Record of a Thousand Lives-Chapter 21

Thesurroundingsbecame pitch black after they were swallowed by the fireplace, and it feltas iftheir bodies were endlessly spinning while floating in midair.

Crash!

Shaneth got up, holdingher head as she felt dizzier than she ever had before in her life. What greeted her was a wide and dark placewhereshe could seeTravelers and chimeras battling right in front of her.

Clang!

Kwachik!

Baam!

“Kyarruruk!”

“Now’s our chance!”

“Alright, let’s finish this!”

A tall man dug his sword deep intothe head of a chimera, and the chimera let out a shriek before falling to the ground.Chimeras had grotesque appearances, resemblingmixtures of various creatures. One could find chimeras that had six legs or three heads.Kang Yoon-Soo and Shanethwere not the only ones in theChimera Dimension; there were tens of otherpeoplebravely hunting chimeras.

Kang Yoon-Soo helped Shaneth up. Heshould have been dizzy as well, but he actually looked just fine.

“Kyarruruk!”A group of chimeras shrieked and ran towardthem. The chimerasonthe first floor were usually around Level 40, and they were not that strong.

Shaneth took her scythe out as she prepared for battle, while Kang Yoon-Soo raised his right hand andsaid, “Summon White.”

“Kaimaksiron!”Whiteroared loudly as it was summoned, and the appearance of a boss monster was enough to draw everyone’s attention.

In agroup ofTravelers from afar thathad beenhunting chimeras, someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “What?! Why is a monster here?!”

“Aaaah!It’s a werewolf! Why is there a monster in theChimera Dimension?!”

There were somewhofelt threatened and pointed their weapons toward White.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at a chimera and said, “Kill it.”

“Urno…”

Whimper!

TheChain of Obediencearound White’s neck shook. White could not disobey Kang Yoon-Soo becauseithad been tamed by the chain.It gritted its fangs and ran towardthe chimera, cursing,“Urnokra!”

“Kyarururuk!”The chimera relentlessly attacked with itsthree armsand five legs, but White rippeditapart withrazor-sharpclaws.

Whitetook care of a chimera in an instant, thenturned itsgaze toward another chimera andcharged atit.Itsinstincts as a beast kicked in onceitgot a taste of fresh blood, anditstarted to massacre the chimerasat anastoundingrate.

“Haa!”Shaneth also killed a chimera that got close to her, and blood followed the scythe whenever she swung it.

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled his greatsword out and charged towardthe largest chimera.

Pukeok!

Hemercilessly cut down all the chimeras that got in his way, andblueblood started to spurtoutlike a fountain. The destructiveness of the greatsword thathad been enhanced to the maximum was incomparable to a normal sword. The sound of chimera bones being crushedfollowedwhenever he swung the greatsword;his precisionstrikes that only landed on critical spots,along with the power of the greatsword, exceeded the level gap between them.

“Finally, we’re done! Good job, everyone!”

“Great job today, all of you.”

A group ofTravelers on the other sideof the space began wrappingup their hunt, as agroup could move on to the next level after huntinga hundredchimeras. They watched how Kang Yoon-Soo’s group fought while they were waiting to be summoned to the next floor.

A man suddenly saidwhile he was watching White, “Hey, that werewolf. It seemsas ifit’s been tamed…”

“Tamed? What are you talking about? The tamerson the continentstruggleto even tame a deer.”

“But look at that. How cananyonefight alongside it if it’s not tamed?”

“Hmm…But I’ve never heard of a werewolf being tamed evenby a Continental. Perhaps there’s a special taming skill? The chain around its neck seems quite sturdy as well—”

They suddenly disappeared in the middle of their conversation—they had been sent to the next floor.

Kang Yoon-Soo and his partyquicklyfinished their hunt as well. The surrounding areawas covered inatideof blue blood and the remains of the chimeras that they had hunted, and Kang Yoon-Soo’s level had increased by two. He was now Level 37.

[You have killed 100 chimeras.]

[Do you wish to proceed to the next floor?]

Kang Yoon-Soo delayed his reply to the system.

"Grrrrr…!"White was looking at the remains of the chimeras withits mouth wide.

Itlooked hungry after the fight, but Kang Yoon-Soo pulledon thechain and commanded it, “Don’t eatthat.”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!”White glared at Kang Yoon-Soo, butsoonretreated and obeyed.

A tamed monster had to obey its tamer, but their bond could beundoneif therelationshipbetween the tamer and the monster deteriorated. Because ofthat, atamer could not treat their tamed monster like a slave.

Kang Yoon-Soo searched the remains of the chimera and pulled out a pink stone fragment.Whilecleaning the blue blood from herhair, Shaneth asked curiously,“What’s that?”

“Look formore,” Kang Yoon-Soo simply said.Thepairspent quite a while searching the remains of the chimeras.

[Heart Fragment of aLow-GradeChimera]

It is the power source ofachimera. You can feel a faintlife force emanatingfrom it.It has no valuebecause no usehasbeen found for it yet.

Kang Yoon-Soo put the heart fragment in the backpack andsaid,“Mass RaiseDead.”

Thehundreddead chimeras around him rose up as undead. The chimeras that otherTravelers had killed were toodamagedto be resurrected as undead, however. Thegrotesque-lookingchimeras looked even morehorrificafter being raised as undead.

Creating an undead army to fight was not a bad idea, butonewould receivefewerexperience points. However, Kang Yoon-Soo thought,‘I have to use all of the undead in the fight against the boss.’He planned to use the biggest advantage a necromancer had, and that was to supplementone’slack of firepower withundead.

[100Evil Chimerashavebeen sent to the summon dimension.]

[Summons currently stored in the dimension: 100Evil Chimeras, 54Dark Landworms,thesalamander Sally.]

