Record of a Thousand Lives

To those who wish to learn, learn to listen.

—Library of Knowledge

Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyes were closed, but he was not sleeping.
The party was encamped in the forest the way they usually were, and a hot summer breeze enveloped their bodies.

Snore…!

Henrick’s snoring tickled Kang Yoon-Soo’s ears, and he turned over to his left.

There, Iris was chewing her lips while mumbling in her sleep, “Mmmm… Love… So this is what love tastes like…”

Kang Yoon-Soo turned once again and looked up at the night sky, which had thousands of stars scattered across it.
He thought, ‘I’m not sure if things are going the right way or not…’

He had been able to obtain Nell’s Fishing Rod easily.
Overall, he had not really wasted much time, even though there were some unexpected variables in his plans such as the White Shadow, the fight with Helkin, and the goddess’ request.
He was making progress in his journey to kill the Demon Lord.

‘But the Demon Lord will appear earlier this time…’ he thought.

Time was the main issue at the moment.
Everything could all be for naught, even if he went to the Magic Tower where the Colossi resided to solve the mystery behind the changes that had happened in this life.
However, he had no other choice but to do his very best in this final life of his.

‘The Demon Lord gets weaker the more he regresses,’ he thought.

It was hard to predict how weak the Demon Lord would be after regressing for the thousandth time.
All he could do now was try his utmost to grow as strong as he could.
Kang Yoon-Soo had to kill the Demon Lord, as that was the only way to prevent the destruction of the world.

“Are you not going to sleep?” a voice called out.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The voice belonged to Shaneth.
She continued in her still-sleepy voice, “You must be tired.
Please go and get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Are you sulking because I didn’t let you drink before going to bed?” Shaneth asked.

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with his usual curtness.

“…I can’t read you at all because you always give such short replies,” Shaneth grumbled.

Kang Yoon-Soo closed his eyes and replied, “You should go and get some sleep.”

“Forget it.
I’m dead tired, but my mind is awake now thanks to you,” Shaneth said.
She got up and moved over to Kang Yoon-Soo’s side.
He scooted sideways and gave her some space, and she lay down beside him before saying, “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

Shaneth drew closer to him and whispered in his ear, “What about something secret?”

Kang Yoon-Soo felt that he would be getting the short end of the stick.
He was aware of every single one of Shaneth’s secrets; he even knew her period cycle.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“I knew it…” Shaneth said, pouting and sulking.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly felt that he did not want to keep his eyes closed, so he opened his eyes and looked at Shaneth.
There was still a burn mark on her face, but her skin was as soft and beautiful as ever.
However, she would disappear forever if the world was destroyed, and he wanted to keep seeing her by his side.

“Say it,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Say what?” Shaneth asked.

“Your secret,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“…Really?” Shaneth asked.

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth’s face brightened up as she said expectantly, “Then we’ll take turns asking each other anything we’re curious about, and we have to answer the questions.
But! You can’t lie, okay?”

“I won’t lie,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Hmm… It’s hard for me to trust you, going by your usual behavior…” Shaneth muttered.
Kang Yoon-Soo just stared at her.

Shaneth quickly said, “Then I’ll ask first.”

She asked a question she had already prepared beforehand.
“I was always curious about this.
How do you know so much? You usually tend to accurately predict things that will happen in the future.”

“I’ve lived long enough to know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Huh? But you haven’t lived that long, have you?” Shaneth asked.

“It’s my turn to ask a question now,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, cutting her off.

“But you gave me such an insincere response…” Shaneth said while pouting.

Kang Yoon-Soo was unfazed as he asked his question.
“Why am I still awake?”

“Hmm… I don’t know… but are you not supposed to ask me something you were wondering about me?” Shaneth asked.

“Wait three seconds,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Huh?” Shaneth exclaimed, seemingly nervous.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly got up, drew his sword, and swung it.
He struck a shadow lurking in the darkness with the back of his sword, and it fell to the ground.

Bam!

Shaneth quickly extended her hand and used a skill.
“Pyrokinesis!”

The flame she conjured spread out into the darkness and ignited some of the vegetation in the forest.
The shadow scurried away from the fire, but it was then that Henrick and Iris suddenly got up.

