Murim Login - Chapter 60

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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 60
The Grand Elder pondered.
‘Have I lived too long?’
The Murim he remembered, the martial artists of Murim—they were not like this.
Coordinated attacks were shameful, ambushes drew condemnation, and even a speck of dirt on one’s back became cause for ridicule.
Yet….
“Throw dirt! Keep throwing it!”
In eighty years of life, I had never encountered such a thing. What? Throwing dirt?
Even the demonic cultists he had fought like mortal enemies decades ago had never employed such base and cowardly tactics.
‘Is that creature truly a martial artist?’
What was even more astounding was the reaction of his subordinates.
“It’s the captain’s order! Throw dirt!”
“Spread out! Watch for sword energy!”
Watching those men obey without question made my head spin.
‘I’ve never seen such wretched creatures.’
These were not martial artists. No—they were not even human.
This was an insult to martial artists themselves, and simultaneously an insult to the Grand Elder, who had devoted his entire life to the blade.
“How dare you….”
It was then that he drew his sword.
“You foolish bastards!”
A stern cry erupted half a beat too soon. A youth whose face was swollen as though stung by wasps swept his fierce gaze across the surroundings.
“What in blazes are you doing!”
His appearance was laughable, yet his bearing was respectable. Yes, that was how a true martial artist should conduct himself.
‘So there is at least one sensible one among them.’
It was at that very moment the Grand Elder was inwardly nodding in approval.
“Dirt alone won’t do? Mix in stones too!”
“…!”
The Grand Elder’s body trembled as though struck by lightning.
Overwhelmed by a humiliation he had never experienced before, he forgot even to swing his blade as a clod of earth flew toward his face.
Thud!
Without question, in eighty years of life, this was the most degrading and defenseless attack he had ever permitted. Among the cascading dirt, a single stone was deliberately mixed in.
“Uh-huh, uh-huh-huh-huh.”
The Grand Elder’s laughter, which had been like that of a madman, abruptly ceased.
And at that same moment.
Whoooosh.
Sword energy infused with the power of a decade of cultivation erupted skyward.
“Are you prepared?”
Jin Tae-kyung, observing this scene, murmured.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned the stones….”
Before the words even left his mouth, the Grand Elder charged forward like a lion. The dozen or so sheep-like men screamed and fled.
“Scatter! Scatter now!”
“Throw dirt!”
Of course, I didn’t forget to hurl dirt even in the midst of chaos.
* * *
Whoooosh—
A fierce gust erupted from the Grand Elder’s blade. Sand, earth, stone—it mattered not what. Everything shattered and scattered before such overwhelming power.
‘How am I supposed to face this monster.’
A direct confrontation?
Sure, call them close-range fighters, but if I threw the Scout Unit at the Grand Elder, they’d be slaughtered in the blink of an eye.
They were my comrades, though. I couldn’t let them die meaninglessly like dogs in the street.
“Jooooo!”
That bastard deserved death anyway.
‘So why the hell did he mix in stones, stones of all things.’
The Grand Elder’s primary target was Hyuk Moo-jin. He’d launched that audacious strike, so it was only natural. I exhaled deeply and hurled myself toward Hyuk Moo-jin.
Whiiiish!
My spear thrust with all my might toward the Grand Elder’s chest.
At the same moment, the sword qi meant to bisect Hyuk Moo-jin’s back changed direction.
Shink.
That damned sword qi.
I had no time to confirm the cleanly severed spearhead. I seized Hyuk Moo-jin’s nape, terror-stricken as he was.
“Move!”
But the Grand Elder was not one to yield easily.
Shhhhieeee!
Along with the piercing sound, my side burned. A mere graze tore away a chunk of flesh, and blood sprayed forth.
‘Ugh.’
Damn, it hurt. But screaming was a luxury I couldn’t afford right now.
‘I need to buy time.’
I shoved Hyuk Moo-jin aside and spun to face the Grand Elder. At my action, the Grand Elder raised an eyebrow.
“You?”
Just two words, but the meaning came through crystal clear. Did I really think I could stop him? That was what he meant.
I answered with feigned composure.
“Yeah, me.”
