Minh launched forward—fast, silent, predatory.
The concrete cracked under his heel.
Tùng swung the bat downward toward Lâm's skull.
He never reached it.
A blur—Minh—slammed into him, shoulder-first.The impact knocked the bat out of Tùng's hands.
The metal clattered across the court.
Students screamed and scattered.
"What the hell—?!""Did you see that speed?!""He wasn't human!"
Minh stood between Tùng and the fallen Lâm.
Except…It wasn't really Minh.
His posture hunched like a stalking beast.Black-violet veins pulsed beneath his skin.His pupils were blown wide, devouring the iris entirely.
A cold, unnatural mist rolled off his shoulders.
Gomboc's voice layered over itself—hundreds of whispers in one:
"Give me more…"
But Minh wasn't Minh.
He stepped toward Tùng.
Tùng stumbled back.For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
"H-hey—what are you—"
Minh vanished.
Reappeared behind Tùng.
A backhand strike—faster than a blink—sent Tùng flying across the court.
He hit the fence with a sickening clang and collapsed.
The bullies froze.
No one dared move.
The mist thickened.Reality warped around Minh.Purple-black tendrils crawled outward from his feet.
Someone screamed.
"It's a demon—!!"
Lâm tried to stand, but pain locked his body."Minh…? Bro…?"
Minh didn't turn.
He stepped toward the nearest bully.
A voice— not Minh's voice—echoed out of him, layered and hollow:
"Beneath the dark we raiseth—By thy nameth, we blesseth on the f'rsaken."
The boys scrambled back in terror.
"What the fuck!""He's chanting—!""Run!"
The ground seemed to pulse.
Then—
Everything went black.
For Minh.For everyone near him.
A wave of killing intent hit the court like a silent explosion.
Bodies dropped.Students collapsed unconscious.
A cold shadow loomed over the battlefield.
Minh walked among the fallen without sound.
Bullies dropped unconscious instantly as the pressure hit them.
One by one—like dominos collapsing.
Even the strongest among them fell.
Some fled screaming.
Others fainted where they stood.
The entire court shuddered as Minh took one more step—
ready to tear Tùng apart.
Gomboc roared inside him:
"FINISH HIM!"
Minh's hands tensed—
Then—
everything went silent.
Black.
Cold.
Empty.
His knees buckled.
The mist collapsed inward like a dying flame.
The ghost lunged forward, shouting:
"MINH!!"
Minh's eyes rolled back—
His body collapsed among the unconscious bullies.
Minh woke to darkness.
His cheek pressed against cold tiles.His muscles burned as if he had been electrocuted.His head throbbed with a hollow, echoing pain.
He blinked.
He was behind a row of bushes near the court… too far from where he remembered standing.
"What… happened…?" Minh whispered.
Silence answered him.
The ghost… was not there.
Normally, the ghost spoke the moment Minh opened his eyes—a complaint, a command, a sigh.
But now—
Nothing.
Minh sat up shakily.
"Phú…?" he whispered.
Still nothing.
A cold dread crawled up his spine.
Did he leave me?
Did I do something wrong?
Did I… did I hurt him?
He pushed the thought away.Ghosts can't be hurt.Right?
He staggered to his feet, wincing.
His memory was broken—shards of heat and darkness,Lâm screaming,Tùng lifting the bat,a sudden burst of strength—
—and then nothing.
Black.
Empty.
Like he had been erased.
When Minh finally reached the apartment rooftop later that night, he sat alone under the humming neon lights, hugging his knees.
He almost whispered the ghost's name again—
—but before he could finish,a faint ripple of cold air passed behind him.
The ghost materialized.
But not normally.
His figure flickered, unstable.His voice was colder than usual.
"…Child."
Minh nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Where were you?! I—I woke up alone and you weren't there—!"
The ghost looked at him strangely.
"As were you."
Minh froze.He didn't like that tone.
"What does that mean?"
The ghost examined him, unreadable.
"I could not remain when… that power flared. Something pushed me aside."
"Pushed you—? You mean…" Minh hesitated. "Gomboc?"
The ghost's expression tightened.
"I do not know that name. I only felt… something else. Something ancient. It drowned out my presence. Blotted me out."
Minh's chest tightened.
"So you can't hear it? Or see it?"
"I hear only you," the ghost said."And during your… episode, I could hear nothing at all."
He paused.
"You were not yourself."
Minh trembled.
"So… you disappeared because of it?"
The ghost hesitated—rare for him.
"Yes."
That one word hit Minh harder than any punch.
"So if that thing awakens again—"Minh swallowed."You won't be able to help me?"
The ghost's silence shook its head because it never knew the next outcome.
As the ghost faded out for a moment, Minh felt a cold curl at the edge of his mind.
A whisper slid beneath his panic:
"I was with you…when he was not."
Minh's breath hitched.
He closed his eyes tightly.
"Go away…"
The whisper chuckled softly.
"You called me once.You'll call me again."
Minh clutched his head, shaking.
"Stop… stop…"
The ghost reappeared fully, but he didn't sense the whisper.
"Child," he said, sharper now. "Calm yourself."
"I can't," Minh gasped. "That voice—"
Ghost frowned.
"What voice?"
Minh's blood ran cold.
"You… don't hear anything?"
The ghost shook his head.
"I only sense… disturbance. But I cannot hear words. You face this alone."
Minh felt sick.
Alone.
