Murim Login - Chapter 649

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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 649
Magic and Machinery.
Compared to the modern world, where all manner of technological marvels flourished, the Murim was undeniably fraught with inconveniences that made daily life a trial.
Unpaved roads of nature that shattered one’s backside and spine merely from sitting in a carriage.
Naturally, smartphones and WiFi were beyond even dreaming of, and electricity was nonexistent.
The only method available, if one could call it that, was to be struck directly by lightning—but exchanging electricity for one’s life at equal value hardly seemed like good value.
Yet it posed no real obstacle to living.
Or rather, given how precarious my existence had been, I barely had time to worry about such things.
After that, everything proceeded well enough.
Someone once said that clothing, food, and shelter were the three most essential elements of human life, and in that regard, my position as Sam-gong-ja of the Taewon Jin Family afforded me a rather luxurious existence.
‘Save for one thing.’
I fixed a grave stare upon the foreign servant belonging to the Inner Palace—a boy who looked no older than a middle schooler at best.
“I have but one question. Think carefully before you answer.”
“Yes?”
“Are you looking down on me because I’m Han?”
The servant’s eyes widened as he waved his hands frantically.
“N-no, sir. How could I ever presume to—”
“Then why did you bring me to this cesspool? I distinctly asked to be taken to the outhouse.”
“B-but this is the outhouse, sir.”
“I told you to think before answering. Lie to me once more, and I’ll fill your entire household with excrement. Have you heard of the Beggar Clan among the sects of the Central Plains?”
“Yes? Yes, sir. Isn’t that the sect composed of beggars?”
“You know of it well. With a word from me, I could summon thousands of beggars—well, perhaps a hundred or so—to your doorstep. Especially that fellow Gung Ki-bang; his stench is absolutely overwhelming. Those wretches would reduce you and your entire nine clans to nothing but excrement. So take me to a proper outhouse at once!”
The servant flinched at my outburst, his eyes welling with tears.
“I-I’m terribly sorry. Truly, I apologize, but this is actually the cleanest outhouse we have.”
Damn it. I’d suspected as much, yet this cesspool was indeed the outhouse.
As the unwelcome truth crystallized before me, my vision darkened. Even the Central Plains wasn’t this primitive.
“These barbaric wretches…”
“Sir?”
“Never mind. You may go.”
Having dismissed the innocent servant, I gazed upon the cramped space reeking of putrid stench and carefully placed my foot down.
Creeeeak.
The plank beneath my foot shrieked in protest. As I closed the door, I felt as though I’d entered a chemical hazard chamber. I stood rigid, muttering inwardly.
‘Could this be a trap laid by Baek Sang?’
I’d read it countless times in martial arts novels—scenes of supremely skilled masters assassinated in outhouses, that sort of thing.
Yet after examining the gaps between the planks, even that suspicion evaporated. No matter how dedicated a professional assassin might be, I couldn’t imagine them hiding in a place like this.
‘Oh, please. God. Buddha. Namo Amitabha Avalokiteshvara Amen…’
A moment that felt like an eternity.
Just as I, having accepted reality, held my breath and attended to my business—
Splash, thud!
Everything happened in an instant.
I reflexively reached out and caught something, and with a sharp sound of air being pierced, I could confirm what had embedded itself into the dilapidated door.
‘An arrow?’
The moment I recognized it, I moved like lightning, launching myself forward.
Crash!
The door shattered, and fresh night air greeted me, but that was all there was.
There was nothing around. Nothing except the cheers and instrumental music drifting from not too far away.
However….
‘Southeast.’
For someone of my martial prowess, determining the direction from which an arrow was fired was hardly difficult. Once I had a sense of the direction, I kicked off the ground without hesitation.
Crash! Whoosh!
Wind rushed across my entire body.
As I stepped off the Stone Wall and soared onto the highest Pavilion, the full expanse of the Inner Palace spread out beneath my feet.
Torches illuminating various spots. People enjoying a banquet at the Training Ground. Warriors standing guard everywhere.
‘Who on earth is this?’
Even at the pinnacle of martial mastery, there are limits.
The Inner Palace was far too vast to take in at a glance, and the number of people moving through it was several times greater than usual.
And most unfortunately, the warriors of the Southern Beast Palace, who were maintaining vigilance in preparation for any contingency, belonged to the professionally conscientious sort.
“Southwest! On top of the Pavilion!”
“Who is that bastard!”
Shrill!
With the sharp sound of a horn, the warriors patrolling the Inner Palace came swarming like ants.
Of course, some objects arrived before the people did.
Screech! Crash!
Hmm, things seem to be getting complicated.
Staring at the arrow and spear embedded at my feet, I muttered inwardly and examined the arrow I was holding again.
Compared to the ones that had just flown in, they were identical in size and shape.
But there was one crucial difference I had failed to notice until now.
‘This is….’
A small bundle of leather hanging from the arrow’s fletching.
And the moment I became aware of its existence, dozens of torches flared to life beneath the Pavilion where I stood.
“You are now surrounded!”
“Reveal your identity at once and surrender!”
The timing was impeccable. After a brief moment of deliberation, I made my decision and quietly recited a command in my mind.
‘Inventory open. Store.’
Ding.
With the system’s characteristic clear bell sound, the arrow in my grasp vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.
The warriors of the Inner Palace, unable to properly confirm what was happening in the darkness, shouted again.
“This is your final warning. Disarm yourself and surrender!”
“Raise both your hands above your head immediately! If you don’t, I’ll put arrow holes through that thick skull of yours!”
….
Look at how vicious the commentary is. Is this some kind of local patch or something?
Displeased by the Southern Wilderness-style NYPD’s rough treatment, I reluctantly raised both hands above my head as they ordered.
