Record of a Thousand Lives

The first floor of the magic tower was a vast hall, with an unexpectedly clean and cozy ambience. Sirian slung his spear onto his back and rolled up his sleeves before taking out some clear alcohol. He served it to Shaneth, Henrick, Iris, and even the summoned creatures, saying, “Now, now, why don’t you all have a drink? It’s a relief that we have the exact number of cups needed. Why don’t you young spirits have a drink too? I’m a villain, so I’m allowed to give alcohol to kids.”

Unlike the others, Sirian poured Kang Yoon-Soo’s alcohol into the Infinite Chalice that he always brought around with him.

However, none of them dared to take a sip from their cups. After all, a cup of alcohol offered by an enemy was a dangerous thing. There would always be a chance of the drink being poisoned and causing one to become incapacitated, which would certainly be a disadvantage in a fight.

Even Henrick, a known alcoholic, did not take a single sip, although he did gulp down his saliva a few times while looking at the clear liquid in his cup. He muttered in disbelief, “This… This is very precious alcohol…”

Sirian sat down after serving the drinks and said with a surprised expression, “Oh, not a lot of people can appreciate the value of this Eternal Liquor. This was made by the ancient kingdom. I brought it from the top floor, so why don’t you all have a sip?”

Still, none of the party members dared to sit, or even grab the cups served to them by the King of All Things. They were all on guard against Sirian. Who in their right mind would ever drink something given by their enemy?

“It smells good, right?” Sirian asked.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied while holding his sword in his right hand and the chalice in his left.

Then, just like that, he gulped it down.

“…” Shaneth wordlessly nudged Kang Yoon-Soo’s leg with her foot.

“What?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Can you even drink that in this situation?” Shaneth whispered.

“Sirian doesn’t mess around while drinking,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Sirian smiled and said, “That’s right. I don’t fight while drinking, but you guys can’t seem to trust me. Of course, it’s not as if I don’t understand you.”

Then, he stood up and pulled out his gigantic black spear, throwing it upward.

Baaaaaam!

With a thundering crash that reverberated through the air, the spear tore a hole in the magic tower before returning to Sirian’s hand.

Other than Kang Yoon-Soo, the party members were all stunned by what had just happened. The king’s spear had torn a hole in the ceiling above them, but then just kept going on and on until it reached the top of the magic tower. Then, it had pierced right through the top. Thus, they were able to see the night sky from the first floor of the magic tower, through a line of consecutive holes that lined up perfectly.

“…”

The party members’ faces turned ghastly pale. How strong was this man, that he could pierce holes all the way to the sky from the first floor?

Henrick grumbled while shaking his head in disbelief, “I don’t think there was any need to pierce a hole through the tower just to show off how strong you were…”

“I can easily ask the Colossi to fix this amount of damage, so don’t worry too much,” Sirian replied. He then slammed the butt of his spear into the ground, seeming visibly upset as he said, “You leave me no choice but to become an evil supervisor[1]. I will tear anyone who refuses to drink to pieces. It is mandatory that you drink.”

It was none other than a naked threat. Upon hearing that, the party members had no choice but to sit in a circle and take the cups served by the King of All Things.

“Let’s skip any cheers and greetings. Just drink as comfortably as you want. Help yourselves to more, and feel free to take from the jar if it’s not enough. Oh, and I will kill you if you pretend to drink or spit it out. Mark my words,” Sirian said with a smile before drinking from his own cup.

Shaneth nervously whispered, “What should we do?”

“Well, what choice do we have but to drink?” Henrick replied.

“Why does it look as if you actually like what’s happening right now…?” Shaneth asked, squinting at him.

Henrick scratched his chin and replied, “Is it that obvious? Well, it seemed fine the moment that guy, Kang Yoon-Soo, started drinking without any hesitation.”

The party members carefully sipped and swallowed the Eternal Liquor in their cups.

“Hmm…” Shaneth muttered.

“It’s so fragrant…” Iris said.

