Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 6

Boss monsters had?higher stats compared to normal monsters, and their destructiveness?was?not something?most people could?take head-on. The group,?apart from?Kang Yoon-Soo, lost their composure?upon?the appearance of the?Giant Hobgoblin. They were so surprised that their legs would?no longer listen to them.

At?that moment, the?Giant Hobgoblin?swung its machete down.

Swoosh!

Hong Ga-Ram was at the forefront,?and the?Giant Hobgoblin?easily cut him in half with one swing of its machete.

“Wh-what?!”

“Kyaaaaaa!”

“We… We have to run away!”

The three?survivors?started to scramble toward the exit, but the?Giant Hobgoblin?moved much faster than them. It blocked the exit with its large body and let out a terrifying howl at the humans who had massacred its clan.?“Grrr... Raaaaaaaghhhhh!”

“Damn it. We?have no?choice but to fight! Hey, come over here and help us out, Kang Yoon-Soo!” Choi Chang-Seok hurriedly shouted.

However, Kang?Yoon-Soo?slowly stood up and started to walk deeper into?the cave.

“That useless son of a…!” Kim Min-Soo cursed while he drew his sword. He charged toward the?Giant Hobgoblin?and swung his sword?at a low angle.?He?planned to reach the exit by going?between?the ankles of the?Giant Hobgoblin. However, his body was skewered as soon as the?Giant Hobgoblin?swung its machete.

“Kyaaaaaah!” Lee?Yu-Ri?screamed at the gruesome sight.?At that moment,?she?felt someone hit her from behind.?Choi Chang-Seok had kicked?her?without hesitation.?She fell?forward and hit the ankle of the?Giant Hobgoblin; it?smacked her with the hilt of its machete and crushed her to a pulp.

Choi Chang-Seok seized the moment as the?Giant Hobgoblin?was distracted?by?Lee?Yu-Ri,?and ran with all his remaining strength. He passed?between the Giant Hobgoblin’s ankles?and?almost reached the exit?of the cave, but suddenly, it?swung its machete down at?him.?He?turned around and swung his sword with all his might,?clashing?with the machete.

Clang!

Sparks flew all over as the sword and machete clashed?intensely.?The difference in strength broke Choi Chang-Seok’s wrist, and he dislocated his ankle while trying to withstand the force of the?Giant Hobgoblin’s swing.?He?was flung out of the cave and landed face down on the ground. His sword was broken, and he felt a burning pain from?the bloodied hand gripping the hilt.

“Haa…?Haa…”

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?Choi Chang-Seok pushed off the ground with all his remaining strength, as if he?were?trying to push down the earth underneath him. Thankfully, the?Giant Hobgoblin?seemed to have no intention of chasing?him outside the cave.?He?was left standing alone in the wilderness. All of his teammates were dead, and he now had to survive on his own?on?this continent.

“Kang Yoon-Soo…. That son of a bitch… You just wait and see,” Choi Chang-Seok cursed with eyes full of hatred,?as?he thought of the man who?had run?away alone when they were in danger. He then limped away while cursing Kang Yoon-Soo, his mind filled with thoughts of revenge.

***

Kang Yoon-Soo reached the end of the cave,?where?there was an altar made of bones up on the wall; a rusty chest sat?atop?the altar. The ‘immense treasure’ that Lee?Yu-Ri?had detected with her search skill was actually the item inside this chest.

Kang Yoon-Soo?ran his fingers along?the surface of the chest.?It?was tightly sealed;?it looked almost impossible to open, lacking even a keyhole. However, the moment his hands touched the chest,?it?started to tremble. A dark smoke started to rise out of?it?before long.

Psshhh!

The cave started to tremble?violently, and the stalactites on the ceiling started to smash down onto the floor. The dark smoke started to come together and slowly formed into the silhouette of a human. The human-shaped?cloud?was so tall, its head almost reached?the cave ceiling.

It spoke in a loud, evil-filled voice that reverberated?through?the cave.

[You… arrogant… weakling…!]

The corrupted soul?spoke in a terrifying voice.

[I am the soul of Nakron, the?Ultimate?Necromancer. How dare such an insignificant being?attempt?to obtain my powers without paying any price?!]

The?Ancient Heroes of old?were beings who had reached the pinnacle of their class. They were the?ones who had?blocked the invasion of Pandemonium under the leadership of Surian, the King of All Beings. The most malicious and evil one among the?Ancient?Heroes was Nakron, the?Ultimate?Necromancer;?despite that, he had stood along with the other heroes and defended the world until the very end.

Kang Yoon-Soo had awakened the corrupted soul of that very same Nakron.

[You need to pass my test and prove yourself worthy if you want to open that chest. Bring me the ground-up body of?a fire dragon?hatchling from the desert where the sun never sets, and bring me the heart of the Ice King who lives deep in the blizzard…]

“The one who killed you was Surian, the King of All Beings.”

[What…?]

The?Ancient?Hero Nakron?seemed surprised.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo, on the other hand, looked surprisingly confident. He?spilled?secrets?that even an?Ancient?Hero would?be unaware?of?without hesitation.?“The day the doors of Pandemonium?were?about to fully open, you died while fighting against the demons. However, there?was more?to your death. Surian, the King of All Beings, discreetly fed you?minuscule?amounts of poison, and that poison compounded to take away your strength.?He?betrayed you because you were ultimately planning on becoming an undying lich, and you would have proven?to be a difficult foe in the future.

