Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 16

The treasure of the Yultika Ruin was a bracer?embedded with a silver mane?and a large steel chain.

[Silvermane Bracer]

Rating: Rare

Strength: 67

The mane of a?magic-wielding?werewolf?has been embedded in this bracer. The user will be able to use the strength of a werewolf, and may summon the spirit of an ancient wolf when facing a powerful enemy.

[Chain of Obedience]

It is enchanted with obedience magic and can be used to tame an animal-type monster. Taming difficulty will increase if the level difference between the user and the monster is great, and success rate will increase if the monster is exhausted or inflicted with status?conditions. Taming?will be successful once the monster acknowledges the user.

[The Yultika Ruin has been conquered.]

[Conqueror: Kang Yoon-Soo]

[Rank 1 Achievement: Shaneth Elogran]

[You have conquered the Yultika Ruin.]

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

[Your reflexes have increased slightly.]

[Your physical abilities will increase when exposed to moonlight.]

[Critical?chance?against?wolf-type?monsters has?increased.]

[Conquered Ruins: 1]

[729 monsters?remain?in the ruin.]

[The werewolves will not forgive you if you do not honor your promise.]

“That’s amazing. I didn’t know they showed the achievement rankings. I guess it?would?be easier for clans to distribute the rewards?like this,” Shaneth said while flicking her finger in mid-air, eyes wide as she stared at the system messages.

Kang Yoon-Soo equipped the Silvermane Bracer. An accessory that increased the user’s strength was very rare, and the Silvermane Bracer was able to compensate for his low level. He said, “Let’s go.”

“You mean?leave?the ruin?” Shaneth aske.

“Yeah,”?Kang Yoon-Soo?replied.

“But… The ruin is still filled with werewolves. Don’t you think it’ll?be difficult to convince them this time since they’re?angry?”?Shaneth asked, her brow furrowed. She did not want to imagine being ripped apart by 700?werewolves.

“It’s alright,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, showing her?the Chain of Obedience in his hand.

They?went back?down?from?the altar and stepped out of the room. The silver beast was still lying on the ground, exhausted. Kang Yoon-Soo dashed toward the beast and put the Chain of Obedience on its neck.

“Kreuuung…!”?The beast roared, trying to resist, but it could not win against Kang Yoon-Soo.?It?tried to cut the chains with its claws, but?fell to?the ground before it could.

[You have successfully captured the Silver Beast of the Wild.]

[Do you wish to tame this monster?]

“Yes,?I’ll tame it,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

[You have successfully tamed the Silver Beast of the Wild.]

[The Silver Beast of the Wild has been freed from the Yultika Ruin.]

.

[Please name the tamed monster.]

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the silver-white fur of the beast and said, “White.”

[White]

Level: 104

Race: Silver Beast (Werewolf Variant)

[Strength]: 71

[Reflex]: 27

[Instinct]: 6

Skills: Wind Claw (Lvl3)

A werewolf variant?that?was chased out of its pack for being born with white fur, and evolved into a werewolf after chasing?the?moonlight. It became the boss monster of the Yultika Ruin after being caught up in the ruin’s magic power. It has a nasty temper and?a?skeptical personality.

The?Silver?Beast had?become a named monster. Named monsters were able to?level up,?unlike normal monsters.?In other words, the?Silver?Beast, White, had?become a boss monster.

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out the daggers he had embedded in White’s body, then?took out a landworm’s feelers and a wooden bowl. He ground the feelers up and mixed?them?with some of the leftover mead,?turning the mixture?into a yellowish liquid.

“Drink it,” he commanded.

“Urno...”?White began.

Kang Yoon-Soo kicked the?beast in the jaw?before it could finish speaking.

Pukeok!

“Yelp!”?White whimpered and rolled around the ground in pain. Kang Yoon-Soo had kicked one of its newly grown fangs.

Kang Yoon-Soo?did not miss the?opportunity?to pour?the liquid down White’s throat.

Gulp!

The liquid Kang Yoon-Soo had made?could regenerate?muscles. White’s eyes suddenly opened wide after swallowing the liquid, and its muscles miraculously started to recover.

Kang Yoon-Soo?wrapped?the chain around White’s neck as if?they?were reins and hopped on?the beast’s?broad back. White growled and tried to stand up in refusal, but the Chain of Obedience made?it?obey the man’s?commands. White glared at?Kang Yoon-Soo?with evident fury,?but it was?unable to shake?him?off its back.

