Murim Login - Chapter 548

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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 548
“Well done.”
The moment Jin Wi-kyung’s words reached me as we stepped out of the Grand Conference Hall, I answered with a soft chuckle instead.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Well, your expression doesn’t match what you’re saying?”
“Ah.”
Only then did the rigid tension drain from his face. Yet the smile lingering at Jin Wi-kyung’s lips seemed fragile, ready to fade at any moment.
“Truth be told, I’m not sure how to take your words. You were so… today.”
“It’s fine. This kind of reaction is only natural, really.”
I understood Jin Wi-kyung’s trailing words. I could sense what he was feeling right now.
‘If I were in the same situation, I’d probably feel the same way.’
In this world, the word “death” carries far less weight than one might think.
In the modern world, murders are rare and reported through mass media including television, but here they occur frequently enough to be witnessed regularly.
Cities with good security fare better. Yet common folk beyond those walls must live under the constant threat of bandits and horse bandits depending on their location.
As for those in the Murim, there’s no need to elaborate.
‘A life walking the edge of a blade.’
That’s why they call it the Mountain of Blades and Forest of Swords.
Thus they always prepare for death. They ignite their fighting spirit and refine their martial arts. And Jin Wi-kyung standing before me was likewise a warrior of the Murim.
The problem lay in the environment where he and everyone else had grown up.
In the Murim, people killed and were killed. There were fierce beasts and spiritual entities, but at least those were creatures whose nature we had heard of and seen before—not monsters beyond all comprehension.
But today, I had… asserted that such monsters would engulf this world.
I had prophesied that a war would begin where both humans and monsters would kill and be killed.
‘I’m not sure how deeply my words resonated, but they certainly felt the sense of crisis.’
As my story unfolded, some cast doubtful glances while others grew confused yet fell into deep contemplation.
Even if not everyone believed me immediately, the fact that they listened attentively meant I had achieved my purpose.
‘It worked to this extent precisely because my audience was Murim warriors and I had concrete evidence.’
Had my listeners been rigid scholars, they would have cried out against demonic heresies and staged protests, but those gathered in the Grand Conference Hall were not so inflexibly narrow-minded.
At least not when a corpse of a monster with eight limbs lay right before their eyes.
‘The Water Dragon’s remains are the same.’
The Water Dragon’s corpse, separated into parts, is still being transported under strict secrecy.
But my inventory contained some byproducts I had quietly set aside as insurance, and they proved sufficient as crucial evidence.
“Now that I think about it, youngest. Where did that come from? I’m certain we collected everything without missing a thing.”
“Pardon?”
“You know, the water serpent we defeated in Hubei Province….”
“Cough, cough. Cough-cough-cough!”
As I forced out a contrived cough, Chung Poong, who had been listening to our conversation beside me, rummaged through his robes.
“Benefactor. Shall I offer you some candied fruit? Candied fruit is the best remedy for coughs.”
“… No. That’s the worst.”
“Yes, sir.”
Since when did candied fruit become a miracle cure?
At my firm refusal to experiment, the mad scientist Chung Poong popped a candy into his mouth with a dejected expression. Jin Wi-kyung, who had been watching him, let out a soft chuckle.
“Understood. I won’t ask further.”
“Right. Thank you for that.”
Jin Wi-kyung, who had been staring at me as I awkwardly scratched my chin, suddenly spoke up.
“I find myself wondering sometimes. Whether you, our youngest, are truly the same child I once knew.”
“…!”
“I won’t press the matter. I’ll harbor no further questions. But there is one wish I’ve never voiced to you until now.”
Jin Wi-kyung’s gentle voice continued.
“When all of this concludes and the time is right, I would like to hear the stories you’ve never been able to tell.”
Stories left untold. I cursed myself inwardly.
‘When will that day come?’
But if everything truly does end as Jin Wi-kyung says, and if my heart becomes ready… perhaps I might finally speak the secrets that I could never share with anyone.
Perhaps such a day will come.
“…I understand.”
And it was in that very moment that I nodded, offering a bitter smile.
“So you were here. Master of the Fire Dragon Pavilion.”
Tap tap.
An aged voice accompanied a dull sound. When I turned, there stood Cheon Myeon Ho-ri Song Ho, Master of the Shadow Pavilion of the Martial Alliance.
“The conference ended an hour ago. Yet you remain here still. Coincidence?”
I shook my head at his question. My lingering presence in the Martial Alliance was not solely for conversation with Jin Wi-kyung.
“It was inevitable.”
“Inevitable, you say? Yes, indeed it was.”
A subtle gleam flickered across his inscrutable, seasoned eyes. After a brief silence, Cheon Myeon Ho-ri spoke.
