Urban Vagabond: Reload

Before leaving for Jeju Island, I explained things to the crew in advance.

“Jeju’s martial artists are extremely wary of outsiders. The moment they hear you came from the mainland, they start with suspicion.”

When you visited as a tourist, Jeju Island felt like a place with good public safety.

But if the visitors were martial artists, it was a different story.

Long-established local powers exercised control across the entire island, watching and keeping outsiders’ movements in check.

Shin Kangheon said he’d heard something similar too, chiming in.

“On Jeju, they say you don’t have to join the Martial Alliance, but you do have to join the Tamra Alliance, right?”

The Tamra Alliance.

The largest martial-world organization alliance on Jeju Island.

The heads of those deep-rooted local forces took turns serving as alliance leader, and it was an organization that moved for the sake of their own interests.

The Tamra Alliance’s spiderweb-like influence didn’t discriminate between the public world and the underworld.

On Jeju, its authority was strong enough to surpass even the Martial Alliance.

That’s also why they couldn’t respond quickly when Phantom Dream showed up.

When the incident first broke out, they tried to resolve it quietly within Jeju without alerting the outside, and the damage grew. In the end, more than two hundred civilians were sacrificed, and it became a bloodbath.

This time, I wasn’t going to let it happen.

“Anyway, lately they’ve probably gotten even more on edge about outsiders. According to an information broker I trust, Jeju’s unorthodox martial artists have been disappearing one by one. I’m going to dig into that.”

Phantom Dream didn’t fully show itself until later, but there had been signs much earlier.

A chain of disappearances and mysterious murders among the unorthodox martial artists of Jeju’s underworld.

At this point it still hadn’t reached the news, but rumors would already be spreading through the underworld all the same.

“I knew it. So we’re not just going to Jeju to have fun, right?”

Kim Bokja folded her arms like she’d expected I had some scheme going, then lifted one corner of her mouth as she asked,

“So what are we robbing this time?”

Her eyes sparkled as she remembered the experience of making some nice side money by shaking down GREAT HEAVEN GATE and Sun and Moon Gate.

“Disappearances? Doesn’t that sound like the kind of thing where a righteous heroic swordsman needs to show up?”

Was it the work of some orthodox hypocrite secretly training Demonic Void Art? Or a blood-soaked power struggle between unorthodox demon-path factions?

Shin Kangheon muttered to himself, already sounding excited by a case that tickled his curiosity.

A relaxing trip was nice, but the moment I said there was a clear purpose, both of their eyes changed.

I had to calm the two of them down, since they were getting way too fired up.

“First, let’s go and take it easy—do some sightseeing and watch how things move. Because anyway...”

They were definitely going to approach us first.

If I wanted to find Phantom Dream, it was essential to draw the attention of Jeju’s unorthodox martial artists and make contact with them.

But I wasn’t particularly worried about how to do it.

With this group, I was confident we’d draw attention the moment we arrived on Jeju.

*****

My prediction was dead on. No—faster than I expected.

Only a few hours after we arrived on Jeju, watchful eyes latched onto us, and before we even made it through a full night, people came looking.

KRAAANG!

The front gate was shoved open violently, and martial artists with savage eyes flooded into the yard. The moment they decided they’d been found out, they charged in without hesitation.

“Morons, huh?”

A rough-looking man at the front strode forward, face twisting as if he’d heard what Shin Kangheon said.

“Big kid. Did you just call us morons?”

They were all martial artists with trained bodies and vicious weapons.

But Shin Kangheon didn’t even stop yawning, only sweeping his eyes over them casually.

“Haaahm—who called you guys morons? Sounds like you feel guilty.”

“Ha! You little rat-dropping—”

“What do you call something smaller than a rat-dropping? A bean-dropping? An ant-dropping?”

When Shin Kangheon looked down at the man—who was smaller than him—with a scornful gaze and grinned, the man’s face went red with humiliation. He spewed curses and leveled his blade at Shin Kangheon.

That was when—

“What are you doing to an adult? You should be polite.”

“...Polite?”

I shoved the disbelieving Shin Kangheon aside and stepped forward. Then I clasped my fists politely and apologized to the man.

