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Chapter 2

"No."

The old man took a step closer. As the distance between us shrank, a sudden pressure weighed down on me.

Wait a minute.

This old man was a fundamentally different being from me. I could sense it instinctively.

But being overwhelmed by an old man wasn\'t a pleasant experience. I bristled. Even in death, I hadn\'t learned to control my temper.

"Then what? And where are we?"

The old man looked up at the empty sky and said, "Guess."

"There\'s nowhere else to go after dying except the afterlife... So this is the threshold of the afterlife, right?"

"That\'s right."

"If this is the afterlife, then who are you? You\'re neither the Grim Reaper nor my ancestor, so why are you blocking my way?"

"Thanks to me standing here before you, your soul hasn\'t drifted off to the afterlife yet. Don\'t you realize that?"

Was that even possible?

"I apologize."

"Does this descendant lack a backbone?"

"I\'m uneducated, that\'s why."

"What were you doing when others were learning?"

Suddenly, I glanced at the sword at my waist.

"At the age when others were reciting poems, I was a beggar brat. I didn\'t learn anything."

The old man sighed deeply.

"A beggar? The descendant of the one I owe a debt to is a beggar... How lamentable."

"Debt?"

The old man clicked his tongue.

"Is my ancestor your debtor?"

Huh. What\'s this about?

"I spent years begging on the streets as a beggar brat. Now you\'re talking about some debt?"

The old man didn\'t answer.

"Hey... If there was a debt, shouldn\'t you have repaid it while you were alive? So, did you show up now to repay the debt to me instead? You must have waited a long time. How great a debt did you incur that you\'d even seek out a descendant who\'s already a corpse?"

"It\'s a debt I owe, so it must be a significant one."

"Just how high-ranking were you in life? Were you perhaps a governor or something in your lifetime?"

Even though I was adopted, I was still the son of the Blood Cloud Fortress Lord.

To hear words of respect from me, you\'d have to be at least a governor, someone even the Fortress Lord would bow to.

The old man, who had been answering diligently, suddenly fell silent.

"...No way?"

Could he have been the Governor of Seopyung in his lifetime?

"The governor."

The old man swung his arms, then clasped his hands behind his back and turned away.

"Wrong. At this rate, you won\'t find the answer even if the sun sets... I\'ll give you a clue. Start by thinking about where Taeryung is, and you might find the answer."

Taeryung was the mountain range that bordered the southern side of Seopyung. Seopyung encompassed the southern and western sides of Mokryeo Kingdom and extended to the southeastern border.

Therefore, Seopyung became the only path for foreign armies to invade the country.

It was inevitable that Seopyung would become a graveyard for warriors. Countless warriors met their end in Seopyung.

"Would you know who was the first to die in Seopyung?"

"The first to die, huh."

I pondered the old man\'s words for a moment. It hadn\'t been long since Seopyung was called Seopyung. The name was given after the founding of the nation.

Could it be?

"Then, are you saying you\'re King Taejo?"

The old man turned back to face me and smiled faintly. It was an irritating smile to behold.

"Huh, what\'s with that expression?"

What about my expression?

"I thought..."

"Hmm?"

"I thought you might be my adoptive grandfather."

I scratched my itchy ear with my thumb, and the old man looked flustered.

"...Did you not hear me properly? I said I am Taejo."

So, did the Emperor ever put a single grain of rice in my mouth?

The food that went down my throat was made by Chef Ha and Lady Byeon of Blood Cloud Fortress, the rice for the food was given by the Fortress Lord, and the rice farming was done by the farmers.

"So what? You\'re still just a debtor, aren\'t you?"

"It\'s true that I said that... But don\'t you know that I am the founder of this nation?"

I didn\'t respond.

"Huh... I don\'t know if the presence of someone like you in Seopyung is a blessing or a curse... But how can I not call it a blessing that a warrior like you fights for the country?"

A blessing after I\'m dead? What nonsense is this?

Even if he\'s a ghost, as a former human, there are things he should and shouldn\'t say. I got angry.

"What\'s the use of a blessing or whatever when I\'m dead?"

"Are you upset?"

"Who would be happy about dying?"

"Everything dies. Wasn\'t it your wish to fight to the very end? You achieved your wish, so what\'s there to regret?"

"If I had lived longer, I would have fought more."

