Record of a Thousand Lives

erous.
If he had been left alone, he would have ended up becoming a formidable foe in the future. ‘Now that Lee Min-Chan is dead, it’s time to start the real hunt,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought to himself.

It was time to hunt monsters.
Hunting monsters was the most basic way to increase one’s strength, and normal Travelers would look for monster lairs or receive quests from the Continentals.
However, hunting the normal way held no value for Kang Yoon-Soo.

‘Hiledan was the starting location of the legendary quests,’ he thought. Legendary quests were quests with hellish difficulty that could only be received by people that had reached the pinnacle of their class.
However, they also provided one with an opportunity for exponential growth.

Shaneth stopped eating her breakfast and stared at him. “So, what do you plan to do today?” she asked.

“I’ll go hunt,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Where?” Shaneth asked again.

“At the Alchemist Guild Building,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

A guild was an organization formed by people who shared the same goals.
Many guilds in the Sylphia Continent had been founded by Travelers who had been summoned.

“What do you mean?” Shaneth asked with her eyes wide and her head tilted to one side. She thought, ‘What does he mean by hunting in a guild’s building?’

Kang Yoon-Soo just stared at her.
He had seen her die hundreds of times, and it had been no different in the life before this one.
The world had been destroyed because of the Demon Lord, and Shaneth along with it.
However, she, who had died with the world, was now alive and well in front of him, and she looked exactly the same as always.

“Thank you,” he said suddenly.

“For what?” Shaneth asked in confusion.

Kang Yoon-Soo answered as if he were stating the obvious, “For being alive.”

***

The pair left the inn and went out onto the streets; it was not difficult for them to spot the alchemist guild’s building.
Shaneth tilted her head to one side and asked in confusion, “I’ve never heard of being able to hunt in the alchemist guild’s building.
It’s not as if it can be a monster lair or something, right?”

“It’s possible,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with his characteristic bluntness as he went inside the building.

A blonde woman who seemed to be a receptionist greeted them. “Welcome to the Hiledan branch of the alchemist guild.
How may I help you?” she asked with a smile.

“We came to hunt chimeras,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered.

The receptionist was taken aback and responded, “Ah… You mean the Chimera Dimension?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“So you have finished the secret quest of the alchemists.
What is the password?” the receptionist asked.

He had never finished such a quest; in fact, it was actually his first time entering the building.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo recited the password as if he had already known it. “Destroying the world is easier than creating it,” he said.

“You have proven your qualification to enter the A-Class restricted area, the Chimera Dimension,” the blonde receptionist said in a professional tone. “The Chimera Dimension is a dangerous place filled with vicious chimeras, but you will be able to grow immensely and obtain rare rewards.
Of course, we, the alchemist guild, will not be liable for your death or any violation of your human rights,” she continued.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded. They were details he already knew even without having to hear about them.
He had learned about the Chimera Dimension in a previous life after hundreds of adventurers had died in it.

“The Chimera Dimension is composed of five floors, and you will start from the first floor.
A boss monster resides at the top floor, and the Chimera Dimension will automatically close once the boss dies,” the blonde receptionist explained.

‘The timing of its closing is the problem.’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The Chimera Dimension was actually a place that anyone was free to enter.
It was a place that one could leave if they felt their life was in danger while hunting, as well.
However, a sudden event that prevented people from leaving the Chimera Dimension had occurred.
The people in the Chimera Dimension had ended up unable to leave, and all of them had died.

The alchemists feigned ignorance and refused to take any responsibility for the event, but the truth was very different.
They had used the people inside as test subjects for their secret research, all because one alchemist desired to create a far superior artificial lifeform.
The Chimera Dimension existed not only in Hiledan, but in other cities too.

‘Rumier Kazan, the genius royal alchemist,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he looked at the blonde receptionist.
She was just an employee, and the real evildoers were only a few alchemists.
There was a time when he had given his all to expose their evil doings out of his sense of justice.
However, he had no reason to do that this time.

“I have someone I want to meet.” Kang Yoon-Soo brought up his other agenda to the receptionist.

“Who is it? If it is urgent, we are able to send a message for a fee,” the receptionist replied.

“Someone who’s currently doing a quest for the alchemist guild.
His name is Han Se-Hyun.
He wears white armor and a mantle with a white lion drawn on it,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he gave one gold coin to the receptionist.

The receptionist looked through the files and nodded. “He is someone whose record is still with us.
I will send the fastest message available to him, and it will reach him by tonight at the latest.”

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward the corridor. Shaneth caught up with him and asked, “Who was that person you contacted a while ago?”

“Someone who’ll be helpful later on,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.
He frowned when he remembered something about the man.

Han Se-Hyun was someone he had always met whenever he regressed, and it was hard to forget about him since he was such a nuisance. ‘I wouldn’t have to meet him if it weren’t for my level.
I need him to easily solve some of the upcoming difficulties…’

While Kang Yoon-Soo was deep in thought, Shaneth asked curiously, “But what’s a Chimera Dimension?”

“The alchemists’ trashcan,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What? What do you mean?” Shaneth asked.

“I don’t want to bother explaining,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered, as if Shaneth were a nuisance as well.

Then, Shaneth took out the bottle of alcohol from the bag and started to wave it around.
It was as if she were showing that she could break the bottle at any time.

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly began to speak. “The alchemists have a lot of failed experiments that they have to get rid of more often than not, but they can’t discard the failures wherever they please.
That’s why one alchemist thought of a solution to create a dimension where they could discard their failed experiments.
The failed experiments they discarded one by one soon started to mix with each other, and that was how it became a lair of chimeras.”

“People volunteer to go to such a dangerous place…?” Shaneth asked in disbelief.

“It’s because it’s a hidden hunting ground,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. Although the Chimera Dimension was also a place where crazy alchemists would go to obtain sacrifices that they could use for their experiments, there was no need for him to explain that to her as well. ‘However, the rewards don’t disappoint.
Especially the sword the boss chimera will drop. I can use that for quite a while.’

Kang Yoon-Soo stood in front of a shabby-looking charred fireplace. He grabbed Shaneth’s wrist just as she was about to look at him, then said, “Try not to puke.”

“What?” Shaneth responded.

Kang Yoon-Soo simply took a step toward the fireplace, and his body was sucked in as if it had swallowed him whole.
Shaneth stood there with her mouth wide open, but before she could even react, the fireplace swallowed her whole as well.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”