Record of a Thousand Lives

Kang Yoon-Soo walked at the forefront, jumping lightly over fallen trees and bushes. However, his head was filled with other thoughts.

‘Your 1,000th life is the final one. There will be no more regressions.’

He contemplatedwhetherthose words were telling the truth, but he decided there was no reason to be suspicious ofthem. Severaldoppelgangers had suddenly appeared in the mountains when they were not supposed to, and the doppelganger of the princess knew about his regression as well.However, what was the ’calamity’the whisper had kept bringing up?

In any case, only one thingwascertain now: Something new hadhappened in his endlessly repeatinglife.

A storm of complicated thoughts brewed in his head. Hehad givenit his allacrosshis hundreds ofregressions. He had fought until the point whenhe could no longer feel the pain in his hands, he had turned himself into a combat doll to not feel pain at all, and he had evenlearnedthe strange languages of the beasts. That was how hehad becomea supernatural being who hadlived for more than 20,000 years.

He had reached the pinnacle of every class, and tried his best to kill the Demon Lord to stop the endlessly repetitive cycle—to save his loved ones and the world. But, he could not deny that hehad beencomplacent from time to time,thinking that therewouldstill be another life if he failed in this one.

‘The Demon Lord got weaker as I regressed, and that made me complacent.’

However, there were no more regressions, and his only sanctuary was gone.

‘This is really my last life…’

“Excuse me? Are you alright?” Shaneth asked from behind him.

That was when Kang Yoon-Soo realized that they were miles off course; they hadpassedthe intendeddestinations hours ago while he was lost inthought.

Theplace theyhad enteredwasfilled with freshly-bloomed purple flowers, and he looked around before saying,“Let’s rest.”

“You should’ve said so earlier,” Henrick complained, collapsingonto the ground.It wasnatural for him to be exhausted,asthey had been walking nonstopsince the previous night. Even Shaneth was sitting on the ground massaging her tired legs.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward the doppelganger and said, “Let’s talk.”

The doppelganger of the princess slowly nodded andfollowed him.Shanethlookedat the two with suspicion, but she did not say anythingand simplywatchedsilently.

Once they walkedfar enough awaythat the others would not be able to hear them, Kang Yoon-Soo asked,“The thing inside you, the White Shadow, was it?For how long has it beeninside you?”

“The White Shadowenteredmy body after I was born,”the doppelgangeranswered.

“Do you know what it is?”Kang Yoon-Sooasked.

“Iam unsure; the White Shadow is relatively silent…”the doppelgangerreplied.

Kang Yoon-Soo continued asking, “The White Shadow inside of you, when and how often does it whisper?”

“Itisusually quiet. It sits alonein acorner of my mindby itself, and it doesnotrespond to anything ?I say,”the doppelgangeranswered.

“Why do you call that thingthe‘White Shadow’?”Kang Yoon-Sooinquired.

“Because it felt likesomething that should not exist in this world,”the doppelganger replied.Kang Yoon-Soo could not understand her words.

The doppelgangerlooked at Kang Yoon-Sooinquisitivelyas she said,“But it was different when it saw you. It spoke to meofits own volition for the first time, even though I didnot talk to it. The White Shadow seems to be very interested in you.”

“How about now?”Kang Yoon-Sooasked.

“Itis quiet,” the doppelganger replied.

“How can I believe that I can no longer regress?”Kang Yoon-Soopushed on with his questions.

“The White Shadow said that it knows you very well. It knew the lives you lived as a mass murderer that murdered thousands, your life as aGrand Alchemist, your life as theKing of theMonsters, and your other lives as well,”the doppelgangeranswered.

A beingKang Yoon-Soo hadnever met during his repetitive regression knew about him very well, and thatgave credibility to its warning that he would not regress anymore.

Hehad not planned to get involved with the doppelganger in this life, but it was the White Shadow that resided within the doppelganger that had broughtabouta change in his repetitive life;that was one absolute reason she needed to travel with him.

Kang Yoon-Soo made his decision.“You will be traveling with me from now on. However, you must tell me immediately if the White Shadow tells you anything,” hetold the doppelganger.

“What is the reason?”the doppelgangerasked.

“What reason?” Kang Yoon-Sooreplied.

“The reason that I have to travel with you,”the doppelgangerclarified.

/p>Kang Yoon-Soorecalled receiving the same question from the doppelganger in the past, and he remembered answering hera certain way. As such, he said,“If you travel with me, I will give you a name.”

The doppelganger tilted her head in confusion andanswered,“A name? I am a doppelganger;I donot need one.”

“You will have your own identity. You will no longer be just a doppelganger of the princess,”Kang Yoon-Soosaid.

The doppelgangerstared at Kang Yoon-Soo in confusion and said,“I am a nameless monster. Are you saying that you will give me a name?”

“Yes,”Kang Yoon-Soo answered with a nod.

The doppelganger asked,“If youwere togive me a name, what would it be?”

Kang Yoon-Soolooked around before pointing at a purple flowerand saying,“Iris.”

Iris was theEnglishname of thatpurple flower, anditsymbolized…

‘Good news,’Kang Yoon-Soothought to himself.

But was it really…?

