Prepare to level up infinitely!
A World where you can advance based on hard work and the number of missions you accomplish... Welcome to Murim Online.
Infinite Leveling Murim is a webtoon series authorised Gonbung and illustrated by Jinwoo Kim, which is published weekly on Naver.
In the ancient land of Murim, it is the end of the Era. Cheonma, the Heavenly Demon, appeared from nowhere and unleashed chaos upon the Murim Alliance, sweeping away all those who opposed him with his overwhelming might. Weakened from within by internal corruption and masters only out for their own self-benefit, in the face of this overwhelming foe the alliance can do nothing but crumble.
In the final days of the alliance's fall, Yuseong Dan is a lowly captain overseeing a squad of foot soldiers at the Alliance's final stronghold. Ordered into a futile attack on the unstoppable Cheonma to cover his cowardly superior's retreat, Yuseong ends up the final solider of the alliance to fall at Cheonma's hands. Despairing over his lifetime of failure to achieve anything he wished for, Yuseong's last thoughts are spent bemoaning his father's advice that a lifetime of effort will surely reward him...
...before he wakes up as a young child on the day of his entrance examination for the martial arts military academy, somehow having been sent back 30 years to his youth. Even more perplexing to Yuseong is the mysterious floating tiles appearing around that only he can perceive, giving him 'missions' to complete for the promise of rewards. Though greatly confused, Yuseong soon discovers that by completing these missions, he is rewarded with greater strength, endurance and speed, along with techniques and skills beyond what he could ever preform as a lowly Mook in the alliance. Armed with his knowledge of the Bad Future to come, Yuseong resolves himself to 'level up' through this mysterious phenomenon to become the World's Best Warrior and avert the catastrophe that is Cheonma, in the process also protecting those who met an unjust end along the way and becoming a hero that the Alliance needed to save it from itself.
It can be read in English on LINE Webtoons
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Infinite Leveling Murim contains examples of:
- The Ace: There are many characters who qualify for this:
- Jang Gihu- In the previous timeline, Jang Gihu was the one who was ranked 1st in the Dragon and Phoenix exam and became the first named disciple of the 7th Murim Alliance Leader, Jaegal Chong. He later became the leader of the Might Association, one of the eight major forces of the Murim Alliance. Even in the current timeline, he became the disciple of Jaegal Chong.
- Cheon Soso- She won the first place in the female division of the Murim University tournament. Many students at the Murim University have a crush on her due to her beauty. She later becomes the disciple of Putou's Heavenly Nun, one of the strongest female martial artists.
- Yong Chorang- The most outstanding disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, who restored many lost martial arts. Many women are attracted to his good looks, talent in swordsmanship, and his status as the heir of the Mount Hua Sect.
- Namgoong Geum- The heir of the great Namgoong family. In the previous timeline, he graduated from the Murim University with the highest score. He was the leader of the Demon Extermination Squad, whose military exploits earned him the glory of the world's best swordsman. However, he was also the leader of the Five Kings of Bingshen who defected to Cheon Ma, which eventually led to the destruction of the Murim. In the current timeline, Namgoong Geum was the winner of the male division of the Murim University tournament.
- Deconstructed in the case of Yuseong Dan. He admits that he has no talent except for sheer perseverance and complains about the swift growth of other prodigies. Yet, his daily spartan training is the reason he regularly outperforms his more talented peers. Jang Gihu and Cheon Soso admit that Yuseong Dan is much stronger than them. Yong Chorang is obsessed with defeating him. Namgoong Geum quietly respects Yuseong Dan after the latter defeated him in an all-out duel. The fifth and the seventh Murim Alliance Leaders appreciate Yuseong Dan's ability and conviction, and keep an eye on his growth.
- Beyond the Impossible: It is revealed by the Murim Alliance Leader Jaegal Chong that Yuseong's body is highly unsuitable for practicing martial arts, and it cannot store Qi properly due to the poor quality of his meridians. Even if he managed to live for 200-300 years, he can achieve the rank of only a Peak Master. Yet, Yuseong was able to defeat Yong Chorang, The Ace of Mount Hua, rank 1st in the Dragon and Phoenix Exam, and defeat the strongest person of the younger generation, Namgoong Geum of all people. All these feats have surprised the Murim Alliance Leader.
