Murim Login - Chapter 554

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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 554
The Monster Wave in Sichuan Province, designated as the “Minor Upheaval,” had swallowed countless things in its wake.
Buildings, people, hope itself… The death toll exceeded four million, and property damage reached hundreds of trillions.
Yet as someone once said, the dead leave their names behind—and among those countless casualties, certain names stood out with particular prominence.
[Exhaustive search efforts, yet the hero’s remains were never found]
[Who was Lee Jung-yong, now deceased?]
[The immortal hero Cheon Tae-min always had one person by his side]
[Wu Hei-xing and Lee Jung-yong died the same way, yet their nobility differed]
[State funeral for the late Lee Jung-yong… Waves of condolences pouring in from nations worldwide]
The articles dominating the top of major forum sites all bore the name of one man.
Lee Jung-yong. The other hero of the great upheaval who wielded full authority over the Ares Guild in place of the reclusive Cheon Tae-min.
‘Though I suppose he’s a hero of the past now.’
Lee Jung-yong was dead.
The world believed the Arch Lich was responsible for his death, but it was I who severed Lee Jung-yong’s breath.
‘That day, yes.’
I snapped Wu Hei-xing’s neck as he begged for his life, and drove my spear through Lee Jung-yong’s chest, reducing him to ash.
There was no other choice. Even suspecting they might stab me in the back, I accompanied them to the Arch Lich’s Headquarters—it was the final chance I gave them.
After the word “final,” there was nothing.
‘Even if it hadn’t been then, I would have killed him eventually.’
If Wu Hei-xing was like a fish bone caught in the throat, Lee Jung-yong was like a blade carving through flesh.
He was strong as a beast and cunning as a fox.
When I first encountered him, he felt like an insurmountable wall, yet I was able to bring him down because my growth far exceeded the scope of his expectations.
‘Perhaps if Lee Jung-yong had been a bit bolder… the outcome might have been different.’
But Lee Jung-yong’s judgment was flawed, and this is the result. On New Year’s Day, I’m reading articles about his death on my smartphone.
Suddenly, his final words echoed in my mind.
‘I… have no regrets. Never.’
At that moment, Lee Jung-yong was definitely smiling.
Drenched in blood, battered beyond recognition, his eyes shone brightly with an obsession and rage he never relinquished until the very end.
As if to say this wasn’t the end. As if to say he would torment me even as a vengeful spirit after death.
Well, now that he’s dead, he can’t torment me from beyond the grave, but I do agree with him on one point—this isn’t the end.
There is still one person in this world who is like Lee Jung-yong’s very shadow.
‘Seok Go-jun.’
The Security Team Leader who followed Lee Jung-yong blindly. Or rather, his disciple.
I stared down at my smartphone and clicked on one article.
Click.
The moment I clicked, an image filled the screen.
There were Ares Guild members departing from Sichuan Province, and Seok Go-jun with a rigid, hardened expression.
[Ares Guild returns home for the funeral of the late Lee Jung-yong]
[Who is Seok Go-jun, Security Team Leader of the late Vice Guild Master Lee Jung-yong?]
After confirming the article titles in bold font, I scrolled down to see a stream of comments from readers.
I humbly pray for the repose of the deceased.
So Lee Jung-yong is dead… Another great star has fallen from the sky.
I’m not sure if Lee Jung-yong was a good person. I’ve heard some suspicious stories about him.
└ I agree with what you’re saying, but honestly, it’s just unverified gossip. And running a massive Guild like Ares Guild, wouldn’t a drop or two of filth splash on him? Just shut up and hit x to show some respect. Considering his contributions during the Great Upheaval, that’s the right thing to do.
But who is Seok Go-jun? They say he’s Lee Jung-yong’s Security Team Leader, but I’ve never heard of him.
└ Anyone who should know already does. The person who commented above either isn’t a Hunter or hasn’t been in the game long enough.
└ How did you know? I was stuck in a study room studying and suddenly awakened out of nowhere, so I don’t know anything now; if you know anything, please teach me;
└ Actually, I don’t know either. This is my older brother’s account.
└ Damn bastard.
└ Wah. I’m a baby damn bastard.
The thread above is a total mess; probably Hunters with high ranks or a lot of experience would know, but Seok Go-jun is famous as Lee Jung-yong’s right hand. He suddenly appeared about ten years ago and was quite a hot topic at the time, but after that, Lee Jung-yong always brought him along to official events.
└ For real. I just searched on YouTube and he’s standing behind Lee Jung-yong at the UN General Assembly last year too. I only searched briefly, but if I really dug into it, there’d probably be tons.
└ Is he like a disciple that Lee Jung-yong personally raised?
└ That’s very possible. Other communities have already started digging into Seok Go-jun’s background. Apparently he’s from an orphanage that Lee Jung-yong was sponsoring. The reason he hasn’t taken the Ranker Test is probably because of that. They say his actual strength is at the top Ranker level or higher.
└ So is he the next Vice Guild Master of Ares Guild?
└ No one knows for sure, but he’s probably a strong candidate. Unless Cheon Tae-min shows himself, Seok Go-jun will probably take over smoothly. Strength + legitimacy. At that level, even Voldemort would shed a tear and bow down—pure bloodline material.
└ His face looks exactly like the kind of person who eats death. He seems like a Slytherin dorm resident.
└ If you make personal attacks, Ares Guild will probably come after you.
└ But since the topic of pure bloodlines came up, I heard something strange recently.
└ ?
└ ??
└ What is it.
