Urban Vagabond: Reload

“Me! Definitely me!”

“I would like to go first.”

Kim Muhyuk and Shin Kangheon raised their hands at the same time, then whipped their heads toward each other and glared. Without even bothering to decide who was first, they started advancing toward the sparring platform.

“I’m going first!”

“Don’t make me laugh. I’m first.”

They knew exactly what the other was thinking. In case the other tried to get ahead, they started using petty tricks—yanking each other’s clothes, sweeping legs to trip the other—while pushing forward.

Wasn’t this a chance to spar against the Martial Alliance Leader at full strength?

Of course they wanted to fight him when he was in peak condition, not even a little tired.

“You two, seriously...... I can’t lose either. I’ll challenge first!”

Seeing that, Song Junho got fired up too—he raised his hand and headed for the platform.

Oh Jungmin shook his head, then started walking out with a serious expression.

“You said you’d keep the promise after you got stronger.......”

Yang Hayun stared at Kim Muhyuk’s back as he moved forward, then bit her lip hard like she’d realized something and stepped out as well.

“......Damn it. If you do this, it’s too obvious. I can’t not go.”

Pi Seunghwa from Golden Glory Gate sighed, then read the room, raised his hand, and stepped forward too.

“What’s with these kids? Why is it like this this year?”

“Those green little brats.......”

When five of the younger talents taking the first-rate test stepped up, the martial artists taking the pinnacle-expert test—including Bu Yeonha—couldn’t not step up out of pride.

A moment later, more than ten martial artists were up on the platform, all insisting they should spar the Alliance Leader first.

“......Hahahaha! The hot blood of young martial artists makes even me feel younger!”

For a split second, Yeo Pilgeuk looked startled by the unexpected situation—but then he burst out laughing like he was genuinely delighted.

“However....... I’m sorry, but I only said that once to raise the excitement.”

“...What?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

Yeo Pilgeuk scratched his head like even he hadn’t expected it to turn out like this.

“The truth is, there’s already a set order based on the previous exam’s results. So everyone, go back to your places and wait for your name to be called.”

“No way.......”

“I was really looking forward to it.......”

Kim Muhyuk and Shin Kangheon, who’d practically stripped each other halfway, got off the platform looking deeply disappointed. The other younger talents also looked regretful. A few of them, though, returned while letting out quiet sighs of relief.

“Heh. These days, young kids are so scary I can’t even say anything.”

Yeo Pilgeuk had expected the exact opposite.

A situation where no one would step up first and everyone would just watch each other.

But the younger talents had rushed the platform all at once, and he’d ended up losing a bit of face.

‘Well then....... The Alliance Leader’s dignity has to be shown through skill.’

He’d been flustered by their nerve, but he liked that fighting spirit enough that he smiled with satisfaction.

“May this old man ask the Alliance Leader a question?”

At that moment, an elderly voice—so slow it was almost maddening—slipped into the gap with perfect timing.

Among the invited VIP seats, the highest.

Na Ilcheon, sect leader of Azure Sky Sword Gate, was rising at a pace so slow it made you want to grab him and pull him up.

“Of course, senior. Please speak comfortably.”

Martial Alliance Leader Yeo Pilgeuk offered a polite fist-and-palm salute.

Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon was an elder of martial society so senior that even the Alliance Leader called him “senior,” and among the Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders, he was respected enough to be called “Grand Elder.”

Even though he almost never appeared at official gatherings, his influence was greater than anyone else in this room.

“Even if it sounds like stale talk from an old man, please understand....... The Alliance Leader said he will replace the exam with a spar...... but I wonder whether it is acceptable to grant qualification based only on the level of martial arts.”

His voice was slow and weak, but by now everyone was focused on his words.

“Traditionally, I understood the Martial Alliance to reflect the participant’s character and refinement when conducting the exam and granting qualification....... Have I been mistaken?”

The Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders beside him nodded with serious expressions and added a line each.

“I share Grand Elder’s thoughts as well.”

“For an orthodox martial artist, cultivating character and refinement is just as important as martial arts.”

“If you decide pass or fail based solely on martial strength, how is that different from the unorthodox.......”

There was no reason for them to sit still while Na Ilcheon stepped up and challenged the Alliance Leader.

Even though everyone knew the “character and refinement” intent had become hollow long ago, and that this was simply a question meant to nitpick.

This kind of objection itself was a display of the Eight Great Sects’ authority and power.

‘Alliance Leader. Do you even have a proper rebuttal?’

‘It’s the “right answer” an old martial artist like Azure Sky Sword Elder would insist on...... but sometimes there’s nothing trickier than this.’

‘It’d be nice if he got angry. Like, “What right do you have to talk about orthodox?”’

But contrary to the sect leaders’ expectations, the Alliance Leader accepted it smoothly.

“You are correct. I understand very well what the sect leaders are concerned about. We are or-tho-dox martial artists, aren’t we?”

Yeo Pilgeuk emphasized the word “orthodox” with particular force, then looked over the roughly hundred exam participants and smiled gently.

“However, every one of these juniors has already proven their character and refinement in the previous exam.”

“......Already proven?”

Na Ilcheon tilted his head, and Yeo Pilgeuk nodded with a confident expression.

“They bravely stood against the assassins who invaded the Martial Alliance, and without looking away from injustice, they risked their lives to protect their comrades. I personally witnessed it. And the three sect leaders there—you know it too, don’t you?”

At the Alliance Leader’s words, pride filled the participants’ faces.

