Urban Vagabond: Reload

“I’ll see you again tomorrow then!”

After Kim Muhyuk, drenched in sweat and looking satisfied, headed back home,

Sword Demon Choi Geon stayed alone on the rooftop, staring vacantly at the boy’s retreating back as it shrank into the distance.

“...Feels like I’ve been possessed by a ghost.”

When he first realized Kim Muhyuk had learned his swordsmanship, he’d been surprised, sure—but he hadn’t thought it was outright impossible.

Back when he’d served as a sword instructor at the Martial Alliance, he’d taught more than a few hundred disciples.

At least ten of them had received so much direct guidance that you could have called them his true direct disciples. So he had figured, maybe this kid was the disciple of one of his disciples.

They’d been connected, however faintly, by a small thread of fate, so he’d brought the kid home thinking he’d at least send him off with a gift.

“But that kid understood my sword more deeply than anyone I’ve ever taught. Even more than that bastard himself... Hff!”

A stab of painful memory surged up out of nowhere, making his breath catch.

It was the kind of thing that should never happen to a master of his level, but Choi Geon, as if used to it by now, took a long, deep breath and forced his reeling mind back under control.

“...If he were that bastard’s disciple, he’d never have dared come looking for me.”

Murmuring to himself, eyes suddenly gone cold, Choi Geon rubbed at the old scar throbbing in his shoulder.

—How do you plan to take responsibility for the failed operation?!

—Do you feel no shame? Your reckless plan got dozens of young martial artists killed!

—You’re claiming the Martial Alliance’s operation leaked in advance? You toss that out with no proof and call it an excuse?!

—Murderer! Hypocrite!

...More than twenty years had passed, yet Choi Geon still woke from nightmares of those days.

Back then, the Martial Alliance had launched a secret operation to wipe out a demonic cult that had swelled in power in a short time on the back of drugs and sorcery.

Sword Demon Choi Geon had led an elite strike unit, dispatched to behead the cult’s officers in a single blow.

But they’d walked straight into a prepared ambush. Almost all of his unit died, and he barely made it back alive.

—There was a trap! I won’t deny my share of the blame, but I will not step down until we uncover the mole who leaked our plans!

—What a pathetic excuse!

—All I see is a man trying to dump his responsibility on someone else!

Led by the leaders of the Eight Great Sects, countless people had demanded that Choi Geon take responsibility and resign.

He had no intention of dodging responsibility. He was prepared to take as much blame as they wanted to pile on him.

But until the mole who had leaked their intel was exposed, he had absolutely no intention of stepping down.

At least, that had been true—right up until the moment someone who never should have stood on their side appeared among the people pointing fingers at him.

—...I will testify. Because of Sword Demon Choi Geon’s reckless insistence on pushing the operation through, many lives were lost. There was no sign that any information was leaked. All of it happened because of Sword Demon Choi Geon’s poor judgment.

—How could you...!

It had been a disciple he’d spent nearly ten years treating like his own flesh and blood.

On the day that disciple—who would later become one of the elders of the Eight Great Sects—gave that testimony,

Choi Geon gave up on fighting unseen enemies and walked away from the Martial Alliance.

“I swore, from that day on, that I would never teach anyone the sword again...”

The wounds carved into his body had scarred over and healed, but the heart-demon etched into his mind was still gnawing away at him twenty years later.

As if trying to shake that heart-demon off by force, he gave his head a rough shake and looked toward the direction where Kim Muhyuk was disappearing.

“Who’d have thought some brazen little brat would show up and make me break that vow.”

The boy named Kim Muhyuk understood even the things he had chosen not to teach anyone.

Back when he’d instructed young swordsmen at the Martial Alliance, there had been things he hadn’t been able to pass on properly because his own system hadn’t been fully settled yet.

Some of the things the boy was doing even hinted at solutions to questions he himself had agonized over for years.

Did he really systematize a sword art all on his own?

Just from that ancient book and those videos?

If that’s true, calling him a genius doesn’t even begin to cover it, does it?

Unaware that Kim Muhyuk had been learning the completed sword he himself would forge in the future, Choi Geon could only feel like he’d been possessed by something uncanny.

“In all my life, I’ve met and cut down more anomalies than I can count... but I’ve never seen anything stranger than this.”

Choi Geon let out a short, incredulous laugh. Kim Muhyuk’s figure had already vanished completely into the dark.

Turning away, he drew the back scratcher in his hand lightly through the air.

