Record of a Thousand Lives

Shaneth freaked out after realizing she had sleptin the same bed asKang Yoon-Soo.‘To think I shared a bed with a man… EventhoughI was exhausted… I must’ve been crazy…’She blushedat the merethought of whathad happened.She washed up and rubbed her stomach.‘Did I cover myself with the blanket when I was sleeping? What if he saw my bellyfatwhile I was asleep… I don’t even want to imagine it…’

It was already noonby the timeKang Yoon-Soo woke up, and he ate a late meal that Shaneth had brought for him.“Let’s stop by the smithy before leaving Hiledan,” he said.

“The smithy? What will you do there?” Shaneth asked.

“I’ll make a weapon for you,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“My weapon?”Shaneth asked, hereyes wide open in surprise.

Shaneth’sscythe had dulled after the battle with Ravian, and she had been using the same weapon ever since they left Kerlin, so it was about time for it to be worked on.

‘I’ve cleared theChimeraDimension and received the legendary quest. It’s still going as planned. It’stime to crafta weapon and do the legendary quest,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought. However, he was still not fully awake and his mind was hazy.

Shaneth had a worried expression and placed her hand on her stomach as she asked, “You didn’t touch my stomach while I was asleep by any chance, did you?”

“I did,” Kang Yoon-Soo answeredindifferently.

At that moment…Memories of his previous lifeslowly started to fillhis mind, and his surroundings started to fade away.

Shaneth lookedmore mature than shehad been a moment before, and the interior of the room turned shabby, but it had a cozy and homely feel. Shaneth did not look like the beauty she wasin the present,but rather, she was covered in grotesque burn marks. However, to Kang Yoon-Soo,she was still more beautiful than anyone else.

Kang Yoon-Soo observedhis surroundings; they belonged tothe memories ofalife when he was not yet sick of living and he had not given up.

Shaneth was smiling as she held herpuffed-upbelly.

“What should we name our baby?”

He saw his past self, who hadstill managed to smilesincerelyashegently stroked her stomach.

“Our baby’s name is…”

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly feltas if he weregoing to throw a fit of anger.‘No. Don’t,’hetold himself.‘Don’t make me remember it.

‘I have loved you.

‘I have loved that child.

.

‘But there’s no one now.

‘You can’t be the same personyouwere back then.

‘But what was love again…?’

“Are you alright?”

The world returned to the present, andKang Yoon-Soosaw Shaneth looking at himintentlywith large, innocent eyes.

Shaneth was surprised;in fact, she was very surprised. Ithad only lasteda moment, but Kang Yoon-Soo’s face,usually indifferent and void of any emotion,had shown emotionsfor the first time. However, it was too shortand subtle ofa moment. She could not be sure what that emotion meant.

“Uhm… Are you angry…?” she asked.

“No.”Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head, but the distracting thought would not leave him anytime soon.

***

Thepairleft the inn and went to purchase daily necessities,thenheaded toward the smithy. The smithy was filled with the noise of hammering, and the hot airwas eye-drying.

“How may I help you?” an old man with a long white beard asked. He was the owner of theshop, and despite his old age,he was a blacksmithwhowas very fit and sturdy.

Kang Yoon-Soo took out Ravian’s longsword, saying, “I want to purchase a sheath for this sword.”

The old blacksmith inspected the sword, and his browsrose.

[Ravian’s Longsword]

Rating: Rare

Attack Power: 52

A sword that was made personally by the homunculus Ravian. It willdisplayextreme power if used by a homunculus. It can absorb intermediate magic to display its full ability.

*You can use the skill‘Vitality Absorption’.

*The sword will absorb the tissueof enemies and increase its attack power whenever you kill an enemy with it.

*Woundsinflicted by this sword may weaken the enemy.

*The sword willtransformif you kill an alchemist with it.

Ravian’s longsword had excellent attributes. Not onlywerethe edges sharp and beautiful,butthe material used to craftit was alsodifferent from normal steel,making it lighterthan an average longsword. It was light and easy to swing, and had the ability to increase its attack power wheneverit was used to kill an enemy.

It was not as good as thegrowth-typeweapon ‘Spirit Sword’, a weapon that grew along with its user, butitwould still definitely attract a lot of attention from people if it were placed in anauction house.

