Urban Vagabond: Reload

With my internal energy suddenly swelling inside my body, the way to bring it into harmony with my external training—

When my master said the fastest path was real combat, I agreed wholeheartedly.

Looking back on my own experience, it was hard to find a better method than that.

When your focus spikes to the extreme, even a body that won’t listen starts moving sharp and fast.

It had been the same back when I lived as a vagabond. I’d grown stronger by swinging my sword in the field rather than burying my head in theory, so if anything, this situation made me excited and thrilled.

Of course, that also meant danger came with it.

“Hey, you little punk. Why are you suddenly grinning like a creep?”

“I was just thinking it’s nice how well you and I match in this kind of thing, Master.”

“Tsk, tsk. You’re a kid—what the hell are you going to turn into later....”

Even as Choi Geon nagged at his disciple, the corners of his eyes curved softly.

He was looking forward to it too—getting to move in sync with a disciple whose grain matched his.

“Change clothes first.”

Choi Geon handed me the gear he’d brought in advance.

A night-ops suit made of special material, capable of fooling infrared detection sensors.

And a whistle that generated ultra-low-frequency sound.

Been a while since I’ve seen one of these.

Ordinary people couldn’t hear or feel ultra-low frequencies, but martial artists with extremely developed senses could detect the pressure changes inside their ears.

Of course, it wasn’t something every martial artist could do. It took intensive training, or someone born with unusually sharp senses.

I was both.

“Good grief....”

Watching me pack the gear with practiced ease, Choi Geon clicked his tongue.

His disciple, acquired late in life, had good manners and outstanding talent—but he also had plenty of secrets.

For an ordinary rising junior to even come into contact with things like this was nearly impossible.

Everyone has at least one story they can’t tell.

And since Choi Geon knew my nature was straight, he had no intention of prying.

“If a situation comes up where we have to split, we’ll set a few signals in advance with the whistle and use them in an emergency.”

After we set a few agreed-upon signals and confirmed them with each other, the Sword Demon pulled out the interior blueprint of the Great Heaven Gate building he’d obtained beforehand.

“I’ll explain the operation simply.”

He looked extremely familiar briefing it, like it wasn’t his first or second time.

“The top priority is infiltrating Great Heaven Gate and finding evidence connected to the incident that happened during the license exam.”

“If we can find evidence tying it to the Eight Great Sects, that’d be perfect.”

I had plenty of experience too—back in my previous life as a vagabond, I’d taken part in all kinds of operations.

At the way I understood him instantly, Choi Geon nodded with a satisfied smile, then wiped it off and said flatly.

“Under no circumstances are you to overdo it. We’re here to build some real-combat experience, not to grab every bastard we run into and beat them into the dirt.”

Remember that this is the heart of the orthodox martial world, disciple.

Remember that this is the heart of the orthodox martial world, disciple.

As my master stared at me with that look, I answered with a baffled expression.

“I can tell right from wrong at least that much.”

“Hm....”

Choi Geon shot me a suspicious look, then nodded with an expression that said he still didn’t quite trust me.

Either way, as long as he was nearby, nothing excessively dangerous would happen.

“We’ve already confirmed the sect leader and the main experts aren’t here. At most, there’ll be one duty elder, so that’s all we need to watch for.”

“Still, we should prepare for the worst, right?”

“Of course.”

We’d come with a light mindset, but we both knew unexpected things could happen at any time.

Choi Geon spoke as he ran through contingencies.

“If our infiltration is discovered, every entrance will close and energy-dispersing poison will be released through the corridors. Just in case, I’ll issue you the antidote in advance.”

As I took the antidote from him, I asked,

“If we’re discovered, what’s the time limit?”

“In ten minutes, Great Heaven Gate’s main force will arrive. We have to escape within that.”

In Choi Geon’s view, it wasn’t an operation with especially high risk.

Considering Great Heaven Gate’s security level—and his and his disciple’s skill—we {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} could complete our objective and slip out quietly.

But if it really is an incident tied all the way to the Eight Great Sects....

There might be danger hidden beyond what he expected.

A beat late, Choi Geon said to me with a worried look.

“Would you rather just wait outside? Thinking again, if the Eight Great Sects are involved, we can’t know what variables might appear. With your current ability, it may be pushing it.”

He hadn’t meant it that way, but it scraped my pride.

“Ha....”

But I laughed instead. Variables were the very experience—and the flavor—you could only get in real combat.

“Then how about I go alone, and you wait here, Master?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve got an injury on your hand too. It makes sense for your young, energetic disciple to go, right?”

Of course, I hadn’t intended that either—but now it was Choi Geon’s pride that got scratched, and he let out a hollow laugh.

“Heh....”

Shaking his head, he lightly patted my shoulder and smiled with confidence.

“Fine. Then stick close behind me and follow. Today, I’ll teach you infiltration and penetration properly.”

“If it looks like it’ll be hard on you, I’ll take the lead.”

Master and disciple stared at each other for a moment, then awkwardly laughed at the same time.

“Hahaha! Want to bet on who finds the important information first?”

“Should the loser grant the winner one wish?”

“.......”

“.......”

“.......”

Prideful to the exact same degree, we turned our heads at the same time and looked toward the Great Heaven Gate building.

“Follow close. If you can’t keep up properly, I’ll leave you behind.”

“I’ve been eating and resting well lately—I’ve got so much energy I think I could carry you on my back and still go.”

A moment later, two people with their faces covered by masks melted into the darkness as if competing.

*****

“Hyaaahm—.”

A Great Heaven Gate martial artist stretched wide as he yawned so hard it looked like his mouth might split.

In front of him, multiple monitors showed the major corridors of the building through CCTV.

Late at night.

