Urban Vagabond: Reload

The young rising stars, briefly thrown into disorder, snapped back to attention at the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s next words.

“Focus.”

As if nothing had happened, Sunwoo Jeha indifferently began explaining the test they were about to take.

“Time limit: three minutes. One chance. If you can make your weapon meet mine, you pass. If you can’t, go home.”

Three days.

That was the amount of time the Strongest in Korea had judged appropriate for evaluating the young rising stars’ talent.

To some, it might have felt absurdly short. But for someone born with sufficient talent, it was enough time to realize something, to change. That was why it must have felt different to each of them.

“Talent is unfair by nature. Martial artists live in the same world, but every one of them lives in a different one. If my world is about here...”

Sunwoo Jeha drew a line through the air at her own eye level.

“Then at the very least, you lot need to make it to here.”

Then she lowered her hand and drew another line around her knee.

That was the minimum standard the Strongest in Korea believed a young rising star ought to meet.

“If you can’t even reach this level, then devoting your life to martial arts is a waste of time.”

“...”

“...”

It was a cruel, cold thing to hear.

Everyone here was a young rising star who had devoted at least several years to martial arts and kept pressing forward.

No one wanted to think of that time as wasted.

So what if she’s the Strongest in Korea?

Do you have any idea how hard I trained...?

I’ll make sure to hit her back with something!

A few of them quietly glared at the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader, grinding their teeth and clutching their weapons as they suppressed the emotions boiling inside them.

“Why are you getting upset? You look like losers already.”

Sunwoo Jeha’s face as she looked at them was more indifferent than ever.

“Bring them all.”

At her signal, Transcendent Extremity Gate martial artists waiting nearby brought over weapon racks hung with all kinds of arms.

The young rising stars’ faces went stiff as they recalled the miserable defeat from three days ago.

“Well then. Who wants to prove their talent first?”

“I’ll go first.”

Bu Yeonha stepped forward first and drew her sword.

The future of the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE, and the successor who had effectively already been chosen as the next sect leader.

And yet whenever the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader taught, she listened more intently than anyone, always raised her hand first, and asked questions like the most diligent student in class.

“Model student, huh. Come on.”

The moment the sect leader crooked a finger, Bu Yeonha was already charging.

FWOOOOSH!

Riding the wind with smooth, flowing footwork, Bu Yeonha closed the distance, her sword stabbing toward the sect leader’s vital points.

At the free, unrestrained sword path unique to the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE, the young rising stars let out impressed murmurs.

If it’s Senior Bu Yeonha, she’ll definitely pass.

Even Kim Muhyuk found himself nodding as he watched Bu Yeonha’s sword grow visibly sharper than it had been three days earlier.

He was not the only one who had spent those three days desperately thinking and striving.

All of the young rising stars had done their utmost within the circumstances given to them. Instead of being satisfied with their inborn talent, they had honed themselves through desperate effort.

And as a result, Bu Yeonha seemed to have brought into bloom the talent the sect leader had called intuition.

The spar from three days ago, which had looked almost like a joint sword dance between the two of them, took on a different form today.

The Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader actually had to focus on avoiding Bu Yeonha’s sword. More and more, the blade began brushing past her collar by a hair’s breadth.

And then, at last—

CLAAANG—!

The two swords collided with a clear ringing note.

“Huff, huff...”

Bu Yeonha stopped where she was, breathing hard.

With the faintest smile on her lips, Sunwoo Jeha nodded to her.

“Not bad. Pass.”

“Th-thank you—!”

As if overwhelmed by the fact that she had really done it, tears welled in Bu Yeonha’s eyes.

At once, the young rising stars who had studied with her ran over to congratulate her.

“Congratulations, Senior!”

“I knew you’d do it!”

“The first one from the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering sword study group to pass!”

When Bu Yeonha, the very first challenger, cleared the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s assignment from the outset, the young rising stars burst into cheers, filled with hope.

Waaaaaah!

But it did not take long for that hope to turn to despair.

“Fail.”

“Fail.”

“Why are you worse than you were three days ago?”

“Thirty seconds would’ve been a waste too.”

The Strongest in Korea showed no mercy to young rising stars who failed to prove their talent. Seven or eight were dropped in succession.

