Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 170

The ogres gulped down the lava flowing out of the ground. They always craved the sweet taste of lava after a battle.

“Kawel dragon dol!”

“Kul! Kul! Remul rind rang!”

The ogres laughed merrily and joked around.

Underground ogres were far stronger than their surface counterparts. They had strong, rock-hard muscles, and the equipment they used was superior even to the sort used by royal knight captains. Additionally, they could easily withstand lava because of the fire attribute imbued into them by the mine’s owner.

“Mer karo dol?”

“Rakarol. Kara dorong!”

The ogres suddenly felt hungry.

The maze-like mine was filled with monsters, and their role was to serve as wardens. Their job was to stand guard and make sure that none of the powerful slaves who had been abducted from aboveground managed to escape. However, the ogres often went off to hunt the monsters in the mine whenever they felt hungry.

As the ogres walked through the mineshaft to hunt, they saw the shadow of a tiny creature walking toward them.

“Okan!”

“Okan kar dol!”

The shadow’s owner soon appeared. It was a puny human.

The ogres’ gazes suddenly turned serious at the sight of their prey, and they gripped their large hammers tightly. They were far more intelligent than their surface counterparts, to the point of having a real social structure. They were not inclined to show mercy to a weaker foe; rather, they would go all out no matter how insignificant their opponent may be.

However, as the ogres brandished their hammers and rushed toward Kang Yoon-Soo, he suddenly said, “Shyaki mer dol.” That meant in the ogre language, ‘Stop. I have business with you.’

However, the ogres were not inclined to listen to the words of others during combat. They could not care less what their prey squealed before being smashed by their large hammers. After all, prey would only beg for their life anyway.

As such, Kang Yoon-Soo had to improvise when the ogres’ hammers were about to smash down on him.

“Karal ka dol…?”

The ogres stopped their attacks and stared at the puny human.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Kang Yoon-Soo had suddenly started to mine with a pickaxe. His form and rhythm with every swing were perfect, and he seemed to be extremely proficient at finding minerals hidden within the rocks as well. He only swung his pickaxe a few times, but a mithril lode popped up easily as if it were some ordinary mineral. Afterward, he continued to dig, and consecutively found multiple mineral lodes in the span of a few minutes.

The ogres stared at Kang Yoon-Soo as if they could not believe their eyes.

“Rak me. Mero on radol,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, which meant ‘I want to become a slave.’

The ogres murmured noisily among themselves. They had never seen a human walk into this place and volunteer to be a slave. Their conversation could be roughly translated as follows:

“This human, his mining skills are immaculate.’

“The rocks here aren’t as hard as the ones the slaves are mining right now, but finding a mineral lode isn't as simple as he made it seem, either!”

“We can increase our daily output by just adding this one guy to our workforce. He might not be strong, but his eye for finding mineral lodes is really impressive.”

“We can’t kill him if we can squeeze some value out of him. That’d be a very stupid thing to do!”

“It’s also tiring to go aboveground and kidnap strong people. We won’t have to go aboveground for a while if we can take this guy with us.”

It would be easy to misunderstand the underground ogres based on the rough sounds of their speech, but their discussion was quite intelligent and logical.

It was then that one of the ogres suddenly said, “It’s a bit suspicious, though. How is it possible for a human to descend so deep down the mine, and alone on top of that? It’s also very suspicious that this puny human is actually volunteering to become a slave.”

Then, an ogre covered in scars pointed at Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “Rwelken, does this human look strong to you?”

The skeptical ogre thought for a while, then shook its head in response. Just like that, all of their suspicions toward Kang Yoon-Soo were laid to rest.

The ogres’ mentality was very simple, but logical. They would keep anything and anyone of value, but would also kill anyone who proved to be weak and useless. That was the reason why they had left behind the ogre that had died in the duel.

Kang Yoon-Soo was helplessly weak by their standards, but they did not kill him because they thought he held some value. However, they would not hesitate to instantly kill him if he ever decided to run away or betray them.

One of the ogres approached Kang Yoon-Soo and lightly smacked him in the back of the head.

Puek!

