Urban Vagabond: Reload

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA!

The helicopter carrying the injured lifted back up into the air.

The Tamra Alliance fighters—bodies stiff as boards from pressure-point strikes—stared blankly at the helicopter shrinking into the distance.

“Serves you right. You trash pieces of shit.”

From inside the helicopter, Shin Kangheon looked down at them with a satisfied expression.

In the distance, police cars came racing in with sirens screaming.

AZURE SKY SWORD GATE had requested cooperation from the police and the Martial Alliance Jeju Branch, so the investigation and arrests would move forward without delay.

“At minimum, they’re rotting in prison for ten years. Even if it all happened in the martial-world underworld, too many people died.”

Kim Bokja spoke in a cynical voice. Apricot, tucked snugly in her arms, trembled while staring out the window, like it was afraid of heights.

PYAAAK...

“You’re a bird and you’re scared of heights? What’re you going to do later when you grow up and you’re supposed to fly me around?”

PYAAK-PYAAK-PYAAK!

“Argh! That hurts!”

After getting his hand viciously pecked for messing around, Shin Kangheon sighed and complained.

“Seriously, this one was brutal too. If it had gone just a little wrong, I really could’ve died....”

As Shin Kangheon replayed those hair-thin moments—skirmishing with Tamra Alliance fighters in a drawn-out hit-and-run—his expression turned awkward.

Because he’d spotted Kim Muhyuk’s miserable condition, sitting there with his eyes closed on the seat across from him.

“...I almost died too, but this crazy bastard looks like he actually died and crawled back. You okay?”

Shin Kangheon stretched out his foot and nudged Kim Muhyuk’s shin.

Kim Muhyuk flinched, cracked one eye open, and glared at him.

“Ugh.... I’m going to kill you, you lunatic....”

A vein bulged at Kim Muhyuk’s temple as he glared.

Now that the fight was over and the tension had drained out of him, all the pain he’d been holding off surged in at once.

On top of that, he’d dragged in Phantom Dream’s aura and used it, so the inside of his body was a complete wreck.

If he went to a hospital, he’d be flat on his back for at least a week.

“Tsk.... I’m still jealous, though.”

Shin Kangheon stared at Phantom Dream in Kim Muhyuk’s arms like he couldn’t hide it.

If it looked even a little like a saber, that would’ve been nice—but even some snot-nosed neighborhood kid would point at that and say it was a sword.

“Hey. Just in case, hand it over for a second. What if it’s got a feature where it changes shape to match its owner or something!”

“I don’t even want to breathe the same air as an idiot, so get lost.”

That was when Kim Bokja, with an uneasy look, alternated her gaze between Kim Muhyuk and Phantom Dream and asked,

“But, Kim Muhyuk. Are you really fine?”

She’d heard enough about Phantom Dream’s ability—bewitching people with hallucinations and controlling them—to be wary.

Kim Muhyuk tapped the blade with his palm like it was nothing.

“I’m fine for now. It said it was tired and fell back asleep. Later, it might start acting up again... but it’ll probably be fine.”

“I hate how that sounds. When we get back, I’m making a sealing scabbard first.”

After shooting Phantom Dream a wary glare, Kim Bokja looked to Kim Muhyuk’s side and asked,

“This guy is Gu Hyeonwoo, right?”

Next to Kim Muhyuk, Gu Hyeonwoo was slumped back against the seat, asleep like the world didn’t exist.

They’d done the bare minimum for emergency treatment, but his pale face looked worse than Kim Muhyuk’s.

In front of him sat a cooler with his severed right arm inside.

Kim Muhyuk nodded, and his expression darkened.

“He lost too much blood. And he kept moving and fighting even after his arm was cut off....”

Bu Yeonha—who’d been talking with the pilot in the front—turned around and said,

“There’s a heliport on the roof of the Martial Alliance Jeju Branch. We’ll go there first, do a transfusion, and start reattachment surgery too.”

Bu Yeonha’s eyes checked Gu Hyeonwoo’s condition in detail, then carefully examined the cut surface below his right shoulder.

“We won’t know until we try, but... I’m worried whether he has the stamina to endure it in his current state.”

“He’ll endure it. He has a daughter at home. The only one he’s got.”

Kim Muhyuk planned to contact Gu Hyeonwoo’s big, heavyset manager as soon as they arrived at the hospital and tell him to bring Gu Jiu.

Because Gu Hyeonwoo was the kind of man who’d come back even from hell if he heard his daughter’s voice.

“Do not worry so much.”

Na Ilcheon—arms crossed, quietly lost in thought until now—finally spoke.