“Is it an ambush?” Henrick asked.

“I’m still sleepy,” Iris muttered.

Shaneth asked in surprise, “You two weren’t sleeping?”

However, there was no time for them to respond.
The tiny shadow suddenly moved around wildly; everywhere it went, it bent tree branches, dug up the dirt ground, and broke stones.
It was moving at such a high speed that it was difficult to follow with the naked eye.

“Oh wind of the night, expand yourself and crush thy enemy,” Iris chanted, casting a spell.
It was one of the spells she had obtained after eating the Vampire Lord’s heart.
The gravity around the shadow increased, and its movement became visibly slower.

“Pyrokinesis!” Shaneth shouted, and a fireball cut through the air.

The shadow narrowly managed to avoid the fireball, which flew past and lit a bush on fire.
The brightly burning bush illuminated the surroundings, exposing the identity of the tiny shadow hiding in the darkness.

“Hihi…!” A beautiful little girl grinned widely, looking as if her mouth were about to tear open.

Henrick raised an eyebrow and asked, “How the hell did that punk get out of the summoning box by herself…?”

The shadow was Rick.
The little girl laughed madly as she moved by herself, and the gravity suppressing her slowly started to dissipate.

“I’m running out of mana!” Iris shouted.

Rick jumped up, seemingly bouncing off the ground, and her target was none other than Henrick.
She aimed her tiny but powerful fist at him while baring her tiny teeth.

Clang!

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly appeared in front of Henrick and pushed Rick away with the back of his sword, placing the blade on Rick’s neck as soon as she landed.

“Hik! Hihi! Hik!” Rick laughed.
She was still on a rampage, but Kang Yoon-Soo stepped firmly on her leg to prevent her from moving around.

Kang Yoon-Soo’s sword remained on Rick’s neck as he looked at Henrick and said, “Lullaby.”

“What?” Henrick asked.

“Sing a lullaby,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Rick had gone mad, and the fastest way to calm her down was to sing her a lullaby.

“Hihihihi!” Rick continued laughing like a madman while squirming to free her leg.

“Hurry,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“I’ll sing one since we don’t have time,” Shaneth said.

However, Henrick waved his hand and said, “I’ll do it.
I have to take responsibility for not taking proper care of my own doll anyway.”

“Really? Ahjussi will? You don’t usually do these kinds of things, right?” Shaneth asked in surprise.

Henrick pointed at the rampaging Rick with his chin and said, “I’m that thing’s owner.”

Then, he cleared his throat and started to sing.

We’re the drunkards of today.

We don’t think of tomorrow!

We enjoy drinking our booze.

Oh, sweet happiness! Oh, bitter life! It’s all the same in the end!

Yahoo!

We’re the drunkards of today.

Our pockets might be empty, but our mugs are full!

We don’t have any appetizers, but there are plenty of things to chew on.

Let’s all get drunk! Everyone, raise your mugs! Cover the streets in your vomit!

Yahoo!

We’re the drunkards of today.

We don’t remember the past!

We always look forward to the future.

Today is at the pub! Tomorrow will be at the inn! The day after will be at a bar!

Yahoo!

He was not really good at singing, but his song had a catchy melody, and Rick slowly started to calm down as he kept singing.
The moment he finished, Rick became docile once again.

[Your song has moved Rick.]

[Rick has a lot of interest in lullabies.]

[Lullabies are an excellent way to restore Rick’s mental state.]

Mental State: +10

Current Mental State: 10

*Rick will go on a rampage if her mental state drops to zero.

Shaneth was dumbfounded and asked, “How is that even a lullaby…?”

“What? There’s no better lullaby for us drunkards than this song,” Henrick replied.
He then rubbed his chin and said, “But it’s strange.
Her mental state was at five a while ago… Why did she suddenly go mad?”

“It’s easy for Rick to go mad when she’s stuck in the summoning box with only a little bit of mental state left,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.

“No wonder she suddenly popped out of the summoning box on her own,” Henrick said, clicking his tongue.

As Kang Yoon-Soo sheathed his sword, Rick asked in a small voice, “What did I do?”

“Nothing much.
You just went mad and tried to kill us, that’s all,” Henricky said sarcastically.