“I apologize on his behalf. May I ask why you’ve come to visit at this late hour?”

I kept my tone respectful, but the man’s expression didn’t soften as he spoke with a sharp stare.

“You’re Kim Muhyuk and Shin Kangheon. Right?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s your purpose for crawling into Jeju?”

Shin Kangheon frowned like the interrogation annoyed him, but with me out front, he didn’t cut in.

“We came on a trip with friends. Is there some problem?”

“The problem is you’re martial artists. If you’re just tourists, why’d you bring blades?”

The man jerked his chin toward my sword and Shin Kangheon’s saber.

It was a ridiculous provocation.

A martial artist who’d earned an official license could carry a weapon through the airport without any special inspection.

As long as you didn’t draw it and swing it around anywhere, there was no issue.

But I even bowed my head as I apologized.

“If we created discomfort, I apologize. We brought weapons only for self-defense. There was no other intention.”

“Hm...”

He’d picked a fight openly, but when the other side came out respectful, his face filled with a This isn’t how it’s supposed to go? kind of look.

I continued, my voice crisp and steady.

“Even now, we can feel killing intent outside the lodging, so we armed ourselves. Would you seniors of the martial world consider showing us broad-minded generosity?”

At the unexpected reaction, hesitation crept over the man’s face.

Kim Muhyuk and Shin Kangheon.

He knew those two were young rising stars who’d shown overwhelming performance in this year’s license exam.

He’d assumed they’d be arrogant, and he’d even prepared for that.

I even brought poison, just in case.

Even a pinnacle expert died the same if poison took hold.

Of course, he hadn’t planned to kill us. If a fight broke out, the idea was to subdue us with poison and drag us away.

Thinking things might end up easier than expected, the man’s mouth curled into a grin.

“You’re a rare kind of polite junior these days. Fine. Then while you’re on Jeju, we’ll hold onto your sword and saber. Bring your luggage and bags too—every last one...”

He lifted a hand like he was doing us a favor and started patting my shoulder.

That was when I raised my head and spoke in a whisper.

“This should be enough.”

“...What?”

His eyes cooled so abruptly the man flinched without meaning to.

I spoke in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.

“The moment you broke in and threatened us—you were caught perfectly on the dashcam. I figured we should have proof later that this was self-defense.”

“...!”

Only then did he realize our SUV’s engine was still running.

Everything had been recording from the instant they entered the pension grounds.

The man’s face flushed red and blue as he realized he’d been played.

“You cocky little bastards—how dare you mess with an adult! Go rip the dashcam out! No—just smash it!”

At his order, the martial artists behind him marched toward our SUV with faces like they were about to tear it apart.

As if he’d been waiting, Shin Kangheon stepped forward with his massive saber slung over his shoulder and asked me,

“Now I can fight, right?”

“Don’t kill them. Cleaning up is annoying. And if you can, keep their arms and legs attached.”

“You lunatic. When you say things like that, I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

Shin Kangheon shook his head like he was dumbfounded, then grinned at the martial artists coming in with murderous momentum.

“I almost fell asleep waiting. All you did was run your mouths... You guys were bored too, right?”

KRAAANG!

He kicked off the ground and charged the intruders, shouting in a bright, cheerful voice.

“Alright, we’re martial artists, so let’s settle it with force!”

With movements like a wild beast, the enemies drew their weapons—but their reactions were far too slow.

PYAAAK!

The leading martial artist took a hit to the face with the saber’s scabbard and lost consciousness, collapsing backward. The comrades right behind him drew and swung their weapons.

But Shin Kangheon was already gone from that spot. In a single bound he vaulted over them, then whipped his long legs like a windmill. Everyone struck by those iron-block kicks snapped bones.

While Shin Kangheon rampaged like a lion in a flock of sheep, I blocked the escape route so they couldn’t run.

“Die!”

One martial artist tried to slip away alone and ran into me—then thrust his sword.

He stabbed for my heart without the slightest hesitation, and I answered by smashing his lower abdomen with my scabbard.

“Guhhk...!”

Foam bursting at his mouth from the agony, he slammed his face into the dirt and dropped.

“M-mad...”

