Urban Vagabond: Reload

The three of them, all in pajamas, sat in a circle in Kim Muhyuk’s room.

After eating their fill of the dinner Kim Muhyuk’s parents had set out, they’d brought fruit and cookies up with them and spent a long time chatting......

“Those are your parents’ photos?”

“Oooh— your mom was seriously gorgeous.”

Right now, they were looking through the photos of Shin Kangheon’s parents that he’d gotten from the White Tiger Unit commander.

Kim Bokja stared at the photos—discolored after so many years—and spoke to Shin Kangheon.

“If you take these to a place I know, they can restore the colors back to how they were. Want me to give you the info?”

But Shin Kangheon shook his head.

“No. I like them like this.”

He carefully traced the edge of the photo with his fingertip.

Old photos had their own kind of atmosphere.

Like he was watching a past version of his parents that he’d never known—so he didn’t want to make it look brand-new on purpose.

Kim Bokja asked if he wasn’t worried.

“Just in case, make a bunch of copies and do a digital restoration too. What if you lose them?”

“I’m gonna carry them around every day. Why would I lose them?”

“Then you need to do it even more, idiot! One spar with Kim Muhyuk and they’ll tear!”

Normally, he would’ve ignored that kind of nagging without even hearing it—but when Shin Kangheon pictured how he fought, his expression turned oddly serious.

“......That photo place. Where is it?”

Kim Muhyuk, who’d been listening quietly, suddenly stood up like something had just hit him.

“Right. There was something I meant to show you guys, and I forgot.”

“Cash?”

“Martial arts?”

Kim Bokja and Shin Kangheon looked at him with open expectation. Kim Muhyuk opened his desk drawer and pulled out a framed photo about the size of a movie poster.

“Oooo!”

“Hey, you should’ve shown this way earlier!”

It wasn’t what they’d been expecting, but both of them lit up as they looked at the photo in the frame.

It was a picture they’d taken together on Jeju Island.

With the ocean at sunset behind them, the three of them were in the shot—along with Apricot.

It was the one they’d said, in passing, had come out the best of all the Jeju Island photos—and that later, they should frame it and hang it in the hideout.

“Kim Muhyuk, you little punk....... Your big sister might get so touched she cries, you know?”

Kim Bokja swiped at the corner of her eye with her sleeve for no reason.

Even as she joked, her gaze wouldn’t come off the photo.

Because for her, too, it was the first time she’d ever taken a photo like this with friends her age.

“This is pissing me off—look. You came out really good.”

Shin Kangheon reached out and tapped Apricot.

Apricot had been sitting on a cushion with its mother’s inner core, picking up little pieces of fruit they’d cut small and eating them one by one. It lifted its head.

“KYYAAAAH? BBAK!”

Apricot saw the huge photo, startled, and hopped up off the cushion, flapping its wings.

Then, like it was trying to compare the three people in the photo with the three people in the room, it whipped its head back and forth, staring at them in turns.

“KYYAAAAH!”

At Apricot’s reaction, the three of them couldn’t help but laugh.

Kim Muhyuk grinned.

“Looks like you like it. But I’ve still got one more.”

“There’s more?”

“Kim Muhyuk, what’d you eat wrong today?”

Under his friends’ eager looks, Kim Muhyuk pulled two albums out of the drawer.

[Jeju Island Trip Souvenir]

That was all it said—simple as that.

The moment the two of them took the album and opened it, their eyes went wide.

“Mr. and ma’am are in here too!”

“And your mentor, and that AZURE SKY SWORD GATE grandpa sect leader, and Bu Yeonha too.......”

The album Kim Muhyuk had made didn’t only have photos of the three of them.

After Phantom Dream had been contained, Kim Muhyuk’s parents had come to Jeju Island—and there were photos of them, along with Choi Geon. There were also shots of the Azure Sky Sword Elder and Bu Yeonha, who’d come to help and then hung out for a bit before leaving.

There was even a photo of Gu Hyeonwoo lying in a hospital bed, holding up a V-sign toward the camera with the arm that was still fine—while Gu Jiu hugged Apricot tight beside him.

As the two of them chattered and flipped through the album, Kim Muhyuk spoke.

“I suffered a bit picking the photos, but I didn’t fill it up on purpose. Fill the rest with the ones you like.”

