Record of a Thousand Lives

The Crossed Swords Bandits were nodifferent fromany otherbandits. The main activities of most mountain bandits were stealing, killing, looting, and raping; they would commit countless atrocities before retreating back into the safety provided by the mountains. However, theCrossed SwordsBandits were the most vicious and atrocious bandit band among all of the mountain bandits in the Hatar Mountains.

As their base was tucked away in a secluded part of the mountain, most of their memberswerehardened criminalswho hadcommitted at least one or two murders, and some of them had even killed theirfamiliesbecause of inheritance disputes.

p>A large bandit entered a tent made of buffalo leather. “Boss, I bring good news,”hesaid as he greeted his boss.

The boss of theCrossed SwordsBandits was a bandit called Arkan; hewas the largest and most vicious bandit in the Hatar Mountains. Arkan looked at the bandit witha gazefull of interest, settingdown the expensive winehe had beenabout to drink on the table.He asked,“What is it, Akon?”

“Our scouts have spotted two women in the mountains,” Akon reported.

“Women? In these secluded parts of the mountain?” Arkan askedsuspiciously.

“Ah, boss… Don’t you remember? They said something about closing the Sinirant Trade Route because of bandits or something, and because of that a few mindless foolshave beenfound trying to cross through the mountains,” Akon said with a grin on his face.

“Where were they spotted?” Arkan asked, tappinghis finger on the table.

“Down there in the abandoned cabin. Although that place is the habitat of the black bears; maybethe bears went to hibernate or something, but the women seemed to be fine,” Akon explained.

“So, were the women pretty?” Arkan asked.

“Thescoutscouldn’t see because they were too far away,” Akon answered.

“Well, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re women,” Arkan saidwith a shrug.

“Of course,”Akon responded.

“That’s great news;my nether region has been itching these days,” Arkan said as he corked the wine bottle and tied his swords to his waist.

The two bandits left the tent; the area around it was filledwith bandits that were either getting drunk orgambling. Akon walked beside Arkan with a large, sleazy grin on his face and said, “I’ve been surrounded by smelly men for quite a while now. Our ‘harvest’was reducedwhen they blocked the trade route, right? Hehe… I can’t wait to have a taste of those women.”

TheCrossed SwordsBandits were a large organization, and they were milesapartfrom the other bandits, whocommitted crimes because of poverty.Whileaverage banditstargetedpassing carriagesormerchant convoys,theCrossed SwordsBandits targeted villages or the merchant companies themselves.

TheCrossed SwordsBandits boasted a massive300members, and they could be considered as a small army composed of murderers, thieves, and rapists. Committing crimes was as easy as breathing for them;thebandits would findit easier to use a sword than a fork. Some of them were well equipped with rare itemsthey had stolenfromothers, and there were even magicians mixed intotheir group. The minimum notoriety among themwas30, and eventhe investigatorswould not dare face themalone.

Their base was locatedonthe highest hill among the mountain ranges, and a dikeblockedthe watersof the nearby riverto create an artificial lake.

“Did you remember to check the dike today as well?” Arkan asked.

“Ah, boss! What are you so worried about? I’ve asked the boys to reinforce it and I’ve stationed a guard to watch over it as well. Don’t worry!” Akon answered.

“The dike can be our weaponorour poison,” Arkanremarked.

“Who doesn’t know that?” Akonresponded, annoyed.

The dike was something they had prepared in the event that the investigators or the imperial army came afterthem;it could trigger a massive landslide thatwouldsweep away everything initsway if the dike werereleased.

“It’s been quite a while since we movedhere, cometo think of it…” Arkan said, feeling nostalgic.

“Yes, boss;isn’t it about time we moved our base? Our income from the trade route has dwindled as well…” Akon added.

Arkan started to rub his long beardandasked, “Shall we go to the capital next?”

“Huh? The capital? Can we even hold off the investigators there?” Akonreplied, tiltinghis head.

Arkan shook his head andremarked, “The Black Tiger Clan is there, right?”

Akon exclaimed,“Ah! That clan that’s been getting famous these days?”

“I heard they’ve been growing in size after collaborating with a merchant company to smuggle drugs,” Arkan said, stillrubbing his long beard.

Akon scratched his head, which he had notwashed in a while, and said, “I don’t like it there. I agree that they’re big,havea lot of connections, andareresourceful, but their boss is a Traveler, right?”

“So what if it’s a Traveler?” Arkan asked.

