Urban Vagabond: Reload

“Yoo-hoo~ Kim Muhyuk. When the hell did you get that close with Yang Hayun?”

Shin Kangheon didn’t miss a rare chance to tease Kim Muhyuk.

With his huge frame, he clasped his arms together and shyly twisted his body as he rubbed himself—more than enough to make anyone who saw it want to kill him.

“Prrromise...... I’ll keep it!”

If Yang Hayun had seen him doing that, she would’ve wrapped cold around both palms and charged at him on the spot, but luckily, her face had already gone red with embarrassment and she’d gone into the limousine with her master.

Instead, Song Junho and Oh Jungmin went stiff.

“Wow. I really want to kill him.”

“If you throw up before the exam, your condition gets worse.......”

Whether they said that or not, Shin Kangheon was too busy flaring his nostrils and teasing Kim Muhyuk.

“I thought you did nothing but train every day—since when? You little punk. They say the sneaky cat climbs up on the pot lid first.......”

Kim °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Muhyuk shoved the annoying Shin Kangheon away with his hand like he was swatting off a fly.

“It’s not ‘sneaky,’ it’s ‘quiet.’ And it’s not a pot lid, it’s a stove, you idiot. And I don’t even know her phone number.”

“Stop bullshitting~ I’ll keep it secret from Bokja, so just tell me. Yeah?”

“.......”

Kim Muhyuk didn’t answer and just looked toward Yang Hayun.

I wasn’t interested in other people, but it wasn’t like I was clueless. I could tell more than enough that Yang Hayun had feelings for me.

‘Is it because I helped her last time?’

We became comrades in a crisis where she almost got kidnapped, and we fought together until the end, so it wasn’t strange for special feelings to form.

Even when I was a vagabond, I’d often seen comrades lock eyes after coming back from missions that walked the line between life and death, then end up as lovers.

‘Most of those didn’t end well, though.......’

My gaze sank as a bitter past flashed through my mind.

I hated to say it to Yang Hayun, but right now, I didn’t have the emotional room to be interested in anything besides martial arts.

But that didn’t mean I planned to hurt her on purpose, either.

‘Kids that age change their feelings twelve times a day. If I leave it alone, it’ll fade on its own.’

Even if she liked me now, the moment someone better showed up, it would change—wasn’t that how kids’ hearts worked?

I decided to think about it simply. Time would solve it by itself.

“Tch. Boring bastard.”

When he didn’t get a reaction no matter how much he teased, Shin Kangheon’s interest cooled, and he stuck out his lips and grumbled.

And then a license exam staff member appeared and guided them.

“Participants who have completed identity verification, please follow me into the indoor training hall!”

Participants who’d been gathered in small groups began moving. Kim Muhyuk’s group moved as well, looking around.

“About a hundred people?”

“At first there were close to three thousand applicants...... There really aren’t many left.”

There were roughly a hundred martial artists who’d come to challenge the first-rate martial-artist license exam.

That was the number left after excluding those who’d earned the second-rate martial-artist license in the last exam but hadn’t recovered from injuries, or decided they lacked the ability and gave up.

“In the end, the number of people who stick it out and become first-rate experts averages about ten a year. And among those, the number who get the first-rate license on their first try is barely one person—if that.......”

Oh Jungmin gave a small, amused snort as he looked at the younger juniors.

“This year, I’ve got a bad feeling there’ll be at least three first-try passers.”

Kim Muhyuk. Shin Kangheon. Song Junho.

And Yang Hayun.

Anyone could see those four had a high chance of passing the first-rate expert test without trouble.

On top of that, Golden Glory Gate’s Pi Seunghwa and a few dark horses couldn’t be ignored.

Oh Jungmin couldn’t decide whether he was unlucky to be taking the exam with them, and at the same time, his heart raced at the thought of competing alongside the best generation.

“Just watch. I’ll pull off an upset as someone from a mid-tier sect!”

“I don’t even belong to a sect yet.”

“You’re older than us—why are you acting like you’re competing on the same level?”

“Anyone who fails the first-rate exam today gets kicked from the group chat.”

“Ah, damn...... you little punks......!”

Bickering like that, the four of them arrived at the indoor training hall.

An interior that could easily hold more than a thousand people.

A wide sparring platform had been set up in the center, and cameras were installed all over the place.

And behind the platform, on the opposite side from where the participants entered, invited VIPs from all walks of life filled the seats.

“This scale is insane.......”