Shwick—

A thin crack opened for an instant in the cool night air, then dissipated.

Even the most slender branch, the moment it entered the hand of a true master, became a razor-edged sword.

Right now, in Sword Demon’s hand, that flimsy back scratcher was no less sharp than a peerless treasured blade.

Shwick. Shwick—

Choi Geon extended and swept his “sword,” replaying in his mind the way Kim Muhyuk had been training.

It was swordsmanship so close to flawless that, had Kim Muhyuk been watching, he would have stood there slack-jawed, completely absorbed.

Following the exact sword paths he’d memorized from a single viewing, Sword Demon weighed the effort the young swordsman had piled up and the mindset that had built it.

“As I thought...”

Lowering his “sword,” Choi Geon gave a small nod.

He felt even more certain of the impression he’d gotten in the brief time he’d guided the boy.

There isn’t much I need to teach him.

On the broad level, the boy named Kim Muhyuk was already a fully formed martial artist with almost nothing left to correct.

All he needed was to scrape away a few bad habits from driving his body too hard, the rough patterns that had soaked into his movements, and his excessive hunger to win, and he would soon find his own path.

It’s like looking at my past self.

The thought popped up on its own, but Choi Geon quickly let out a dry chuckle and shook his head.

Comparing the kid to himself was absurdly overrating his own younger days.

Kim Muhyuk possessed talent far beyond what Choi Geon had had in his youth.

The only person who came to mind as a real point of comparison for that kid was... absurdly enough, a single man.

—Korea is too small for me. I’m going to travel the world, fighting duels.

A young man who had given his greetings and departed barely a week after he’d started learning swordsmanship from him.

It was talent that had reminded him of Richard Han, The Strongest in the World.

“A kid that extraordinary...”

—I’m a huge fan of Sword Demon Choi Geon.

“Ahem!”

Kim Muhyuk’s words suddenly replayed in his head, and he coughed awkwardly.

He was too old for this kind of foolishness, and yet, when he’d heard that line, he’d been so flustered he’d nearly gone red in the face.

“Shameless brat. You think a line like that is enough to make me swoon?”

Eyes narrowing, Choi Geon snapped his head in the direction Kim Muhyuk had gone.

He could no longer see the boy, but he spoke as if the kid were still standing there in front of him.

“Just watching from the side so you don’t lose your way...”

Might that be enough to see the birth of another peerless martial artist who would step beyond Korea and out into the world?

Choi Geon felt his heart beating faster, in a very different way than before.

He’d always been the kind of man who liked to teach.

That was why he’d taken the job of sword instructor at the Martial Alliance in the first place.

Watching talented late-bloom prospects grow through his instruction had been one of his greatest joys.

“...If it’s just one last time, I suppose.”

He felt a sudden desire to help that boy accomplish what he himself had never managed to achieve.

Just as the kid had said with that desperate look on his face—so that he could accomplish it all without giving anything up or losing anyone.

“On top of that, he’s even a Five Elements affinity wielder...”

Everyone carried at least a little of the Five Elements’ energy inside them, but having the right compatibility to cultivate them as martial arts was another matter entirely.

Among spell-casters or ascetics, there were people who trained for decades just to balance the Five Elements inside their bodies.

For martial artists, if your constitution itself was poor, being a Five Elements affinity wielder didn’t mean much.

But if your constitution was exceptional...

No need to bring up the Five Elements Divine Art yet.

Muscles and bones trained as if carved from stone, a constitution blessed by heaven. What kind of swordsman would be born if you added proper guidance to that?

Clenching his fist tight, Choi Geon realized he was smiling without meaning to.

“Heh. Feels like I’m catching a late-breaking breeze.”

Choi Geon came down from the rooftop and stepped into his home.

As always, the space was nothing but bleak and empty.

On top of the fridge, a Post-it he’d never seen before was stuck in place.

—I packed some sandwiches and watermelon for dessert, so please eat them as soon as you can!

When he opened the fridge, he found neatly wrapped sandwiches that could have come straight from a shop, and a side-dish container filled with watermelon cut into easy-to-eat pieces.

“When did he...”

Had the kid snuck them into the fridge on his way down?

Choi Geon stared at the handwriting for a long moment, then took out the watermelon and started eating. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had watermelon.

“Clever little brat. You really think I won’t notice you’re just looking for an excuse to come back and pick up your containers.”

But despite the gruff words, a gentle smile was tugging at the corners of Sword Demon Choi Geon’s mouth.