After watching the dull screens that looked no different from still images, the martial artist turned and looked behind him.

“How long are we doing this? It’s been an hour, so let’s switch.”

At that, the colleague who’d been sitting cross-legged and doing energy circulation and breath regulation cracked one eye open.

“Has it already been an hour?”

“Don’t play dumb. You come out here and do energy circulation and breath regulation too.”

They switched. One sat in the chair, and one sat on the floor and folded into a cross-legged posture.

Sitting on the cold floor, the martial artist grumbled for no reason.

“Seriously... in times like these, what’s the point of having martial artists stand guard in person....”

“Because the people above told us to.”

They were lower-ranked martial artists of Great Heaven Gate, and they were full of complaints that higher-grade manpower like them was being stuck on mere guard duty.

This building—where sword-wielding masters of the martial world came and went every day—was outfitted with cutting-edge security devices as well.

Security was so tight that even a top-tier killer wouldn’t dare attempt infiltration, so what thief would ever think of sneaking into Great Heaven Gate?

For that reason, the two of them didn’t focus on their guard duty. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have found anything—but still.

“Want to go down to the underground training hall and spar a little?”

“What if Elder Gu catches us?”

“He’ll probably be asleep in the duty room. Have you ever seen elders do proper patrols?”

“...Fair.”

As they enthusiastically talked trash about their superior, at some point they began to feel the area around them slowly getting colder.

SSSSSS—

“What is it? It’s weirdly chilly....”

“Did the AC turn on or something?”

“In winter?”

The martial artists reached for their swords as unease rose, but their bodies were already getting pretty sluggish.

And in that moment, there was a shadow occupying the space behind their backs.

Tap. Tap.

The instant pressure points were sealed, the two martial artists collapsed onto the floor.

From behind them, Kim Muhyuk—wearing a mask—looked down at the fallen men.

He shook his head as if something didn’t sit right with him.

“If I’d been even a little later, I might’ve gotten caught.”

White breath spilled from his mouth. A snow-white current flowed over his entire body.

What had slowed the two men just now was me imitating an ice technique with the water energy I possessed.

If Master saw that, he’d say my control of energy is still clumsy.

If they’d been opponents with sensitive perception, the instant they felt the cold, they would’ve realized something was off.

Luckily they were lower-ranked martial artists, so it went smoothly, but if I wanted to handle energy as if it were truly mine, I needed more experience.

Just like this, through real combat, I planned to gradually find my way into handling the Five Elements Divine Art’s energy.

“No choice but to keep using it until I get the feel.”

“No choice but to keep using it until I get the feel.”

After taking one sword from the unconscious martial artists, I checked the CCTV.

“Master is... still not visible.”

Nowhere on any monitor was there even a trace of Choi Geon.

Clicking my tongue softly, I froze the monitor feeds and moved to the next location.

Clicking my tongue softly, I froze the monitor feeds and moved to the next location.

—I’ll sweep from the top floor down, so you occupy the security room first, then head to the basement.

After infiltrating the building, we split—up and down.

Choi Geon headed for the sect leader’s office on the top floor, where security would be the strictest.

I headed for the basement storage, the best place to hide anything with a guilty stink.

I’m not going to lose easily either.

It was half a joke, that bet—but even if my opponent was my master, I didn’t want to lose.

“Who...?”

“Who...?”

THUD!

“C-Caught... intruder...!”

WHAM!

I was unstoppable. As I headed for the basement, I quickly subdued the Great Heaven Gate martial artists I occasionally ran into.

If I want to adapt, I have to use my energy in all kinds of situations.

If I want to adapt, I have to use my energy in all kinds of situations.

With water energy, I imitated an ice technique and stiffened their bodies.

With metal energy, I hardened my fist to smash locks, or shattered their weapons in a single blow.

Is that all? It doesn’t even feel like ten.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I slipped into the basement storage—

ZIIING, ZIING—ZIIING!

An irregular vibration buzzed in my ear, and I stopped.

It was what happened when someone blew the ultra-low-frequency whistle.

According to the signal we’d agreed on in advance, this meant—

There’s a problem, so get out first.

Almost at the same time, a huge explosion sounded from above.

WHOOOOM—!

The vibration was so massive the building shook.

Glass shattered. A blaring alarm echoed through the entire structure.

WEEEEEEEE—!

“...Looks like he touched something he shouldn’t have.”

Something had clearly gone wrong, but I wasn’t worried about Choi Geon.

Even if Great Heaven Gate’s sect leader and elders swarmed him, he could more than easily extract himself alone.

I just have to get out cleanly.

It was a little disappointing. I was only just getting used to moving my body while handling the Five Elements Divine Art’s energy.

“...It can’t be helped.”

I turned to escape the building—

“What are you doing!”

A shout packed with internal energy, and a presence closing in fast.

It was a level of existence completely different from the Great Heaven Gate martial artists I’d met so far.

Of all times....

In an instant, the distance closed until I could make out his face.

To my surprise, it was a face I knew.

Gu Jaseung, Great Heaven Gate’s youngest elder.

He was also the man who’d judged me at the sword dance competition.

Gu Jaseung’s face was stiff as stone as he leveled his sword at me.

“Throw down your weapon and kneel. If you do, I’ll spare your life.”

I started to turn and run, then stopped in place.

He’s not an opponent I can shake off easily anyway. The moment I show my back, he could cut me down. And....

Wasn’t he the perfect opponent for building real-combat experience?

I recalled what my master had told me before we infiltrated.

—In ten minutes, Great Heaven Gate’s main force will arrive. You have to escape within that.

“Ten minutes.”

“...What did you just say?”

“Time attack starts.”

With a timer switched on in my head, I charged Gu Jaseung.