Murim Login - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 68
In the end, Jin Wi-kyung emerged victorious. With glistening eyes, she persistently pleaded, “Just two weeks. Or even ten days—couldn’t we live together for that long?” Until both Tae-kyung and Jin Moo-kyung surrendered completely.
And so we arrived at this situation.
After Jin Wi-kyung left, the Underground Training Ground fell silent with only the two of us remaining.
It was Jin Moo-kyung who broke the silence first.
“I’ll explain the rules.”
“Rules? What rules do two men need when living together?”
“First. From now on, when addressing me, you will maintain proper etiquette and speak in formal language.”
“And if I refuse?”
Jin Moo-kyung struck the practice steel dummy standing beside him.
Boom! Crack!
The steel dummy flew across the Training Ground and embedded itself into the wall. A clear palm print was imprinted on its caved-in chest.
“What was the first rule again?”
I glared at Jin Moo-kyung. I’d been through countless trials and tribulations. If he thought this alone would break my spirit, he was sorely mistaken.
“To speak in formal language when addressing you, sir.”
…But a mature adult knows how to avoid unnecessary conflict.
This is how adults fight. Heh heh.
‘So why are tears threatening to spill?’
Ah, I miss Mother.
“Good. Second rule. Keep quiet as a dead mouse. If you make loud noises and disturb my sleep or interfere with my training….”
Boom! Crack!
As the second steel dummy flew away, I nodded frantically without thinking.
“Finally, the third rule. You’re free to use the Training Ground, but if I tell you to move, you vacate without complaint. Understood?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Now you’re thinking straight.”
Jin Moo-kyung nodded with satisfaction and pointed toward the exit.
“Now go. Your room is on the Third Floor.”
Behind my back as I hurriedly escaped the Underground Training Ground, a martial shout echoed. Treated like mere baggage, my competitive spirit flared. I glanced back briefly and made a vow.
‘Just wait. I’ll catch up soon.’
Whoosh! Scrape!
Sword energy sliced through the third steel dummy. Watching it fall helplessly, I revised my thoughts slightly.
‘Just wait. Someday I’ll catch up.’
* * *
The room was austere. Unlike my previous quarters, which had been lavishly decorated, this one contained only the bare essentials of furniture.
“Even so, this is a bit much.”
Very Jin Moo-kyung of him, I’d say.
Though we’d only met a day ago, it was enough to grasp his nature. He despises unnecessary clutter and prioritizes efficiency. He’s also a diligent type who never neglects training.
“….”
What’s this—the more I think about it, the more impressive he seems?
He does have a violent side, beating his own blood brother like a dog for not using formal speech, but thinking it through rationally, it was self-defense.
Put yourself in another’s shoes—isn’t that the foundation of human relationships?
‘If I had a younger brother like that, I’d beat him senseless and call it even.’
The Elder Brothers were busting their backs trying to restore the family’s glory, yet this youngest brother was squandering his potential on wine and women, martial arts be damned.
Jin Wi-kyung was merciful by nature, but someone like Jin Moo-kyung—a fist should be his first language.
‘And his martial prowess is formidable.’
Who knows? Perhaps seeing his youngest brother finally reform, he might personally take him under his wing and teach him the Way.
‘This is… an opportunity.’
My eyes snapped wide open.
Jin Wi-kyung and Wi Paeng were so consumed with their duties that I barely caught glimpses of them, but Jin Moo-kyung—he was practically chained to the Training Ground.
Ten days under the same roof, receiving one-on-one instruction from a master at the pinnacle of martial excellence? My own cultivation could advance by leaps and bounds.
‘Higher. Far higher.’
Deep within my chest, hunger stirred and rose its head. Not mere greed—a ravenous hunger for everything I’d never possessed.
Wealth and renown? Tempting. But they were only fragments of what I truly desired.
‘I want to grow stronger.’
I’d thought myself sufficiently powerful, but I was wrong.
Protecting those close to me required far more. I felt it when facing Jo Pil before, and again watching the Grand Elder now.
An overwhelming disparity in strength.
At my current level, I couldn’t even protect my own life, let alone those I cared for. I was nothing but a frog that had barely poked its head above the well’s rim.
‘However long it takes, I’ll catch up.’
From third-rate to first-rate. F-grade to C-grade in merely two months. This resolve was no empty boast.
The war was over. Time was abundant now. I intended to push my abilities to their absolute limit before logging out.
‘Should I get reassessed the moment I return?’
