Urban Vagabond: Reload

[Today’s exam is “one-arm, one-eye, one-leg sparring”!]

The third event of the license exam was a match fought inside a circle with a diameter of four meters.

Each participant had to cover one eye, balance on one leg, and use only one hand to wield their weapon.

If you knocked your opponent down or pushed them outside the circle, you won.

If both feet touched the ground at the same time, or you used both arms during the match, you were disqualified.

[This exam comprehensively evaluates your adaptability to variable situations, your ability to maintain physical balance, and your individual judgment under pressure.]

Despite Black-White’s kind explanation, complaints started spilling out of the applicants’ mouths.

“People who normally fight with a sword or a blade in one hand might be fine, but martial artists who use heavy weapons or dual weapons are being one-sidedly handicapped, aren’t they?”

“I learned a martial art where fast footwork is the most important thing. And now you’re telling me not to use one of my legs.”

“Ha, there isn’t a single exam this year that’s actually fair....”

While grumbling burst out all over the place, I stood there alone and scratched my head.

The third exam is the easiest one.

In my previous life, I’d survived twenty years as a vagabond despite losing one eye as a side effect of the artificial dantian procedure.

I’d lost the use of one arm or one leg so many times I couldn’t even count anymore.

I’d fought with a broken arm sloppily splinted in place with a strip of cloth, and I’d once busted through an encirclement and escaped, hopping on one leg like a cripple....

Put simply, these conditions didn’t even qualify as handicaps to me.

“If we’re ready, can we start right away?”

I was the first to step forward, the only one with zero complaints about the exam.

On the opposite side, a burly middle-aged man stepped out wearing a confident expression.

“I’m Kim Cheolwoo of Iron Sword House. Back in the day I ran around as a vagabond and went through everything there is to go through. You look pretty young—ever fought like this before?”

“Vagabond?”

At the word vagabond, my eyes lit up with a flicker of welcome.

Most vagabonds never manage to escape the underworld.

If he’d come all the way here to take the license exam, it looked like his life had turned out pretty well.

I’m kind of looking forward to this.

I hid the faint flutter of excitement and offered my opponent a clasped-fist salute.

“I’m Kim Muhyuk. I’ll be in your care.”

“Sure. Give it everything you’ve got from the start so you don’t have any regrets.”

We each tied a blindfold over one eye and picked up our weapons.

The instant Black-White gave the word to begin, Kim Cheolwoo let out a shout and charged first.

“Ta-hat!”

Maybe nobody expected someone to go in that headlong while balancing on one leg, because the martial artists watching started murmuring.

I waited for him to come in range—then kicked off the ground and leapt hard into the air.

“Idiot! All I have to do is mess up your landing and the win is mine, kid!”

My opponent swung his sword in a big arc, like he’d been waiting for that.

In his eyes, I could see he’d already decided I was an inexperienced rookie.

But reality was the exact opposite.

Swish!

Still in midair, I tucked and rolled into a somersault, slipping past his attack.

With my head pointed toward the ground, I stabbed my sword down and struck the floor.

Using the rebound, I sprang up one more time, flipped over his back, and drove my foot into the middle of his spine.

“Hu-ugh!”

While Kim Cheolwoo flailed and lost his balance, I landed lightly on one foot.

Then I tapped the back of his knee with the flat of my blade, knocking his balance completely out from under him.

“Guh-uhk!”

He crashed down on his ass in an ugly heap.

Watching him, I couldn’t help making a bit of a baffled face.

“You did say you used to be a vagabond....”

You couldn’t even block that?

There was one thing I was failing to recognize properly.

My internal yardstick was set to me before regression—

In other words, to the absolute top tier among vagabonds.

Guess he wasn’t a real vagabond after all.

I couldn’t quite hide the disappointment in my eyes as I clasped my fists to him again.

“That was a good experience.”

“Ggh... N-no, I’m the one who learned a lot.”

The people who’d watched that whole process weren’t just impressed—they were flat-out dumbfounded.

The martial artists who’d just watched my movements—

A kind of circus act pulled off using only one leg and one arm—

Just blinked for a moment before they slowly started opening their mouths.

“That didn’t even take five seconds, did it?”

“He really is a monster....”

“Can’t we just send that guy straight to the first-rate exam?”

Complaints were already turning into “just promote him upward” protests when Black-White 13 walked over to me to offer congratulations.

[Congratulations. You’re the first in my group to achieve three straight wins, aren’t you?]

They personally pinned a badge marked with (三) onto my chest.

[I’m proud of you myself. I’d say your speed is among the top even out of all the exam participants.]

“What do I do now?”

At my question, Black-White 13 chuckled.

[For now, just wait a bit and enjoy watching the other matches. The second-rate license exam will only start once all the successful applicants are gathered up anyway.]

I nodded and, as naturally as possible, glanced sideways at Black-White 13 standing next to me, then tossed out a question like a casual comment.

“...By the way, this fog. It isn’t dangerous?”

[Is there something in particular you’re worried about?]

I watched the fog, thickening and thinning over and over like it was a living creature.

Quite a bit of time had passed since the license exam began, but for thousands of people to be inside the same space, it was almost unbelievably quiet.

“It feels like this fog blocks not just sight, but sound and smell too. I was thinking... someone could die in here and nobody would ever know.”

[Excuse me? Hahaha! That’s a pretty grim joke. The Martial Alliance controls the license exam very thoroughly, so there’s no chance of anything like that.]

Really?

I had my doubts, but I didn’t ask any more questions.

If I tried to dig too deeply into the details now and something did happen later, I’d look more suspicious than anyone.

