Urban Vagabond: Reload

Kim Muhyuk planned to rest properly while he was hospitalized.

“Muhyuk, you! Until the doctor says you’re fully recovered......”

“I’ll stay perfectly still, laze around in the hospital, and have fun.”

“That is exactly what I was going to...... hm?”

Kim Chanho, who had been about to threaten his son, tilted his head like someone who had heard something strange.

Stay perfectly still? Laze around and have fun?

Because those were words that absolutely should not have come out of his son’s mouth.

This was the same brat who, when he was hospitalized with broken bones, secretly hid chopsticks so he could practice swordsmanship......

“Who are you? You’re not our son, are you?”

Kim Chanho looked at him suspiciously, flipped up his son’s eyelids, and tugged at his cheeks.

Because he did not have the strength to dodge or block the way he usually would, Kim Muhyuk lay in bed and was helplessly toyed with by his father.

“......Mom. Please stop Father......”

“No. I don’t want to. You deserve to suffer a little longer.”

Park Jiyeon, who had been peeling fruit, joined in from the other side, tugging at her son’s cheek and pinching his earlobe.

Kim Muhyuk looked dumbfounded by his parents’ petty revenge, then soon laughed weakly.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

When the two of them had heard the news and rushed to the hospital, they had been so frantic that they were still wearing their aprons.

Only after the doctor told them his life was not in danger had they collapsed where they stood and breathed a sigh of relief.

Kim Muhyuk felt sorry, as if he kept becoming an unfilial son without meaning to.

“......Forget it. You came back safely, at least.”

Kim Chanho gave a bitter smile as he stroked his son’s hair.

Parents who had martial artists for children had no choice but to live with fear in their hearts.

Even a sudden call from an unfamiliar number made their hearts drop, and even news about martial artists made them anxious for no reason.

But it was the path their son had chosen, so as parents, the only things they could give him were support and nagging.

“You feel burdened because we keep nagging you, don’t you?”

“The two of us talked about it a little. We wondered if we were treating our martial-artist son too much like a child.”

“So Mom and Dad decided to become a little more adult too. We’ll nag less, and we won’t come rushing after you in a panic every time like this. That should be less of a burden for you too......”

It was something the two of them had brought up with difficulty after much thought.

They had decided that their parental meddling might be placing a burden and stress on their son.

But.

“......What are you talking about?”

Kim Muhyuk looked at his parents as if his country had fallen.

His expression looked as unfairly wronged and gloomy as it had when his sword had been confiscated after he spent the whole night swinging it as a child.

“I was wrong...... Can’t you just keep scolding me like you do now?”

“Hm?”

“What?”

The two of them looked flustered at their son’s completely unexpected reaction.

Kim Muhyuk asked his parents with an expression so serious it looked almost desperate.

“I mean it. When I came back injured like this after fighting outside...... you have no idea how much I missed Mom and Dad’s nagging.”

The feeling that, after ending a grueling fight, he had finally returned home.

Kim Muhyuk would have been fine with being treated like a child by his parents for the rest of his life.

Because he had experienced losing it once, he knew very well how precious his family’s nagging was.

“Good grief...... You really won’t regret this, right? You asked for it first!”

“I gave birth to you, but what kind of child even are you? First, undo the buttons on that hospital gown! Did you think we wouldn’t know just because you hid your injuries?”

Kim Chanho and Park Jiyeon looked at each other, placed their hands firmly on their hips, and then, as if they had caught him at last, began pouring out a storm of nagging.

At first, Kim Muhyuk listened to the nagging with a happy expression.

Later, though, he secretly drew up internal energy to protect his eardrums.

*****

Aside from the time he spent receiving treatment at the hospital, Kim Muhyuk mostly meditated or trained in his mental world.

Right now, I’ve got mountains of things to sort out in my head, not my body.

The divine might of a peerless master he had witnessed firsthand remained powerfully engraved in Kim Muhyuk’s mind.

The way Sunwoo Jeha had swung her saber and sword, the way she had handled internal energy, the movements she had shown when blending with her opponent, and more.