[Remaining space for additional summons: 345]

Kang Yoon-Soo’s partywent to the next floor.

The chimeras on the second floor of theChimera Dimensionwere stronger than the ones on the first floor. It was rare for themto die in one strike, and theytendedto makea last stand before dying. A more intense battle could be expected compared to the previous floor’s battles.

Kang Yoon-Soo raised his right hand and summoned a differentbeing this time.“Summon Salamander Sally.”

Aflamespun in mid-air anda young girl emerged from it. Sally took a look around before spotting White,exclaiming, “Wow! It’s a doggy!”Sheexcitedly approached White, but White swungits claws at her.

“Korunok! Makiron!”Whitegrowled.

“Waaaah!”Sally started to tear up because of White’s aggressive behavior.

This was the problemwith summoningmore than one being at a time. They wereusuallynot used to cooperating with each other and hadatendency to create problems during a battle.Stronger summons tendedto be more picky andill-tempered,whichwould test the patience of the summoner.

“Sally, wrapourweapons in flames,” Kang Yoon-Soo commanded.

Sally used a skill.“Flame Equip!”

Kang Yoon-Soo’s greatsword, Shaneth’s scythe, and White’s clawswere all wrapped in flames. Thepowerof a weapon wrapped in the flames of a spiritwould grow several times over.

A flame vortexformedwhenever Kang Yoon-Soo swung his greatsword, and the destructive combination of his swordsmanship and the flame vortex was unbelievably strong.The chimeraswere smashed by the blade, and the flames set themablaze.

“Kyarrururuuk!”a chimera shrieked in agony.

It was impossible for the otherTravelers who were watching Kang Yoon-Soo’s party fight not to be shocked.

“As if a werewolfweren’t enough… They have a spirit now?”

“But spirits rarely show themselves to humans, right?”

“Oh my god!What the hell is that person’s class?”

TheTravelers were dumbfounded by what they were seeing andcould not believe their eyes.

ATraveler, aContinental, a monster, and a spirit. What the hell was thatstrangepartycomposition…?

[You have killed 100 chimeras.]

[Do you wish to proceed to the next floor?]

Kang Yoon-Soo delayed his reply once again. He had gained six levels, reaching Level 43.He once again went through the remains of the chimeras together with Shaneth as they looked for heart fragments.Heraised the chimeras as undead, and thosearound them were surprised once more.

“What the hell? Now he’s using a necromancer skill?”

“What the hell is he?”

Kang Yoon-Soo sent the newEvil Chimeras to the summon dimension.

A man suddenly approached him after the battle was over. The man introduced himself, saying, “My name is Lee Kang-Hyun. Excuseme, butmay I ask for your name?”

“Kang Yoon-Soo,”came the reply.

“I’ve been watching you for a while now and your swordsmanship is quite exquisite. Would you like to join our party?We have four Level 70 swordsmenand a sorcerer in our party,” Lee Kang-Hyun said, making a very tempting offer.

In truth,KangYoon-Soowasonlyin the vicinity of Level 40.The bracer he had obtained from the ruin simply increased his lacking strength, and his swordsmanship made up for the rest;thatmade people misunderstand him for a high-levelTraveler.

Just asKang Yoon-Soo was about to shake his head and reject the offer, alarge,burly man who was wearing a robe and had a staffon his backtouched Lee Kang-Hyun’s shoulder and said, “Don’t bother, Kang-Hyun.”

“What? But…”Lee Kang-Hyun began.

“His level is much lower thanours, although his skills are amazing,” the large man replied.

“What? Han-Yulhyung, what do you mean?” Lee Kang-Hyun asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo spoke while Lee Kang-Hyun was still confusedbythe situation.“That’s right.”

The people around them were taken aback too. They had mistaken Kang Yoon-Soo to be very high-level after seeing his swordsmanship.

The man called Han-Yul approached Kang Yoon-Soo, saying,“My name is Shin Han-Yul. It’sa pleasure to meet you. You’re certainly different from the otherTravelers that are just wannabe adventurers.”Kang Yoon-Soo did not reply. Shin Han-Yul did not seem to mind and kept talking.“We’re after the boss in this dimension; are you here for the same thing?”

KangYoon-Sooslowly nodded. TheChimera Dimensionwas a secrethunting ground that only a few adventurers knew about. Even if one found out about it, they had to first completethesecret quest of the alchemists and receive the secret password to enter.

Most people would stayonthe floors that matched their strengths, but there were others that attempted to raid the bossbecause of the rumor that the boss monster was wielding a rare sword. However, the chimeras started to grow stronger as one ascended the floors, and there were multiple cases of parties being wiped out before even reaching the fifth floor. No one had been able to kill the boss on the fifth floor yet.

“Let’s meet at the top. Although, we don’t know who’ll reachitfirst.” Shin Han-Yul left with thosewords.His mantle fluttered when he turned around,revealing thesymbol of a white lionembroidered in it.

Someone suddenly exclaimed,“White Lion Clan! That man! He was a member of the White Lion Clan!”

The White Lion Clanwas one of theclansthat had received the most attention among theTravelerclans.Itwas a prestigious clan that had many of thehigh-levelTravelers in its ranks. The clan leader of the White Lions wasfamous for beingacapableleader, and even theContinentalnobles were interested inhim.

The White Lion Clan was among the top clans in the continent, and it was the largest clan amongtheTravelers. There were even rumors that the clan provided precious items to their clan members once they hit certain levels.

“Is the clan that person belongs to really that amazing?” Shaneth asked.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as he stared at Shin Han-Yul’s back. The lion embroideredon the mantle had eyes thatglowedwhite as it roared toward a throne.

“I will be destroying them, though,” he added.