Urban Vagabond: Reload

Inside the Martial Alliance underground prison.

The mercenary who had deceived the world for over twenty years under the name Shin Junhyun was locked away there, reduced to skin and bones.

“......”

For days now, he had not seen sunlight, and even food and water had been restricted. Anyone would have become mentally worn down under those conditions.

Creeeak.

Just then, the prison door opened, and Yeo Pilgeuk walked in.

As if used to this by now, Yeo Pilgeuk sat down in the chair opposite him, removed the gag from the mercenary’s mouth, and spoke.

“I’m on my way back from designating Black Swallow as a Class 1 wanted criminal. At the very least, he won’t be able to set foot in this country again.”

“......”

“Ah, and we found your old comrades and took care of them too. If you were hoping Red Worm might come rescue you, I’d like to tell you to give up.”

“......So when are you going to kill me?”

The mercenary spoke in a hoarse voice, as though he had no interest in anything else.

He desperately wanted to die.

If he could have, he would have driven his lower abdomen berserk or bitten through his own tongue.

But the Martial Alliance had no intention of allowing him an easy end.

Yeo Pilgeuk stared directly into the mercenary’s face and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can grant that wish yet. There are still things I need to verify.”

He neither mocked nor ridiculed the man.

A monstrous villain who had murdered Shin Jaehyun, former Deputy Commander of the White Tiger Unit, and his wife, then deceived their only son.

He was the sort of man it would not have been enough to simply beat to death, but Yeo Pilgeuk dealt with him in a deliberately impersonal, administrative tone, without putting even the slightest emotion into it.

Because he knew that was the most miserable way to treat him.

“There’s one thing I want to confirm today. I heard that Red Worm’s upper organization is called the Cult. Is it related to the heretical cult that the Korean martial world exterminated long ago?”

Over twenty years ago.

A heretical cult that had seduced countless martial artists across the Korean martial world, regardless of whether they belonged to the orthodox faction or the unorthodox.

Through drugs and sinister arts, they had expanded their power enormously in a short period of time, and the Martial Alliance and the Eight Great Sects had paid a terrible price to exterminate them.

‘That was when the Alliance’s dark age began.’

Back then, one of the large-scale extermination operations had ended in failure after falling into a trap dug by the enemy.

The man responsible at the time, Choi Geon, had been forced to leave the Martial Alliance over that incident and live in seclusion for many years.

It had been the beginning of the rift growing this deep between the Martial Alliance and the Eight Great Sects.

‘After paying that heavy a price, we thought we had barely managed to tear them out by the roots.......’

While investigating the demonic arts used by Jang Jinmyeong and the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, he had learned that an organization called the Cult was entangled behind them.

The heretical cult that had supposedly vanished long ago had still been alive, connected to them all along, and astonishingly, it was also tied to the foreign mercenary organization Red Worm.

“Heh-heh-heh....... You think you exterminated the Cult? You really think that?”

Having given himself over to despair, the mercenary began grinning, trying to provoke Yeo Pilgeuk.

But Yeo Pilgeuk answered in a calm expression.

“If we failed back then, then this time I intend to pull it out by the roots.”

“Hahahahaha! You? You think a useless Alliance Leader from a tiny little Korean martial world can lay a finger on the Cult? You don’t even know how enormous the organization you’re talking about is.......”

The mercenary forced out that laughter to mock the other man.

Because that was all he could do now.

But Yeo Pilgeuk simply listened to the mercenary’s rambling in silence, then nodded and stood up from his seat.

“So there really was a connection. Thank you for confirming my suspicion.”

“Listen to me!”

Eyes wide, the mercenary hurled curses at the people who had locked him up in this state.

“You people can’t do anything. An old, weakening leader of the Korean martial world? Sect leaders? If the Cult wants to, it can crush you anytime. No, it won’t even need to. Just wait ten years and you’ll all retire on your own. After handing your sect leader positions over to a bunch of worthless bastards....... Heh-heh-heh. The Cult has more than enough patience to wait that long.”

Surprisingly, Yeo Pilgeuk did not deny a word of it.

“You’re right. With my strength, which has nowhere to go but old and weak, I may not be able to stop the enemies who come knocking in the future.”

Yeo Pilgeuk acknowledged that his era had already passed.

Even ten more years would be enough for an aging body to become unable to fully contain his martial arts.

And yet his eyes were not worried about the future at all.

“But the future of the Korean martial world will be different. Did you just call them worthless?”

“Heh-heh. Was I wrong?”

