Record of a Thousand Lives

Thepairentered the city, although White had to be sent to the summon dimension because of its aggressive temperament.

Hiledan lived up to its reputation as a city of alchemy; it was filled with smoke rising out of chimneys, and various books and tools used for alchemy could be found in it. Although not many stores sold potions due to their rarity,corpse dismembermentandingredientcombinationwere cheaper in Hiledan than in other cities. Corpse dismemberment was especially expensive due to the need for tools to separate the bones, meat, and leather of monsters. A large building housing the alchemyguildwas situatedin the center of the city.

Thepairwent to the exchange center first.Itwas noisy due to the merchants and attendants bargaining and arguing inside.

“I want to exchange these,” Kang Yoon-Soo saidas he took out twelve gold barsand placed them on the counter.

The attendantgave him a look ofsurprise.It would have been unsurprising if it had beena merchantarrivingwith a large convoy of goods, but to seean average-lookingman take out gold bars from his backpack caught the attendant off guard.

“I’ll go and measure the weight of these;kindly wait just a while,” the attendant said while politely receiving the gold bars withbothhands.

While they were waiting for the attendant to get back, thepaircould hear merchants chattering in the background.

“Have you read the paper? Mariel from the brewery was killed.”

“Mariel? Why that kid?”

“Oh, Mano, you seem to have been away from Hiledan for too long. There have been numerous cases of beautiful girls being raped and killed. This is the fourth one.”

Shaneth could not help butbeinterested in the conversationbetweenthe merchants.

“A serial killer? In a city as peaceful as this?”

“There will always be some psychowhowants to cause trouble.”

“Tsk tsk…For that to happen to such a kind girl…”

“But you know…There are some rumors regarding this case…”The merchant lowered his voice as if he weredivulging a secret.“The women…They say they died with bright smiles on their faces.”

“They died smiling?”

“That’s right…What'sstrange is that they were severely abused before being killed. They had severe injuries that seemed to have been inflicted by knives or whips, and just looking at the injuries could turnone’sstomach. However, they died with big smiles on their faces…Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.”

“That’s really creepy, but are you saying they were drugged or something?”

“That’s why the investigators are struggling with this case. This is no longer an ordinary case if drugs are involved. You know how drugs have started to plague numerous cities, including the capital, these days. To think that Hiledan wouldbe among them…”

The attendant returned andpassed Kang Yoon-Soo numerousleather pouches, saying,“The total will be 1,200 gold coins.”

“Let’s go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he took the pouches from the attendant.

Shaneth was curiousabout themerchants’ story, but she followed Kang Yoon-Soo out of the exchange center. The peaceful cityshe had seenstarted to feel different after she heard the stories of serial killings taking place. She wasnot quite scared, but stilluneasy.She said,“To think that serial killings would take place in this city…Itsounds unlikely but plausible, just like a detective thriller novel.”

“The name of the perpetrator isLee Min-Chan,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What?” Shaneth stoppedin her tracksand looked at him. She asked again,“What did you just say?”

Kang Yoon-Soo turned around, looked at her, and said,“Spoilers.”

***

Kang Yoon-Soo and Shaneth headed for an inn,both lookingquite disheveled. Their clothingwas covered inclumps of sand and soil from crossing the wilderness.The two of them entered the wooden buildingas thesun set, andShaneth smiled brightly at the thought of finally being able to take a bath. The wooden sign on the building, upon which the name “Golden Ale Inn’ was written,shook back and forth as the wind blew.

The inn was crowded with Continentals and Travelers seated around wooden tables.“It’s 50 bronze coins for a night. Will you take a bath as well?” the old innkeeper asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo threw one silver coin to the innkeeper and said, “One room, and alcohol.”

Shaneth’s eyes widenedand she blinked a few times. “Did he just say‘one room’?” shemuttered toherself.

The innkeeper took out a key from a drawer and passed it to Kang Yoon-Soo, saying, “It’s theleftmostroom on thesecond floor. What would you like for your drink?”

“The strongest one,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Kang Yoon-Soo-nim? Did you just ask for one room? There are two of us, though…?” Shanethasked, sounding perplexed.Every gazein the inn suddenly looked toward thepair, and Shaneth was flustered by the sudden attention.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Shaneth and said, “We have to use one room.”He then addedquietly, “I have to be by your side tonight.”

***

Shaneth was in a wooden tub, taking a bath in hot water that filled the room with steam. The hot bathwater wrapped around her naked body, and she started thinkingasall the fatigue slowly lefther body. She was thinking about the strange man she had accompanied in theirtravels.

‘I swear, he’s a strange one,’she thought.

