Murim Login - Chapter 298
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I will re-publish the earlier chapters to fix those issues with the translation. I apologize in advance if it did not meet your standard. Please comment the chapters you find that is lacking in quality so I can fix them ASAP. Thanks for understanding!
Current re-published chapters (270 - 305)
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Beep!
– [Lv.105 Skeleton Warlord] has used a special skill!
– The special skill, [Summon the Dead], has been activated!
– The slumbering dead respond to their commander’s call!
How comforting this is.
Watching the skeletons sprout from the ground like bean sprouts fills a corner of my heart with joy.
“Is this what it feels like to be a farmer?” It’s a bountiful harvest, indeed.
I grinned widely and swung my spear—no, my scythe—starting the harvest.
Each time I crushed the skulls of the newly awakened skeletons, a beautiful sound rang out. Ding. Ding. Ding.
– [Lv.71 Skeleton Warrior] has been defeated!
– You have gained a small amount of experience!
– [Lv.70 Skeleton Archer] has been defeated!
– You have gained a small amount of experience!
The Skeleton Warlord, now forced to sacrifice his subordinates as experience points, muttered in a sorrowful voice.
“Aah, my soldiers… Forgive your unworthy commander. To be destroyed like this without even showing your true power, all because of this cunning human’s trickery…”
Just as I was about to swing my spear at the next skeleton, I paused.
“What did you just say?”
“I called you a cunning human!”
This guy…
He should be groveling, but instead, he’s glaring at me with defiance. The rage of the great commander of the undead army, now reduced to an experience point factory, seems to have momentarily driven away his fear of destruction.
“I’d rather be destroyed than offer my subordinates to you!”
“Whether you get destroyed or not is up to me. But more importantly, what did you say earlier?”
“About what?”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t even show your true power?”
“…What of it?”
“Now that I think about it, you have a weird skill, don’t you? Something like ‘Commander’s Encouragement’ or whatever.”
“How… how do you know about that?”
“Oh, right. No wonder something felt off. I forgot to make you use it.”
I grinned brightly and patted the Warlord’s skull.
“Use it.”
The Warlord asked in a genuinely confused voice.
“Commander’s Encouragement? Why?”
“Because when you use that buff, their levels go up. I need to squeeze out as much experience as possible.”
“So, hurry up and use it. Depending on how you do, I might even let you go.”
“R-Really?”
“In the human world, we have a saying: ‘A man’s word is as good as gold.’ It means a man must keep his word.”
“Gold? That’s an unusual saying.”
“Gold? Are you mocking me? I should just destroy you right now.”
Crunch.
As I squeezed his skull a little harder, the Skeleton Warlord shouted in panic.
“Wait! There’s a crack in my skull! Stop, stop!”
“Lord, sending another one now.”
“Wait!”
“So, are you going to do it or not?”
The Warlord’s green eyes nervously darted left and right. Even though he was just a skeleton, he managed to show a surprisingly diverse range of emotions. After a moment of hesitation, he finally answered.
“I-I’ll do it.”
“Good choice.”
“But don’t get it wrong. This is not submission, but a contract!”
“A contract?”
“Yes! It’s a mutual agreement, not submission!”
“This skeleton is acting more human than me. So, what’s the contract?”
“You guarantee my current status in exchange for my cooperation with you, the cunning human.”
“The ruler of the black forest and the commander of the undead army?”
“Exactly! And stop this reckless and barbaric slaughter!”
What did I just hear?
Did a monster just tell me to stop reckless and barbaric slaughter? For a moment, my mind went blank.
“Are you out of your mind? Is that something a monster should say?”
“It’s unpleasant, but I am the Skeleton Warlord, endowed with cool judgment and intelligence. Though I’ve become a fallen undead, the spirit of chivalry is deeply etched into my soul.”
“If you’d kept that chivalry, you wouldn’t have fallen like this.”
“…The truth is, my memories of being alive were erased when I became undead.”
“Then you shouldn’t be talking about chivalry. You’re a real piece of work.”