The most shocking of them all was Song Junho of the Supreme Pole Sword Gate.

“You’re still immature. Go back.”

“Aaaaugh...!”

Even after pulling the lifts out of his shoes for the sake of his pride and rushing in at full power, Song Junho still failed to make his sword meet the sect leader’s even once.

There had been several moments when he nearly made contact, but each time she slipped away by the width of a sheet of paper.

“That was so, so close—!”

Seeing how bitterly disappointed he was, Sunwoo Jeha found herself offering comfort without meaning to.

“Half a step short. A failure is still a failure, though.”

“Nngh! I’ll challenge you again later!”

“...?”

Oh Jungmin of the Songwol Gate also failed to prove his talent.

After racing desperately to keep up with the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s sword, he finally swallowed his regret and offered a fist-and-palm salute.

“It was brief, but this is a lesson I will never forget for the rest of my life. I won’t stop here. I’ll spend my whole life trying to follow that sword.”

“Hm...”

Even after feeling that vast gap, his eyes shone more brightly instead.

Sunwoo Jeha hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“You’re two steps away. It’ll still probably be a waste of time... but keep trying if you want.”

“Thank you!”

Watching Oh Jungmin smile brightly as if he were completely satisfied, Sunwoo Jeha tilted her head, unable to understand.

Strange.

A long time ago, Sunwoo Jeha had gone through something similar to what these young rising stars were experiencing now.

The friendly tournament for the nation’s ten rising stars, hosted by the Martial Alliance.

Most of the young rising stars who had entered it brimming with confidence had tasted despair in front of a single boy.

-Sorry, but with talent at your level, devoting your life to martial arts seems like a waste of time. Wouldn’t it be better to look for another profession even now?

Han Shinhu at fifteen or sixteen, saying those words with a completely innocent face and not the slightest bit of malice.

Even now she could vividly remember the so-called geniuses of that generation dropping to their knees in front of him with empty, broken expressions.

Of the young rising stars who had entered that tournament, was there even anyone besides herself who was still devoting their life to martial arts?

Isn’t this the same? They’re looking at an overwhelming gap in talent right now.

Sunwoo Jeha turned her gaze to Kim Muhyuk, who had already been told he passed and had become a spectator.

The one young rising star who had displayed overwhelming ability in the very first test, and from the second test onward had been treated as an outright exception.

At that moment, Kim Muhyuk was talking with Song Junho, who had just failed.

More precisely, he was unilaterally lecturing him.

“You can tell you’ve been slacking off on your sword training because you trusted your constitution too much. You should’ve worked harder for the sake of that constitution alone. If it were me, I’d have cut down on sleep just to—”

“Aaah! I know already, so stop nagging me! When I go back, I’m going to train hard!”

Oh Jungmin, who had joined the two of them, gave Kim Muhyuk a high-five. Then, with an excited look, he shared his impression of seeing the Strongest in Korea’s sword.

“She said two steps. That sword—something that beautiful—is only two steps ahead of me. I want to hurry back and train.”

“If you ask me, Hyung, I think you’ve already closed one of those steps.”

“Hahaha! Why are you saying such nice things today, Muhyuk?”

“And all you do is nag me!”

Watching the three of them talk, Sunwoo Jeha tilted her head again.

Why are they different?

They were so different from the young rising stars of her own generation, whose hearts had broken after being crushed by Han Shinhu.

Then, all at once, Sunwoo Jeha realized it.

“...He doesn’t go on alone.”

Han Shinhu’s talent had been so overwhelming that it trampled other talents underfoot, left them in despair, and went forward by itself.

But Kim Muhyuk was trying to draw other talents in and take them with him.

Is that why they’re different?

As she stood there murmuring blankly to herself, Kang Hyuntae of the Great Saber Gate stepped forward before her with a tense expression.

“I’m Kang Hyuntae of the Great Saber Gate! I ask the Strongest in Korea for instruction!”

“Do your best.”

“...Yes? Yes!”

Kang Hyuntae succeeded in making his saber meet the sect leader’s only just before the full three-minute count ran out.

CLAAANG!

Staring at the crossed sabers with an expression that said he could hardly believe it himself, Kang Hyuntae received a nod from Sunwoo Jeha.

“Pass. You’re usable.”

