Chapter 3
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Two Guarantors
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The thief was nimble.
The way he slipped through the crowd showed he'd done this more than once or twice. And that footwork.
He wasn't an ordinary thief.
It was obvious he had learned martial arts. And he seemed quite skilled, especially in movement techniques.
Honestly, Ha Yuseong expected to lose him along the way. Because he himself had never learned any movement techniques.
Until now, his encounters with masters skilled in movement techniques had been limited to watching them from a distance in a daze.
‘Even the thieves near the Murim Alliance know martial arts.’
As expected of the Murim Alliance. Amazing!
And Ha Yuseong was keeping up with this incredible Murim Alliance thief just by running.
He could even run faster than he was now. With a little exaggeration, it felt like he could catch the thief right now if he just put his mind to it.
‘Maybe that thief just looks flashy on the outside, but is actually a third-rate warrior like me.’
Just pretending to know movement techniques, much like how he himself went around claiming to have learned the Three Talents Movement Technique, which was similar to the Three Talents Sword and Three Talents Fist.
His body getting younger seemed to have filled his head with stray thoughts.
Ha Yuseong decided he needed to hurry up, catch the thief, and return the money to the old woman.
Ha Yuseong's eyes scanned ahead, predicting the thief's path. Instantly, the most efficient route to his desired position formed in his mind.
This was the first time in his fifty years of life he had ever experienced such a thing, and it was by no means normal.
Step on a building.
Grab a rope hanging in the air to reach the opposite building.
Then leap between buildings, pushing off with his feet.
Spin in mid-air and land.
Though bewildered by the scene playing out in his head, Ha Yuseong took the first step.
There was no time to wonder whether he could do it or not.
The thief was still getting away, after all.
Ha Yuseong kicked off the ground and leaped toward the building.
Having never left the ground in his fifty years, Ha Yuseong felt the strange sensation of his body floating for the very first time.
To think a person could fly!
He wasn't actually flying, but in that moment, Ha Yuseong was like a bird, free from the pull of the earth's gravity.
Though it was his first time in the air, his changed body immediately found its balance and steadily proceeded to the next step.
Ha Yuseong grabbed a clothesline strung between buildings and swung his legs back and forth. The line bowed, and his body swung wildly with it.
Just as the tension in the line reached its peak.
Ha Yuseong instinctively knew he had to let go right now.
‘Now!’
*Fwip-!*
Ha Yuseong released his grip.
His body, now moving even faster, reached a building much farther than before.
He landed lightly on the building, then pushed off toward the one opposite. And he repeated the process. After a few more times, the thief came into view.
*Thump.*
Ha Yuseong pushed off the last building with all his might and flew through the air.
And though he hadn't intended it, he ended up landing right on the thief's back.
Struck unexpectedly in the back, the thief pitched forward and collapsed to the ground.
“Huh?”
The twitching from beneath him seemed far from normal.
Ha Yuseong took the money pouch from the thief and, to make sure he couldn't escape… though it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere, he took off his shirt just to be safe and tied the thief up.
After leaving the thief in one spot, he took the pouch and went back to the old woman.
“This is your money pouch, isn't it, ma'am?”
“It is! It is! Oh my! Young man! Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“Try not to get robbed next time. Keep it safe. You said it was precious.”
“I will, I will. I'll be sure to keep it tucked inside my clothes.”
After watching the old woman until she disappeared, Ha Yuseong returned to where the thief was.
The thief was still unconscious, but his face was pale, and he looked to be in worse shape than before.
“He's not going to die, is he?”
Ha Yuseong slung the thief over his shoulder and headed for the authorities' office.
***
It turned out the thief was a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head. Having received an unexpected reward, Ha Yuseong hurried back and got in at the very end of the line to apply for the Murim Alliance.
Before, he could at least see the front, but now he was so far back he couldn't see it at all.
Just as his turn was finally approaching, someone came out and shouted loudly.
“Applications are now closed. The rest of you, please go home!”
At this, those who had been waiting in line all this time voiced their complaints.
“We've waited five years to join the Murim Alliance! We don't know when we'll get another chance!”
“Silence!”
But the complaints died down as soon as a crushing pressure emanated from the man.
“If you wish to complain about the Alliance's proceedings, I'll gladly entertain it! The application period was plenty long. The ones who failed to seize the opportunity were not I, but you!”
And so, in the empty space where everyone had left.
Ha Yuseong, left standing alone, looked up at the Murim Alliance building and thought.
If he had ignored the old woman back then, would he have been able to apply to the Murim Alliance?
“I guess it can't be helped.”
It was a shame.
But it was his choice, and he didn't regret it.
Still, he caught a thief and got a reward, so he figured he should use it to buy himself something tasty to eat.
“What can't be helped?”
Just as he was trying to shake off his lingering attachment and turn back, a man caught the end of his words.
He looked to be about thirty years old. His eyes were glazed over, and the smell of alcohol wafted from him constantly.
Ha Yuseong could tell the man was drunk and rambling.
He considered ignoring him, but he was reminded of his old self and decided to humor him for a bit.
“Applying to the Murim Alliance.”
“The Murim Alliance, huh. A dream job everyone wants. That's what they all think. But you know, it only looks that way on the outside.”
“Only on the outside?”
Ha Yuseong tilted his head at the man's words.
The Murim Alliance? It's the greatest assembly of the orthodox faction. Disrespecting a place like that?
Ha Yuseong couldn't understand what the man was saying.
“I'm telling you. There's no place more corrupt. They give you so much work, but the pay is terrible. And the old geezers are so stuffy, it's frustrating enough to kill you. You still want to join the Murim Alliance? If you want, I can introduce you to a better place.”