- Big Bad: The Heavenly Demon is designated to be this due to the eventual destruction of the Central Plains at his hands. However, as the story progresses, the true Big Bad is revealed to be Po Hoashim (a.k.a Venerable Loveless), the leader of the corrupt Council of Elders that rules the Murim Alliance. He is a Hypocrite who preaches Buddha's benevolence while making reckless decisions that jeopardize the Central Plains. During the first timeline, the monk had the Murim Alliance Leader Jaegal Chong assassinated for attempting to undermine his authority. He declared Cheon Gija to be public enemy No.1. He recklessly provoked too many factions by declaring war on them, practiced Armchair Military, and hoarded all the benefits while exploiting the smaller sects as cannon fodder. The last straw was when the monk declared war on the Demonic Cult that was minding its own business. The death of the Demonic Cult Leader caused the rise of the Heavenly Demon who unified the cult and retaliated against the Murim Alliance, which led to the destruction of the Central Plains during the first timeline. From Yuseong Dan's account, Po Hoashim's tactical blunders caused more damage to the Murim Alliance than the Heavenly Demon ever did.
- Big Good: Cheon Gija and his former disciple, Jaegal Chong, the fifth and the seventh Murim Alliance Leaders respectively. The two seek to reform the Murim Alliance by getting rid of the corrupt Council of Elders led by Po Hoashim. Yuseong Dan admires them as great men of the righteous faction. Amusingly, the two men deem Yuseong Dan to be the Big Good of the Murim University for promoting equality among students. Not long after, Yuseong Dan joins forces with Jaegal Chong to reform the Murim together.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: A minor case in chapter 70. When Yuseong confronts the bandit leader who's kidnapped a bunch of villagers for personal pleasure, he keeps referring to them as 'sex slaves', which upsets Yuseong, who insists on calling them civilians instead. However, the LINE translation has them both referring to the captives as civilians, making Yuseong's response to the leader continuing to refer to them like that despite his warnings come off as undeserved since they're using the same phrase to talk about the villagers.
- Book Ends: Gihu Jang is the first human opponent Yuseong faces after his return to the past, looking to spar with the top student of the admittance exam to the Cheongbong military academy, and Yuseong's complete defeat against him despite being aware of the best moves to make thanks to his future knowledge is a lesson that drives him to improve himself constantly through rigorous training throughout his time there. Their face-off in the finals of the Dragon-Phoenix serves as Yuseong's ultimate test of his improvement since dedicating himself to mastering the system, and upon defeating him, the system informs Yuseong that he has finally completed the 'tutorial' of his journey.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: Justified, despite the rules of the Murim looking down upon the usage of trigger-based weaponry in a fight. Yuseong eventually takes to holding a bow in one hand and a sword in the other, despite the bow needing both hands to be used and being useless without arrows in a close-range fight. The reason for this is that the system encourages Yuseong to become a Multi-Melee Master, granting him different stat boosts and abilities based on the weapons he's holding and how proficient with them he is. Bows increase his accuracy stat, which not only applies to projectile weapons but also his close-range attacks — Yuseong's sword swings undergo Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics in order to connect with their targets, meaning that a seemingly-missed sword swing's trajectory will improbably alter in order to hit his opponent, taking them off-guard and allowing him further apply his Confusion Fu fighting techniques.
- Broken Ace: Cheon Soso is talented in martial arts and an extremely beautiful girl who is desired by many men. However, her father's insistence to marry her off to a prestigious group caused her to be resentful. In the previous timeline, Cheon Soso ended up marrying Gyeonghon Bukli of the Forces of Evil. Since the marriage was against her will, Cheon Soso's resentment turned her into a cruel person. In the present timeline, Yuseong Dan encourages Cheon Soso to pursue her dreams and opposes her father's decision to marry her off. This causes the girl to fall for Yuseong Dan.