“It’s not an ordinary weapon. I’ll get you something befitting this sword;give me a moment.”The old blacksmith brought a sheath thatwasthe same shade of black as the longsword. The size of the sheath was an exact matchfor the blade’s length and width.

Kang Yoon-Soo paid for the sheath andstrappedRavian’s longsword to his waist. He then said,“I wish to use thesmithy.”

“One silver coin for three hours. The price of using the smithy in Hiledan is a bit more expensive thaninother cities. However, since you’veshownme such an excellent sword, I’ll discount it to eighty bronze coins instead. You can use thatworkstationover there,” the blacksmith replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo paid the old blacksmith andenteredthe smithy.Traveler Blacksmithsand Continental Enchanterswere inside,smithing and repairingvariousdifferent kinds of weapons.

Shanethstared admiringlyat the female blacksmiths, who had large, rugged muscles and wore only thin shirts as theyhammered away at steel. There were surprisingly a lot of womenwhoworked as blacksmiths.

“Give me the scythe,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.Shaneth passedher scythe with its chipped blade to him. Kang Yoon-Soo threw the scythe intothe furnace andbegan melting it overamold. As the scytheslowlystarted to melt, he took out agreeningot from his backpack.

“Hey, isn’t that mithril?”

“Hey,you punk! Where in the continent would you find a blacksmithwhowould bring such a precious metal to a backwater city smithy like this? It must have been dyed with the same color as mithril.”

“But what kind of benefitwouldyou get from dyeing a metal?”

Twomiddle-agedmen bickered as they watched Kang Yoon-Soo. The thinghe hadbrought out from his backpack was a real mithril ingot,however. It was the ingot he had made by refining the mithril oreinKerlin.

Mithril wascalled the blessedmineral. Even a small dagger made frommithril would be tremendouslydestructivewhile also beingaestheticallypleasing. Armor made from mithril would havesufficient defensive powerto resist beingeasily penetrated by most weapons, as well asvery high durability. Mithrilwasoften used by the church to bestow holy properties on swords or armor.

Kang Yoon-Soo melted one of the two mithril ingots he possessed into themoldalongsidethe melted-downscythe. The moment themolten metals mixed, the smithy was filled with a bright green light.

Some of the blacksmiths started to get rowdy intheirexcitement.

“Mithril! It’s really mithril!”

“Can he even handle that? That’s a very precious material!”

There were even some blacksmithswho dropped whatever they were doing and ran toward Kang Yoon-Soo.

A female blacksmith approached Shaneth and asked,“Hey, miss, that man… Does he even know how to handle mithril? Even master blacksmiths have a hard time handling that material.Why don’tyou let me make the weapon instead? The properties of mithrilcanbe ruined by even a small mistake, and there’s nothing a blacksmith would hate to see more than seeing mithril be ruined.”

“Well, that probably won’t happen,” Shaneth answered, smiling.

Kang Yoon-Soo poured themolten metalsintothemold, and he started hammering away as soon asitstarted to take physical shape. The blacksmiths watching him were left in great suspense whenever he hammered the mixture, as they were afraid that a mistake would ruin theprecious material.

“Isn’t he hammering too carelessly? The weapon will be ruined if he fails to balance the steel and mithril.”

“Tsk tsk. Look at him. That young fella doesn’t even know the value of what he is working with.”

Despite the murmurssurrounding him, Kang Yoon-Soo did not stop hammering away at the mixture. The sound of his hammering maintained the same rhythm, and there were no mistakes at all in the way he worked. Even experienced blacksmiths could not hide their admiration at the sight of him working.

“He seems to be young, but his hands aren’t trembling at all. He seems better than he looks, no?”

“Anyone would be nervousif they were dealing with a material of that caliber. He’s quiteskilled, I'll givehim that.”

The mixtureslowlystarted to solidify as itbegan takingthe shape of a quality weapon.Kang Yoon-Soo’s skillswere excellent, and he was about to complete the weapon.However,hesuddenly stopped hammering.

The mixturequickly begancooling down, and the blacksmiths started to fuss over it as if it weretheir own business.

