Urban Vagabond: Reload

By the time Kim Muhyuk snapped out of his concentration on the simulator, several hours had already flown by.

He rose from his seat and said, “I should get going.”

“You’re leaving already? Why? We haven’t even run the simulator five hundred times yet. We need at least a thousand runs before we can calculate data with a margin of error useful in real combat!”

The fervent speech of an excited nerd carried enough force to make even a pinnacle expert hesitate for a moment.

“......Do you know what time it is? We haven’t even eaten dinner because of this.”

Kim Muhyuk clicked his tongue as he looked out the window of the semi-basement studio, where darkness had settled thickly.

[Anomaly Hunt Simulator ver3]

The screen overflowed with brick-like blocks of text, and it was hard to call the game fun in any popular sense.

But to a small handful of maniacs, and to experts like Kim Muhyuk who had real combat experience, it had an appeal that was impossible not to fall into.

Its developer, Jung Minhyun, clung to Kim Muhyuk’s sleeve.

“Can’t you do just one hundred more runs before you go? It’s only just starting to get fun....... I’ll cook you cup noodles later!”

“You want us to stay up all night doing this while eating cup noodles?”

“It’s a semi-basement anyway, so morning and night look the same in here.”

“You really won’t do.”

Kim Muhyuk grabbed the wrist Jung Minhyun was using to pull at him. The skinny body was dragged along like a paper doll.

“Come outside with me.”

“Uh, uhhhh? Outside where? You really are going to harvest my organs and sell them......!”

Kim Muhyuk opened the front door while practically tucking Jung Minhyun, who was desperately resisting, under one arm.

“To eat.”

“I don’t go outside on days I don’t have classes! I haven’t even posted my regular thread on the gallery today—!”

Kim Muhyuk forced the flailing Jung Minhyun into his car and took him to a nearby family restaurant.

Once they arrived, Jung Minhyun swallowed and smacked his lips.

“VIPS....... You’re really buying?”

“Is this your first time here?”

“I’ve been here twice with my mom and dad, okay?”

Kim Muhyuk was reminded all over again that Jung Minhyun was only an eighteen-year-old boy.

A boy with genius-level talent in the field he loved, but clumsy and immature in every other way.

To Kim Muhyuk, who remembered him as a weathered anomaly hunter worn down by the world, Jung Minhyun’s current self was simply fascinating.

“Order as much as you want.”

“Hehehe. Don’t regret it. I’m going to eat like a Gluttony Anomaly!”

He was no anomaly, but for someone with a body as thin as a branch, he ate better than expected.

Jung Minhyun chattered nonstop about anomalies without caring what anyone around him thought.

“It’s almost like an urban legend, but they say there’s an anomaly that looks human and eats a ridiculous amount. That thing’s called a Gluttony Anomaly, but the problem is you can’t tell it apart from food-streaming YouTubers. The way you distinguish the two is.......”

“If food flies at me while you’re talking with your mouth full, you die.”

“......Gulp! So the method is!”

Kim Muhyuk let most of it go in one ear and out the other, keeping the conversation going with just enough responses.

“By the way, do you even know my name?”

“It said Kim Muhyuk on the account transfer. Isn’t that right?”

“Ha, your social skills are seriously.......”

Only then did the two finally learn each other’s names, ages, and the like.

“Twenty? We’re only two years apart! If we’d been college classmates, I would’ve dropped formal speech.”

“You want to drop your lifeline first?”

“......No. But what college do you go to?”

“I only graduated high school.”

“Sorry.......”

Thanks to that, the rest of the meal was pleasantly quiet.

After they finished eating, Kim Muhyuk transferred another one million won into Jung Minhyun’s account.

“Is giving people money your hobby......?”

As Jung Minhyun stared blankly at his ever-growing account balance, Kim Muhyuk laid out the calculation exactly.

“Payment for using the simulator. I counted it as one hundred thousand won per day and added a little extra.”

“But I posted this on the gallery for free.”

“When you get back, take all the posts down and keep updating it by yourself. The details are still lacking, but if you improve it enough.......”

Anomaly Hunt Simulator.

Right now, it was nothing more than a crude pixel game made by anomaly nerds gathering together.