“Thank you! Hahaha! I barely managed to preserve the dignity of being the oldest young rising star here...”

After Kang Hyuntae wiped away a little tear, offered a fist-and-palm salute, and withdrew—

Only four people remained among the young rising stars.

Yang Hayun, Jeon Seungyeon, and Chae Eunsu, who had studied together with Kim Muhyuk.

And Shin Kangheon.

“When are you going?”

When Sunwoo Jeha’s gaze turned to him, Shin Kangheon took a step back and grinned.

“The main character is supposed to show up last, isn’t he?”

He said that, but his eyes gleamed sharply, as if he intended not to miss a single movement from the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader.

It was a calmness different from the way he had charged in like a naked thunderbolt three days ago.

This makes me a little curious.

After giving a slight nod, Sunwoo Jeha shifted her gaze to the side, where Yang Hayun, Jeon Seungyeon, and Chae Eunsu were walking forward together.

“If the Sect Leader permits it, the three of us would like to take the test together.”

Chae Eunsu spoke with a face tight with nerves. Sunwoo Jeha tilted her head and asked,

“You think it’ll give you an advantage if all three of you come at me together?”

That was the obvious assumption, but in reality the opposite was true.

These were young rising stars who had only known one another for a matter of days at most.

Even if they tried to coordinate, all it would do was create more openings, and someone like the sect leader of the Transcendent Extremity Gate would have an easier time toying with them than if they came one at a time.

“No.”

Neither the other young rising stars nor the three themselves were ignorant of that.

But with a firm expression that showed the decision had already been made, Yang Hayun spoke.

“At first, we were going to ask to take the test as four, including Kim Muhyuk.”

“...That’s a little cheating, isn’t it?”

It was the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s honest reaction, coming out before she could stop it.

The young rising stars had to fight to keep from laughing.

This time Chae Eunsu took over.

“Kim Muhyuk isn’t with us, but we don’t want to change the method. No—we think that makes it even more worth trying on our own. We want to show you, Sect Leader, what our study group achieved through all the fierce analysis and practice...”

His voice trembled as it came out, as if the nerves had tightened around his throat.

Sunwoo Jeha considered it for a moment.

She could have simply refused.

Normally, without a second thought, she would have made them come one at a time.

But the moment her eyes met Kim Muhyuk’s from the back, she found herself nodding.

“Fine. But I’ll raise the difficulty to match three opponents. And if even one of you fails, all of you fail.”

Flap-flap-flap!

Her training clothes puffed out lightly, and the force around her changed completely.

As if everything she had shown so far had merely been adjusted to suit a bunch of brats, fierce energy flowed through her whole body.

In her hands, she now held both of her main weapons, a saber and a sword.

“If you’re still willing, come at me.”

The three young rising stars answered the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s provocation not with words, but with action.

“Haaah!”

“Taah!”

“Let’s go!”

Yang Hayun, Jeon Seungyeon, and Chae Eunsu all launched themselves at the Strongest in Korea at the same time.

From behind them, Kim Muhyuk raised his voice and cheered them on.

“Show her how much you’ve improved in such a short time!”

To Kim Muhyuk, intuition was an inborn talent—

but it was also something that could be built up through new experiences and fierce thought.

And in that respect, the three standing there had agonized more deeply than anyone else at this camp and worked harder than anyone else to build something new.

SHRAAAK!

Chae Eunsu’s spear tore sharply through the afterimage of the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader.

BAM-BAM-BAM!

Jeon Seungyeon’s relentless fist-and-kick barrage scattered the sect leader’s hair.

WHIIISH!

Yang Hayun’s palm arts and movement techniques narrowed the gap until they seemed ready to brush against the sect leader’s collar.

The three moved organically, each covering for the others. Again and again they created moments that looked as if they had truly made contact, drawing gasps of admiration from the watching young rising stars.

“Not bad. All three of you.”

But the wall that was the Strongest in Korea was still far too high for them to reach.

“All of you fail.”

Even though the three of them brought out more than the full extent of their abilities, in the end they still came up one step short.

“...One step. Keep training.”

The Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader, uncharacteristically hesitant for a moment as she delivered their failure, watched the three of them respond with refreshed expressions as they offered a salute together.

“Thank you!”