I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 62

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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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Rather carelessly venturing into the Murim Alliance — Episode 062
The moment the Muyonggeom tasted Sa U-rin’s Honwon, it began drawing it in with frenzied hunger.
‘……What is this?’
Sa U-rin was flustered. Surely it had never done this back at the Gwicheon-gak.
Against Sa U-rin’s will, a violent gale tore through his Dantian. He couldn’t control it at all.
As the tempest raged through Sa U-rin’s Dantian, the force began spreading outward through the lodging.
The furnishings inside the room were hurled about the air in chaotic spirals.
And so Jang Hye-in and the other members found themselves panicking as well.
“……U, U-rin.”
“……W-why are you……?”
“……H-hey……. C-calm down.”
Sa U-rin said nothing. He couldn’t fathom how to respond to this situation. That was why his lips remained sealed.
Beads of sweat rolled down Sa U-rin’s forehead. Jang Hye-in and the others were witnessing this side of him for the first time.
‘This isn’t like him at all……’
That’s right.
Sa U-rin was not the type to panic like this. He was the youngest of them — the one who never wavered even in the face of death, wasn’t he?
Yet here he was now, sweating profusely and stammering helplessly.
Sa U-rin tried to release his grip on the Muyonggeom, but found he couldn’t. The sword would not let him go.
‘……This won’t do.’
Remarkably, Sa U-rin recovered his composure. For a moment there, he’d been startled by something he never could have anticipated—and that embarrassed him.
In that instant, he became certain.
The Muyonggeom was indeed a sword bound to Honwon cultivation, just as his father had said.
That was why it was drawing his Honwon in so relentlessly.
‘All right. I understand.’
If that’s what it wants——
then let it have everything, until the Dantian is empty. The Dantian can always be replenished afterward.
‘……Yes.’
What is emptied can be filled again.
How had he not understood this simple truth until now?
The moment he made this resolve, Sa U-rin’s Dantian stabilized. Yet he had no intention of stopping.
‘Take it all.’
He began pouring every scrap of Honwon he possessed into the Muyonggeom.
Whooooom!
Though the quantity of Honwon wasn’t vast, releasing it all at once caused the entire lodging to shudder violently.
The furnishings that had been whirling about inside the room crashed hard against the ceiling and walls, then tumbled down to the floor in a heap.
“……H-hey.”
“……This isn’t going to end badly, is it?”
“……S-surely not…….”
“……U-rin…….”
Please.
Jang Hye-in and the others desperately hoped nothing would go wrong.
Moments later, the turbulent energy inside the lodging began to settle. And Sa U-rin’s face indeed returned to its usual calm.
“……Is it…… done?”
“……Is it…… over now?”
Then it happened.
Just when they thought everything had ended, a tremendous force surged through the lodging like a great wave lifting and dropping the entire structure.
Uuuuuum!
The Honwon that had flowed into the Muyonggeom came rushing back into Sa U-rin’s body and into his Dantian with violent intensity.
The scattered furnishings on the floor began thrashing about wildly once more.
“……I’m losing my mind, really…….”
“……This is really going to go wrong, isn’t it?”
“……You bastards. You want to talk like that?!”
“……No…… we’re just worried.”
“Captain. Is there anything we can do?”
“No. Right now, all we can do is watch.”
If they rushed in trying to help, they’d all end up crippled together.
The turbulent force that had been shaking the lodging suddenly ceased with a sharp stop.
Jang Hye-in and the others fixed their attention on Sa U-rin.
Sa U-rin’s face appeared remarkably serene. In fact, how could one put it?
He seemed to shine with a brighter light.
“…Look at that.”
Light flashed from Sa U-rin’s eyes as if his gaze itself had blazed alight. And in that instant, it truly did—a brilliant flash.
“…Wow…”
“…What just happened?”
“…It seems better?”
“…Definitely…”
That wretched man.
Just moments ago, I’d been so worried…
But now it’s even better.
My stomach aches again for no reason.
And so Jang Hye-in asked.
“How is it?”
Sa U-rin’s gaze turned toward Jang Hye-in.
‘…What…?’
He seemed even more handsome now. Enough to make the heart race.
“I’m fine.”
Fine didn’t begin to cover it. His Dantian had expanded. And the total amount of his Honwon had increased as well.
His Neigong had grown.
