The Martial Tournament (1): What is the Murim One Hundred and Eight?
The master. When it comes to what the Murim One Hundred and Eight is, of course I had heard of it before. There are four sources people use when ranking the One Hundred Great Masters. The oldest and most entertaining is the Murim One Hundred Great Masters from the Taijung Inn, but the orthodox sects and their circles use the Murim One Hundred Excellents for the sake of appearances. The government avoids uncomfortable names and instead selects the Murim One Hundred Figures. Even so, everyone agrees that the most trustworthy list is Jipmudang’s Murim One Hundred and Eight.
There was no need to explain how highly people regarded the One Hundred Great Masters. Even though it was merely a ranking of a little over a hundred names, those called the One Hundred Great Masters were treated as warriors on an entirely different level from the Peak masters or near-Peak masters found in most sects. They were seen as the true pillars who led the murim. It was only natural, then, that the Murim One Hundred and Eight enjoyed such fame that people remembered Jipmudang because of the list rather than the other way around.
I had not given it much thought until now, since I had long stopped worrying about money. Yet for Jipmudang to sustain its daily expenses—rare medicinal herbs, labor costs, and more—it was essential to maintain that reputation and convert it into usable resources. I found myself quite fond of this place. I had grown close to Gyeon Yo and the other members of Jipmudang, and since I intended to keep my position as Jeje for the long term, this was no longer someone else’s concern.
When I asked Gyeon Yo, who had been chatting with the other Jeje, whether there was anything I could help with, she thought for a moment before leading me to the archives and handing me a book.
“It is last year’s Murim One Hundred and Eight. Rather than hearing about it, I thought you might prefer to read it yourself.”
I let out an admiring sound. Of course, seeing a proper book with one’s own eyes was far better than hearing about it a hundred times. Still, there had been a reason I had not immediately asked for it.
I ran my thumb along the spine, gauging its thickness.
“It is quite hefty. I suppose it does not contain only the names of one hundred and eight people.”
“No. If it were merely a list, there would be endless complaints, and more importantly, it would not sell. A list is made public, but the official publication takes this book form.”
Hearing the name “One Hundred and Eight” naturally made one imagine a simple roster of names. Yet it was obvious that a bare list anyone could copy or recite would never turn a profit.
I nodded. “That makes sense. So our task is to write this book?”
“We begin by gathering and organizing the materials. The actual writing starts only after we have finalized the one hundred and eight names.”
“I see. Are earlier editions kept here as well?”
“They are, but there is no need to read them. The format of the articles is nearly identical. The essential information is already recorded in previous editions, and any new developments this year will be reviewed during the material compilation.”
“Understood… hm?”
While answering Gyeon Yo, my eyes scanned the table of contents of past editions, and something immediately caught my attention.
“The Martial King?”
“Pardon?”
I turned to Gyeon Yo and pointed at one corner of the contents. She glanced at the name and answered at once.
“Ah, that must be an official submission copy.”
“Official submission copy?”
“Yes. Because the book is so popular, most government offices and influential individuals reserve copies in advance, so they receive them directly before the archives release their stock. Among those, copies destined for government offices or related circles are printed separately with certain modifications. Those are called official submission copies.”
Indeed, upon closer inspection, it was not only the Martial Emperor who had become the Martial King; the Blade Emperor had also been changed to the Blade Venerable. It was rather amusing. Was it simply a matter of removing the characters for emperor and sovereign? The Seven Great Clans already had six kings among them. With these alterations, the murim now had seven kings, and of the Eight Lords, five remained lords after excluding the three who used the character for tyrant.
“The emperor is too inconvenient, yet kings and lords are acceptable. In the end, none of them actually hold official titles.”
“Are there not nearly ten kings when you combine princes and kings across the realm? Adding the kings of the vassal states would only increase the number further. A few more would hardly matter. But if there were two emperors, that would be an entirely different problem.”
She had a point. Ultimately, titles such as king, duke, marquis, or count were matters of etiquette. Just as one might overlook a barbarian chieftain, if the murim’s self-proclaimed kings and counts caused no real trouble, their ignorance of proper etiquette and differing customs could be generously overlooked. The title of emperor, however, was not a question of etiquette but of law. The Central Plains could have only one emperor and one imperial dynasty; that was the sole and absolute order. It was understandable that documents addressing anyone other than the emperor with imperial or sovereign characters could not be accepted by the authorities.
