Record of a Thousand Lives

The long and winding mountain range was coming to an end; theovergrown trees towering above them soon ended as well. Alarge city was visible from the end of the mountain trailthe party hadwalked on.

The city was huge;none of the other cities they hadvisitedontheir journey could come close to the grand size of theonein front of them. The towering walls had numerous spires guardingthem, and the city itself wasfilled withmultiple rows of buildings.

They had reachedDeferon, thecapital of theReorkanEmpire. Deferon was the largest cityonthe continent, and the towering spires guarding the heart of the Empire from above the city walls greatlyelevated its majesty.

Shaneth was stunnedby Deferon’s grandeur and stared at it with wide eyes.She exclaimed excitedly with a sparkle in her eyes,“It’s an amazing place! We arrived much earlier than planned, didn’t we?”

“Well, I doubt anyone would bereckless enough to traversethe mountainlike us,” Henrick grumbled.

Shaneth glared at Henrick and retorted, “Anyway, since we’ve reached the capital, you’ll be handing over your family heirloom as agreed, right?”

“Right,” Henrick answered.

“But I’m curious;what is that heirloom?” Shaneth askedcuriously.

“It might be easier for you to understand if you see it yourself, rather than just hearing me explain it,” Henrick answered with a slightly mysteriousexpression.

Iris was looking at the capital, hereyes filled with curiosity;she said, “Someone exactly like me lives in that place.”Shewas the doppelganger of the princess, andjust a change ofclothesdidnot mean that no one wouldrecognize herinthe capital.

Henrick rummaged through his backpackand took out a vial ofdye. He said,“Changing her clothing was a good idea, but that hair stands out too much.”

Indeed, the flowing golden blonde hair that was a symbol ofroyaltyonthe continent stood out too much;it was a cause for concern that the headscarf she was wearingmightsuddenly become undone, or her hairmightstick out from the collar of her shirt.

Iris askedtearfully, “Do we really have to?”

“Of course;you might drag us to hell with you if you get caught!” Henrick reprimanded her as he skillfully moved his hands and colored her hair brown.

Whether it was intentional or not,Iris’ new brown hairlooked somewhatlikeShaneth’s hair color, and one might mistake them as sisters from afar.Shaneth snapped her fingers andsuddenlyexclaimed, “Nowyou can be my big sister! Our hair colors look alike,so anyone wouldmistakeus for sisters.”

“You want to be my little sister?” Irisasked, wide-eyed withsurprise. She then added,“Ihave nofamily. I never had one.”

“The same goes for me.” Shaneth smiledawkwardlyas she recalled a bitter memory from her past.She recalledwhen she had lost her family inafire when she was young; that was when she had gottenher burns as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the capital. He had initiallyneeded to do three thingsin Deferon;those were to raid theRuins of Ice and Spirit, contact the White Lion Clan, and create a new spirit. TheRuins of Ice and Spirit that he needed to conquer to clear the legendary quest werelocated north of the capital.

He had initially planned to come in contact with the White Lion Clan and easily conquer the ruin. However,hechanged his plans. He needed to grow extremely fast in this life, even if it meant that hehadto push himself to the limit.

He might be able to conquer the ruins with relative ease if he cooperated with the White Lion Clan, but he would lose the opportunity to grow stronger as well. He needed to thinkdifferentlythis time aroundtomonopolize all of the experience points and items.

It was not only that.Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Iris and asked, “What about the White Shadow?”

“It has beensilent,” Iris answered.

The White Shadow was the existence within the doppelgangerthat hadmentioned the fact that Kang Yoon-Soo could no longer regress after this life. Kang Yoon-Soo planned to meet Iris’ creator to solve the mystery behind thatexistence. Thankfully,heknewwho Iris’creator was basedon his memories from his previous life.

‘Rumier Kazan, the Royal Alchemist who had a hand in the Chimera Dimension incident.’Herecalled the name.Hehad tomeet thatalchemist to find the true identity behind the White Shadow that residedwithin Iris. The White Shadow was the only variable that had changedamidhis hundreds of regressions, and it could be the keyto ending the cycleonce and for all.

Kang Yoon-Soo then thought,‘That Alchemist residesin the royal palace. If Ihave toinfiltratethe royal palace, I might as well assassinate that person.’

***

The party entered Deferon, and Henrick, who was familiar with the city, led the way. The sky turned orange, signaling the sunset.

“Henrick ahjussi[1], can we delay the passing on of the heirloom to tomorrow? I’m exhausted from crossing the mountain,” Shaneth said;she looked obviously tired.

“Hmm… Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter to me either way,” Henrick responded.

All eyes fell on Kang Yoon-Soo.Henodded and said, “Let’s rest for today.”

The party entered a small inn on the street and paid for their rooms. They looked quite haggard and exhausted from traversing the mountain.

Kang Yoon-Soo and Henrick wentto wash upfirst;Shaneth and Iris then went together to bathe.Thetwo beauties’ conversation reached all the wayoutside the bathroom.

“Iris unni! That’s soap! You can’t eat that!” Shaneth shouted.

