Record of a Thousand Lives

Choi Chang-Seok looked suspiciously at Kang Yoon-Soo. He wasn’t well equipped and he didn’t look that strong, and even if he could be high leveled, it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the difference in numbers; there were even traps installed at the entrance of the cave.

At that moment, the sound of busy footsteps emerged from within the cave. Suddenly, dozens of goblins appeared, running toward the group. Just like the corpses, they looked different from ordinary goblins; they had red skin and were larger than the average goblin.

“Kyarak! Kyararak! Kyaruruk!” they exclaimed.

Choi Chang-Seok quickly drew his sword and shouted, “Damn it! There were still more of them left. It’s a group of hobgoblins! Everyone, prepare for combat!”

“Kyaruruk!” A red goblin drew its dagger and charged forward.

“Haap!” Choi Chang-Seok, who was at the forefront of the group, swung his sword.

Clang!

The hobgoblin’s dagger broke and a long cut appeared on its cheek. Choi Chang-Seok took advantage of the moment the hobgoblin let out a scream to bury his sword deep in its heart.

“Haa… Haa… Damn it!” Choi Chang-Seok muttered while trying to catch his breath. But before he could recover, another hobgoblin popped out and swung its longsword toward him. Surprised by the sudden attack, he was left wide open and could only close his eyes.

The moment Choi Chang-Seok began to close his eyes, Hong Ga-Ram swung his axe with great force and split the hobgoblin in half; it fell over dead, spilling its bowels onto the floor. Still, there were more hobgoblins left to deal with, and they slowly started to surround the group.

From the back, Lee Yu-Ri shouted, her voice filled with fear, “Oppa! I found the wrong goblin nest! These aren’t ordinary goblins; these are hobgoblins!”

“It’s already too late to run away! Stop whining and start shooting your arrows!” Choi Chang-Seok shouted in response.

Hobgoblins were a subspecies of goblin with red skin. They were larger than normal goblins, and they equipped themselves with weapons they crafted. There were a lot of experienced warriors among the hobgoblins, and they were around Level 30.

Choi Chang-Seok was Level 36, and the other members’ levels were approximately around Level 30. Choi Chang-Seok could still fight against the hobgoblins, but the difference in number was just too great to overcome.

Roughly a hundred hobgoblins immediately surrounded the group as some of the others ran to seal off the cave exit. The hobgoblins were much stronger than normal goblins and had even equipped themselves with better gear. Choi Chang-Seok cut down another hobgoblin and tried to catch his breath.

‘Damn it! How the hell did that guy face these monsters alone?’ Choi Chang-Seok thought as he stared at Kang Yoon-Soo, who was fighting against the hobgoblins with a sword and a spear in each hand. He easily evaded an attack from a hobgoblin and cut its head off with one clean swing. His movements could no longer be considered dazzling; rather, mechanical was a better word to describe them. He alone had killed thirty hobgoblins already.

“Was his level actually very high?” Choi Chang-Seok muttered to himself in confusion. Kang Yoon-Soo’s choice of weapons was strange, and that was the only logical explanation Choi Chang-Seok could think of. It was almost impossible to hunt like that unless he had a ton of combat experience. Leveling only increased the physical capabilities of the body, but leveraging that increase would be up to the individual.

However, Choi Chang-Seok was mistaken. Kang Yoon-Soo was only Level 20, and he had the lowest level within the group. However, he had not sustained even one cut while fighting against the hobgoblins, and his movements were those of a veteran, not a newbie.

“Heok!”

A hobgoblin suddenly swung its blade, cutting deeply into Kim Min-Soo’s shoulder. He only had poor quality defensive equipment, and blood started to gush out of his wound. He pressed down on his wound, trying to control the bleeding. However, he was left vulnerable, and three hobgoblins did not pass up on the opportunity.

“Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit!” Hong Ga-Ram quickly activated his unique Mercenary skill.

A unique class skill would be obtained when choosing a class, and more unique class skills could be obtained as one advanced further up the class tree. Skills could be obtained from certain masters, from ancient skill books, or from one’s own cultivation.

Hong Ga-Ram’s eyes suddenly started to turn red and his arms started to bulge; he swung his axe with intense strength.

Baaam!

As if killing three hobgoblins with one swing were not enough, he drove the corpses of the hobgoblins into the cave wall.

“Th-thank you, Ga-Ram!” Kim Min-Soo exclaimed.

“Kuheok!” Hong Ga-Ram couldn’t even reply, and he fell down on one knee.

The skill Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit greatly increased one’s physical ability, but it placed a huge burden on the user’s body. Not to mention, a two-handed weapon required a lot of strength to swing. It was not a skill that could be continuously used by anyone other than hardened veterans who were used to pain.

The situation started to take a turn for the worse once two of the members were no longer able to fight. Furthermore, Lee Yu-Ri had only been letting arrows loose from the back, but she failed to hit anything significant. In fact, she missed her targets so badly that some of her arrows flew toward Choi Chang-Seok and Kang Yoon-Soo, and she was more of a hindrance than a help.

