Urban Vagabond: Reload Chapter 99: You Started It First

The Fifth Tiger clicked his tongue as he watched the screen showing Goggle Killer leaping into the cave first.

Reckless bastard.

Three swordsn, killing intent bared, chased after him.

They exchanged glances like they knew each other, and it was obvious what they were after—him.

Did he think starting early gives him an advantage? He didn’t look that simple-minded... Or is his confidence just that excessive?

On the way to the cave’s exit, countless traps, poisons, and obstacles were laid out.

Being in the lead ant you had to face all of it first.

And right behind you, swordsn hungry for the bounty hanging from your neck were pursuing you.

No matter how outstanding a single person’s martial arts were, surviving in there on that alone was damn near impossible.

Unless you were a veteran master who’d fought every kind of battle under the sun...

That’s nonsense.

The Fifth Tiger had a rough idea who Goggle Killer really was, so he shook his head, judging it impossible.

A brat from the orthodox faction who was, at most, around twenty—there was no way he had that kind of real combat experience.

That was when an intrigued voice spoke up behind him.

“A bold swordsman. He’s the one who killed Hell Hound recently, right?”

The Elysium Casino’s VVIPs were gathered in one place, monitoring the screens.

Old n with wine in hand, sinking into plush sofas, watching the match with lazy amusent.

The Fifth Tiger turned to them and smiled smoothly.

“I didn’t realize the Tamra Alliance’s alliance leader took such an interest in underground arena fighters.”

“I sotis go watch in person. Isn’t the desperation of young martial artists with nothing to their na... beautiful?”

When the old man in the center asked that, a gentle smile settled at the corner of the Fifth Tiger’s mouth.

Disgust surged at the filthy voyeur, but he answered while expertly hiding it.

“Of course. Still, I didn’t expect you to co all the way here.”

“I wanted to watch from up close. Is it uncomfortable? Because I invested so money, and I’m inserting myself into the table you set up however I please?”

“Not at all. On the contrary, it’s an honor to host the three of you in person.”

The Fifth Tiger bowed and offered formal courtesy to the three old n.

They were people even an executive of the Blood Tiger Gang had to treat with respect.

They were the Tamra Alliance’s alliance leader and his left and right guardians—the most powerful martial-world force on Jeju Island.

Not strong enough, in pure might or size, to compare to the Eight Great Sects.

But on Jeju Island, they ruled like kings.

Crafty old bastards. What are you plotting?

In Jeju’s martial world, people said the division between orthodox and unorthodox didn’t an much. It was because the Tamra Alliance encompassed both.

The Blood Tiger Gang had been able to acquire Elysium Casino without trouble thanks to the Tamra Alliance’s cooperation.

That was why even the Fifth Tiger couldn’t treat them lightly.

“Pass along my thanks to the Blood Tiger Gang’s boss as well.”

“I will. If there’s anything you need, please tell anyti.”

As the Fifth Tiger stepped back, the three old n began talking among themselves.

“The participants are better than I expected. For n who ca sniffing after money, that is.”

“A few of them are the real deal. If they’d been born into a proper main house, they’d have made sothing of themselves...”

“You an soone like Talbaek Sword Gu Hyeonwoo.”

“The Blood Tiger Gang and Black Bandit Society joined too. They’ve got a few n worth watching.”

They watched the swordsn who had entered the slaughter match with a ten-billion-won prize, evaluating them like rchandise.

Mixed into it were bits of conversation the Fifth Tiger couldn’t understand.

“...We’ll be able to observe, in detail, how it changes inside a controlled environnt.”

“It’s perfect timing. An event like this happening right when a sacred weapon is about to bloom...”

“Watch closely, and when the ti cos, send in the retrieval team.”

The Fifth Tiger realized sothing was happening inside the cave—sothing he didn’t know about.

It had been the Tamra Alliance that secured this cave as the venue for the hundred swordsn’s slaughter match.

They were using this location and these swordsn to aim for sothing.

