Murim Login - Chapter 691

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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 691
There are moments like this.
When a dream from the night before was so beautiful, so longed for, that I didn’t want to wake—moments when even after opening my eyes, I kept them closed for a long time, savoring every detail of that dream.
But as always, the world refuses to bend to my desires.
“Jin Tae-kyung!”
– Growl!
With a cry like a scream, two divine forms—one large, one small—came rushing at me. It wasn’t difficult to anticipate what was about to happen.
Of course, preventing it from happening was equally simple.
Thud, splash!
I swiftly swept Yo-hee’s legs out from under her and shoved away Mu Ya-ho’s snout as he bounded toward me, drool streaming from his jaws.
Then, with a single command, I closed my eyes again.
“Three seconds. Just three seconds—don’t touch me.”
I counted silently in my mind. Very slowly, I recalled everything I’d seen in the dream, committed it to memory, and opened my eyes once more.
Simultaneously, a strange sky—neither night nor day—filled my vision.
‘A strange sky.’
That’s rather novel.
I’d have thought the sky I see whenever boredom strikes couldn’t possibly seem unfamiliar, yet there it was, unmistakably before my eyes.
I pushed my aching body upright and opened my mouth.
“First, let me ask: you’re not about to tell me that Dark Heaven conquered the Southern Wilderness while I was unconscious, right?”
Yo-hee, soaked from tumbling into the Sacred Pond, shot back with a bewildered expression.
“You trip someone the moment you open your eyes and that’s what you say?”
“You came charging at me, so I tripped you. And look at the sky. I’d believe it if you told me this was Hell.”
“What if it is Hell?”
“Beats me.”
I surveyed my surroundings.
A Sacred Pond brimming with clear water and verdant vegetation. Between the thickets encircling us, the chirping of mountain birds and the curious eyes of beasts peeked through.
‘For Hell, the scenery is far too beautiful.’
Muttering inwardly, I shrugged.
“I’m already dead anyway. Might as well finish my sleep.”
“…Sleep? Are you in your right mind?”
“No. Actually, my vision’s still spinning.”
It was true. Just raising my upper body made my entire frame throb with pain and dizziness.
But still….
“I seem to still be alive. Definitely.”
Yes, I had survived once again.
The pain assailing me even now and the system notification echoing in my ears were proof of that.
Ding.
You have unconfirmed notifications.
Would you like to check new notifications?
Y / N
I was about to check the system window when I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten and turned my head.
Those pale blue eyes gleamed with cautious brightness, and seeing that propeller-like tail spinning, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, I’m alive because of you.”
– Roaaaar!
Whoosh!
As if waiting for those words, Mu Ya-ho’s massive body came charging at me.
My still-recovering body screamed under the weight, but it was fine. This pleasant pain was proof that I was alive.
Crack.
“…Ow.”
My mood was starting to sour.
* * *
Fortunately, Mu Ya-ho’s assassination attempt—which I suspected might be orchestrated by Dark Heaven—had failed, and after confirming my ribs were in place, I asked the question that had been bothering me most.
“But where’s Hyuk-ung? Why isn’t he here?”
At the same moment, I could see Yo-hee’s face stiffen the instant Hyuk-ung’s name left my lips.
“Don’t even bring up that bastard.”
“Wait, don’t tell me…”
“Yeah. You’re thinking exactly what happened.”
“Hyuk-ung proposed?”
“…!”
“The madman. No matter how much you like someone, that’s insane. How could he propose in that situation?”
Yo-hee, who had been staring at me as if I were crazy, finally spoke.
“He wasn’t the Hyuk-ung we knew. We were all deceived.”
“I suppose so. He seemed decent enough when using that Bone-Melting Technique.”
“…Bone-Melting Technique? You knew about that?”
“Of course I knew. He even sent me a secret message and we met.”
“Then you also knew he was a spy planted by Dark Heaven?”
“Obviously I knew that too, so wh—”
What exactly had I just heard?
After a moment of hesitation, I spoke heavily.
“Is that the truth?”
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
Damn, it seems to be true.
At the same time, the quest to track Hyang suddenly came to mind.
Now I finally understood why the system had specifically named only Yo-hee.
“Alright. I take back what I said about Hyuk-ung looking decent. I offer my sincere apologies.”
I shouldn’t have said that.
Decent or not, the atmosphere had grown cold long ago. Yo-hee answered with a sigh.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m alive thanks to you.”
“Ah, I’ll add another apology for the whole proposal thing.”
“It’s fine. He really did propose.”
“What?”
“It’s the truth. To be precise, it was less of a proposal and more of a threat—holding my life in her palm and shaking it.”
“Did you… accept?”
“I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier—are you seriously out of your mind?”
“Ah, sorry. My head’s such a mess that I keep saying stupid things.”
The back of my head still throbbed with a dull ache.
It was true that I’d once suspected Hyuk-ung, but after facing those two old demons in Poison Blood Land, even that sliver of doubt had been erased.
‘Yet Hyuk-ung was connected to Dark Heaven all along.’
In the end, Hyuk-ung’s role had been nothing more than a blade concealed in a sleeve—one final move the Nantian Demon Empress had kept in reserve until the very end.
And what troubled me now was how Yo-hee and Mu Ya-ho had managed to escape that final move.
From what Yo-hee had said earlier, they seemed to have been in an extraordinarily dire situation.
“What happened to Hyuk-ung?”
“He’s dead.”