Still, being a named monster, he was indeed different from other monsters who were simply driven by instinct and roared mindlessly.
“A contract, huh?”
I thought for a moment before finally speaking.
“Alright, I’ve decided.”
“Human, will you accept my contract?”
“Nope. I don’t want to.”
“…What?”
Watching his green eyes shake in shock, I continued.
“I’m fine with the first part. You can keep being the ruler of the black forest and the commander of the undead army. But on one condition.”
“A condition?”
“From now on, you’re the Peace Guild’s experience factory manager. I’ll guarantee your status as long as you supply me with as many skeletons as I need.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Don’t like it?”
“I’d rather be destroyed than become a puppet of a human!”
“Wish granted, customer.”
Crunch.
As his skull cracked further, the Skeleton Warlord replied in a grave tone.
“On second thought, it’s not such a bad contract.”
“As a commander, I can’t abandon my soldiers. Human, as the ruler of the black forest and commander of the undead army, I accept your proposal.”
“Earlier, you said you’d rather be destroyed than become a puppet of a human.”
“If the commander disappears, the army will collapse. Don’t misunderstand; I’m enduring this humiliation for the sake of my soldiers.”
“You’re supposed to sacrifice those soldiers, though.”
“I’ll remember their noble sacrifices until the day I’m destroyed. So, how many soldiers do you need to be sacrificed this month?”
Seeing him readily offer his soldiers now that his own destruction isn’t on the line, he might as well be called a ‘benevolent helper’ rather than a puppet.
As I stared at him in disbelief, the world’s first human-friendly named monster, the Skeleton Warlord, quickly chanted a spell.
“Grow stronger, skeletons, rise!”
Beep!
– [Lv.105 Skeleton Warlord] has used a special skill!
– The special skill, [Commander’s Encouragement], has been activated!
– The monsters under the Skeleton Warlord’s command have had their strength, agility, and magic enhanced!
– Enemy levels have increased by 5!
…Now he can do it all on his own.
—
The harvesting operation was easy.
The first time is difficult, but after the second and third, you start to get the hang of it.
The Skeleton Warlord fully utilized his commander’s abilities to quickly replenish the sacrificed soldiers.
“Legion! Assemble!”
Clatter, clatter!
Hundreds of newly risen skeletons gathered in one spot. All I had to do was hurl my spear into the group to make experience points rain down.
Whoosh! Boom!
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The sound of experience points being added made me smile. Watching this, the Warlord muttered in a satisfied tone.
“Hmm. This is much faster and easier.”
“Human, did you see my leadership? This is the true majesty of a commander.”
Look at this human-friendly monster.
Seeing him find pride in discovering an efficient way to offer soldiers made me understand why his soul had fallen.
If the black forest were ever liberated, this guy would be the first target for cleansing by the undead freedom fighters.
“I’m starting to feel like I’m the invader here.”
With a strange feeling, I began collecting the loot.
Skeletons are among the poorest monsters out there. The so-called loot they drop is usually nothing more than rusty weapons that cause tetanus or half-rotted bones.
At least with a minotaur’s carcass, you can make beef broth. This stuff just tastes like dirt.
“Oh, a magic stone and armor.”
The Skeleton Knight was one of the few that occasionally dropped items like magic stones and decent gear.
Though that’s a rare occurrence.
“This one’s large enough to fetch a few million won easily.”
It was a good call to send the guild members away. Now, I get to enjoy both the experience points and the magic stones all to myself—truly having my cake and eating it too.
As I happily stowed away a magic stone the size of an adult’s fist, the Warlord asked,
“Cunning human, what are you doing?”
“Can’t you see? I’m collecting the fruits of my labor.”
“Are you planning to absorb it later?”
“Absorb it? No, I’m going to sell it.”
“How foolish. The magic stone is the source of power. It should be consumed to grow stronger.”
“That’s something a monster like you would do. Humans are different.”
It’s a well-known fact, but monsters don’t only see humans as enemies.
They often fight among themselves, and in the process, they consume their defeated foes to gain strength.
