Chapter 137: Time for the Left Behind Part 2

The meeting with the Crown Prince marked the completion of much of Amon’s work in Joseon.

Of course, Father-in-law was running around handling the practical aspects here and there, but at least Amon’s tasks were finished.

However, Amon did not leave Joseon immediately.

It was as if he still had something to do, and Amon wished to remain in Joseon.

Especially on certain days, he insisted on staying in the Gyeomgye annex.

“Considering your contributions, it would be possible…”

Thanks to the Crown Prince’s willingness to offer the annex, Amon was able to stay there again.

That night, Amon achieved his purpose for staying in Joseon.

“I’ve returned.”

The black surface of the sea rippled.

Amon stepped onto the black surface and searched for the man with the skull mask.

The man seemed completely unprepared for Amon’s arrival, his surprise evident.

“…How did you get here?”

“Do you believe me if I say I used GPS?”

“What’s that?”

“Ah, you were from the diesel-punk era, right?”

“I understand diesel, but punk? What’s that?”

“Never mind. Anyway, it’s nice to see you again.”

“I’m a bit confused, could you tell me what’s going on?”

“I wasn’t sure if this would work either…”

Amon carefully explained how he came back to this place.

“Now that I think about it, you mentioned having an interest in me from the past, but you only contacted me recently, right? When I thought about the reason, it seems to be related to the location.”

Amon made an effort to recreate the conditions.

“And that’s when I figured it out. The Dragon Vein? By touching such things with my abilities, I was able to come here.”

To explain in more detail, using his ability to see the essence, Amon laid out a blanket over the Dragon Vein, found the crack in the dream world, tussled a few times with the shapeless Slime creatures on the way, and after overcoming numerous hardships, he succeeded in reaching the black sea, the boundary of the world.

The Ghost (pseudonym) was astonished by Amon’s deduction, impressed by his decisiveness, and finally praised his execution.

“You must have known about the Dragon Vein.”

“I knew it in theory.”

This had been briefly mentioned in the original work, but it turned out to be the correct answer.

After quickly wrapping up the unimportant parts, Amon immediately brought up the main topic.

“Mr. Ghost, now that I’ve figured out how to get here, I’ll visit more often.”

“This is not a place for leisure.”

“I know. I came to lend a hand. I’m also hoping to gain some experience.”

Amon smiled and raised his sword, saying he brought his sword with him this time.

Then he added, “I didn’t know you were from Joseon.”

The Ghost’s shoulders trembled slightly.

Before he could say anything, a two-headed crow landed from the sky.

Instinctively, the Ghost aimed for one of the crow’s heads and sliced it off with his sword.

As he turned to deal with the remaining head, -Kyaaak!

Amon had already landed on the crow’s head and stabbed his sword into its skull.

Amon pressed his weight onto the sword, spinning his body once.

With a crackling sound, something inside the crow’s head snapped, and the crow disappeared.

The Ghost stared in shock at Amon, who had obliterated the Outsider.

Amon extended the hilt of his sword toward him and said, “Let’s talk after dealing with those things, Mr. Gildong.”

‘How did he know that?’

There were many questions that the Ghost wanted to ask, but now was not the time.

Outsiders were approaching from the direction Amon was pointing.

The Ghost shook his head as if clearing his thoughts, then focused on the Outsiders.

“What about the teleportation?”

“I somehow figured it out. For now, it’s only usable here.”

“That’s enough. Follow me. Once you get used to it, you’ll be able to use it in the real world.”

The Ghost led the way as they used teleportation to head toward the Outsiders beyond the horizon.

Amon watched his back for a moment, then smirked and used teleportation as well.

After exterminating the Outsiders, the two took a brief rest.

Finally, the Ghost brought up the question that had been on his mind.

“How did you know about my past, and how did you figure out teleportation?”

“I was recently studying swordsmanship to refine my skills, and I came across various historical records and security documents while browsing through the archives…”

To understand swordsmanship, one must grasp the key principles, and to understand the key principles, one must learn history.

And through history, one could uncover the past that the government wanted to hide.

“I came across some rather unusual records.”

Among the sword techniques carefully guarded by the government, one particularly caught Amon’s attention.

A strange technique called “The Sword to Cut Ghosts,” which had been designed to fight entities and ghosts.

Amon, who had discovered the swordsmanship, couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘Why is a swordsmanship from someone who was active in Europe…?’