“...The watermelon’s sweet.”

After twenty years of living without interacting with anyone, the old man found himself, for the first time in a long while, looking forward to tomorrow.

*****

The next day.

What exactly is a Five Elements affinity wielder?

I stared out the window, watching the clouds drift by.

It was the start of my senior year of high school, early autumn, when the lingering heat still clung thick in the air.

I didn’t have much interest in academics, but I was at least trying not to space out during class.

But the moment break time rolled around like now, my head automatically filled up with everything I’d been through the past few days.

He definitely looked seriously shocked. I get that having the right constitution to learn all Five Elements is rare, but is it really something you react to that strongly?

Still, it hadn’t looked like a negative reaction. More like his thoughts had suddenly gotten complicated...

There might be information about my constitution that I don’t know yet.

On top of that, if I started replaying what he’d taught me yesterday, and thinking about the relationship between Sword Demon and the Eight Great Sects, and what my training should look like going forward, time just vanished.

That was why, even though I was aware more and more people were gathering around me, I didn’t really pay it any mind.

“Hey, Muhyuk.”

“...Yeah?”

A high-school classmate whose face I barely remembered spoke to me.

It was a pretty rare thing. I’d always gone through school quietly on my own, since I didn’t really have much to talk about with friends who weren’t aiming to become martial artists.

I think there were a few back in freshman year...

There’d been a handful of rough-talking guys who said they wanted to be martial artists too and tried to buddy up to me. After we’d had a few spars, every last one of them suddenly decided to “focus on their studies” instead, and things naturally drifted apart.

Ever since then, I practically never had conversations at school, so I looked at my classmate with the kindest smile I could manage.

“Did you need something from me?”

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to bother you...”

“It’s fine. So what do you need?”

“I-it’s because of this...”

For some reason, my classmate couldn’t meet my eyes and hunched his shoulders like he was trying to make himself smaller as he held out his smartphone to me.

“Muhyuk. Is this you?”

“...Ah.”

So that’s why people kept sneaking glances at me from every direction today.

The video that had gone up on YouTube showed me fighting Nightfiend Sword.

The camera was shaking all over the place trying to keep up with the movement, but every time the footage paused for a moment, my face came through clear enough that anyone could tell who it was.

“Let me see that for a sec.”

When I checked the comments, my high school and my name were already out there.

A peek at my own phone showed a fat stack of messenger notifications. Most of them were from my dad, Shin Kangheon, and Kim Bokja.

“...Yeah. That’s me.”

I didn’t see the point in denying it. No one would have believed me anyway, so I just nodded.

“Holy shit! You were that strong?”

“At this level, won’t one of the Eight Great Sects try to recruit you?”

“That video’s only been up a few hours and it’s already over a hundred thousand views. It’s definitely breaking five hundred thousand before the day’s over.”

“...”

I wanted to joke around lightly with them too, but nothing clever came to mind, so I just met each person’s eyes and nodded once.

That was enough to make the crowd scatter like the tide going out.

...Weren’t they trying to get closer to me?

With things quiet again, I replayed the YouTube clip and started reading through the comments.

I had a feeling this was going to get more annoying than I’d expected, given how big the reaction already was.

I should swing by home first and then go see my teacher.

Once all my classes were over,

I jumped straight out the third-floor window the moment homeroom ended.

Whoosh!

All I could think about was getting home fast before anything annoying kicked off.

But whether my reaction had been a little too slow, or the other side’s response had just been fast—

A limousine was parked right in front of the school gate, waiting for me.

“Hey? Isn’t that logo Azure Sky Sword Gate?”

“Yeah, it is. Why’s Azure Sky Sword Gate here?”

“Is it because of that video? The one where that martial artist fought our school’s upperclassman?”

I didn’t need to listen to the murmuring students walking past to know who was in that limousine.

The character for “Azure Sky,” with a sword laid horizontally across it.

The logo of Azure Sky Sword Gate, one of the Eight Great Sects, was emblazoned on the side of the car.

“So you’re Kim Muhyuk?”

A woman stepped out of the limousine and walked straight toward me.

Short hair down to her shoulders, long arms and legs, with the vibe of a runway model.

She was dressed in a sharp formal suit, but you could tell from her stride alone that she was no ordinary office worker.

“Can you spare me a little of your time?”

The disciple of Azure Sky Sword Gate who’d approached me gave me a friendly smile as she spoke.