But the Fifth Tiger couldn’t protest, and he couldn’t stop the match.

Boss. What the hell are you thinking?

Because the Blood Tiger Gang’s boss had negotiated directly with the Tamra Alliance.

The details of that deal hadn’t even co down to him.

Still, there was one thing the Fifth Tiger had learned for certain while preparing this.

This cave... is designed so escape is impossible.

All one hundred swordsn who entered the cave would die here.

For whatever it was those old n wanted.

That fact made the Fifth Tiger deeply uncomfortable. Annoyance boiled up at the way they’d barged into his plan and altered the table however they pleased.

Better yet... I wish soone would flip the table.

Without aning to, the Fifth Tiger’s gaze drifted toward Kim Muhyuk.

Right then, as he was breaking through the chanism formation installed in the tunnel, he was being ambushed by swordsn approaching from behind.

*****

THUD!

A sword stabbed into his back and poked out through his chest.

Blood ran down the blade in thick streams.

The man stared down at his own chest with an expression that couldn’t believe it, then hacked up blood with a curse.

“Fuuuck....”

He’d waited patiently for the exact mont the chanism formation activated, then ambushed from behind.

A perfect instant—perfect enough to swear it was impossible to dodge—and with the fast strike he was most confident in.

But his target was suddenly behind him.

The arrows pouring from the chanisms buried into his own body, and from behind him ca the voice of the reaper.

“If you’re going to ambush soone, at least hide your killing intent properly.”

Kim Muhyuk yanked his sword free from the man’s body and shoved him forward.

The limp corpse collapsed, and in the sa mont, the two swordsn who’d ambushed Kim Muhyuk along with the dead man charged again.

“You fucking bastard!”

“Diiie!”

But if a three-man ambush hadn’t worked, there was no way two of them could win in a straight fight.

Kim Muhyuk cut down the swordsn who’d ambushed him, one by one.

SHAAAAK! FWOOOOSH!

There was no hesitation in the way Kim Muhyuk butchered them. He checked their faces and muttered.

“Every last one of you deserves to die.”

He’d already confird most of the participants’ personal backgrounds through Park Gwangtae.

He’d categorized them into those who deserved to die, and those he didn’t need to kill.

If he set a standard, he wouldn’t hesitate.

Drip... drip...

Kim Muhyuk flicked the blood off his sword, then tore the identification tags off the dead swordsn and hooked them onto his own necklace.

Then he moved again toward where he could feel Phantom Dream’s aura.

After walking a bit, he stopped and glanced to the side.

“If you don’t want to die like a dog, stay hidden there and wait quietly until it’s all over.”

“...!”

A young swordsman who’d been hiding and trembling clamped a hand over his mouth.

One of the few participants Kim Muhyuk had confird he didn’t need to kill—soone who’d joined to pay off his parents’ debts.

Kim Muhyuk didn’t look that way again and kept walking.

KURRRRUMBLE.......

The cave’s terrain was changing little by little. Entrances that hadn’t existed appeared. Passages were blocked. Hidden weapons rained down. The ground suddenly surged upward.

But Kim Muhyuk acted like he was used to this, knocking things aside or dodging, and even when a fork appeared, he chose a direction without hesitation.

[Kill them all!]

[Hand over your number tag and I’ll let you live!]

[P-please... spare .......]

Monitors and speakers were mounted along the cave walls. They displayed swordsn fighting each other or breaking through traps.

Beneath each screen, a rough location marker was displayed, revealing positions.

They’re even guiding people to go kill them.

Kim Muhyuk could feel the intent of whoever designed this event.

They’d cramd a hundred swordsn into one place, built a table that forced them to kill each other, and kept stoking the fire.

At that transparent, horrific malice, Kim Muhyuk looked up at the ceiling and murmured to himself.

“You never intended to pay the prize from the beginning, did you?”

The Fifth Tiger of the Blood Tiger Gang.

He was a big shot in the unorthodox faction—Kim Muhyuk hadn’t thought he’d pull sothing this petty...

