Record of a Thousand Lives

Whatwas the most important thing to remember when trying to pull off a scam?

Kang Yoon-Soo’s voice was emotionless, and he was a man of few words. In fact, he could notremember thelast time he had actuallygotten angryat someone. However,hehad to kick his stiff tongue into motion and spit out words smoothly to pull this off. He racked his brainsformemories related to Lefman as soon as he entered the Sunset Glass building.

‘Lefman Ackeron. He’s a middle-aged man with plenty of kids. He has four women whom he calls his wives, and he rarely goes home. His teenage kids are all addicted to the drugshe distributes, but he isn’t aware of thatfact. He’squick-witted and is very calculatingwhen it comes to anything profitable, and his greed knows no bounds. He isn’t capable of planning things,noris he a good orator; rather,he survives by kowtowing in front of the strong,’Kang Yoon-Soo recalled.

The rest was easy from there on out. Kang Yoon-Soo just needed to actasan even worse villain than Lefman.Hepurposely sat arrogantly on the sofa and glared at Lefman, and he intentionally lowered his voice to make it sound more sinister and menacing. He also remembered to tilt the back of his hand to make sure the tattoo of the Black Tiger Clanwouldbe visible at all times.It was as if he were wearing another person's skin.

“What do you want?” Lefman asked with a trembling voicehe tried his best to hide.

Kang Yoon-Soo was satisfiedwith Lefman’sresponse, but he did not forget to maintain his arrogant posture before saying, “Give me five times the normal tribute you used to pay to our clan.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Lefman screamed,slamminghis fist onthetable.

Baaam!

Lefman’s face was red, and his fist was tremblinginanger as heexclaimed, “I can’t accept that word!First and foremost,‘tribute’? Are you trying to say the Sunset Glasscompanyis something the Black Tiger Clan can sway according to their will?”He grittedhis teeth as he added, “And five times the usual rate on top of that? Don’t make me laugh! You wouldn’t have asked thatif you were a merchant yourself! What is this nonsense?!”

“That’s a shame. You would have offered up the tribute yourself if you knew our boss a little bit better than that,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he crossed his legs and raised his right hand.Heheld his index finger and thumb together, as if to show that he was capable of triggering an explosionwith the snap of his fingerat any moment.

“Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this?” Lefman growledthreateningly.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo calmly replied, “You’re free to try and pay us, the Black Tiger Clan, anytime, as much as you want. Our boss, YuSi-Do, is confident he can stepon someone as insignificantasyou any time.”

This was no differentfroma declaration of war. The Black Tiger Clan actually needed to maintain their relationship withSunset Glass, as it wascurrently undergoing a rapid expansion. Of course, the Black Tiger Clan did not wish to cut their ties with Sunset Glass, and neitherwould they demand five times the ratethey were usually paid. The Black Tiger Clan actually had a very amicable relationship with Sunset Glass, and both of them greatly benefited from their cooperation.

All of this was just a ruse and a scam drawn up by Kang Yoon-Soo, and Kang Yoon-Soo alone. However,events hadturned out to be quite beneficial to him. Lefman believed that Kang Yoon-Soo was a member of the Black Tiger Clan; as such,it was the Black Tiger Clan that was going to be on thereceivingend of Lefman’s vengeance,not Kang Yoon-Soo.

The most important part when pulling off a scam was to maximize one’s own profit while passing the risk and responsibilityoffto someone else.

Lefman moaned, tearinghishairout. It was difficult for him to give a rebuttal when Kang Yoon-Soo could blow his building away withasnap of his fingers. Kang Yoon-Soo completely held the upper hand in thediscussion.

“We don’t have enough cash as ofnowto pay five times the usual rate. I’ll pay it as soon as the drug deal with Ark City has been completed,” Lefman saidweakly.

“Is that the best you can come up with, Lefman? The deal with Ark City is scheduled to take place two months from now. Do you expect me to believe that a large merchant company like thisdoesn’t have enoughcash?” Kang Yoon-Soospat.Every single wordhe said was an irrefutablefact, makingLefman all the more disoriented.Lefman was now sweating like the countless drug addicts he had helped create.

“Please,believe me!We really don’t have enough cash right now. Isn’t the Black Tiger Clan aware that we spent most of our cash to produce the drugs when such a big deal is right in front of us? I couldmanage if it weretwice the usual rate, but five times is just too difficult,” Lefman pleaded.Still, he hadsaid everything he wanted to say despite being cornered, as expected from a true merchant.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo had no plans to go easy on him. He said, “Then pay up with goods.”

“Goods?” Lefman asked, dumbfounded.

“Even ifyou don’t have cash, you should have some goods, right?” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Lefmanthought deeplyfor a moment before asking, “You mean drugs?”

“No, potions,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What kind of potions do you want?” Lefman stuttered.

