Chapter 2: Smartphone in Murim Academy

Essential Item for a Murim Warrior: Smartphone

Raising a Murim Warrior is a game where you train a character from age 20 to 22.

Based on how your character grows over those three years, the game then skips five years ahead and gives you one of many multi-endings to collect, showing what kind of fate they met.

Why start at age twenty, you ask?

Because the game is rated R.
Apparently, certain character routes include some ehem ehem spicy content.

So it’s likely just a loophole to get around legal restrictions.

Anyway—

Each year is split in half:
You spend one half attending Academy classes,
And the other half going on a martial arts journey called Wandering the Jianghu (Roaming the Martial World).

The core of reaching a high-tier ending lies in:

• How well you raised your stats at the academy, and

• How many so-called fortuitous encounters you managed to trigger during your time at the academy or while roaming the martial world.

And that was it.

Your life before age 20 was just flavor text—part of the character’s backstory.
Whether you were a bald monk from Shaolin or a dark assassin from the Demonic Cult, almost everything was determined by your interactions within the academy.

But me?

I was thrown into Geum Sihyeon’s life two years before the game starts—When he was 18.

***

When I first possessed this body, the household was turned completely upside down, to say the least.

You know the classic cliché:

The child we thought dead has returned alive!

Geum Sihyeon had been on the brink of death.
He might’ve actually died. The fact that I ended up in this body proves that much.

So right after I possessed him, I spent almost half a year bedridden.

……Honestly, after suffering that much, I figured I deserved partial ownership of this body.
And with that, I let go of the whole “where did the original soul go?” concern without much hesitation.

And then—

Time flowed like a river…
—or rather, it just passed quickly.

Strangely enough, I started using expressions I never would’ve touched in my previous life.

But in any case, I was able to adapt surprisingly well to Geum Sihyeon’s life.

The secret to adapting?
Nothing special.

It was just that the body’s original owner, Geum Sihyeon, was born with a platinum spoon in his mouth.

“Young master, it’s time for your morning meal.”

“Mm, right.”

My loyal servant and longtime friend, Jangpal, walked into the room carrying a massive breakfast tray, piled high like a mountain.

“Care to eat with me?”

“Oh, how could this lowly one dare?”

“Ha, please. You’re going to lick the plates clean anyway.”

“Th-that’s hardly the same, hehe…”

He said that while subtly pointing at the ribs and practically drooling.

From the first meal of the day, I was enjoying a full 10-dish royal breakfast.

This is the spirit of the continent!
The power of being born rich!

Of course, if that was all there was, I’d probably be curled up sobbing, going,

‘Waaah I miss my computer... let me go baaack...’

No matter how rich you are, money can’t fill the emptiness in your heart.
How could I possibly imagine life without advanced electronics?

But thankfully, there was something to fill that void.

That one precious thing in my hand—

A smartphone.

Without this little miracle, my will to survive in this primitive, savage, ancient version of China would’ve been cut in half, at least.

Sure, there was that strange setting where it runs on Qi instead of electricity, but weirdly enough, that only motivated me to cultivate harder.

You know that phrase they use for first-rate martial artists?

Phone-and-body-as-one!

I’d cultivated so much inner energy that I could scroll on my phone all day without ever draining the battery!

And so—

Today too, I was eating with chopsticks in one hand,
And poking my smartphone screen with the other.

Lately, there were two things I was into.

First—“Raising Heavenly Demon-chan”, a passive bonsai-raising-style idle game.

It was one of the few games available, and it had become a surprise viral hit.

Sure, it only had a 1.7-star rating thanks to the terrorism caused by those narrow-minded Orthodox Faction’s bastards, but the game itself was solidly built.

Plus, the character Heavenly Demon-chan was super cute.

And the second thing…

...was the Gallery.

When I first reviewed the mod, I had scoffed like a serious critic:

‘What kind of game needs a gallery mod?’

But it was just so realistic and immersive, like actual internet trolling—
That it helped keep me sane when I first transmigrated and was groaning in pain like ‘Aaargh it hurts, I’m dying!’