“Whatever. It’s not like I expected anything in the first place.”

Throwing out money so big it’s hard to refuse, then pulling strings from behind.

It was sothing the Kim Muhyuk of his past life had experienced countless tis back when he was a drifter.

This ti was the sa.

Even if he assud the worst, was there any guarantee a Blood Tiger Gang master wouldn’t be waiting at the end of the tunnels to kill the exhausted winner and reclaim the prize?

But even while imagining the worst, a smile spread across Kim Muhyuk’s lips.

“You started it first, so don’t complain later.”

Because he’d been screwed over so many tis, Kim Muhyuk knew exactly how to make bastards trying to rip him off eat shit.

Even in his drifter days, except when he was green, no one had ever managed to steal his pay.

SHOO—

He dodged an enemy sword dropping from the ceiling, and at the sa ti, a flying sword shot out of the darkness.

CLANG!

He smacked the flying sword aside, spun, and cut the throat of the enemy who’d fallen from above. Then he snatched up the enemy’s sword and threw it at the one fleeing—followed by a THUD! and a dying scream.

“Doesn’t look like there are many who move alone.”

After adding two more identification tags to his necklace, Kim Muhyuk started running again toward the direction where he felt Phantom Dream’s aura.

His expression grew serious.

The aura’s getting stronger, and it keeps moving.

As he chased Phantom Dream’s aura, if swordsn attacked him first, he cut them down.

Even without aning to, the number of identification tags around Kim Muhyuk’s neck increased naturally.

And the more it increased, the more frequently the monitors installed around the cave displayed Kim Muhyuk—and the more his position was exposed.

“If you kill that bastard, it’s a billion!”

“Kill him and split it by headcount!”

Having a lot of identification tags on your necklace ant you were strong.

But it also ant you beca everyone’s target.

SHAAAAK, SHAAAAK!

As enemies gathered, Kim Muhyuk swung his sword, and swung again.

As ti passed, more cuts appeared on Kim Muhyuk’s body. He didn’t allow fatal wounds, but there were several monts that ca dangerously close.

“Hoo....”

His breathing was starting to shorten.

Fighting nonstop, the identification tags around his neck had already passed twenty.

Inside a fairly wide cavern chamber, more than ten corpses were piled in front of him.

As he took a mont to steady his breath after a major fight, new enemies appeared.

“You’re a fairly impressive swordsman. This’ll be great for trying a few experints.”

With a murky male voice, more than ten black-clothed masked n approached, surrounding him.

“Hoo, hoo....”

Breathing roughly, Kim Muhyuk narrowed his eyes and sized them up.

“You don’t look like participants.”

The black-clothed masked n wore unified outfits, and the energy they emitted was similar—hallmarks of martial artists trained in the sa martial art.

And there were even so among them holding spears or sabers instead of swords.

The black-clad subordinate with the murky voice didn’t bother chatting with soone who was about to beco a sacred-weapon experint subject.

“Bring him.”

Five black-clad n rushed Kim Muhyuk at once. The rest blocked off the escape routes and waited.

They were confident they’d capture him quickly. They’d watched Kim Muhyuk’s skill through the monitors, and they’d also confird he was exhausted to the point it °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° was hard for him to move properly.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

So even when Kim Muhyuk fought harder than expected, they assud the fight would still end quickly.

It was only after quite a bit of ti had passed that they noticed his breathing—so ragged it looked like it would give out—had returned to normal.

“That bastard... don’t tell ...?”

“I didn’t expect him to catch the scent this way.”

A aningful smile ford at the corner of Kim Muhyuk’s mouth.

And in that mont, another variable occurred—one the black-clothed n hadn’t expected.

“Ghk!”

With a dying cry, one of the black-clothed n blocking the escape route collapsed.

A mont later, Talbaek Sword Gu Hyeonwoo walked out of the darkness.

“I’m late. I had to go smash every cara and monitor nearby first.”

Kim Muhyuk lifted his goggles slightly and smiled with ease.

“You ca faster than I expected, sir.”