Her first impression of the manhad beenthat of an experienced adventurer. He had excellent swordsmanship and blacksmithing skills, and hehad even donethe impossible by creating a spirit rightin frontof her eyes. However, the reality was very different. Hehad a lowlevel and had only recently been summoned to this world; he was even weaker than her.

‘But how does he know so much…?’she pondered.

Hehad beenstrangely calm when he found the YultikaRuin; it wasas if he had visited the placefrequently enough to treat it likehisownhouse. He seemed to be certain when he spoke the name of the perpetrator of the serial killings peoplehad been discussing earlier in the day. It was as if he werea sage that knew all of the secrets of this world, not aTraveler.

‘Although he seems to be more of a cold puppet than a sage…’she thought as she recalled his demeanor.A cold puppet…Itwas an accurate depiction of him. Whilelost in herthoughts, however,she suddenly remembered what the man had said earlier this evening.

“I have to be by your side tonight.”

Splash!

Shanethslappedthe surface of the water like a kid throwing a tantrum. She covered her face with herhands and started to tremble, and steamrose from her reddened face.‘Really…Does.Thatman.Haveanysense of shame?! How could he say something like that so brazenly in front of so many people?!’

He was an unpredictable man. Henormallyacted uninterested all the time, but he had suddenlysaidsomething shameless like that. Nobody would look athimfavorably after thatincident, and Shaneth was no exception.

‘Does it make sense to spend the night with a man you’ve justmet? It didn’t seemas ifhe liked me or anything, and he didn’t even ask for my approvalinthe matter…’

Shehad not thoughttoo much of it when she unpacked and entered the bath becauseshe had beentoo tired, but now that she thought about it again, he was certainly shameless.

‘I think I’llsecretly leave this inn after taking a bath. It’s time to part ways with that man. Even if he gets another room, there’s no telling if he’ll attempt this again. It’llbe difficulttravelingalone for the first time, butthatwould be much better than going along with a man who could be plotting something from behind.’

Shanethgathered her resolveand stood up from the bath,pickingup a hand mirror after she wiped her body down. She looked at her milky white skin reflectedinthe mirror. There was a small burn markremainingon the left side of her face, but the rest of her skin was smooth and elastic. She started to tear up when sherememberedher past, the time when shehad beencovered in burns and called a disabled fool by people.‘Come to think of it, though…He treated me right even before my burns had healed.’

Kang Yoon-Soohadtold her when she was looking for the bottle of alcohol in the storage room that she was even more beautiful than Hermia. He had told her to take her helmet off and look in the mirror.Shaneth letout a small smile and thought,‘He was the first person to say those kind words to me.’

The way people looked at her had changed after her burns were healed; the usual insults and pity she had received turned into surprise and jealousy. But the way Kang Yoon-Soo looked at her never changed. Shaneth put down the hand mirror, seemingto have made up her mind.

‘Even though he seems to be mysterious and suspicious, he’spaved a newroadfor me and saved me. Although it’s not enough of a reason to like him…’Truth be told, she had definitely enjoyedhertime together with him,even thoughit had not been a long time.

Could she havehadthe same experience of creating a spirit and conquering a ruin if she had traveled alone?‘Impossible,’she answered herself.

Kang Yoon-Soo was an interesting person. Although he had never revealed his trueidentity,he had abruptly asked to share a room with her. That was the moment she realized that she had started to wantto keeptraveling with him.

‘I’ve decided.’Sheput ona thin gown and left theinn’s public bath. She started to walk toward herroom when suddenly…

“Wow~Aren’t you a beauty, noona?” a young boy said as he blockedShaneth’spath.The youth seemed to be a teenageTraveler, judging by the wrist device he had.He smiled sheepishlywhen Shaneth looked at him with a puzzledexpression and said,“I’m also a guest in this inn. I mustered the courage to talk to you because noona was so beautiful. Do you have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t, so can you getout of theway?” Shaneth saidcoldly; she had just thought of how people treated her differently now,and it made her tone frigid.

The youth just started to laugh, saying, “Hmm… Noona is a liar. You’re lovers with that hyung you came with today, aren’t you? It’s obvioussinceyou’re using the same room.”

Shaneth glared at the youth.Hehad crossed the line. He spoke as if he werefree to do as he pleased. Shaneth was usually polite to others, but she was not fond of rude people.

“What are you glaring at? Did I say something wrong?” the youthaskedas he stepped away while laughing annoyingly.Shaneth justbegan headingto her room with a bad taste in her mouth,but the youth shouted from behind, “My name isLee Min-Chan! What’syour name, noona?”

Shaneth suddenly stopped in her tracks. There was no need to even try to remember where she had heard the name.

Lee Min-Chan.That was thename ofthe serial killer Kang Yoon-Soo had mentioned.