The old man tilted his head, stroking his chin.

"Do you want to live longer? That\'s what you\'re saying, wanting to fight more."

"Why wouldn\'t I?"

The old man took a step closer. For some reason, his approach frightened me, and I awkwardly raised my body from where it was lying in the air.

"If that\'s what you truly desire, I\'ll give you a chance."

"...A chance?"

The old man grinned suspiciously.

"Indeed. Repaying a past debt and granting an opportunity to someone like you who understands loyalty, how can this not be heartwarming?"

The air grew heavy with the weight of his words, leaving me with a sense of unease.

The energy emanating from the old man was extraordinary. It made me feel like a fool for lying sprawled out in front of such a being.

"For 500 years, time has flowed, and thanks to the energy of the sacred mountain, I have gained a mysterious power. I am neither a ghost nor a god, so perhaps I am a spirit. However, I am concerned that you might live a dissolute life, so I will set one condition."

A shiver ran down my spine.

But one thing was clear. This old man wasn\'t spouting nonsense.

"This is a deal, a transaction. A deal requires something to be exchanged between both parties."

"...A deal?"

That meant the bigger the debt I incurred, the greater the reward I would receive. I quickly knelt at the old man\'s feet.

"I\'ll do anything... anything. I don\'t care about anything."

The old man continued, as if mocking me.

"You don\'t care about anything?"

"Yes."

"Even if you become something other than yourself?"

"What does it matter? As long as I remain human."

"Even if you have to carry a heavy burden?"

"What could be heavy when it comes to reviving a dead man? Even carrying a mountain wouldn\'t be a burden."

I wasn\'t bluffing. I was willing to bet my body, my soul, my non-existent distant relatives, even the dirt under my toenails, and I meant it.

"Hmm..."

The old man raised his hand and stroked his white beard. He was stalling as if he wouldn\'t agree, but it didn\'t seem like he truly meant it. But who knows?

I felt even more nervous than when my head was about to be chopped off.

Wait, did I speak too informally? He wouldn\'t be offended by something like that, would he?

Please.

Please.

Please...!

"Alright."

The old man answered just before I went crazy.

I gasped.

"Your spirit is satisfactory. Save Mokryeo. In the end, aren\'t both Seopyung and the Blood Cloud Fortress part of this nation, Mokryeo? If the nation is peaceful and prosperous, your homeland will also be safe."

At that moment, the old man\'s demeanor changed abruptly. Until now, he had a gentle impression, but now he exuded a chilling coldness.

"But if by any chance..."

Wait, did he just tell me to save the nation?

"...you engage in any foolish acts, I will kill you on the spot."

In the blink of an eye, before I could even comprehend his words, the old man reached out his hand. A bright light emanated from the center of his palm.

An intense flash that felt like it would burn my eyeballs.

The light was so blinding that I closed my eyes, fearing they would burn.

And then everything in front of me disappeared.

.

.

.

But did he say he would kill me if I did something foolish?

The old man... Taejo definitely said something like that.

"Ugh."

"That\'s a pretty chilling way to put it."

The light piercing through my eyelids was too intense.

Is that old man... Taejo still there? And why are my eyes so dry? It\'s not like I ate a whole pot of salt soup last night.

I forced my eyelids open, and an old man\'s face appeared in my vision.

"Your Highness!"

Your Highness?

I had definitely never seen this old man before. First of all, he wasn\'t Taejo. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, just in case I was mistaken, but it was still an unfamiliar old man.

And the old man was crying. Why was this old man crying?

In front of me.

"Oh dear, oh dear, Your Highness...!"

...Your Highness?

Did I hear that right? Are my ears malfunctioning too?

"To think you\'d suffer such humiliation from a mere soldier!"

The old man was practically wailing.

At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

...No way? Nah, there\'s no way.

The coldness in my fingertips must be my imagination.

"Wh-what?"

My words stumbled out.

"I should have served Your Highness better... Oh dear, it\'s all my fault. Please don\'t forgive me."

This was definitely the moment to swallow dryly.

I swallowed and asked, pointing my index finger at myself.

"...Is this \'Your Highness\' referring to a prince?"

No way.

No way.

But...

"Yes, Your Highness."

The old man\'s answer was unnecessarily concise and clear.

Damn it...