With something inside him that spoke only to him—and erased the ghost when it grew strong.
The next day:
Rumors flooded the hallways.
"That wasn't human strength.""He moved like a blur.""I saw his eyes!""No way that was Minh…"
Minh walked quietly, trying to stay invisible.
But eyes followed him everywhere.
Some fearful.Some curious.Some hungry for drama.
Hoàng Lâm limped up beside him, arm still bandaged.
"Bro," he said with a weak grin, "you saved me yesterday."
Minh stiffened.
"I… don't remember."
Lâm blinked. "Seriously? You blacked out or something? Because you moved like—like you were possessed."
Minh's stomach twisted.
He really didn't know.
He really didn't remember.
And that terrified him more than the fight itself.
Across the street, the same man with the cigarette watched Dạ Minh walk home again.
He smirked.
"So the kid survived."He exhaled smoke."That pressure yesterday… definitely not normal."
He pulled out his phone.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "It wasn't a fluke. Keep an eye on this one. The flare pushed something aside… maybe even a spirit."
He hung up.
The cigarette burned slowly.
Morning sunlight leaked through the curtains when Minh dragged himself onto the rooftop of his apartment.The city was still waking—motorbikes grumbling, vendors shouting, the smell of phở drifting upward.
His body still ached from the fight.His heart ached even more.
The ghost floated beside him, arms crossed.
"Child," he said, "you cannot avoid what happened. You lost control. And next time, you may not return."
Minh swallowed hard.
"I know."
"Then we begin."
Minh blinked."Begin what?"
"Training."
The ghost pointed at the ground.
"Horse stance."
Minh stared.
"That's it? No punch? No magic? No—"
"Horse stance."
Minh groaned but lowered his body.Legs apart.Knees bent.Back straight.
Within five seconds, his legs trembled.
Within fifteen seconds, he collapsed on his face.
The ghost sighed.
"Pathetic."
"I'm trying!"
"You are shaking like a wet leaf."
"You're dead, you don't understand muscle fatigue!"
The ghost ignored that.
Again.
Minh got up, tried again—fell harder.
Again.Again.Again.
Sweat dripped onto the concrete.His arms burned.His lungs felt like they were shrinking.
"Why is this even important?" Minh gasped.
The ghost crouched beside him.
"Because strength is worthless without foundation. Because technique collapses without posture. Because balance prevents death. If your body cannot hold a stance, it cannot hold power."
Minh swallowed.This was far from the glorified training he imagined.
He got up again.
After twenty humiliating minutes, the ghost lifted one hand.
"Sit."
Minh collapsed gratefully.
"Now breathe," the ghost commanded. "Slow. In through the nose… hold… out."
Minh tried.
At first, nothing happened.
Then something flickered inside his chest—small, faint, like a spark tucked deep inside.
His heartbeat steadied.His shaking slowed.
The ghost nodded.
"You feel it?"
"Yeah… like a warmth."
"That is the beginning of internal energy. It is weak, but it is yours. Not that creature's."
Minh tensed.
"About that… I need to know. Gomboc. What is it?"
The ghost looked away.
"I do not know."
"You've never seen anything like it?"
The ghost hesitated—a sign of truth.
"In my lifetime, I encountered… forces. Sect arts. Curses. But that thing inside you… felt ancient. Older than sects. Older than my era. When it awakened, I could not stay. I was… pushed into silence."
Minh stared.
"Just a hunch," The ghost's eyes darkened. "Although I'm already dead."
Minh looked at the ghost carefully.
"You said you were a commander. What were you protecting when you died?"
The ghost didn't answer at first.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter.
"A temple."
"A temple?"
"A place that should not have fallen. I was ordered to hold it until reinforcements came. They never did."
Minh frowned.
"And the thing you were protecting… is it connected to Gomboc?"
The ghost stared into the distance, expression unreadable.
"I do not know. But I intend to find out."
It was only a fragment—but enough to deepen the mystery.
Later that afternoon, Minh walked through the alley behind the school, exhausted from training.
Hoàng Lâm waved from the gate.
"Bro! You look like you wrestled a truck."
Minh forced a tired smile.
"Just… exercising."
"Since when do you exercise?"
Minh opened his mouth—but something else caught his attention.
A man sat on a parked motorbike in the shade, one leg crossed over the other.
Leather jacket.Sunglasses.Calm, unreadable aura.
He wasn't watching the school.
He was watching Minh.
Their eyes met briefly.
The man smirked—a subtle, knowing curve.
Minh felt a chill run through him.
"Lâm," Minh whispered, "do you… know that guy?"
Lâm turned to look.
"Huh? Never seen him. Why?"
Minh looked back.
The motorbike was now empty.
The man was gone.
Just like that.
The ghost appeared beside Minh, uneasy.
"You sensed it too?" Minh asked quietly.
"No," the ghost said. "I did not sense him at all. Which worries me greatly. Anyone I cannot sense… is not ordinary."
Minh's stomach twisted.
"You think he saw what happened yesterday?"
"Unlikely," the ghost said."But he sensed the aftermath. Your flare of power did not go unnoticed. The martial world is moving."
Minh swallowed.
"So… what do I do?"
The ghost turned to him.
"For now?You train.You strengthen your body.You prepare."
"And later?" Minh whispered.
The ghost's eyes narrowed.
"Later… we find who killed me."
A cold wind blew through the alley.
Minh felt both fear and resolve settle into his bones.