I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 51

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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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Foolishly Joining the Murim Alliance 051
‘No!’
‘Absolutely not!’
‘Anything but this, please!’
‘Not after we’ve come this far!’
‘Little brother!’
‘Oh, heavens above.’
‘Just a moment. Just a little longer. Let me savor this happiness. Yes?’
Sa U-rin’s lips descended toward Jang Chun once more.
“Uncle, you know what I’m like, right? So don’t try to hide it. I heard—that girl’s sister was kidnapped. And the way Jong-cheol is so concerned about it, you two aren’t just passing acquaintances. You’re really going to let this slide?”
“Ugh.”
A sigh that seemed to tear through the earth itself erupted from Jang Chun.
And then.
From behind Sa U-rin, Jang Hye-in and the others exhaled in unison.
‘……This won’t do…….’
‘Not this. No, really, we can’t…….’
‘If we do this, we’re dead. Dead as doornails. All of us…….’
‘Ah, heavens……heaven be damned!’
‘If heaven truly existed, he never would have been born!’
‘Sigh.’
No matter how much they thought about it or tried to reason it out, this was truly impossible. So Jang Hye-in stepped forward.
“U-rin.”
Sa U-rin turned his body, fixing his gaze directly on his leader Jang Hye-in’s face.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“Well, you see…….”
Both of you—Uncle and the leader—you’re both fumbling over your words. The fact that two people who know my nature so well can’t spit it out means it’s genuinely dangerous.”
Sa U-rin’s head turned toward Jong-cheol.
“Jong-cheol.”
Jong-cheol’s heart was heavy. He didn’t quite understand why, but from what U-rin said, it did seem to be something truly perilous.
So his reply, too, came with great weight.
“……Yes.”
“How did you come to know that boy? Or rather, what is he to you?”
“……It’s……just, a bit, an acquaintance.”
“Really?”
In place of Jong-cheol, who could not bring himself to speak the truth, Jang Chun opened his mouth.
“He admires that child’s sister.”
At Jang Chun’s words, Jang Hye-in and the others behind Sa U-rin let out a volley of sighs and laments heavy enough to crack the floorboards of the inn.
“Ugh.”
“What is this…….”
“Phew.”
“It’s over.”
“Done for.”
“Leader, what are you doing? Just say it straight out.”
“Little brother’s nature is too predictable.”
“Right. The more we hold back, the worse he’ll act.”
“Ah. But this is……certain death……. Ugh. I give up.”
“He said he admired her.”
“You only die once, not twice. Damn it all.”
From the mouths of the others alone, Sa U-rin could sense once again how perilous this situation was.
‘They’re all speaking of death.’
And every word that left their lips carried tension. It was truly frightening and dreadful.
It was like that time in Sunyeong District, waiting only for death.
What should he do?
In the old days, Sa U-rin would have acted without a second thought. But now, bit by bit, he was coming to understand that he couldn’t do that anymore.
His own life disappearing seemed like nothing, but the deaths of his comrades……the thought that his comrades would all die because of him was not right.
And yet, Sa U-rin’s instinct still drove him to act.
If he saw something he could prevent right before his eyes and simply let it pass…….
Then the Murim Alliance that his father had dreamed of, and the one Sa U-rin himself dreamed of, would become nothing but dust slipping through his fingers—an empty dream.
Merely words.
A dream spoken only with the mouth would be no different from a single painting hung upon a wall.
So that won’t do.
And so Sa U-rin spoke.
“Tell me, then.”
Jang Chun opens his mouth heavily.
“I think it would be better if I speak rather than the Commander.”
“Then do so.”
“The girl’s sister was likely abducted by the Human Trafficking Organization.”
“How can you be so certain when you haven’t even seen her?”
“Because it happens all the time. Very old business.”
“Then shouldn’t the Murim Alliance step in directly?”
Why does the Murim Alliance exist?
Though inside it, they turn a blind eye to their own duties in the struggle for power, the Murim Alliance still does what it must from an external perspective.
It’s a coalition that’s incredibly conscious of how the outside world perceives it.
“It’s a very old story. In the past, the Murim Alliance did step in and resolve these matters.”
“And then?”
“It wasn’t just the Murim Alliance. Gaebang has stepped in before, and Hwasan, and Mudang, and various other powers in the Baekdo Martial World—when they united under the banner that human trafficking must not be allowed, it happened. Or so I’ve heard.”
That was true.
Long, long ago. But now, none of them can do anything about the Human Trafficking Organization.
Rather, they ignore it.
Rather, now they don’t even look at it.
All those who captured or killed members of the Human Trafficking Organization are dead and gone. Not a lie—it truly happened. No one who dealt a blow to the Human Trafficking Organization could survive.
No one at all.
Not if they were from the Murim Alliance, not if they were from Hwasan, not if they were from Gaebang.
Everyone who got involved failed to live past a year before they died.
Gaebang once had an entire branch turned into corpses.
Yet despite all that, of course they tried to track them down and capture them. Would Hwasan, Mudang, Gaebang, or the Murim Alliance simply sit idle after suffering such things?
These were not people who would sit and watch passively while their honor, their names, their history and traditions cracked.
But they couldn’t catch them, and they found no trace.
No.
There were certainly people who killed those who got involved. But they had no connection to the Human Trafficking Organization.
Not some supernatural trick.
