My mind went completely blank, but reflexively, I raised the Pale Dawn Sword in my hand. With a metallic clang, the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger before me suddenly released the Nightfall Sword from his right hand, then swiftly gripped it with his left, reversing his hold and using my sword as leverage to forcefully slash downward.
With a swish, I stared in astonishment as this attack—beyond ordinary human thinking—tore a huge gash across my chest. No red blood flowed out, only black.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
I roared, facing the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger, and could only desperately raise the Pale Dawn Sword again and again to fend off his attacks.
My mind kept racing, trying to grasp what he was asking, but my instincts gave me no clue at all.
"In your understanding, what is a human, and what is a ghost? Answer me."
The Golden-Eyed Doppelganger shouted and swung his sword at me. I immediately raised the Pale Dawn Sword with both hands—clang!—blocking his attack. But to my shock, with a harsh creak, the white blade before me was sliced clean through.
The Golden-Eyed Doppelganger slashed at me again with the Nightfall Sword, this time from my left shoulder. The force sent me flying, and I crashed onto the black-and-white checkered floor.
Not a single sound. I didn’t feel any pain in my body either. The surroundings were eerily silent—no noise at all. The Golden-Eyed Doppelganger approached once more.
"Tell me, Ethan Zhang, what is a human, what is a ghost?"
I smiled faintly, gradually realizing what the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger was truly trying to ask me.
"A human is a human, a ghost is a ghost. Humans walk the Human Realm, ghosts walk the Ghost Realm." I answered. Suddenly, the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger flashed to my side, wisps of Shadow Vortex swirling around him. He crouched low and slashed with his sword. I stared blankly as the Nightfall Sword swung toward me.
Instinctively, I raised the broken, half-length Pale Dawn Sword—clang!—blocking his attack.
"Then let me ask you again—are you human, or are you ghost?"
"So you finally ask that?" I smiled and shouted.
"Of course I’m human."
With my shout, the broken Pale Dawn Sword slowly began to restore itself. I thrust it forward with all my strength, sending the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger flying backward. He slid a distance across the ground, then, with a metallic clang, stabbed the Nightfall Sword into the floor and stopped.
"Let me ask you again: you are human, yet you wield the power of ghosts—so what are you, really?"
"I am myself, Ethan Zhang. And you are nothing but a part of me—the part that belongs to my humanity."
Suddenly, the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger burst into loud, wild laughter. That cold, cruel face actually broke into a smile as he rose to his feet.
"A human is a human, a ghost is a ghost. Right now, you are human, and I am ghost..."
As soon as the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger finished speaking, I saw streams of Shadow Vortex twisting up from beneath his feet, wrapping around him until he was shrouded in darkness—only his golden eyes remained visible.
"You’re clearly human, yet you crave the power of ghosts. Ethan Zhang, aren’t you being too greedy…?"
I raised the Pale Dawn Sword. This time, I charged forward on my own initiative. I sensed a memory surfacing in my mind—slowly, those memories sealed away in the prison of my heart began to unlock.
My head buzzed, and scene after scene flashed through my mind.
These were the things I experienced before I ever went to Willow Orphanage.
As a child, I wandered the city like a rat—coming out at night, hiding by day. I was only five years old then, and knew nothing of the world.
Whether human or ghost, I wanted nothing to do with either. These two opposites—one yin, one yang, yet intertwined—I kept my distance, afraid to approach or understand them.
But maybe it was fate. I met the director of the orphanage—a kindly old woman—who took me to Willow Orphanage, surrounded by abandoned buildings.
It was more than ten kilometers from the city, already deserted. I didn’t know why I followed her—maybe I just wanted to see what it meant to be human.
My heart was filled with fear, yet also with a burning desire—to get just a little closer. Humans were warm. For the first time, I walked so far, led step by step back to Willow Orphanage by that old woman.
For the first time, I came into contact with people. After a while, I gradually learned to speak. The old woman began teaching us to read. I never understood why she took in so many children.
