Urban Vagabond: Reload

“I provoked the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader on purpose from the start. It would’ve been too much of a waste to let her go after just the Q and A.”

Kim Muhyuk stood there with his arms folded, speaking to the members of his study group with a serious expression.

His cheeks were swollen enough that some of his words slurred, but he did not care.

“I figured that if we could see the Strongest in Korea move even one more time, it’d help a lot more with solving the assignment. The intensity being way higher than I expected was a surprise, but I still got more out of it than I lost, and—”

As Muhyuk’s explanation got longer and longer, sounding more and more like an excuse, the other three nodded with the same exhausted look.

“Okay, we get it. You really don’t need to explain any more.”

“Are you at least feeling okay? The Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader looked like she was seriously out to beat the hell out of you......”

“Yeah. I think she really has it out for you now.”

Even thinking about it again, it was insane in a way that almost inspired admiration—provoking the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader when she had been perfectly still and making her draw her sword.

So this is why Shin Kangheon calls him a lunatic.

Honestly, he and the sect leader kind of seem alike in the way they think.......

Do you have to let go of your sanity a little if you want to get strong?

To them, neither Sunwoo Jeha nor Kim Muhyuk looked remotely normal.

The only difference was that, until just a moment ago, one of them had been beating the other one-sidedly.

But Muhyuk himself, despite his training clothes being in tatters and his split lip, looked rather satisfied.

“Huh? Muhyuk, your nose is bleeding!”

Drip.

Muhyuk casually wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. Then he flashed the other three a grin.

“Compared to what I learned, this was cheap.”

Receiving instructional sparring from a master overwhelmingly stronger than yourself.

To a martial artist, that was the kind of invaluable experience you could never put a price on.

And if the opponent was the Strongest in Korea, then a little nosebleed was nothing.

“If that had been a real fight, I’d have lost at least an arm or a leg. But here, she keeps me alive and kindly points out my weaknesses one by one.”

Kim Muhyuk sincerely meant that.

The only problem was that he always forgot his standards had been shaped by living as a drifter.

“T-that counts as kind?”

“......You really do think differently from everyone else.”

“You definitely learn a lot, but.......”

Watching Kim Muhyuk from up close, the other three were affected too.

Among the four of them in the study group, Muhyuk was already the most outstanding pinnacle expert.

He almost certainly could have passed this test as well.

And yet, despite that, he did not spare his body in the slightest if it meant learning even a little more.

Seeing that made all of them burn with resolve once more.

“......Guess I’ve got to train until my body breaks.”

At Jeon Seungyeon’s mutter, Chae Eunsu and Yang Hayun nodded as well, their expressions firming.

“Right. We’ve only got until tomorrow anyway.”

“I want to give it everything I’ve got too. No regrets.”

They all remembered what the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader had said before leaving, after turning Kim Muhyuk into a rag.

—Assignment check is tomorrow at six in the evening.

With the same face full of obvious annoyance she had worn from the first day, Sunwoo Jeha had looked over the young rising stars and continued in a detached voice.

—If it looks impossible, giving up early is an option too. Not everyone gets to become a master.

The Strongest in Korea had spoken calmly to the young rising stars about the wall called talent.

But at least right here, right now, not a single person was thinking of giving up.

“But...... doesn’t it feel like the atmosphere around here has changed a little?”

At Chae Eunsu’s comment, after he glanced around, the others nodded in agreement.

Ever since the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader had declared that she would take as a disciple whichever young rising star cleared the final camp assignment, the air in the lodgings had subtly changed.

The promise of the huge reward—becoming an external disciple of the Strongest in Korea—had made the young rising stars much more sensitive, whether they realized it or not.

There’s a world of difference between getting taught for a few days and being taken in as a disciple. They’ve started thinking of each other as competition now.

A few of them had even dropped out of their study groups and gone back to focusing only on solitary training.

Of course, that was not necessarily the wrong approach either...

But Kim Muhyuk believed there was a better one.

“Anyone want out? Seriously, it’s fine. If you’d rather focus on individual training, just say so.”

At Muhyuk’s question, the three of them shook their heads like he was being ridiculous.

“No thanks. It’s not like enlightenment is just going to drop on me because I brood alone.”

“......I’d rather train beside you.”

“If anything, wouldn’t it be better for you to train alone, Muhyuk?”

If anything, the three of them seemed doubtful whether training together with them was really helping Muhyuk at all.