The people the mercenary meant were probably the disciples of the current sect leaders.

The generation that had entered the Eight Great Sects after they had grown used to the sweet taste of power.

It was true that, compared to the older generation, the martial arts of those people—mostly in their thirties and forties—left something to be desired.

Because they had grown up in an age of peace, where someone could be acknowledged as a master through exams with fixed categories, without real battlefield experience.

Richard Han, who had been unable to endure that peace and left for overseas, was only one of the rare exceptions.......

“......It is true that those children are rather weak.”

At Yeo Pilgeuk’s words, which sounded as if he were acknowledging the truth, the mercenary’s eyes lit up viciously.

“Then why not put one foot into the Cult now, as an insurance policy? A decrepit old man like the Alliance Leader wouldn’t want to step down in retirement with nothing to his name, would he?”

At that moment, Yeo Pilgeuk drove his fist straight into the mercenary’s mouth.

CRASH!

The mercenary toppled backward with the chair, blood dripping from his nose and lips.

“My, hearing something that filthy made my hand move before I knew it.”

“You damn old bastard......!”

The mercenary spat curses and maledictions, but Yeo Pilgeuk no longer listened.

It did not matter how large the Cult was, or what kind of masters it had raised.

“It seems you still don’t really know what kinds of talents exist in the Korean martial world.”

Yeo Pilgeuk smiled with quiet satisfaction as he remembered the young rising star barely past twenty who had cut off the head of the Black Heaven Society’s society leader.

He also remembered the prodigious blazing-yang martial arts talent who had controlled the terrible heat of one of the Ten Great Demonic Arts.

And when he thought of the young rising stars who would continue to grow after being spurred on by those two, he felt full even without eating.

“Stay here and watch how the futures of the Korean martial world grow. Ah, though you won’t be able to see it directly. You’ll only hear about it through rumors.”

“Kill me! Just kill me already!”

Yeo Pilgeuk stuffed the gag back into the mercenary’s mouth, then left the prison.

A low voice drifted back toward him as he walked away.

“Didn’t I tell you? I have no intention of granting your wish so easily.”

“Mmph! Mmmphhhhh—!”

The mercenary thrashed around inside the prison until he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

*****

The soft-open café Naru had finally opened properly.

< cafe Naru & <☆Lucky Rabbit Spellcraft Beauty Shop☆> >

< Grand Opening 1+1 Event! >

“< cafe Naru > is officially open! Come try our signature coffee!”

“If you use the Spellcraft Beauty Shop on the second floor, every menu item is half off!”

Thanks to word of mouth already starting to spread little by little even during the soft-opening period, the moment the event began, both the café and the spellcraft shop were packed.

Murmur, murmur.

“What is up with the faces on the staff here?”

“Did you see that guy just carrying a tray with six drinks on one hand?”

“Hey, want to come again tomorrow?”

Kim Muhyuk scratched his face awkwardly at the whispers he kept hearing all over the café.

Apparently, word had spread pretty widely through social media that martial artists built like models, tall and good-looking, were working between the café and the nail shop.

Han Jaechun zipped over after clearing a table the customers had just left and gave Kim Muhyuk a tap on the back.

“If you’re tired, go upstairs and rest. Your internal injuries still aren’t healed all the way.”

“I’m not even training right now. I should at least be moving around this much. Besides, if I’m not working down here, I’ll just end up helping Kim Bokja on the second floor.”

“......Yeah, staying here is definitely better.”

Han Jaechun nodded with a look of complete agreement.

Even someone like him, who had worked just about every part-time job there was, knew that trimming customers’ nails while making conversation with them was not easy.

Right then, the sound of arguing came down from the second floor.

“Idiot, that’s not how you do it! You just have to clean them up nicely, that’s all!”

“Make Kim Muhyuk do it, not me! It’d honestly be easier to pull nails out....... Ah, I don’t mean the customer’s nails!”

“S-sorry. I’ll just go.......”

“Ma’am, wait just a second! This person will finish up in no time, so would you like to play with this chick while you wait?”

TA-DA!

It was the sound of Shin Kangheon and Kim Bokja fighting upstairs, where he’d been dragged into forced part-time work after stopping by the café.

......At this rate, it looked like the Spellcraft Beauty Shop would need a little more time before it truly found its footing.

‘A busy everyday routine like this isn’t bad either.’

Kim Muhyuk spent his days helping his parents at Naru and dealing with the customers who came in.

Because of the injuries he had suffered against the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, he couldn’t train in martial arts for the time being.