“Don’t you value your life?”
“If I say I value it dearly, will you spare me?”
“Heh heh, you brat. Your tongue’s still short.”
“Grandfather, is your pride still intact?”
Tsk tsk tsk.
It rose up.
A grand and magnificent sword qi.
“…You’ve made your point.”
My grip on the spear grew slick with perspiration.
‘At this rate, I’ll need to exhaust every last resource I have just to survive.’
I harbored far more secrets than the Grand Elder could fathom.
Attacks leveraging my inventory, and a skill that could channel several times my normal strength into a single devastating blow—Annihilation.
‘I’ve never revealed this trump card, saving it for a moment precisely like this.’
Was this what they called a final gambit in the Murim?
One thing was certain: neither the Grand Elder nor anyone else in the Murim could have anticipated such a technique. And beyond that….
“Formation: Encirclement. Deploy.”
Whoosh.
Hyuk Moo-jin and the Scout Unit members began tightening the noose from all directions.
A crude net for ensnaring such a great fish as the Grand Elder. Yet with sharp harpoons at hand, this battle was worth fighting.
“Can you truly accomplish anything with merely this?”
“This much is plenty to catch one old man.”
The Grand Elder laughed as though amused.
“A fearless brat. One who needs a beating to learn sense.”
Yet his wish would go unfulfilled. The next instant, an unexpected voice cut through.
“I believe I misheard you. Would you say that again?”
A frame mountainous in its proportions, eyes blazing with intensity. From between thick lips flowed a voice cold as ice itself.
“You’d lay hands on my child?”
Whoooosh.
Sword energy erupted like wildfire along the blade’s edge, aimed directly at the Grand Elder.
Jin Wi-kyung, appearing like a savior, winked toward me.
“How’s that, Elder Brother? Impressive, isn’t it?”
There he goes again, same as always.
* * *
A face I hadn’t seen in a month.
At Jin Wi-kyung’s arrival, my rigid body melted like snow in spring.
Joy—pure, unbridled joy.
‘Thank heavens. He’s alive.’
Jin Wi-kyung was drenched in blood, having endured a fierce battle. Wounds both large and small were visible through his torn garments.
But that was enough. The fact that he lived—that was what mattered.
‘There’s much I wish to say, but conversation can wait.’
Our reunion could be properly shared once this war concluded. Jin Wi-kyung seemed of the same mind, turning his gaze forward.
At the end of our stares, the Grand Elder slowly opened his mouth.
“That you’ve come this far means….”
Jin Wi-kyung’s chilling voice cut him short.
“The Third Elder is dead. The First Elder won’t last much longer.”
Excellent news. If Jin Wi-kyung mentioned this, it meant the Elders had played no small role in this war, and the Grand Elder’s arms and legs had been severed from him.
“Did the two of them… pass peacefully?”
“Likely so.”
The Grand Elder nodded readily.
“He always said he’d die like a true warrior. His wish came true—how fortunate.”
“He’ll be remembered as a traitor, not a warrior. All of you will be.”
“History is written by the victors.”
The Grand Elder leveled his blade toward us. Even facing dozens of warriors, including myself and Jin Wi-kyung, he remained composed.
“Now let us determine the victor.”
Jin Wi-kyung seemed about to speak, his lips parting briefly before sealing shut. The next instant, a thunderous roar erupted from him.
“Eliminate the traitor!”
Shing. Shiiing.
Dozens of weapons unsheathed in unison, all aimed at a single man—a magnificent spectacle.
“For honor!”
With a deafening cry, dozens of warriors merged into one force and charged. I was no exception. My grip on the spear tightened until my knuckles whitened, and my chest felt ready to burst.
‘We can win this. No—we will win.’
A direct confrontation without tactics or schemes. Yet we possessed Jin Wi-kyung, a master of the highest caliber, and dozens of warriors who followed him.
‘And I am here.’
The Grand Elder had placed too much faith in his own power. He committed every force to the front lines without leaving even minimal guards, and as a result, the Black Robed Organization now found itself pinned down by the combined assault of the Taewon Jin Family and the Hangsan Inspection Bureau.
