Record of a Thousand Lives

The interior of the White Lion Clan’s headquarterswas as clean and impressive as its exterior, andtheir administrative wingextended to the left of the building.

“So, do you live in this large mansion?” Shaneth asked.

“That’s right, but only the senior memberswho havemanaged to rack up a lot of contribution points get to live here,” Chris repliedproudly.

The door of the last carriage openedanda few White Lion Clan members dragged the unconscious Yu Si-Do out.Yu Si-Do, whose body was bound upby the brightly shining shackles, was dragged toward an unknown location in the mansion.

Some of the White Lion Clan members gossiped.

“They say that’s an artifact our vice-captain personally brought from the temple.”

“That’s right; they say she gave up on numerous divine blessings just to get that.”

Kang Yoon-Soo and his partyenteredthe mansion, and Amanda kindly showed them the rooms theywouldbestaying in.

“The party will start later at 11pm. Come to the 5th floor if you want to have a drink,” Amanda said before she left.

The party membersall went into their own rooms, changing into comfortable clothes and resting.

***

They then left their roomsat 11pm.

“Where’s Iris?” Henrick asked.

“She’s fast asleep so I didn’t wake her up,” Shaneth replied.As she walked down the corridor, however, she asked with a worried expression, “Isn’t it normal etiquette to dress up if you’re going to a party?”

“What does it matter? It’s not like we have debonair suits to change into or something.” Henrick grimaced.

However, what greeted them on the 5th floor was something entirely unexpected.

“…?”

There were no flashy lights or chandeliers,norwere there any musicians or bands playing any music. All of the White Lion Clan members worecasual clothes, sitting on sofas and tables.Some were even lying onsofas, and all of the booze they drank was beer, without any extravagant appetizers. They either laughed and joked or played cards with each other as they drank.

“…was I mistaken aboutwhat a party actuallywas?” Shanethasked,stunnedbythe sight.

“Aren’t parties where stuck-up nobles act all elegant anddancearound while sipping expensive wines?” Henrickadded, justas surprised as Shaneth.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly answered, “It’s because they’re all Travelers.”

Come to think of it, all of them had devices on their wrists. Shaneth and Henrick could not help but feel culture shocked and left out, as the elegant socializing atmospherethey hadexpected was not there at all.

Chris waved his hands excitedly from afar, exclaiming, “Oh! Kang Yoon-Soo! Over here!”

Kang Yoon-Soo turned around and looked at the dumbfounded Shaneth and Henrick, saying, “This party has no etiquette or any mandatory manners. Just roam around comfortably and drink.”Hewent on and joined Chris’ table afteradvising the two.

Henrick looked around the room before grabbing a mug of black beer and sat downin the first free spot he could find.Shaneth, having been left alone,awkwardly looked around before walking toa different location.

“Is this the man our captainpraised so highly?” aWestern woman asked, hereyes filled with curiosity as she stared at Kang Yoon-Soo. She had flowing blonde hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful figure, and her cleavage was slightly visibledue to her light outfit.

“Ah, this is Margarita. She’s from Vladivostok, Russia,” Chris introduced the blonde woman.

“Nice to meet you,” Margarita said, extendingher hand andlookingat Kang Yoon-Soo with a seductivegaze.

Kang Yoon-Soo lightly shook her hand and replied, “Kang Yoon-Soo.”

Apart fromChris and Margarita, Amanda and Pashu were present as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo grabbed a bottle of beerandskillfully opened the bottle cap. They allbumped their bottles anddrank the cold, refreshing beer.

“Fwah!How long has it been since we had beer?” Chris exclaimed as he licked the beer foam off his lips.

Pashuthought for a moment before answering, “Exactly twentyand a halfdays.”

“Ew…Are you trying to show off that you were a model student?” Chrisretorted mockingly with a grimace.

“Ormaybeyou’re just stupid,” Pashucountered with his own insult.

“Do you want to die?” Chris respondedthreateningly.

Chris and Pashuended up bickering with each other, but the scene oddly made it lookas ifthey were actual siblings.The warm evening air entered the room through the terrace.

“But when did you get the chance to meet with the captain?” Chris asked.

Amanda seemed interested and joined in on the conversation. saying, “Right, our captain does not maintain personal relationships for a long period of time if there’s no benefit in it, even thoughhe is a nice person.This is the first time I’ve seenour captain acting so friendly and warm to someone else.”

“We met at Hiledan,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Hmm? You met atquitetheremote place,” Amanda said, showingmore interest.

“Just talk casually. That’s more comfortable for both of us,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Ah! Can I do that?” Amandareplied, clapping and smiling.

