Record of a Thousand Lives

Hermiahad beenenjoying abath just a minutebefore,but she rushed out to the reception roomwearing onlya bathrobe. She didnot even have the time to dry her wet hair, and a droplet of water trickled down along her plump cleavage and dropped to the ground.

A young mansat in thereception room, his short black hair stickingout. He was on thegood-lookingside, but his face wascold, voidof any expression;in fact, helooked so coldthat he carried an eerie presence. A device could be seen on his right wrist.Hermia asked as soon as she saw the device, “Are you aTraveler?”

“Why are you only wearing a gown, milady?” the guard standing beside her askedawkwardly.No servants could be seen in the mansion, and the guard was the onewho hadescorted Kang Yoon-Soo to the room.

Hermia wiped down her large breasts and replied with an annoyedexpression, “It’s funny hearing that from you,seeing as you’restill wearing thathelmetindoors.”

“You know it’s because of my burn marks, milady,”the guard replied.

“I keep telling you this, butyou have to showyourself morethe more lacking you think you are,” Hermiasaid. Shethen went and sat downina chair opposite Kang Yoon-Soo. When shecrossed her legs, it nearly revealed the inside of her gown. Anyother man would havestolen a glance between her thick thighs, but the manbefore herdid not evenspare a glance. Hermia actually likedhisattitude.

“My name is Hermia Lepe. I am the feudal lord of Kerlin. I hope you will forgive the rudeness of the guard over here. He is someone I took insincehe was young, but he prefers to cover his face because of his severe burns. What is your name?” asked Hermia.

“Kang Yoon-Soo, and I’m a traveler, just as you said,” Kang Yoon-Sooreplied briefly.

“I briefly heard you through the window; we elves have excellent hearing, you see. You claimed to be able to use the Orb of the Covenant?” Hermia asked, clearly interested.

“Yes.” Again, Kang Yoon-Soo only gave a short reply.

“Are you aware of what it is?” Hermiaasked.

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

Hermia stared at the man for a minute, as if she wereintently scrutinizing him. Then,she began to recite a verse in a voice halfway between speaking and singing.

‘A lone traveler walking in a desolate desert met his first escort

Even though half of the world might disappear

Hewouldreach the spring he so longedfor’

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo sang along in a low voice.

‘The traveler who crossed the desert through sandstorms

Faced the last sandstormhead-on, but couldnot grasp a grain of sand

And endedupwanderinginthe mirage forever.’

Hermia covered her wide-open mouth with one hand and said, “Oh my god…”She could only stare at Kang Yoon-Soo.Then, she started to mutter to herself as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened, “Oh my god…Oh my god…Oh my god…”

The guard worriedly leaned toward Hermia andoffered, “Shall I bring some tea?”

“Ye..Yes...Put a lot of tea leaves in it, and make suretobe careful around the fire,” Hermia replied.

The guard left, and Hermia put a hand on her forehead and let out a small moan. She then pulled down her gown, exposing her milky white breast. Her plump breastilluminated by the sunlightwas a sight to behold.“Can you check if my heart is still alright?” she asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo placed his right hand on her breast and replied, “Yes, it’s still beating.”

“Is it? That’s a relief…I thought my heart stopped for a moment there,”Hermia saidas she pulled her gown back up.

Usually, the faces of a man and a woman insuch asituation would be bright red with emotion, butneither of the two revealed any hint of such a thing.

“Really…It'sreally surprising.I neverimagined I would hear the poem that was kept secret by the Lepe family for over 400years from a human, and aTraveler from another world on top of that,” Hermia said after she calmed down.She asked with a curious expression, “How did you find out about theOrb of theCovenant?And how did youlearnthe poem of Ignus?”

Kang Yoon-Soo recalled a memory he didnot want to remember.How could he notknow about the poem of the Ignus Dragon? A prophecy among the elves had been passed down, that a man who knewthe poemwouldshow upandbe able to use theOrb of theCovenant.

He had enteredthe Desert of Death in one of his previouslivesandgonethrough all kinds of difficulties there. However, at the end of it all, he had only received a poem asareward.It had beenone of the biggest shocks of his life when he learned thatitwas all hewould begetting.

However, heshook his head and said, “I can’t tell you that.”

The story of his life was not something that people will easily understand or even believe at all. Kang Yoon-Soo felt that there was no reason for him to repeatedly explain to people and let them know about his regression.

“I see. I won’t pry into it if that’s what you want;after all, we, the Lepe family, are only the witnesses.” Hermia then sighed and started to explain, “The ancestor of my Lepe family…” But suddenly, she was interrupted.

“Nahilen, the ancient archer, was a renowned herowhofought alongside Surian, the King of All Beings. Nahilen was the leader of the elves residingin what was thenthe Pehe Forest.

