Urban Vagabond: Reload

After Kim Muhyuk returned to the camp lodgings.

“...Arrogant little brat.”

Sunwoo Jeha slowly ran a finger across her neck.

A faint red line appeared on the pale white skin there.

A tiny mark, as if a nail had grazed her.

It was the trace Phantom Dream had left a little earlier, when she had ambushed Kim Muhyuk from behind and grabbed his wrist.

“Is that really his actual skill?”

Sunwoo Jeha murmured to herself as she recalled the way Kim Muhyuk had moved when he reacted to her surprise attack.

Of course, it had not been an attack launched at full strength.

She had deliberately revealed killing intent, and she had intentionally left a few openings to test him.

But even so...

“How interesting.”

The corner of Sunwoo Jeha’s mouth curled upward, and a sly grin spread across her face.

“With that kind of frame, a Grade 1 constitution, and experience that doesn’t match his age?”

Whether she wanted to think about it or not, the image of Han Shinhu in his youth kept overlapping with him.

Sunwoo Jeha recalled a conversation she had had with Han Shinhu a very long time ago.

-Jeha. Did you know? A martial artist’s constitution can change. There are old monks who spent their whole lives in cultivation unrelated to martial arts and only became martial artists late in life, and every now and then some incredible master pops out of the martial underworld. That’s proof enough.

-...Isn’t the second kind usually just somebody who got stronger by taking drugs or using spellcraft at the cost of their lifespan?

-Most of the time, yeah. But they say there are rare cases where the constitution itself changes. There are too few samples in our country, so when I go overseas, I’m going to verify it for myself.

-Where did you even hear that nonsense?

-But doesn’t it sound plausible?

A martial artist’s constitution had always been, then as now, an area modern science had never fully uncovered.

For convenience, they divided it into Grades 1 through 10, but even that was not an exact standard.

A martial artist’s achievements varied wildly depending on how they were born with Five Elements affinity, and on what kind of martial arts they cultivated. There were limits to expressing all of that with a simple number.

-There could be constitutions in this world that science still hasn’t discovered. Maybe you or I could become one of them if we go beyond human limits.

-You mean after becoming a peerless master?

-That wouldn’t be enough. If you ask me...

Even now, the eyes of the young man muttering like he was dreaming remained striking in her memory.

-Wouldn’t you have to reach the level of the Heavenly Demon from the ancient martial world, or the heroes from the world’s myths?

Could it be that they were martial artists who had transcended the limits of being human?

And could beings like that still exist somewhere even now?

Watching Han Shinhu get more and more excited as he spun out those fantasies, Sunwoo Jeha had thought then:

This bastard is the craziest lunatic in the world when it comes to martial arts.

-...Maybe. If you ever find someone like that later, bring them to me. I want to meet them too.

-Sunwoo Jeha.

Han Shinhu looked at his one and only friend with clear, transparent eyes and smiled softly.

-I’m glad you’re my friend. Whenever I say things like this, everyone else just humors me for a bit and changes the subject.

-If you’re done talking, leave. I need to train.

-Have you thought about what I suggested last time? If the two of us had a child—

-Want me to make sure you never suggest that again?

The image of Han Shinhu backpedaling and then fleeing out the window was still as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

“...I think I found it. The constitution you were looking for.”

Sunwoo Jeha muttered to herself as she gazed at the camp lodgings outside the window.

From an unfit constitution to Grade 4.

From Grade 4 to Grade 2.

And now, what he thought was Grade 2 was actually Grade 1?

It made no sense. Machines that combined modern science with spellcraft did not malfunction that often.

But what if the machine had not been wrong?

What if his constitution had truly changed?

“Han Shinhu. You really might die at that kid’s hands.”

But for some reason, she felt like even if he heard that, the man himself would just smile in delight.

That irritated her for no good reason.

So she decided not to tell him.

The morning of the third day of camp dawned.

Most of the young rising stars gathering one by one at the training ground wore tense expressions.

“Hooo...”

