I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 87

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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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Pointlessly Entering the Murim Alliance – Episode 87
At Jang Ryeo’s sudden, unexpected words, Jang Hye-in and the squad members’ eyes widened, blood vessels bursting as their faces flushed crimson.
And that wasn’t all.
Jegal Su-yeon and Bi-ryeong were equally flabbergasted.
‘……What in the…….’
‘……This came out of nowhere…….’
Jang Hye-in and the squad members’ minds went white-hot with panic.
Perhaps…….
They’d imagined, maybe, that a day like this could come…….
But they never thought it actually would. Not like this. Not so suddenly, so abruptly.
Yet why had she suddenly ordered them to be killed?
The not-knowing was driving them mad.
No.
They were terrified enough to die.
‘……Could it be…….’
‘……Casting away the ladder after climbing?’
Hadn’t the youngest, Sa U-rin, just said he would live as a man of the Jang Family Clan?
‘……So…….’
‘……We’re no longer needed?’
Jang Hye-in, the deputy commander, tried studying Jang Ryeo’s eyes, hoping he’d read something there.
‘I can’t tell…….’
No, there was no way to know.
How could someone like Jang Hye-in possibly divine anything by looking into the eyes of Jang Ryeo the witch?
But one thing was certain…….
‘She’s not joking…….’
It didn’t sound like something thrown out in jest.
So Jang Hye-in turned to Sa U-rin with pitiful eyes.
Sure enough, Sa U-rin steps forward himself.
“Mother, what are you suddenly saying? Kill them? They’re my comrades.”
“Do you think I’m saying this because I don’t know that?”
Wasn’t that exactly what she meant?
“Knowing that I’d stand against you, why would you say this?”
“Stand against me? I’m telling Chu-yeop to see them trained, that’s all.”
“……Pardon? Training?”
Only then did relieved sighs escape from everyone’s lips.
‘Damn.’
‘I really thought we were dead.’
‘But training? Why would she say kill if it’s just training?’
“Yes, training. These people are too weak. From now on, while they’re Sa U-rin’s comrades, they’ll also be mine once I sit in the Murim Alliance leader’s seat. I don’t have trustworthy people in the Murim Alliance, you see. These are the only ones I can trust, and I can’t have them being this pathetic, can I?”
“Ah.”
Now Sa U-rin’s head nods in understanding. So do Jegal Su-yeon’s and Bi-ryeong’s.
“But why did you tell Chu-yeop to kill us?”
“Chu-yeop has become that strong.”
“Sir?”
There was no one in Gangho who’d heard of someone becoming stronger after death. There shouldn’t have been.
For the dead cannot grow in strength.
“You must have heard tales of those who achieve Enlightenment at the moment before death.”
“Yes, I have. But aren’t those just tales? Greatly exaggerated ones at that.”
“Of course, most of them are. But truly, such people do exist. On the brink of death, the human mind accelerates endlessly. All your past rushes before you in an instant, and every regret, every sorrow and pain, every happy moment and beautiful day — though fleeting — you feel them spread through your entire body, slowly, acutely. And in that moment, Enlightenment comes.”
“But if they die anyway, what’s the use?”
“That’s true. But some don’t die at all. Some live through it. Maybe because of their Enlightenment, maybe because of fate itself. Like this woman here.”
Jang Ryeo had danced along the Line of Death since Sa U-rin’s age.
Her siblings and older brother had tried to kill her over a Head of Dang Family position she didn’t even care about. Each time, Jang Ryeo survived, struggling and clawing her way through.
And then she understood.
That one could grow stronger at the Line of Death.
So she provoked her older brother and siblings further. And so all her siblings died. Her older brother survived that battle and took the Head of Dang Family seat.
Of course, things are different now.
Partly because her younger sister Jang Ryeo had become too strong, but also because he now knows that his younger sister Jang Ryeo is a madwoman who actually enjoys such things.
And also because he now acknowledges that it is his younger sister Jang Ryeo who makes the Jang Family Clan strong, unified, and unshakeable.