Pashuseemed to be upset about something andasked, “Why are you acting allcute?”

“When did I?!” Amanda protested, her face turningbright red.

It seemed they were starting to get drunk from the beer.

Chris let out a sigh and said, “Damn it… I’d give anything just to have a video call with my youngest… I wonder if thatkid’sskipping school?”

“Video call? That’s a stretch. I wouldn’t wish for anything more thanto just beable to video call with my family,” Amanda said, visibly seemingdepressed.

Contrary to the other two, Margarita smirked and said, “If you turn on a laptop,you must play World of Rockcraft!”

“Ah! World of Rockcraft! Icouldn’t ask for anything more than toruna raid while eating a slice of pepperoni pizza!” Chris despaired at the thought.

Amanda suddenly asked, “Why? Reality has turned into a game. You can alsoruna raid over here.”

“Hey! This and that are two entirely different things! This place is just hell!” Chris retorted, gulpingdown his beer in frustration.

Margarita playfully ate a cherry as she stared at Kang Yoon-Soo, asking, “What about you, Mr. Kang Yoon-Soo? What were you like backin ourworld?”

Kang Yoon-Soo, whohad beenquietly drinking his beer, replied, “I was a member of society.”

“Huh? What does that mean?” Margarita asked.

“I don’t remember,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What…?” Margarita tilted her head in confusion.

Kang Yoon-Soo added in a low voice, “I don’t remember much about the real world…”

The only things Kang Yoon-Soo remembered about the real world was that he had parents, he wasanonly child, and hehad not goneto college. A long time had passedsince, andhe had forgotten if he had friends or what his dreams for the future had been. Those things were no longer important to him.

‘If it werereally important,it would’ve stayed in my memories.’

“What do you mean you don’t remember?” Margarita’s brows creased.

Chris stopped her from asking any further, saying, “Don’t be nosy. Whatever he did back, in reality,is none of our business. You’re being rude.”

Suddenly, the catchy sounds of a harmonica rang throughout the room. HanSe-Hyun wasplaying the harmonica while relaxing on a sofa.

“This song is Happy Day!”

“It’s been a while since I heard this!”

Happy Day was a hit songby thesinger Quirell. It was a song that had ranked 1stontheBillboardcharts, and it had overtwobillion views on Youtube. It was a song that people from all over the world could enjoy together.However, the only two Continentalsat theparty did not have a clue what was going on, and they couldnotenjoy the party at all.

Henrick came over and sat beside Shaneth, asking, “What are they talking about right now?”

Shaneth glared at Margarita and Amandawhowere sitting together with Kang Yoon-Soo,then asked gloomily, “Why are you askingme that?”

“Yeah, why am I asking you that?” Henrick replied.

“Ahjussi, you’re drunk, aren’t you?” Shaneth said.

“Me? No, I’m not. By the way, why won’t you call me oppa?!” Henrick protested.

Shaneth sighed.‘Notebook’,‘World of Rockcraft’, those were words she would never get to understand; she felt severely alienated. She felt there was a great distance between her and Kang Yoon-Soo, who was seated around the other Travelers.

‘Why am I being like this? I’m acting like a child,’she suddenlythought.

Margarita, on the other hand, looked at Shaneth and asked Kang Yoon-Soo, “Usually, Travelers hang out among themselves. Why do you hang out with the Continentals?”

“Yeah, I was curious about that too,” Amanda chimed in.Sheadded, “The Continentals are just NPCs if you think about it. Why don’t you just join our clan? We would have more things in common, and we would grow stronger faster as we all try to return home.”

NPCs. They were peoplewholived in another world,often considered tobe nothingmore than extras. Thatwas how most Travelers thought of the Continentals, and themembers of the White Tiger Clanwere no exception.

Kang Yoon-Soo put down his bottle for the first time andseemedabout to say something to the two when suddenly…

“Now, listen up,everyone!” HanSe-Hyunstood up and calledfor people’sattention. He continued,“Our ambush was successful today. The key members of the Black Tiger Clan were all killed by our hands, but you might have noticed. Things went too smoothly. That’s right;there’s no way someone like Yu Si-Do wouldbedone insoeasily.”

All of the clan members were confusedbytheir captain’s suddenstatement,but HanSe-Hyuncontinued, “The success of our raid against the Black Tiger Clan today wasn’t my work alone,and the credit doesn’t belong to me. That credit goes to Kang Yoon-Soo. It was all thanks to the information this man gave us.”

