Record of a Thousand Lives

Kang Yoon-Soo left the transfusion room and walked through the castle corridors.
As he had recovered, his pace was vigorous.
Meanwhile, Yuriel flew behind him while continuing to drink wine from the bottle.

“Hey, bad creature.
Where are you going?” Yuriel asked.

“The treasure room,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“You know where that is as well?” Yuriel asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo responded.

The vampire castle’s treasure room was where all the vampires’ most prized possessions were kept.

Kang Yoon-Soo arrived at a hall on the fourth floor of the castle, then started to push several protruding bricks in the wall to his right in a specific sequence.

Clack…!

Ta… Ta… Ta… Ta…

Gears clicked audibly somewhere in the background as the structure of the staircase leading to the upper floors slowly began to change.
The stairs started to entwine and overlap with each other, and hidden rooms started to appear one by one.

“Wow! Hiccup! What are those?” Yuriel asked while letting out a hiccup, her face flushed red from the wine.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the angel for a while.
Yuriel was already drunk, even though the wine only had a low concentration of alcohol.

‘Angels are really weak against alcohol.’

That was a critical weakness for angels, who were otherwise as strong as demons.
But then, what kind of preference did this angel before him have, that she still loved to drink even though it was one of her biggest weaknesses?

“Hey, you bad creature.
Don’t you have more wine? Hiccup! I really like this,” Yuriel said.

“You have to stop drinking,” Kang Yoon-Soo responded.

“Whyyy?” Yuriel slurred, her eyes unfocusing.
She took a step and hugged Kang Yoon-Soo from behind.
Her soft skin pressed against his back, and her sweet fragrance enticed his nostrils.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly said, “You can’t fight if you’re drunk.”

“Hiiing… Do I have to fight again? But I don’t want to~” Yuriel said nasally.

Angels would be corrupted if they took the life of an innocent creature, which was why they did not enjoy committing pointless murder.
The fact that Yuriel had asked Kang Yoon-Soo to kill Argoric in her place showed how sensitive angels were when it came to the topic of taking someone else’s life.

“What happens when an angel is corrupted?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“They become bad,” Yuriel replied.

“…”

“Hihi, I tried to speak the way you do,” Yuriel added, giggling.
She continued in a slur, “I don’t exactly know as well, but the goddess told us before that it would be very bad if we were corrupted.
That’s why corruption is bad.”

It turned out that angels instinctively shied away from being corrupted.

Kang Yoon-Soo started to ponder, ‘Should I try corrupting her later…?’ However, he shook his head.
He had no idea how Yuriel would change if she became corrupted, and he could not take any unnecessary risks and carry out an experiment just to satisfy his curiosity.

Tak…! Tak…! Tak…!

Kang Yoon-Soo passed by several hidden rooms before stopping in front of one.
Strangely, the room’s door did not have a door handle.
Instead, there was a mouth with two large fangs where the handle should have been.

Tak…! Tak…! Tak…!

Both fangs touched each other, and it seemed certain that anyone who mistook them for a door handle would immediately have their hand severed.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo put his right hand inside the mouth without any hesitation and said, “I have the right to enter the treasure room.”

The mouth slowly started to move, speaking clearly even though its fangs were holding onto Kang Yoon-Soo’s hand.
“This is the place where treasures drenched in blood rest.
Prove your right with the blood you have drunk.”

“I drank the blood of an angel,” Kang Yoon-Soo said in response.
The mouth suddenly licked his wrist, and the sturdy steel door opened up.

“I grant you entry, oh brave vampire.
I will restrict the number of treasures that you can take out of the castle to two to match your current level,” the mouth said.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked into the vampire castle’s treasure room.
A towering mountain of jewels and gold coins was the first thing that came into view.
Yuriel looked curiously around the treasure room before exclaiming, “There’s a lot of shiny stuff!”

However, Yuriel had no desire for materialistic things.
A jewel was nothing but a shiny stone in an angel’s eyes.
Meanwhile, Kang Yoon-Soo simply walked past the mountains of jewels and gold coins.

The treasure room contained a ridiculous amount of gold coins that a single person would never be able to gather even if they spent their entire lives saving up, and there were many rare weapons protruding from the mountain of coins.

[Possessed Axe]

[Twin Jeweled Sword]

[Mana Stone Staff]

‘All of them are quite rare and special in their own ways,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he looked around the treasure trove.

However, he would only be allowed to take two items from the treasure room.
He already knew what he was going to take from this place, but that was only because he had used all the treasures in the room numerous times in his previous lives.

‘First… This one,’ he said to himself as he climbed a mountain of jewels.
A red sword protruding from between the jewels came into view when he reached the top.
Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out the sword and examined it.

[Vampire Sword]

Rating: Normal

Attack Power: 4

The sword used by a previous Vampire Lord.
It is said that he used his blood to unleash sword skills to kill his enemies.
However, it is nothing but a rusty old antique now.

+The sword will reveal its true power once it has drunk enough blood.

The sword’s stats were borderline useless, particularly for a weapon once used by a Vampire Lord.
The sword’s edges were chipped all over, and it was so rusted that it would not be surprising at all if it broke at any second.

