I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 46

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

Entering the Murim Alliance for No Reason — Episode 46
Jegal Su-yeon, the strategist, was unquestionably Jo In-jun’s superior.
Ordinarily he did not meddle in the patrol master’s affairs, but if the strategist wished to involve himself directly, there was nothing within the Murim Alliance he could not touch.
Nothing whatsoever.
He held a position where he could wield power second only to the Alliance Master himself — what more needed to be said?
Which was precisely why Patrol Master Jo In-jun was deeply unsettled at this very moment.
Strategist Jegal Su-yeon had arrived with a bright, radiant smile on his face, and trailing behind him came Jegal Yi-su, his expression brimming with curiosity.
The patrol master greeted them with considerably more deference than he had shown Elder Dang Sun-won.
“Strategist, what brings you to this place?”
“I received word that the Promotion Match had been arranged, and I thought I’d come observe. Please, don’t trouble yourself — proceed as you were.”
The patrol master clenched his teeth where the strategist could not see.
‘He received word and came to observe?’
Even a mongrel passing by would have laughed at that.
Of course the patrol master himself had filed the report. Filing such reports was standard procedure — yet not something the patrol master handled personally. That was left to his subordinates to manage as they saw fit.
But.
Just because the strategist had received a report did not mean he typically concerned himself with such trivial matters. There were far more pressing issues demanding his attention.
And yet the strategist had appeared suddenly for this insignificant affair.
‘… What could his reason possibly be?’
Without an answer, the uncertainty gnawed at him until his head throbbed.
It was unthinkable that he had come because he’d heard Unit 47’s commander had taken money. If the strategist lacked even that much flexibility, he would never have secured his position in the first place.
No matter how much he turned the matter over in his mind, no answer emerged. So he shifted his gaze elsewhere.
To Jegal Yi-su, standing behind the strategist.
He noticed Jegal Yi-su’s eyes were fixed on someone from Unit 11.
‘… Surely not?’
Was this not proof that someone in Unit 11 was connected to the strategist — or rather, to the strategist’s nephew, Jegal Yi-su?
‘Otherwise…’
There would be no reason for either of them to be here.
The patrol master felt his head beginning to pound as if his hair might tear from his scalp, but he had no choice but to proceed with the match as the strategist had instructed.
“I hadn’t expected your arrival, so no proper seat was prepared. Please, sit here, Strategist.”
“How thoughtless of me to claim your seat in the process.”
“Not at all. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Thus the patrol master found himself standing alongside Dang Sun-won and Jegal Yi-su, watching the match unfold.
But the problem was…
‘… What do I do?’
He had to choose: proceed as he had planned, or abandon his original intention out of deference to the strategist and oversee the match fairly.
But.
‘Damn it.’
Truthfully, there was no choice to be made.
With the strategist present, his hands were tied. No matter how flexible the strategist might be, he could hardly boast ‘I received payment’ right before his eyes.
Strategist Jegal Su-yeon, who had taken the patrol master’s seat, spoke up.
“How is the match format to be conducted?”
“One representative from each unit will come forward for a one-on-one match.”
“Then the unit commander will represent his unit, I presume?”
The unit commander was naturally the representative of his unit members.
“… No. One of the unit members, excluding the commander, will serve as the representative.”
At those words, the faces of Unit 47’s commander Du Jun-chul and his unit members darkened.
‘Damn it all!’
How much money had they paid?
Most of it had come from Commander Du Jun-chul, but it had been pooled from all the unit members as well. Every one of them had scraped together this money painstakingly, coin by coin, dreaming of this very day.
For the sake of advancement in rank. And yet…
‘Son of a bitch!’
‘Cursed luck!’
‘My money…’
Would surely be lost.
If they asked for their payment back now that things had gone awry, the consequences would only rebound upon Unit 47 as trouble.
Yet though the money was wasted and anger seethed within them, they did not give up or despair.
Sang-du, who would represent them in the match, was confident he could defeat whoever came from Unit 11.
Still, the lost money stung.
Meanwhile.
The corners of Unit 11’s commander Jang Hye-in’s mouth and those of his unit members had lifted upward.