But once experts from each field had a hand in it, the simulator’s quality would rise far higher.

For example, if I discuss spellcraft attacks and trap strategies with Bokja, and physical attacks and pattern strategies with Teacher, it’ll become much more accurate.

Perhaps Jung Minhyun in his previous life had thought along similar lines too.

But as a third-rate anomaly hunter, there was no way he could have found high-level manpower like that. Maybe the idea had stayed just an idea, buried inside his laptop.

And if he showed something like that carelessly in the underworld martial world, it could have been stolen from him before he was killed, so he must have been even more cautious.

But things were different now.

Now that Kim Muhyuk knew the simulator existed, Jung Minhyun’s future was certain to change.

“You. Start a partnership with me.”

“......?”

“That Anomaly Hunt Simulator you made. We bring in experts and improve it together to make it as realistic as possible. Not just a simple game, but something that can be applied directly to anomaly hunts in real time.”

“Whoa....... Seriously?”

Jung Minhyun looked like he could not believe it, but as far as Kim Muhyuk was concerned, the idea had more than enough potential.

He was planning to apply it to the Giant Tree Ghost hunt right away.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about business either. But I can guarantee this. That simulator will make you rich in the future.”

“Gulp.......”

Especially if Kim Muhyuk proved the practical value of Anomaly Hunt Simulator to some degree in the upcoming Giant Tree Ghost hunt.

In the future, simply charging the Martial Alliance or the Eight Great Sects monthly usage fees would be enough to generate large, steady profits.

The current Kim Muhyuk had the connections and influence to make that entirely possible.

“Of course, I’m not forcing you. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He framed it as a partnership, but Kim Muhyuk had another real reason for making this offer to Jung Minhyun.

Don’t become an anomaly hunter when it doesn’t suit you. Become a scholar who can study anomalies in a comfortable environment.

That would be far better for Jung Minhyun, for his family, and for the world as well.

Jung Minhyun did not think long before accepting.

“I’ll do it!”

“......Just like that? You should at least negotiate the conditions first. How do you trust me?”

“Honestly, you could just take it by force if you wanted, but you’re offering a partnership. That makes you seem trustworthy enough, doesn’t it?”

“You’re strangely realistic at times like this.”

Jung Minhyun’s eyes were already starting to shine, as if he were imagining his future as a rich man.

“Actually, there’s a ton of research I haven’t been able to do because I don’t have money. I could buy expensive equipment, get components from the black market, go overseas and research things in person, and also.......”

The thing he wanted to do after earning a lot of money was study anomalies even more. He really was a boy utterly obsessed with anomalies.

Kim Muhyuk took out a Blue Wolves business card and handed it to Jung Minhyun.

“Blue Wolves Office?”

“Come here next time. I’ll tell them you’re a guest member for now.”

“Is it like a club?”

“You’ll know when you see it for yourself.”

After they finished discussing the partnership, Kim Muhyuk drove Jung Minhyun back to the front of his home.

“Eat proper meals. And clean your place once in a while.”

“You’re only two years older than me, and you’re already nagging.......”

Jung Minhyun was still a little afraid of Kim Muhyuk, but he looked far more comfortable than he had at first.

Even as he saw Kim Muhyuk off, he kept chattering about anomalies until the very end.

“But, Muhyuk! What are you going to do about the items we used for the Weakness Strategy earlier that are banned from import?”

Kim Muhyuk, who had started the car, thought for a moment before answering.

“I’ll ask someone who can get them.”

Hwang Suksu could probably get most of them somehow, but a few were items strictly banned from being brought in from overseas.

Fortunately, Kim Muhyuk had one connection who knew this kind of overseas direct purchase inside and out.

After entering his next destination into the navigation, Kim Muhyuk said to Jung Minhyun, “I’m going, then.”

Jung Minhyun stood there waving until Kim Muhyuk’s car disappeared from sight. In his hand was the branch from the Giant Tree Ghost, given to him as a souvenir.

“Muhyuk! Call me if you need another consultation—!”

Kim Muhyuk gave a faint laugh as the voice behind him grew farther and farther away.

*****

Late at night.

A car quietly entered the underground parking garage of the Cheonghwa Group building.

“You’re here.”