It was obvious the man was bluffing.
Ha Yuseong spoke his true feelings.
“If it's not the Murim Alliance, I'm not interested.”
“Not interested?”
“That's right. The only place I've ever wanted to join was the Murim Alliance. Well, it's all over now, anyway.”
“Are you sure you want to walk into this hellhole of your own free will? Once you step inside, you might get trapped and never get out.”
“Even if that happens, it would be my choice. And isn't it better to regret doing something than to regret not doing it at all? You only live once, after all.”
“Hehehe. The kid talks just like one of the old-timers at the Alliance. Once time flows by, all that's left are memories and regrets. That's life!”
The man, drunk on alcohol and himself, shouted boisterously.
Everyone passing by glared at the man and ignored him.
He seemed to be a rather famous drunkard around here.
“Hey, you know what?”
There are two main ways to join the Murim Alliance.
One is the open application, by lining up like just now.
And the other is a special admission, by recommendation!
For reference, only those with a rank of 1st-class or higher in the Murim Alliance can make a recommendation.
“Let's see. It should be around here somewhere.”
The man rummaged through his robes.
“Not this.”
A woman's red undergarment came out.
“Not this either.”
A woman's white undergarment came out.
Ha Yuseong frowned slightly at the man's behavior.
“That's right! Here it is!”
A worn wooden token appeared from within the man's robes. The man handed it to Ha Yuseong.
“What is this?”
“I got it a long time ago and never used it. Just remembered it now, you know?”
“So, what is it?”
“Take this and show it to any of the Murim Alliance warriors. Well, I'm off.”
The man staggered away. Still walking like a drunk.
He was undoubtedly off to drink more.
With a 'nothing to lose' attitude, Ha Yuseong showed the wooden token to the Murim Alliance warrior standing guard at the gate.
“Excuse me, could you take a look at this?”
The warrior saw Ha Yuseong approaching him and instinctively felt that the inevitable had arrived once again this year.
‘An applicant who can't accept the result and has come to complain.’
Around this time, there were always two or three who couldn't accept their situation.
‘Tsk, tsk. They should have come earlier.’
The Murim Alliance starts accepting applications a month in advance.
Those who come at this time are lazy people who didn't prepare beforehand.
In the first place, these people weren't qualified to apply to the Murim Alliance, and even if they had, their chances of passing were close to none.
“Applications are closed. There are no exceptions. I believe I just said that?”
“R-Right. But…”
‘Figures. Words aren't getting through to him.’
In cases like this, he had to use force to make them understand. The warrior sighed inwardly and lightly gripped the hilt of his sword.
‘A few whacks with the scabbard should bring him to his senses.’
“Um, I was told to show you this.”
The warrior's hand, which had been moving toward the hilt, fell away.
And the warrior's eyes widened.
“H-How do you have this?”
The object that man was holding was something carried by figures so important that he, a mere gate guard of the Murim Alliance, wouldn't even dare to look at them.
And those who received such an item were also beings he couldn't dare to look at.
The scions of the Five Great Families.
The disciples of the Nine Sects One Union.
Or the disciples of renowned and eccentric masters.
What that man was holding was a recommendation token, carried only by 1st-class martial officials of the Murim Alliance or higher.
The warrior's tone changed, becoming polite.
“Excuse me, who might you be?”
Hearing the warrior's words, Ha Yuseong let out a sigh of relief.
The warrior's attitude had changed the moment he showed him the token.
‘So that drunkard was telling the truth.’
“I am Ha Yuseong.”
“Hmm? I don't believe I've heard that name. May I ask your sect?”
“I don't have one.”
“Ah! Then, who is your master?”
The warrior remembered that there were sects passed down to a single successor, or those that operated with only a few members.
“I don't have a master, either.”
“What?”
“Then, did you perhaps enter a cave and find a fortuitous encounter?”
“No, not that either.”
“Then, who gave you this recommendation token?”
“I'm sorry, but I don't know his name. He just gave it to me and left.”
“Hmm. The recommendation token has been verified. Please write down a guarantor.”
“A guarantor?”
“Yes. We can't just let someone into the Murim Alliance who doesn't know their sect or master. This is standard procedure, so you must comply.”
This put Ha Yuseong in a difficult position.
Though he had knocked around the martial world for over thirty years, he didn't really have anyone who could vouch for him.
If there was anyone, it would be his one and only remaining friend.
“Um, would a third-rate warrior be acceptable?”
“Anyone is fine, as long as their identity can be verified.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Next to his own name, Ha Yuseong wrote ‘Ronin Myeongwon’.
“I'm sorry. I don't know his title.”
“We will verify the guarantor. If you go inside, a warrior there will guide you.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Ha Yuseong's heart pounded as he set foot in the Murim Alliance for the very first time in his life.
‘I can't believe I'm actually at the Murim Alliance!’
Meanwhile, the warrior looked at the name written on the application and tilted his head in disbelief.
A ronin who uses the name Myeongwon.
A 3rd-class warrior of the Murim Alliance would know a fair amount about the affairs of the martial world.
This was because in the course of handling Alliance business, one would inevitably get involved in various matters and learn about the inner workings of things, whether they wanted to or not.
“Nah, it couldn't be.”
The moment he saw the name ‘Ronin Myeongwon’, one person came to mind.
Someone on par with the Alliance Leader, one of the Ten Grandmasters of the World.
The Ronin King, Myeongwon.
“No way. Haha! Quitting time is calling my name!”
Because if the man who just went in had a connection to the Ronin King, he wouldn't be taking this kind of entrance test; he would have been admitted immediately.