And that’s not even all.
The witch Jang Ryeo had crossed countless lines of death even within Gangho. Once her talent became known, the seven great sects of Sa Pa would not leave her alone.
There was even a time when she truly died—or rather, when her breath stopped, if only for a moment. And as Jang Ryeo herself had said, enlightenment came to her then.
That was how Jang Ryeo knew.
She trusted her own experience.
“……I see.”
Sa U-rin had not known this.
His mother, the witch Jang Ryeo, had always seemed strong, as though she had never faced such dangers.
And that was why she seemed so bright.
At least to Sa U-rin’s eyes.
Anyone who overheard his thoughts would surely call him mad, but to Sa U-rin, his mother appeared genuinely luminous and clear-eyed.
Doesn’t the saying go that people see only what they wish to see?
Doesn’t it?
Or is the arm bent inward?
In any case.
“So you must kill them. Well, you cannot truly kill them, of course. It is the quickest path to strength, but the probability of actually dying would reach nine in ten, so that cannot be done. Instead, train each day as though you were already dead.”
“……Can one truly train to such an extent?”
Rather, can one even feel dead while training? That was what troubled him.
“Train until you genuinely believe you are dying—no, until you are certain you have died. Chu-yeop has endured it, so he knows well.”
At that, Chu-yeop, who had been listening, scratched his head and laughed like a fool.
“Heh-heh-heh. That’s how it was. Truth be told, the first few times I didn’t even realize I was dead. Only after opening my eyes did I think, ‘Ah, so this is the afterlife.’ But it wasn’t the afterlife—it was this world. So I wished I were dead instead. Every single day. There was no hell quite like it.”
Jang Hye-in and the battalion members, who had been listening, doubted their own ears.
‘……We have to do that?’
‘……So we have to…?!’
‘Die every day……?’
‘Mad!’
‘……Could we actually die doing this?’
Who could say.
One thing was certain: the world did not bend to one’s wishes.
And worst of all…….
‘……That fool of a commander…….’
‘……What if he makes a mistake…….’
Could he not?
He was the neighborhood fool, after all.
He was always stumbling about in his stupidity.
‘……He could really die…….’
‘Please, U-rin…….’
‘Get us out of this hell, will you?’
‘Please…….’
The desperate looks in Jang Hye-in’s and the battalion members’ eyes reached Sa U-rin.
But Sa U-rin had no mind to pay them attention just then.
For fire had fallen upon his own feet as well.
“……Could it be that Mother guaranteed just now that she could make me champion of the Azure Dragon Martial Arts Tournament by……?”
By means of this absurd, ridiculous method?
“Yes. I will train you myself.”
“……Mother?”
Surely you mean to kill your son?
“It’s useless.”
“Ah…….”
He understood.
How could he not?
Sa U-rin knew well enough that one grew truly strong by crossing the line of death again and again.
Was that not why he himself refused to spar whenever he saw a stronger opponent?
But when his mother spoke the word “kill,” it seemed as though she truly meant it, and somehow this filled him with dread.
“Is this not the path you desired? Then why must Chul-gang submit to that man’s will? Tsk, tsk. It is not too late even now. Abandon everything and simply end your days in the Jang Family Clan—how would that be?”
“……No. It is no longer my father’s will—it is mine now. It is the path I walk.”
“Stubborn.”
And yet his son looked admirable to her. It meant he was prepared to endure any hardship.
And so she felt proud of him.
Should not the son of Jang Ryeo, the supreme witch of Sa Pa, be thus?
Ah.
Soon enough, she’d become the Witch Jang Ryeo, supreme master of the Righteous Faction.
The Witch’s gaze shifted toward Jegal Su-yeon.
“Su-yeon.”
“……Yes?”
“Can you remove these people from the Murim Alliance for a while?”
‘Please, strategist!’
‘Tell her no!’
‘Please, I’m begging you!’
“……For how long?”
“Until I come back from Guizhou.”