“I have already contacted the best doctor I know. He said he will fly in immediately, so he will arrive soon. He is someone who has done reattachment surgery so many times it is routine—he will save him properly.”

Kim Muhyuk performed a fist-palm salute to Na Ilcheon.

“In the chaos, I couldn’t even thank you properly. Thank you—truly—for coming, sect leader.”

“...Mm.”

Na Ilcheon nodded, but his expression looked strangely troubled.

More precisely, it had been that way since the moment he’d seen Phantom Dream—like Kim Muhyuk was holding it in his arms.

After a short silence, Na Ilcheon finally addressed the sword.

“Do not take this the wrong way. That sword in your hands... it carries a chillingly ominous aura.”

WOOOONG—!

As if agreeing, the Namcheon Sword at Na Ilcheon’s waist vibrated.

Maybe it was because it was a sacred weapon that contained demon-subduing force, but it seemed to react even more sensitively.

Kim Muhyuk nodded without resisting the point.

“You’re right. This one is a cursed sword that’s grown by drinking people’s blood. It was probably the Tamra Alliance alliance leader’s intention.”

“...I will ask just one more thing.”

Na Ilcheon’s expression hardened further, and he asked in a cool voice that felt like an interrogation.

“From the beginning... was that why you asked me to teach you how to handle a cursed sword? To obtain that sword?”

This time Kim Muhyuk let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“No. There’s no way. I came to Jeju Island to travel and I heard a strange rumor by chance. Swordsmen were disappearing one by one, and I couldn’t just ignore it....”

It felt bad lying to Na Ilcheon and Bu Yeonha—after all, they’d even flown in on a private jet to help—but here, there was no other choice.

If I tell the whole truth, I have to say I regressed too.

After finishing his explanation, Kim Muhyuk slowly stroked Phantom Dream’s blade and concluded,

“...Maybe from the start, I was destined to meet this sword.”

Fortunately, Na Ilcheon didn’t look deeply suspicious.

And the word “destined” seemed to land, at least a little.

Among martial artists, there was an old saying: to obtain a sacred weapon, you needed a connection from a past life.

“Destiny, hm.... The one I intended to make the successor of the Namcheon Sword shows up holding a cursed sword with an unclean aura. From my side, that is quite a nasty destiny.”

Na Ilcheon joked with a slightly loosened expression, then asked again,

“Have you given that sword a name?”

“I named it Phantom Dream.”

“...May I touch it once?”

Kim Muhyuk raised the sword with both hands and carefully handed it over.

He wasn’t worried Na Ilcheon would fall victim to Phantom Dream.

No matter what Phantom Dream was, it couldn’t invade the mind of a supreme master like Na Ilcheon.

“Hoh....”

Na Ilcheon accepted Phantom Dream and examined it closely.

The blade—red as if it had been soaked in blood and pulled back out—drew an involuntary exclamation.

And the edge, holding a cold killing edge, looked like it wouldn’t be damaged even if it collided head-on with the Namcheon Sword at full power.

Ssssssh......

Even so, the faint evil aura leaking out made Na Ilcheon knit his brow.

At a glance, it radiated an overwhelmingly dangerous presence.

It’s quiet right now, but it’s like a feral beast that could erupt at any moment.

As the sect leader of AZURE SKY SWORD GATE—and the owner of the Namcheon Sword—Na Ilcheon even thought it might be better to seal this sword away and isolate it from the world entirely.

But after thinking it through, Na Ilcheon decided not to.

“...You must handle it carefully.”

“I’ll remember that.”

When Kim Muhyuk received Phantom Dream back, he released a quiet breath of relief.

If Na Ilcheon had decided to seal it, there would’ve been nothing Kim Muhyuk could do right now.

Na Ilcheon watched Kim Muhyuk quietly hugging the sword like it was precious, and smiled.

“Heh-heh-heh— Is it that good?”

“I think it is... because I suffered to get it.”

Looking at the martial artist and sword—already like a pair that belonged together—Na Ilcheon smiled softly.

He could feel it.

Kim Muhyuk’s qi had changed again compared to before.

Hoh. He’s improved again in the time it took me to blink?

For a moment, Na Ilcheon thought the word “monster” might fit the owner better than the sword.

That was how much Kim Muhyuk was a martial artist worth watching.

Somehow, if it’s you... even that dangerous-looking cursed sword might end up walking the path you want it to walk—together with you.

So Na Ilcheon returned Phantom Dream without saying anything more.

Because Na Ilcheon wanted to keep watching the road Kim Muhyuk was going to walk.

And also because of a disturbing premonition that, even if Na Ilcheon took it now, it would be taken back someday anyway....

