Urban Vagabond: Reload

Without realizing it, I swallowed a dry lump in my throat and asked back,

“Five Elements... Divine Art?”

There are more martial arts in this world than anyone could ever count.

Even right this moment, somewhere out there, someone is creating a new martial art, and the arts that have hundreds or thousands of years of history behind them are still being refined and improved without rest.

That’s how wide and vast the world of martial arts is—and precisely because of that, only a tiny handful are qualified to be called divine arts.

Not just in this era. I even know the ones that will, in the future, be recognized as divine arts and peerless secrets...

But Five Elements Divine Art was something I was hearing for the first time.

And the one who’d brought up that name wasn’t some drunk vagabond raving in a bar about legendary arts—it was my teacher, Sword Demon Choi Geon.

It had to be a true divine art and peerless secret.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard the name. There’s a martial art like that in Korea?”

“...Very few people know of it. More precisely, no one capable of learning it has appeared for so long that it’s all but been forgotten.”

Choi Geon’s face was calm.

From experience, I knew that whenever my teacher wore that expression, he was more serious than at any other time.

“Without one condition being met, learning Five Elements Divine Art is impossible in the first place. The person has to have a special constitution that can handle all Five Elements.”

“......!”

At that point, a memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

“Back when I said I had the constitution to master all Five Elements, is that why you were so shocked?”

Choi Geon nodded. Now that he’d brought up the name Five Elements Divine Art, he had no intention of hiding it any longer.

“I’ve been watching you for the past few months and agonizing over it. I believed you had natural-born talent and a proper character, so I taught you swordsmanship... but one unease kept me hesitating until today.”

“If there’s something I’m lacking as a disciple, please tell me.”

I never took anything my teacher said lightly.

I always tried to step forward sincerely, like a man dying of thirst for learning, and even when he scolded me harshly, I never felt ashamed or offended.

You’d never think he’s just a kid barely past twenty.

But to Choi Geon, sometimes, that very attitude felt like it went too far.

“Your passion to become the best might run so hot that, if it isn’t satisfied in the future... you could fall into the black-path and demonic ways, willing to use any means necessary.”

“......”

You could call it an old man’s needless worry, but Choi Geon had actually seen plenty of cases like that.

Late-bloom prospects overflowing with talent hit a wall and stagnated for years. Unable to overcome the disappointment and frustration with themselves, they took their first steps into the black-path and demonic ways.

He’d had far too many experiences of cutting down former comrades with his own sword after they’d finally become criminals and villains.

“There was a time when I belonged to a secret unit inside the Martial Alliance. Our main job was quietly removing orthodox martial artists who’d fallen into heart-demon and been seduced by the black-path and demonic ways. Some of them were people who used to be my comrades.”

“......”

I figured what I was hearing right now was something only a tiny handful inside the Martial Alliance knew.

I figured what I was hearing right now was something only a tiny handful inside the Martial Alliance knew.

I’d never even heard a rumor that the Martial Alliance had that kind of organization.

Seeing the look on my face as I sank into thought, my teacher let out a brief snort.

“Are you shocked? That your teacher used to be an assassin?”

I nodded.

But the light in my eyes, sparkling as I looked at him, held a meaning completely different from what he’d expected.

“I’d wondered sometimes... but now I finally get why you’re so good at ambushes. I really did the right thing hunting you down, Teacher.”

“...Don’t you think you’re a bit too free of prejudice about the word assassin?”

“It just seems better for me, honestly. Thanks to that, I’ve gotten proper assassin training on top of swordsmanship.”

This time it was Choi Geon who let out a dumbfounded laugh.

He couldn’t tell if he ought to be pleased or to scold his disciple, whose thinking was absurdly clear-headed for someone labeled a righteous-path late-bloom prospect.

So he finished off the rest of his beer and steered the topic along, as if it were the most natural thing.

“Anyway, divine arts like Five Elements Divine Art have a high risk of dragging you into heart-demon. Even just telling you about it ahead of time would have gotten your heart all worked up and only interfered with your training.”