“So in other words, how——”
“Why do you have to be so thick-headed about everything? Until I come back, I said.”
Which meant: come when she pleased, go when she pleased.
In other words, simply keep them removed indefinitely.
“……Yes, I understand.”
‘……Damn it.’
‘……There’s no way out now…….’
‘……I’m really going to die like this.’
‘Die…….’
‘How did I even survive this long…….’
‘Ever since U-rin got tangled up with her…….’
‘Death keeps walking beside me like an old friend.’
‘Damn it all.’
“U-rin, let’s set out now.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Then the former Murim Alliance leader Hyun-wi, who had been silent until now, spoke.
“What about me, then?”
The Witch Jang Ryeo answered.
“What about you?”
“What should I do?”
“You should train.”
“……Training, you say?”
A former Murim Alliance leader, the greatest master here besides the Witch—or rather, among the top ten masters in the entire Righteous Faction.
And she wanted such an absolute master to train?
“Not that kind of training, you fool.”
“……That word is a bit…….”
“So what? What’s your problem? Hmm?”
“……Nothing, ma’am.”
“See? That’s exactly why you need to train.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“With such a feeble spirit, what exactly do you think you’ll accomplish? Staying here with that kind of resolve won’t help us—won’t help U-rin accomplish what he’s meant to do.”
“But surely I still…….”
“You still what?”
It would be tactless to speak plainly before everyone here, but the former Murim Alliance leader Hyun-wi truly was a pathetic man.
For all his mastery of the Absolute Realm, he couldn’t even control his own meager spirit as he willed.
Wasn’t that the height of absurdity?
An absolute master who had once contemplated taking his own life.
She truly couldn’t fathom how such a shallow soul had ever reached the Absolute Realm.
“……No, please. Finish what you were saying.”
He wanted to hear what the supreme master of Sa Pa had to say.
Who knew?
Perhaps she could shatter the wall that currently blocked him.
“What I mean by training is that you stay here and help Chu-yeop truly kill them. They need to die. Actually die.”
At the Witch’s words, Jang Hye-in and his subordinates’ faces twisted in anguish.
‘No…….’
‘Why does she keep telling him to kill us?’
‘Why is she so desperate for us to be dead?’
‘This is maddening!’
“……Is that truly what you mean? How could——”
“Listen, listen. That’s what I’ve been saying. You can’t kill them without reason.”
“Well, that’s only natural, isn’t it? They’ve done nothing wrong…….”
“No. You really do have to kill them. That’s the only way you can change. If you can carve that resolve into your body, into your bones, into your very heart, then you’ll become something entirely different from what you are now. Remember my words well. You must kill them. Do you understand?”
“But…….”
“Learn by watching Chu-yeop. I’m not talking about learning martial arts. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
If he didn’t, then dying here would be the kindest thing he could do for everyone.
“……I understand.”
“Sa U-rin, let’s go.”
“Yes, Mother.”
And so the witch Jang Ryeo and her son Sa U-rin departed from the Jang Estate.
“Phew.”
“Sigh.”
Sighs erupted from all corners.
Hyeong-jun turned to Chu-yeop.
“You’re not really going to kill us, are you? Right?”
“Didn’t you hear the master’s orders? I have to kill you.”
“……No, I mean—it’s just training, isn’t it? Just training.”
“No. I’m really going to kill you.”
Chu-yeop spoke without a hint of doubt. He meant it.
“What the…….”
Then Jang Hye-in, the one Chu-yeop usually showed the most interest in, stepped forward.
“Then, you’ll take it easy on me, won’t you?”
The followers objected at once.
“Whoa.”
“Vice-commander?”
“You’re going to survive alone?”
“Don’t worry. You won’t die either.”
“But you just said you’d kill us.”
“Then at least I have to survive, don’t I?”
So Chu-yeop replied.
“Because you’re pretty, I’ll kill you first.”
“……?”
Did that even make sense?
Because he’s pretty, kill him first?
Is being beautiful a crime? What? What!

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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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