“Healing potions, holy water, and frost antidotes.All three of them should be ingood condition and not expired. Prepare enough to be used by at least 1,000 people, as well asenhancingelixirsto be used by six people,” Kang Yoon-Soodemanded.

Lefman closed his mouth and started to think. He did have the items in stock, and Sunset Glass was more focused on the drug trade rather than the potion trade. Additionally,it seemed moresensiblefor him and for the company’s future to pay usingthe potions’ value rather than payingincash. The potion trade was just a front for the company anyway, and the real profit was being generated by the drug trade.

There was no reason for himto be unableto prepare the potions as long as he was given the time to prepare them, and on top of that, he had to agree to thedeal since the company and his life were being held hostage.As such, heasked, “Whenshould I deliver the goods?”

“Right now,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

Lefman’s face becameas pale as a sheet as Kang Yoon-Soo asked himto prepare that many potionsin aninstant. Even though it was just a front for the company,supplying so many potions on the spot wouldrequire him to cancel most of his existing contracts.

KangYoon-Soo thoughtfor a moment before adding, “Alcohol too.”

***

“That guy won’t be able to sleep tonight if he doesn’t drink at least a bottle of liquor because of what happened today,” Henrick cackled as he leaned against a wall in the back alley.

Shanethsmiledwhile dusting off Sally’s clothes and chimed in, “You were quite the actor! Anyone would thinkyou were a righteous man, burning with a sense of justice.”

“Burning with justice, my ass!I was almost burned to a crisp moving you two while you were on fire,” Henrick retorted.

“Liar! Sally didn’tuse a hotfire!” Sallyyelled at Henrick.

However, Henrick just laughed at Sally, pushingher forehead away and saying, “Hey, little miss!I didn’t mean your flames,but my face was burning!”

“Huh? Why is Sally little?” Sally asked, confused.

“Hmm…Maybe because you’re noisy and a crybaby?” Henrickcackledonce again.

“Sally is not a crybaby!” Sally stomped her feet.

Henrick laughed offSally’stantrum, then turnedaround and looked at Iris. Iris was quietly standingin place,listening in on the conversation in the building.

“That punk Kang Yoon-Soo,is he doing alright?” Henrick asked.

“I’m not sure, but based on the voice of his opponent getting louder, it seems he is makingthe other person angryand gloomy at the same time,” Iris reported.

“I guess he’s driving someone nuts right now. I know the feeling, since I was his victim too,” Henrick said, letting outa sigh of pity for Kang Yoon-Soo’s latest victim.

The doppelganger hadexcellenthearingability;Irishad beenable to hear even the whispers of others in the Hatar Mountains.Shehad the ability to hear even the faintest of sounds through a window if she focused,whichwas how theyhad beenable to hear the signal to start their act whenever Kang Yoon-Soo snapped his fingers.

The women and the girl whohad beenon fire in the street were Shaneth, Iris, and Sally.The flames that shot up from the groundhad beenmade by Sally.They hadlooked like raging fires on the outside, buthadnot been hot enough to burn anyonewhoactually touched the flames. That was how Henrickhad beenable to act the part of a man burning with a sense of justice, divingthrough the flames and draggingthe women out to the back alley.He had avoided thegazes of bystanders by givingthem theexcuse that he was bringing them to the hospital.

Henrick stared at Shaneth and Sally beforemuttering, “To think he would draw up a ruselike this usingthe two least likely women to burn to death… That guy is really starting to scare me.”

“I always thought I had a rough past, but Ireconsiderwhenever I see Kang Yoon-Soo. I wonder what kind of life he’slived?” Shaneth chimed in.

“Why don’t you ask him if you’re that curious?” Henrick added.

“He doesn’t tell me even if I ask him. Perhaps he’ll tell me one day when the time is right,” Shaneth said hopefully.

“What a thing to look forward to,” Henrick saidmockingly.

Suddenly, a large carriage stopped in front of the merchant building. Laborers started to move large crates and chests, loadingthem onto the carriage. Some of the chests were excessively heavy;they weremagical chests with the capacity to storemassive quantities of items.

It seemed asifthe carriage was about to depart on a large trade expedition,filled to the brim with crates and chests. The coachman whipped two large horses, andthe carriage slowly departed; however, it stoppedin front of the back alleyKang Yoon-Soo’s party wasin. Of course, the back alley was not wide enoughfor it to enter.

The coachman looked at the four people inside before saying, “Get on.”

“…Are all of those potions?” Shaneth asked.

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soorepliedfrom the coachman’s seatwith a nod.

Shaneth was surprised, Henrick waslaughing, Sally wasamazedat the carriage, and Iriswas just tiltingher headin confusion.

“What is in that carriage?” Iris asked.