“Isn’t this... too many people?”

“Look over there. The Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders are here too.”

At the highest seats, the Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders and their deputies radiated a heavy presence.

Most participants stared at them with eyes full of admiration, but Kim Muhyuk fixed a cold stare on one person.

‘The Sun and Moon Gate sect leader. He’s got the nerve to sit there.’

Not a trace of emotion showed on Jang Jinmyeong’s face.

If I hadn’t gone to GREAT HEAVEN GATE’s sites myself—if I hadn’t known their connection to Sun and Moon Gate—

And if I hadn’t heard the real reason the GREAT HEAVEN GATE sect leader disappeared from Hwang Suksu—

‘Even I would’ve been completely fooled.’

I would’ve looked at him with admiration, believing he was a martial artist worthy of orthodox respect. In my previous life, when I was young, I really did.

‘You’re such a disgusting human being that it’s shameful to even call you a martial artist.......’

If I could, I wanted to ask.

Even after climbing all the way to the position of sect leader of an Eight Great Sects member—what was still lacking that you committed crimes that vicious?

“I’ll find out soon enough.”

Muttering quietly, Kim Muhyuk’s gaze passed Jang Jinmyeong and moved to the sect leaders of Supreme Pole Sword Gate and Golden Glory Gate seated beside him.

‘How different are you?’

Kim Muhyuk didn’t believe all of the Eight Great Sects were in on it together.

They’d maintained a near-alliance relationship for a long time out of necessity, but each one had different beliefs, and each sect would pursue different things.

In fact, when the Heavenly Demon Cult turned the world upside down, some of the Eight Great Sects fought them head-on and suffered damage close to annihilation.

For example—

“Huh? Azure Sky Sword Gate’s sect leader came in person too!”

“Korea’s Number One Sword—!”

“Someone famous for barely ever showing up at events—why......?”

Participants started murmuring as they noticed Azure Sky Sword Gate’s sect leader arriving late.

Azure Sky Sword Gate’s sect leader was a white-haired old man of advanced age. His dim eyes and sluggish movements made him look like an elderly man with trouble walking, but the moment he approached, the heavy-seated sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects sprang to their feet and greeted him politely.

“Senior, you’ve come.”

“If you’d told us in advance, we would’ve gone out to greet you.”

“Please, sit over here.”

“Heh heh. What’s all this for an old man. Sit comfortably, sit.”

Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon.

As Azure Sky Sword Gate’s sect leader, he was an existence whose age was, at the most, nearly twice that of the other Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders.

“Now that I’m old, there’s nothing to do, and I got bored, so I came to take a look. Don’t mind me—stay comfortable.”

Sun and Moon Gate, Supreme Pole Sword Gate, Golden Glory Gate.

Among the Eight Great Sects, it was their unspoken tradition that only the sect leaders of the sects most likely to produce first-rate license earners among the younger generation would come to the exam.

You could call it consideration—so the relevant sect could get enough spotlight as the “main character.”

So this time as well, the other Eight Great Sects, despite the Martial Alliance Leader’s strong request, only sent deputies, making excuses like overseas schedules or training.

And yet Azure Sky Sword Gate’s sect leader suddenly appeared, so it wasn’t a normal situation.

Kim Muhyuk narrowed his brow and muttered.

“Why all of a sudden? Last time, they would’ve sent a deputy.......”

“What if he came to see the younger generation that started getting called the most outstanding generation since Richard Han appeared?”

At a voice I’d heard before, Kim Muhyuk turned his head, and a familiar face walked up with a smile.

“......Team Leader Bu Yeonha?”

“Long time no see. You’ve gotten ridiculously famous again, haven’t you?”

The team leader from Azure Sky Sword Gate’s scouting team who recognized Kim Muhyuk’s talent and tried multiple times to recruit him, only to fail in the end.

But today, Bu Yeonha wasn’t in a suit. With a bare face and a navy martial uniform with Azure Sky Sword Gate’s logo stitched in white, she looked different.

To Kim Muhyuk, it suited her much better.

“And I left the scouting team not too long ago. I’m a swordswoman in Azure Sky Sword Gate’s Second Sword Corps now.”

Bu Yeonha tapped her sword hilt a couple times and smiled with pride.

Kim Muhyuk also smiled in genuine welcome as he asked.

“Did you come to take the exam too?”

“How about you stop calling me ‘Team Leader’ so stiffly and call me ‘senior’ instead? And you still haven’t joined any sect, right?”