Simply put, it was as if he’d taken an elixir—what he’d thought a curse moments before had turned out to be a blessing.
“Yes, you do look better. But still—you’re really not going to be able to draw that sword?”
He’d gone through all that fuss, and yet the blade remained sheathed exactly as before.
“No. I can draw it now.”
This time, he felt certain he truly could.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then draw it. I’m dying to see it.”
What kind of sword was it, to have caused all this commotion?
Sa U-rin held his certainty, though tension coiled beneath the surface. Of course, none of it showed on his face.
Sa U-rin brought his hand once more to the Geompa—the sword’s grip. This time, he didn’t pour his Honwon into it as before. After all, he’d already given all his Honwon to the Muyonggeom, only to have it return to him untouched.
That was why.
Now there was no need to channel Honwon into the Muyonggeom at all.
Sa U-rin carefully drew the Muyonggeom from its sheath.
Slide, slide. Slide.
It comes free!
Jang Hye-in and his men’s eyes went wide as saucers.
‘…That, that’s…’
‘…It’s coming out?’
‘The old man…wasn’t lying…’
Why would one joke about a blade kept in Gwicheon-gak?
In any case, the Muyonggeom was being drawn now.
Shling!
The Muyonggeom, drawn at last, revealed itself fully.
“…Whoa.”
“…What is that?”
Swords, by nature, shine silver. They are forged from iron, melted and hammered into shape.
Even if that iron is ten-thousand-year steel.
But the Muyonggeom was entirely black. There were those who wielded blades mixed with black steel, to be sure.
Those fond of vanity sometimes used black steel, since black steel was not merely ornamental. Its strength exceeded ordinary steel by a considerable margin.
By a great deal, actually.
Naturally it fell short of ten-thousand-year steel. Yet even so, it could be counted among the rarest treasures, comparable to ten-thousand-year steel itself.
In any event.
Was it inevitable, then?
The Muyonggeom, as if boasting of its beauty crafted from black steel, did not look like a sword at all.
In form, it was a blade.
But the entire surface was covered in incomprehensible, strange characters tangled together, was it not?
Because of this, the blade face appeared riddled with countless tiny holes. The sharp edge, where it should have been keen, was forged of gold instead.
And yes.
“…That’s magnificent…”
“…Incredible…”
But surely magnificence should know its limits?
A good blade is still a blade—at its core, a tool for killing. Yet he couldn’t help but wonder if all this ornamentation was truly necessary.
“They’re alike… aren’t they?”
The owner of the Muyonggeom, Sa U-rin, was hardly lacking in face either.
“They are.”
“Like meets like.”
“…It’s exasperating.”
And Seo U-chan noticed something none of them had caught until now.
“Look at this.”
Seo U-chan’s finger pointed toward the Muyonggeom’s scabbard. All eyes followed.
“…Wait?”
“…Wasn’t it different before?”
“…I think it was.”
The scabbard, which had certainly borne a dark lacquer finish, held nothing unusual—so plain, in fact, that it had repelled the eye.
Certainly.
Yet now, etched into the scabbard, were strange characters glowing with a faint golden hue.
Absurdly so.
“That’s really strange.”
“Is that even possible?”
Hyeong-jun spoke up.
“It’s strange, yes, but what strikes me more is the blade itself. Can this even be called a proper sword?”
It was a blade riddled with holes.
A blade that should pierce cleanly through an enemy’s body, yet was perforated throughout.
The real concern was whether such a blade, full of gaps, could withstand the full force of an opponent’s strike head-on. The worry was enough to give pause.
“That’s true enough.”
“It looks more like decoration…”
“Though I don’t think that’s it…”
Judging by what had happened in the lodging, this was no ordinary blade.
No.
It wasn’t merely an ordinary blade—it was something utterly mysterious and strange.
So to understand this mysterious blade, he reached out to touch it.
But then—
“Ah! What the—”
Hyeong-jun’s hand was cut sharply. Just barely. Yet blood flowed.
“I didn’t… I didn’t even touch it.”
Hyeong-jun’s hand had been cut when it was still half a chi away from the Muyonggeom.
“…Yes. I saw it.”
“This is driving me mad.”
Struck by the sheer strangeness of it, Seo U-chan also reached toward the Muyonggeom.
As expected—
“Damn. It’s real…”
Seo U-chan’s hand too was cut at half a chi’s distance.
“What is this?”