“The most widely held belief about Nahilen is that helost the Pehe Forest to Ignus the flame dragon, and thatthe forest had been turned into theDesert ofDeath by the dragon. However, thatwas only a false rumor spread to hide the existence of theOrb of the Covenant.

“Nahilen and Ignus held along-standingalliance to fight against the Lord of Evilwho wouldlaterarrive. The calling of the Lepe family was to findaworthy successorforthe power fragment left behind by Ignus.”

“…”Hermia was shocked beyond belief. The wordsshe had beenabout to say had been perfectly summarized, and it was Kang Yoon-Soowho had said them,not her.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood up and said nonchalantly,“I didn’t want to listen to the long explanation.”

“I’ve brought the tea, milady.” At that moment, whileHermia was still in shock, the guardcamein with a silver platter with tea on it. However, heclumsily tripped and fell forward.

Kang Yoon-Soo wrapped his arm around theguard’s chestand caught him, using his other hand to catch the platter.

Tak!

His movements were flawless, as if he had expectedthe accidentto happen.Not a single drop of teahitthe floor.Heplaced the platter on the table andlifted ateacuptoward his dry lips. He took a sip of the teaandremarked, “Ittastes terrible… as always.”

Both Hermia and the guard were dumbfounded, as if they had been struck on the head.

“Before Ilook attheOrb of theCovenant, I need a few things first,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

***

The thing Kang Yoon-Soo had asked for was none other than alcohol. He specifically requested the strongest alcohol they had in the lord’s mansion. Hermia ordered the guard tocomply with his request.

“I’m glad you came here,” the guard said whilepropping a bookshelf on the floor upright. Hewas not particularly large, but he was surprisingly strong.Henavigatedaround the various miscellaneous items spread out on the floorwhile babbling, “It’s a waste to keep Lord Hermiain a frontier territory in the middle of the wilderness like this. She was the one that took me in when I lost all of my familyina fire. She used to tell me about the story of the Lepe family. I'mglad that she’llnow befreed from that duty.”

“You thinkshe’sbeautiful, don’t you?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the guard asked back.

Kang Yoon-Soo picked up a hand mirror on the floor and saidquietly, “I know someone more beautiful than her. That’s why.”

“If there’s someone more beautiful than Lord Hermia, I would love to meet her. I’ve lived in Kerlin my whole life, and I’ve never been toany other places,”the guard said.

“You can meet her too,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Wow,really? How can I meet her then?” the guardaskedin surprise.

“Take yourhelmetoff and look in the mirror,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The guard’s busily moving handssuddenly stopped. Her back was turned toward Kang Yoon-Soo, but her anger was visible as she said coldly,“...Do they call women who are bald andcovered inburn marks beautiful outside Kerlin?What anunsophisticated joke you have there.”[1]

“I’m not a fan of jokes,” Kang Yoon-Soo repliedcurtly.

“You sound like an old man who’salready fully lived his life.”the guardretortedsarcastically.

“I’m tired ofit, that'swhy,”Kang Yoon-Soo said bluntly.

The guard finally found the strongest alcohol they had in the mansion;it was a whiskey with very high alcohol content. As she was walking towardthe door, however, a mouse suddenly came out of nowhere. She grabbed the mouse’s tail and started to tickle it, her own giggles audible even through her helmet.

“Hehehehe…Ehem.” She came back to hersenseswhen she noticed that Kang Yoon-Soo was looking at her.Just asshe was about to let the mouse down, however…

“Squeak!”

“Ouch!”

The mouse jumpedinto the guard’shelmetand started to runall overher face.Flustered, sheimmediately threw herhelmetontothe ground, and her eyesmet Kang Yoon-Soo’s.

She looked pitiful.Her bald head was grotesque, covered in disgusting, shriveled burn scars that reached all the way across her face and down to her neck.The left side of her face had the most serious burns;her left eye lookedas if it had sunken into her skull.

The guard quickly covered her face with her hands after chasing away the mouse, screaming,“Don't look at me!”

She hated letting anyone see her pitiful appearance more than anything else. In fact, shewould ratherdie thanletanyone see her—especially agood-lookingyoung man like the one in front of her.Although she had covered her face, she was filled with unbearable shame.However,Kang Yoon-Soo tapped her on the shoulder and handed thehelmetto her withoutshowing any expression.

“I’m sorry,”the guardsaid after hurriedlydonning the helmet again.

“Why?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked in the same unenthusiastictonehe always had.

“Because I let you see my appearance. I’m sorry you had to see something so hideous,”the guardreplied while biting her lips.

“It’s not hideous at all,” Kang Yoon-Soo remarked.

