Record of a Thousand Lives-Chapter 26

The peoplewhohad managed to escape from theChimeraDimension were transported back to the alchemistguildbuilding. The fireplacethey exitedhad lost its dimensional ability, and it had returned to being an ordinary brick and mortar fireplace.

“Thank you! Really, thank you!”

“We’ll never forget this! Thank you!”

Lee Kang-Hyunand the others repeatedly bowed towardKang Yoon-Soo and thanked him. Kang Yoon-Soo was the one whohadkilled Ravian and takenall of the lightning attacks, and they would all be dead by now if not for him. However, Kang Yoon-Soo was indifferent to their gratitude andjust stood there stretching his wrists and ankles.

“I think you must be tired,” Shaneth said as she massaged his legs.Kang Yoon-Soo didnot careto socialize, and so gave the other group no reply; thus, she had to come up with an excuse on the spot. Despite that, Lee Kang-Hyun and his team still expressed their gratitude multiple times.

Lee Kang-Hyun took out a leather pouch from his backpack andtried to offer it to Kang Yoon-Soo as a sign of his gratitude, but Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and refused it, saying,“I don’t need it.”

“Really? You don’t have to decline,” Lee Kang-Hyunsaid.

Lee Kang-Hyun shot a glareat Shin Han-Yul,whowasmopingin the corner. He remarked,“Han-Yul hyung, why don’t you come and say thanks to him as well?”The other swordsmen turned their gaze toward Shin Han-Yulas well.

Shin Han-Yul had already lost the trust and respect of his party members the moment he ordered them to abandon one of their own to the chimeras. In addition, his magic had ended up turning the tides of battle against them, and they had almost died from his interference.Even though it was a completely unforeseen event, it was still his job to keep his cool and lead his party.

ShinHan-Yul, whohad been quiet up untilthen,slowlybegan to speak. However, what came out of his mouth was far from gratitude.“You…Were you aware that Ravian could absorb magic?” heasked Kang Yoon-Soo accusingly.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo just stayed silent. Shin Han-Yul was not a fool;he did not hesitate to accuse Kang Yoon-Soo once again.“I’m pretty sure I heard you say, ‘You give better rewards after absorbing magic.’You! You were aware that he could absorb magic, weren’t you? But why did you not share that information withme, a Sorcerer?”

“Look here, Han-Yul hyung. We didn’t have any casualtiesbecause Mr. KangYoon-Soo blockedall the attacks with his own body.”Lee Kang-Hyuntried to defend Kang Yoon-Soo.

However,Shin Han-Yul only grimaced further and glared at Kang Hoon-Soo.“Shut up. I wouldn’t have wasted that expensive magic scroll if he had shared that information with me.”He was actually getting angry at Kang Yoon-Sooas he continued,“It’s strange, thinkingabout it. How did you know that killing Ravian was the only way to escape from theChimeraDimension? What the hell are you?”

KangYoon-Sooslowly said, “I knew about it.”

Shin Han-Yul was delightedto hearhis admission, and proceeded to accuse him further.“Ha! I knew it! You put everybody in danger just so you could take all the rewards? Others could have died from your selfishness! Did you want toplay the herothat badly?”

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly got up and walked toward Shin Han-Yul, stretching out his right hand. Shin Han-Yul tensed up, and Kang Yoon-Soo proceeded to grab his white lion mantle. The eyes of those watching widenedin surprise. Kang Yoon-Soohad stolenShin Han-Yul’s mantle in a splitsecond. His movements were so natural that nobody had suspected what he was about to do, and it was as if he had been a thief for decades; in fact, some of the people in the room actually admired his sleight of hand.

Shin Han-Yulexclaimed in surprise, “What are you doing? Are you trying to steal my mantle now?”

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “I told you, I knew about it.”Hethrew the mantle into the fireplace, and the flames started to consumeit, slowly burning the garment to ash.

Shaneth wassurprisedat the sudden turn of events. WhyhadKang Yoon-Soo suddenly donesomething so strange and abrupt? He was not someonewhowould act because of his emotions. However, the others present reacted differently.

“What?”

“How can that mantle burnsoeasily?”

“The mantle of the White LionGuildis made out of wyvern leather.Shouldn’t it have full immunity against fire?”

Lee Kang-Hyunand hispartydesperately wanted to join the White LionGuild, and they were fully aware of the white lion mantlethatwas a symbol of the White LionGuild.

Kang Yoon-Soo took the burnt mantle out of the fireplace, and pointed at the white eyes of the white lionroaring towardthe throne. He said,“The white liononthe real mantle of the White LionGuildhas blue eyes. This lion has white eyes. The cheap dye usedhas discoloredas time passed. This mantle is a fake.”

The way people looked at Shin Han-Yul changed—especially Lee Kang-Hyunand his party. The party members closed theirfistsas they trembled in anger.Theyhad gonealong with him with the hopes of entering the White LionGuild, but he was a conman?

However, Shin Han-Yul retorted with an offended expression, “Don’t make me laugh! Do you have proof?”

Hewas very shameless, but there was no definite proof anywhere. There were no members of the White LionGuild activein the southern region, and no one could guarantee the authenticity of the mantle.

“Sheesh, I can’t believe this guy. You dare accuse me, a member of the White LionGuild,without any proof? Damn it,what a waste of my mantle,” Shin Han-Yul snapped.However, contrary to his usual boisterous demeanor, he now seemed to betrying to leave the alchemistguildbuilding as quickly as he could.

At that moment, a booming voicerang out throughthe building. It was a charismatic voice that confidently declared, “Don’t worry! The evidence you seek has walked into the building!”