It seemed their bath time was not all that peaceful.

Henrick roughly dried his damp hair as he went down to the first floor,findingKang Yoon-Soo sittingexpressionlesslyina position that was neithercomfortablenor uncomfortable.Henrick smirked as he sat opposite Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “Our journey together will end tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The barmaid came over with a tray full of black lager, and Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly downed a large mugin an instant. Henrick could not sit back and watch, andhe downed a large mug himself.

Burp!

Henrick wiped the beer foam off his lips as he put down his mug.He tapped the large mug a few times beforebeginning, “Do you know why I love drinking so much?”

“To forget the painful memories,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Look at you.You knew about it,” Henrick replied. He emptied another large mug of beer and added, “Alcohol is quite a companion. It tastes bitter, but it lets you forget about the painful memories, whether by making your head hurt or byothermeans. It moves the bitterness from your head to your tongue.”

“Me too,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, takinga sip from his mug.

“What?” Henrick asked in surprise.

Kang Yoon-Soo downed his own mug before saying, “That’s why I like it too.”

“Hmm… I always thought that we wouldn’t get along, but surprisingly, we have a lot of things in common,” Henrick said. He laughedand pushed his mug toward Kang Yoon-Soo.Kang Yoon-Soo replied by extending his own mug; they shared a toast with a clink, causing thefoamy beerto sway like a wave.

The number of empty mugs increased, and the barmaid started to complain of leg pains. Henrick’s face started to turn red as hebeganto get drunk. Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the drunken Henrick as he started to reminisce.

Henrick Elrickerson was a goodman, based on Kang Yoon-Soo’s memories from his previous lives.Once, Kang Yoon-Soo hadseriously learned how to be a Puppeteer under him, and there were times when theyhad drunk themselves till sunrise. Henrick’s laid-back but quick-witted personality had helped Kang Yoon-Soo multiple times in the past as well.

Once, they hadbecomesworn brothers, and Henrick was a good older brother—to the point that he had died forKang Yoon-Soo.

After seeing Henrick’s sacrifice, Kang Yoon-Soo had refused to be sworn brothers with Henrick in any of his other lives. Hehad beenscared of being emotionally attached to Henrick once again, as the endinghad always beentragic.

‘However…Now…’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.It was not only Shaneth;this was also his last time meeting Henrick.Hesuddenly muttered in a low voice, “Come with us.”

“What did you say?” Henrick asked, looking surprised.

Kang Yoon-Soo was shocked at his own words too. He could not remember how long it hadbeen since he said those words to another. However, saying those words did not feel bad at all.

He saidonce more, “Come join us;let’s travel together.”

Henrick, whose face was now red fromdrunkenness, looked at Kang Yoon-Sooskepticallybefore he let out a smirk. He said, “I never imaginedI would hear those words from you.”

“Well,the one who wants it should be the one to propose it.Kang Yoon-Soo shrugged.

“I would have asked first even if you didn’t,” Henrickreplied with a snicker. Headded, “I couldn’t believe a jerk like you existed when I first met you. I’ve gonethrough all sorts of weird experiences aftertravelingwith you.But despite all that…It wasfun.”He wassmiling, but hisgaze wasserious.

“I’vefelt the thrill of living once again at this age aftertravelingwith you. To think I havethe chance to do a legendary quest on top of that?Having a huge event like this happenat this stage of my life makesme feel like a real artist,”headded.

Henrick flicked his finger at Kang Yoon-Soo’s forehead. It was something an older brother would usually do to his younger brother as a joke. Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyestrembled slightly,but Henrick was too drunk to notice that small movement.

Henrick smirked as he extended his mug once again, saying, “Today is the first time you’ve lookedlike a human being, you punk.”

“Thank you…” Kang Yoon-Soo slowly replied as he extended his own mug. The two men clinked their mugs anddowned their beer once more.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairsrang out, anda sweet voice entered their ears, calling out,“Kang Yoon-Soo.”

All of the patrons and even the barmaids looked toward the source of that voice; abeautiful, barely-clothedwoman was coming down the stairs with only a towelcoveringher body. The woman’s bountifulchestandwell-endowedthighs stole the eyes of the men in the room.

Iris came down the stairs, staringat the people intently looking at her. Henrick on the other hand rubbed his eyes a few times in disbelief andexclaimed, “This…Am I too drunk right now? It feelsas if I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have.”

Iris softly asked, “Where is my room?”

“That way,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied nonchalantly, pointingtoward a room.

Shaneth hurriedly ran out with her hair still wet; however, unlike Iris,she was lightly dressed. She exclaimed, “Iris unni! I told you thatwas thefirst-floorhall!”

“Ah, right.” Iris calmly noddedandslowly walked up the stairs.

Henrickwas left in disbelief. However,he broke out into a laugh and said, “That’s right, I wouldn’t have this kind of fun if I traveled alone,would I?”

“That’s right,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, downingthe remaining beer in his mug.

The beer today tasted quite sweet for some reason.

1.’Ahjussi’refers to an uncle or a middle-aged man in Korean.👈