But he was not impatient or anxious.

He needed time to review the insights he had gained from that fight and prepare for what came next.

And so, one day, while he was spending those leisurely days one after another—

Jingle.

Business hours had ended, and while he was alone cleaning up the café, a face he hadn’t seen in a long time walked in.

“I’m sorry, we just closed a little while ago...... Song Junho?”

It was none other than Song Junho, the Level 1 young rising star the Supreme Pole Sword Gate was so proud of.

“Kim Muhyuk! How’ve you been?”

Song Junho, who seemed to have grown noticeably taller than Kim Muhyuk remembered, strode over with a delighted expression.

But he couldn’t fool Kim Muhyuk.

‘He stuffed those lifts in pretty aggressively.’

It would have been hard for anyone who wasn’t a sharp-eyed martial artist to notice, but Kim Muhyuk caught how awkward Song Junho’s stride was right away.

“N-no way.......”

After comparing their eye level, Song Junho’s eyes started trembling in disbelief.

Even though he had clearly adjusted himself to 177 centimeters, Kim Muhyuk still looked more than ten centimeters taller.

“You, you got taller too?”

“Maybe a little? Hard to say. Anyway, what brings you here?”

At that casual answer from someone who already had it, Song Junho’s confident eyebrows drooped at once.

Then he answered in a downcast voice.

“I asked Senior Bu Yeonha, and she said if I came here, I’d be able to meet you. I also had something to give you.......”

“Sit down first. Want some coffee?”

“Coffee at this hour? What if you can’t sleep and stop growing?”

“......There’s milk too.”

Kim Muhyuk knew Song Junho’s future, but apparently Song Junho himself still hadn’t given up hope just yet.

A little later, Song Junho took the warm milk Kim Muhyuk had heated for him and smiled in satisfaction.

“But what about you, Kim Muhyuk? What’ve you been doing since the license exam ended?”

“I took a trip to Jeju Island, and as you can see, I’m helping out at my parents’ café right now.”

“Wow, must be nice. I’ve been insanely busy training.”

The two of them traded updates for a while.

Song Junho, who had looked dejected only moments earlier, quickly perked right back up and started talking excitedly.

“You know, right? This time, our Supreme Pole Sword Gate played a huge role in the Black Heaven Society extermination operation. Especially since the sect leader personally brought down the Black Heaven Society’s society leader! Ah, well, it’s not like they said that outright, of course, but.......”

Kim Muhyuk had to bite back the laughter trying to slip out at the sight of Song Junho proudly boasting about his sect leader’s exploits.

Because he really did look like a puppy wagging its tail like a propeller after finding someone it liked.

“Ah! I didn’t come just to say all that. I came to give you this.”

As if he had almost forgotten, Song Junho reached into his clothes and pulled something out to hand over.

It was an invitation with the words < You Are Invited to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering Dinner Party > written across the front.

“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?”

Kim Muhyuk had heard of it before.

It was the name of the most famous social gathering of young rising stars in Korea.

“But wasn’t that an event where only the young rising stars of the Eight Great Sects got together?”

Song Junho shook his head.

“That’s how it used to be, but starting this year, they changed it so people can come regardless of affiliation. If you come as a guest of the Supreme Pole Sword Gate, you can go right in without any unnecessary screening.”

“I appreciate you thinking of me, but.......”

Kim Muhyuk wasn’t especially interested in a gathering of young rising stars.

By his own standards, he had gone beyond that level a long time ago.

Even if he went to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, it didn’t seem likely there would be anyone his age better than Shin Kangheon, and it didn’t seem like he would gain much besides unnecessary connections.

At least, that was true until Song Junho said the next words.

“Oh, and this year’s Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is being held at the Transcendent Extremity Gate.”

“......The Transcendent Extremity Gate?”

The Transcendent Extremity Gate was the most closed-off sect among the Eight Great Sects.

It had the fewest members, and in sheer size, it was small enough to be considered more like a mid-tier sect.

And yet there was one reason they never dropped out of the Eight Great Sects.

Even with so few members, they possessed military strength that rivaled the other Eight Great Sects.

“Do you know what the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader is called?”

As if Kim Muhyuk could possibly not know.

Even though there was nobody around, Song Junho lowered his voice and continued.

“The unofficial Strongest in Korea. Everyone says that, at this point in time, she’s the strongest martial artist in Korea.”

“The Strongest in Korea.......”

That one thing alone was enough reason for Kim Muhyuk to attend the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.