Of course, everyone knew they continued to call one another Martial Emperor or Blade Emperor among themselves, yet the authorities pretended not to notice and refused to accept such documents. Still, the ambiguous pretense was not difficult to understand, nor did it feel unpleasant. They said that emphasizing authority and dignity was a sign of a precarious state. By that logic, this lenient and ambiguous approach might instead prove that the world was reasonably at ease.
“Besides, even if the Wang or Gongsun clans do not actually hold royal or ducal titles, they live quite well. I have never seen a family using the surnames Hwang or Je.”
“Even if there were, the registrar would have changed it to Wang on the household register, would they not?”
It was Gyeon Yo’s own brand of joke. I chuckled and was about to reply when the door suddenly opened.
It was the Jipmususa.
“So you were here. I have been looking for you for quite some time.”
My gaze naturally turned to Gyeon Yo. I was a Jeje, but I had never participated in previous compilations and had only just learned what the work entailed. If this was about official business, it was surely Gyeon Yo he wanted.
She seemed to think the same, for she answered at once.
“What is the matter?”
“Hm? Ah, not you, Gyeon Yo… ahem. Jeje Yu, I was looking for you. Would you come to my office for a moment?”
* * *
“It has been a while. I am glad to see you. Have you been well?”
I nearly slammed the door shut again, but held back with a sigh and asked instead.
“What brings you here, Yeopgeum Jo?”
Even after raising my head to look again, the miracle of Jo Jae-ui transforming into someone else while seated at the table blowing on his hot tea did not occur. After finally managing a sip, Jo Jae-ui frowned and set the cup down.
“Ugh, I still cannot appreciate the taste of tea. Well, as for why I am here, I mentioned it before I came, did I not? The Geumjeong Book Club and Jipmudang maintain a close partnership. There are always plenty of reasons to visit.”
Now that he mentioned it, he had said something of the sort. Jo Jae-ui might be a martial arts fanatic, but above all he was a capable merchant. Cooperating with Jipmudang would not be a losing proposition for him. Considering that Jipmudang was about to undertake its largest annual project, his presence here was hardly strange.
Still, why had I been summoned to this meeting?
Money matters and Jo Jae-ui himself were both somewhat awkward subjects for me. When I turned a questioning look toward the Jipmususa, he cleared his throat.
“Ahem. The relationship between you two seems a little different from what I had imagined. Since Yeopgeum Jo brought a letter of introduction when he first arrived, I assumed you were close.”
“No. You saw correctly. I and Author Yu have even shared meals together…”
“So you called me here just to see my face? In that case, now that you have seen it, I will be on my way.”
“Of course not. I am a busy man as well. Especially with the scale of the current project, every moment is precious these days.”
“Then get to the point. Why do you need me?”
“That is not so easily explained in a single sentence. Please hear me out calmly. Have you ever suffered a loss by listening to me? I heard you decided to work here officially after taking a liking to Jipmudang. You remember that you first came here through my introduction, yes? A truly excellent merchant, like myself, understands needs that even the client does not yet realize.”
Jo Jae-ui smiled and wagged his index finger. Well, it was not entirely wrong. Much as I hated to admit it, it was true that Jipmudang had grown on me. Still, that did not mean I had nothing to say in return.
“I would rather live without knowing whatever needs you think I have, Yeopgeum Jo.”
“Haha, what an amusing joke.”
“Does it sound like a joke? Ask the people around you sometime.”
“I will, when I have the time. In any case, since you seem busy as well, Author Yu, I will keep it brief. Do you know how materials are gathered when selecting the Murim One Hundred and Eight?”
The day I had time to listen to Jo Jae-ui until he ran out of breath would probably never come. Yet no matter what others said about him, the chance of Jo Jae-ui reforming was vanishingly small. I had no desire to waste my energy searching for that possibility either, so instead of pressing further, I simply went along with the change of topic.
“…I have heard that they collect stories people tell.”
“Quantitatively, that is the main source. But it is clearly not enough on its own. If someone were ranked among the Murim One Hundred and Eight based solely on hearsay, how many people would be dissatisfied at being pushed out?”
“Hearsay alone would indeed be inaccurate. Still, anything beyond that requires direct observation, and we cannot simply wait around watching masters fight.”
“Is there any need to wait? Every year around this time, the Jipmususa uses his funds and connections to arrange sparring matches between the One Hundred Great Masters or their candidates.”
“Every year? For decades now?”
“Yes. Ever since the Murim One Hundred and Eight selection began.”
