles throughout my body, which had grown taut with tension, gradually relaxed, and my vision cleared.
‘I am someone’s pride.’
I still don’t understand what this place was prepared for.
But at least one truth I know for certain.
This confidence I’d lost and then reclaimed—it was what brought me to this moment.
Thud.
Chung Poong’s footsteps and mine ceased simultaneously.
The corridor, which had felt long and distant, had ended, and there was nowhere left to advance.
The voices of the giants who had been conversing quietly while watching us cut off abruptly, as if they had been waiting for this very moment.
Silence.
A silence that awaited one person alone, and was prepared for that one person.
Among the twenty-odd giants gathered here, the one who occupied the seat of honor.
He rose from his seat, his hair dyed black instead of snow-white, his eyes transparent and clear.
Creak.
Three stars embroidered across the sky that spread over the vast realm below.
Geom-seong Maejong-hak, who had become the brightest and the only star among them, opened his mouth.
No.
‘Martial Alliance Master Maejong-hak.’
It was he who stood in this place.
And this was not something only I had come to understand.
A voice so faint that only I could discern it escaped between Chung Poong’s lips.
“Grandfather….”
A warm smile crossed Maejong-hak’s lips as he gazed upon Chung Poong and me.
Simultaneously, a voice filled with strength flowed from between his lips.
“The masters of the Two Dragon Pavilion have arrived.”

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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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