He had no desire to go through the same thing he had in the past.

...Cutting down, with his own sword, martial artists who had once been comrades, or even disciples.

The decisive reason he’d chosen seclusion had been the betrayal he suffered from a disciple he’d trusted—but the long years he’d spent as the Martial Alliance’s hidden blade, leaving his body and mind worn thin, had played their part too.

“So now you’re telling me about Five Elements Divine Art because you trust me?”

My cheeky question made my teacher grin mischievously.

“I still don’t trust you, but I think I can trust your parents, so I’m telling you.”

“...My parents?”

“Wouldn’t both of them beat your butt if their son went astray, even if they had to spank you to stop you?”

The moment I pictured that, my expression turned sour.

“I can’t be getting my butt smacked by my parents now that I’m grown. I will never fall into heart-demon.”

“Easy enough to say. If that went the way you wanted, it wouldn’t be called heart-demon, would it?”

Despite his gruff words, my teacher and I looked at each other and laughed.

Over the past few months we’d learned a lot about each other, and with that, we’d come to rely on and trust each other that much more.

If you ever fall into heart-demon, I’ll stop you myself.

He didn’t say it aloud, but that was the resolve behind his words. And though I’d answered in a joking tone, the look in my eyes was more serious than ever.

—Teacher. I’m going to become a chivalrous martial artist like you and punish evil people!

A memory he’d briefly forgotten surfaced, and Choi Geon’s chest ached, but he forced a smile and focused on the disciple in front of him.

“...The process of learning Five Elements Divine Art will not be easy. And because of it, you may very well end up making many enemies.”

“That’s fine.”

“You brat! Don’t answer so easily—think it over carefully and then answer!”

I did as my teacher said and seriously considered it. I folded my arms and even closed my eyes.

How many minutes passed?

With my eyes closed, the corners of my mouth started creeping up.

“Huh? You little punk...”

“More enemies, huh...”

A little later, I opened my eyes and looked at my teacher with a face full of anticipation.

“If I fight that many enemies, I’ll be able to get that much stronger, right? Honestly, that sounds even better to me.”

Sword Demon let out a sigh, like he’d just been reminded exactly what kind of guy his last disciple was.

“Crazy bastard. Kangheon was right on the money. In my old age I’ve gone and latched onto a lunatic, and he’s going to bleed me dry.”

“You’re complimenting me, right?”

“Yeah! It’s the best compliment there is, you brat!”

Choi Geon laughed heartily.

He was already curious what kind of nickname his disciple would end up with in the martial world.

Odds were, at least among the black-path and demonic types, he’d be called something even more terrifying than the Sword Demon name they’d used for him.

“Since it seems you’ve made up your mind, I’ll tell you from here on how you can obtain Five Elements Divine Art.”

“...Aren’t you going to pass it on to me yourself, Teacher?”

“You idiot. I’m not even a Five Elements affinity wielder—how would I have learned Five Elements Divine Art? I only know where it is.”

Five Elements Divine Art, he said, was in the Martial Alliance’s secret library.

In other words, the very first thing I had to do was create a situation where I could speak with the Martial Alliance Leader one-on-one.

“To meet the Alliance Leader, you’ll not only have to earn a first-rate license, you’ll need to place in the top three overall in the license exam.”

For the first time, a bit of fluster crossed my face—the same me who had always been full of confidence whenever it came to the license exam.

“Top three overall? Don’t tell me that means...”

Getting a first-rate license on my first try was a competition among late-bloom prospects my own age—but the overall ranking meant something else entirely.

“Right. If your luck is bad, you may even end up clashing with peak experts.”

Choi Geon answered like it was nothing and downed the rest of his beer in one go.

*****

The next day.

It was early enough that the Martial Alliance’s main gate wasn’t even open yet.

But in front of it, countless people had already gathered, buzzing with noise.

The number of applicants sitting for the official martial-artist license exam—hosted by the Martial Alliance and sponsored by the Eight Great Sects—was close to three thousand.