- Butt-Monkey: Jongnam Taegi is the elite disciple of the Jongnam sect, one of the nine great sects of the Murim. He always challenges Yuseong Dan to a duel, only to be subjected to One-Hit KO. Yuseong Dan notes that Taegi mastered several flashy techniques to impress his master, but neglected to train his basics.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Played With: Yuseong takes an immediate antagonistic attitude towards Chorang Yeong despite him and Jeung Myeong technically aiding him with Jindo Gong's attempts to frame him and his friend for stealing from the military academy. The reason is eventually revealed to be that Yuseong's future wife eventually left him to become one of the future Chorang's concubines and improve her livelihood, with Chorang giving Yuseong his distinctive facial scar when he attempted to fight him for her love. However, despite these events technically not having happened yet, or Yuseong having even met his future wife, Yuseong still bares a grudge against the present Chorang for the actions of his future self, after his wife was the one to make the decision to leave him. He lampshades that he's always been a pretty petty person when considering how justified his actions are against Chorang, especially since he half-castrated him because of it. However, it's later revealed that the real reason he hates Chorang is that the latter secretly enjoys lording his greater power and skills over those weaker than him, a trait his younger self very much has and that the future Chorang didn't even really love Yuseong's wife, but instead had her as one of many concubines that he eventually discarded once he grew bored of her, with the wife being unable to return to Yuseong as a consequence.
- Hammerspace: Successfully beating Chorang Yong, even on a technicality, unlocks access to the 'inventory' system for Yuseong, which takes the form of a Blank White Void for him. Items he stores within it apparently can exist without taking a physical toll upon him, allowing him to store a vast amount of weaponry and even carry away a large amount of valuable jade bigger than him when piled up, and he can even preserve food and alcohol in there, but Yuseong doesn't use it for combat purposes because doing so cuts off his sight and makes him lose track of his opponents. After Yuseong 'completes' his assigned mission to destroy the entirety of the Dark Serpent bandit clan (actually done on his behalf as a 'favor' by Gyeonghon Bukli, which the system still counts for him) Yuseong is granted access to a 'container bag' which allows him to store up to 5 different objects inside a similar hammerspace functionality. These objects can be bigger than the bag itself and can range from large rocks, his weapons, or Juju, and as it only activates his selections via small floating icons in front of him, Yuseong can use it mid-battle to access his resources.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: This was true for Yuseong during his first life, as he bitterly laments to himself in his final moments, but the system seems designed almost specifically to avert this in his current one. The more effort he puts in, the stronger and more powerful he becomes, bit by bit, even by performing seemingly asinine tasks like 'performing a duck walk across the country'.
- Ironic Echo: Upon encountering Gu Min, a low-ranking member of the Dark Serpent bandit clan, and deducing that he was likely the one who killed his father in his past life whilst in the process of kidnapping children from the poverty-stricken Oochon village, Yuseong violently stabs him through the face after he mocks how the kid's leprosy-stricken mother died so easily from a 'slight stab'.Yuseong: Oh! I'm so fucking sorry. I didn't know you'd just die from a slight stab.
- Loophole Abuse: Despite his unfamiliarity with video game mechanics, Yuseong very quickly realizes that the definitions of his rewards and the conditions he has to fulfill to receive them can be liberally applied depending on the way it's phrased and his actions, making use of theses in an unexpected way to gain advantages against his opponents.
- He is first tasked with gaining the nimble steps martial art skill upon being challenged by Gihu Jang to a sparring match, and his lack of physical skills at the time swiftly leads to his defeat. However, the mission does not become invalidated because he failed to beat Gihu the first time, and when Gihu is badly battered after sparring with Jeung Myeong and prepared to challenge Chorang Yong next, all it takes is Yuseong knocking him out with a chop to the neck for him to receive the skill to use against Chorang himself.