When Kim Muhyuk stepped out of the car wearing a Blue Wolf mask, martial artists who had been contacted in advance approached from the darkness.

They’re all pinnacle experts?

As Kim {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Muhyuk tensed, the martial artists walking toward him grinned. One of them spoke first with a smile.

“Wolf. It’s been a while.”

Kim Muhyuk found the blood-red tiger tattoo writhing on the man’s forearm and lowered his guard.

“Were you with us at the Black Night Gang?”

“That’s right. I’m Eighth Tiger. I owe you one.”

“I’m Twelfth Tiger. Tough friend.”

“Sixteenth Tiger. Feels like you’ve gotten stronger since last time.”

The Blood Tigers who had gone with him to the Black Night Gang last time had come out to meet him.

Contrary to their rough presence, they all treated Kim Muhyuk with friendly smiles and attitudes.

“The boss is waiting upstairs. We’ll guide you ourselves.”

When the Blood Tigers spread out to his left and right as if escorting some special guest, Kim Muhyuk’s expression turned sour.

Why do they keep acting so familiar with me?

Ever since Kim Muhyuk stepped forward to fight the Black Night Gang boss in place of the Blood Tigers, they had begun treating him warmly.

But Kim Muhyuk himself did not feel particularly pleased.

He had long since decided to live as a clean member of the orthodox faction. Being treated like some big shot of the unorthodox faction made him distinctly uncomfortable.

“We’re here already. This is as far as we go.”

“Next time, take off the mask and have a drink with us, friend.”

“Call us anytime you need us.”

Kim Muhyuk stepped straight into the reception room before they could go any further and suggest swearing brotherhood.

Inside, Oho was waiting with an artificial smile.

“It feels like it’s been quite a while since I saw you. Though in reality, it hasn’t been long.”

“Did you tell the Blood Tigers to come meet me?”

“They all wanted to do it themselves. They seem to like you quite a bit.”

“Damn it.”

Kim Muhyuk grumbled as he took off the Blue Wolf mask he had been wearing.

“We’re both busy, so I’ll skip the preamble and get straight to the point.”

“......Hmm.”

Oho looked at Kim Muhyuk with a slightly tense expression.

Recently, the Blood Tiger Gang had been in chaos absorbing the territory of the destroyed Black Heaven Society.

They also had to watch the mood of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, whose nerves were on edge, while staying wary of the Martial Alliance, whose standing had recently grown.

In the middle of all this, Kim Muhyuk’s visit felt fairly significant.

Did he come with a message from the Martial Alliance? They aren’t planning to strike another one of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, are they? If that’s the case.......

Until now, the orthodox and unorthodox factions of the Korean martial world had maintained an appropriate balance.

But with the collapse of the Black Heaven Society, that balance had crumbled to a precarious point, and any further shift would not be good for the Blood Tiger Gang either.

Just as Oho’s gaze sank under the weight of his complicated thoughts, Kim Muhyuk said, “You have a channel that can order things from the overseas black market with VIP status, right?”

“......What?”

Kim Muhyuk took out a sheet of paper with something written on it and held it out.

It was a list of several items that Hwang Suksu had confirmed could not be obtained domestically.

“Get me these. Within a week.”

Oho looked over the paper with a bewildered expression, and his face twisted.

Every item on the list required quite an annoying process even for the Blood Tiger Gang to bring in.

It was not as serious as what he had feared, but.......

“You contacted me and came here at this hour because of this?”

“You think I came to hang out?”

The shameless answer nearly made his blood pressure spike, but Oho exercised his patience and pressed his fingers against his temples as he asked calmly, “Fine. I’ll get them. How will you pay?”

The deadline was tight, but the goods could be obtained.

The matter with the Black Night Gang boss had also left him owing a debt.

But paying for the items was a separate issue.

The items written on that paper each cost at least several hundred million won.

Yet Kim Muhyuk stood there with the confidence of someone collecting goods he had already entrusted to him.

“There was still quite a debt left between us, wasn’t there? Take a little off that.”

“Ha, honestly.......”

Oho had never imagined in his entire life that he would say this to someone.

“You’re the thug here.”

With a sigh, he eventually pocketed the overseas purchase list Kim Muhyuk had handed him.