With enough inner strength backing me, B-grade seemed well within reach.
Lost in these delightful fantasies, I smiled contentedly—until that moment.
“Huh?”
What’s this?
A nagging sense of forgetting something crucial. The feeling of overlooking what shouldn’t be overlooked. The same dissonance I’d felt before meeting Jin Moo-kyung yesterday.
It didn’t take long to identify what was bothering me.
“Quest, open Quest window.”
Ding.
– There are currently no active Quests.
No active Quests?
The moment I saw the System Message, the world tilted. I understood perfectly what it meant.
‘… Where’s the Logout Quest?’
The only bridge between Murim and reality. The Logout Quest was nowhere to be found.
Stunned, I stared blankly at the System Message when it happened.
Ding.
A crystalline chime echoed, and a new window materialized in the void.
– Achievement,
[Return]
has been achieved!
– Title:
[Returner]
has been acquired!
– A new function has been activated!
“Returner? A new function?”
What is this? I hurriedly opened my status window, and sure enough, the three characters spelling “Returner” gleamed brilliantly.
“Check title.”
Ding.
Item Window
[Returner]
Description
: It is easy to depart, but difficult to return. I commend the sacrifice and courage you have shown.
Effect
: All stats +10, [Logout] and [Login] functions activated
In that moment.
Pop.
Fireworks exploded in my mind.
* * *
Jin Moo-kyung breathed. It was a breathing that utilized his nose, mouth, and entire body thrown wide open. The inner force of his dantian and the qi of heaven and earth mingled as they flowed inward.
Whoooosh.
The dantian bore another name: the Sea of Qi. A sea of qi, the place where vital energy gathered and flowed. Jin Moo-kyung felt the waves of qi coursing through the three meridians of his entire body. And he rejoiced.
‘This is it.’
At five years old, I first grasped a sword. It was a wooden blade crudely carved by Jin Wi-kyung’s inexperienced hand. I loved the rough texture of it, and I loved the sound of wind scattering each time I swung it. Not a single day had I skipped training since that day.
‘A genius, truly a genius.’
‘That bastard was simply born with it. There’s no other way to explain it….’
Some marveled, others envied. Though their intentions differed, their words were the same. A martial genius. Innate talent.
Even as they all spoke in unison, Jin Moo-kyung remained locked away in the Training Ground, continuing his cultivation. For him, training was not suffering but the process of growing stronger—it was joy.
Exhale.
What escaped with the breath was not merely turbid qi. Jin Moo-kyung expelled the stray thoughts from his mind along with the turbid qi.
From now on, he had to focus solely on the circulation of qi through breathing.
‘Can I do it today?’
It was time to face the enemy he had fought without fail for the past three years. The enemy by the name of the Conception and Governing Vessels.
Until now, I had always been forced to retreat, but Jin Moo-kyung had not yet surrendered. If I could win just once, I could break through the Conception and Governing Vessels and set foot in a new realm.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
It was the moment when Jin Moo-kyung, filled with resolve, drew his inner force upward with all his might.
“HOOOOOOUUUUU!”
What was this? A heart demon?
A ghastly shriek that sent chills down the spine merely from hearing it. It sounded like the laughter of a demon crying out in joy. Just as Jin Moo-kyung hastily tried to suppress his inner force, the demon cried out once more.
“Strip off your clothes and tear your underwear! HOOOOOOUUUUU!”
Not a demon. There’s only one person capable of spouting such nonsense from a pavilion where entry is forbidden.
“Jin Tae-kyung, you bastard, I’ll kill you… Cough!”
The surging rage scattered his inner energy to pieces.
* * *
“What? The Taewon Jin Family?”
Song Geom-mun Master had just been about to lie down when the sudden report from his steward jolted him awake in the dead of night.
“Are you certain?”
“How would I know? I’m not even a martial artist.”
Song Geom-mun Master clutched the back of his neck at the steward’s words—a man of letters who had retired from public service.
It was foolish to ask someone whose head contained nothing but ink and dung.
“Then how did you know it was the Taewon Jin Family?”
“The gate guards came rushing over, saying that people from the Taewon Jin Family are outside right now. And apparently some fellow—Wi, Wi something-or-other—asked if he could meet the Master.”
Wi something-or-other?
Song Geom-mun Master swallowed hard.
“Please tell me that man’s name isn’t Wi Paeng.”
“Ah, yes it is. Wi Paeng.”