“Follow me, Master of the Fire Dragon Pavilion. You already know what this is about, don’t you?”
I do. Who seeks me out. And why.
And Cheon Myeon Ho-ri’s next words transformed my suspicion into certainty.
“The Alliance Leader is requesting your presence.”
* * *
Thud.
The sound of the door closing behind me echoed unusually loud. In the Office within the Alliance Master Hall, two figures were already waiting for me.
“You’ve arrived?”
Following Jeok Cheon-gang’s matter-of-fact question, Martial Alliance Leader Mae Jong-hak gestured.
“Take a seat. And the rest of you, step outside for a moment.”
Not to me, nor to Cheon Myeon Ho-ri who had followed directly into the Office. The words were directed at others whose presence remained hidden.
Whoosh.
Before Mae Jong-hak could even finish, ghostly presences vanished.
Once even the secret guards who constantly protected him had vacated the space, I took my seat in the empty chair and spoke.
“Your level is extraordinary. I could barely sense their presence.”
“Most who enter this room don’t even notice. The fact that you did speaks to your own capabilities.”
“Even so, wouldn’t one suspect? It’s strange for someone of your standing as Martial Alliance Leader to be without any guards at all.”
“Ah. That’s true as well.”
Mae Jong-hak, scratching his chin like a youth his age, suddenly turned his gaze toward me. My face reflected in his clear, profound eyes.
“First, I found the words you spoke in the Grand Conference Hall quite impressive.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m not sure what the others think, though.”
“Even if they don’t believe it entirely, they won’t be able to dismiss it. I promise you that.”
Even casual words carry different weight depending on whose lips they fall from.
And when that person was the Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance, it was only natural that considerable gravity was added to them.
‘My argument will gain even more strength.’
A favorable turn of events. As my expression naturally relaxed, Mae Jong-hak smiled faintly.
“You seemed worried.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”
“Since we’re on the subject, how confident are you in your own claims?”
“Fifty percent. Fifty-fifty.”
At my answer, Cheon Myeon Ho-ri’s face hardened visibly.
“Just now… did you say fifty percent?”
“Yes. Is it less than you expected?”
“Damn it. It’s the opposite. You’re saying there’s a fifty percent chance the entire realm will be overrun by monsters!”
Cheon Myeon Ho-ri’s sigh carried a brief curse, but no one paid it any mind at this moment.
I myself felt no displeasure—only relief.
From their reaction, I could tell that at least those gathered here had already accepted my claims as established fact.
“What’s the basis for fifty percent?”
To Mae Jong-hak’s question, asked without losing his composure, I answered without hesitation as I had prepared.
“It’s everything I’ve witnessed and felt while confronting Dark Heaven until now.”
Then, Jeok Cheon-gang, who had been silently sipping strong liquor instead of tea, suddenly spoke.
“Your judgment could be wrong.”
“I’d gladly accept a lifetime of curses if that were the case.”
I meant it sincerely. I would far prefer my prediction to be completely off the mark—that Dark Heaven was actually nothing special and that no monsters like the Transformation appeared.
If I could see a happy ending by taking the blame myself, that would be a profitable trade.
But….
“It sounds insane, but it’s all true.”
“Damn it. I’m losing my mind.”
“Do you doubt it that much?”
“I don’t want to believe it. If it hadn’t come from you, I wouldn’t have.”
“…!”
What’s with this sudden surge of emotion? What am I supposed to do with this?
Clack.
But emotion or whatever. Jeok Cheon-gang set down his bottle roughly and glared at me.
“Just tell me it’s a lie. If you confess now, I’ll let you off with three generations of the Flame Divine Generals.”
“I stake my manhood in this place and swear. I’m not just talking. And if three generations of Flame Divine Generals hit me, I’m dead.”
“Sigh.”
Jeok Cheon-gang exhaled deeply and parted his lips toward Mae Jong-hak and Cheon Myeon Ho-ri.
“I hate to admit it, but… everything that bastard says appears to be true. At least when he stakes his own life on it, he means every word.”
“….”
The criterion for determining truth is somewhat peculiar, but regardless, my sincerity seems to have been properly conveyed.
And as my concerns materialized into reality, the silence that had settled over the Office was shattered moments later by a single remark from Mae Jong-hak.
“I have just one more question.”
“You’re welcome to ask two.”
“No, one will suffice.”
Swish.
Mae Jong-hak flicked his finger as he spoke.
Simultaneously, a massive scroll flew from among the bamboo strips stacked behind him and unfurled across the table where we sat.
Crackle.
Upon seeing what was written—or rather, drawn—on the scroll, I murmured.
“This is….”
“Exactly as you see it. A complete map of the realm.”