Since the stage for Punk City 2’s activities was in Europe, it was natural to assume that the Ghost was European.

However, when he found his traces in the archives of the Coordination Security Room, Amon decided to change the assumption he had always considered obvious.

The Ghost might not be European.

Perhaps, “I thought there was a possibility that the Ghost could be a Joseon person.”

By checking the reason why that information was classified, Amon became certain.

The Ghost was from Joseon.

“The court doesn’t want to admit that one person had manipulated the nation.”

Joseon had a past where it was manipulated by a single person.

The name he used during his active days was Hong Gildong.

He wasn’t a bandit, but there had been small misunderstandings with the court during the process of removing entities from Joseon.

It was once distorted through oral traditions and novels, and after more than 600 years, it had become a legend.

“The Crown Prince even told me it was just a legend and that I could enjoy it as I liked.”

Thus, no one in Joseon seriously believed in the existence of Hong Gildong.

“However, there are records and archives that left behind the fact that there was once a sword and technique that threatened the court. But they were separated from the story of Gildong.”

The court was wary of the swordsmanship being recreated, yet it never believed it was the technique Gildong had used.

“It was strange.”

The fact that this swordsmanship was Gildong’s, and that Gildong was a real person, could easily be discovered by someone like Amon with a little investigation.

Amon felt a sense of detachment from the fact that no one had reached such a truth.

“I thought it was some kind of cognitive distortion. You know, like when ghosts harm people in alleys and no one notices.”

He believed that this applied on a global scale.

A state where no one knew the name, the past, or anything at all.

This state matched the current state of the Ghost.

So, Amon was certain that the Ghost was Gildong.

“Once I became aware of my ability to see the essence, I realized that you and Gildong were connected. How’s that? Do you think this explanation makes sense?”

Amon finished his explanation.

The Ghost. No, Gildong nodded.

“That’s right. Excellent deduction.”

“I just figured it out using my ability, so calling it a deduction feels a bit embarrassing.”

“Still, the determination to find out this much is commendable.”

Gildong changed his skull mask to a jester mask.

He stood elegantly, like a rich young master, with his hands behind his back, creating ripples in the black sea with every step.

“By the way, do you have any questions for me?”

“Did you ever manage to call ‘father’ father or ‘bro’ bro?”

“… That’s from a novel adaptation. I wasn’t a bastard, nor was I from a noble family.”

“Ah, my childhood innocence.”

“And my time in Joseon wasn’t that long either. I only dealt with the nine-tailed fox of the fallen nation and twelve monsters, then spent nearly half my life in Europe.”

In other words, even though the outlaw Hong Gildong in this world was similar to the Gildong Amon had heard about in his past life, as the protagonist of the second part, Hong Gildong had to be seen as a completely different person.

Amon also knew the next part of the story.

He had fought against world-ending entities in Europe, saved the world, and sacrificed himself at the world’s boundary.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

Amon nodded.

“I think all my questions have been answered now.”

“Come to think of it, you said you came here to complete your sword, but…”

“During the day, I’m practicing with the martial artists my acquaintances arranged and the court, and at night, I’m here to gain practical experience.”

“A thrifty friend, huh?”

“By the way, I think I have a rough sense of how to get here. Now, even without the dragon vein, I can come here anytime, so I’ll probably be here almost every day.”

“I was getting a bit bored here alone, so this works out well.”

***

After that, the two occasionally chatted, discussed the changed world, and fought off any Outsiders when they appeared.

Through that process, Amon refined his swordsmanship little by little, receiving feedback from Gildong.

After a while, when it was almost time to wake up in reality, Amon prepared to part ways with Gildong.

“I’ll come again tomorrow night.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

As he had done before, Amon surged up from the black sea and returned to reality.

After Amon left, Gildong stood for a while, reflecting on his conversation with Amon.

‘He came here to train.’

Thinking of those words, Gildong let out a small laugh.

“He’s not being honest.”

If training had truly been the goal, there were much better ways to do it.

Still, the reason he chose this place was that swordsmanship wasn’t the real goal.

“Did I look that lonely? There was really no need for that.”

Gildong muttered, almost apologetically, as if explaining the solitary habit that had settled over 600 years.

‘600 years…?’

Although he hadn’t started this to gain anyone’s recognition, meeting someone after 600 years…

‘It feels like I’m being rewarded.’

Beyond the mask, where there was no longer any trace of a human form, Gildong created a smile-like ripple for the first time in a long while.