It appeared to be dark iron at first glance, but clearly it was not. Strange as it sounded, there was plenty of reason to suspect that this blade was forged from something that did not exist in this world, in this Gangho.
Was it not?
Cut without contact—the stuff of novels and dreams, no?
Most striking were those mysterious, mind-bending characters or patterns that seemed to envelop the entire blade—their true nature unclear.
They seemed almost to speak of something, to convey meaning.
“Does any of this make sense?”
It didn’t.
And yet it was happening before their eyes. So yes, it was utterly bewildering.
Though one might say Sa U-rin was not a person, the fact remained he was a person of sorts, and so the Muyonggeom fascinated him beyond measure.
Jang Hye-in, who had watched in wonder until now, spoke.
“U-rin, you try touching it.”
“Very well.”
He had been about to do so anyway, for the mystery consumed him—a blade that cut flesh without the blade itself making contact, drawing blood from mere proximity.
Sa U-rin reached boldly toward the Muyonggeom.
“…Damn.”
“What happened?”
“Why isn’t U-rin hurt?”
“Because he’s the blade’s master?”
Jang Hye-in shook his head with confident amusement and spoke.
“No. It’s because I’m good-looking.”
……Insane!
The team members were left speechless, their tongues hanging out in disbelief.
Though Jang Hye-in had thrown out his words in jest, there was one thing that troubled him.
“U-rin.”
“Yes?”
“That sword……. It seems like it shouldn’t be drawn just any time.”
First, it was far too conspicuous. The deep ink-black color made it stand out, and the sword’s unusual characters and ornamental patterns, not to mention the blade edged in gold, drew all the more attention.
In short, it was impossibly eye-catching. It was as good as announcing to the world, “I’m carrying a Boseom.” No better than that at all.
If that happened, word would spread, and people driven by curiosity would flock to see it, and once the rumor was confirmed as fact, they would begin throwing away their lives to seize the Boseom.
“Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It seems we should only draw it in truly dangerous moments.”
Only when everyone who laid eyes on the Muyonggeom was either dispensable, or death had already come knocking at the door.
“Thank goodness.”
At least he wasn’t being stubborn about it this time.
“I just now named this Muyonggeom. I’ve given it a Geommyeong.”
“What did you name it?”
“The Jade-Faced Flame Dragon Sword.”
“……The Jade-Faced Flame Dragon Sword?”
The blade didn’t spout fire, nor did it burn like a living flame, nor was it even red like fire, and yet the Jade-Faced Flame Dragon Sword?
“My alias is Jade-Faced Flame Dragon, you see. That’s why.”
“…….”
……He’s absolutely ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
He could have at least called it the Jade-Faced Sword!
“But……I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before?”
“Where?”
I don’t know.
I have no memory of it, but it’s definitely a Geommyeong I’ve heard many times somewhere.
* * *
Two months had passed.
In that time, Jang Hye-in and his team members thrashed about. They struggled to survive.
It had been the same in Sunyeong District, but they poured themselves into training, even sparing sleep.
No—they threw both body and soul into it.
Come on!
Either you die or I do—let’s see which it’ll be!
If you can kill me, then try!
They screamed things like this.
……As if they weren’t madmen already.
No, by now they genuinely looked like madmen.
Because of this, the Murim Alliance members kept their distance. Yet those who had no choice but to stay close to these madmen were dying under their hands. Specifically, the subordinates under Jang Hye-in’s command. The eleventh squad’s vacant positions had now been filled, bringing the total to a hundred men.
Jang Hye-in’s hundred subordinates endured training so brutal they felt as though they’d cough up blood every day, unable to match the drive of these lunatics.
To the point where they wished they could abandon the Murim Alliance entirely and simply run away.
In fact, fifteen had already fled. But this time, the vacancies remained unfilled. Everyone refused to join as a subordinate under Jang Hye-in.
So the current strength stood at eighty-five.
Yet Jang Hye-in paid it no mind. Death was already at his doorstep—this was no time to worry over such things.
Perhaps driven mad by his own frenzy, he received a summons from the newly appointed patrol commander and made his way to his own chamber.
A short while later, he returned with a withered face and stood before his nine core team members.
“……It’s come.”
The faces of all the members except Sa U-rin darkened as well.
“……So it’s finally come.”
There was no way to know for certain, but they could sense it instinctively. An invisible hand had finally moved, unseen.

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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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