It was incredibly painful, but Kang Yoon-Soo managed to retain his consciousness by shaking his head. Then, the ogres dragged Kang Yoon-Soo, who was pretending to be unconscious, by one arm.

That was how Kang Yoon-Soo successfully managed to be abducted by the ogres.

***

The eightieth floor of the Kolod Abandoned Mine had a secret mineshaft, in which only the sound of clanging pickaxes could be heard. The miners within lived boring lives, but the sweet taste of having someone share in their misery came to them whenever another slave was added to their workforce.

An ogre threw Kang Yoon-Soo into the mine shaft.

A skinny man suddenly stopped mining, then clicked his tongue and said, “Tsk. Is it another greenhorn? It seems this hellish place is quite the destination these days?”

“Assassin Recifer,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Hmm? Do you know something about me?” Recifer asked in surprise.

With that, the other miners suddenly turned and looked at Kang Yoon-Soo. He pointed at each and every one of them as he recited their names. “Soul Interlocutor Raol, Bloodsteel Fighter Danesh, Deep Sea Treasure Hunter Hawk, Endless Spear Swemer, Magic Artifact Collector Harpoon…”

The half-dead eyes of the miners suddenly shot open.

Lastly, Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at a man who was covered in dirt while digging through the rocks with his sword, saying, “Nameless Mercenary Ramel Suriyan.”

The Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, Hawk stopped mining and asked, “Who might you be, young man? You seem to be fully aware of our identities.”

Kang Yoon-Soo replied in a low voice to ensure that the watcher would not hear him, “I purposely got myself abducted to save you guys.”

“What did you say just now…?” Hawk asked in disbelief.

“Kyaaaaakh!”?A loud screech reverberated from within the darkness. When they heard it, the men hurriedly picked up their pickaxes and continued mining.

Recifer came back to his senses and began the lecture he usually gave to newcomers. “You seem a bit strange, but you must be surprised after ending up here. So what you have to do is…”

Kang Yoon-Soo began slamming his magic sword and halberd repeatedly against a cracked rock. With a decisive strike, the rock broke apart to reveal a few mineral lodes. Afterward, he quickly loaded the minerals into a minecart.

Recifer could not believe his eyes. He asked, “Have you worked here before…? How are you better than us, who have worked here for decades…?”

“I worked here for a year before,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“I was just joking, but…” Recifer trailed off into silence.

***

Mealtime soon arrived. It was one of the only two precious rest periods the miners got, not counting their sleeping time. The men placed dried meat on their brass plates and gathered around Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Mealtime is only fifteen minutes, so hurry up and spill the beans! Did you say you came here to save us?” Ramel Suriyan asked.

“Lower your voice, you freakin' greenhorn. The watcher might hear you,” Danesh said. Ramel shot him a glare, but he was unfazed and merely scoffed at the newbie. He was the largest one among all of them, and he always dug through the hard rock with his bare hands.

The Endless Spear, Swemer looked at Kang Yoon-Soo and remarked, “I’ll die from waiting. Hurry up and tell us! My spear might pierce through your neck if you don’t hurry up and start talking!”

“I know how to escape from this place,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The forty-seven people around him either expressed surprise or scoffed mockingly.

The Imperial Sword Instructor, Hekal, who was now retired and blind, was looking somewhere else as he asked, “How can we believe you?”

Danesh crossed his large, burly arms and nodded in agreement before adding, “All of us here are such monsters in our own right that each of us could destroy an entire city by ourselves. Still, the guy who locked us up here is a far stronger monster than us.”

The Magic Artifact Collector, Harpoon rubbed his tattooed chin and said, “We would already have escaped if it were possible. Do you think we would have rotted in here for decades if we had a way out?”

Hawk nodded in agreement. He extended a golden compass and asked, “Can’t you tell by the fact that we still have our equipment? The guy who locked us up here is a pervert. It shows that he’s confident he can lock us in here forever.”

The men felt downcast once again. Their fame had become nothing more than a story of the past, and they had completely lost their self-confidence.

Swemer sighed and said, “Only after being locked up in here did I realize that power is relative.”

“Don’t spout such nonsense, Swemer,” Danesh grumbled.