“You mean my appearance isn’t scary?”the guardasked again in surprise.

“Not at all,”Kang Yoon-Sooanswered.

The guard was astonished. Usually, whenever a man saw her face, they wouldbescared or spit a curse at her. However, Kang Yoon-Soo was different. Heshowed no signof disgust; in fact, hemaintained a calm expressionthe whole time.Neither did it seemas ifhe wereacting this way just to be nice.Perhaps he was not so badafter all.

Suddenly, as Kang Yoon-Soo stared at her, he asked, “What are you doing standing around?”

***

“Will this place suffice?”Hermia asked.

It was awide, deserted plain, empty as far as the eye could see.In this land, where not even a blade of grass grew, three peoplestood.

Hermia took out a red orb—theOrb of theCovenant.It was too large to be held inone hand, and its crimson hue resembled a wild flame sleeping within it.Shecarefully placed the orb on the ground and said, “According to the story my grandmother told me, Ignus left behind a fragment of its power in theOrb of theCovenant. However, you have to pass the trials the orb has prepared for you if you want to obtain the power of Ignus; a trialin whichyou willhave to put your life on the line.”

Hermia proposed to put her troops on standby just in case, but Kang Yoon-Soo refused theoffer.Helooked at the guard,whohanded him the whiskey bottleandasked, “Forgive me for asking,but where do you plan on using that?”

“Oh, I was curious about that too,” Hermia asked as well.

However, Kang Yoon-Soogave them noanswer as hesilently tied the bottle to his waist. He then said,“The lonely traveler that traversed theDesert ofDeath shall meet his end in the burning fire and return to the eternal mirage.”

It was the poem of Ignus, but the words were slightly different. At that moment, cracks appeared on the ground where the orbhad beenplaced, anditlet out a blindingly bright light. Hermia and her guard quickly moved back.

A tall shadowrose from the orb andsuddenly said,“I can feel someone worthy of inheriting the power ofIgnusin this place.”

The being was aSpartoi, a creature that resembled a cross between a red dragon and a human male. Its whole body was covered in rough scales, and it wasfourmeters tall. It held a thick spearin its hand,andits body was covered in bulky muscles.

[A Spartoi of theIgnus Dragon (Clone) has appeared.]

[You may obtain a fragment of the dragon’spower if you pass the trialsof the Spartoi.]

[You will face the fury of the Spartoi if you fail to pass the trial or choose to give uphalfway.]

“Are you the one who wishes to inherit the power of the Supreme Being?”the Spartoiasked.

Kang Yoon-Soosaid nothing.

The Spartoi raised its spear up and declared, “I, the Spartoi of theIgnus Dragon, will test you. You will obtain the fragment of the dragon’spower if you manage to pass my test.”

The Spartoi swung its spearat a speed that tore the air apart.

Whoosh!

Hermia and her guardgulped and looked onas they watched from afar.

A red cloth fell from the sky and wrapped itselfacrossKang Yoon-Soo’s eyes. The Spartoi said,“You, face me with your eyes covered. Itmatters notif you use magic or a puppet. I will acknowledge you if you manage to defeat me. Of course, I will give you time to practice.”

The two women watched, stunned and horrified. How couldanyone face that fearsome Spartoi with their eyescovered? It was impossible even for a sword expert to achievesuch afeat.

“Wait,” said Kang Yoon-Soo, raisinghis right hand.

The Spartoistopped suddenly, his spear at the ready. At that moment, Kang Yoon-Soo opened the whiskey bottle, and Hermia and her guard watched intently.‘Surely that man will be doing something amazing,’they told themselves.‘What will he do with the whiskey?’

Gulp.Gulp.

Kang Yoon-Soo started to down the whiskey without stopping, finishing the whole bottleat once.He thenthrew the empty bottle to the floorbefore drawing his greatswordand saying, “I don’t need to practice. Bring it on.”

Hermia and her guard lookedas if they had been hit inthe back of the head. They looked ateach other in horror.

“He asked us to give him the whiskey just because he wanted to drink it?”

“Hecan’t evensee in front of him, but he still drank alcohol?”

The situation before them seemed completely absurd. To the two women, Kang Yoon-Soo’s actions were no differentfromthrowing away his life.

The Spartoi’s expression twisted into one of disgust as he said, “I will be facing you with all of my strength. You may lose your life,and yet youare so certain that you will be winning?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo answereddryly.

“You! You arrogant fool!”The Spartoi’s spear suddenly thrust forward, as if it planned to pierce Kang Yoon-Soo’s body right from the start.

1.This is the first time her gender is revealed. Korean lacks gender pronouns, so ‘he’ was used to prevent spoiling it.👈