“What?! Why is he stopping now after doing so well?! What the hell is he doing?!”

“Hammer it a bit more! It’s still not done yet!”

Some blacksmiths ran up with their hammers, intendingto continue hammeringthe metalfor him.

Kang Yoon-Soo caressed the handle ofhishammer with his right hand;it was the handhe worethe ‘Ring of Life Suppression’ on.He said,"Release Soul.”

Gwaaaaaaah!

What came out was Lee Min-Chan’s soul thathad beentrapped in the ‘Ring of Life Suppression’. Kang Yoon-Soo had released it. The hazy soul wailed out in agony as it started to fly around the smithy, leaving the blacksmiths and Shaneth terrified at the sight of it.

“Wh…What is that?!”Shanethasked.

“A corrupted soul,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“What?”Shaneth could not believe her eyes. She asked,“Why would you bring out something like that?”

“To use as material,”Kang Yoon-Soo said. He raised his hammer high, and the soul started to gather around the hammer. He then brought it down hard.

Clang!

The soul thathad beengathered in the hammer was absorbedbythemithril alloy, and onceKang Yoon-Soo quenched the weapon in cold water, his workwas finished.The result was abluish-white scythethat had a very eerie aura.

[Death Scythe]

Rating: Rare

Attack Power: 47

A weapon thathas beeninfused with a corrupted spirit. It has the power to inflict pain not onlyonthe enemy’s body, but also on its soul. It was crafted by a skilled blacksmithwhoperfectly mixed a small amount of mithril into it.

*Inflicts fatal damage tospirit-typemonsters.

*Inflicted wounds on enemies will not heal through normal means.

*Critical hits will randomly inflict one of the seven curses on the enemy.

[You havegaineda tremendous achievementthrough your handiwork.]

[A new skill, ‘Craft Equipment’, has been created.]

[Craft Equipment]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

You can craft weapons or armor.

[You have crafted the weapon ‘Death Scythe’.]

[You havegaineda tremendous achievement as a blacksmith.]

[The level of your skill, ‘Craft Equipment’, has massively increased.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[The chance of success when crafting a weapon has increased.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[The durability of anyarmoryou craft will increase.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[Your hammering has improved. Theequipmentyou craft will fitmore easily.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[The chance of failure when crafting equipment has decreased.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[The equipment you craft may have a higher rating despite usinglow-levelcrafting tools.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[The durability of all equipment you producewill increaseby one level.]

[‘Craft Equipment’ skill level has risen.]

[Your understanding of blacksmithing has increased. You will be able to efficiently destroy your enemy’s equipment.]

Theskill‘Craft Equipment’ hadreached Level 7 as soon asKang Yoon-Soo obtained it. An average blacksmith would have to work day and night for at least three to four months to reach the samelevel. The blacksmiths around him could only be startled.

“What the hell is that?!”

“I’ve never seen a soul being used as a material to craft a weapon!”

Kang Yoon-Soo gave the ‘Death Scythe’ to Shaneth, and she took the weapon andslungit onto her back. The edge of the scythe was very sharp, and its weight had significantly reduced compared to before.

Shaneth started to blush. It was only a weapon, but she could not help but feel touched by the fact thatKang Yoon-Soohad put in so much effort just to make it for her; however,she also thought that gifting her a weapon instead of flowers or a doll was very typical ofhim.A small giggle escaped her lips while she was lost in her thoughts.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at her and asked, “What are you laughing about?”

“It’s nothing,” Shanethanswered, smiling awkwardly.

“Let’s go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Okay!” Shanethreplied.

The blacksmiths were so flustered and shocked by whathad just taken placethat they forgot to even askthe man’sname. Thus, thepairleft the smithy.

Shaneth was beamingas she remarked,“I really thinkyou’re amazing. You even easily managed to make such an amazing weapon.”

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly turned his head toward Shaneth, who was following him from behind. He planned to travel with her once again inhis1,000th life, butin the past, they had always failed to remain together. She had always disappeared like a candle in a gustof wind.It was because hehad been unable toprotect her.

An odd trace of emotion started to form in his eyes as he wished, the wayhe had always done over and over again,‘I hopeI’ll be able to protect you in this life.’