- Yuseong is challenged to defeat Chorang Yong in their school's unlimited sparring bout, only a few months after he returned to the past and whilst Yuseong is struggling to use even the basic attack forms without using his knowledge of acupuncture to enable his Gi to flow smoothly through his body. Chorang's level is so far beyond him that Yuseong cannot even see it properly with his third eye and anything like a fair fight would inevitably result in his defeat. However, his newly-gained nimble steps martial art skill enables him to keep up with Yong's speed briefly, and his future knowledge enables him to make use of a flaw in the Mount Hua's swordsmanship style that the future Chorang is destined to eventually correct years later to get into his blind spot, hitting him with a Groin Attack that shatters one of his testicles. This understandably breaks Chorang's composure and drives him to try and cut Yuseong down with a real sword, which invalidates the 'sparring' aspect of their fight and technically ends in Yuseong's victory, even if he's rendered unconscious and hospitalized afterward, enabling him to gain the "Inventory" reward.
- Yuseong is challenged to 'complete the upcoming escort for the Mupung security group' to receive a divine gift. Aware the intended escort mission is doomed to be attacked and slaughtered by a vicious gang of bandits because of his future knowledge, he seizes upon the fact the mission only asks him to complete 'the upcoming escort' to schedule another escort mission on the same day in a different direction to receive the reward. Unfortunately, Chorang Yong is afterward revealed to be the one who made the request to the security group, and because of his high status as the Blossom Blademaster, all other contracts are canceled in favor of his request. Furthermore, Yuseong is forced to tag along anyway because the escort mission would give him a chance to apologize for the manner in which he won their duel and the bad blood between them. However, Yuseong figures out another way to gain the reward — by requesting the group head of Mupang to return the money he paid for the first request to him phrased as an 'escort', even paying him a single coin to do so. This satisfies the mission request before the original escort has already started and enables him to unlock Juju as a reward.
- Yuseong is ordered to apologize to Chorang for his underhanded method of beating him in their duel, with the system additionally offering him the reward of accessing his 'main map' for doing so. Despite his animosity with Chorang for his future actions against him and present attitude, Yuseong eventually goes through with it and apologizes to his face... before immediately retracting his apology the second the system rewards him.
- Yuseong's interpretation of the 'weapon' he's holding is also subject to this, as he briefly turns the benefit he gets from holding a wooden sword to an 'axe' by flipping it around and holding it by the blade to strike with the pommel instead. Similarly, he can turn some weapons into different ones depending on how he holds them, like a spear becoming a Staff and a Sword once broken into two.
- Master Swordsman: Yong Choran and Namgoong Geum are this in contrast to Yuseong Dan, who is a Multi-Melee Master.
- Mistaken for Badass: Yuseong's first encounter with Gyeonghon Bukli has the latter mistakenly assuming that Yuseong is really Chorang Yeong based on the fact that Yuseong used axes technique from the lawful faction of Murim to massacre the Dark Serpent clan, and he knows of no other prodigy in the area who could make him so excited for a fight.
- Multi-Melee Master: Due to gaining different advantageous Status Buffs based on the number and type of weapons he wields in battle, the system encourages Yuseong to branch out into becoming this, despite the criticism of several teachers in the Murim University who feel that Yuseong will wind up wasting his potential and becoming a Master of None by not focusing on a single style and mastering it to its peak. However, Yuseong Dan inherits a legendary martial art that enables him to wield several weapons at once and requires him to master every last weapon in the world. So far, Yuseong can use:
- Axes, which provide a strength increase
- Swords, which increase his speed
- Staff/Rods, increasing his chances of a critical hit in battle
- Bows, which increase the accuracy of any attack he makes, either long-range or close-up
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Yuseong Dan joined the 8th Division to access the Million Books Pavilion, in search of a book containing the mystical Yin Yang Breathing Technique. During his search, Yuseong comes across the Ten Weapons Demon Technique, a powerful martial art that enables him to wield multiple weapons simultaneously. Eventually, he decides to give up and let Gi Daemong inherit the Yin Yang Breathing Technique (which happened in the previous timeline). However, the corrupt Council of Elders views Yuseong Dan as a growing threat and, aware he is looking for something in the Million Books Pavilion from his obsessive reading of every single book in there and having witnessed how strong he's become through the Ten Weapons Technique, decides to simultaneously thwart his search and send a message to the reformist headmaster by burning the building down. This triggers a series of events where, in order to save Gi Daemong, Yuseong Dan is forced to overcome the trial of the book and inherit the Yin Yang Breathing Technique from the spirit of its creator. In other words, the actions of the Council inadvertently made Yuseong Dan even more powerful than ever.
