Murim Login - Chapter 7

Chapter 7
I was dreaming.

Well, how did I know it was a dream?

‘Because I was looking at myself?’

It was exactly as I was saying. I was watching myself. To be more specific, I wasn’t looking at the me in reality but the me in the game.

“Huk. Huk.”

Jin Taekyung was panting. His clothes were ripped, and his face and body were starting to bruise.

On the other hand.

‘That fucker looked fine.’

Hyuk Mujin looked fresh. He was smirking and looked laid back.

“Although you’re better than I expected… who told you to fight like an idiot. If you’re Murim-in, you should fight using Mugong1.”

Ah, that hateful asshole. Even now I wanted to hit him but maybe because this was just a dream, I couldn’t move my body or even let out a sound.

‘Looking at it from this perspective makes me even angrier.’

Right. This dream was showing me the fight from a third perspective.

“THIS FUUUUCCKEEER!”

It didn’t matter what Jin Taekyung did. I knew because I already experienced it.

‘I was already tired.’

I couldn’t breathe and my arms and legs felt heavy. My movements became wider and there were a lot of gaps in-between.

Sure enough, Hyuk Mujin dodged my punch and swept my feet, toppling me over.

His movements flowed smoothly like water.

The fight with him was a repetition of that scene.

‘Asshole, he fights well.’

I needed to acknowledge that fact. Hyuk Mujin was stronger than me. He used his skills well and used Mugong I didn’t recognize forcefully against me.

In other words, he was ‘Murim-in’.

‘It felt shocking.’

I was over confident after beating Jang Sam and his badnits, so I felt the expectation that all fights would be like that one. And I also thought that if I combined my experience and the system’s strength, that logging out would only be a matter of time.

‘It was a good way to die.’

Jang Sam and his bandits were existences created by the tutorial.

It was like a beginner catching bunnies at level 1 and laughing like an idiot afterwards. A hunter for 7 years? It was now a laughable thought.

‘I need to become proficient at using Mugong.’

This wasn’t just a simple game. My life was at stake.

I needed to do everything possible in order to survive. Levelling up, Mugong. I was determined to become familiar with it.

The determination not to be an F rank hunter but a Murim-in.

Puck. Puck. Puck.2

“Fuck. You’re only good at taking blows. Let go! Let go!”

“Kwaaaaah!”

Even though he kept getting knocked down, Jin Taekyung kept getting up. No, I was watching myself.

“And in the end, I got done in one blow.”

Bak!

Right, you were supposed to do it like that. Like my past experience. How I was doing it up until now.

‘But how many levels does Hyuk Mujin have?’

At that moment, as if someone was replying to me, a window appeared above Hyuk Mujin’s head.

[Lv. 20 Hyuk Mujin]
… Shut up, shouldn’t I raise my level first?

—

Sleep Mode has ended.
My eyes opened at the same time I heard the system’s message. Briefly, I thought I woke up in my goshiwon but it was a useless thought.

“Have you woken?”

I saw a man with a white robe. I was in a clean room that had an odd scent.

Where was I?

As if he read my thoughts, the man answered.

“This is the infirmary. It has been half shi-jin3 since you have woken.”

So this was the infirmary. And this NPC was a doctor.

‘If it’s half shi-jin… I was unconscious for an hour?’

That Hyuk Mujin, he hit me well.

“You will probably be in a lot of pain due to your bruises. Don’t move too much and rest.”

After he said that, the doctor left. As I heard the sound of his footsteps getting farther and farther away, I quietly muttered.

“Status Window open.”

Ring.

[Lv. 11 Jin Taekyung]
Occupation: Second Rate Warrior
Fame: 10
Titles: Son of a Noble Family / Shame of the Family (Titles Currently Applied)
Strength: 40
Stamina: 10
Agility: 50
Intelligence: 10
Charm: 10
Qi: 10 Years

Remaining Points: 10

Please distribute your remaining points.
The 10 points I received after I beat Jang Sam were still there. Just in case, I put off distributing my points but that was when I didn’t know I would be fighting Hyuk Mujin.

‘I didn’t know I would be beat up like that.’

After thinking about it, I decided to distribute my remaining 10 points to Stamina.

It was because the image of me panting in exhaustion came to mind when I was fighting with Hyuk Mujin.

‘If I distributed my points earlier, would my odds have been higher?’

It was a sudden thought but I shook my head.

‘The end result would be the same.’

It was a fight between an adult and a child. That was the difference between Hyuk Mujin and me.

And I felt it wasn’t because of my level or stats but because of the Mugong he used that widened the gap between us.

‘How was that response, movement possible?’

Of course in reality, there was martial arts. Boxing, Krav Maga, Jujitsu, and so on. It was basically modern martial arts.

But in this place, martial arts was different.

Every movement was practical and sophisticated. Each skill moved like it was part of a cogwheel.

‘I need to become familiar with Mugong.’

If I ran into Hyuk Mujin instead of Jang Sam during the tutorial?

Defeat, or even death was natural.

I needed to learn Mugong in order to survive.

“Fuck…”

A curse came out of my mouth.

Someone from outside came into the room.

“It is this room.”

“Thank you.”

Squeak.

