Record of a Thousand Lives

“Kartheon!” the Grave Soldier shouted angrily.

“Do you know Kartheon?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“No, I do not.
But the owner of my right-hand feels a deep sense of hatred for that name,” the Grave Soldier replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo could only summon low or mid-ranked undead, but he could use Nakron’s Codex to collect materials and create high-ranked undead.
The Grave Soldier was a high-ranked undead being that was made from the corpses of many soldiers.

The Grave Soldier harbored a deep sense of hatred toward the ancient king, and it also had excellent commanding ability.
There was no one else more suitable to command the undead army at that time than the Grave Soldier created by the Mini-Lich.

“I will kill Kartheon!” the Grave Soldier exclaimed as it moved out with its undead troops.

Kang Yoon-Soo finished his business in the tomb. He stared at the Mini-Lich for a moment.

The Mini-Lich asked when it found Kang Yoon-Soo staring at it, “Do you have something to say, master?”

There was something bothering Kang Yoon-Soo.
He eventually said, “Don’t call me ‘master’ from now on.”

“Why?” the Mini-Lich asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo was silent for a moment.
It was not something he would usually concern himself with, and it was not something related to killing the Demon Lord, but he could not help but feel bothered by it.
He finally said, “I don’t like being called that.”

“Why do you not want to be called ‘master’? Humans usually love that word.
It means I am master’s servant,” the Mini-Lich said while tilting its bony head.

“You aren’t my servant,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The Mini-Lich tilted its head in confusion once again and asked, “If I am not your servant… What am I to master?”

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

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“Master is a weird human,” the Mini-Lich said as it scratched its hollow eye socket.
It asked, “Then what should I call you?”

“It’s up to you,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The Mini-Lich hesitated for a moment before saying, “Then I will call you ‘friend’.”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“…” The Mini-Lich was left with a dilemma.
It clacked its jaw and said, “I am stupid.”

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“That is why I want to learn more.
I want a teacher who can always teach me new things,” the Mini-Lich said as it looked up at Kang Yoon-Soo.
It continued, “What if master becomes a teacher to me?”

“Teacher?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Master is an amazing human.
You know everything about the world and you are good at everything.
That is why I want you to become my teacher, who will teach me different kinds of things,” the Mini-Lich said.
It was to be expected, considering its thirst for knowledge.

Kang Yoon-Soo pondered for a moment, before he nodded and said, “Alright.”

“See you next time, teacher,” the Mini-Lich said as it gripped Nakron’s Codex and disappeared into the summon dimension.

Kang Yoon-Soo had been left alone, but he was deep in thought. ‘Why did I say something like that…?’

A master or a teacher… Why did it matter what the Lich called him? ‘I don’t know…’

Perhaps it was because it was his last life? He felt himself slowly changing.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo eventually shook his head and thought, ‘There’s no time for me to waste thinking about things like this.’

He pressed a button on his wrist device, and newly updated information on the legendary quest popped up.

[Legendary Quest—Emperor of Time]

The ancient king Kartheon has surpassed time and resurrected.
Kartheon is trying to destroy the continent by using his powers.
Stop him from achieving his goals.

Rewards: Authority of Domination or Authority of Time

Kang Yoon-Soo started to prepare for the upcoming war.

***

Smoke rose from a campfire in Kartheon’s campsite.

Katz rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked, “Where’s the Colossus? That huge thing disappeared overnight.”

“That is none of your business,” Kartheon replied as he looked into the horizon.

His thousands of mummies scoured the desert looking for prey to hunt, in order to make the dry sands run with rivers of blood once more.

“Katz, do you think I am doing something stupid?” Kartheon asked.

Katz instinctively knew he had to lie this time, but his lips took after their owner and stubbornly refused to do what his instinct told him.
He replied, “Yes, I think so, your majesty.”

“Is it so wrong to want to regress?” Kartheon asked.

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“It’s more about the fact your majesty doesn’t give a damn about the world that will be left behind.
That’s the problem,” Katz answered before gulping water from a canteen.

Katz extended the water canteen to Kartheon, but the ancient king shook his head and said, “It is difficult…”

“Don’t you know how to drink water?” Katz asked.

Kartheon furrowed his barely-intact brows and said, “Not that.
Regressing, I mean.”

“I was kidding, your majesty,” Katz said with a shrug.

Kartheon let out a laugh and said, “You seem to have made yourself comfortable.”

“I think I began to understand the loneliness of a king after being choked by the neck,” Katz said.

“What do you mean?” Kartheon asked.

“You majesty could have immediately killed me when you strangled me, just like when you killed my fellow graverobber, but your majesty spared me—until now,” Katz said seriously.
He continued, “Your majesty needed someone to talk to, am I right?”

Kartheon nodded slightly, but did not affirm or deny what Katz said.

Katz asked something he had wanted to ask for a long time. “Will your majesty kill me too?”

“Did I not answer that already? I will kill every living being on this continent,” Kartheon said. Katz grimaced at the ancient king’s words. Kartheon laughed and added, “Your life was wasted as a graverobber.”

“Is that so? Then could your majesty at least build me a nice tomb to make it look as if I used to be someone important after you kill me?” Katz requested.

“What should I engrave on your tombstone?” Kartheon asked.

“Hmm… I have no idea, since I’m uneducated, after all,” Katz answered.

“I have a suggestion.
What about ‘the one who stole from the dead paid for his crimes one last time’?” Kartheon suggested.

“Ugh… It feels as if other graverobbers would just dig me up.
It’s not as if there would be anything to be stolen, though,” Katz complained.

“You enjoyed robbing the dead, but you do not want to be robbed when you die?” Kartheon remarked, sounding amused.

“Isn’t that normal?” Katz replied.

“I suppose it is along the same lines as my desire to regress,” Kartheon said.

Katz was flabbergasted when he heard the ancient king’s words.
He quickly changed the topic, and asked “Has your majesty thought of what to engrave on your tombstone?”

“I have already died once.
I already had a tombstone beside my coffin,” Kartheon replied.

Katz rattled his brain, and now that he thought about it, there had been some complicated inscriptions written on the coffin.
He asked, “What was written there?”

Right as Kartheon was about to respond, he suddenly said, “There is an ambush.”

“What?!” Katz exclaimed.

The surroundings were quiet as Katz looked around. Suddenly, he saw a cloud of dust charging toward them.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed there were close to a thousand undead heading their way.

“W-what?! Why would the undead suddenly show up?!” Katz exclaimed in surprise.

“I do not think the battle will end today,” Kartheon remarked as he headed down the sand dune to gather his mummies. Katz hurriedly followed behind the ancient king.

The prelude to the war between the king who controlled time and the regressor had started.