- Riddle for the Ages: It is unknown why Yuseong, of all people, went back 30 years into his childhood self, nor why he's being plagued with game-like interfaces that actively affect the world and people around him, even if they're unaware of it, especially since the world appears to be a genuine wuxia fantasy reality without any connection to the modern world, which said interfaces often use a lot of terminology and phrases from in the text announcements for Yuseong, giving him some confusion with parsing their meaning. Yuseong even muses that it might be possible for the system to have chosen another individual besides himself, bitterly noting that if Chorang Yong, Giju Jang or even Choso had been granted it, their natural talents would likely have made them genuine monsters with the powers it bestows in comparison to his own performance with it. All that is clear is that the system is benefiting Yuseong the more he uses it and that he won't get an explanation behind its purpose for a long while.
- The actual item the Mupung security group was escorting on Chorang Yeong's behalf that resulted in their complete massacre in Yuseong's first life is also ultimately left unrevealed. The Prowling Dragon bandit clan's numbers and intensity upon attacking them suggests an awareness of the value of what they were protecting, but they are all killed without Yuseong being able to interrogate any of them in the fighting, and it's afterward revealed that what Yuseong's group was really escorting was a diversionary decoy of crates weighed down with rocks, meaning the entire attack was ultimately for nothing.
- Secret Test of Character: Cheon Gija poses as a drunk old beggar passed out on the road. Many candidates for the Dragon and Phoenix Exam ignore him, but Yuseong Dan is the only one to reach out to him... which earns Cheon Gija's approval of the lad.
- Sleepyhead: Gihu Jang, a Boisterous Bruiser and avid fight-lover, has a major case of this, constantly dozing off and sleeping around the military academy on the rare few occasions he's not in a lesson or having a fight with somebody. He has a combination of enough natural body strength and genuine love of fighting techniques to still be one of the strongest in the academy regardless, but it still leads to the rest of his colleagues seeing him as a Lazy Bum who coasts by on his natural talents. However, the finals match-up between him and Yuseong has it revealed that Jang actually learned the Dream Fighting Technique when he was 7 years old, and has in fact been using all the times he was sleeping to accurately recreate combat scenarios of his opponents he's fought before as well as further refine his Gi. This enables him to handily defeat Choso in their match because Jang has actually been non-stop training against her and many others whilst asleep, but part of Jang's sincere interest in his rematch with Yuseong is that the latter's explosive improvements in fighting and strength thanks to the system's rewards have far outstripped his mental image of Yuseong that he cannot accurately gauge his performance in a fight, leaving Gihu with an opponent whom he cannot fully predict and a robust challenge to overcome, much to his delight.
- Stat-O-Vision: When Yuseong passes the entrance exam he originally failed, he is offered the choice of different rewards ranging from a Cool Sword to a special medicine that will boost his Gi permanently. However, thanks to Gihu Jang knocking him off-balance when selecting his reward, he accidentally selects the 'Third Eye' ability, which grants him this. It allows him to see people's true names, level of strength relative to him, and as he further levels it up, their strength, agility, and Gi capacity. Despite not directly aiding Yuseong's physical performance, it proves to be arguably the most useful ability once he's able to start leveling it up with repeated use. For instance, it allows him to identify the locations and numbers of a large gang of hidden bandits waiting to ambush him during a caravan protection job, even if he can't yet discern their precise stats and names, and forward his allies in time. Another time he meets with a bunch of high-level illusion-proficient Murim warriors, he can tell they're nearby even if he can't see anything about them by the '—' displays hanging in the fog.