Song Geom-mun Master nearly smashed the steward’s head in with his pillow.
‘The Ghost Blade Wi Paeng came in person?’
The right arm of the Second Master Jin Wi-kyung and a core master of the Taewon Jin Family.
The visit of this peak-level expert, who had reportedly achieved great deeds in the recent war, felt as though his very soul was being torn from his body.
“Wake everyone up immediately!”
It was an emergency. As Song Geom-mun Master rushed out, a thousand thoughts flooded his mind.
‘Is this retaliation?’
Song Geom-mun was a minor sect in the central region of Shanxi Province. With fewer than fifty disciples, most of them merely second or third-rate martial artists.
They had received various forms of assistance for being close to the Taewon Jin Family, but when war actually broke out, they had quietly withdrawn.
Perhaps this visit was an inevitable consequence.
‘But still, for the Ghost Blade to come personally. And at this hour.’
The Taewon Jin Family was renowned for their impartiality, so it seemed unlikely—but if their purpose was to annihilate the sect, there was no power to stop them.
Even Song Geom-mun’s greatest master would be nothing more than a three-move opponent for Wi Paeng.
“Master!”
The Gate Guards’ faces brightened at their leader’s appearance, like puppies whimpering to go outside.
But Song Geom-mun Master could not share their joy.
His face rigid as stone, he offered a respectful fist salute toward the uninvited guests.
“I am Hwang Mo, leading Song Geom-mun.”
At the same moment, thirty uninvited guests wearing bamboo hats parted to the left and right. Beneath the hazy moonlight, one figure stepped forward.
“Greetings, Wi Paeng.”
He was as young as rumored, and far more discourteous than expected. For Wi Paeng to show such an attitude toward the Master of the First Gate, however humble Song Geom-mun might be?
Yet he dared not voice his displeasure. That discourteous young man was the Ghost Blade, and behind him stood the name of the Taewon Jin Family.
If this was the price for turning a blind eye to an ally’s crisis, he was getting off cheaply.
Song Geom-mun Master licked his parched lips.
“I’ve heard much of your reputation, Honored Guest. Had you sent word beforehand, I would have come to greet you myself.”
“Please, Master Song, think nothing of it. I intended only to deliver the Young Master’s letter and depart.”
“A letter, you say?”
Wi Paeng nodded and handed over the sealed letter. Beneath the torch held by the Gate Guard, the crimson seal of the Taewon Jin Family gleamed with unmistakable clarity.
“This is….”
“An invitation. A request that you visit the Main Residence on the coming First Day of the Year.”
The Song Geom-mun Master, who had lived in Murim for no short span of years, grasped the true meaning at once.
‘An invitation, my foot.’
This was a summons—and a warning. A warning that refusal would cast him adrift from the currents of Shanxi Province’s Murim henceforth.
The First Day of the Year would be when the victorious lord accepted new vassals into his service.
‘The Taewon Jin Family has drawn its blade.’
After a moment’s silence, the Song Geom-mun Master spoke.
“I’ve long wished to meet the Young Master. This is a welcome opportunity indeed.”
“We are honored by your visit, Master Song.”
Wi Paeng bowed respectfully. The shift in his demeanor from before was not lost on the Song Geom-mun Master, whose lips tightened.
“Your journey must have been arduous. Would it not be better to rest and recover inside?”
“Your kindness is appreciated, but I must depart. There is one I must pursue.”
“An assassin whom Wi Dae-hyup hunts? I hear the wretch is most vile indeed.”
“A vicious assassin, yes. One who dared strike at the Third Young Master.”
“The Third Young Master, you say? How dare anyone strike at Shanxi’s rising dragon?”
“We suspect he was sent by someone hostile to the Main Residence.”
“Hmm.”
“However….”
Wi Paeng’s eyes flashed with sudden intensity. His piercing gaze swept through the Song Geom-mun compound.
“The trail led me here, to Song Geom-mun.”
“That, that cannot be. Surely there is some misunderstanding?”
The Song Geom-mun Master’s heart sank, and he was about to stammer an explanation when Wi Paeng laughed and waved his hand dismissively.
“Ha, of course it must be a misunderstanding. Everyone knows the deep bonds between the Taewon Jin Family and Song Geom-mun. How could it be otherwise?”
“…!”
“Thank you for your hospitality. Until we meet again on the First Day of the Year. Farewell!”
Long after Wi Paeng and his men vanished into the darkness, the Song Geom-mun Master remained standing in that spot.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————