***

“What a sight, giving names to doppelgangers and all. Did yousayyou wanted to take her along? Do you plan to get killed by the imperial knights?” Henrickasked, frowning.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head andanswered,“We’ll definitely need her help to complete the legendary quest.”

In truth,they would be able to complete the legendary quest even without her help. It was a quest he had finished countless times until he got sick of it, after all. However, he needed an excuse to travel with Iris.

Shaneth suddenly glared at himinquisitivelyandasked, “Aren’t you just making this up to have an excuse to travel with her?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth was surprisingly agitated today. She asked,“Why is the doppelganger of the princess even in a place like this?”

“The purpose of my existence is the assassination of the princess,” Iris answered.

The words that came out of her mouth were shocking. Henrick and Shaneth werestunned into silence; it wasunbelievableto think that someone would attempt to assassinate the princess of theReorkanEmpire.

Iris plucked a flower out of the muddy groundandlicked its stamen. Henrick lookeddazedlyat her strangely seductive-looking action before he came back to his sensesandasked,“Assassination of the princess? What do you mean by that?”

Iris explained,“There are people in the royal palace that are plotting to assassinate the princess, and they captured doppelgangers to carry out experiments. Hundreds of doppelgangers were sacrificed in their experiments, but one variant was born. A variant that was similar to the princess in every way possible, and a doppelganger who could not morph into anythingotherthan the princess—I am that variant.”

Henrick’sexpressionwas filled with disbelief.Shaneth could not help but ask in surprise,“Why did they go to that extent just to make a doppelganger of the princess?”

“Itwasto kill the princess and replace her with another one. So that no one wouldnotice the death of the princess,” Iris replied, swallowingthe petals of the flower she was licking.

Henrick was filled with disbelief at the shocking news and could not maintain his composure.Shaneth was the one who asked in his stead,“Then how did that doppelganger, who was so important to their plans, end up here?”

“I learned many things. The movements and mannerisms of the princesswerethingsI hadto be aware of in orderto notget caught, but I was frustrated. I wanted to know more about myself. Thatwaswhy I escaped from the place I was locked up in. I used my powers, whicheven they were not aware of,” Iris explained while she plucked more flowers out ofthe muddy ground.She threw away the petals this time, lickingthe flower stamen like a lollipop. She then added, “I escaped, but they gave chase with men wielding swords, and they even destroyed the large road.”

“Large road? You mean the Sinirant Trade Route?” Shaneth asked.

Iris nodded in response.“The people who were after me did not wish for me to mingle with other people,” she explained.

Shaneth and Henrick looked at each other, theireyes wide with shock. The reason the trade route was in shambles wasthatthesoldiers hadwanted to catch one doppelganger?

Henrick scratched his headangrily andsaid,“This is driving me nuts. This… We got involved in a secret of the royal family. This is really dangerous… I’m definitely sure that there are greater powers involved in this,if they were able to secretly capture doppelgangers to run tests on them...” He hesitated for a moment, then askedIris,“Do you know who did that to you?”

“I don’t. They always covered my eyes when they ran those tests,”Irisanswered.

“How did we get caught upin asecret of the royal familythat turnedthis into such a dangerous journey…” Shaneth grumbled with a gloomyexpression.

Henrick suddenly complainedangrily, shouting, “Damn it! Firstit was an undead castle, and now it’s the secret of the royal family. I don’t think anything else can surprise me at this point!”

“Bearswill ambush us,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he drew his sword.

“What did you say, punk?” Henrick growled at him.

The location had changed, but Kang Yoon-Soowas sure that a bear was going to charge at them around this time based on his previous experience. He reiterated,“I said,bearswill ambush us.”

Shaneth and Henrick followed Kang Yoon-Soo’s gaze towarda certainlocation, and they saw the shadows ofseveralbeastsfall overthe bushes.

The black bearsof Hatar Mountains hadfront paws more vicious-looking than those of other wild beasts, and their thick hides made them quite intimidating. To think that the place they were standinginjust thenwasinhabited by those same black bears.

The black bears looked toward themand growled viciously.“Gruuuuuuo!”

The largest black bear violently charged toward them,butKang Yoon-Soo simultaneously charged toward it as heswung his sword.His head was filled with other thoughts even as he enteredcombat. If this life was the last one…If it really was the last one…

“Abyssal Sword,”Kang Yoon-Soomuttered.The tip of his blade was enveloped in a bluish glow as the skill activated.Heswung his blade at the black bear with great strength.

Sukeok!

“Gruuuuo!”

The terrifying swordsmanship of the undeaddevouredthe black bear’slife force. A fountain of bloodspurted outwhenever a critical strike hit it, and the overflowing blood gushedtowardKang Yoon-Soo as if it weregoing to swallow him.

‘I have to change everything. I have to use every single scrap of knowledge I have to changethings,’he thought to himself.

‘I have to throw away my complacency. I have to grow stronger even if it means getting hurt or risking my life.’His convictioninthis life changed, and his indifference toward life started to crack bit by bit.

Thick blood vessels bulged outof his handas he swung his sword toward another black bear.

‘Intensely, more intensely than ever before,I have to kill the Demon Lord this time around.’

Kang Yoon-Soo’slifeless and expressionless eyes slowly started to fill withsome sort of will to live.

Their plans were going to change from now on.

Starting from tonight.