Kang Yoon-Soo called out, “Yuriel.”

“What is it?” the angel responded.

“Give me some of your blood,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Yuriel’s face turned blue as she started to walk backward, screaming, “No! I don’t want to! It feels weird when you suck my blood!”

“I’ll give you a bottle of wine to bring to the heavenly realm,” Kang Yoon-Soo said to entice her.

“Euh…” Yuriel groaned.
She was conflicted for a moment, but then flew down obediently to Kang Yoon-Soo.
However, she put on an air of disinterest before asking, “H-How many bottles are we talking about…?”

“All of the ones I have,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Euuuhhh…!” Yuriel struggled for a while before finally exposing her nape to him.
She closed her eyes and shouted, “D-Do it quickly if you’re going to!”

“I can suck it through your arm…” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“…” Yuriel quietly extended her smooth white arm.
The veins on her wrist were clearly visible due to the whiteness of her skin.

Kang Yoon-Soo brought the rusty sword to the angel’s arm and made a cut with it.

Slurp… Slurp…

The Vampire Sword started to suck the angel’s blood greedily.

“Kyaaaah!” Yuriel violently fluttered her wings as if to express her disdain for what was happening.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo told her in a low voice, the way a doctor would speak to a patient, “Stay still.”

“I-It feels weird!” Yuriel exclaimed, starting to tear up.

The Vampire Sword, on the other hand, started to transform slowly the more blood it sucked out of the angel.

[The Vampire Sword has sucked a powerful being’s blood.]

[Its power has been unsealed.]

[Its magic power has been unsealed.]

[The sword is evolving due to the powerful blood.]

[The sword’s edges have started to change.]

‘It’s really effective,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.
The result was greater than what he had expected.
He had felt it when he sucked the angel’s blood previously, but the blood of an angel, a being with innate healing abilities, contained immense power.

The Vampire Sword, which would normally have required the blood of thousands of monsters before it would evolve, had already transformed just from drinking an angel’s blood.

“I-Is that enough…?” Yuriel asked, looking haggard.
Kang Yoon-Soo nodded.

The rusty old sword from moments before was nowhere to be found, and the blade had turned into a beautiful, shining red sword.

[Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword]

Rating: Rare

Attack Power: 177

The sword used by a previous Vampire Lord.
It is said that he used his blood to unleash sword skills to kill his enemies.
An immense amount of magic power is stored within the sword.

+The sword will reveal its true power once it has drunk enough blood.

+You may now use the high-ranked skills of a vampire.

+You may purify corrupted blood.

One had to conquer an insanely difficult ruin or raid a top-tier boss monster to obtain a sword of similar value to the Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword, as a magic sword that contained its own magic power would be considered an extremely rare item.

‘This is a step lower than the Spirit Sword, which has its own ego.’

Kang Yoon-Soo put the red sword on his waist.
Yuriel, who seemed to be exhausted, lay down on the mountain of jewels while glaring at Kang Yoon-Soo before saying, “You are bad.”

“I’ll give you wine,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Hmph! You are an ugly creature,” Yuriel retorted.
Her nickname for him seemed to change quite often.

Kang Yoon-Soo picked out a red ring as his second treasure.

[Vampire Noble’s Ring]

Rating: Rare

Life Drain: 97

Mana Recovery: +47

A ring that belonged to a vampire who loved the Vampire Lord.
The ring contains her deep love and desire for revenge against the Vampire Lord.
You will be cursed if you break this ring.

The Vampire Noble’s Ring had excellent stats and effects.
Kang Yoon-Soo would be able to cast more magic as the ring increased his mana regeneration, and the Life Drain stat increased the amount of life force he could drain from his enemies.

‘But I’ll be inflicted with a terrible curse if I break the ring.’

A sinister aura surrounded the ring, but it was only a small setback, as it was nonetheless a good item overall.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked back at the treasure room and thought, ‘I could have obtained more treasures if I had come here at a higher level.’

He was currently Level 243, and the vampire’s treasure room gave out one treasure hundred levels.
Yuriel was not allowed to take anything from the place because she did not have a vampire’s blood-sucking ability.
Unfortunately, Kang Yoon-Soo would be unable to take more than the allocated amount of treasure, because the treasure room would suck all of his blood out if he attempted to take more than he was allowed to.

‘It can’t be helped.
It’s my last life, after all.’

Kang Yoon-Soo walked out of the treasure room, and Yuriel followed behind him while yawning.
She asked, “Can I go now?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Is there something else to do?” Yuriel asked.

“We’re going to the castle’s basement,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Why there?” Yuriel asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo turned around and looked at her before saying, “We have someone to save.”

***

The basement of the vampire castle was a dark and cold place, crawling with a sinister atmosphere.
Within it, eerie whispers emerged from the darkness.

Kang Yoon-Soo stepped in a stagnant puddle that had long since rotten.

“Hehehe… It’s been a long time since a human found their way here.
How did a human find their way to the vampire’s castle? Nobody visited me, so I was very lonely.
Come, come and become one of us.”

