Record of a Thousand Lives

The magic tower was a tall black building that rose so high into the air that it was impossible to see the tip from the ground.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked up at the tower and thought, ‘There are ninety-nine floors in there.’

The magic tower that had been destroyed by the Ancient Heroes had been reconstructed by the Colossi, and it was now completely finished. Rising all the way into the heavens, it stood before Kang Yoon-Soo like an unbreakable fortress.

‘It’s not going to be easy climbing the magic tower,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

Dangerous trials and myriad perils awaited them on every floor, and the trials in the magic tower were incomparably more dangerous than the trials he had faced at the library. The magic tower would not allow them to leave its premises unless and until they cleared all of the trials it presented, but great rewards awaited them for each floor they completed.

Then, a man would be waiting for those who managed to clear all the trials and reach the top floor.

‘The King of All Things, Sirian…’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The culprit behind the reconstruction of the magic tower was waiting on the top floor.

“So we’ve finally arrived,” Henrick said as they reached the entrance to the magic tower.

The door exuded a sinister air that sent chills down the party’s spines, as if it were the gateway to the underworld. Before passing through it, Kang Yoon-Soo brought out all his summons.

Sally looked up at the infinitely tall tower and tiptoed in an attempt to see its tip, exclaiming, “Aigoo! Wow! It’s so tall! It’s Sally’s first time seeing such a tall tower!”

White sensed the sinister aura emanating from the tower and aggressively growled, “Urnokra!”

Acle looked up at the tower and said arrogantly, “Hey, stupid lich. How long do you think it will take us to climb that tower?”

“I am certain that it will take us more than ten days to climb that tower, judging by its width and height,” Mini-Lich replied.

“Hmm… That long? I think I can climb that tower in four days,” Acle retorted.

“You are being overconfident, Acle,” Mini-Lich said worriedly.

Sharp squirmed restlessly while holding Light’s hand as he said, “L-Light… That’s…”

“I’m tired from making a clone for the dragon. Don’t talk to me, Sharp,” Light snapped, cutting him off as she looked away from him without even smiling the way she once had. The cold shoulder she gave Sharp left him dejected.

Henrick took out Rick and said, “Get ready. We’re climbing the tower.”

“Are we killing people too?” Rick asked.

“Beats me. Who knows what kinds of horrible trials await us in that tower?” Henrick replied.

“I hope there’s a trial where I can rip people apart to my heart’s content,” Rick said.

“I didn’t expect anything less from you,” Henrick said with a sigh.

Kang Yoon-Soo did not summon Yuriel, as she had become mentally unstable after becoming a fallen angel. He briefly explained to his party everything they had to know about the magic tower, then warned them just before they entered, “We can’t leave the magic tower until we kill Sirian.”

“Ninety-nine floors of trials… It’s not going to be easy,” Shaneth said as she gripped her chain and sickle.

Iris nervously said, “I suppose we will have to put our lives on the line if we will climb that tall tower.”

Herick grimaced while scratching his chin and asked, “Can’t you just raise a flying monster from the dead and fly to the top?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

It was impossible to destroy the tower, fly up to the top, or climb the outer walls. Kang Yoon-Soo had tried every single thing imaginable to easily climb the magic tower in his previous lives, but all of his attempts had been futile.

‘We’ll have to throw everything we have at that tower,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

While he was deep in thought, however, the ground suddenly started shaking.

Boom! Booom! Booom!

“Hurry up and go after them!”

“No one else is allowed to enter the magic tower except for the king’s companion!”

The Colossi were returning after having destroyed the Deathless Dragon’s clone. They no longer had any time to waste on thinking.

Kang Yoon-Soo placed his hand on the magic tower’s door.

Creak…!

The black door opened.

The party entered the first floor of the magic tower. As soon as they stepped inside, the Colossi outside could no longer touch them.

[You have entered the magic tower!]

[Dangerous trials and monsters await you on every floor of this tower.]

