The moment the figure vanished into the night, Chun Ma moved.
No hesitation. No thought. Just motion.
He leapt down the stairs of his apartment building two steps at a time, burst through the front door, and landed on the empty sidewalk. The air was cold, biting, but his blood ran hotter than it had in days.
"System. Track target."
⎛Tracking not available. Visual contact required.⎠
"Tch."
He scanned the street. Empty. Quiet.
But faint… very faint…
He felt it.
That presence. That aura. That flicker of energy only a martial artist from his old world could give off. It was nothing like the dead modern atmosphere around him. It carried intent. Pressure. Familiarity.
And a chill.
Chun Ma moved.
He sprinted down the alley, cutting through narrow lanes and broken sidewalks. Trash bins. Graffiti. Neon lights from convenience stores buzzed nearby, uncaring. To the world, he was just another weirdo running through the streets.
But he wasn't chasing shadows.
He was following truth.
He turned a corner—and stopped.
The man stood there. Waiting. Hands in his coat pockets, head tilted.
Chun Ma didn't speak first.
The man stepped forward, a slow, heavy step.
"You still run like a tiger."
Chun Ma's breath caught.
That voice. Deep. Calm. Familiar.
"I know that voice," Chun Ma said. "Who are you?"
The man smiled faintly. "You've changed. You're thinner now. Weaker. But I'd still recognize that stance anywhere."
"…How do you know my stance?"
The man took off his hood.
Short black hair. Sharp eyes. Scar above his left brow. A tired, aged face. Not from this world.
"I know it because you taught it to me," the man said. "Chun Ma."
Chun Ma's jaw clenched. "How do you know that name?"
"Because I was there when you forged the Heavenly Flame Formation. Because I knelt at the foot of Mount Daeyang and swore myself to your sword. Because I was your disciple."
Silence.
Chun Ma took a step back.
"…That's impossible."
"Not if you're standing here. Not if I am too."
Chun Ma studied him. There was a pull—like muscle memory, like scent. This man felt… right. But older. Different.
"Your name?" Chun Ma demanded.
The man bowed slightly. "Jang Do-hyun. Outer disciple. You probably don't remember me. But I remembered you. I never forgot."
"Do-hyun… Wait. You died," Chun Ma said, brows furrowing. "You fell during the Flame Sect invasion. I buried you myself."
"And yet here I am. Wearing sneakers and a discount jacket."
They stood in silence for a moment, the cold wind sweeping around them.
Chun Ma took a slow breath. "How did you get here?"
"I don't know. I woke up in a hospital five years ago. They told me I was in a coma. That I had no memory of my childhood. But I remembered you. I remembered the Sect. The way you stood. The discipline. The fire. I remembered… dying."
He looked down at his hands. "This world is too quiet. Too soft. But I can feel it. Something is wrong beneath it all."
Chun Ma's eyes narrowed. "Then you've felt it too."
Do-hyun nodded. "There's something here. Something brewing."
Suddenly, Chun Ma's body tensed.
The moment snapped.
Do-hyun moved fast. A blur.
A punch—clean, sharp—came flying at Chun Ma's face.
Chun Ma deflected it with his forearm, spun, and kicked.
The two clashed under the streetlight, fists and elbows blurring. For a few seconds, it felt like old times—training in the courtyard, sparring at dawn, steel meeting steel in silence.
Do-hyun broke away first, landing a few feet back.
"Just checking," he said, smirking slightly. "Wanted to see if the Heavenly Demon still had his edge."
Chun Ma cracked his neck. "You'll break your wrists if you keep punching like that."
"So I am still your disciple, huh?"
"…Barely."
They moved off the street, hiding in a narrow alley between buildings.
Chun Ma crossed his arms. "Why show yourself now?"
"I've been watching," Do-hyun said. "You're different. You're not like me—you still have your will intact. You haven't been swallowed by this soft world."
Chun Ma frowned. "What do you mean?"
"There are others. I've seen them. Reincarnated like us. But not all of them remember. Some went mad. Some became… dangerous. I've been tracking one of them."
He pulled out a crumpled photo from his coat.
A man with glasses. Cold smile. Dressed like a teacher.
"He doesn't belong in this world," Do-hyun whispered. "And he knows."
Chun Ma took the photo and stared.
So it wasn't just him.
This world was hiding others.
Others like him.
System Notification ⎛
New Quest Branch Detected
[Ghosts of the Past: The Reawakened Disciple]
Objective: Confirm Identity – Complete
Next Step: Investigate "The Smiling Teacher"
Optional: Begin Recruitment – Jang Do-hyun
⎠
Chun Ma's mind raced.
If Do-hyun was real…
If there were others…
Then the Sect didn't have to stay buried.
It could rise again.
Even in this world of buses and soda machines.
"I'm rebuilding it," Chun Ma said at last.
Do-hyun tilted his head. "Rebuilding what?"
"Our Sect."
Do-hyun's face slowly lit up.
A real smile. The kind that belonged in another life.
"Then I'm yours again," he said, bowing. "Disciple Jang Do-hyun, at your service."