“Don’t get nervous. Don’t get nervous.”

Because the test ahead of them might be the last part of the camp they ever saw.

If they passed, they would be allowed to remain, continue receiving instruction from the Strongest in Korea, and perhaps even earn a chance to become an external disciple.

If they failed, they would have to leave immediately. None of the young rising stars who had made it this far wanted to just go home.

“...That guy from the Golden Glory Gate showed up too.”

“You mean Pi Seunghwa?”

“Wow. If it were me, I’d have quietly gone home.”

The young rising stars whispered among themselves at the sight of Pi Seunghwa, who had caused a major disturbance the day before.

His face was a wreck after getting beaten senseless by Kim Muhyuk, but Pi Seunghwa wore a headset and stubbornly pretended to ignore the eyes on him.

Kim Muhyuk didn’t come back until late last night. He must’ve gotten thrown out. And today, I’m definitely going to pass the test. If I become an external disciple of the Strongest in Korea, becoming the sect leader of the Golden Glory Gate will be entirely possible...!

Pi Seunghwa committed the faces of the young rising stars stealing glances at him to memory.

One day, he intended to make every last one of them regret this bitterly.

But a moment later, Pi Seunghwa’s face—fortified with hollow self-consolation—went deathly pale.

“K-Kim Muhyuk? Why the hell is that bastard still here?”

Pi Seunghwa nearly had a fit when he spotted Kim Muhyuk walking toward him.

Even if he had seen a ghost, he could not have been more shocked.

Stopping at a suitable distance, Kim Muhyuk brought his hands together in a polite fist-and-palm salute.

“I’m sorry. I got too worked up yesterday and went too far. You don’t have anything broken, do you?”

“You bastard...!”

Kim Muhyuk, who had only returned very late at night, had met with his study-group members and explained everything properly, and he had also gone to apologize to Shin Kangheon.

But Pi Seunghwa, who had gone to bed early as if he had passed out, knew none of that. Then again, even if he had, it would not have changed much.

“Why are you still allowed to stay here?!”

Pi Seunghwa trembled all over, yet still glared at Kim Muhyuk through clenched teeth.

But instead of answering, Kim Muhyuk simply stared back at him.

A faint trace of the madness from the previous night still lingered in his eyes.

“I apologized like this. Shouldn’t you apologize to my friends too?”

“Urk...!”

Still traumatized from the night before, Pi Seunghwa reacted to the word “apologize” and unconsciously took a step back.

Watching him, Shin Kangheon clicked his tongue.

“That idiot’s hopeless. No way he’s taking this test properly. Shouldn’t have picked a fight of all people with that lunatic.”

“But... was Muhyuk always this rough?”

At Kang Hyuntae’s question from beside him, Shin Kangheon shook his head as if the question itself were absurd.

“At that level, he’s being gentle. He didn’t cut anything off or stab anybody. Oh, come to think of it, he didn’t even break any bones, did he? Bastard’s secretly soft.”

“...”

Kang Hyuntae stared at Shin Kangheon with a look that said, So you’re not normal either, then slowly shook his head.

While the young rising stars watched, Kim Muhyuk led Pi Seunghwa off to a corner and spoke to him in a quiet, gentle voice.

No one clearly heard what exactly they said to each other.

All they could see was Pi Seunghwa’s complexion growing paler and paler, him hiccuping several times, and his hands trembling violently.

Then, a short while later, Kim Muhyuk brought Pi Seunghwa over to where the members of his study group were gathered.

“...I apologize for what happened yesterday. I was on edge before the test... and I spoke recklessly. For that, I am... sorry.”

His voice kept dropping and breaking off, as if he were trying to cling to his pride to the end.

But the three of them looked at Pi Seunghwa with sympathetic expressions and nodded.

“We’re fine.”

“...I’ll accept your apology.”

“Uh, well, it’s okay. Hang in there.”

Only after exchanging apologies like that did Pi Seunghwa return to his place, looking like a routed soldier.