“There’s no problem with it, but I just don’t feel good about it…” Akon explained as he blewoff somedust that had accumulatedonthe tip of his sword. He added, “I don’t like those Travelers. They showed up here from another worldand started orderingus around as if we were their slaves. Some of them even chase after monsters all day as if they’ve gonenuts. They seem like a bunch oflunaticswhocan’t sit still.”

“Hmm… I agree with that,” Arkan said, nodding.

Arkan was a cruel and violent leader, but he waslevel-headedand calculatingas well. It was thanks to his leadership that theCrossed SwordsBanditshad been able to stayunder theradarof the investigators allthistime.

Akon added, “Well, it’s notas ifI have something against the Black Tiger Clan. Our food and alcohol supplies are dwindling. Although the mountains are safe,it'sdifficult to kill people and find women here.”

“I agree. We can strike it big if we go to the capital,” Arkan said as he stopped rubbing his long beard.Hereached the center of the bandit base andshouted in a loud, booming voice, “Everyone, gather!”

All of the bandits thathad beenleisurely hanging around suddenly stood up and gathered in front of Arkan. All of them hadcross-shapedscars on their cheeks. Thecross-shapedscar was the symbol of theCrossed SwordsBandits; they were notscars theyhad receivedfrom battle, but rather ones they hadobtained by cuttingthemselves with daggers.

Arkan put his hand behind his back andexclaimed, “We’re going to hunt for some women! Let me see the hands of thosewhowant to go.”

Almost all of the bandits raised theirhands,butArkan chose ten bandits from among the hundreds of volunteers. There were some banditswhohad the sick fetish of killing the women before they evenmanagedto bring them back to their camp, and Arkan had toexcludethose from theget-go.The ones that were notchosenby Arkan sulked in disappointment.

It was atthemoment that Arkan was about to descend the mountain with the chosen volunteers…

“Guoh!”A small screamrang out in thedistance, and it seemedto have comefrom thebanditbase.

Arkan, Akon, and the other bandits looked at each other in confusionasa river of blood started to flow down the mountain.

Akon shrieked in surprise, exclaiming, “Damn! Was there aredriver around here?!”

“None that I know of,” a bandit replied.

Akon said,“Then that means some bastard ambushed our base.”

Strangely, they were not that surprised at the thought of their colleagues getting killed. These people were not the type to feel any compassion or camaraderie in the first place.

Arkan gripped his large sword and said, “I guess we need to go and give him across-shapedscar on his cheek.”

***

Kang Yoon-Soo went into the base of theCrossed SwordsBandits and saw a group of bandits gambling around the campfirewith some dice.Hecrushed the head of the bandit nearest to him, and the bandit did not even have the time to scream as he fell forward,dead. The other bandits did not even drop their cards as they stared, dumbfounded. Kang Yoon-Sooswung his Staff of Lightning even before any of the bandits could pick their weapons up, saying,“ReleaseLightning.”

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

The mana that gathered around the staff exploded intoa flash of intense lightningas it spread around the area, and the twenty bandits near Kang Yoon-Soo were roasted in an instant.

Severalother bandits showed up with their weapons after hearing the soundof the explosion, exclaiming,“Who the hell are you?!”However,Kang Yoon-Soo did not bother to answer them.

The bandits numbered around300, and it was a number that was nearly impossible for Kang Yoon-Soo to fight against alone. Additionally, he had never had the experience of facing these bandits alone, and therefore, he was not aware of their attack patterns.

Hehad the option of calling his undead army, but he decided against it, as it would reduce the experience pointshe would get.Instead, herecalled his tenth life, the lifehe hadlived as a mass murderer. In that life, there was even a time whenhe had assassinated a whole army by himself.

The bandits encircled him anddrew their weapons. However, due to the terrain of their base, all three hundred of them could not pounce on Kang Yoon-Soo at once. Still, tens of bandits charged toward him simultaneously.

Kang Yoon-Soo avoided the blade of the bandit in front andcut down theone immediately behind;his longsword easilysplit open the bandit’s skull.He thenimmediately swung his staff toward his left sideto blockan incoming sword.Then, as five blades targeted his back at the same time, he called out,“ReleaseLightning.”

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

Lightningroared across the terrain like a dragonandburned the bandits up. However, a few of thequick-wittedbanditsimmediately retreated just in time to avoid the attack.ReleaseLightningwas a skillKang Yoon-Soocould only use four times a day, and he had already used up two of thecharges.

A bandit started to laugh, exclaiming,“I don’t know who the hell you are, but did you think youwere the only onewho coulduse magic?!”That bandit was holding a long staff, and he pointed toward Kang Yoon-Soo as he shouted, “Fire Vortex!”

