I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Entering the Murim Alliance for No Reason — Episode 5
“You’ve come.”
Unlike the others, to Sa Urin those footsteps sounded no different from a welcome guest.
How long had it been?
No—this was the first time.
The first time he’d ever faced someone this strong.
Of course, this wasn’t a mere practice bout. A single careless moment would lead straight to death—a Life-and-Death Duel.
And yet Sa Urin showed no fear, no tension. If anything, he was brimming with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Jang Chun’s followers were sweating through their palms and beading with perspiration across their brows.
“What….”
Unlike Jang Chun, they were experiencing the aura of a true Master Martial Artist for the first time. Moreover—a master of the Demon Cult, no less.
It was enough to make their legs tremble.
Still, Jang Chun, seasoned from years in the Jianghu, gripped Sa Urin’s shoulder.
“Can you really do this?”
There was no turning back now. So he had to trust Sa Urin. Hadn’t he watched his training all this time?
Yes, it seemed worth the attempt.
Sa Urin flashed a bright smile toward Jang Chun.
“Don’t worry. At worst, all that can happen is death.”
“…You’re insane.”
‘If you die….’
Everyone here dies with him. Sa Urin couldn’t possibly not know that.
Jang Chun found himself hoping that Sa Urin’s smile sprang from genuine confidence.
It had to. It simply had to.
A man in his mid-thirties, radiating Demonic Qi with what might have been pride, finally stepped into view. This was Ma-in.
The moment he appeared, his gaze fixed directly on Sa Urin.
A meaningful smile crossed his face.
“Haha. Not bad for a boy, are you? All that can happen is death, you say? Now that’s a splendid sentiment. A rare young one indeed. These days, even the Demon Cult struggles to find youngsters with such an outlook. Why is it all the youth today are so pathetically weak? Tsk. So tell me—how about it?”
“How about what, sir?”
“Come with me to the Demon Cult. Walk with me, and your future will shine bright as a summer sun. You won’t have to die some pointless death here, either.”
“You must be quite the personage.”
“Ha. I’m nothing special—it’s the man I serve who’s truly extraordinary.”
“I’m curious who that might be.”
“If I tell you, will you take my hand?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then I can’t tell you either.”
“Not that I much care.”
“Pity. Such a waste. A boy like you would struggle to find roots in the righteous sects. Perhaps you should reconsider?”
“Not worth reconsidering.”
“Ah, a shame. Well then, why exactly are all of you gathered here? It doesn’t look like you’ve come to stop me.”
They were all useless third-rate rabble—none of them had any real intention of blocking his path.
“Could it be you all wish to die by my hand?”
Unlikely, but the situation certainly appeared that way.
Seo Woo-chan gritted his teeth, squeezing out his last reserves of strength as he kicked back his chair and rose to his feet.
“Damn it.”
He’d come here to report to the Murim Alliance that a Demon Cult member was moving about. But now, because of his mistake alone, innocent people were going to die.
Innocent people who had nothing to do with this. All because of Seo Woo-chan’s faulty judgment.
Gritting his teeth, Seo Woo-chan drew his blade and raised it high.
“I’ll buy you time—as much as I can manage. Run as far as you can. That way, not all of you will die. So please, hurry—”
But Seo Woo-chan didn’t finish. Someone behind him had seized his shoulder.
“A word, sir warrior.”
Seo Woo-chan’s desperate efforts to trade his own life for the survival of even one other person crumbled to dust, replaced by a confusion that turned his vision backward.
“…No… this is hardly the time….”
“A fellow who looks like he’ll die just sitting there doesn’t get to say what time it is, does he? Am I wrong?”
It was Jang Chun who had spoken, cutting him off.
“We’ll all die if we stay like this.”
“Not a soul here doesn’t know that.”
“Then why—”
Jang Chun tilted his chin toward Sa Urin and continued.
“Because this boy has sworn to keep you alive, sir warrior. So what choice do the rest of us have?”
“…Me?”
I’m grateful, truly I am…….
And you even stopped the bleeding and bandaged the wound, didn’t you?
Thanks to that, I’ve managed to gather enough strength to draw my sword like this.
But now you’re going to throw away such a young life just to save me?
Seo Woo-chan simply couldn’t make sense of it.
“Can’t you see for yourself?”
…….
Logically, the situation made sense, but he couldn’t fathom the reason why the boy would throw his life away to save him.
Moreover, the opponent was a Master Martial Artist of the Demon Cult. Even if not extraordinarily skilled, anyone who’d reduced Seo Woo-chan to this state had to be a formidable warrior. This much was simple reasoning.
And yet this youth—barely of age in any measure—was about to face such a Master Martial Artist?
“This is far too reckless.”
“I run the Gambling House, so I know this much: you can only tell what’s long and what’s short by comparing them.”
“By your own logic, this is nothing but a gamble.”
“This is the Gambling House. What else would we do here but gamble?”
“Do you truly have such faith in that boy?”
It was absurd.
“If we didn’t, why would we be standing here at death’s door? So we’ll simply step back and watch quietly.”
“And then we’ll all die, you realize.”
“Ah, this martial artist keeps talking too much. Let’s step back quickly now. Come on.”
Jang Chun gripped the bewildered Seo Woo-chan by the shoulder and retreated toward the wall of the Gambling House. His subordinates withdrew as well.