At the same time, the sect leaders who’d questioned the exam’s appropriateness looked flustered at being called out.

“Ahem.......”

“Of course we are aware, but.......”

Everyone except Azure Sky Sword Elder—who blinked slowly as if he’d heard it for the first time.

“This old man’s hearing is poor, so I didn’t know such detailed circumstances. Or did I... feel like I heard something, perhaps.......”

“And so, I judged that the only exam these martial artists need is purely to prove their own martial arts. Have I explained sufficiently to the sect leaders?”

While the other sect leaders stayed silent, hiding their displeasure, Azure Sky Sword Elder nodded with a bright, innocent smile.

“I see! That’s perfectly convincing.”

“......Sect leader?”

“Grand Elder.......”

In the end, it was a conversation that ended with them gaining nothing and only taking damage.

Instead of displaying the Eight Great Sects’ dignity and checking the Martial Alliance Leader, they’d effectively empowered him.

“...Huh? Did I do something wrong?”

But Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon only blinked. He looked at the other sect leaders and spoke.

“I merely asked what I was curious about...... Did this old man make some kind of mistake?”

“...No.”

“Heh. Of course not.......”

“I’m very excited for the exam that will begin soon. Haha!”

Na Ilcheon’s confused, head-tilting face looked exactly like an oblivious old man.

The sect leaders’ anger surged at that maddening behavior, but countless eyes were watching. They couldn’t even afford to show a dissatisfied look.

‘Useless old man. Whose side are you on?’

‘He should’ve handed it to a successor long ago and retired to the back room.......’

‘Don’t tell me he made some kind of deal with the Alliance Leader?’

It wasn’t strange that they were suspicious.

“Heh heh. I’m looking forward to it. I hear this year’s younger generation is quite something to see.......”

Whether they liked it or not, Na Ilcheon’s eyes glittered.

Then Yeo Pilgeuk, smiling broadly at him, put internal energy into his voice and called out.

“Then we will begin the exam now! Participants, come up in the order your names are called!”

As the first participant climbed onto the platform, everyone began holding their breath for the coming clash between the Martial Alliance Leader and the younger talents.

*****

WHOOOOM!

With the sound of a drum bursting, a participant flew off the platform, regained balance midair, and landed on the floor on both feet.

“I can still...... Uuugh—!”

Face gone pale, the participant bent over and vomited up everything he’d eaten that morning and the night before, then collapsed from exhaustion.

When the medical team carried the fainted participant away, Yeo Pilgeuk flicked his finger with an indifferent expression.

“Next.”

“I will receive a lesson from the Alliance Leader!”

The next participant climbed up with a grim expression, but the result wasn’t much different.

“Uuugh—!”

THUD.

“Next.”

There was no mercy in Yeo Pilgeuk’s fist.

The gentle-eyed Alliance Leader who’d looked proudly at every participant was gone.

With the blank face of an iron man, he sent every martial artist who climbed onto the platform flying.

KABOOM!

On the first punch, nine out of ten dropped their weapon.

THUD!

On the second punch, the impact shook them to the bone.

WHOOOOM!

On the third punch, they flew through the air and fell off the platform.

Most of those who stepped onto the platform couldn’t endure even three techniques, collapsing or losing consciousness.

Participants from the Eight Great Sects were shattered without exception. Every time a disciple went flying out of the platform, the sect leaders’ eyebrows twitched.

After sending twenty people in a row off the platform, Yeo Pilgeuk clapped his fists together and spoke.

“Did you think becoming a first-rate expert was easy?”

“.......”

The younger talents who’d been full of confidence now wore stiff, bitter expressions.

‘He’s probably holding back a lot, even like this.’

Kim Muhyuk tried to analyze the Alliance Leader’s movements and techniques as much as possible until his turn came, but once the number of people launched by that fist passed twenty, he decided to stop.

“It’s pointless.”

All twenty had gone down the exact same way.

From start to finish, the Alliance Leader never changed his stance once, and he used the same three techniques in the same order—and no one had managed to stop them.

In the middle of it, the Alliance Leader even gave advice suited to each opponent.

“You have a habit of twitching your shoulder before you attack. Fix it—or just make it a feint.”

“...Yes!”

WHOOOOM!

“You think too much. Against an equal or a weaker opponent, maybe. But against an expert far above you, the correct approach is to focus only on your natural movement.”

“U-understood!”

KABOOM!

“Start with your breathing. Don’t tense up. Try it slowly.”

“Hoo... hoo... hooo.......”

“Good. Well done.”

KRRRANG!

Truly overwhelming divine authority.

They said he’d stepped down from his prime due to physical aging, but that evaluation felt absurd—because Yeo Pilgeuk right now looked like a martial god.

“Was the Alliance Leader still that strong?”

“I thought only the title ‘King of Fists’ remained.......”

“Ha. So this is why the Martial Alliance can stand tall even with the Eight Great Sects breathing down its neck.”

Even the dignified VIPs from every field began murmuring at the Martial Alliance Leader’s martial might.

When he said he’d personally conduct the exam, people had thought it would be interesting—but seeing his majesty in person left them unable to close their mouths.

No matter what anyone said, the protagonist of this room was Martial Alliance Leader Yeo Pilgeuk.

“Next.”

“Next.”

“Next.”

Then, for the first time, the Martial Alliance Leader—who’d been acting like a stone-wall examiner ready to fail everyone—showed a different reaction.

“Next!”

The moment he saw the young man newly stepping onto the platform, the corners of the Alliance Leader’s mouth, which had been indifferent until now, curled up long and high.