I felt a renewed sense of the Jipmususa’s sincerity. Of course, given the popularity of the Murim One Hundred and Eight, the revenue would far exceed the cost of inviting two masters. Yet from another perspective, it was money that could have been saved by simply deciding the rankings arbitrarily. Moreover, had Jipmudang been this grand from the beginning? Both Jipmudang and the Murim One Hundred and Eight had been the Jipmususa’s own initiatives. Before they became famous, there must have been many years when profits were slim or the project even ran at a loss. Now Jipmudang earned both wealth and prestige, but the Jipmususa had started this work not for money or influence, but out of a genuine desire to study the martial arts. The same was true of the Murim One Hundred and Eight. That was surely why it had surpassed the older Murim One Hundred Great Masters and Murim One Hundred Excellents to become the most trusted list.
The Jipmususa met my eyes and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. In any case, sparring matches between masters of that caliber provide valuable material for other research as well. There is no harm in observing them.”
I nodded in agreement. Indeed, martial arts were a field of study. And the desire for knowledge was the greatest driving force behind scholarship, was it not?
“You are right. So there are already matches prepared for this year as well?”
“Of course. Though they will be somewhat different from previous years.”
I had asked the Jipmususa, but the answer came from Jo Jae-ui. Once he confirmed everyone’s attention was on him, he spoke.
“When I first heard about the sparring matches hosted by the Jipmususa, do you know what I thought?”
No one offered the expected prompt, which spoke volumes about Jo Jae-ui’s usual popularity, but he paid it no mind.
“I wanted to see them for myself. And I am certain I am not the only one. Even children in the capital play at being murim people. How many could possibly be uninterested in the One Hundred Great Masters or their matches?”
“So you want to turn those matches into a grand spectacle and make money?”
“You have excellent comprehension. You guessed correctly at once.”
As always, Jo Jae-ui’s commercial instincts were impressive. After nationalistic marketing and product placement, he was now eyeing the sports industry. Yet how much profit this would actually generate was, at least to me, not particularly interesting. It would be nice if Jipmudang’s finances became more abundant, but the institution was already running smoothly without any great shortage.
“It is not an unreasonable idea. But why discuss it with me?”
“Now, now, hear me out a little further. If we merely turn it into a spectacle once, we would only collect a few coins from a few hundred people at most, would we not?”
“…Well, yes.”
“And if we hold two or three matches without any context, people will grow bored and attendance will decline. So this is what I came up with. Pair them up, have the winners compete again, and crown a single champion at the end.”
In other words, a tournament. It was certainly a far better idea than holding one-off matches or repeating them without context. With each match, anticipation for the next would grow rather than diminish—that was the nature of a tournament. Still, I could not understand why this story was being told to me.
“If it succeeds, it could bring in considerable revenue. Watching the fights of many masters and debating who is the greatest would indeed be entertaining. How to gather so many proud individuals is surely already planned inside Yeopgeum Jo’s head.”
Jo Jae-ui let out a single note of admiration.
“You are especially sharp today. That is correct. And this is where you become necessary, Author Yu.”
“…Go on.”
“Now, no matter how much money we offer, how many of the One Hundred Great Masters could we actually gather? At best, we might lure in the Golden Snake Blade Guest and one or two others in need of funds. Most of them like money, yet money alone only makes them lick their lips without coming. Pride is the issue. But imagine this…”
Jo Jae-ui suddenly stood and raised one hand.
“One day, a remarkable individual appears at Jipmudang, said to have compiled the martial arts of the Central Plains murim. The scholars of Jipmudang scoff at the claim that she studied alone in the mountains, but the more they converse with her, the deeper her knowledge proves to be. Eventually, she even holds her own in discussion with the Jipmususa.”
“There was such a person?”
“Her true identity is the author of the eccentric book that once stirred the entire Central Plains—an eccentric hidden master! After a long conversation, the two come to deeply respect each other, yet they disagree on one point: the current level of Central Plains martial arts. The eccentric claims today’s murim martial arts are full of flaws, while the Jipmususa insists they are not. Their debate reaches an impasse, and they decide to settle it by observing the sparring matches of murim people gathered from across the Central Plains…”
“…”
“A match fought for the pride of the Central Plains murim and its martial arts! Of course, the participants—especially the final victor—will receive a substantial reward for upholding that pride, but it will be nothing more than a generous bonus. Would that not be sufficient?”
Jo Jae-ui looked at me with a bright smile. The Jipmususa also watched me with an uneasy gaze. I pressed my throbbing temples and let out a low groan before finally nodding.