The Grand Elder would die here.
‘It’s over!’
But my certainty shattered far sooner than I expected.
Shuu shuu shuu shuk!
Dozens of projectiles suddenly erupted through the air. They flew with a speed and force that exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“The Finger Flick Master!”
Jin Wi-kyung’s cry. I wasn’t given time to wonder what the Finger Flick Master was.
Puh-buh-buh-buk!
Clang!
“Kraaaagh!”
“Kugh!”
Some fell; others were sent flying. But those who fell did not rise again.
‘Surely not….’
In that brief moment, I saw it clearly. Small dots embedded densely like buckshot across their chests and faces.
‘Stones?’
They were fragments now, but they had been stones. Shattered by the Grand Elder’s power, they had been fired toward us.
‘Is that even possible?’
Chills ran down my spine, yet it wasn’t over.
The Grand Elder extended his hand toward us.
“Scatter!”
This time, both Jin Wi-kyung and I cried out simultaneously. The warriors, already on high alert, dispersed in an instant.
‘Good. This time I’m not too late…!’
But relief was short-lived.
Shwiiiiing!
Instead of the Elders’ Guard, it was the Grand Elder who burst forth. Like a beast unleashed, he tore through the ranks of warriors.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
“Gurk.”
“Gasp.”
Each time a blade flashed through the darkness, another life was extinguished. Wherever the Grand Elder swept, only stifled screams and corpses remained in his wake.
“Grand Elder—!”
When Jin Wi-kyung charged forward in fury, the Grand Elder had already dispatched five men. Yet his pale face, unmarred by a single drop of blood, resembled that of a ghost.
“You’ve come?”
“How dare you!”
“All of you are clumsy. It seems peace has lasted far too long.”
One undeniable truth existed: the Grand Elder was a hero of the Righteous Martial Alliance War.
He was stronger and more seasoned than anyone present. A supreme martial master perfected through countless real battles.
Whoosh!
Jin Wi-kyung unleashed a sword aura that pierced the empty air. The Grand Elder evaded the attack with merely a tilt of his head, then flicked his finger.
The target was me.
Shwip!
I couldn’t see anything. But I sensed it instinctively.
‘Internal energy.’
That was literally a mass of qi itself. I rolled my body without hesitation.
Whoosh.
“Hack.”
I should have blocked it with my spear, but the attack was too unfamiliar for me to react in time. The price was the death of a nameless ally.
The taste in my mouth turned foul.
“Crawling on the ground? You’re like a donkey.”
I spat out the dirt that had entered my mouth.
“There’s nothing you won’t do to survive.”
“Ha ha, you’re already becoming a true martial artist.”
Clang! Clang clang!
What a monster. I was left speechless watching the Grand Elder deflect every sword aura from Jin Wi-kyung even as he spoke.
Thud!
In that same instant, a fist infused with internal energy came crashing down, shattering the skull of a warrior who had lunged at his back.
“You’re still twenty years too early.”
The battle had barely begun—not even enough time had passed to drink a cup of tea—yet nearly twenty warriors had already become cold corpses.
“You bastard!”
Whoosh!
A middle-aged swordsman whose face seemed vaguely familiar had his neck severed by the sword aura.
“Die!”
Boom!
A young man who looked barely twenty years old, his chest caved in, fell to his knees. Real people, not NPCs.
Faces I had seen at the Taewon Jin Family, people I had shaken hands with. That realization made me clench my teeth.
‘I’m sorry.’
Not an apology for lacking the strength to stop them. This was an apology for having used their deaths as a tool.
Whish!
Another body crumpled under the Grand Elder’s finger flick, limp as a puppet with severed strings. Yet the corpse that seemed ready to topple backward sprang upright like a tumbler doll, only to collapse forward toward the Grand Elder.
“Foolish tricks!”
Crash! Boom!
The Grand Elder unleashed his energy with one hand against Jin Wi-kyung’s blade and with the other toward the corpse.
And….
‘Now.’
I emerged from behind the flying corpse and extended my spear.
“First Flash.”
In the next instant.
A deafening roar erupted.
The sound struck with such force that my ears rang.

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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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