Yo-hee, who had been thinking for a moment, added:
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“We don’t know the exact details. Baek Ho was on death’s door, and I lost consciousness from the poison pill he gave me. When I came to, I was here.”
Yo-hee’s account that followed was brief—she didn’t know where this place was, nor how much time had passed outside.
And it was clear that Mu Ya-ho, whose breath had been fading, and I, bearing grievous wounds, had survived thanks to this Mysterious Pond.
“I understand. It sounds like nonsense you can’t believe. But truly…”
“I understand.”
“What?”
“I said I understand. All of it.”
A pond that heals wounds? What’s so remarkable about that?
Only the people of this world would find such phenomena incomprehensible.
I came from the Modern World where potions and magic existed, where Monsters and Gates were commonplace—I was confident I wouldn’t bat an eye even if a few orcs crawled out from between those grass thickets right now.
“…”
On second thought, I’d probably bat at least an eye. No matter what, orcs appearing in Murim wasn’t normal.
‘Unless a real Gate actually opened like in the Modern World.’
Splash.
Muttering to myself, I reached out and traced my hand across the still water’s surface.
A Mysterious Pond with effects resembling a potion.
Perhaps my ability to swiftly shed the fatigue accumulated in both spirit and body wasn’t solely thanks to my Father, who had appeared like General Kim Jwa-jin.
‘Item Appraisal.’
Beep.
– Mysterious power rejects the system!
– Unable to identify the target!
There it is.
I’d expected it to some degree, but as always, everything remains a mystery. From one to nine.
And now the tenth truth spilling from between Yo-hee’s lips.
“I’ve seen the Black Tiger. A black tiger more powerful and distinctly different from any beast I’ve encountered before.”
“…!”
Splash.
My trembling hand, moving without my awareness, disturbs the still water’s surface. I swallowed a groan as I watched the ripples spread outward.
‘The Spirit of Mount Aenoe…’
That colossal black tiger, which I had seen only once but could never forget, flashed through my mind.
True to its name as a spirit, it had appeared like a phantom and vanished like one—that image remained vivid even now.
‘And that was the first and last time.’
That night, Beast King Miao Wang and I discovered Poison Blood Land while pursuing the spirit, yet we found no trace of it anywhere.
The investigation team from Southern Beast Palace, dispatched immediately after my battle with the Thousand Year Spider, had the same result. With the subsequent cascade of major incidents, the spirit’s existence had slipped to the back of my memory.
Yet it appeared now, here of all places.
‘And judging by the circumstances, it’s undoubtedly the one that saved us.’
But I couldn’t fathom its intentions or identity.
Furrowing my brow, I murmured inwardly.
‘Check notifications.’
Ding.
With a crystalline chime only I could hear, the holographic windows that had been compressed burst forth into the air.
– Level Up!
– Some injuries have been recovered due to the Level Up effect!
– Some status abnormalities have been cured due to the Level Up effect!
– You have achieved an exceptional Achievement,
[Legend of One Against Two]
!
– Achievement completion rewards have been granted!
– Bonus Points acquired!
– Massive Experience and Reputation gained!
– Sudden Quest,
[Blade Within the Sleeve]
has been created!
– Sudden Quest has been forcibly cancelled!
–
[???]
has been discovered!
– Sudden Quest,
[???]
is on standby. It will proceed once all Quest activation conditions are met.
I had only just checked now. While I was unconscious, the system had performed its duties flawlessly.
The problem was that even a system as omniscient as a god couldn’t provide me with certain information.
‘It’s only natural that these question marks irritate me so much.’
As I stared intently at the last two notifications that bothered me most, Mu Ya-ho, who had been circling around me persistently, thrust his massive head toward me.
– Groan. Grunt.
“Need to take a dump? Go over there and do it. I’m busy.”
– Squeal.
“I said I’m busy….”
I suddenly stopped mid-sentence and lifted my head. In that same instant, I could see it clearly.
Perched atop the cliff that curved around the Sacred Pond, a presence watching down at me without the slightest sound.
‘That is….’
Before I could even finish the thought, an unexpected voice echoed through my mind.
– You’ve awakened, human.
“…!”
– Come up here. We have much to discuss.
In that moment, I recalled a memory from merely months ago.
When an imoogi—a serpent that had failed to become a dragon—in the vast, deep river had sent its intent flooding into my consciousness.
* * *
I climbed the cliff alone, leaving Mu Ya-ho and Yo-hee behind.
And when I reached the moss-covered cliff with my weakened body, I finally came face to face with an enormous Black Tiger shrouded in darkness.
The Spirit of Mount Aenoe. Yes, it was him.
“What are you…?”
At my first words, the Black Tiger fixed me with eyes of unfathomable depth.
– I do not know.
“What?”
– I myself do not know. What I am. Too many centuries have passed for me to remember everything, and in that time, I have been called by countless names.
“…The Spirit of Mount Aenoe.”
– It has been long since I heard that name. Perhaps two hundred years?
The Black Tiger, sending its intent with calm composure, took a step forward.
Though it possessed a tangible form, its movement was phantom-like—no sound, no presence whatsoever.
As the sensation of my fur standing on end seized me, the intent continued.
– But human, you must know what I am.
“….”
– Denial is futile. I have already confirmed his existence through you.
The Black Tiger turned slowly and opened its mouth. Within lay an object of brilliant, transparent blue.
It was the original essence of the Water Dragon.
“When did this bastard steal it?”

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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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