Urban Vagabond: Reload

The closer Kim Muhyuk drew to the Black Night Gang, the worse his mood became.

Those bastards did that to Teacher.......

When he had found Choi Geon staggering in front of his house, Kim Muhyuk had felt as though his heart dropped clean out of his chest.

The thought that his teacher might have fallen into their trap and never come back made it hard for even his normally composed self to suppress the anger surging up inside him.

Hoo...... Hold it in. Still, I came here to talk today.

Kim Muhyuk carved the word patience into his mind several times, put on his Blue Wolf mask, and walked toward the Black Night Gang’s front gate.

“Stop! State your business for coming to our gang.”

The Black Night Gang gatekeepers looked at him warily.

There were four of them in total, and only one tilted his head when he saw the wolf mask.

Calmly. Coolly. Rationally.

Kim Muhyuk took a deep breath inwardly and reminded himself again and again.

But once he actually arrived at the Black Night Gang, the words that came out of his mouth were not nearly as polite as he had intended.

Because the way the gatekeepers looked down at him from the top of the stairs was incredibly irritating.

[I’m here to see the Black Night Gang boss.]

One of the four gatekeepers asked back with an incredulous expression.

“......What did you just say?”

[Are your ears stuffed? I said I’m here to see your boss. That old hag Min Bokyung.]

“Hah, this crazy bastard.”

As if they had been waiting for this, the gatekeepers approached Kim Muhyuk.

He dared call their heavenlike boss by name without even attaching a respectful title?

Breaking a few bones, cutting a few tendons, and chasing him away was the official response manual for them.

“W-wait. That wolf mask, maybe.......”

The one gatekeeper with slightly quicker instincts stayed behind and tried to signal his colleagues.

But—

CRACK! CRRRRUNCH! Grrrrk!

Kim Muhyuk’s fists were much faster.

After turning three Black Night Gang gatekeepers into pulp in an instant, Kim Muhyuk snarled viciously at the remaining one.

[Go tell your boss. The leader of Blue Wolves has come. Tell her the hospitality I received a few days ago left quite an impression, so I came to pay my respects.]

“C-crazy.......”

The gatekeeper backed away, turned, and fled deeper into the Black Night Gang.

[......Well, I didn’t kill them, at least.]

Kim Muhyuk scratched the back of his head as he looked at the gatekeepers collapsed on the ground, but since he had already done it, he decided not to regret it.

[It might not be bad to have one round before meeting her anyway.]

However, contrary to his expectation that Black Night Gang experts would soon come swarming out in a rush, what returned was the gatekeeper and one man who looked like a pinnacle expert.

“You say you’re the leader of Blue Wolves? How am I supposed to believe that?”

[Verify it yourself if you don’t believe me. You’ll probably realize it after taking a few hits.]

At the dense killing intent and violent wording that reminded him of the Sword Demon he had seen a few days earlier, the man nodded as if convinced.

“......Seems right. Follow me.”

As if he did not care in the slightest that the gatekeepers had collapsed, the man turned and guided Kim Muhyuk inside.

It had deviated heavily from the original plan, but thanks to that, Kim Muhyuk learned something too.

The Black Night Gang really is a cautious organization. The warriors under her must have taken on this atmosphere according to their master’s disposition.

As Kim Muhyuk walked under guidance, he recalled what Choi Geon had told him before he came here.

—If I were given the chance to kill only one of the two, I would choose the Black Night Gang boss without hesitation.

The reason was that unlike the Nine Dragons Society’s society leader, who was faithful to his instincts and emotions, the Black Night Gang boss was a far greedier and more cunning villain.

—However, that is precisely why I think it would be better to join hands with the Black Night Gang boss.

Join hands with the more troublesome opponent when kept as an enemy.

It was Choi Geon’s judgment after fighting all manner of villains, and Kim Muhyuk agreed with him.

—That old monster moves according to profit, not emotion. Since she has survived in the underworld for a long time and seized power, her reach must be wide, and she must have many cards in hand. So you must never underestimate her when you deal with her.

Choi Geon was negative about the plan to join hands with one of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects.

But because he knew it was something his disciple was doing for him, he could not bring himself to stop him.

Kim Muhyuk also knew what worried his teacher.

