Murim Login - Chapter 8

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

Chapter 8
“There is nothing abnormal.”
It was the Physician’s conclusion. Hearing his confident tone, I nodded inwardly. Because it was the truth.
‘There’s nothing wrong with the brain.’
I’m simply inhabiting this body.
But someone seemed displeased with the examination results.
“Then why can’t he remember?”
An authoritative presence and voice. Now I know his name.
‘Jin Wi-kyung.’
Jin Tae-kyung’s elder brother and the young master of the Taewon Jin Family, Jin Wi-kyung. That’s right. He truly wasn’t Father.
‘That man had tears glistening in his eyes just moments ago.’
Now he’d donned the mask of stern, rigid solemnity without hesitation.
Only the innocent Physician stammered out his response.
“Well, that is… my assessment is certain, but there may be occasional exceptions…”
“That’s enough. You may go.”
As the Physician departed with a wounded expression, Jin Wi-kyung pressed close to me as if he’d been waiting. His voice overflowed with affection and concern.
“You truly cannot remember anything?”
“No.”
“Nothing at all?”
I nodded quietly. My mind had already calculated how to proceed.
‘I’ll continue like this.’
An amnesiac patient straight out of a drama. In this situation, nothing could be more convenient. There’s no need to force myself to align with the game’s circumstances, nor do I need to gather information.
I simply lie still, wear an expression of knowing nothing, and blink—and the situation unfolds on its own. Just like now.
“Do you remember what I just told you?”
“Which part?”
Believing I’d lost my memory, Jin Wi-kyung shared a few basic facts, and that’s when I learned his identity.
“Tell me my name.”
“Jin Wi-kyung. Young master of the Taewon Jin Family.”
“My age?”
“Thirty-five.”
Goodness, with that face, he’s in his thirties. And apparently still unmarried.
“Our parents?”
“Father is traveling through the Central Plains. Mother passed away ten years ago.”
“Correct. Your second brother?”
“Jin Moo-kyung, the Heavenly Sword. Twenty-five. Currently a student at Cheon-mu Academy.”
I have no idea where Cheon-mu Academy is located. I simply recite what I’ve heard like a parrot. Jin Wi-kyung, who’d been mechanically repeating “correct, correct” to my answers, tilted his head.
“The Heavenly Sword? Did I mention his courtesy name?”
No. The Coachman told me that.
The moment our eyes met, I clutched my forehead.
“Ah, my head! My head hurts!”
“Oh my, the youngest!”
This was practically a cheat code.
* * *
“It’s merely a contusion. Even at most, the swelling and bruising should disappear within four days.”
Leaving the Physician’s final words behind, I exited the Medicine King Hall. A servant with a gentle demeanor waited for me at the entrance.
“I shall escort you to the Young Master’s quarters.”
The servant leading the way moved without hesitation. It seemed he already knew of my memory loss, for whenever we passed certain buildings or encountered people, he would quietly offer explanations.
‘Guide, errand boy, encyclopedia.’
I could roughly guess Jin Wi-kyung’s intention in sending this servant.
He was busy with his duties, so this was his way of showing consideration.
“We’ve arrived.”
The place where our steps finally halted was a two-story wooden structure.
Wasn’t this what the Chinese called a Pavilion? It possessed quite an elegant, antiquated charm.
“Wow.”
And it was absurdly spacious. The moment the servant opened the door, my jaw dropped involuntarily.
“This floor serves as the sleeping quarters. Bells have been installed throughout the interior, so please ring one should you require anything.”
After the servant departed, I collected myself and began exploring the Pavilion’s interior. Just the first floor appeared to exceed a hundred pyeong in area.
For someone who had lived in a two-pyeong Gosiwon studio, it was no different from an Olympic stadium.
‘This is the first time I’ve envied an NPC.’
There were six rooms on the first floor alone. Suddenly, curiosity surged through me.
‘What could be inside those?’
Treasure? Secret martial arts manuals? Or perhaps magnificent items?
It didn’t matter. I yanked open the nearest door.
“Oh.”
The moment I opened it, an exclamation escaped me. Despite the absence of fluorescent lights, the space blazed with brightness—courtesy of shelves lining the walls, filled to bursting with silk garments. At a glance, the quantity was staggering.
Of course, this wasn’t what I was searching for.
‘This bastard has quite the wardrobe.’
A club regular, or rather, a playboy through and through. I clicked my tongue and shut the door. Then I immediately proceeded to the second room and opened it again.
“More clothes?”
I had underestimated Jin Tae-kyung. At this rate, wouldn’t he qualify as a fashion enthusiast of this era? Deliberately ignoring the creeping unease, I moved to the third room.
Creak.
“…This shopping-addicted bastard.”
What kind of person was this? Seeing three rooms completely stuffed with clothes made my throat tighten as if I’d swallowed a sweet potato whole.
‘This could mean….’
The unease gradually solidified, pressing down upon me. With heavy steps, I stood before the final room. Unlike the previous ones, the doorknob was rusty from disuse. I grasped it and slowly pushed.
Creak.
With that grating sound, the final room revealed its secrets.
Sunlight filtering through a small, narrow window. Dust rising with each step. And beyond it, several bookshelves coming into view.
“Found it.”
Laughter escaped me unbidden.
* * *
There were five bookshelves in total. I approached the nearest one and pulled out a volume. As I brushed away the thick layer of dust, the characters on the cover became visible.
This was what made the system so convenient. Thanks to the language synchronization, I could read and pronounce even alien-looking script as naturally as my native tongue.
“Three Heavens Footwork?”
Ding.
Item Window
[Three Heavens Footwork]
Type
: Secret Manual
Grade
: Third-Rate
Restriction
: None
Description
: The most fundamental practical footwork technique. Available for purchase in the marketplace.