The Demon Cult Master, who had been watching this unfold, burst into loud laughter.
“Guffaw!”
It was ridiculous.
Twenty martial artists gathered here……or rather, strictly speaking, anyone who had learned Martial Arts could be called a martial artist. So Jang Chun and his subordinates, despite being third-rate, fell into that category.
In any case.
Among all these martial artists—including the Murim Alliance warriors—the one stepping forward to face him, a Demon Cult Master, was the youngest of them all.
Barely of age, at that.
How long could he have trained in Martial Arts? How much experience in the Jianghu could he possibly have?
Compared to ordinary commoners, he was like a child who’d only just begun to walk.
No wonder laughter bubbled up unbidden.
“You think you can face me?”
“Why? Am I not even a person?”
The Demon Cult Master gestured toward Seo Woo-chan, who had been dragged against the wall.
“Look what happened to him. What do you suppose will become of you?”
“Sigh.”
Sa Urin let out a long, exasperated breath.
“Haven’t you heard it yet?”
……”Heard what?”
“That you can only tell what’s long and what’s short by comparing them.”
“Ah. Haha. Right, that’s true. But what if the difference is so obvious that you don’t even need to compare?”
“That’s precisely why I’m saying it—because the difference isn’t that great.”
The Demon Cult Master was rapidly losing his composure.
“Haha. I’ve seen everything in my lifetime. To think I’d hear such words from a wet-behind-the-ears brat. Well, regardless—they all have to die anyway, so it makes no difference to me.”
Still, something about being dismissed like this rankled him deeply.
“I thought you had some sense, but you’re just a madman.”
“Wow, how did you know that? I hear it all the time from mister and the others.”
The Demon Cult Master’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
“This bastard…….”
No matter how mad, with death right at his doorstep.
“You said it yourself—all that awaits is death, nothing more.”
“I did say that.”
“Yes. But you’ll learn. When death stands before your eyes, you’ll understand why people fear it. Why they crumble so pathetically before it. Why they claw and struggle, wringing everything from themselves in desperation. Why they thrash and cry out for mercy, begging to be spared. So steel yourself.”
He didn’t know.
Sa Urin was barely eighteen, and had never set foot beyond Jangyeon Estate, let alone anywhere in the Jianghu.
Yet his face remained radiant.
“Yes. I’ve already made my resolve.”
The corners of the Demon Cult Master’s mouth curled upward.
“Of course. How could you know? That’s why you can be fearless.”
With his lips curved upward, the Demon Cult Master even let out a rueful chuckle as he continued.
“Haha, you’re a peculiar one indeed. You’d fit perfectly in the Demon Cult, really. That’s precisely why it feels wasteful to kill you. But those ones over there—are they truly staying here to die together with you?”
“I don’t think I could possibly die, so that’s why I’m standing here watching. Why are people so determined to think the worst?”
A laugh—absurd, incredulous—spilled from Ma-in’s lips.
“You talk nonsense well. But don’t worry too much. I’ll kill only you and that Murim Alliance fool. The others will live.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
It was then that Seo Woo-chan, the Murim Alliance warrior leaning against the wall, cried out.
“Lies! Don’t believe a word from that Ma-in bastard. The only reason he’s pursued me here is to silence me!”
Sa Urin turned back to Ma-in with another question.
“Is that so?”
“I’m not obliged to explain everything here, but… well, since I’ve already started, I might as well finish. The reason I’ve pursued him all this way is because he was following me. So I was curious—who he belonged to, why he was tailing me. And I simply cannot let a man who’s tracked my movements leave this place alive.”
“It sounds like you’re leaving out the most important part.”
“Heh. There’s absolutely no reason for me to silence him.”
Again, Seo Woo-chan’s voice rang out from the wall.
“That’s a lie! You’re trying to kill me so that the name Ma-in doesn’t get exposed!”
Ma-in, exasperated, hurled a question at Sa Urin.
“Is that fool really from the Murim Alliance?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, those Murim Alliance bastards… if that one knew who I’d come with, he wouldn’t be spouting such drivel.”
“Who did you come with?”
“Didn’t I just say I can’t tell you that?”
“So we’re back where we started.”
“Indeed we are.”
“Then shall we get down to business?”
“Heh heh, yes. This is quite amusing. I only hope you don’t disappoint me.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
Yet to his eye, there was scarcely any difference between Sa Urin and the third-rate rabble cowering against the wall.
Schring.
Sa Urin drew his blade.
Schring.
Ma-in drew his sword as well, and spoke.
“Shall I test whether you’re worth measuring yourself against?”
Sa Urin shrugged with a gesture that said “by all means.”
Then, from Ma-in, a dark and vicious current of Demonic Qi rolled forth—thick enough to swallow the Gambling House whole—and crashed toward Sa Urin.
Whoosh.
Not fast. There was no need for haste.
It was merely a test.
And so, slowly, carefully, Ma-in’s blade of dark energy—disguised as shadow—advanced toward Sa Urin.
Soon, the black current, like darkness itself, wrapped around Sa Urin gently, as though embracing him.
It only seemed that way.
Had it been not Sa Urin but a bleeding Seo Woo-chan, or Jang Chun and the others, they would have already collapsed in agony, coughing blood onto the ground.

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