‘Wow.’
‘What a windfall!’
‘You lot know how to sweet-talk!’
‘Heaven itself is on our side!’
‘The youngest is our lucky charm!’
Just moments ago they’d called him a walking disaster—yet now they were singing Saurin’s praises as though he were their greatest treasure. The members of Unit 11 truly were a fickle lot.
Every last one of them.
Riding the crest of fortune one moment, plunging into despair the next—masters of emotional extremes, one and all.
And Jegal Su-yeon, the strategist, missed none of it.
‘So something’s happened.’
He’d thought they wouldn’t dare show their true colors in his presence. That’s why he was glad he’d come—grateful, even.
Jegal Su-yeon knew. How could he not? And knowing, he felt a gnawing worry.
Because he understood that these things—these small corruptions layering upon one another, year after year—would eventually coalesce into a catastrophe that would bring the Murim Alliance to its knees.
And yet the Murim Alliance endured.
Remarkably so.
In a way that defied even his brilliant mind to comprehend.
Which is why Jegal Su-yeon, unknown to anyone, had been conducting a secret investigation for the past year into why the Murim Alliance—despite centuries of accumulated corruption—remained intact and functioning.
For a year now.
Not out of any righteous or upright desire to protect the Murim Alliance or restore the Decaying Murim to its former glory.
If the Murim Alliance fell, the Gangho would descend into chaos. And that chaos would inevitably sweep over the Jegal Clan.
For a clan like the Jegal, whose martial power lagged behind the Nine Sects and One Hall and the Five Great Clans, such a calamity could prove far more fatal than most.
So could Jegal Su-yeon possibly welcome such an uncertain future for his clan?
Yet even his brilliant mind found this problem utterly opaque.
Which only deepened his conviction.
That some far greater hand, some far greater force, had been manipulating the Murim Alliance from the shadows for an very long time.
Controlling it, even.
Frighteningly so.
“Is that so? How intriguing. I was already growing impatient—I’d prefer we start as soon as possible.”
“We shall proceed at once.”
Jo In-jun, the Patrol Master, turned a grim expression toward the bright-faced Jang Hye-in.
“Captain Jang. Who is your unit’s representative?”
Jang Hye-in spoke with absolute certainty. The members of Unit 11 swelled with such confidence that their shoulders seemed to reach for the sky.
“Our Unit 11’s representative is the youngest member of our team.”
All the members of Unit 11 nodded their heads in unison, as though they’d agreed beforehand—as though this were the most natural thing in the world.
‘It’s over.’
‘All finished.’
‘Couldn’t we just head back to our quarters and get some sleep instead?’
‘What’s there to see.’
‘……If it ends this easily, it’ll be disappointingly dull…….’
With that air of inevitability, Saurin made his way toward the center of the Training Grounds.
The Patrol Master’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment.
“That young man is Unit 11’s representative?”
Jang Hye-in spoke with unmistakable defiance.
“That is correct. Is there something wrong with that?”
Jo In-jun’s brow furrowed at Jang Hye-in’s provocation.
‘This woman……daring to……’
But for now, he had to swallow his anger. There would be time to settle this later.
“……There isn’t.”
Jegal Su-yeon, watching from the sidelines, was studying the scene with considerable interest. So was Jegal Yi-su.
‘Yi-su has found someone intriguing.’
So Jegal Su-yeon posed a question to Jang Hye-in.
“How old is that young man?”
“Nineteen this year, strategist.”
“Nineteen……. Isn’t that rather young for a unit representative?”
“Age is merely a number, or so I understand.”
Strength alone determines worth, was what she meant.
“I see. I seem to have forgotten something.”
The romance of the Gangho.
But romance is merely romance, nothing more. A barely-adult warrior cannot defeat a martial master in his mid-thirties—it is simply impossible.
Of course, if he were the direct disciple of a famous sect or a blood heir to a major house, such a feat might not be beyond reach. But Saurin was merely a single warrior of the Murim Alliance, was he not?
And so Jegal Su-yeon’s interest deepened.
“Can I trust what I’ll see?”