“Of course it helps. Anyway, nobody’s dropping out, right? Then I’ve got a plan......”

Kim Muhyuk explained the idea that had come to him after his second spar with the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader.

When he finished, all three of them wore uncertain expressions.

“Do you think the sect leader of the Transcendent Extremity Gate would actually allow that?”

At Yang Hayun’s question, Muhyuk nodded with complete confidence.

“That won’t be a problem. If anything, she’ll probably be happy that it lets her finish faster.”

Given what Kim Muhyuk had grasped of Sunwoo Jeha’s personality, it was more than worth trying.

The three of them thought it over for a moment, exchanged looks, then nodded.

“All right. If we want ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to pass the Strongest in Korea’s test, we’ve got to be willing to take at least that much of a gamble.”

True to her bold personality, Jeon Seungyeon was the first to agree to the plan, thrusting her hand forward.

“I’ll do my best not to drag the team down.”

Still looking uneasy, Chae Eunsu ran his hand over his spear several times before placing his palm on top of hers.

“To the end... same boat, same fate......”

Yang Hayun muttered some incomprehensible words under her breath, then placed her small hand on top.

Lastly, Kim Muhyuk set his hand over all of theirs and grinned.

“Let’s all pass and keep making the Strongest in Korea regret taking us in.”

“Let’s go—!”

All four of them threw their hands up with a vigorous shout.

*****

After training, which continued from late afternoon into evening, finally ended.

Kim Muhyuk headed into the dining hall with the rest of his exhausted study group.

“Aaagh! I’m starving to death.......”

“I just want to go in and pass out......”

“No. I told you, you need to eat something before you sleep, even if it’s just a little.”

The four of them had grown rapidly closer over the past two days of training together.

Unlike the other study groups, who only gathered when needed to discuss things and train, they spent the whole day together.

“Still, haven’t we improved a lot compared to the beginning?”

“Everybody’s definitely getting jumped less often.”

“Muhyuk. How was I supposed to answer that earlier? You know, when you suddenly threw your sword.”

“The simplest way would’ve been to sacrifice an arm, but......”

Because of that, even during meals, they could trade opinions freely and energetically.

But apparently that noisy liveliness was enough to twist someone’s temper out of shape.

BANG—!

At the sudden sound from behind them, they turned.

Pi Seunghwa of the Golden Glory Gate was sitting alone at the table across from them, eating by himself.

He had slammed his fist down on the table and was muttering in irritation.

“Isn’t keeping it down in a public place like a dining hall just basic common sense? Why are there so many ill-mannered people around here?”

Pi Seunghwa had a headset hanging around his neck.

A video was playing on the tablet in front of him. It was footage of the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader—something he had secretly recorded earlier during her spar with Kim Muhyuk.

He had been watching it alone, studying Sunwoo Jeha’s movements, and apparently the noise had interrupted him enough to make him even more irritable than usual.

“......If we were bothering you, you could’ve just said so. Why are you pounding the table and making a scene?”

Jeon Seungyeon looked right at him and snapped back without holding herself back.

Sure, maybe it was their fault for being a little too loud in the dining hall.

But this was not his private study room either.

Pi Seunghwa did not avoid her gaze. Instead, he twisted up one corner of his mouth.

“A Grade 5 constitution and you still don’t know your place.”

“What......?”

Jeon Seungyeon’s clenched fist trembled.

She belonged to the Skybreaker Gate, one of the Eight Great Sects, and had been born with an excellent frame, but it was true that a Grade 5 constitution was a weakness for a young rising star from a major sect.

Still, no one had ever looked down on her so openly before.

Pi Seunghwa did not stop there.

“You think just because you’re all called young rising stars now, it’ll still be the same later? Ten years from now you won’t even be able to look me in the eye, so you’d better learn caution now.”

“You little piece of—!”

Chae Eunsu quickly grabbed Jeon Seungyeon before she could spring to her feet.

Normally, he was timid and quiet, but he was the oldest in the study group. He bowed his head without hesitation and apologized on behalf of the others.

“I’m sorry for being loud. I apologize in their place.”

But Pi Seunghwa clicked his tongue as if the whole thing were absurd.

The emotions already twisted into knots inside him were not about to unravel from a few words.

“If you’re from some no-name mid-sized sect, stay out of it. The people from the Eight Great Sects are talking.”

“H-ha.......”