—I’ll prepare thoroughly before I go, so don’t worry.

The master and disciple resembled each other in many ways, but there was one decisive difference between the two.

If Choi Geon had become a devil himself in order to punish villains,

Kim Muhyuk had no reluctance whatsoever about using another evil in order to face evil.

If necessary, even sitting across from them, smiling, and sharing a meal meant nothing to him.

“The boss’s residence is beyond here.”

After they walked down a corridor decorated with artworks, a door lavishly adorned with gold and jewels appeared at the end.

It was so large that even a full-sized SUV could have gone through it.

Knock, knock—

“Boss. I have brought the guest.”

“Send him in.”

When the door opened and he stepped inside, an interior like a palace from a television drama revealed itself.

Luxury handbags and jewels were displayed like a collection on one wall, while all kinds of weapons hung on the opposite wall, each carrying a sharp edge.

At this point, even luxury is an art form.

The Black Night Gang boss sat at the far end, leaning back against a sofa so wide that ten people could have lain on it.

“......Hm?”

After silently looking at Kim Muhyuk for a moment, she soon recognized him first.

“I wondered who it was. You’re the wolf who came with the Blood Tigers before, aren’t you? What brings you here?”

Even though Kim Muhyuk had already announced himself as the leader of Blue Wolves through the gatekeeper, the Black Night Gang boss played dumb as though she knew nothing.

[It’s been a while, Black Night Gang boss.]

“Did you perhaps come to offer me that sword from before? The crimson cursed sword that cut off my foster son’s head, I mean.”

Kim Muhyuk had no intention of being dragged along at the other party’s pace, so he ignored the pointless question and said only what he had come to say.

[Today, I came here representing Blue Wolves, regardless of the Blood Tiger Gang.]

“Blue Wolves? What is Blue Wolves?”

The Black Night Gang boss knew perfectly well and was deliberately ignoring it.

It was psychological warfare meant to belittle the other party, display her own superiority, and see how he reacted to provocation.

But it had no effect on Kim Muhyuk.

[If you don’t know, I’ll use this opportunity to introduce it in detail.]

“Hm. Since you’re overflowing with confidence, let me hear it. Will you come closer?”

At the Black Night Gang boss’s gesture, Kim Muhyuk strode forward and stood opposite her.

It was close enough that a supreme master could reach him in a single breath.

A strange light flashed in the Black Night Gang boss’s eyes as she watched Kim Muhyuk enter her range without hesitation.

“......I once told my subordinates that you would soon become a giant of the unorthodox faction. It seems my eye was not wrong after all.”

The Black Night Gang boss said it thinking it was praise, but Kim Muhyuk replied while showing his displeasure.

[I am trying to become a giant of the orthodox faction rather than the unorthodox faction, though.]

“Let us both stop joking. So, what do you want that brought you to me?”

[As the leader of Blue Wolves, I wish to propose a deal to the master of the Black Night Gang.]

“A deal......?”

As though she found those words ridiculous, the Black Night Gang boss began cackling.

“You want to make a deal with me? Ahahahahaha—!”

The internal energy carried in that laughter was enormous. It was a sharp sonic art that could tear at the eardrums, enough to make most martial artists clutch their ears and sink to the floor.

“What makes you think you have anything to exchange with me? Even if you offered that cursed sword, it would not be a deal. Because I would give you nothing in return.”

A horribly greedy expression appeared on the Black Night Gang boss’s face.

At the same time, the energy of a supreme master pouring out in earnest focused on Kim Muhyuk alone.

[.......]

It was an energy even a first-rate martial artist or pinnacle expert would have difficulty enduring in one piece.

It would not have been strange if his breath had caught and cold sweat streamed down his body.

But Kim Muhyuk only stood completely still and looked at the Black Night Gang boss. Even his breathing was utterly calm.

[You keep counting chickens before they hatch.]

Kim Muhyuk was still at the level of a pinnacle expert.

But not all pinnacle experts were on the same level.

To Kim Muhyuk, who was already approaching the wall of a supreme master, the Black Night Gang boss’s energy did not exert any particular pressure.

[I have not even the slightest intention of giving you my sword. So stop with the useless probing. If you keep acting like this, I’ll just go to the Nine Dragons Society.]