- Status Buff:
- Yuseong discovers that he literally gets these by holding different weapons, resulting in increases to his speed, strength, accuracy, or chances of a critical attack, depending on which weapon he's holding, motivating him to become a Multi-Melee Master to maximize the benefits he gains as he becomes more proficient in each one. This also means that his speed and strength literally fluctuate in a fight, meaning he can be strong one second, but weaker and faster the next, throwing his opponent off with his 'rhythm' constantly fluctuating mid-fight. Yuseong even kills the vice-chief of the Prowling Dragon bandit clan by deliberately dropping his sword as they swing at each other, which causes his own attack to slow down and the Vice-Chief's to miss from the timing of Yuseong's movements abruptly changing.
- Yuseong's cooking skill also grants these as he levels it up, enabling him to grant himself boosts to his agility and strength depending on what food he's eating, so long as he's cooked it himself first. This leads to Yuseong awkwardly asking for some opponents who challenge him to a fight to hold on a minute whilst he takes a quick snack. Levelling the skill up further enables him to make 'food pills' that can be easily stored in his container bag for easier use mid-fight.
- Sudden Game Interface: Yuseong gains this when he first returns to the day of the entrance exam for the martial arts academy, though he has no context for what it specifically is, being only able to describe it as 'a floating floor panel with words written on it'. It becomes a minor Running Gag that every time Yuseong is challenged with a task that he thinks is impossible or insane, or that he sarcastically thinks up based on the conversation, the same announcement panel will appear offering him a sincere challenge to do said task and be rewarded for it, or suffer a penalty, to Yuseong's frustration.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Yuseong manages to successfully pass the entrance exam he failed in his first life through the application of his future memories of a medical orthopedic technique that targets pressure points, widely used as a combat method for weak fighters in the future, to make up for his own child self's lack of physical strength or powerful Gi when fighting the simplistic puppets. This gets him the top score in the exam and draws the attention of Gihu Jang who challenges him to a spar to test his mettle. Despite again using his future knowledge to identify Gihu's fighting style and the correct counter, Yuseong loses when performing it because he lacks enough strength and power as an untrained child to provide the necessary force to beat Gihu's moves in a fight. Just because he can know the correct move to make, doesn't mean much in a fight if his body's unable to perform adequately, preventing Yuseong from being able to steamroll any challengers in his way with his understanding of the future. To make up for this, Yuseong trains his body non-stop to increase his stats and become capable of better matching his future knowledge with his body's capabilities.
- Wacky Master, Serious Disciple: Yong Choran is the calm and dignified Bishōnen ace swordsman of the great Mount Hua Sect. He holds a deep-rooted grudge against Yuseong Dan for partially castrating him. In contrast, Yong Choran's master, Jin Hon is a jovial and easygoing maverick who enjoys wine and humor. He immediately takes a liking to Yuseong Dan and believes in the boy's potential in martial arts.
- World's Best Warrior: Kim Shin, also known as the Total Berserker, was a mysterious martial artist who came from beyond the Great Wall. He fought over 732 battles with the greatest martial masters of his time and never lost even a single battle. According to Jaegal Pyeong, the Total Berserker was the strongest martial artist in all history. It is said that the Total Berserker became the first man to master over ten-thousand weapons and was called the Ten-Thousand Weapons Emperor. Hundred years later, Kim Shin's martial art was inherited by Yuseong Dan, who now seeks to become the next Ten-Thousand Weapons Emperor.
- Wrecked Weapon: Invoked by Yuseong a few times to gain the advantage in a pitched fight. Since the system is somewhat liberal with its definitions of what counts as a 'weapon' he's holding, a few times he's had a spear, by breaking the haft of the weapon and Dual Wielding them, they now count as both a Staff and a Sword, enabling him to buff himself mid-fight.
- Gihu Jang uses a similar method in the climax of their duel at the Dragon-Phoenix exam, turning a nearby wooden training halberd into a BFS to sword-fight Yuseong with.