[None of the intruders will be allowed to leave the magic tower until they manage to kill its master.]

[Various special items are hidden throughout this magic tower that is within an unstable dimension.]

[You may not summon any creatures without the master of this tower’s permission.]

[The legendary quest ‘Master of the Magic Tower’ has started, as you have entered the magic tower.]

[Legendary Quest—Master of the Magic Tower]

[The magic tower that was previously assumed to be under construction is already finished. The master of the magic tower is hatching a dangerous plan to link the continent and Pandemonium. There is only one way to stop the tower master’s madness.]

[Find and kill the master of the magic tower!]

+The identity of the tower’s master is shrouded in enigma and mystery.

+You will gain clues as you progress up the magic tower.

Henrick meticulously observed their surroundings before saying, “The interior is better-lit than I expected it to be.”

The magic tower’s interior had evenly spaced candles illuminating it, unlike its dark exterior. In fact, the luxurious designs and decorations installed throughout the floor they were on even made it seem cozy.

“We can’t let our guard down. We could end up dead the moment we relax,” Shaneth said as she prepared for battle.

Mini-Lich nodded and said, “I saw teacher kill the Dragon of Destruction with Sirian’s strength. The King of All Things is much stronger than the Dragon of Destruction.”

Sally trembled in fear, carefully inching over to Acle and taking his hand.

Acle instantly grimaced and snapped, “Damn it, it’s hot! What the hell are you doing? Remove your hand at once.”

Sally continued trembling, tears welling up in her eyes as she said, “Papa said that the King of All Things lives here. I’m sure he’s very powerful and cruel, but Sally doesn't want anyone to die.”

“Hmph! Coward! What are you so scared of? I really can’t believe you. This is why I refuse to call you noona,” Acle scoffed. However, contrary to his cold words, he continued to gently hold Sally’s hand.

On the other hand, Sharp mustered up his courage and said, “L-Light… W-we should also… hold hands… like we did… b-before…”

“Sharp, I can’t understand you if you don’t speak properly,” Light said sternly. Sharp immediately stopped speaking upon hearing her cold response.

The first floor of the magic tower was very vast and wide, lined all throughout with exquisite marble. Kang Yoon-Soo led the way as the party carefully walked deeper into the magic tower.

‘The trial on the first floor is simple,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The first floor’s trial consisted of killing one hundred beast-type monsters, which was not a difficult thing to do for Kang Yoon-Soo after attaining the god class. However, the difficulty of the trials would increase the higher they climbed.

‘But the rewards will get better as well,’he thought.

They would become stronger even as they risked their lives by climbing up the magic tower. Kang Yoon-Soo knew that because he had already climbed the magic tower and broken through the ninety-nine floors in his previous life.

‘The rewards won’t be much help to me since I became a god, but every little bit still helps right now,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The rewards from the trials would not only help him, but also significantly boost his party’s abilities as well. Thus, Kang Yoon-Soo intended to climb the magic tower as quickly as he could.

It was then that White’s fur suddenly stood up, and Iris suddenly became alert.

“Kamirthor,’White growled.

“I can smell the thick stench of blood from somewhere,” Iris said.

‘The stench of blood? Don’t tell me the stench is coming from the first floor…?’Kang Yoon-Soo flinched. He tried to deny his suspicions, thinking, ‘There’s no way…’

“What’s wrong?” Shaneth asked.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo did not respond; he was seemingly absorbed in thought for some time, before suddenly running off into the distance.

Henrick wondered with a grimace, “What the hell is wrong with that guy?”

Mini-Lich replied seriously, “I am certain that he has to take a shit.”

“I’m very sure that’s not the case,” Henrick grumbled.

“Stop chatting and go after him!” Shaneth hurriedly exclaimed.

Then, the rest of the party ran after Kang Yoon-Soo. At the end of the first floor, they saw an entrance to a spacious room. Kang Yoon-Soo entered the room, and his other party members went in with him.