└ I’m too scared to say exactly who, but you know. In some Guild, there’s a person who isn’t Cheon Tae-min. I’m going to delete this. Please refrain from mentioning it.
└ Ah damn;
└ There are two ways to make someone angry. The first is to start talking and then stop.
└ Sigh… Because of some bastard, I didn’t sleep all night.
Click.
At the sudden noise, I tore my eyes away from my smartphone.
Choi Team Leader, who had just set down his dishes at the seat next to me, was looking at me with eyes tinged with slight displeasure.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“There’s a comment about you, Team Leader, on the Restaurant Manager’s post.”
“Pardon?”
“It would be faster if I showed you directly. Just a moment.”
I turned my eyes back to my smartphone and clicked my tongue. It was because the comment had been deleted in that brief moment.
They said they were scared and deleted it themselves—they really did remove it and disappear fast.
“What comment was it?”
“It’s already been deleted. But it was definitely related to you, Team Leader.”
“Related… to my grandfather?”
I nodded slightly.
The one who drew attention from the Minor Upheaval that occurred in Sichuan Province wasn’t just me alone.
When the entire world was in an uproar over the monster waves caused by the Arch Lich, media outlets and the public were busy mentioning my name everywhere.
But from a certain point onward, the existence of Choi Team Leader began to gradually become known as well.
‘An awl in a pouch.’
Choi Team Leader was that awl hidden in a pouch.
Not only did he learn martial arts from me and display outstanding performance on the battlefield with his improved skills, but his appearance was striking enough to turn the heads of celebrities—so much so that the attention of so-called “face enthusiasts” couldn’t be ignored.
‘Moreover, he’s the only blood relative of Cheon Tae-min himself.’
However, Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master had thoroughly kept Choi Team Leader’s existence under wraps during his lifetime, and Choi Team Leader had done the same.
Until then, the two of them had been in the position of a dinosaur and an ant. Even if the ant revealed its identity and became a golden ant, the fact that it was an ant didn’t change.
And now, with Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master dead, the truth that both of them had hidden—whether by choice or circumstance—was slowly surfacing.
What troubled me was how natural and perfectly timed this entire process felt.
I stared intently at Choi Team Leader.
“This was intentional on your part, wasn’t it, Choi Team Leader?”
“To be honest, yes. I judged that now was the right moment.”
“I’m actually surprised you’re being so straightforward. Is this your usual character?”
“What secrets would I have left to keep from Jin Tae-kyung? Of course, even if I’m this honest, Jin Tae-kyung surely has many secrets of your own.”
“…Why would you say something like that?”
A sharp pang struck my chest.
Since obtaining the system, I had already known that Choi Team Leader, with whom I’d spent the most time in the modern world, had harbored suspicions about my true identity all along.
I’d even heard it directly from his own mouth.
Now that he’d brought it up so bluntly, I had nothing to say in response.
I scratched my chin awkwardly and opened my mouth.
“Setting that aside, may I ask you a few things?”
“Please do. Though I suspect seaweed soup will be served soon, so you’d better hurry.”
“It’s just… wouldn’t it have been better if I had revealed the truth about Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master instead?”
The deaths of Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master and Wu Hei-xing were announced as the work of the Arch Lich.
The truth about their deaths was buried, and because of that, public opinion was expressing condolences in a relatively favorable manner.
Wu Hei-xing was originally a scoundrel anyway, and his family’s atrocities came to light, so he was cursed even in death. But Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master was being eulogized as a great star that had fallen.
‘They even gave him a state funeral, so that says everything.’
But if the truth had been revealed, the situation would have been different.
Even without concrete evidence, my testimony couldn’t simply be dismissed as nonsense—I had already built a formidable reputation as a new hero.
Had that happened, Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master’s honor would have crashed to the ground, and Choi Team Leader’s plan would have proceeded smoothly.
“But you told me something back then, Choi Team Leader. You said we shouldn’t reveal Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master’s crimes to the media.”
Choi Team Leader nodded calmly.
“Yes. I did.”
“What was your reason?”
In the next moment, an answer without a moment’s hesitation pierced my ears.
“Because I didn’t want to taint what was mine.”
“Pardon?”
“Lee Jung-ryong Vice Guild Master was certainly a man with a hideous side. He helped my maternal grandfather achieve great deeds during the Great Upheaval, but he gradually became corrupted and, holding absolute power over the Ares Guild, committed all manner of illegal acts. The important thing is…”
Choi Team Leader continued in a dry voice.
“The arrows of blame aren’t directed at Lee Jung-ryong alone—they’re aimed at the Ares Guild as a whole.”
“…!”
“The Ares Guild’s influence is formidable. Even though my grandfather has remained out of sight for so long, and even with Lee Jung-ryong dead, people still trust in the Guild’s power without question.”
Clink.
“Jin Tae-kyung.”
Choi Team Leader’s gaze darkened as he caressed the pristine tableware, unmarred by a single speck of dust.
“I have no desire for food splattered with filth. Even if hair tangles within the dish and maggots writhe beneath the surface, it must appear flawless on the outside—more magnificent than anything else. I want the Ares Guild to come into my hands with that influence intact, untarnished.”
I had overlooked it—the power that the name Ares carried. Its influence.
And Choi Team Leader… he desires to seize the Ares Guild in its entirety, without blemish or flaw. He wants to absorb that power and influence wholly into himself.
Removing the hair Lee Jung-ryong left behind, extracting the vermin—that comes later.
“I have waited long. For this moment to arrive.”
Choi Team Leader’s eyes gleamed with a chilling brilliance as he spoke in a low murmur.

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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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