Urban Vagabond: Reload

Have I ever had such peaceful days in my life?

One sunny day.

At the sudden, pointless thought that crossed his mind, Choi Geon laughed before he realized it.

“Teacher. Did something good happen?”

Just then, Kim Chanho brought over a few snacks and sat across from him.

Choi Geon leisurely drank his coffee while watching the people passing outside the window.

“Perhaps it’s because the day is warm. It seems warmth is circulating through my heart too.”

“......Everyone else is making a fuss about how hot it is, though? You’re probably the only person walking around in a bomber jacket in June.”

Kim Chanho grumbled with an incredulous look.

By now, he felt less like the father of Choi Geon’s disciple and more like a neighborhood friend.

In Choi Geon’s seventy years of life, he was also one of the few people who was not afraid of him and could joke with him freely.

Naturally, Choi Geon had opened his heart to him too, and even joked with him from time to time.

“Klk-klek. Have you ever heard of being invulnerable to cold and heat? It’s one of the nice things about becoming a martial arts master.”

“Hah....... I should have learned martial arts when I was young too. I could have saved money on heating and electricity bills.”

Choi Geon looked at Kim Chanho’s excellent frame with a mouthwatering expression.

“Should I teach you even now?”

Even in the eyes of Choi Geon, who had once been famous as the Martial Alliance’s martial arts instructor and a devil trainer, Kim Chanho possessed quite an enticing frame.

Well, where else would Muhyuk’s frame have come from?

However, the person in question shook his head, saying he did not have time for that.

“Phew. I was joking. For health purposes, just working out at the gym is enough for me.”

“......What a shame. Your frame has stiffened, but if you worked hard even now, I think you could reach third-rate quickly.”

“Can even a third-rate martial artist become invulnerable to cold and heat?”

“You say such shameless things so casually. Do you think that would work?”

Choi Geon narrowed his eyes and chuckled, then looked down at his coffee cup.

A few cloves of garlic had sunk to the bottom.

“......By the way, this garlic coffee. Does anyone actually order this?”

“What? Teacher, weren’t you drinking it because you thought it tasted good?”

At Kim Chanho’s expression, which looked as though he had truly believed that, Choi Geon let out a small sigh.

“It looked like no one was ordering it, so I drank it for you. Next time, give me an ordinary iced Americano.”

“Th-That can’t be.......”

Leaving behind Kim Chanho, who wore an expression of disbelief, Choi Geon rose from his seat.

“It should be about time Muhyuk wraps up his mental art training. Thank you for the drink.”

“Teacher. Would you like to have dinner together?”

“That will be difficult today. I decided to go to the mountain in the evening.”

At that moment, Han Jaechun, who had been clearing a table, approached Choi Geon and bowed his head.

“Sir. I’ll see you later.”

“Good. Make sure you bring that slippery bastard Hwang Suksu too.”

“Yes! If he resists, I’ll bring him tied up if I have to!”

Choi Geon nodded in satisfaction and went down to the training room beneath .

There, Kim Muhyuk was sitting cross-legged, training in the Five Elements Divine Art.

Sssssssssuck— Whoooooo.......

The energy of the Five Elements Divine Art flowed out according to his long inhalations and exhalations.

A thick, mistlike, five-colored radiance surrounded Kim Muhyuk, repeatedly entering and leaving his body in rhythm with his breathing.

The density of the energy had grown thicker than when Choi Geon had last seen it.

His achievement in the Five Elements Divine Art has risen again already.

Choi Geon watched with a careful expression as his disciple’s training neared its end.

Rapid achievement was certainly a good sign, but at the same time, it was something one had to guard against.

Especially in a case like Kim Muhyuk’s, where he possessed natural gifts and overflowed with drive, one wrong step could send him into a deviated cultivation state.

It is also a master’s role to stop him from rushing too much and falling.

Choi Geon carefully examined whether Kim Muhyuk was continuing to circulate his energy beyond his limits, whether the flow of energy had become unnatural, or whether his disciple’s expression was twisting in pain.

“Whoooooooo—.”

After drawing in his final breath and settling his energy, Kim Muhyuk slowly opened his eyes. At that moment, bright focus flashed in his gaze.

“When did you start watching?”

After spotting his master, Kim Muhyuk smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

“I haven’t been here long. The wood energy you newly accepted does not seem to be blending well. It’s floating a little on the surface.”

Kim Muhyuk nodded at his master’s sharp eye, which had recognized the problem at a glance.

A massive amount of wood energy absorbed from the Giant Tree Ghost through Phantom Dream’s ability.

Even after accepting only a portion of it, Kim Muhyuk’s lower abdomen was filled with wood energy.

“The amount increased all at once, so it isn’t easy to handle.”

“Different energies need time before they can harmonize. From what I can see, it isn’t a major problem.”

Before he knew it, Kim Muhyuk had gathered four of the five energies needed for the Five Elements Divine Art.

Fire. Water. Wood. Metal.

The four energies filling his lower abdomen were settling into place while supporting one another, or sometimes provoking one another.

“Does your lower abdomen feel uncomfortable or tingly?”

“Not at all. If anything, it feels sturdier.”

“How fascinating. It seems that is because your constitution changed to Grade 1.......”

If Sunwoo Jeha had not confirmed that Kim Muhyuk’s constitution had changed,

Choi Geon would probably have been fretting by now over whether his disciple’s lower abdomen might tear from his achievement progressing too quickly.

But if he had a Grade 1 constitution, he should be able to endure advancement at a pace like this.

“Master.”

At that moment, Kim Muhyuk told his master what he had felt while training in the Five Elements Divine Art. Heat filled his eyes.