“This year I’m gonna be recognized as a proper second-rate martial artist!”

“I’ll go and bring honor to Blue Wind Gate’s name!”

“If I fail again this time, I’m really done for...”

Some were fresh-faced youths, newly adults this year and taking the exam for the first time.

Others were seasoned martial artists who’d grown confident in their own skills and had come to the test site to renew their license grade.

On top of that, there were martial artists who’d come to cheer on their disciples or sect brothers, applicants’ families, and reporters there to film.

All told, the surroundings of the Martial Alliance were literally packed wall-to-wall with people.

“Wow... there are so many people.”

“See? It was good we got here right on time. If we came early, we’d just have to sit around waiting forever.”

I’d deliberately arrived at the exam grounds in a relaxed manner.

Getting here early didn’t mean I’d take the test early, and it was obvious I’d just attract a ton of annoying attention.

Just like right now.

“Hey, isn’t that Kim Muhyuk?”

“Who’s that?”

“You know, that boy swordsman who blew up on YouTube last fall for a while!”

“Oh? You’re right!”

I could feel the little pricks of people here and there recognizing me and staring, but I ignored them.

“M-Muhyuk. Don’t let it get to you just because they’re looking. They’re only doing that because you’re amazing...”

“Our son’s just standing here minding his own business. Why are you the one shaking?”

“Wh-who’s shaking! It’s just cold out here.”

But my dad, Kim Chanho’s, flustered fussing turned out to be pointless.

The glances people shot my way slid off me after a moment and moved on.

Good thing I laid low and kept quiet, out of sight.

For the past few months I’d done no outside activities at all, devoting myself completely to training.

Once I was out of sight, public interest naturally cooled off, and now, even when I appeared right in front of them, people just talked for a bit and then lost interest the moment some other famous face showed up.

Waaaaaah!

Suddenly, with a huge wave of cheering, the late-bloom prospects contracted with the Eight Great Sects started appearing one by one.

Every time a young martial artist—whose face and name were already known through the media—stepped out of a supercar bearing a Great Sect’s logo, an enormous amount of attention poured over them.

“It’s Song Junho! The constitution Level 1 late-bloom prospect contracted with Supreme Pole Sword Gate!”

“Yin-Extreme body Yang Hayun’s here too! They say she’s already been booked as the disciple of the Glacier Priestess!”

“Pi Seunghwa? I heard Golden Glory Gate spent a ridiculous amount of money to sign that kid...”

It almost felt like half the people here had come just to get a look at the new late-bloom prospects backed by the Eight Great Sects, that’s how crazy their popularity was.

And proudly, right in the middle of them—

“Woorah! Shin Kangheon the Gold! This body makes his entrance—!”

Shin Kangheon, who’d dyed his hair blond overnight, drew everyone’s gaze.

He stepped out of a pretty expensive foreign car—no Eight Great Sects logo on it—and waved enthusiastically to the crowd.

I shook my head, already tired of him.

“That idiot. Acting up again.”

Unlike me, Shin Kangheon had kept up very active social media while training, and though he’d stopped posting training footage, the clout-chaser part of his personality was still alive and well.

“Wahahahahaha!”

The cheers and applause he got were a little different from the ones showered on the Eight Great Sect prospects, but he seemed satisfied enough.

What was certain was that once Shin Kangheon showed up, most of the attention in the area shifted straight to him.

“How shamelessly frivolous.”

“He’s not a clown...”

“Does he have no pride as a martial artist?”

A few of the Eight Great Sect late-bloom prospects looked at him with openly displeased eyes.

Please don’t act like you know me. Just walk on by. Just walk on by.

I did my best to keep my body out of Shin Kangheon’s line of sight.

But if there was a problem, it was that we’d smashed our weapons together so much over the past few months that we were far too used to each other’s qi.

“Hey! You crazy bastard!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Shin Kangheon started striding toward me.

At the same time, the eyes of the Eight Great Sect late-bloom prospects naturally swung over in my direction as well.

“Ah.”

I already felt tired, and I lifted one hand to cover my eyes.