A stream of fire shot toward Kang Yoon-Soo,and he ducked to avoidthe fire.However, hedid not stop swinging his swordeven whileavoiding the fire attack; he stabbedonebanditinthe neck and anotherthrough themouth.

An arrowfiredby a bandit grazed past Kang Yoon-Soo’s ear. He felt a sharp pain as if he had sustained a burn, anda small amount of blood flowed down his ear. However, Kang Yoon-Soo did not even grimace in pain as he continuously swung hissword, and five bandits instantly diedby his hand.

[You have killed 44 vicious criminals in a short amount of time.]

[It is an achievement that even a veteran assassin would be proud of.]

[The new skill,‘Dance of Death’,has been created.]

[Dance of Death]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

A skill developed for the sole purpose of murder. Its effectiveness will greatly increase if you are facing multiple enemies alone, but will decrease if you are fighting with a party.

Kang Yoon-Soo had killed so many people justthenthat he gained a hidden skill. Dance of Death was a skillhe hadfrequently used during his time as a mass murderer, and it was the most suitable skill to useinhis current predicament.As such, he immediately called out,“Dance of Death.”

The speed of Kang Yoon-Soo’s sword greatly increased;it seemed to be all over the place at first, but if one looked closely, onewould be able to see thatits movements were very efficient.He cut down seven banditsin one fell swoop.

[The skill level of‘Dance of Death’has increased.]

[Your critical rate will increase if you swing your weapon with killing intent.]

[The skill level of‘Dance of Death’has increased.]

[The speed of your blade will increase if you are facing more than one enemy.]

“Guok!”

“Damn it!”

120bandits diedbyKang Yoon-Soo’s handin an instant, but no matter how many he killed, they kept coming wave after wave. Kang Yoon-Sooswung hissword and staff to spread lightning bolts in multipledirections, but they still charged toward himunceasingly.

At the moment whenKang Yoon-Soo stabbed a bandit intheeye, a spearpiercedthrough that bandit and stabbedhim in thestomach.

Puuuk!

Kang Yoon-Soo’s stomach turned red andblood flowed out from it.The banditwho hadstabbedhimwas laughing despite the fact that he had attacked through thecorpse of his comrade. However, Kang Yoon-Soo stabbed his sword into the laughing bandit’s mouth and ripped itapart.

“Uwaak!”

Kang Yoon-Soo said,“Life Drain.”

[You have absorbed the life force of thebandit Rikewir.]

[You have absorbed the special trait of the Bandit class.]

[Your chance ofgetting caught while stealing will be reduced for 2 hours.]

Kang Yoon-Soohad restored a bit of his life force by using Life Drain, but the pain still persisted. The skill had only managed to patch up the injury and stop the bleeding.His forehead was covered in cold sweatas he thought to himself,‘More. I have to do more.’

***

Arkan and the bandits stopped their descent down the mountain and climbed back up. It did not take them long to reach the top, as they were well-versedinthemountain’s topography. Even so, thebandits’ screamsdid not stop while they were ascending the mountain.

“Uwaaak!”

“Help me!”

That was when they realized that somethinghad goneseriously wrong.Therewerefarmore screamscoming from their base than they had initially expected, and even though they were just criminals, they were seasoned and hardened through their own experience. They were notpeople whowould easilybedone in.

Akon bit his lipsand exclaimed, “Damn it, what the hell is this?! Did the imperial army come or something?!

“I don’t know. We just have to hurry and find out,” Arkan replied, quickening his pace.The other bandits followed suit andmoved faster.

By the timethey finally reached their base, the air was filled with the stench of blood, and the ground was littered with corpses that seemed to have been burnedbylightning, and other corpseswith some of their body parts missing.

The three-hundred-man strong bandit basehad beenannihilated, and a man covered in blood was standing alone in thecenter. His black hair was dyed redwithblood, and his expression was as cold and hardasa stone statue.

The bandits were suddenly filled with fear. Even ifone wereused to killing other people, how couldhe remain so expressionless? The man was so void of any expression,it was as if he did not evenconsider his victims human beings.

A single person was the source of so much terror, and that single person was the onewho hadannihilated theCrossed SwordsBandits—alone.

Akon asked in a trembling voice, “What the hell are you?”

“Alcohol,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What?” Akon exclaimed.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at Arkan’s waist.Tied around itwas a luxurious wine that Arkan had not even taken a single sipof. Hesaid in a cold voice void of any emotions,“Give me alcohol.”