He was asking whether this young Saurin could truly defeat a martial artist in his mid-thirties.
“You can trust it, sir.”
“Your confidence is remarkable.”
“It’s not my confidence that’s remarkable—it’s our youngest who is.”
“Ha, ha, ha. I like that. I like it indeed.”
He thought he understood.
Clearly, this young man would prove exceptional. Through his nephew Jegal Yi-su’s words, he could piece together a rough picture. A person of ordinary ability couldn’t make an illusion barrier created by the Eight Trigram Formation vanish, nor could they shatter the formation itself beyond use.
More than that, it was equally clear that the unit commander who could carry such a remarkable young man forward was no ordinary talent either.
Saurin finally took his place in the center of the Training Grounds, facing Sang-du of Unit 47.
Seeing Saurin, the corners of Sang-du’s mouth rose in a sneer.
‘This is ridiculous.’
What kind of people were they, letting slip an opportunity to win?
But Sang-du didn’t mind. He’d already decided to pick the easiest opponent right in front of him—the young kid.
Sang-du thought to himself.
Maybe the kid was strong.
No.
It wasn’t that the kid was strong—it was that the Unit 11 members were weak. Why else would they put forward someone barely old enough to have dried blood on his head as their representative?
In a Promotion Match with advancement on the line.
Byeok An-gyu, too, handed wooden swords to Sang-du and Saurin with an expression of utter bewilderment.
“Give it your best.”
Sang-du bowed his head to Byeok An-gyu in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
Byeok An-gyu’s gaze, having received the courtesy, turned toward Saurin.
“…….”
Nothing came back. So Byeok An-gyu thought to himself.
‘……No manners at all.’
Unit 11 had clearly made a fuss over this kid’s skills, he figured.
So he was irritated.
And so Byeok An-gyu sent a transmission to Sang-du of Unit 47.
‘Get ready. I’ll start right away.’
It was an order to end it decisively—because he wanted to see this rude kid get humiliated.
So Sang-du drew up his Inner Energy without hesitation.
Byeok An-gyu stepped back and announced the match’s beginning.
“Begin.”
As if on cue, Sang-du immediately swung his wooden sword at Saurin in a vicious arc.
But Saurin already knew.
He hadn’t heard Byeok An-gyu’s transmission, but he knew the Unit 47 member in front of him was drawing up his Inner Energy. So he’d prepared himself. Besides, even unprepared, he could have easily blocked such an attack.
Sang-du swung his wooden sword fiercely, confident.
‘It’s over.’
The kid wasn’t doing anything.
But then.
Crack!
Sang-du’s viciously swung wooden sword was stopped—impossibly, perfectly.
‘……No!’
……How……?
Sang-du’s eyes darted in an instant of doubt.
The kid in front of him had been completely defenseless just moments ago. How could he possibly block his attack?
But that was as far as Sang-du’s thoughts went.
Just as his attack reached its limit.
“……?”
‘……Why……?’
Why was his body flying toward the edge of the Training Grounds?
As it happened.
Unfortunately, that was all of Sang-du’s thoughts for the entire day.
Thud.
Without understanding a thing, Sang-du began his day in the center of the Training Grounds and ended it at the edge.

Everyone watching was astounded.
Well, not everyone.
Jang Hye-in and the Unit 11 members were grinning as though they’d expected nothing less.
Saurin, too, finished the match as though it were inevitable, then looked toward Jegal Su-yeon, Jo In-jun, and Byeok An-gyu stationed at the upper end of the Training Grounds.
“……U-Unit Eleven……wins.”
Byeok An-gyu’s bewildered announcement that Saurin, the youngest member of Unit 11, had emerged victorious, echoed softly across the Training Grounds.
Then someone began to clap.
Clap, clap, clap.
The applause came from none other than Jegal Su-yeon, the strategist himself.
“That was quite impressive. Though I must say, it ended a bit too swiftly for my taste.”
At that, Saurin spoke up.
“Strategist, if I may, I’d like to make a suggestion. Would that be acceptable?”
At Saurin’s words, Jegal Su-yeon’s eyebrows rose.

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