"Besiege him, do not let your guard down!"

In all the battles, a strategy genius has never suffered such loss before. Moreover, a trusted comrade framed him this time, would this be God's will to eradicate him?

"You are out-numbered!" a soldier cried amidst the battlefield while an army swarmed in heavy footsteps.

The strategic genius immediately pulled out a pistol and headshot the betrayer who served with him for a long time.

"You fucker!" The traitor murmured the last words and died in a pool of blood.

"Surrender now!" Enemies eagerly raised their voices and laughed on the conquered battleground. "The last threat will no longer exist, this city is ours!"

The strategic genius laughed loudly, causing the entire enemy army to prepare their weapons. Perhaps, that event turned out to be the fate of life and death of a last guardian, the genius chuckled; if so, he ought to pull out a small ball from the pocket and hold upon the sky.

"What the-?! How did you have it!" a soldier was flabbergasted while others gazed into the object, confused. "Stop what you're doing!"

"I've decided it's better to kill myself than let you guys catch me!" when the genius poured all his strength into a sly laugh, the sphere glowing at the same time. "Good riddance!"

Boom.

..........................

For decades, mankind in this world utilized martial arts to decide their life and death. The strong win, the weak lose - that should become the mantra. The force of nature gave man the strength to break rocks; the strength to move mountains. Thus, after a critical point in the history of mankind, those used to worship gods become saints just a few decades later.

At Bach Mai's Hospital.

A patient's eyes slowly opened, his whole body ached as if he had just fallen somewhere. The first question popped in his mind in a strange white room: why was the man here? Did God send him to heaven already? Wait... The memory seemed to replay - a bunch of bullies threw stones and led him to this state. Yet, somehow the man denied his death; otherwise, he would meet the ancestors already.

Wait... The mind swelled as another memory in which seemed to flush - the pitiful end of a strategic genius. On the bed, the patient looked onto his hands and felt some bizarre feeling. Although this body previously belonged to a high school student, a strategic genius has lived once again. The patient, An Thần, grinned his teeth; gripped tight the blanket when he remembered those who bullied him in this present.

"Rest assured-" somewhere, the inner darkness murmurs to the patient's mind. "In this world, you are me, I am you."

Observing the past, people called a high-school boy a weakling, a useless. However, this life ought to change because a strategic genius obtained a second life. The inner darkness, thus, displayed the vivid scenery of a strategic genius's previous life - a conqueror, a liberator and a revolutionist. The last life had experienced joys and sorrows, so no fear could sway a man to regain his status of power once more. That inner darkness murmured that martial arts determine all the powers of this world. If An Thần desired to become a martial artist, he ought to seek a way to become stronger.

"Son!" A woman in her 40s barged in the door and hugged the subject. "Are you okay?!"

"Mom!?" the trance of an inner darkness disappeared when the intervention occurred which popped the patient back to reality. "I'm fine, just got stoned..."

"Stoned?!" The mother panicked, hugged her son's face and stared deeply into his eyeballs. "Are you high, boy?"

"Mom, calm down-" An Thần confronted and pushed away the worried mother. "Me and the boys are just goofing around, it's an accident!"

"You got hit in the head!" The mother read the check-up paper aloud and stared fiercely at the wounded son. "'This' you call 'goofing around'?"

"Fine-" the son sighed while his eyes avoided the mother's gaze. "I'll tell them what's going on, you can rest assured."

The mother changed her posture and was perplexed with that response. A fracture of seconds later, she sighed discontentedly and left to sign some paperworks at the reception. Then, the two went home. An Thần pondered his eyes at the commodities and evaluated the place called "home" - vintage painted walls, cracked tiles and flickered led lights. Moreover, everywhere presented an abundance of pho noodles; a strong, vivid smell of beef broth and a few bags of garnish herbs. An Thần fixed his eyes to the mother. It seemed she closed the shop early to pick up her incompetent child from the hospital. Guilt surged inside of An Thần as boiled water, but that feeling had stuck in his throat. Dear me, An Thần viewed his previous life, albeit going to the army, the previous family was fortunate enough to suffice him most of the lux to obtain power. Onto this life, regaining the status of power seemed to become a strenuous task.