Iris covered her nose and said, “There are a lot of monster corpses here.”

The bodies of the beast-type monsters had been chopped into mincemeat and scattered across the floor. They were without a doubt the monsters that should have appeared for the first trial. However, it seemed quite a while had passed since they died, as a horrible, filthy stench filled the air.

Shaneth looked perplexed as she wondered, “Who killed all of these monsters?”

The answer to her question was soon revealed when Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly stopped running.

“Why the hell did you stop running all of a sudden?” Henrick grumbled.

Kang Yoon-Soo silently pointed at the room ahead.

Amid mountains of corpses, a man was sleeping. It was an extremely strange and grotesque sight. A hundred monsters appeared to be piled up in a circle around him. It was already quite unusual to see someone sleeping while surrounded by a pile of corpses, but his posture was even more peculiar. The man had his spear stabbed into the ground, leaning his face on the butt of the spear as he slept.

“Who is that? Did someone else enter the magic tower aside from us?” Shaneth asked.

The man flinched upon hearing her voice and woke up. He wiped saliva off the edge of his lips and stretched before exclaiming, “Hmm? You’re here?”

He smiled innocently, and spoke as if he had been waiting for them for some time.

Shaneth felt as if she had seen the man somewhere before. She asked, “Who are you? Are you an adventurer climbing the magic tower like us?”

“Why don’t you ask that guy over there?” the man replied as he pulled his spear out of the ground and pointed it at Kang Yoon-Soo, smiling brightly.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the man and muttered, “Sirian.”

Silence fell upon the room.

Eventually, it was broken by Henrick, who looked stupefied as he asked, “What did that guy just say…?”

“Sirian… That’s what he said,” Shaneth replied.

“If he is Sirian… He must be the King of All Things who should have been waiting at the top of this magic tower…” Iris muttered.

Horror started to spread across the faces of the party members.

The man in front of them was Sirian? The King of All Things, who had lived since ancient times and was more powerful than the Dragon of Destruction?

“Now that I look at him… I remember seeing his face from the missing history that played after we broke the stone tablet we excavated at the Red Rock Excavators’ excavation site. That man is indeed Sirian. The one who betrayed the heroes and opened the doors for Pandemonium… That King of All Things, Sirian,” Shaneth said with certainty in her voice.

Sirian scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed as he said, “So you’ve seen my shameful past, miss.”

All of the party members were so consumed by fear that they forgot to even prepare for battle.

“Urnokra!”White roared aggressively, reading its claws.

“Kyaaaahk!”Sally screamed and buried her face into Acle’s chest before passing out.

The party members were alert and on guard, but none of them dared to make the first move.

However, Sirian did not show any hostility toward them and simply remarked, “Hmm… What an interesting bunch.”

“Why are you here on the first floor?” Shaneth asked.

Sirian sat atop a pile of monster corpses and looked at them before replying, “You guys would only become stronger if you climbed the magic tower while clearing the trials one by one. I suddenly realized that it was pretty stupid for me to wait just so I could face all of you alone later. That’s why I decided to descend to the first floor. Wouldn’t that make it faster for everyone?”

The King of All Things, Sirian—the final boss who should have been waiting on the top floor—had descended to the first floor.

Kang Yoon-Soo drew his sword and said, “I don’t recall you ever coming down from the top floor.”

“This time is an exception. I had to come and greet the guests, since it’s the final time, after all,” Sirian said with a smile before slowly getting up.

The two men stared at each other.

“I’ve come to kill you, Sirian,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“That’s ironic, since I had the same intention. I also came down here and waited so I could kill you,” the King of All Things, Sirian, said in response. Then, he jokingly made a drinking motion before saying, “I’m thirsty after waiting for you guys. Shall we have a drink before we start killing each other?”

“Sure,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, immediately accepting the offer.

“…”

The party members were left speechless by the strange exchange the two men were having.