It was then, through the children’s rumors, that I learned about ghosts. This abandoned town had once been a mining site, but after years of extraction, the minerals ran out and the town was deserted.
I wasn’t the only one who could see them. Some of the orphanage kids saw things at night too. Deep down, I was terrified of ghosts—sometimes, they’d come out just to scare us.
The orphanage director taught me many things alone every day—the basic knowledge needed to be human. Sometimes, she’d even talk about ghosts. I remember it all clearly now.
"Those things are ghosts. Ghosts eat people. They’re enemies of humans, so remember—if you ever meet a ghost, run away."
That was the most memorable thing she ever said to me. All of it left me confused—why would the orphanage director tell me such basic facts about ghosts? And how did she know so much?
(Irrelevant system message. Skip translation.)
Gradually, I became like the other kids at the orphanage. I started talking with them more—laughing when happy, crying when sad.
Clang! The Pale Dawn Sword in my hand blocked the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger’s attack. In an instant, the black-and-white world around me twisted—the black parts surged and rushed toward me.
"Choose, Ethan Zhang—are you human or ghost?"
All around me, the white parts of the world were gradually stained black. The white was slowly disappearing.
With a harsh creak, our swords—black and white—clashed and intertwined, neither side giving way.
"Answer me, Ethan Zhang—are you human, or are you ghost?"
I smiled faintly, then suddenly let go of the Pale Dawn Sword. With a swish, the Nightfall Sword pierced my chest, and I began to turn black, bit by bit.
"Is that so? Have you finally made the right choice?"
"No, not at all. It’s nothing like what you think." I muttered. The black aura faded from the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger, revealing a shocked face—those golden eyes stared at me in disbelief.
Clang! The Pale Dawn Sword stabbed into the ground. I looked at the face identical to my own—it was like staring at an old, yellowed photograph.
Once, I was terrified of ghosts—hated them. But now, I finally understood what it means to be human, and what it means to be ghost.
It’s the same—humans live to survive, and so do ghosts. What I just saw, those two figures, replaced the newborn and became the ghost of a human.
As a ghost, yet showing the love of a human mother—crying for her child, fighting for her child. It’s not mere obsession or resentment, but survival. To exist in this world, you must fight to survive—clinging to life, fearing death.
Humans can laugh, and so can ghosts. Two completely opposite beings, yet they share the same expressions, the same thoughts, the same heart.
Everything before me was half white, half black. I smiled, gripping the Nightfall Sword in my left hand and the Pale Dawn Sword in my right.
"Ghosts are just like humans. I have many friends—some are ghosts, some are humans. They’re all the same. I’m truly sorry for everything before. You understand now, don’t you?"
Tears streamed from my eyes. The Golden-Eyed Doppelganger let go and retreated step by step into the darkness, while I stood at the border between black and white.
I’ve always been afraid—the part of me that’s ghost is terrified, refusing to accept or face it, constantly denying the truth that I am both human and ghost.
"Is that so?"
The Golden-Eyed Doppelganger spoke in a heavy voice. I nodded.
"There must be a way—a road where humans and ghosts can coexist peacefully."
"Absurd, Ethan Zhang. Are you saying humans and ghosts can live without boundaries, without distinction?"
I shook my head.
No matter what, I want to walk this path—it’s not simply the things you’ve given me.
No matter how many thorns cover this road?
Yes—no matter how many thorns lie ahead.
I raised the Nightfall Sword in my left hand, the Pale Dawn Sword in my right. Bit by bit, both swords seemed to melt into my palms.
"Then let me ask one more time—what is your instinct?"
I smiled easily. The answer had long since surfaced in my mind. Time and again, I’d crossed the boundaries between human and ghost—I’d seen man-eating demons and people as cruel as ghosts.
I once naively thought there was a huge difference between ghosts and humans. Humans have warmth, and so do ghosts. I’d felt it more than once. Slowly, I raised my head, looked at the Golden-Eyed Doppelganger, and spoke with conviction.
"My instinct is called coexistence..."