Kim Muhyuk looked at his study-group members with a satisfied expression and said,

“I think that settled things nicely, don’t you?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Yang Hayun, Jeon Seungyeon, and Chae Eunsu were all looking at Kim Muhyuk with expressions too complicated for words.

Thankfully, at that moment, Sunwoo Jeha appeared at the training ground.

“Sect Leader!”

Sunwoo Jeha slowly swept her gaze across the assembled young rising stars, then narrowed her brow.

“How annoying... Looks like a few of you are going to pass. That puts me in a bad mood.”

After muttering that under her breath, she addressed the young rising stars.

“You all worked hard preparing again, right?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t like it, but warm up and get ready.”

The young rising stars began loosening up in their own ways.

Then—

“At this point, anyway...”

Pi Seunghwa, wearing a vacant expression and muttering incomprehensibly to himself, suddenly shot a hand into the air.

“Sect Leader. I intend to forfeit this test and withdraw from camp.”

His raised hand was shaking.

When the sect leader stared at him, Pi Seunghwa swallowed hard and continued.

“Last night, I unintentionally caused serious trouble for my fellow young rising stars. I deeply regret losing control of my emotions and getting into a childish fight.”

No one had expected this.

With his head bowed low, Pi Seunghwa went on in a tearful voice.

“It was immature behavior. As a young rising star of the orthodox martial world, I committed the shameless act of drawing my weapon against a friend... I am no longer worthy of receiving instruction from the Strongest in Korea. So I intend to leave this place of my own accord.”

What Pi Seunghwa was saying was, on the surface, a respectful apology to the sect leader and to the young rising stars who had suffered because of him.

But Kim Muhyuk had a strange feeling.

That’s...

A drowning-man tactic? Trying to drag me down with him?

Apparently it was not just his imagination, because several people glanced at Kim Muhyuk.

As if asking what he planned to do in a situation where the two of them had caused a disturbance together.

As if saying he was at fault too, so shouldn’t he take responsibility?

So it really is a drowning-man tactic.

Kim Muhyuk smiled bitterly.

He found Pi Seunghwa’s malice laughable—giving up his own chance just to make sure Muhyuk still got stung on the way out—and the few young rising stars silently siding with him were just as ridiculous.

Following their gazes, Sunwoo Jeha naturally turned to look at Kim Muhyuk.

“...”

There was no emotion at all on the Strongest in Korea’s face, but Kim Muhyuk somehow felt as if this itself were a test.

Not a test of martial arts, but a test asking about his mindset.

For some reason, he could almost hear her voice.

There are going to be countless situations like this in the future. So what are you going to do?

Kim Muhyuk did not deliberate long. He raised his hand boldly and chose to break straight through the front.

“I don’t want to give up. I want to pass the assignment, stay here, and continue learning from you, Sect Leader. Would that be okay?”

At that shamelessly bold, utterly confident attitude, some of the young rising stars looked dumbfounded, some looked nervous, and some—like Shin Kangheon—snickered.

But Kim Muhyuk paid no attention to any of their reactions.

What does any of that matter? The chance to grow stronger is right in front of me.

Other people’s eyes, their opinions, his reputation—none of that mattered right now.

If the sect leader of the Transcendent Extremity Gate was the same kind of person he was, then she would understand that sincerity better than anyone.

And after staring at Kim Muhyuk for a moment, Sunwoo Jeha spoke.

“What are you talking about? You already passed.”

“...What?”

It was not just Kim Muhyuk. Everyone stared at the sect leader in shock.

Before anyone could even ask When?, she continued.

“If you want to go home, then go. I’m not stopping you.”

“...I’m not leaving. There’s still a lot I want to learn.”

At the sight of Kim Muhyuk answering with a delighted smile, Sunwoo Jeha gave a derisive snort.

Then she turned her head and looked at Pi Seunghwa.

“You, leave.”

“...Pardon?”

“You said you were leaving, didn’t you?”

Pi Seunghwa trembled with humiliation, then fled the training ground as if running for his life.