“Is that so? Humans are truly an incomprehensible race. You could grow stronger by absorbing the magic stone… Is money really that important?”
“Money is necessary for life. Besides, humans can’t absorb magic stones.”
The energy contained in magic stones is what we call ‘Magi’ (魔氣). While it’s the core of a monster’s strength, for humans, it’s no different from poison. It’s a form of energy, but it’s more like a pollutant.
After giving him a brief explanation, the Warlord tilted his skull quizzically.
“Unable to absorb it? Strange. I encountered a group of humans who used troll blood to heal themselves.”
“Oh, potions? That’s after purification work…”
“Then why not purify the magic stones as you do with troll blood? It should work, right?”
“If it were that simple, it would have been done long ago. You’re such a simpleton, typical of a monster.”
If troll blood is a 1% fruit-flavored drink, magic stones are 100% fresh fruit juice.
Potions can’t completely remove the toxicity, so the idea of absorbing magic stones is laughable.
I chuckled and said,
“Anyway, humans can’t absorb magic stones.”
“Why?”
“Stop asking so many questions, you question-mark murderer! It’s common knowledge. Haven’t you heard of it?”
“I’ve never heard of a human like you either.”
I was about to whack the Warlord’s skull when I paused.
Wait a minute. This sounds plausible.
“There’s no need to be bound by common sense.”
After all, I’m an outlier myself.
What’s considered common knowledge is merely the result of what’s been discovered so far.
“Mana cultivation is the same way.”
Only a select few know it exists.
I hadn’t even considered it until I got involved with the Ares Guild.
Even before and after the monsters appeared, their secret circles remained unchanged, and secrets were only shared within the boundaries they established.
“Absorbing magic stones… should I give it a try?”
Just as I was about to open my inventory and take out the magic stone again, the Warlord spoke.
“Ha, I can see that I’ve given you something to think about, cunning yet foolish human.”
“Oh, do you want me to give you a final punch of oblivion to the skull?”
“…I apologize for my hasty words.”
“Apology accepted since you did it within three seconds.”
The Skeleton Warlord, having narrowly escaped destruction, muttered to himself.
“This is humiliating. Consider yourself lucky that I haven’t gained more power, human.”
“Who would’ve thought a mere Skeleton Knight would evolve into the ruler of the black forest? That’s quite an achievement.”
“I am now a Warlord! The ruler of the black forest and…!”
“And the commander of the undead army. Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it a thousand times.”
I later learned that he had taken over the black forest.
Defeating the necromancer who was practically the owner was no small feat. He must have absorbed a huge amount of magic stones.
“This is a total skeleton victory, isn’t it? To go from a mere Skeleton Knight to the ruler of the black forest and then evolve into a Warlord… The magic stones you absorbed from the necromancer must have been enormous.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t have any magic stones.”
“Huh?”
“Moreover, the necromancer was the one who summoned me. Until recently, his orders were absolute. A summoned creature cannot disobey the summoner.”
“So how…?”
“How did I defeat him?”
The Warlord’s green eyes narrowed slightly.
“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. Not too long ago, I suddenly found myself free from his control. It was as if my magic power had surpassed the summoner’s, allowing me to ascend to the next level.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. It happened so suddenly that my power increased dramatically.”
What is he talking about?
But just as he said, the Warlord couldn’t fully explain what had happened to him.
After thinking for a while, he added only one more thing.
“To borrow a human expression, it felt like I was possessed by a ghost.”
“…Is that something a skeleton should be saying?”
This guy might not even be a skeleton.
Just as I stared at him in disbelief, something strange happened.
“Hmm?”
The Warlord’s skull rolled off his neck, stopped moving, and faced in one direction.
With his green eyes glowing, he stared south and clattered his jaw as he spoke.
“Intruders.”
“Intruders?”
“I am the ruler of the black forest. I know everything that happens within it. Another group of cunning humans has just set foot in my territory.”
“They’re my friends, you idiot.”
I smacked him on the back of his head, grabbed his skull, and started walking toward the gate entrance.