Suddenly, An Thần saw a spiritual ghost walk next to him. He rubbed his eyes a few times as if the mind failed to believe the scenery in front.

"I'm you-" the ghost spoke and gazed into the subject's eyeballs. "You are in my body!"

An Thần questioned the ghost on that nonsensical response. It turned out the body hosted two souls, the ghost concluded after a short introduction, one soul of a strategic genius of the past; another of a useless high-school boy.

"So, now what?" the ghost exhaled a long breath and sat on a nearby chair. His posture fixated and pondered around the commodities. "After years of conquest, I'm stuck in a useless body."

"Make a deal with him~" the inner darkness rang in the host's ears again. In a fracture of memories, the ghost showed great promise in its expertise of combat. So, the inner darkness persuaded the mind to take action since the host needed to obtain power. "Come on, make a deal with him~"

The mind swayed, but hesitated with the persuasion since the existence of that inner darkness. An Thần then questioned its purpose out of curiosity, perhaps, the inner darkness would clarify its point of view.

"We are the same but different-" the inner darkness echoed in many voices, yet still sounded audibly. From the dawn of mankind, it existed side by side, yet hidden in the utmost depth. People from time to time called it in many names, many shapes and many pronouns. However, they failed to describe that inner darkness as a whole. "We are one, but many, single, but plural, long, but short, wide, but narrow."

An ideal lingered onto An Thần as if it discovered something in the past. Gomboc. The name of a shape appeared out of the blue.

"An intriguing name for us-" the inner darkness replied in many voices, but failed to show its intent. "Gomboc would suffice for now."

And so, An Thần discovered two characters in the beginning of this journey. A ghost who sat in front and a thing which was called "Gomboc".

"Let's make a deal-" An Thần strived forwards to the sitting ghost, inquired for a trade. Since the ghost stuck in this body, it could use some of its expertise to bolster a goal in vengeance. "We can work together."

"I do not make a deal-" the ghost swiftly confronted as it grasped the neck of its proposer. "I only make compromises."

An Thần felt a sense of pride surged inside, perhaps that portrayed the tight grip onto his neck. As the mind searched for a way out, it saw a fracture of memories of where a strategic genius walked his way out of the deal.

"Y-You want to seek vengeance, don't you-" An Thần grasped on the hand which onto his suffocated neck. The ghost 's expression altered as if it remembered a forgotten duty. "Y-You just like me, we can work out."

The ghost hesitated for a fracture of seconds, then released the suffocated boy onto the floor.

"Boy, are you high?" Mother witnessed the whole scenario as if her son was role-playing with himself. The mother walked through the invisible ghost and sat on the chair. She pinched her nose bridge and stretched the body as if had undergone a strenuous workout session. "Tell me, what is going on with you?"

"Nothing-" the boy who recovered from the floor replied and realized his mother failed to see a surreal entity walking back and forth the room continuously. "You do not understand-"

"What do I not understand?" the mother raised her voice. She stared at the perplexed son for a few moments; sighed and gazed onto the ceiling. The mother, thus, told an old story about the sacrifice of the boy's father in the war. Until now, a mother tried her best to nurture her most dearest alone. Perhaps, that presented an overreaction scenario of the mother since the boy had just been discharged from the hospital. "Maybe we are all tired, let's hit the sack for now."

That ought to be a dream, the boy murmured to himself and stared at the walking ghost. After walking upstairs, An Thần submerged in the comfort zone of his cozy room - soft pillows, warm blanket and spreaded clothes. That ought to be a dream, the boy gazed on to the ceiling with his heavy eyelids. When the eyes shut tight without hearing bizarre voices, An Thần could sleep with ease that night.