Even though she’d left the scouting team, she still looked like she wanted Kim Muhyuk.

Every rumor that drifted in about him was hard to believe.

Bu Yeonha lowered her voice and asked.

“I heard you stopped the assassin trying to kidnap Yang Hayun all by yourself. Is that true?”

Kim Muhyuk only gave a small smile. Bu Yeonha muttered, “So my eyes weren’t wrong after all......,” sounding regretful.

“You came to get the pinnacle-expert license, right?”

“Yeah. Ours got suspended in the middle last time too.”

Pinnacle experts were considered the elite combat power even among the Eight Great Sects.

That meant the exam’s difficulty was high and the qualifications strict, but it had gotten suspended near the end when chaos broke out.

In the end, only a few who’d been evaluated as top-tier in the previous exam got retest eligibility.

‘As expected.......’

Kim Muhyuk measured Bu Yeonha’s aura, sharper than before.

The fine hairs on the back of my hand prickled slightly, and Bu Yeonha noticed and gave a bright smile.

“Well, look at you? Measuring me again? If you’re going to do that, why don’t you just say it out loud and ask for a spar?”

“If I get the chance, even today.......”

That was when a booming voice interrupted their conversation.

“The Martial Alliance Leader is arriving! Everyone, please stand!”

A moment later, Martial Alliance Leader Yeo Pilgeuk fluttered his long outer robe and used a lightness technique as if flying, then slammed down onto the sparring platform.

THUD!

At the heavy sound he deliberately made, participants swallowed hard.

At the Martial Alliance Leader’s fierce gaze sweeping over the crowd, everyone held their breath, and the pressure that surpassed even the Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders made their shoulders hunch on its own.

‘He’s setting the mood on purpose.’

As the Alliance Leader brazenly revealed the aura of a supreme expert, the sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects—excluding Azure Sky Sword Elder—showed displeasure on their faces.

But the Alliance Leader didn’t care. He swept his eyes around once and opened his mouth.

“Good to see you again. Juniors who will brighten the future of orthodox martial society.”

He grinned.

When he smiled and loosened his pressure, the participants who’d been holding their breath could finally breathe properly.

“I don’t know how you spent the last few weeks. There were incidents everywhere—no time to think. There’ve been many bad things for martial society, and as Alliance Leader, my heart is heavy, and I deeply feel my responsibility.”

The Alliance Leader paused, then looked across the participants and put more force into his voice.

“However, just for today, I hope you think of it as a festival and enjoy it! In a crisis, for such outstanding younger talents to appear in droves—this can be called a blessing for Korean martial society!”

Martial Alliance Leader Yeo Pilgeuk.

The man called the King of Fists in Korean martial society started loosening his neck from side to side.

CRACK. CRACK-CRACK.

“The first-rate license exam and the pinnacle-expert license exam will be conducted in the simplest way possible. If things go fast, it may all be over within an hour.”

“Huh?”

“An hour?”

As everyone panicked at the unexpected words, Yeo Pilgeuk took off his outer robe and threw it off the platform.

Over his white martial uniform, the outline of a body tempered like steel was revealed, and a few quick ones muttered with pale faces.

“N-no way.......”

“Come on. No way.......”

“That’s impossible.......”

In that moment, Yeo Pilgeuk stood at the center of the platform and stomped down hard.

KABOOOOM!

A quake-like vibration spread in every direction. It was strong enough that you could feel even the building shaking from a single stomp.

“The exam content is a spar with this Alliance Leader. For first-rate, if you withstand three techniques, you pass. For pinnacle expert, if you withstand ten techniques, you pass.”

“......!”

“......!”

While everyone stayed frozen in shock, Yeo Pilgeuk lightly curled his fist and declared to the participants.

“Don’t worry too much. This Alliance Leader won’t go all-out.”

If someone died, that would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?

Muttering a joke that sounded almost serious, the Martial Alliance Leader crafted a terrifying atmosphere.

“Now, who’ll go first?”

Normally, sparring with the Martial Alliance Leader itself would’ve been an honor.

But today, seeing that fist that looked especially huge, the younger talents swallowed dryly.

‘Going first is a bit.......’

‘Still, wouldn’t it be better to go after he’s lost a little strength?’

Most of them thought that way and hesitated, unable to step forward easily.

“Me! Definitely me!”

“I would like to go first.”

Two people raised their hands as if they’d been waiting.