The door opened without a chance to respond. And in that place…

“You’re a sight.”

With a cold gaze, there stood a middle-aged man.

—

“How is his condition?”

“Although there is bruising, he’s not in any serious condition.”

“What a waste. It would be nice if even his legs were broken.”

“…”

The middle-aged man looked at me with a nefarious gaze.

“This reckless fool!”

I lowered my eyes, silent. Even though it was my first time seeing this person, no this NPC, but I felt I had to do it.

No, I needed to do that.

[Lv. ???]
Three question marks. It was a level I couldn’t even see with [Qi Sense].

‘At a minimum of level 30.’

It was enough to think of Hyuk Mujin as cute. And the attitude he was showing me was enough for me to think he wasn’t an ordinary NPC.

At the very least, he looked like he had the authority to punish the third master.

‘If I get hit once…’

Gulp.

I swallowed my saliva when I saw how big his palms were.

Disregarding levels, he just looked dangerous.

A build that was close to two meters4, the muscles that looked like a bulletproof vest and his cold gaze was enough to make a person freeze.

I was curious to know who he was. His hobby and his talent looked like it could be murder.

‘But weirdly, his face looks vaguely familiar.’

Where did I see this ahjussi. I thought about it for a second when it came to me.

‘Jin Taekyung?’

He looked like Jin Taekyung. No, it was right to say that Jin Taekyung looked like him. His high level and his gaze that trampled all over the third master. And lastly, his face.

There was only one answer. He was Jin Taekyung’s…

“Father?”

Without me knowing, the words came out of my mouth.

“Fa, father?”

His hand curled up into a fist and shook. If someone didn’t know, it looked like someone cursed his mother out. I looked at his fist carefully and spoke.

“Just, just hold on a second and calm down…”

“Calm down? How dare those words come out of your mouth? Even in this situation, you’re playing around!”

“If it’s not true, then I’m really sorry. It was my mistake.”

“Shut your mouth.”

He blocked my words with his cold gaze and turned his head towards the doctor that was still waiting at the side.

“Thank you for leading me here. You may leave now.”

I looked at the doctor desperately with a ‘help me’ gaze but the doctor left in a hurry.

“Fuck no… the doctor is just going to leave his patient?”

Kwang. The sound of the door shutting, sounded like the sound to the door to hell.

The room in which the two of us were left. I kept an eye on his large palms as he walked towards me.

“There’s a limit to how much of an idiot you can be. How long will you live like this!”

I started to slowly inch backwards.

Bruises? Pain? I didn’t feel those things. Actually, I was afraid of not being able to feel pain anymore.

“Give, give me just 10 minutes. Actually if you can just give me the time to explain. Why are you mad? Are you mad because I called you father? Then are you my mother?”

“This bastard!”

My body froze as his voice became louder and louder. I felt my back touch the wall.

You have fallen into a state of [Confusion]. You will be unable to move for 3 seconds!
What the fuck…

‘I’m dead.’

My 27 years of life passed by like a panorama. To lie a little bit, even my days as a sperm cell up until the day of my conception came to mind. Those days were hard.

‘Mom, dad, Hayeon…’

I closed my eyes and thought of my family. It was at that second.

“When you have time, all you do is play around with girls!”

Pat. Pat.

“And go into gambling houses!”

Touch. Touch.

“You’re being treated contemptuously by the family because you act this way!”

Massage. Massage.

… What is this ahjussi doing right now?

He was reprimanding me with his words but was looking after me gently. I got goosebumps on the back of my neck.

“No this is…”

Ring.

You have fallen into a state of [Fear]. You will be unable to move for 5 seconds!
“You’re the shame of the family, the shame!”

I really felt the shame. To think I would be assaulted by not only an A.I. but a middle-aged NPC.

‘Mom…’

The realization that it was all a misunderstanding came after.

His hand was busy. But it felt like a doctor examining a patient’s body.

He looked under my eyes, he checked my pulse, and even looked attentively at my bruises. Every time his hand passed over a certain area of my body, it felt like I was not only getting a massage but the pain disappeared too.

“You fool! If you keep acting like this, huh? Huh! You’ll have a hard time. Do you know?”

“…”

His hand stopped moving and he spoke in a quiet voice.

“It’s a relief it’s not as serious as I thought. Why did you fight. You don’t even do Mugong training regularly.”

I opened my mouth with sincerity. It was a question with different implications.

“Who are you?”

The next moment, sternness. Solemnity. Seriousness. All three were present in his face when he looked at me like someone looking at a injured fawn.

“Why are you suddenly using formal language with me. I only called you the shame of the family before so that other people could hear me… is this because you’re disappointed with me?”

“What?”

“Your hyung is sad. When you were young I even changed your diapers, held you when you cried, and helped you sleep. You know how fondly I looked after you.”

“What? Hyung did?”

Silence.

‘He wasn’t my father but my hyung?’

I was surprised that this ahjussi was my hyung.

“Aigoo, our youngest must have hurt his head. Look here. Doctor! Doctor!”

The middle-aged left like that while calling for the doctor. A puzzle piece fell into place, as I looked at him walking away.

‘I understand now why Jin Taekyung grew up into such a disaster.’

It was a great example of home education gone wrong.