Kim Min-Soo had fallen to the ground due to his injuries, but he started to struggle to his feet. “Damn it… Spirit of the Sword!” he shouted, activating his skill.

Spirit of the Sword was a unique Swordsman skill. It did not increase the user’s physical ability as much as Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit, but it allowed the user to suppress the pain from their wounds and injuries. Additionally, it increased the attack power of the sword and reduced stamina consumption.

Despite the severe wound on his shoulder, Kim Min-Soo started to swing his sword as if he were prepared to die. Hong Ga-Ram shook off the recoil from the skill and got up as well, then started to swing his axe once again.

After a few hours later, the four combatants[1] managed to wipe out the hobgoblins. The last hobgoblin died after being stabbed from Kang Yoon-Soo’s spear. Finally, the party was able to let out a sigh of relief after narrowly escaping death.

“Wow, I can’t believe we killed all of those hobgoblins,” said Hong Ga-Ram while massaging his worn-out arms.

Kim Min-Soo took out a bandage from his backpack and started to wrap his wound up, asking, “Chang-Seok, how many did we kill?”

“99 hobgoblins. Tsk… We would’ve completed the request if there had been only one more… But more importantly…” Choi Chang-Seok turned around to glare at Lee Yu-Ri. Lee Yu-Ri flinched and slowly lowered her head.

“Hey! Lee Yu-Ri! What the hell is this? You said you searched for a goblin’s nest with your unique class skill? How come it was a hobgoblin’s nest and not a goblin’s nest?! We could’ve all been killed, you know?” exclaimed Choi Chang-Seok angrily.

“I’m sorry, oppa… but the search skill told me there was an ‘immense treasure’ in this cave,” Lee Yu-Ri explained.

“You should’ve thought about the monsters living in it, not just the treasure. I know a low-level search skill has a low success rate, but we were also fighting for our lives over here. Honestly, are you even aware that you were dead weight just now?” Choi Chang-Seok scolded Lee Yu-Ri.

“What? Aren’t you being too harsh? It wasn’t my fault that the search skill was wrong, was it?!” Lee Yu-Ri protested.

“What the fuck? I went easy on you because you were a girl!” Choi Chang-Seok shot back.

The argument between the two started to heat up. Lee Yu-Ri started tearing up, while Choi Chang-Seok became fiercer and fiercer. Kim Min-Soo and Hong Ga-Ram had originally found Lee Yu-Ri to be annoying, but they had pretended not to hear anything and just ignored it; seeing Lee Yu-Ri being cornered actually gave them some sort of satisfaction.

On the other hand, Kang Yoon-Soo was sitting quietly on a rock. His level had increased by ten, and he had invested all of the points into Strength just as he always did. He was Level 31 at this point. He looked at Choi Chang-Seok’s group and started to reminisce while looking at the man and woman arguing and the other two men standing around as onlookers. Memories of his previous lives filled his mind.

“I killed you guys many times before,” Kang Yoon-Soo said all of a sudden. The moment he spoke those words, the surroundings became dead silent.

Choi Chang-Seok furrowed his brow and asked, “What did you say?”

“I almost died to the hobgoblins because I got tricked by your group. I killed you guys for the first time in my tenth life,” Kang Yoon-Soo continued tonelessly. The group started to intensely glare at Kang Yoon-Soo, but he paid it no mind and continued, “I tried to change my way of thinking and tested you all one by one. Kim Min-Soo betrayed me during the werewolf hunt and ran away; Hong Ga-Ram stole my weapons and ran away while I was sleeping; Choi Chang-Seok stole my merits and became the head of the mercenary group; and Lee Yu-Ri carried out various evil deeds while pretending to be a weak, helpless damsel in distress. Anyway, I was betrayed by you guys either way,” The words themselves, paired with his emotionless voice, made his statements even more chilling.

“So what the hell are you trying to say?” Choi Chang-Seok asked.

“I won’t regret killing you guys. That fact never changed, no matter which life it was,” Kang Yoon-Soo said coldly.

Choi Chang-Seok grabbed Kang Yoon-Soo’s collar, but Kang Yoon-Soo just looked at him lifelessly. He bit his lips and exclaimed angrily, “Ha! This bastard! Just because you fought well a while ago, you think you can say whatever you want?”

At that moment, a loud noise emerged from the depths of the cave.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Something humongous started to emerge from deep within the cave. The shape of the shadow was no doubt that of a hobgoblin, but it was multiple times larger. Choi Chang-Seok staggered back in surprise and let go of Kang Yoon-Soo’s collar, and he immediately grabbed his sword as he prepared for combat.

A creature several times larger and with darker red skin than a normal hobgoblin appeared with a large machete in its hand, roaring, “Keurororokk!”

[Giant Hobgoblin (Boss, Level 52) has appeared.]

1. Lee Yu-Ri was not counted because she failed to help the others. ☜