Every one of those things gave Kim Muhyuk inspiration. He wanted to dismantle and analyze each piece, then make whatever he needed his own.

But from the outside, Kim Muhyuk looked no different from a carefree loafer with nothing to worry about.

“Kim Muhyuk! Let’s eat snacks!”

“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

He gathered with the crew members hospitalized alongside him every day to eat snacks and chat.

“I’m telling you, the Giant Tree Ghost screamed, Kyaaaaaaak! back then. The moment it ate the pesticide I sprayed, the match was as good as decided!”

“How many times are you going to tell the same story?”

“We were there too!”

The Martial Alliance had arranged for Blue Wolves to use an entire floor of special rooms, and the expensive hospital bills were all being paid by Transcendent Extremity Gate.

Thanks to that, they could enjoy a leisurely time gathering in hospital gowns and eating peeled fruit together.

But while Blue Wolves enjoyed a priceless period of rest and recovery, the Korean martial world outside was turned upside down.

[The Korean Martial Alliance has announced through official channels that Transcendent Extremity Gate has hunted a Great Anomaly. The Great Anomaly hunted this time is said to have been known as the Giant Tree Ghost......]

The fact that Transcendent Extremity Gate had hunted a Great Anomaly had been publicly revealed through the Korean Martial Alliance.

But there was news that shocked the world even more.

It was that Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader Sunwoo Jeha had reached the realm of a peerless master and had declared she would go to America to prove it.

[A Korean-born peerless master has appeared for the first time in fifteen years since Richard Han! Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader Sunwoo Jeha has been well known as Richard Han’s rival and friend since her days as a young rising star. As worldwide attention now gathers......]

[Unofficial Strongest in Korea. That was the term used to refer to Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader Sunwoo Jeha. Today, we will take a closer look at her exclusive martial art, Heaven-Severing Twin Extremes Art.]

[......As a member of the Korean martial world, this is certainly something to celebrate, but it also needs to be observed coolly. Recently, there have been several cases overseas of martial artists becoming crippled after challenging peerless-master verification.]

TV, YouTube, and all sorts of media outlets were in an uproar.

People’s opinions differed slightly, but every single one of them was excited.

Kim Muhyuk stabbed a piece of pineapple with a fork and gave a faint laugh.

“That worked out well.”

In the future he knew, Sunwoo Jeha would enter seclusion for more than ten years from this point onward, and until she went to challenge Richard Han, she would barely even be mentioned on the news.

But now, her future had changed completely.

It was only a guess, but she had likely reached the realm of a peerless master far faster than she had in his previous life, and she would definitely not stop here.

“She’s definitely going to get much stronger, right?”

Just like Shin Kangheon’s life had completely changed, the thought that Sunwoo Jeha would become far stronger than she was now made Kim Muhyuk’s heart pound.

The day after he heard the news about Sunwoo Jeha like that.

Sunwoo Jeha came to see Kim Muhyuk quietly, alone.

“......Hm?”

When Kim Muhyuk returned to his hospital room late at night, she was sitting carelessly on the windowsill.

“You look healthier than I expected.”

“You’re not disappointed I’m less injured than you thought, are you?”

Instead of answering, Sunwoo Jeha inspected Kim Muhyuk’s injuries and nodded.

“I deposited the pay for successfully completing the commission. Woo Hyunje made a fuss, so there’s a pretty large bonus too.”

If Kim Bokja had heard that, her mouth would have split wide open in delight, but it was not a story Kim Muhyuk was particularly interested in.

“I heard you’re leaving for America. When are you going?”

“Tomorrow.”

“......What about treatment? Your injuries must be pretty severe too, Sect Leader.”

“I can do that there.”

He thought she was impatient, but if it had been Kim Muhyuk himself, he probably would not have been able to wait long either.

The two of them talked for a while.

“How long does it take to prove the realm of a peerless master?”

“A few weeks, or a few months.”

“Then...... are you not coming back again?”

Korea had neither the facilities nor the people capable of verifying the realm of a peerless master.

One in Europe, one in China, and one in America.

There were three places in total where one could prove oneself a peerless master, and Sunwoo Jeha had chosen America among them.