Alleyes in the room focused on Kang Yoon-Soo as HanSe-Hyunpointed him out and continued, “The location of their headquarters, the route to sneak in, and the best time to raid them.All of thatinformation wasprovided by him, and without Kang Yoon-Soo, this operationisn’tsomething we would evenhave beenable to attempt at all.”

Aroundof applause rang out through the room.HanSe-Hyunsmiled as he looked at Kang Yoon-Soo and continued, “In recognition of his contributions today, I plan to recruit Kang Yoon-Soo as an executive of our White Lion Clan. I hopehe’llwork and live together with us from now on.”

Shaneth flinched, tremblingand lookingat Kang Yoon-Soo witha nervous gaze. She was worried that he might accept HanSe-Hyun’s offer.

“He’ll start as an executive from the get-go?” a clan memberasked, surprised.

HanSe-Hyuncalmly nodded and said, “From my point of view, he’s someone worth that much, and he has the contributions to back it up. Is there anyone who’sagainst this?”

There were a few who seemed to be displeased about it, but none of them dared to raise their hand. It was the decision of the leader of their clan;who would dare go against it?

However, there was one person. A man quietly raised his hand and nonchalantly said, “I refuse.”

Silence filled the room.

Chris urgently whispered to Kang Yoon-Soo, “Hey, Kang Yoon-Soo. You might not be aware of it, but this is a really amazing offer. If you want to make it to the executive level, the amount of contribution you have to raise is equivalent to completing forty raids. Plus, there are a lot of benefits to being an executive of the White Lion Clan. This is an amazing privilege!”

“I said I refuse,” Kang Yoon-Soo reiterated.

HanSe-Hyunsmiledbitterlyand said, “Alright, there’s no way we can force someone to become a part of our clan. However, I want to ask the reason for your refusal. Why do you dislike the idea of working with me? If we Travelers work together, your knowledge will definitely become a big help for all of us.”

Kang Yoon-Soo glanced at Henrick and Shaneth beforeansweringin a low voice, “It’s because I already have my own companions.”

Shanethballed her hands into fists and gripped them tightly.Henrickraiseda glass of wine to his lips, but his eyes were very much focused.

“Why do I hang out with them?”Kang Yoon-Soo began. He then poured a drink into his glass and said,“They’re my reasonfor beingalive.”

***

Duskfell, and Kang Yoon-Soo noticed that theclan members’ gazestoward himwere unwelcoming. However, he did not care what they thought of him at all.

Some of the clan members were sprawled out on the floor, whileothers hadmade it to their own rooms andgoneto sleep. Henrick was wasted on the floor; Shaneth seemed to have had a bit too much to drink herself, as she could not even prop herself up.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward Shaneth, whose face was red from the alcohol. The drunk woman brought her lips close to his ears and whispered, “Kang Yoon-Soo… Kang Yoon-Soo… I’m really relieved… Please stay with us…Don’t leave me…Stay with me, and let’s stay together just like this.”

Kang Yoon-Soo picked up both of them andbrought them to their respective rooms. He gently placed Shaneth on her bed, layingher to sleep, but casuallythrew Henrickontothe floor.

He thenwent out into the corridor, quietly walkingtoward a set of stairs that led to the basementand heading downstairs.

“What business do you have here?” a clan member who was standing guard asked,withhostility in hisgaze.

“Pass out,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What?” the guard asked, confused.

“That’s what you have to do now,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he pulled out his sword and smacked the guard in the head withits hilt. The guard perfectly carried out his job of collapsing and passing out.

A steel door secured with multiple locks was at the end of the basement corridor. Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out a pin set from his pocketand startedto pick the locks.

Creak… Creak…Tadadadak… Click!

The locks opened with a few skillfulmovementsof his hands;Kang Yoon-Soo managed toopenthe last lock within minutesand pushed openthe door.

Creak…

A manwas present on the other side ofa thick window,still bound up by bright shackles. His exposed backrevealed atattoo of a large black tiger that seemed to squirm and move.

“Yu Si-Do,” Kang Yoon-Soo called out.

“…I’m sleeping. Why are you calling me?” Yu Si-Do replied with a voice that seemed to prove that hehadjust woken up from his sleep.

“I’ll release you now,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Crazy bastard,” Yu Si-Do repliedcurtly.

“In return, you have to follow me to the royal palace,” Kang Yoon-Soo continued.

“Why would you go thereon thishot night?” Yu Si-Do complained.

Kang Yoon-Soo had two objectives.The first was to meet the alchemistwho hadcreated Iris and find out the secret behind the White Shadow.And the second was…

“Tonight, we’ll assassinate the emperor.”