“Something you can’t eat,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“That’s too bad,” Irissaid with a disappointedsmile.

The partyboarded the carriage, and Kang Yoon-Soo whipped the horsesinto motion again. Sally insisted on sitting on the roof of the carriage; her voicereached all the way into the carriage as she exclaimed,“Wow! It’s so fast!”

AsKang Yoon-Soo was driving the carriage,he suddenly saidina low voice, “Open the chest in the left corner.”

Henrick was surprisingly quick when it came tosuch things,as he ran to the corner and quickly opened the chest. The contents of the chest madehimlaugh as he exclaimed, “This is why I can’t help but like you!”

The contents of the chestwerenone other than alcohol;every singlebottlewasexpensiveandluxurious, and the glasses were just the right sizes.Henrick snatched up one of the glasses and poureda drinkfor Shaneth. It was hisattempt to preemptivelystop her from nagging.

Shaneth glared at Henrick before receiving the glass and saying, “Don’t drink too much.”

“No need to worry,” Henrick said as he laughed and kept pouring out drinks. Thistime, theglass was meant for Iris.

“What is this?” Iris asked.

“To some,it might be referred to as apanacea;to others,it might be their reason to continue living,” Henrickrepliedpoetically.

Iris accepted the glass with eyes full of curiosity.Kang Yoon-Soo and Henrick did not haveglasses;rather, they each had a whole bottle of alcohol with them.

Sally climbeddown from the roof of the carriage and peeked through the window, asking, “Papa! What about Sally?”

“Just have a taste,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

Kang Yoon-Soo was busy driving the carriage, so Henrick insteadpoured a sip of alcohol into a glass forSally. Sally curiously sniffed the alcohol, taking inits aroma.

The sky turned orange as the sun started to set. The partyshared a toast, watchingthe sunset from therolling carriage.

***

They left the capital and camped outside once night fell.The night passed rather quickly, and the sun rose overthem once again. The Winterkill Ruin was still as cold and as eerie as ever; the carriage stopped in front of the ruin, andthey unloaded the crates and chests containing the potions.

Kang Yoon-Soo opened a strange,small chest as soon as he got off the carriage. Itcontained vialsfilled witha variety of different-colored potions.

“Drink,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Whatare these?” Shaneth askednervously.

“Enhancing Elixirs,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth gave Kang Yoon-Soo askeptical lookand asked, “…These aren’tgoing to have any strange side-effects like that Adrenaline Potion,are they?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The Enhancing Elixirs Kang Yoon-Soohad gottenfrom Sunset Glass could be considered the highest quality potions there werein that category.Theyhad almost noside effects, andtheyraised the user’s stats to the limit almost immediately after takingthem.They wereone of the solutionshehad prepared to close the level gap with the Martial Blood Clan.

“Summon White,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered.

“Grrrowl!”White growledloudlyasitwas summoned.

Kang Yoon-Soo extended a bottle to it and commanded, “Drink.”

“…”

As precious as the elixirs were, theiravailability was quite scarce, and Kang Yoon-Soo planned to have his party members drinkthemall up before the Martial Blood Clan arrived.

[You have consumed a Potion of Vitality.]

[Your movement speed will increase for half a day.]

[Your endurance has increased.]

[You haveconsumed a Potionof Strength.]

[Your attack power will increase for half a day.]

[Your muscle mass hasincreased.]

[You haveconsumed a Potionof Mana.]

[Your maximum mana will increase for half a day.]

[You have taken three kinds of potions at once.]

[The potion effects have been enhanced.]

The Martial Blood Clan soonarrivedat the Winterkill Ruin;it seemed they had thoroughly prepared themselves for the raid, as they were heavily armed.

Jiang Ren-Wei exclaimed in surprise, “You really did prepare all the potions!”

Durman and the other clan members raised their weapons in fright as they saw White growl at them. However,theysoon breathed a sigh of relief after realizingit was one of Kang Yoon-Soo’s summons.

“To think you managed to tame that aggressive and vicious beast. I really can’t seem to guess what kind of person you really are…” Durman muttered.

The Martial Blood Clan members took a potion each, storing the vialsin theirbelts. They did not have a separate healer in this raid, so they were provided an ample amount of potions.

Kang Yoon-Soo raised his right hand and said, “Summon 612 Undead Ahinkuls.”An undead legionemergedat his command.

Kang Yoon-Soo checked his backpack once more and pulled out the Sword of the Holy Cross he had obtained from the Castle of the Dead, strapping it tohis waist alongside Ravian’s Longsword. Hehadkept it in his backpack because he had previouslyhad no use for it.

Jiang Ren-Wei approached him and asked, “Are you done with your preparations?”

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded andmoved to the front of the groupbefore saying, “Let’s go.”

The doors of the cold ruin slowly opened.