However, Swemer continued speaking, pointing at a spear and saying, “I wanted to reach the pinnacle of the spear just like the King of All Things, Surian, and I only swung a spear my entire life. I’ve been to all the coliseums packed with fighters, and I’ve killed quite a fair share of monsters as well. And yet, I ended up asking myself ‘What the hell have I been doing?’ when I got locked up in here. I’m still trapped here despite using my spear, and I’m embarrassed by the fact that I once dreamt of becoming the strongest spearman on the entire continent.”

The others did not voice their depressing thoughts like Swemer, but all of them seemed to be able to relate to his words. They had been trapped in the mine for decades. They, who once held great fame on the continent, could not help but feel helpless before the might of someone stronger than them.

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said, “All of you aimed for the pinnacle, and you wanted to surpass anyone else and become the best on the continent. And yet, you seem to have given up on your goal in the face of adversity.”

All of their faces crumpled in an instant.

“So what are you trying to say? I’ve seen dozens die while they tried to escape,” Danesh angrily retorted.

“Everyone dreams of reaching the pinnacle of their respective fields. It’s normal for anyone to want to be the best. Everyone has ambitions. It’s just a matter of how great they are. Still, reality can be quite cruel. Reality is like an insurmountable wall that crushes your hopes and dreams, and makes you give up on them,” Recifer said with a bitter smile.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at them for a moment before saying, “You guys are acting like a bunch of weaklings.”

“Watch your mouth,” Danesh said as he stood up, grabbing Kang Yoon-Soo by the neck.

The others, fearing that the phoenix’s fire might come, hurriedly pried them apart.

Harpoon furrowed his brow and shouted, “Calm down, Danesh! Are you trying to die together with that guy? That thing will spew its flame the moment you hit someone!”

Danesh slammed Kang Yoon-Soo against the wall and asked, “Do you know why we, who lived however the hell we wanted outside, suddenly began acting so obediently here? The watcher over there is a phoenix. It’ll breathe out fire and burn anyone who breaks the rules. I would have already twisted your neck if not for the watcher. Do you think you’re in a better position than we are right now?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Danesh raised his fist up high, and the phoenix cried out from a distance. However, that did not stop the enraged man.

However, as Danesh’s fist was about to hit Kang Yoon-Soo in the face…

Kwachik!

The large fist slammed against the rock wall, splitting it apart. However, Kang Yoon-Soo seemed unfazed, having easily avoided the punch.

Danesh glared at Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “How did you evade my punch just now…?”

“I closed my eyes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Danesh bit his lip furiously, as his pride had been severely wounded. He asked with visible rage in his voice, “You avoided my attack with your eyes closed, is that what you’re trying to say?”

“You have a habit of punching to the right, so it was easy to avoid it,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Don’t joke around with me!” Danesh retorted angrily, but he seemed to be visibly shaken by what had happened.

Kang Yoon-Soo freed himself with a wave of his hand, and he looked at the others and said, “I’ll grant you freedom.”

Hawk tilted his head in confusion and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll help you leave this place, but there’s one condition you have to agree to before I grant you your freedom,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What’s your condition?” Hawk asked.

“Join me in killing the Dragon of Destruction,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“The Dragon of Destruction…?” Hawk muttered in confusion.

“That’s the owner of this mine, the one that locked you up. It’s also known as the most powerful dragon on the continent. You’ll never be free unless we kill that dragon,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.

They looked at each other, seemingly at a loss for how to react to Kang Yoon-Soo’s words. However, even as they were stunned, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly walked toward where the watcher was.

Recifer hurriedly shouted, “Hey! Stop right there! What do you think you’re doing?! You’ll be roasted if you go toward the watcher!”

However, Kang Yoon-Soo continued walking without any hesitation in his steps.

“Kyaaaaahk!”?

The phoenix’s vicious cry reverberated in the distance.

The men hurriedly took cover expecting the phoenix’s vicious flames, but Kang Yoon-Soo continued walking toward the phoenix unfazed. He took a deep breath before asking in a low, confident voice, “Phoenix, do you know the Church of Madness?”