Record of a Thousand Lives

Thesmashed-upMana Golem and the dead Frost Demonlayon the ground. Thatwas the result of the raid under Kang Yoon-Soo’s leadership.

“Your clan can take theMana Golem’s body,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“What? Can we really do that?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked in surprise.

The body of the Mana Golemconsistedof mana stones; thosemagical stones not only aided in mana regeneration, butwere alsotraded at premiumprices for their other uses.

‘There are thousands of other ways to earn gold anyway. What’s more important now is to obtain more precious items.’Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and replied, “But in return, the corpse of the Frost Demon belongs to me.”

“I understand. We would have no idea what to do with the corpse of a demon even if we took it anyway,” Jiang Ren-Wei responded.

The Martial Blood Clan members gathered around the shattered body of the Mana Golem. Theyused their weapons like pickaxes, startingto diligently mine mana stones from the golem.

Jiang Ren-Weilooked at his clan members beforecarefully saying, “It seemsas ifit’ll be difficult to raid the ruin’s boss monster at this rate.”

He sounded as if he hadput a lot of thought into it before saying those words, adding, “Not only has our supply ofholywater run out, our supply offrostantidotes and healing potions are exhausted as well. Not to mention that a few of our clan members died in this raid. Of course,they were all prepared for it, but everyone is exhausted now after the battle. I believeit’sfoolish for us to charge toward the ruin’s bossin thisstate. I’m sorry, but our clan plans to end the raid here.”

“Sure,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

Jiang Ren-Wei was slightly taken aback at Kang Yoon-Soo’s reply, saying,“I was 90% certain that you would rebuke me for being too timid orsay I lackedcredentials as a leader… but you seem to be pretty cool about it?”

“An unprepared raid only brings casualties,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Thank you for your understanding.” Jiang Ren-Wei bowed with a brightexpression of reliefon his face beforeadding, “We’ll head out first then. We still need to take care of our comrades’ bodies, and we’ll leave the ruin door open, so feel free to follow us out.”The Martial Blood Clan members gathered up the deceased and the mana stones before exiting the ruin.

“I’ll come to you later for your right arm,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.Hewalked toward Shaneth and asked inhis usualcold, indifferenttone, “How’s your wound?”

“Thankfully it wasn’t that deep,” Shaneth replied, lookingghastly pale.

Henrick, whohad been playing with the fragments of icelying around, suddenly spoke up.“It’s a relief that’s all that happened after getting caught by a demon,and you didn’t spill your guts out oranything…”

Iris, who was standing beside Henrick, looked up to him and asked, “Guts?Are thoseedible?”

“…is that all you think about?” Henrick asked with a sigh.

Kang Yoon-Soo tookthe healing potions meant for him from his waist and told Shaneth, “Remove your shirt.”

“Excuse me?” Shaneth asked, just in case she had heard him wrong.

“I’ll apply the potion,” Kang Yoon-Soo saidindifferently.

“N-no… I can do it alone…” Shaneth replied.

“You did it for me before,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Shaneth hesitated for a moment beforeentrustingher body to Kang Yoon-Soo. Meanwhile, Kang Yoon-Soo was deep in thought as herubbedthe potion on her wounds.‘I can’t turn time back if Shaneth dies this time around.’

Thatwas not only the case for Shaneth, but also for everyone else. If someone died this time, that was the end for them. There was no way for Kang Yoon-Soo to go back in time and prevent their deaths anymore. The samewas also true for Kang Yoon-Soo.‘I need totake risks,but I have to be careful at the same time.’

Kang Yoon-Soo was hesitantaboutvisiting the dangerous places he had encountered in his previous lives. That was the case for the lair of the Dragon of Destruction and the Magic Tower of the Giants. However, he needed to visit those places for their rewards if this life was going to be his last chance.‘It seemsI’ll have to go to all of the dangerous places on the continent.’

It was whileKang Yoon-Soo was deep in thought that Iris tilted her head while looking at what they were doing. She asked,“I believe thatis what lovers do. Kang Yoon-Soo, do you love Shaneth?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo repliednonchalantly.

“…”

Kang Yoon-Soo stood upwhilethe partywas still shocked at his response, and slowly walked toward the Frost Demon’s corpse. The Sword of the Holy Cross easily slipped out of the demon’s corpse oncehepulled it out.‘We wouldn’t have been able to fight against the Frost Demon if Ihadn’t stabbed this sword into its chest in advance,’he thought.