A man with a charismatic presence entered the alchemistguildbuilding. He was wearing a silver-white helmet, and the white mantle he wore gave off a strong luster. Anyone could tell that his level was high.

Lee Kang-Hyunand the others gaped as they saw theman’s mantle.

“It’s a white lion! It’s the emblem of the white lion!”

“It’s the mantle that was handmade by the royal tailorusingthe leather of a white lion—the only one of its kind!”

They were left speechless upon seeing the man, beyond bewilderedand seemingly unable tobelieve their own eyes.

Lee Kang-Hyunasked with a trembling voice, “No way… Are you Han… HanSe-Hyun…? The leader of the White LionGuild,HanSe-Hyun…?”

The man scratched his cheeks as he humbly replied, “Not many people recognizeme justfrom my appearance… I guess you’re quite the sharp one…?”

“Waaaaa! Please give me your autograph!”Lee Kang-Hyunand the other men looked atHan Se-Hyunas if they were ready to offer their organs to him. Han Se-Hyunlaughed as he politely refused.

Shin Han-Yul, on the other hand, loudly protested, “Han Se-Hyun? The leader of the White LionGuild? Don’t fuck with me! Why would a man like him come to a shabby place like this?!”

Han Se-Hyunlet out a smile as he said, “Hmm… Yeah, the leader of the White LionGuildcouldn’t be bothered by stuff like this…”Heappeared to besmiling on the outside, but for some reason, his smile gave chills to the people looking at him.

“The leader of the White LionGuildnever leaves his headquarters at the capital, but I’ll give you two reasons why he came to this place,”Han Se-Hyun began. Heraised his index finger as he continued, “Firstly, I heard that the information I was looking for was hereintheChimeraDimension. However, someone unfortunately beat me to it.”

.

He looked toward Kang Yoon-Soo as he spoke, but he shifted his gaze as he continued speaking, this time in a colder tone.“Secondly, a man named Kang Yoon-Soo tipped me off through the alchemistguildthat some scumbag was pretending to be one of myguildmembers. I had to cut my schedule short and flew here as soon as I could thanks to him.”

The man Kang Yoon-Soo had notified through the alchemistguildwhen he first arrived was the leader of the White LionGuild, Han Se-Hyun.

“Im…Impossible! You called the leader of the White LionGuildjust to screw me over?!” Shin Han-Yul protestedheavily, seeminglyindenialashe was scared out of his wits.The moment Han Se-Hyunwalked toward him,hegnashed his teeth and pulled his shirt down. A grotesque looking black tiger that almost looked like a demon was tattooed on his collarbone. He exclaimed,“Don’t come near me! If you’re the leader of the White LionGuild, then you know what this tattoo means, right? If you dare lay a finger on me, you’re declaring war on our wholeguild!”

“Hmm… I don’t have a hobby of looking atmen’s collarbones…” Han Se-Hyunjokingly said as he let out a laugh. Suddenly, however, hedrove his finger into the tattoo.

Crack!

Shin Han-Yul let out a scream as his collarbone was shattered. Han Se-Hyungrabbed him by hiscollarand spoke with a terrifying voice that was incomparable to his easygoing attitude just moments before.“A declaration of war? Don’t make me laugh. Have you ever seen a lion get scared of a kitten?”

“Cough! Keuk!”Shin Han-Yul choked as the grip on his collar tightened.

However, Han Se-Hyuncontinued without an ounce of sympathy in his voice, “You were a mutt from the Black TigerGuild,as expected. It seems you guys have gotten arrogant just because you became famous in the underworld. Is your leader still smuggling drugs?”

“Keuk… Cough!I’m sorry… P…leasespare me! Please!” Shin Han-Yul choked out.

“I won’t dirty my hands killing a small fry like you. You aren’t worth it. Go and tell your leader... If you keep resorting to cheap tricks like making fake mantles like that one, his neck will be in danger. No, before that, are you even in a position to speak to your leader directly?” HanSe-Hyun asked.

“I’ll relay it! I will!” Shin Han-Yul exclaimed frantically.

Han Se-Hyunthrew Shin Han-Yul away as if he wereamere pest. The latter squirmed as he got up andleft the alchemistguildbuilding as fast as he could.

Lee Kang-Hyunand the others let out a loud cheer.

“You were really cool!”

“My name is Kim Sang-Cheol! Please remember me!”

“My name is An Hyung-Soo! Please remember me too!”

However, Han Se-Hyunwas half-heartedly listening, as if the words wereenteringone ear andexitingthe other. He then passed through the crowd and walked toward Kang Yoon-Soo.He let out a smile as he asked, “What’syour name?”

“Kang Yoon-Soo,” came the reply.

“So it was youwhosent me the message. I’m hungry aftertravelingquite a distance. I’m planning to go grab a bite;would you like to join me?” HanSe-Hyun asked.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo said curtly.

“What?” Han Se-Hyunwas flustered.He hadnever imagined that he would be rejected.

Shaneth suddenly spoke uphurriedly.“Please forgive his rudeness. He isn’t someonewhowould understand if you say it that way.”

Han Se-Hyunlet out a laugh when he heard her words,saying,“Okay then, little misswhoseems to be as pretty as our vice leader, do you knowhowto convince that man to let me share a meal with him? Oh, and if it’s alright with you, what’syour name?”

“My name is Shaneth Elogran, and umm…You see…”Shaneth proceeded to whisper something into his ear.

Han Se-Hyunlooked perplexed after hearing what she had to say,but then hewalked towardKang Yoon-Soo.He asked Kang Yoon-Soo one more time, “Let’s have a drink.”

Kang Yoon-Soo replied,“Sounds good.”