“Call the boss—now!”

A few pulled out smartphones to contact someone, but every time they tried, I sent blade aura and cut the devices clean in half.

“Poison! Use poison!”

The poison they’d prepared didn’t work either. Even in the chaos, I pinpointed the ones trying to spread it and put them down.

“H-how are you this strong...?”

The man who’d brought his subordinates felt like he was dreaming.

No matter how pinnacle expert and first-rate expert we were, real combat was different. With enough numbers, hidden weapons, and poison, he’d believed taking down two young martial artists with little field experience would be easy.

But contrary to his expectations, his men were dropping like leaves in a gale, unable to do anything.

It felt like being haunted.

“Damn it... We picked the wrong target.”

In the end, the man, now alone, tossed his blade aside and dropped to his knees. He moved like an underworld martial artist who’d learned that sharp instincts were how you survived.

After I shut off the dashcam, I walked up and asked,

“Name. Affiliation. Purpose.”

“...Kim Dongcheol. I’m with Black Crow Gang, and the boss told me to bring you in.”

“Told you.”

“H-he told me!”

Since everyone but him was already unconscious, Kim Dongcheol turned honest and pathetic to stay alive.

I crouched in front of him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Answer my questions honestly and I’ll let you live. Lie, and I’ll disguise it as an accident and kill you.”

My face and tone were the same calm ones from when I’d spoken politely earlier—except now they were steeped in killing intent so thick it made your skin crawl.

Wasn’t this guy supposed to be an orthodox young martial artist? We didn’t just pick wrong—we picked catastrophically wrong...

The questioning continued.

Unasked information spilled out of Kim Dongcheol’s mouth in a steady stream, and I nodded or frowned a few times.

“Pass.”

As if satisfied, I nodded, then chopped his temple with the hilt.

PYAAAK!

Kim Dongcheol collapsed sideways as he lost consciousness, wearing an expression of relief.

Shin Kangheon, who’d watched the entire process from start to finish, looked at me like he was sick of me.

“I don’t know who the bigger bastard is anymore.”

“Is it over?”

Only after the fight was completely finished did Kim Bokja peek her head out from inside the pension.

Maybe she’d washed up—she was in comfortable clothes, hair wrapped in a towel. She’d even wrapped her hair leisurely while listening to the sounds of fighting outside.

I looked at her and said,

“You’ll have to dry your hair on the way.”

“Huh? Where are we going all of a sudden?”

“Black Crow Gang’s base.”

When I left only that behind and headed out, Shin Kangheon explained the whole story to her.

A moment later, I drove up in Black Crow Gang’s van that had been parked outside.

I handled the wheel smoothly, stopped the van in the middle of the yard, and rolled down the window. Then I jerked my chin at the unconscious martial artists on the ground.

“Let’s load the unconscious ones first. If we leave them here, they might try to twist it into something later.”

“....”

“Why?”

“You look so much like a human trafficker...”

The three of us sealed the pressure points of the unconscious Black Crow Gang martial artists and stacked them inside the van like luggage, one by one.

Last, Shin Kangheon lifted Kim Dongcheol and set him on top, then dusted off his hands and asked,

“By the way... Did you ask where Black Crow Gang is? Or was it ‘Black Mark Gang’? Wherever it is.”

“I didn’t ask.”

At the two of them staring at me like I was insane, I operated the navigation and showed them.

“It’ll be saved in the nav.”

“...Be honest. You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“Does your teacher teach you stuff like this too?”

I ignored my friends’ suspicious stares and started driving.

“Want me to drive?”

Kim Bokja’s eyes shone like she wanted to try driving the big van too—she’d gotten hooked after a single day.

Of course, I didn’t give up the driver’s seat. Riding with a beginner driver at night would be thrilling in its own way, but this wasn’t sightseeing.

“No. I’ve got it.”

“You said you don’t even have a license.”

“I didn’t say I can’t drive.”

A few minutes later—

“AAAH! You lunatic—how hard are you stepping on it?!”

“Brake! Hit the brakes! KYYYAAAK...!”

Inside the van ripping down the road, Shin Kangheon and Kim Bokja clutched their seatbelts and screamed.