WOOOONG—!

As if it had read its owner’s heart, the Namcheon Sword’s blade shuddered.

But if a sword could read its owner’s heart, then its owner could read the sword’s heart too.

“...Hm? Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

Since the Namcheon Sword’s spirit still hadn’t appeared even once, it felt like it was sulking pretty hard.

Probably because Kim Muhyuk was doting on another sword.

When Na Ilcheon burst into laughter, the Namcheon Sword trembled for a long while as if throwing a fit.

“Grandpa. What’s going to happen to the Tamra Alliance from here?”

At Bu Yeonha’s question, Na Ilcheon looked at the Jeju scenery beyond the window and said,

“We will have to investigate the alliance leader. There is much evidence, so no matter who he is, it will not be easy for him to slip away.”

The Tamra Alliance, the largest martial-world force on Jeju Island, was a coalition of local sects.

Meaning: huge influence, but not a single solid organization like each of the Eight Great Sects.

“I’ve seen the Tamra Alliance alliance leader a few times. He was a greedy man. I didn’t think he’d do something this reckless, but....”

“Sect leader—do you think the Tamra Alliance alliance leader did this purely out of personal greed?”

At Kim Muhyuk’s question, Na Ilcheon slowly nodded.

“In any organization, it is always a small number of greedy power-holders who cause problems.”

It had been the same with Sun and Moon Gate.

The only people who knew the truth behind the horrific incidents Jang Jinmyeong caused were him and the hands and feet that served him.

Everyone else—most of the martial artists—didn’t even know exactly what they were doing, and simply fought because they were ordered to.

“A manhunt order will go out soon, so we will hear something shortly. If he’s fled across the sea, it will become complicated, but....”

Right now, there wasn’t even room to think about that and act on it.

Not long after, they reached the heliport, and from there they moved straight to the hospital.

*****

“GHHK— ....”

Blood running from both eyes, nose, and mouth dyed an old man’s beard red.

It was from the poison that had spread through his whole body.

With his face twisted like a demon, the old man staggered and glared at the one who had poisoned him.

“Y-you... I’ll tear you apart...!”

The Tamra Alliance alliance leader, Lee Cheonhong.

An old man who’d chased a hollow dream: forging an unprecedented sacred weapon and overturning the balance of the Korean martial world.

Clutching his chest, he shook.

“I’m sorry. We figured you need to die, so the sparks don’t fly back onto us.”

Oho spoke indifferently as he flicked bits of torn flesh off his fingernails.

Around him, what had been the Tamra Alliance alliance leader’s escort fighters lay ripped to pieces.

“How dare you... betray... me...!”

“This happened at the underground arena event we hosted. If you run, won’t the Martial Alliance and the police start digging through everything and everywhere?”

With a businesslike smile, Oho walked up to Lee Cheonhong.

Looking down at the helpless old man collapsed on the floor and sucking in his final breaths, Oho continued.

“And if that drags our Blood Tiger Gang into it, that becomes a problem. This was something you started, alliance leader—so in the spirit of taking responsibility, you should wrap it up neatly.”

“Ghhk! In the first place, you bastards were the ones who— GHHK—!”

Lee Cheonhong vomited blood in a gush, convulsed in agony, rolled his eyes back, and died.

“Dirty old bastard to the very end.”

Oho shrugged off his jacket splattered with blood and tossed it into a trash can, then roughly loosened his tie.

Lee Cheonhong would be framed as having despaired at his plan failing and committing suicide by poison.

There would be a “will” written in his handwriting—confessing to everything.

A few Tamra Alliance executives, recently squeezed for money, would provide testimony against him.

In the investigation, no evidence linking the Blood Tiger Gang to this incident would be found.

Because Oho had personally cleaned up every last trace.

“.......”

And yet, an unease of unknown origin surfaced on Oho’s face.

It wasn’t about the Blood Tiger Gang’s financial losses, and it wasn’t about risk management.

BZZZZZT—

A vibration went off right on cue.

Oho pulled out his smartphone, checked the caller, and answered.

“Yes. Boss.”

[What about the Tamra Alliance alliance leader?]

“I just handled it. I’ll package it cleanly and put it outside.”

[Good work. Come back. We’ll talk when you’re here.]

Normally, Oho would’ve answered, “Yes,” and ended the call.

The Blood Tiger Gang boss wasn’t someone who liked questions.

Even if, in private, they addressed each other like brothers, when it came to business, they wanted not a single emotion mixed in.

“Boss. No—big brother.”

But this time, Oho couldn’t hold it back.

“What the hell is that damned sword?”

At Oho’s furious voice, a long silence fell on the other end of the line.