– Will you train in this martial art? (3 / 10)
Perfect!
I read through the system window with a racing heart.
Three Heavens Footwork. The most basic third-rate footwork technique. That’s right. This was the very secret manual I’d only read about in novels.
My first plan had been to master martial arts.
‘So the system applies to martial training too.’
This was the moment my suspicion—felt right after completing the Qi Circulation Quest before arriving at the Taewon Jin Family—hardened into certainty.
‘Thank goodness.’
I’d worried that perhaps, like the protagonists and NPCs in novels, I’d have to learn everything step by painstaking step. Fortunately, that fear proved groundless.
‘Even a doomed game is still a game.’
If the system applied to ordinary martial arts the same way it had with Qi Circulation, rapid growth would be child’s play. I was about to shout my acceptance when I stopped short.
– Will you train in this martial art? (3 / 10)
Those numbers in the parentheses bothered me greatly. And conveniently, I’d learned exactly three martial arts so far: the Taewon Jin Family Core Method, the Taewon Jin Family Spear Technique, and the Taewon Jin Family Footwork.
Surely not.
‘Is there a limit to how many martial arts I can learn?’
If my suspicion was correct, now was not the time to learn third-rate techniques like this Three Heavens Footwork. I needed to survive until logout and find advanced martial arts that would let me rapidly increase my level and reputation—not waste slots on inferior methods.
At least there was one saving grace: this room contained hundreds of secret manuals, by my estimate.
“Good. Very good.”
Seven more martial arts I could learn. If I filled every slot with the finest techniques available, logout would only be a matter of time.
I smiled contentedly and reached for the next book.
Ding.
Item Window
[Night King’s Grand Treatise]
Type
: Erotic Manual
Rank
: None
Restrictions
: None
Description
: Even better when read with illustrations.
“….”
* * *
Today’s battle with administrative duties had been fierce. From morning until nearly midnight, I hadn’t left the Office. It was already the second month of this relentless campaign.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Wi Paeng’s words signaled the end of today’s work.
Jin Wi-kyung rose from his stiffened posture and left the Office. The master of this place was his father, who had vanished one day without warning—not Jin Wi-kyung himself.
His quarters were located in the Pavilion of the Inner Court at the heart of the Taewon Jin Family, requiring a walk of about a quarter hour.
“The night is cold.”
As Wi Paeng, who clung to his shadow like a specter, draped a thick fur around his shoulders, Jin Wi-kyung smiled wearily.
“I’m grateful. Without you, I might have collapsed long ago.”
“What else can I do? I must fulfill the role of lady of the house.”
“Stop that. The Old Master and the others are already pestering me enough.”
Jin Wi-kyung rubbed his tired eyes. Though in his mid-thirties, he remained unmarried. What had begun as postponement under the guise of youth had accumulated into more than a decade.
‘I suppose I must eventually. For the family’s sake.’
If asked whether I had ever experienced love, the answer was no.
But Jin Wi-kyung was no foolish child. One day he would become the family head responsible for all the household members, and if a strategic marriage could elevate the family, it was a cheap sacrifice for him.
“The stars shine brightly. We might not have needed torches.”
Wi Paeng, sensing the mood, changed the subject. Jin Wi-kyung shook his head. His quarters were already coming into view.
“Hmm?”
“What is it, sir?”
Following Jin Wi-kyung’s gaze, Wi Paeng tilted his head in confusion. A faint light was seeping from the nearby Pavilion.
“Isn’t that the Third Young Master’s quarters?”
“Indeed. The lamp is lit despite the late hour.”
Jin Wi-kyung strode forward purposefully, and Wi Paeng had no choice but to follow.
“My lord, let’s just see him tomorrow. He’s clearly using his lost memory as an excuse while drinking.”
“Hush.”
The two entered the Pavilion. The light was coming from the dilapidated room on the far left. The sound of creaking floorboards continued incessantly as someone moved about.
– I underestimated the Third Young Master. It seems he’s even summoned a woman. Listen to the sounds. I’ll wager this month’s salary on it.
Wi Paeng’s lips moved silently. It was sound transmission through inner force—a technique called Transmission of Sound.
– Wi Paeng.
– Yes?
– Silence yourself.
Jin Wi-kyung, having delivered a thick, curt command through sound transmission, pressed close to the door. Through the gap, the scene inside the room became visible.
Wi Paeng then squeezed in with a wounded expression.
– I never thought the Young Master’s hobbies were quite so… peculiar. Huh.
In the next moment, Wi Paeng’s mouth fell open. What had I just witnessed?
Was my weakened body playing tricks on me, conjuring illusions? I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve, but my senses accepted the scene before me as absolute reality.
“Now, two steps diagonally forward…”
A sturdy young man. He muttered ceaselessly, his body in constant motion. The dust-covered floor bore countless footprints, and more were forming even now.
Whoosh. Stumble.
“Damn it, I’ve completely ruined my martial technique!”
The Third Young Master. That absurd temperament and crude manner of speech—it was unmistakably Jin Tae-kyung.
He, who had abandoned martial training after the age of twelve, was now practicing until well past midnight, covered head to toe in dust and sweat!
– Wi Paeng.
Wi Paeng, who had been staring blankly, suddenly snapped back to awareness.
– Yes, yes?
Jin Wi-kyung gazed around the room with vacant eyes. Jin Tae-kyung, who had been lying on his back hurling curses at the ceiling, was now rising again to practice his footwork.
– As promised, you won’t be receiving your wages this month.

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