“If I finally obtain earth energy too and complete the Five Elements, I feel as though something major will change.”

The four writhing energies felt as if they were waiting for the earth energy that had not yet joined them.

On the day he became capable of harmoniously handling all the energies of the Five Elements, Kim Muhyuk felt certain he would move on to a new stage of the Five Elements Divine Art.

“My disciple. Do not rush.”

Choi Geon placed a hand on Kim Muhyuk’s shoulder and gave him the advice he had given most often since taking him as his disciple.

“Build a firm foundation slowly, then build your martial path upon that foundation. One day, that will carry you farther.”

“......Yes!”

With his master’s advice, Kim Muhyuk was once again able to steady the impatience that had begun to rise inside him.

Choi Geon smiled warmly, as if proud of that, but at the same time, he felt a sense of sadness and regret.

I do not know how long I will be able to teach you.

Soon, the Korean martial world would feel too small for Kim Muhyuk.

A talent who would become a supreme master before long and shock the Korean martial world, then someday become a peerless master and rebuke the world.

As his master, Choi Geon felt so proud that his chest swelled.

But he could not simply be happy about the fact that the time when he would have to send away the disciple he had gained in his old age, a disciple like a child to him, was drawing closer and closer.

“......Get strong a little more slowly, you brat.”

“What? Why so suddenly?”

“Klk-klek. I only said it.”

Choi Geon hid his true feelings behind a joke and walked to one side of the training hall.

He picked up two practice swords hanging on the wall, threw one to his disciple, and said,

“Now, let us warm up lightly with practice swords.”

The two clashed practice swords in a spar, stopping now and then to discuss the sword. Kim Muhyuk asked questions without end, and Choi Geon answered while trying to pass on everything he had. In the process, Choi Geon also realized quite a few things himself.

Clang-clang-clang!

As master and disciple swung their swords together while talking, several hours passed in an instant.

Choi Geon lowered his sword first and said,

“It’s already gotten this late. We’ll stop here for today.”

“Huh? You’re leaving? You’re not having dinner with us?”

Father and son alike.

At the invitation to eat together, Choi Geon found himself smiling for no reason.

“My disciple. These days, even your old master’s schedule is rather busy. In a few hours, I’m supposed to teach Hwang Suksu and Jaechun, so I’ll probably eat dinner with those brats after their training ends.”

“......Then there’s no helping it.”

Kim Muhyuk muttered with a regretful expression, then suddenly saw his master smacking his lips at the thought of training the two of them and narrowed his eyes.

“But Master, you may be able to eat, but I don’t think those two will be able to have dinner.”

*****

“Uweeeek! S-Sir....... I was wrong about everything.......”

“Hehehe....... Mom....... I missed you.......”

Kim Muhyuk’s prophecy came true. Under the hellish training intensity, Hwang Suksu and Han Jaechun ended up confirming the contents of their breakfast, let alone eating dinner.

“Tsk, tsk. Young men these days have such weak stamina. Get up this instant!”

In the end, after taking the exhausted and sprawled-out Hwang Suksu and Han Jaechun back to their respective homes,

Choi Geon, who only finished his day’s work late at night, headed toward his own house.

He tapped his aching shoulder and grumbled.

“......Ngh. I must be getting old after all.”

Feeling the lukewarm early-summer breeze, Choi Geon walked slowly.

In one hand, he held a lunchbox Kim Muhyuk had sent through Han Jaechun, and on top of it was a note that read,

“Tonight’s breeze feels especially nice.”

Feeling the warmth of the still-warm lunchbox, Choi Geon looked up at the night sky with a smile.

May peaceful days like this continue.

He prayed that the people he cherished would remain safe and that this calm, peaceful daily life would continue.

“Tomorrow, I should take a look at Kangheon’s martial arts too. And stop by Bokja’s shop.......”

At the thought that he had become a meddlesome old man who loitered around the neighborhood with nothing to do, Choi Geon chuckled.

However, the moment he arrived near his house, Choi Geon’s expression turned cold.

“......No way.”

Shhhk.

Choi Geon’s form vanished as if melting into empty air and reappeared inside his house.

Traces of someone forcibly tearing open the locked door and entering.

The few clothes he owned had been rummaged through, and the furniture was broken and smashed.

The invaders’ footprints were stamped chaotically across the floor.

And on the wall, someone had written words in blood.

Spilled water does not return to the basin.

Once committed, a deed cannot be undone.

It was not some petty thief.

From the words thick with the scent of blood, he felt a deep grudge against him.

“Klk-klek. I thought life had become too peaceful for someone like me.”

A rough, cracked voice flowed out eerily.

The words on the wall seemed to show his life, stained with blood.

Even after he had fled the Martial Alliance as if running away and gone into hiding, no small number of grudges had followed him.

But he had not expected them to remain this vivid even after twenty years.

“......They took the photo.”

Choi Geon realized that the photo taken with several people on Jeju Island was gone.

Slowly, his face began to twist like that of an evil ghost.

Because the reason the culprit had taken that photo was obvious.

“Klk-klek. You’re crossing the line.”

He did not care if they targeted him.

But if they intended to harm his disciple, his family, and the people gathered around him......

CRRRRUNCH!

When Choi Geon forcibly tore up the floor, a hidden safe came into view.

They had made a mess of the place, but fortunately, it seemed they had not searched beneath the floor.

“.......”

Inside the safe lay Blue Wolves’ wolf mask and the goblin mask he had used when operating as the Martial Alliance’s Shadow Sword and assassin.

Choi Geon tucked the wolf mask into his chest and put the goblin mask on his face. Thick killing intent flowed out through the eye holes.

“Let us see whose faces are behind this.”

A moment later, one goblin soared up between the forest of city buildings.