The Eternal Liquor resembled a crystal-clear stream, and its fragrance was diabolically seductive. The bitter taste of alcohol was neither too strong nor too weak, but its aftertaste was as sweet as honey. It seemed that there was no poison mixed in the alcohol, as they did not feel particularly strange after drinking it. Thus, the tense atmosphere soon mellowed amid the sweet fragrance of the alcohol.

Sally slowly sipped on the alcohol while holding her cup with both hands, her cheeks red as she murmured, “Sally usually doesn't like alcohol… but…Hiccup!I think I like it now…”

“Dumbass! Don’t even think about drinking a lot! You’ll be the first to die if a fight breaks out after this!” Acle exclaimed.

“Hmph! Acle is stupid. Do you really think Sally didn’t even consider that?” Sally retorted before looking away.

White sniffed the cup on the floor before starting to slurp it up, saying, “Shymiarok.Akiramekun.”

Rick tasted the Eternal Liquor bit by bit while playing with her cup before saying, “This is a very fragrant alcohol… It would’ve tasted better if Henrick’s blood were mixed in it, though.”

“I agree that it’s good booze, but what the hell do you mean by having my blood mixed in it?” Henrick grumbled.

Mini-Lich was the only one who seemed depressed amid the suddenly lively atmosphere. It said in a miserable tone, “It is unfair that a skeleton cannot smell anything…”

Sharp carefully approached Light with his cup, stuttering, “H-Hey… Light…”

“Speak properly if you want to tell me something,” Light said in a monotone, although her voice did not sound as cold as it had previously.

“I want to apologize to you, Light. It is true that I had an issue with you, but the things I said when I was unsheathed were just too harsh, now that I think about it. I might not be able to change the past or what I said, but I still want to tell you that I’m really sorry. I wanted to apologize to you at least,” Sharp said. His eyes widened in surprise as soon as he finished speaking, as he realized that he had just been able to overcome his stuttering and slurring.

“Sharp,” Light began, before moving closer to him and taking his hand. Sharp flinched for a moment, but did not move his hand away.

Light slowly continued, “I’ll forgive you, so…” A faint smile appeared on her face before she added, “...Never do that again! I was so… so… sad when Sharp talked like that to me…!”

Sharp smiled brightly too and replied, “I’m sorry, Light…”

Light hugged Sharp tightly and said, “Sharp, I really like you. I don’t need a lot of friends. I just need a true friend. I’m happy as long as you’re my friend!”

Meanwhile, Sirian looked at the sight of the two spirits making up while sipping his alcohol, before eventually saying, “Such a lovely sight. I wish I had the chance to make amends as well.”

The look on Sirian’s face resembled that of an innocent countryside boy, rather than a villain. Anyone who saw him for the first time would be surprised to hear that this innocent-looking man held the title of the King of All Things, as well as that of a legendary Ancient Hero. It was also very difficult to make out from his expression alone that he was the villain who had betrayed the Ancient Heroes.

“Is Sirian really the King of All Things?” Iris asked, walking over to Sirian after becoming slightly tipsy.

The others’ gazes immediately shot toward the two.

Shaneth’s face turned pale from fear as she exclaimed, “Unni!”

Sirian was someone they had to kill regardless of how innocent his expression looked, and they were targets Sirian likewise intended to kill.

However, Sirian smiled at the woman walking toward him and said, “There was a time in the past when those flashy titles were a heavy burden on my shoulders.”

“Really? Then why not try to guess one of my secrets?” Iris asked.

“Hmm… Alright, but you’ll have to drink another cup if I guess correctly. Deal?” Sirian replied.

“Deal! However, Sirian will have to drink if you guess wrongly,” Iris said.

“I’ve never lost a bet while drinking,” Sirian said confidently. He raised a finger and pointed at Iris before saying, “It seems that you, little miss, have been writing a diary in secret.”

Iris was taken aback. She had expected him to guess that she was a doppelganger, but what he had just said was completely unexpected. She feigned ignorance as she replied, “Omo, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You’re hiding it in your shirt, aren’t you? You always write a diary away from your companions’ gazes, and you’ve been getting more satisfied with what you have written as of late,” Sirian said.

Henrick suddenly interjected, “What kind of secret is that? Who here doesn’t know that she’s writing a diary?”