Dozens of photos, filling the album.

The memories from Jeju Island were preserved inside it, exactly as they were.

Someone might think it was a hassle—why bother making an album when all the photos were already on a smartphone anyway.

Past me was exactly that kind of person.

‘But doing it this time felt different. A photo you can touch with your hands—and that slowly takes on the weight of time—feels more special.’

Something I never would’ve done before.

That, too, was a change that came after my regression—and I liked the version of myself that had changed.

And fortunately, it looked like my friends loved the gift.

“Our crew leader! You even prepared a surprise event—look at you, pretty impressive?”

Kim Bokja lunged at Kim Muhyuk and threw a playful headlock around him.

Shin Kangheon, on the other hand, kept flipping the album one page at a time, staring at the photos.

“Pff....... This is so damn funny.”

In the photos taken on Jeju Island, he looked unbelievably happy.

A shot of him holding up the first red sea bream he’d ever caught—after going fishing with Kim Muhyuk’s father.

A photo that caught the perfect timing: Shin Kangheon striking a pose on top of a cliff, saying he was going to dive—while behind him, Kim Muhyuk crept up with his presence completely erased, trying to kick him off.

Even a photo of Shin Kangheon chasing Kim Bokja after she’d used spellcraft to draw graffiti all over his body while he slept—graffiti that wouldn’t come off easily.

The album was packed with moments like that—fun, happy moments.

......THUD.

As Shin Kangheon flipped to the very end, a firm expression crossed his face—like he’d made up his mind.

-Your body’s okay? Yeah. Got it. I’m busy with work, so I don’t think I can come see you.

-Ah, it’s okay. I’ll see you at home, Uncle.

If there had been even a single photo of his uncle in this album, maybe that resolve would’ve changed.

Shin Kangheon spoke to Kim Muhyuk and Kim Bokja, who were both staring at him now.

“What’s family, anyway? Family’s the people who eat together, talk together, mess around with you when you’re having a hard time, and treat you the same way—always. So.......”

Maybe he felt embarrassed—Shin Kangheon stopped and scratched his cheek.

But the two of them understood perfectly what he was trying to say.

You two are my family.

“Ahem. You know even if I don’t say it, right?”

“What?”

“So what?”

Shin Kangheon grumbled, “You bastards,” and opened the album again. Then he slid his parents’ old photos into it.

He shut the album with a THUD—then grinned and asked Kim Muhyuk,

“So what do I need to do?”

Kim Muhyuk had been waiting for him to say that.

Only then did he finally start explaining the plan he’d discussed with the Martial Alliance Leader—because for everything to go smoothly, Shin Kangheon’s active cooperation mattered, and Kim Muhyuk couldn’t force that kind of resolve on him.

“......So we need more information on Shin Junhyun.”

As Kim Muhyuk’s explanation continued, Shin Kangheon nodded with a serious face.

*****

Martial Alliance prison.

Lee Taehyun—an executive of the Black Heaven Society, and the one who’d overseen the smuggling operation—sat collapsed on the floor, looking utterly haggard.

‘They’re just throwing me away like this?’

It had been days now—ever since he’d lost to some young swordsman he didn’t even know and gotten dragged into Martial Alliance prison.

But the Black Heaven Society—an organization he’d served loyally his entire life—had taken no action for him at all.

Storming the Martial Alliance to rescue him wasn’t even a dream.

Even so, there had to be ways—sending a lawyer, sending a letter, anything.

But there hadn’t been even the bare minimum of movement.

“Fuck.......”

Betrayal boiled up inside him, and yet—Lee Taehyun had kept his mouth shut through every interrogation the Martial Alliance had thrown at him over the last few days.

If anything, he fed them fake information about the Black Heaven Society—things the Martial Alliance would have a hard time verifying—just to make their confusion worse.

‘I don’t care if I die alone. But.......’

Even if society pointed fingers at him as an unorthodox bastard, Lee Taehyun still had a family.

And his family lived within the Black Heaven Society’s reach.

The Black Heaven Society never forgave traitors. If he handed even a little information to the Martial Alliance, they would slaughter his family—brutally.

He’d seen the ends traitors came to again and again.

He’d even handled some of them himself.

So he could be sure.

“I’m not like those trash bastards!”