[Shaanxi Gallery]
[Author: ㅇㅇ]
[Title: The Huacheop punks are seriously getting on my nerves these days]

(TL: Huacheop is a mocking slang used for Mount Hua disciples)

[ (Attached: a photoshopped image of fireworks exploding on Lotus Peak)

Should we report the Jonghwa to straighten them out?

Lately those 2nd-generation brats are getting too big for their britches, they don’t even bow when we pass them in Xi’an.
Sometimes they straight-up spit and walk away.
One of you punks better slip up soon. ]

(TL: Jonghwa is most likely refered to Mount Hua “polices”. A reverse word play from Huajong)

- Jonghwa? Lol it’s Huajong Assembly.

-ㄴ(Author) Caught a Huacheop police.

- Not even the Murim Alliance would throw a fit over someone not bowing in Xi’an — typical Zhongnan scum behavior.

- Yo author where do you live? Wanna try some of this plum blossom steel?

As always, today’s Hot Topic was another flame war between the Mount Hua and Zhongnan sect.

As a one-year resident of Xi’an, I’d say this as objectively as possible:

They’re both trash.

Personally though, I leaned a bit more toward the Zhongnan side.

Why?

Because like the post said, the plum blossom perverts had really been pushing it lately.

Also, if you looked at the total amount of debt those sects had racked up at our Warring Gold Fields, Mount Hua owed way more.

Basically, they were just loud-mouthed debtors.

Again, swipe, swipe.

[ㅇㅇ/ Anyone up for a mala hotpot raid in Sichuan!!! (3)]
[ㅇㅇ/ Join the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, Wudoumi Sect♚♚ and receive a free sack of rice$$ for all new members☜☜ (1)]
[MountHuaSwordGod07 / Sign here! Plum Blossom Sword Technique is the supreme martial art! (6)]

Maybe it was because it was still morning, but there weren’t many posts worth reading today.

Still, Shaanxi Gallery was relatively civil.

Take the neighborhood just below it, Sichuan Gallery, for example—it was completely overrun by the Tang Clan.
If you didn’t start your post with a "[Tang]" tag, they’d just ignore your comments completely.
A textbook case of gatekeeping the newbies.

Then there was Shanxi Gallery next door—basically a ghost town.
Every now and then you’d see long-running posts like:

“The stars of the grasslands flow through my soul.”

As for the main base of operations, Central Plains Murim Gallery, that place was a nonstop battlefield.
Cyber holy wars between Orthodox and Demonic users broke out daily.

So compared to that mess, Shaanxi Gallery was relatively peaceful—
You could say it was at least still fit for human life.

Still, a few posts did catch my eye.

[Author:ㅇㅇ]
[Title: D-1 until I officially enter Hundred Flowers Academy lolololol]

[ (Image: Hundred Flowers Academy entrance exam invitation with personal info blurred out)

Tomorrow, yours truly will be entering as the top scorer!
My heart's been pounding for a whole week. I can’t sleep!
I see lots of test takers here too—good luck, everyone! ]

- Heh heh… Judging by the style, I’ve narrowed your identity down to five suspects from the Nine Great Sects…

-ㄴ(Author) Are you perhaps the Avalokitesvara of the Thousand Hands? (Thousand-Handed Guanyin)

- Looks like I’m your upperclassman then. I’ll be in your care, dear junior~

-ㄴ(Author) (Kyaaahh! Emoji)

Like this hyped guy here—

The real stage of the game is about to begin.

The entrance exam for Hundred Flowers Academy was just around the corner.

Raising a Murim Warrior.
Or as the fandom called it, “Muki”, a totally non-fundamentally-named game I’d been stuck in for two years now.

After dedicating myself to rehabilitation, downing every side-effect-free elixir I could get, and grinding away at my dantian, I’d finally gotten my body back into shape.

Sure, I wasn’t some chosen prodigy from the Nine Great Sects like the guy who posted that invite, but even I received a general admission letter.

In other words, I was finally ready to start the actual tutorial.

To be honest, it had been a close call.