[What a joke! There’s no way that’s true! Surian was my friend and my comrade;?the King of All Beings was the only one who believed in and trusted me!]

“It’s true. Your?bloodline ended, but?on the other hand,?the?Reorkan?Empire flourished. You?became known?as the vilest one among the ancient heroes, but Surian is?revered as the founder?of the empire. Go and look for the soul of Surian in the underworld if you don’t believe me;?he should still be?around?over there,” Kang Yoon-Soo said nonchalantly.

[What?! It can't be!]

Nakron?let out an exclamation of shock?while clutching his fist. His soul started to?condense into a ball before expanding rapidly.

[Surian…! You?bastard!]

Nakron disappeared after letting out an ear-splitting scream.?The chest suddenly shook open,?revealing?a leather book and a black ring inside.

[Records of the Necromancer Class]

A book written by the?Ultimate?Necromancer himself.?The secret?skills?of the Necromancer class are written in it.?You may learn the?skills?of the?Necromancer with any class. If used without a class,?you?may change?classes?into the?Ultimate Necromancer.

[Ring of Life Suppression]

Rating: Unique

Mana Increase: 725

Mana Recovery Speed: +55

Attached Skills: Spirit Creation, Soul Extraction

Nakron created this black ring to defeat the Spirit King. It is filled with the hatred of the?spirits that?once filled?the world with beauty and wonder.?You may create spirits?using rare and powerful materials.

Additionally, the souls of the living can be extracted and?stored?in the ring. The souls trapped in the ring will suffer endless pain and despair. However, the soul of?Nakron, the?creator of the?ring, cannot?be stored inside.

[Spirit Creation]

Skill Level:?1 (00.00%)

Available Creations:?Salamander (requires a dragon’s breath), Icicle (requires the essence of?thousand-year?frost), Bright (requires a lightning golem’s core), Sharpness (requires a spirit sword).

Uses rare materials to create spirits.

[Soul Extraction]

Skill Level:?1 (00.00%)

Limited?Uses: 4 times

You may extract the soul of?a recently deceased being,?or?store?a wandering soul. The extracted soul may be used to boost the abilities of the wearer or used as material to produce weapons.?In rare circumstances, the soul may be used as reinforcement or?inserted?into?a puppet.

Item ranks were?divided into normal, rare, unique, and legendary.?Normal items?were the most common type, rare items?were sold at high prices, unique items?were?very rare and difficult to find, and legendary items?had?the power to swing the balance of the continent.

The Ring of Life Suppression was a very powerful item. A?single small ring?could increase?mana by 725, and also immensely speed up mana recovery;?it had two innate skills on top of that, making it an item that?even?an archmage would?covet.

Of course, it was?not?an item that could be received?so?easily. To open the seal on the chest, one had to pass Nakron’s perilous tests. Killing the?hatchling of Flame Dragon Ignus?in?the Desert of Death, taking the heart of the Ice King?in?the Ician Mountains, and the like were not easy tasks.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo?could be considered a?transcendent being?after?he regressed for the thousandth time. He had the knowledge needed to obtain the book and the ring without going through the difficult tests prepared by Nakron.

He?equipped the Ring of Life Suppression on his finger. The?Power?Gauntlet he had equipped only slightly covered?his fingers; thus, he was able to?wear?the ring on top of?it. Then,?he?opened the leather book. The moment he did so,?a?light started to pour out?of it.

[Do you want?to?change into?the hidden?class, Ultimate?Necromancer?]

The?Ultimate Necromancer?was an excellent class. Experience points could be obtained just by raising?the?dead, and?one would revive?as an undead?being in the event of?death.?One?would also be able to ‘tame’?high-level?undead?upon reaching higher levels.?One’s magic power?would?also be?amplified several?times.

However, there?were?some downsides to the?Ultimate Necromancer class.?One’s body would?deteriorate?upon every use of the Necromancer’s power,?and over time one would fully transform into an undead being.?Additionally, if one gave up on being human and transformed into a lich in order to use all manner of powerful and evil skills, one would enter a hostile relationship with humanity.

Kang Yoon-Soo had experienced turning into a lich and raising all of the dead soldiers?on?a?battlefield as undead in one of his previous lives. However, he?calmly answered,?“I refuse.”

Once, he had been a?lich,?and he had?commanded?an?undying?army. However, he had still lost to the Demon Lord.

The wrist device acknowledged the answer.

[You have refused the class change.]

[Do you wish to inherit the Ultimate Necromancer's skills without changing your class?]

“I accept,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. The moment he finished speaking, the book slowly dissipated and was absorbed into his body.

[You have inherited the?Necromancer’s skills.]

[The new stat, 'Regeneration', has been created.]

[Mass Raise Dead]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

Mana Consumption: 100%

Raises all of the?corpses?near the caster as?low-level?undead. The undead?will be stored in?a pocket?dimension once combat ends, and?may be?summoned again later.

[Corpse Explosion]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

Mana Consumption: 40

Detonates the chosen corpse to create a powerful explosion.

[Life Drain]

Skill Level: 1 (00.00%)

Mana Consumption: 3 per second

Forcefully drains the enemy’s?health and life force.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked out of the room. The?Giant Hobgoblin?that?had been sitting?at the exit slowly stood up.

“Grrrr…!”?The boss monster stared down at Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked around at the hobgoblin corpses scattered all over the cave. He slowly raised his right arm and muttered,?“Mass Raise Dead.”

.

One by one, the bloody corpses started to?rise up slowly.