The ghosts of vampires who had died while holding grudges all gathered in the basement of the vampire castle.
The ghosts’ anger and desire for vengeance were insurmountable, and even the Vampire Lord usually avoided going into the vampire castle’s basement unless he really had to.

‘I should just ignore them,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he continued walking through the basement.
However, more and more vampire ghosts started to gather around him, and the eerie whispers soon turned into enraged screams.

“You killed me! You’re my mortal enemy! I’ll never forgive you! I should be buried under beautiful maidens while drunk in their fragrance! Why did you spread the disease and kill us?! You cruel bastard! Do you know how excruciating it is to be burned by the sun and die?!”

The vampires who had died because of Kang Yoon-Soo had all turned into vengeful spirits and gathered in the vampire castle’s basement.
He looked around the basement and muttered to himself, ‘I don’t see Argoric’s ghost anywhere…’

The Vampire Lord had died while smiling; that was proof that he had died while fighting to his heart’s content against Kang Yoon-Soo.
However, thousands of vengeful vampire ghosts swarmed around him as they shrieked in anger, “You asshole! We know you can hear us, but you’re just going to pretend not to hear us at all?! Let’s see how long you’ll last! I’ll curse you for eternity! Your family! Your friends! Everything around you shall perish!”

The vampires he had killed swarmed around him.
Any ordinary person would be bound to have a guilty conscience if the creatures that had died by their hands swarmed around them while throwing curses at them, no matter how cold that person was.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo stopped in his tracks and looked at the vampire ghosts, replying, “So what?”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!”

“You asshole! We’ll kill yooouuuuuuuu!”

The vampire ghosts’ anger flared.

Shwiiiiiing!

A gust of wind as sharp as a blade cut Kang Yoon-Soo’s cheek; a whirlwind filled with the vengeful spirits’ rage surged ferociously toward him, trying to swallow him alive.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo was not fazed at all, and did not move an inch.

“Hooooo!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaahk!”

The vampire ghosts disappeared the moment Yuriel exhaled deeply.
Then, she covered her mouth in shock and exclaimed, “Wow… I didn’t expect them to be purified with one breath…!”

“Didn’t you say you would be corrupted if you killed someone?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“They were already dead, so it is fine.
Also, they were bad kids, were they not?” Yuriel said with a pout.

Evil spirits were weak against holy power, and an angel’s breath, which had innate healing properties as well as holy power, was nothing short of fatal against them.
That was why all of them had been annihilated by a single breath from Yuriel.

‘It was a good idea to summon Yuriel,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.
If Yuriel had not been around, he would have had to charge into the basement with the slave army.
However, the spirits could not be fought with physical attacks, and they were only susceptible to magic attacks.
They were extremely tricky to deal with, not just because of their incorporeal bodies, but also because of their ability to whisper to the living and cause them to kill themselves.
‘I almost waged another war here.’

There were no great treasures in this place, but Kang Yoon-Soo had someone he had to save.
He went into the deepest part of the vampire castle’s basement, and in it coffins embedded with numerous luxurious jewels were lined up in an orderly fashion.
Then, several vampire ghosts wearing luxurious and elegant outfits emerged from the coffins—they were the spirits of the previous Vampire Lords.

“Hohoho… It has been a while since a human visited this place.”

“Did you come after seeing my remains at the ossuary?”

“We might be spirits, but we can still suck blood, you know?”

“Hooooooo!” Yuriel blew out a strong gust from her mouth, and the spirits of the Vampire Lords struggled in agony.

“Kyaaaaaaaakh!”

“W-What is this?! What is this power that is causing me so much pain?!”

“Holy Destruction,” Yuriel muttered.
Her hands exuded a blinding light, and the holy power in the light surrounded the spirits.

“Kyaaaaaaahk!”

The spirits of the previous Vampire Lords all succumbed to the holy power and disappeared without a trace.

‘It’s around here…’ Kang Yoon-Soo muttered to himself, walking toward a room deeper inside the basement.
The room was filled with numerous vampire corpses and emitted a horrible stench; the corpses were all chewed up, as if a beast had taken a bite out of them.

“Grrrr…!”

A beast’s growl rang out, and a young boy ran out of the darkness on all fours.
He looked as if he had not showered in ages; large patches of muck covered his body, and he looked like nothing short of an actual beast.

“Grrrrrrrrrr…!”

The boy was wary of Kang Yoon-Soo, barking at him like a scared dog.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo drew closer to the boy.

“Grwaaah!”

Kwachik…

The boy bit Kang Yoon-Soo’s hand, and as his yellow teeth dug into the flesh, Kang Yoon-Soo started to bleed.

Yuriel shouted in surprise, “Creature!”

However, Kang Yoon-Soo did not back down; it seemed as if he had no intention of hurting the young boy.
His hand was being bitten and his skin was being chewed off, but he did not put up a struggle against the boy.

“Grrreung…?” the young boy growled.
His eyes turned round in surprise, but he was still scared nevertheless.

Kang Yoon-Soo said in a low voice, “It’s alright…”

The young boy trembled, and Kang Yoon-Soo slowly extended his hand toward the boy before patting his dirty hair.
He said, “Your big brother is still alive.”