And like Richard Han, there was a possibility she would never return.

But Sunwoo Jeha shook her head.

“I’ll come back this time. The handover isn’t finished yet, and there’s one brat I want to teach a little more.”

Kim Muhyuk thought of Shin Kangheon, who was probably sleeping in the next room by now, and smiled faintly.

“That’s good. Oh, if you go this time, you’ll meet Richard Han too, right?”

“I don’t know if he’ll be there.”

The Strongest in the World traveled busily all over the globe.

There was no guarantee she would meet him just because she went to America.

Since Sunwoo Jeha was not going there to play, it would probably not be easy for the two of them to meet.

But she remembered the promise she had made with Kim Muhyuk.

“If I meet him, I’ll talk about you. I’ll decide on that meal you’re supposed to have together and contact you.”

“......!”

Feeling nervous already, Kim Muhyuk nodded seriously.

“Yes. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

As if she had said everything she needed to say, Sunwoo Jeha took a small wooden box from her clothes and tossed it to Kim Muhyuk.

“A spiritual medicine I took out of the secret safe. Don’t eat it now. Eat it if you get hurt badly again soon.”

“That advice sounds like a curse. Thank you.”

“Then I’m leaving.”

“Sect Leader.”

“......?”

Kim Muhyuk called out to Sunwoo Jeha as she was about to leave through the window.

To the Strongest in Korea as she looked back at him, Kim Muhyuk smiled with a provocative confidence.

“By the time you return from America, I’ll have crossed the wall of a supreme master too. So if you don’t want to be teased for being in the same realm as me, make sure you get recognized as a peerless master before you come back.”

It was encouragement in Kim Muhyuk’s own way.

Sunwoo Jeha paused for a moment, blinked a few times, and then snorted.

“......Still cocky. You obnoxious brat.”

But unlike her blunt words, the corners of Sunwoo Jeha’s mouth had risen softly.

*****

The day Sunwoo Jeha left for America to prove herself a peerless master.

Click-click-click-click!

A large-scale send-off ceremony was held to see her off.

It was joyful news that had come to the Korean martial world for the first time in a long while, after days upon days of incidents and accidents that had given it no quiet moments.

A large crowd had gathered at the airport, and reporters poured out all kinds of questions.

“Sect Leader of Transcendent Extremity Gate! Please look over here!”

“Please do a pose drawing your weapon just once!”

“There are many rumors that you’ll become naturalized once peerless-master verification is over. Could you please say a few words?”

“.......”

If not for Yeo Pilgeuk, who had come with her, and his request, Sunwoo Jeha would have ignored every interview and gone straight inside.

“Smile, will you? Jeha, please.”

“......Should I knock them all unconscious and leave?”

“Have you already forgotten who removed your Black Restraint Bands and cleaned up the aftermath?”

“Tch......”

She looked dissatisfied, but since it was true that she had received a great deal of help from Yeo Pilgeuk, Sunwoo Jeha answered the reporters’ questions halfheartedly and killed time.

Then one reporter’s question caught her ear.

“Is there any junior who might become a peerless master after you, Sect Leader? If you had to choose just one!”

Sunwoo Jeha, who had answered every question until now with a lukewarm expression, looked thoughtful for the first time.

“Hm. If it’s one......”

At that moment, everyone’s attention focused on her.

What name would come from the mouth of the Strongest in Korea, the supreme master challenging peerless-master verification?

Sunwoo Jeha slowly muttered.

“Strange Sword......”

Strange Sword? Who was Strange Sword? Wait, was that the same “strange” as in “anomaly”?

The reporters and the martial artists attending the event murmured among themselves and combed through their memories, but there was no martial artist with the title Strange Sword.

Only Yeo Pilgeuk, who knew Sunwoo Jeha’s personality well, saw her hesitating in a way unlike her usual self and looked as if he had realized something impossible.

Are you trying to give him a title yourself?

Then Sunwoo Jeha finished thinking and, as if she were being generous, added one more character.

“......Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman. Right now, he’s the best.”

Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman.

For a while, speculation about who that was became the greatest issue in the Korean martial world.