The minimum qualification for the entrance exam was being a First-Rate martial artist.

The original Geum Sihyeon had been secretly learning some martial arts here and there, but when I woke up in this body, he was just Second-Rate trash.

Aside from the six months I spent bedridden, the remaining year and a half had been pure hell: eat, poop, browse gallery, train, sleep — repeat.

They say patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

Now it was finally time for the name Geum Sihyeon to echo across the lands of Murim.

I had two goals.

Firstly,
Simply entering the academy wasn’t enough.
Since I was already here, I wanted to become the Greatest Under Heaven in this life too.

Of course, if I could get a harem ending along the way, that would be ideal…
…Though who knows if that’ll even be possible.

And second—

“It was a very subtly crafted poison. If it hadn’t clashed with another elixir, you would’ve gone to the afterlife.”

Those were the words of the Life and Death Divine Doctor.

‘Geum Sihyeon’ hadn’t just almost died, he had died.

It was all due to a deliberately concocted, high-risk elixir.

Even if I forget my debts of gratitude, I never forget a grudge.

Geum Sihyeon’s revenge… I’ll carry it out with my own two hands.

"Then, I shall go and bring honor to our family name!"

"Sniff… Sihyeon… be careful out there…!"

"Mother, please don’t worry. Look how healthy I am now! Haha!"

I did my best to reassure my mother, who had come all the way to the gate to see me off.

"…Alright, I feel a little better now…"

She still seemed a bit awkward with the whole formal farewell routine, but since I caught a smile at the corner of her lips, I’d say my filial piety performance was a success.

I loaded up my human navigation system, Jangpal, with all my luggage.

"Let’s go."

And off I strode, full of confidence.

***

Even on a normal day, Xi’an was crowded with people, but today it was absolutely packed.

Why?

Because my destination—Hundered Flowers Academy—was located right here in Xi’an.

Just a 10-minute walk from home.
Peak commuting convenience.
(Of course, I’d be living in the dorms the moment I enrolled.)

As I walked at a leisurely pace, I observed the bustling crowd of humanity around me.

And once again, I felt a slight urge to forgive the creator of the Ultimate Mod Pack.

‘Appearance Buff + Exposure Patch’.

The spawn rate of women with very desirable outfits and very desirable appearances had clearly increased.
Not just desirable—ideal.

They were probably either new students headed to Hundred Flowers Academy like me, or upperclassmen returning from holiday break.

Sure, in the original game, everyone except the major characters was just AI-generated art.
But seeing these flower-scented, lively girls chatting away right in front of me?

Who cares if they’re real or not?
I was just grateful to be alive.

Lost in appreciation, I kept walking—

“……?”

Suddenly, a squirrel came dashing out of a side alley and bolted across the main road.

There aren’t even any acorn trees nearby…

I tilted my head, when suddenly—

“Kyaa?!?”

“Oof—!”

A girl burst out of the alley at full speed and slammed into me.

If this were caught on dashcam, even Han Mooncheol would call it a 0:100. (TL: KR lawyer and law firm representative)

Wait, no—no time for jokes.

I shook off the irrelevant thoughts and caught her hand before she fell flat on her butt.

"Young lady, are you alri—huh?"

Something completely unexpected happened.

Ever since I first possessed this body, no matter how much I screamed “Status window! Stats! Open UI!”, nothing had ever come up.

But now—

A blue window popped up right in front of my eyes.

[Game Detected]
[Updating mod: ‘Gallery in Murim’…]
[Mod update complete]

[A new ability has been added due to the effect of the trait ‘Sage’s Intellect’.]
[You can now see the ID of any post author when using the Gallery feature.]

[A new ability has been added due to the effect of the trait ‘Sage’s Intellect’.]
[You can now identify the ID of anyone whose hand you physically touch.]

“Th-thank you so muuuuuch…!”

The text vanished as quickly as it appeared, but I saw it clearly.

Above the brown-haired girl still panting in my grasp, a floating string of Western letters hovered:

[CUTY_RAMG7]

…What the hell is this?!

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