That was how powerful the demon race was, and the fact that the Sword of the Holy Cross had lostits lusterand its edges were now dull was proof.The swordhad sealed the demon’s powers, butit had lost its divine power as well.‘It was a waste to use this item like this, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It did its job, at least.’

Kang Yoon-Soo threw the Sword of the Holy Crossaside and ripped open thedemon’s chest.Unfortunately, the demon’sheart had disintegratedbecause of the divine power of the sword.‘What a shame. It would have been nice to feed it to Iris. She would have been able to use powerful ice magics then.’

Kang Yoon-Soo found a couple of items after he skinned the demon’s hide.

[Frost Demon’s Leather]

Leather that is stronger than that of any other creature in this world. It does not contain any magic, asit belonged to a lesser demon. It is atop-qualitycrafting material.

[Frost Demon’s WinterFragment]

A jewelfragmentthat contains cold and corrupted power. Its use is unknown.

Demon leatherwas atop-qualitycrafting material. It did not only increase defensive power, but alsoincreased the magic resistance of the armor it was crafted into.

Kang Yoon-Soo stored all of the items into his backpack and turned around toward his party members before saying, “Let’s go.”

“…”

The partywas silently staring at him, and Shaneth’s face was a ripe red as she kept stealing glances at Kang Yoon-Soo.Kang Yoon-Soo askedcuriously, “What’s wrong?”

“I know it might sound old now, but it really is hard to find someone as weird as youonthis continent,” Henrick said with a sigh.

They left the hidden room, and Kang Yoon-Soo, who was standing at the forefront, walkedina different direction than when theyhad comein.

“Hey, that’s the way down to the basement and not the way out,” Henrick called out.

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, adding, “We’re going straight to the heart of the ruin.”

***

There were no other monsterson thelower floor of the ruin, but the entire floor was filled with a cold that chilled thepartydown to their bones.

‘I want to raid the boss of the Winterkill Ruin, but that’s a stretchright now,’Kang Yoon-Soo thought.The boss of the Winterkill Ruin was an eight meter tall Ice Giant, and it was far too risky for them to face the tough and tenacious giantintheir current state, justasJiang Ren-Wei had said.

They soon reached a large door they believed was the entrance to the heart of the ruin, and a pale white giant was sitting in front ofit.

Shaneth carefully asked in a whisper,soas to not get caught by the giant, “Do you plan to fight that boss monster head on?”

“No.” Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and added, “We’ll just pass by it.”

Ithad been written in Rekimond’s journalthat he had shone a torch at the giant before passing by it to enter the heart of the ruin;that was how weak the Ice Giant was against fire.

“Summon Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Sally, whohadforcefully been sent back to the summoned dimension,appeared.Shesniffled as she hugged Kang Yoon-Soo and cried, “Papa…!Sniff!I was so cold and scared!”

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Sally started to cry and throw a tantrum.“Hing! Sally wants to rest. It was really cold a while ago!”

“I’ll make you a sibling now,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Really?” Sally’s eyesbrightenedandshe looked at him with sparkling eyes.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “Yes.”

“Hooray! I love you,papa!” Sally saidgleefullyas she clung to Kang Yoon-Soo.

Iris looked confused, asking, “Does Sally love Kang Yoon-Soo too?”

“Yes! Sally lovespapa!” Sally replied.

“Hmm… Love is quite a mysterious thing,” Iris said, fallingdeep into thought.

Sally raised both of her arms andspewed fire out, and the Ice Giant slowly rose from its spot.

“I,kill intruder,” the giant said, chargingtoward the pillar of fire.

Kang Yoon-Soo and the otherstook thechance to sneak into the heart of the ruin. Itwas a cold place thathousedahexagon-shapedcrystal. Thebitter chillof the Winterkill Ruinflowed out of thatcrystal.

“C-cold!” Sally said, shiveringas the temperature dropped the closer they went to the crystal.

An altar that seemed similar to the one they had encounteredpreviously toweredabove them. Atop it was a cold, shining crown.

Kang Yoon-Soo obtained the treasure of the Winterkill Ruin.

[Frozen Crown]

Rating: Rare

Magic Power (Ice Attribute): 52

A crown made up of souls frozen by the cold. It is presumed to have been used by a king from a cold country. It is an item liked by an arrogant spirit.

[The Winterkill Ruin has been conquered.]