Once they learned my identity, the misunderstanding would clear up quickly anyway, and a few decent excuses would settle the matter.
If I caused more trouble here, only I would suffer… but why do these bastards look like that?
‘They all look like they’ve seen a ghost.’
And in the next moment, I realized it.
Whiiiing.
A breeze blowing from somewhere made my lower half feel particularly exposed today.
Crackle.
“Ah, ahhh…!”
“Huh…!”
Dozens of torches illuminating me like spotlights.
And listening to the warriors’ exclamations as they momentarily forgot their duties, I thought to myself.
‘This is absolutely fucked.’
I’d forgotten to pull up my pants.
* * *
“I’m asking this out of genuine curiosity.”
Nam Ho, whom I faced about half an hour later, opened his mouth calmly with a composed expression.
“You’re Dark Heaven, aren’t you?”
“….”
“You keep doing this because you’re Dark Heaven, right? Huh?”
“….”
“Right. It can’t be anything else. Otherwise, why would some Martial Alliance inspector come all the way to the Southern Wilderness, punch the Great Tribal Leader in the solar plexus, and then stand on top of a pavilion on a moonlit night with his lower half completely exposed? You were planning to sabotage the tribe from the start, weren’t you? Am I wrong?”
Tae-san, who had been sitting at a table chewing on something, suddenly raised his hand.
“Nam Ho, what is Dark Heaven? Tae-san is curious.”
Nam Ho, who had been staring at Tae-san with a penetrating gaze, turned his head toward Sa Ma-pyo.
“I’m asking this with the most sincere heart—how can I put a padlock on that bastard’s mouth?”
“Hmm.”
Sa Ma-pyo, who had been thinking for a moment, stood up from his seat.
“I’ll bring some more food.”
“Good idea. But as a Shadow Pavilion operative with keen insight, let me add one thing—don’t bring food. Bring that bastard to the food instead. If I hear one more word of his bullshit, I think I’ll go mad.”
“….”
“….”
Nam Ho was always somewhat eccentric by nature, but today he was sharp rather than merely eccentric.
Even the oblivious Tae-san was frightened enough to apologize.
“Tae-san… is sorry…”
Nam Ho, glaring at Tae-san with a terrifying look, took a deep breath.
I reflexively realized it was my turn and spoke first.
“Well… there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? What kind of bullshit misunderstanding?”
“No, please don’t put it that way. Just listen to what I have to say….”
“I heard it all! All of it! There were even witnesses! Over two hundred people saw it! Is this why you sent Ju Hwa-ran? Do you have that kind of taste?”
“Wow, now that I think about it, if Ju Hwa-ran had been there, we’d have been in real trouble. Thank goodness she wasn’t….”
“You bastaaaard!”
Crash! Splinter!
An old man past eighty had quite the strength. He’d just smashed that solid table to pieces.
I barely managed to suppress the urge to applaud instinctively.
If I provoked him even once more in this situation, Nam Ho looked like he’d die from rage.
“Old Master Nam. Calm yourself, calm down.”
“Huff. Huff.”
“Take a deep breath in, then out. Good. That’s it.”
Sa Ma-pyo, whose worried gaze seemed out of place for someone from the evil sect, soothed Nam Ho before turning to address me.
“In any case, each lord, is what you just said the truth?”
“Yes, it is. There was just a very minor misunderstanding that I couldn’t explain to others….”
“Did you really send Ju Hwa-ran for this?”
“You damn bastard.”
How had things spiraled into this mess? At this rate, my alias would change to the Lustful Divine Dragon.
I gazed up at the ceiling in lament before barely managing to open my mouth.
“That’s not it. I was attacked before that.”
“What?”
“Attacked?”
“Oh, Tae-san. You know what an attack is.”
The gazes of all three men focused on me in an instant.
Nam Ho, his eyes wide open, asked urgently.
“When? Where?”
“In the outhouse. I was doing my business when arrows suddenly came flying from outside. I came right out to look for Hyung Soo, but that’s how this happened. I didn’t even have time to pull up my pants.”
“Then Hyung Soo! Did you catch Hyung Soo?”
“How could I? The arrows came from far away, and there were so many people in the Inner Palace that I failed.”
It would have been easier if hidden weapons like throwing knives or poisoned needles had come flying instead. Those kinds of weapons had much more limited range.
But a bow was a ranged weapon capable of attacking from considerable distances, making it that much harder to find the culprit.
“But why didn’t you report this from the beginning? If it was an attack, you could have immediately informed the Palace Lord and had Hyung Soo rooted out.”
Nam Ho’s words made sense. In fact, I had considered telling the truth.
It was far better than being treated as a pervert wandering around half-naked in the dead of night.
But….
“It was an attack, but it seems it wasn’t an attack.”
“What?”
“What do you mean?”
“Tae-san. I know what an attack is, but I don’t understand an attack that isn’t an attack. Explain it to me.”
“Just die. Please die.”
Nam Ho, who had instantly silenced Tae-san, furrowed his brow.
“It wasn’t an attack?”
“No.”
“So you’re hiding something. Explain in detail.”
“I only realized later, but there was something strange attached to the arrow.”
As I answered, I spread my qi perception outward.
After confirming no one was nearby, I silently recited in my mind.
‘Inventory open. Summon.’
Ding.
A clear chime sounded, and I felt the object materialize in my grasp.
I naturally withdrew the hand I’d been concealing in my robes.
I unrolled the arrow that had flown toward the outhouse and the small leather pouch attached to its tip.
The rolled leather unfurled across the table.
On that object, smaller than a child’s palm, were characters written in tiny script that read:
[Today. Hour of the Tiger. West Gate.]
It was seal script, and an invitation from someone whose identity remained unknown.

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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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