Iris was even more shocked, and her face turned red as she asked, “Henrick, how did you know that I have been writing a diary in secret?”

“Who the hell doesn’t know that? Raise your hand if you knew,” Henrick shot back in response.

Sally suddenly raised her hand and exclaimed, “Sally also saw unni write something before!”

“Huh? I also knew about it,” Acle added.

The remaining two spirits, Shaneth, and Kang Yoon-Soo raised their hands, and even White raised its right paw.

In the end, only Mini-Lich hung its head and muttered, “Only I did not know…”

“Oh my god…” Iris murmured in shock. Her face turned and even brighter red after she drank another cup of alcohol, and she asked, “How did Sirian know that I was writing a diary in secret?”

“Who knows? I just have a special set of skills when it comes to observing others,” Sirian said with a smile, refraining from giving a straightforward answer.

The drinking party soon reached its conclusion. However, the other party members showed no signs of being tipsy, as they had not drunk much and the alcohol was not that strong to begin with.

Shaneth, who had drunk the least and was the most alert among them, whispered, “Should we just ambush Sirian now?”

“Don’t even think about it. Do you have a death wish or what?” Henrick retorted.

“Well… I guess you’re right,” Shaneth muttered.

Ambushing Sirian while they were drinking would have been an option, but the insurmountable display of strength he had just shown made them hesitant to make any move against the King of All Things. In fact, they could not take any action for fear of ending up being killed instead.

After a while, Sirian took a seat in front of Kang Yoon-Soo. He asked, “Can we share a drink?”

“Sure,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Sirian smiled faintly, while Kang Yoon-Soo remained expressionless. The two men poured each other a drink.

“How’s the weather outside?” Sirian asked.

“It’s the start of winter,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Has it snowed yet?” Sirian asked with a hint of interest in his voice.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

“Then it should snow soon. It’s been quite a while since I last saw snow,” Sirian said.

It was a very normal and mundane conversation.

However, Sirian suddenly asked, “Do you believe you can kill the Demon Lord?”

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly gripped his chalice harder before replying, “Yeah.”

“You won’t be able to. That’s already been predetermined,” Sirian replied before taking a sip from his cup. He said, “We’ve lived for too long, and that’s why we’ve both gone insane. Have you chosen where you want to die?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

“You will soon, as your destiny dictates,” Sirian said.

Kang Yoon-Soo could not understand the meaning of Sirian’s statement. He asked, “What’s your objective?”

“To let the Demon Lord destroy the continent,” Sirian replied.

“I already heard that from Rumier. Explain your motives,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. However, Sirian only smiled silently without responding.

Kang Yoon-Soo continued in a low voice, “You always seemed to know that I was a regressor whenever we met.”

Sirian smiled and asked, “Do you know why?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He stared at Sirian and said, “Sirian. You’ve never explained my regression in any of my previous lives.”

It was always the same. The King of All Things, Sirian, had always been aware of Kang Yoon-Soo’s regression, but he had never revealed how he knew about it. Sirian had always seemed to be frighteningly aware of a lot of things, and even Kang Yoon-Soo did not know how the king knew so much.

Sirian slowly began to speak, asking, “Are you curious as to why I want to summon the Demon Lord and destroy the continent?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“This world isn’t the only world, Kang Yoon-Soo,” Sirian said.

Kang Yoon-Soo focused on what Sirian was saying, while the others held their breath.

Sirian calmly explained, “There are countless worlds out there. There are other worlds inhabited by Travelers like you, and that’s not limited to the Sylphia Continent alone.”

Upon hearing those words, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly remembered the dream where he had kept rising higher and higher. He had flown so high up that he saw glimpses of various worlds, and he had eventually reached the end of everything.

However, that had just been nothing but a dream… No, he had just thought it was nothing but a dream.

Then, Sirian looked at him and said, “Those worlds are on the verge of destruction because of you, Kang Yoon-Soo.”

1. ’Evil supervisor’ here means office managers or superiors who force their juniors to drink at a company dinner, and punish those who refuse to drink. The problem was so widespread in Korea that it’s now illegal according to labor laws to force someone to drink alcohol.👈