As Mae Jong-hak said, it was a map marking the geography, terrain, and place names of every corner of the realm.
But it was larger than any map I had ever seen in the Murim, and possessed a distinctive difference.
“The locations of each sect are marked as well.”
“It was created for the Martial Alliance. So then, let me ask….”
Mae Jong-hak’s calm voice pierced my ears.
“Where do you believe Dark Heaven’s next target will be?”
“I cannot say with certainty.”
“Who in all the realm could be certain of the future? A mere conjecture will suffice.”
A mere conjecture….
Lost in thought, I suddenly raised my hand and pointed to a section of the map.
Tap.
“Here.”
The reaction was immediate.
Jeok Cheon-gang muttered a soft curse, a gleam flashed across Cheon Myeon Ho-ri’s eyes, and Mae Jong-hak leaned his upper body toward me.
“What is your reasoning for choosing that location?”
“If the events that occurred in Hubei Province were to repeat themselves, Dark Heaven would find no place more suitable than here.”
“Ah, you speak of that ‘rift.'”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe—or rather, conjecture—that the rift will occur once more?”
“The possibilities are abundant. That incident was not a natural calamity, but something Dark Heaven planned and orchestrated.”
The first is a preposition created because a second exists.
Only I was granted the privilege of glimpsing the Water Dragon’s memories, however briefly.
Therefore, while I possessed no concrete evidence or certainty to present confidently, the probability that Dark Heaven would target ‘that place’ was substantial.
I continued speaking with composure.
“I do not know what Dark Heaven will do immediately. Their next target may not be here. But at the very least, one person has already begun moving toward that location.”
“The Nantian Demon Empress.”
The moment I heard that epithet slip from between Mae Jong-hak’s lips, countless corpses I’d witnessed in Hubei Province flashed before my eyes.
My fists clenched without my realizing it.
“Indeed. If it is the Nantian Demon Empress… she would certainly have that place in mind.”
“Is this mere speculation again?”
“Speculation. But close to certainty.”
There was nothing I could be certain of. I only believed that a single thought which had lingered in my mind for some time now carried considerable possibility.
Mae Jong-hak nodded quietly, then cast his gaze toward someone.
“What do you think, Shadow Pavilion Master?”
“I would add my voice to the Fire Dragon Pavilion Master’s opinion.”
Cheon Myeon-ho Song Ho, who answered immediately, continued speaking.
“It has been over seven weeks since we sent the letter. The fact that no reply has arrived suggests there is no small possibility that something has already gone wrong.”
“I suspected as much… but it’s fast.”
“Yes. We could mobilize the Outer Hall forces we had pre-selected, but there is a risk we might be too late.”
A letter? Pre-selected forces?
Cheon Myeon-ho, reading the question in my expression, opened his mouth with an impassive face.
“The eyes and ears of the Shadow Pavilion are scattered across the heavens and earth. You are not the only one who has arrived at such a conclusion.”
“…So you had already considered ‘that place.'”
“To be precise, it was after receiving reports of the circumstances that occurred in Hubei Province. However, that strange phenomenon called a rift—neither I nor anyone in this pavilion anticipated it.”
I recalled a fact I had momentarily forgotten.
The elderly martial artist before me had been the master of the Shadow Pavilion forty years ago, and remained so now.
And in this place existed only one person who could issue commands to both him and me.
“Fire Dragon Pavilion Master Jin Tae-kyung.”
A voice heavier than usual resonated through the office.
The great martial master called the Sword Supreme Under Heaven, now standing at the pinnacle of the Martial World. Mae Jong-hak regarded me with clear, azure eyes.
“I shall give you your first command.”
* * *
Whoosh!
With each step I took, a fierce wind erupted around me.
Unconcerned with the gazes of others, I unleashed my movement technique and arrived at my quarters, throwing open the door with force.
Crash!
As the door swung open, a familiar face came into view.
Hyuk Moo-jin, who had been lounging in the separate annex before jumping to his feet, looked back and forth between me and the shattered door, then muttered softly.
“Welcome back… oh no. The master’s going to shed tears of blood over this. We just replaced it less than two hours ago.”
But I had no leisure to sympathize with the master’s sorrow now.
Instead of greeting him with pleasantries, I spoke bluntly.
“Assemble everyone.”
“Pardon?”
Hyuk Moo-jin asked back with a bewildered expression.
“What do you mean all of a sudden? Wait, before that—what’s going on?”
“Fire Dragon Pavilion.”
“Huh?”
“A mission. Right now.”
“Wait. Just a moment! Squad Leader, why so suddenly? Where are we going?”
Hyuk Moo-jin’s eyes had grown wide as lanterns as he chattered away, and I answered him in a low voice.
“The Southern Wilderness.”

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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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