And it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it right this second anyway... I’ll have to wait and see until the second-rate exam.

I watched the other martial artists’ matches, thinking about an incident that would take place in the near future.

“Hyaaaap!”

“I can’t accept that! I demand a rematch!”

“If it weren’t for the injury I took earlier....”

As the exam went on—built around unfamiliar conditions and a strange match format—people’s real ability started to show.

Martial artists who would have passed easily under the old system were failing, and others everyone thought would drop out were pulling off wins.

But even if your inner power was a little lacking, even if you’d only learned a third-rate art—in the end, isn’t winning a fight the most certain way for a martial artist to prove themself?

“This is how it should be.”

I crossed my arms and nodded seriously, and Black-White 13 snickered.

[Participant Kim Muhyuk, you really are an interesting one. If this weren’t this sort of setting, I’d honestly want to get to know you personally.]

“Me?”

I looked at them with a face that said I had no idea why, and Black-White shook with barely suppressed laughter.

[I get the feeling we’re the same kind of person. The way you’re trying so hard to hide your true nature and look like a meek little righteous-path late-bloom prospect... It’s funny, I guess? Ah, was that rude of me?]

“Not particularly.”

I stared quietly at Black-White 13.

The eyes gleaming with interest behind the mask were too fierce to call friendly, but too gentle to call hostile as they rested on me.

Only now did I start to understand why I’d felt vaguely uncomfortable every time I noticed their gaze on me.

Turns out this one is more like a vagabond than anyone.

I was curious about the true face behind the Black-White mask, but instead I hunched my shoulders like I was embarrassed by the compliment and gave a salute.

“Thank you for the kind evaluation. I’ll work even harder.”

[Hahaha! Right up to the end.... Anyway, I’ll be looking forward to what you do next. You’re fun to watch, Participant Kim Muhyuk.]

Still chuckling, Black-White turned their head and addressed the participants whose matches had wrapped up.

[All right, looks like most of the matches are decided. Those of you who lost, please follow the Black-White over there. Those of you who won, follow me!]

It seemed Black-White 13 was in charge of the winners’ group only.

They gathered up everyone who’d gotten three wins and personally pinned badges on each of us, then spoke.

[Congratulations on passing the third-rate martial-artist license exam. From this point, you have two options.]

When Black-White stretched both arms out to left and right, letters appeared above each hand.

Floating in the air by their left hand were the bright letters .

[The first is to be satisfied with this and head home. Please understand that if your injuries are too severe, we may decide to send you back on our own authority.]

At the tip of their right hand, a bright appeared in the air.

[The second is to stay and challenge the second-rate license exam. I’ll say this in advance: obviously, it’ll be harder than what you’ve been through so far, and your chances of getting injured will go up.]

Most of the participants looked back and forth between left and right, then moved toward without much hesitation.

“I’ll stay and take the next exam.”

“I’m not going home satisfied as a third-rate martial artist!”

“Let’s go take the next test!”

Most of the people who came to the license exam were martial artists who wanted to prove themselves.

Aside from those who were injured badly enough they had no choice, it was rare for anyone to voluntarily bow out and leave in the middle.

[Haha! Then I’ll take it that everyone here agrees to take the second-rate license exam. Let’s move right away!]

*****

Following Black-White through the fog again, we eventually came out into a wide space that looked like the Grand Training Ground.

[[Welcome. I am Black-White 1, in charge of the second-rate martial-artist license exam.]]

An individual wearing a Black-White mask with horns sprouting from the forehead stood with hands clasped behind their back on a high platform, waiting for us.

[[Until all those who passed the third-rate license exam have gathered here, please relax and rest as you like.]]

I slowly looked around.

The number of people was still small, but as befitted those who’d cleared the third-rate exam quickly, most wore confident expressions and had sharp auras.

“They should’ve been here already, though....”

I craned my neck, looking around for someone.

Originally, I’d planned to go looking for them as soon as the exam started, but since the contents of the exam were completely different from last year, I hadn’t managed to make contact at all.

Don’t tell me something’s already happened.

In my previous life, around this time I’d completely lost interest in martial arts.

It was the period after I’d been judged constitution-incompatible and given up on my dream.

So I didn’t know the details of the exam in advance, but I did remember one incident big enough to be on the news.

An unforeseen accident during the license exam caused casualties.

One promising late-bloom prospect from the Eight Great Sects had taken wounds that left them permanently ruined.

Because of that, the Martial Alliance Leader’s authority had been further reduced, and a few years later he’d been forced to resign in disgrace.

That was as much of the future as I knew.

At first, I told myself it wasn’t really any of my business....

But after hearing what Sword Demon had to say about the Alliance Leader, my thinking shifted a little.

—The Leader works day and night for Korean martial society. It’s thanks to him that a misbegotten bastard like me could operate inside the righteous path. When I was framed, he tried everything he could to help me, too....

That was how Choi Geon evaluated Yeo Pilgeuk, the Martial Alliance Leader.

A man who tried to show martial artists the right road to walk, so he could build a world that was even a little more peaceful.

A foolish man who endured pressure from the Eight Great Sects and held on to his position so he could protect righteous heroes.

—I still feel like I ran away alone. I’ve always been sorry about that.

After hearing that story, I decided the Alliance Leader at least wasn’t someone connected to the Heavenly Demon Cult—and that, if possible, I should try to stop the accident during this exam.

Right then, along with a new group, the person I’d been looking for arrived at the Grand Training Ground.

“...Found you.”

But just as I started walking toward my target, a massive shadow fell over me from behind.