First Jeon Seungyeon.

Then Chae Eunsu too.

After both of them were insulted, Yang Hayun snapped in anger.

“Why don’t you try saying that to me too?”

But Pi Seunghwa merely shrugged like there was no reason he couldn’t.

“The Sun and Moon Gate, where the previous sect leader learned demonic arts and got the whole sect sealed shut? It’ll take at least ten years to reopen it, and if the sect leader’s disciple behaves badly, I’m sure it could take even longer.”

“You—!”

A large hand lightly patted Yang Hayun’s shoulder as she fumed.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

Kim Muhyuk rose from his seat and strode toward Pi Seunghwa. Then he sat down across from him and said,

“Apologize to them.”

“Ha! In this situation, who exactly do you think should be apologizing to whom?”

Kim Muhyuk gazed quietly at Pi Seunghwa’s irritation-filled face, then said it once more.

“Apologize to them.”

“......Hey, Kim Muhyuk.”

It was a look Muhyuk had seen several times in the past too.

A peer his own age who always got sharp and irritable before important competitions and exams.

But back then, Pi Seunghwa had never gone this far—never looked down on and humiliated other people this openly.

Ever since entering the Golden Glory Gate, he had become completely full of himself.

“People around you hype you up because you’re a pinnacle expert, and now you think the whole world belongs to you? How long do you think you can keep that smug act up?”

In truth, Pi Seunghwa was at his limit—irritable, anxious, and cornered.

This was the chance of a lifetime.

A chance to become the disciple of the Strongest in Korea.

But here, Pi Seunghwa had felt his own limits. Even studying with people from the same Eight Great Sects had not helped him at all.

I’ve got no confidence at all that I can pass this test.

That was how it felt—like slamming into a wall he had no way around. No matter how much he replayed the sparring or rewound the video, he could not see any path through it.

So what are you?

Kim Muhyuk did not belong to one of the Eight Great Sects, and he did not have a Grade 1 constitution either.

And yet he was the only one among his peers who had already passed the pinnacle-expert license exam.

Worse, Pi Seunghwa could tell that the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader had taken an interest in him.

He could not stand that fact.

To be honest, the person he had wanted to pick a fight with from the start was Kim Muhyuk. The others had only been excuses to provoke him.

“You know what the most important talent for a martial artist is? Constitution. That’s first. Frame comes next. Death? Intuition? That kind of crap comes after.”

By contrast, Pi Seunghwa himself had been born with a Grade 2 constitution—a talent chosen by heaven.

Having found the one point where he could feel superior, a nasty smile curled at his lips.

“I heard you’re only a Grade 4 constitution. I don’t know how you became a pinnacle expert this early, but that’s your limit. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you’ll still be stuck in the same place.”

Pi Seunghwa stared straight at Kim Muhyuk with a malicious grin.

Any second now, Kim Muhyuk would swing a fist at him.

Pi Seunghwa intended not to dodge at all. He would take it clean.

And then you’re the one getting thrown out of here.

If Muhyuk caused an assault incident during camp instead of a legitimate spar, that would be all the excuse anyone needed to expel him.

It had been an impulsive plan, but Pi Seunghwa was confident. He was one of the young rising stars treasured by the Golden Glory Gate, after all.

Come on, then! Hit me!

Kim Muhyuk reached out and grabbed Pi Seunghwa by the collar.

The moment delight flared in Pi Seunghwa’s eyes—

“You’re trying to make me hit you here? So you can get me kicked out of camp?”

“......!”

Having his intentions laid bare, Pi Seunghwa froze and could not speak for a moment.

“But you know something?”

Even after seeing through his plan, Kim Muhyuk did not let go of his collar. If anything, he clenched it tighter and gave a short, crooked smile.

“Do you really think the Transcendent Extremity Gate’s sect leader gives a damn whether a few young rising stars trade punches or not?”

“......What?”

“Yeah. I don’t think so.”

In that instant, Kim Muhyuk hoisted Pi Seunghwa straight into the air.

Then he slammed him face-first into the dining table.

BOOM!

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Through the dizzying shock rattling his skull, Pi Seunghwa heard Kim Muhyuk’s whisper by his ear.

“I’m not a Grade 4 constitution. I’m Grade 2. I’m planning to file the correction soon.”

The table shattered, and food rained down over Pi Seunghwa’s clothes as he lay embedded in the wreckage on the floor.