“Get on.” Kang Yoon-Soo held his hand out to Shaneth.

“Is it really alright?”?Shaneth asked nervously.

There were some cases of highly skilled tamers using wild wolves as their mount, but to ride a wild werewolf? It was something no?one?had heard of, nor was it something anyone had imagined.

“It’s alright,”?Kang Yoon-Soo?answered.

Shaneth hesitated.?‘Can I trust this man…?’?she thought to herself. However, her hesitation did not last long, and she took Kang Yoon-Soo’s hand and hopped on the beast.?‘I guess trusting him a little won’t hurt,’?she thought as she sat down behind him. She wrapped her arms?tightly?around his waist because she was afraid to fall.

“Run,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

“Kreuuuung!” White shot?forward?like an arrow and started running.

“Kyaaaaah!”?Shaneth screamed?once White started running.?She?had?experience riding a horse,?but this was just too fast. Her vision started to?grow?hazy, her?hair?became?all?tangled, and she could not even hold her head up.

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled on the chains and changed the direction White was running?in, and whenever White changed directions, Shaneth felt as if she?were?going to die.

“Keung! Keung!”

“Grrrrrr!”

The werewolves started to chase after them once they left the center of the ruin, but no matter how fast the?werewolves were,?they could not catch up to White’s speed. The werewolves bared their fangs as they kept running, but they soon gave up after running out of stamina.

Some werewolves?blocked their path. Perhaps White did not want to kill its own kind, however;?it surprisingly chose to howl and avoid them, much unlike?its usual aggressive temperament.

Shaneth?had?not expected to have a calm ride like a trip in a carriage, but she had to clench her teeth to avoid biting her own tongue because of how rough?it?was.?“Alright?! What do you mean it’s?alright?!” she complained.

“I lied,”?Kang Yoon-Soo?replied.

Shaneth felt like killing him for real this time, and she sympathized with White for a moment.

“Urnokra!” the silver beast that was carrying the?pair?roared.

***

Hiledan?was?a city famous for its alchemy;?it was a stark contrast from Kerlin,?which?was located on the other side of the wilderness.?It?had rows of buildings and numerous pedestrians walking its streets. It was?more developed than?Kerlin, which was nothing more than a provincial territory.

The city was filled with?all sorts?of people;?among them were a merchant trying to make a sale?to?a stubborn customer, a bard performing on the street for some?change, and travelers that had wrist devices like Kang Yoon-Soo.?Travelers?busily told?tales of their adventures in pubs. Hiledan was a bustling city with a peaceful atmosphere.

Shaneth closed her eyes and slowly opened them again. She?was excited, her heart racing?from seeing the bustling and unfamiliar atmosphere in front of her. “The city is an awesome place,” she said as she looked on, awestruck.

“Hiledan is a small city,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Really? You mean there?are cities?bigger than this?”?Shaneth?asked in surprise.

“Yeah,”?Kang Yoon-Soo?nonchalantly replied.

“We plan to go there too…?Right?”?Shaneth asked expectantly.

“Yeah,”?Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

Shaneth smiled like a?child excited to go?on a field trip the next day, while Kang Yoon-Soo was expressionless as usual.

‘I have to roam the continent and get stronger to kill the Demon Lord,’?Kang Yoon-Soo thought to himself. He was different from Shaneth;?there was no place in the continent that he looked forward to visiting. He had already visited every single place?on?the continent,?from a certain kid’s hideout?to the lair of the Dragon of Destruction.

If he were?asked to choose some places that still thrilled him, it would be the magic tower and the forbidden areas of the continent. He could die in those places in an instant, even with all the knowledge and experience he had from his previous lives—those places were forbidden for a reason. He had visited those places in his previous life, but he had still barely cheated death numerous times despite leveling his stats up to the?highest possible limit.

‘I won’t be going to those places anyway,’?he muttered to himself.?Those places allowed him to?level up quickly,?but the risks were too high, and Kang Yoon-Soo did not plan to die before killing the Demon Lord.

‘What I have to do in Hiledan is…’?he thought as he started to reminisce.

He had gone through all sorts of troubles and hardships when he arrived at Hiledan in his first life. He?had been unable to imagine what kind of danger lurked in this peaceful town. However, it?was different this time. This Kang Yoon-Soo?had regressed until he was sick of it. He?knew exactly?what he had to do to maximize his profits from this?city.

‘I have to kill that guy first.’

The first thing Kang Yoon-Soo planned to do in this peaceful city was, ironically,?murder.