Rick lowered her head and her shoulders trembled.
Then, she asked in a voice that was as small as an ant, “…Will you abandon me, Henrick?”

“Why would I abandon you?” Henrick replied.

Then, Rick slowly lifted her head and asked once again, “You won’t abandon me?”

“I won’t,” Henrick replied.

“But I tried to kill you,” Rick said.

“There was also a time when I was going through puberty that I wanted to kill my parents,” Henrick said with a shrug.
He added, “But I don’t know why I miss my parents now that I’m older.”

“Henrick is a strange puppeteer,” Rick said, looking up at him.

Henrick smiled at her and replied, “Isn’t that why I’m your descendant? Grandma.”

“…Don’t call me grandma,” Rick grumbled.

“Then should I call you my ancestor?” Henrick asked.

Rick blushed a little and replied, “Just call me Rick.”

[Rick feels familial love toward you.]

[Rick will become easier to control the longer you maintain her sanity.]

[More opportunities for her to grow stronger will present themselves the longer you maintain her sanity.]

Mental State: +5

Current Mental State: 15

*Rick will go on a rampage if her mental state drops to zero.

“Alright, take better care of your mental state next time.
Don’t go crazy and inconvenience the others,” Henrick said before putting Rick back in his summoning box.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and thought, ‘I guess there will be fewer episodes of Rick going crazy from now on.’

It was only the beginning, but Henrick was slowly learning how to nurture Rick.
However, there was no guarantee that he would be able to raise Rick the right way, as he himself was still lacking.

Iris stared at Henrick in amazement and said, “Henrick, you did not scold Rick at all, contrary to what I expected.”

“I managed to learn how to deal with women after traveling with women who have strong personalities like you two,” Henrick said.

Shaneth laughed and replied, “But I think you still have a long way to go.”

“Hmm… Rather than that… It’s a bummer that I wasn’t able to listen to your stories until the end,” Henrick said.

“Ah!” Shaneth exclaimed.
She blushed and asked, “How long have you two been awake?”

“Ehem! Isn’t it obvious that anyone’s ears would perk up when they heard someone talking about a secret?” Henrick said.

“Shaneth becomes even cuter when she talks to Kang Yoon-Soo alone,” Iris said while giggling.

Shaneth covered her flushed face with both hands and muttered, “I’m about to die from embarrassment…”

Kang Yoon-Soo just stared quietly at Shaneth.
She asked in a small voice, “…Were you aware that those two weren’t asleep?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Shut up and go to sleep,” Shaneth snapped angrily.

Kang Yoon-Soo immediately did as he was told, and the other two immediately followed suit.
The vast, starry night sky came into view.

“Where are we going tomorrow? Is it somewhere like the Desert of Death or the Vampire City again?” Henrick asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, “The Library of Knowledge.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.
Why is it suddenly a normal place?” Henrick asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Shaneth, who had finally managed to calm down, asked, “Library? You mean a place where they keep books and let you borrow them?”

“It’s not an ordinary library.
The Library of Knowledge is the largest library on the entire continent.
It literally has every single book ever written, and it’s also a place every magician or scholar will visit at least once in their lifetime,” Henrick explained.

“I am looking forward to it now that you say that they have a lot of books,” Iris said excitedly.

Shaneth said, sounding somewhat relieved, “But I hope we won’t have to fight anything in a library…”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“…What did you just say?” Shaneth asked in disbelief.

“There’s nothing to fight there,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
He muttered to himself, ‘At least for you guys.’

Shaneth tilted her head in confusion before asking, “Did you say something at the end?”

Kang Yoon-Soo did not answer, making the party members nervous with his silence.

“Why is it that I feel more nervous now that he’s said it that way…?” Henrick muttered.

“No kidding.
How did we end up like this in the first place?” Shaneth asked.

“I guess I will have to read a lot of books at the library,” Iris said, smiling cheerfully.

Kang Yoon-Soo added, “You’ll read a lot.”

Henrick yawned and said, “Let’s just go to sleep.
I’m really tired.”

Kang Yoon-Soo closed his eyes, and the rest of the party members fell asleep.

The summer would end soon.

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