.....

"Child, I was thinking-" somewhere in the dark, a thing spoke. "Child, you awake?"

"What the-" An Thần tried to open his heavy eyelids in difficulty because of the exhausted body. Leaning on the pillows, An Thần immediately saw a ghost who approached very close to his face as if they would conduct a French-kiss. The scared boy jumped out of his blanket while his heart ceased to beat for a fracture of seconds. "I ain't gay, what the fuck?"

"Child, I was considering your proposal-" when the ghost started to approach, the scared boy shooed his hand to deny the distance. The ghost halted, then began to conduct a proper introduction. "Before we begin, I will first tell you from the start."

"But shit, it's 2. A.M!" An Thần implored in pain and rubbed his sleepy face. "Can we just do this in the morning? "

An Nam consisted of two main areas: the mainland "Đông An" (Northern of An) and the world island "Đảo An" (Island of An). Since ancient times, this area was called "Đông Khải" by the Thạch Sư people as the rise of the East, and by the Olbus people as "Nam Môn" as the southern door. The country played a special role on the East-West trade route; To be precise, this area intersected with great cultures of the world. However, when the Revolution happened, the world vaguely identified An Nam as a separate geographical, historical, cultural and political area because of the two civilizations Thạch Sư and Olbus.

"Are you still listening, child-" the ghost halted and questioned the sleepy boy. After a nod, the ghost continued his lecture. "Stop me if you miss anything-"

Because of the conquest, An Nam gained a 2000-year under Thạch Sư's rule and a 500-year of Olbus's rule. Tây Xưởng (West Industry), a sect which once headed An Nam under the sponsored of Thạch Sư, strictly ruled the nation. Fortunately, the later Emperor of An debunked the plot; co-operated with Nhược Lạp (Leaf Hat) and the Red Army to eradicate the enemies and stabilize An Nam. Since we have imported the Thạch Sư culture for a long time, the language transliteration seemed similar. If the An Nam native traveled to Thạch Sư, they could communicate like the Thạch Sư native, but failed to read. Beside, the writing system of An Nam resembled the Olbus's. If An Nam talked to the Olbus native, they failed to understand.

"So why are you telling me this-" the boy yawned and rubbed his sleepy face once more, his eyelids seemed to shut tight. "And you are exactly who?"

Dương Thiên Phú, a "former" captain of the First Guardian Chapter and commander of the Liberator Squad, has served for the Emperor of An for more than 20 years.

Although considered quite young by the standards of the military, the Emperor announced him as a decorated veteran. Captain Phú underwent several major campaigns across the world by his Chapter. His victory has earned him a reputation as one of the greatest heroes of the First Guardian, despite his young age.

Following the defense of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, from an assault. Thiên Phú sacrificed himself to protect the last defense line.

"The emperor betrays us-" the ghost confessed and gazed afar. The emperor knew all along that mission showed a trap from the enemy; however, his greed was far beyond the lives of men and women. The Yggdrasil introduced many great artifacts, one of them called the "Sword of Yi". The emperor believed obtaining that sword could become immortal on the battlefield. He then sent us, the First Guardian, to fulfill that wish. The men knew nothing about the threat of that mission; until they stepped onto the pit, they realized death awaited. After venturing in the deep dark, men fought out monsters and celestial entities to reach the vault of the World Tree. Albeit securing the artifacts, factions from many nations pursued which led into a bloodbath. Many were lost, and most of the guardians failed to outlive the Emperor's greed. "I need to know what happened after the battle."

The ghost continued his story without knowing the sleeping audience. Until dawn arose, the ghost would stop and let An Thần put on his uniform and rode his bicycle onwards. Lương Thế Vinh high school, a place where An Thần immersed himself in the color of white shirt and áo dài.

"I have never thought of going to school again-" the ghost witnessed the scenery of students with leather backpacks enjoying the fresh air of the early morning in their lungs. "It's nostalgic to be honest."