Grind......!

At the insulting words, the Black Night Gang boss rose from her seat and glared at Kim Muhyuk.

“You insolent brat. I can see that your nerve is far greater than I expected. But do you think that will be a reason I cannot kill you here?”

Kim Muhyuk gave a faint laugh. He did not yield in the battle of nerves with the Black Night Gang boss in the slightest.

[Of course you can’t kill me. If I die, the Sword Demon will come, and he’ll tear through the Black Night Gang day and night until he wears you down to death. I heard you were too scared of that to even threaten him properly.]

“What an amusing threat. Have you perhaps considered that the opposite situation could occur?”

[That is why I’m saying we should show each other some courtesy. If we fight, both of us only lose, don’t we?]

At the sight of him refusing to lose to her in even a single sentence until the end, the Black Night Gang boss could not help but form a reasonable suspicion.

“You, take off that mask. Isn’t that old Sword Demon inside it?”

Kim Muhyuk snorted, and the Black Night Gang boss clicked her tongue, then sat back down on the sofa and crossed her legs.

[.......]

“.......”

The taut battle of nerves came to an end for the moment.

Perhaps because the conversation had not flowed the way she had expected, the Black Night Gang boss opened her mouth with a somewhat irritated expression.

“......You said you wanted to make a deal. Before that, I need to hear one thing for certain. What scheme are you people plotting?”

[Scheme?]

“Do not feign ignorance!”

According to the Black Night Gang’s investigation, Blue Wolves was neither orthodox faction nor unorthodox faction. It was an organization impossible to pin down.

The first place where that name became known was the back-alley Dark Den, and until then, it had merely been a small unorthodox-faction organization.

But by strange coincidence, after Blue Wolves appeared, the Korean martial world began to change rapidly.

“The GREAT HEAVEN GATE bombing, the death of Jang Jinmyeong who had learned a demonic art and Sun and Moon Gate closing its doors, the Jeju Island bloodbath involving Tamra Alliance, the destruction of the Black Heaven Society, and recently even the hunt for the Great Anomaly of Transcendent Extremity Gate...... Every single one of them happened after you people appeared. Can you deny it?”

Seeing Kim Muhyuk rendered speechless, the Black Night Gang boss became certain her deduction was correct.

[......There’s no need to.]

At the belated answer that clearly felt flustered, a triumphant smile formed at the corners of her mouth.

“Several orthodox and unorthodox factions alike have been smashed by your hands, and some were even forced to close their doors. Will you still deny that you have no scheme?”

Some of them had been caused by the Heavenly Demon Cult, but as rumors mixed together and swelled, everything had been made to look as though Blue Wolves had done it all.

When did all of that become our doing?

Kim Muhyuk was flustered by just how far the rumors had gone wrong, but outwardly he folded his arms and silently allowed the Black Night Gang boss’s misunderstanding to deepen.

[.......]

“The more I dug, the less I understood. To call you orthodox, your methods are far too vicious, and to call you unorthodox, there is no reason that old Sword Demon would be with you. You even have an office disguised as an errand agency. A Martial Alliance partner company? Hah. Did you think I would fall for such an absurd deception?”

In every major incident that had recently shaken the martial world, the name Blue Wolves had been mentioned at least once.

Because of that, the Black Night Gang boss had no choice but to be extremely wary of Blue Wolves.

Even provoking the Sword Demon together with the Nine Dragons Society’s society leader and drawing him in had actually been to discover Blue Wolves’ purpose and keep them in check.

But the wolf mask who had come with the Blood Tiger Gang was the leader of Blue Wolves.......

The Black Night Gang boss’s thoughts grew more and more complicated.

[......If I tell you our purpose.]

A plan suddenly came to Kim Muhyuk’s mind, and he continued in a low voice.

[Would you be willing to join that great cause?]

“What......?”

Kim Muhyuk delivered the decisive blow to the Black Night Gang boss, whose mind was likely a chaotic tangle of all kinds of information.

[The Heavenly Demon Cult. Someone in your position must have heard of it at least once.]

Gulp......!

The sound of the Black Night Gang boss swallowing dryly rang loudly through the spacious room.