Some died in pointless street brawls, some died while carrying out missions, some from sudden illness, some absurdly from snakebites, some from Qi Deviation, and some even from dog bites.
All of them martial artists. Even the masters were no exception.
Only deaths with clear reasons. Truly unavoidable deaths.
Deaths that came because it was Gangho, because they were Gangho, because they were martial artists who wielded swords.
And when the Baekdo Martial World thought they had to move together, Political Turmoil erupted.
Truly, as if by some cruel joke.
“It started then. That was three hundred years ago. In just the time I’ve lived, it’s been over a hundred years. It’s probably far older than that. So now everyone pretends not to see it, pretends not to hear it. Which is why, U-rin, this is truly…….”
Sa U-rin cut off Jang Chun’s words.
“Sir.”
Then Sa U-rin also couldn’t speak right away. A brief silence fell.
He understood.
He was beginning to grasp just how enormous and dangerous this matter was.
No.
The math didn’t add up. Hadn’t they said that even the entire Baekdo Martial World couldn’t resolve this?
Wasn’t it that the entire Baekdo Martial World wasn’t even permitted to try?
Truly, wasn’t it an absurd situation?
So how could ten people possibly resolve this matter?
Sa U-rin hesitated. To face something so immense right after joining the Murim Alliance…….
He could avoid it, could refuse to face it. Like everyone else, he could pretend not to see and pretend not to hear.
What good would it do when they were all dead?
But……, even so…….
Sa U-rin spoke again.
“Sir. And Captain. And brothers, seniors. Listen to me. Jong-cheol’s brother cherishes a woman who has been abducted. Because Jong-cheol’s brother cherishes her, she is my sister-in-law. She is someone who will become my family. We are family. Of course, you are all seniors, but Jong-cheol’s brother is someone like family to me.”
Jong-cheol comes forward urgently.
“U-rin. No. Even I can see this is wrong. So let’s just let it go this time. If you……, if something happens to you……, how are the rest of us supposed to live out our days? So it won’t work. Older brother, can’t you talk some sense into U-rin? Please?”
Older brother Jang Chun turns his head away. There’s no good way to handle this situation.
A frustrated Jong-cheol clings to Commander Jang Hye-in.
“Commander. Isn’t U-rin still under your command? Say something, please. Give an order. Please? What happens if we all die like this? I’m fine. What can I do about it? This is what living is. So please, please stop our U-rin from doing this.”
Jang Hye-in lowers his head.
Sa U-rin continues, his voice measured and steady.
“Senior. Like you said—this is what living means. Helping each other, supporting one another. When something’s lacking, we fill the gap together; when there’s excess, we trim it back. If we can’t save the woman you care for right now, you’ll lose her. That child will lose their only sibling. But I’m not dying today. Nothing catastrophic is happening this moment. With or without this job, my unit commander, and all of us—we never know when or where death will find us. Isn’t that the truth?”
The senior members respond to Sa U-rin’s words.
“He’s right.”
“Not a word of it’s wrong.”
“Family, he says. Family.”
“Put yourself in their shoes. If it were your family—your own blood—going through this, would you just sit still? Because the world’s built this way, do we have to be built the same?”
“Hell no. We should go crush those bastards right now!”
“That’s right!”
“Senior, don’t trouble yourself over it. We’re just doing what we need to do.”
“Besides, if U-rin’s family, then we’re practically kin to you too. Yeah—kin. Kin look after each other.”
“Well said!”
And so they all rallied behind Sa U-rin.
Perhaps that was why.
Just moments before, they’d all looked like corpses—but now, smiles were creeping across their faces, small and quiet.
Jang Hye-in, the unit commander, wasn’t idle either. He gave his youngest member’s shoulder a light tap—pat, pat—and spoke.
“Do what you need to do. Don’t worry about us.”
Then Jang Chun, sitting across from them, opened his mouth.
“Are you truly certain about this? This is no ordinary matter.”
“There’s no need to worry, Master. Truth is, we’re already dead because of this man—or might as well be…….”
The moment those words left his lips, he regretted them.
He shouldn’t have said “because of U-rin.” Without thinking, the concern he was trying to hide had just slipped out raw and unfiltered.
‘The unit commander…….’
‘Just made a mistake…….’
‘How did I make such a blunder…….’
Sa U-rin’s head turned toward Jang Hye-in.
“No, wait—what I meant was, you saved us. Isn’t that right? We lived because of you.”
True. They’d been brought back from the brink of death by Sa U-rin’s mother—the First Daughter of the Evil Sect.
True, but…….
‘Too late.’
‘Already too late.’
‘What does he do now…….’
‘Damn it.’
‘Carefully wrapped it all up, and still…….’
Sa U-rin opened his mouth.
“I see. I didn’t know that.”
“No, no—that’s not what I—come on, you all say something. Anything?”
The unit members, desperate to keep Jang Hye-in from drowning deeper in his own words, scattered their eyes away from his gaze.
Jang Hye-in grew frantic.
“You lot……. U-rin, I was trying to say…….”
“I didn’t know the unit commander thought that way. I’m disappointed.”
…….
Jang Hye-in had never heard the word “disappointed” come from Sa U-rin’s mouth before. In this moment, he felt something far worse than fear—something that cut deeper than fear itself.
Deeper than catching the Human Trafficking Organization ever could.

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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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