[Conqueror: Kang Yoon-Soo]

[Rank 1 Achievement: Shaneth Elogran]

[Rank 2 Achievement: Henrick Elrickerson]

[You have conquered the Winterkill Ruin.]

[You have absorbed the ruin’s magic power.]

.

[Your resistance against illnesses caused by the cold has increased.]

[Your resistance to frostbite has increased.]

[You have obtained the title ‘Explorer of Cold’.]

[Conquered Ruins: 2]

[The boss monster of the ruin still survives.]

[The Ice Giant will return if you do not escape soon.]

Kang Yoon-Soo’s wrist device vibrated as soon as he conquered the Winterkill Ruin.

[You have completed the Legendary Quest—Castle of the Dead.]

[7,287 undeadhavebeen freed.]

[The undead that will march through the continent at night will produce numerous tales.]

[Their new objective is to raise the strongest dragon in the continent as an undead being.]

[You have obtainedNakron’scodex.]

[The Legendary Quest—Desert Palace has started.]

Kang Yoon-Soo took out a black crystal from his backpack. It was the mode of communication provided by the Death General Kalriven.

-Lord, can you hear me?

Kalriven’s voicerang out fromthe crystal.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied dryly.

-Rejoice, my lord! The seal on the Castle of the Dead has finally been released!

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soorepeated.

-We shall depart on a journey to fulfill master Nakron’s wishofraising theDeathlessDragon. It will take us to the most dangerous placesonthe continent, but if my lord requires our assistance, we will always be at your service!

“Okay,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

-Please take special care of master Nakron’s codex. There is nothingmore precious to a Necromancer than that.

***

Kang Yoon-Sooclimbeddown from the altar, but he did not head for the exit immediately. Instead, he stared at the hexagonal crystal that was emittingthe intense cold of the Winterkill Ruin.

“Huh? Now that I’m lookingclosely, isn’t this Ice of Eternity?” Henrickaskedas he examined the crystal.

Shaneth could not help but be curious, asking, “What’s Ice of Eternity?”

“It’sa block of ice that lets out coldyear-round. It’sa very rare crafting material, and quite expensive too. It’s a bit small, but it’s still in good condition. Should we take some?” Henrick asked, takingout his sculpting knife.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly blocked his path and said, “No.”

“Why not?” Henrick asked with a frown.

“Because I’m going to use it to create a spirit,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.The Ice of Eternity was required to create the Spirit of ice, Icicle.

‘I have to make the ice even colder.’Kang Yoon-Soo took out his water canteen, spraying the wateraround the Ice of Eternity. The Ice of Eternity grew colder asthe waterfroze up.

“You have to do something,” Kang Yoon-Soo told Iris.

Iris used her newly found immense strengthto crusha block of ice and brought it to Kang Yoon-Soo. Shaneth used her scythe to cut the ice, while Henrick used his sculpting knife to trim it down. Then, they spread the pieces of ice around the Ice of Eternity, and a chill that automatically made them shiver flowed out fromit.

“Ah! Mama! Sally is too cold!” Sally complained.

“Come here.I’ll hug you,” Shaneth said, consolingthe poor little girl.

Kang Yoon-Soo extended his right hand that had the Ring of Life Suppressionon itand muttered, “Spirit Creation.”

A dazzling, blinding light circled around the Ice of Eternity, and thesilhouette of an infantwas visible within it..

[Please choose the gender of the Ice Spirit, Icicle. A male Icicle will havethepower to bring forth a chilling disaster, but it will be cold and arrogant. On the other hand, a female Icicle will be cold and indifferent, but will be well versed in cold magic.]

As opposed to Sally,whosegenderhad forcefully been decided, Kang Yoon-Soo had the choice to choose the gender of the spirit this time.

“Male,”hemuttered.

The blinding light shot out from the Ice of Eternityas it circled.

[The Ice of Eternity is a bit small.]

[The age of the spirit has decreased.]

[The charisma of the spirit has decreased. Charisma -31]

[The intense cold has strengthened the spirit’s soul. Magic +17]

[The harmony between both the master and the spirit’s cold personality has increased the power of the spirit. Chill +2]

[You can only create one spirit from each element. The chance to create an Icicle has been used.]

The chill from the Ice of Eternity slowly subsidedasthe blinding light filled the entire room.Thatwas the moment Icicle, the Spirit of Ice, was born.