Maybe they’d come for him if he waited for the right chance. He’d lost his martial arts and his spellcraft, but there wasn’t another executive with more experience in smuggling than him......

Lee Taehyun clung to that small hope.

Because if he didn’t, he felt like he’d go insane—from the fact that he’d been discarded, just like the trash he always called trash.

“Heh, heh, heh.......”

He was leaning against the wall of the dark cell, letting out a weak laugh like he’d lost his mind—

THUD.

At first, he wondered if it was an auditory hallucination.

THUD THUD.

At the sound coming from the ceiling, Lee Taehyun jerked his head up. He spoke toward the ceiling.

“Wh-Who......?”

A moment later, a faint crack appeared. Gas began leaking out through the gap.

“HSSSSSS.......”

‘Poison? Who the hell—? Is the Martial Alliance trying to kill me? Or don’t tell me.......’

That was the last thing he remembered.

Lee Taehyun staggered—and blacked out, collapsing to the floor.

When he woke up again, he was tied to a sofa.

“GHH— ....”

“You’re awake.”

A stranger’s voice from above his head.

As his mind cleared, the first thing Lee Taehyun suspected was that the Martial Alliance was messing with him.

It was obvious. They’d pretend they were secretly taking him out—just to squeeze information out of him.

‘You bastards. You think I’m going to fall for it?’

But where he opened his eyes wasn’t some dark warehouse or building like people usually imagined.

“Where is this......?”

A high-rise building, with bright daylight visible through the window.

And the person standing in front of him didn’t look like someone from the orthodox faction, no matter how he looked at it.

Like a faint perfume, the man gave off a thin, instinctive blood smell that only the same kind could recognize—then he spoke.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Director Do Juwon of Cheonghwa Group.”

He wore a neat shirt, but there was something strangely decadent about the tall man’s presence.

Staring up at him, Lee Taehyun opened his mouth blankly.

“......Who the hell are you?”

“Ah. It’ll be easier for you to understand if I introduce myself like this.”

The man rolled up his sleeve. A blood-red tattoo was revealed on his solid-looking forearm.

As far as Lee Taehyun knew, there was only one unorthodox gang that carved that kind of tattoo into their arm.

“Bl-Blood Tiger Gang?”

“I’m glad you recognize it. I don’t like dragging out explanations.” He smiled lightly. “I’m Oho of the Blood Tiger Gang.”

The Fifth Tiger of the Blood Tiger Gang.

One of the Blood Tiger Gang boss’s sworn brothers—someone who kept their identity completely hidden—and a powerful figure with real authority. Lee Taehyun had heard the rumors.

“Why would the Blood Tiger Gang want me......?”

“I’m sure you have many questions, so I’ll get to the point.”

Oho placed a document on Lee Taehyun’s knees.

It was paperwork about the Black Heaven Society’s smuggling business—what Oho had identified so far.

“Mr. Lee Taehyun. I want the broad experience, connections, and knowledge you have about smuggling. We’re planning to expand into that area, and you’re exactly the kind of talent we need.”

“.......”

Lee Taehyun didn’t answer rashly.

He still couldn’t even grasp what situation he was in—and more than that, if he latched onto the Blood Tiger Gang, the Black Heaven Society would never leave his family alone.

“Ah. I forgot to mention something important.”

As if he’d read Lee Taehyun’s thoughts, Oho smiled. And at that smile, goosebumps rose all over Lee Taehyun’s body.

“As for your family, we secured them in advance and escorted them somewhere safe. There’s a photo inserted at the very back of the document, so please check it.”

“You—!”

The moment Lee Taehyun confirmed the photo of his family, he glared at Oho like he might lunge at him at any second.

But he couldn’t do anything—because of what came next.

“Mr. Lee Taehyun. I’ll ask just once.”

Oho stepped closer, lifted the disheveled document from Lee Taehyun’s knees, squared it neatly, and set it down again with gentle care.

Then he dropped to one knee, meeting Lee Taehyun’s eyes at the same height. In his pupils, it looked like blood was rippling.

“Won’t you start a new life with me—in the Blood Tiger Gang?”

“......!”

The words were spoken with impeccable politeness.

But Lee Taehyun felt a terror so raw it was like he’d shoved his head straight into a tiger’s jaws.