Record of a Thousand Lives

“My heart races whenever I see you… It always has…
Just like the first time we met…” a young man said weakly as he stood at the edge of the world.

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The Demon Lord looked down on the man, seven long and narrow eyes fixing him with their gaze.
His lips, razor-sharp like grinding metal gears, opened and he spoke in a screeching voice.

「Foolish human who was defeated.」

“Yeah.”

「Why didn’t you run away from me?」

“I didn’t and won’t because I know I can’t run away.”

「Come back stronger.
Strong enough to defeat me next time.」

“Sure,” the young man firmly declared.
“I’ll kill you in the next life.”

「I look forward to it.」

The heart of the young man was torn apart along with the world.

***

The smithy was a very old and shabby place that had gone unused for some time.
In it, a man sat atop an oak barrel.

Badum… Badum…

The sound of his heartbeat had always been the thing that made him realize he had gone back to the past.

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly opened his eyes.
He was holding a shining sword in his right hand.
He looked at the device equipped on his wrist.
It showed the present date and the details of the equipment.

DATE: 468-P-3 (REORKAN)

[Longsword of Brilliance]

Rating: Normal

Cutting Power: 8

When swung, there is a small chance that the longsword will emit a bright light.

Reorkan Empire Calendar Year 468, the 3rd day of the month of the Phoenix.
That was the day when people from Earth had been transported to an unfamiliar world.

Once again… Kang Yoon-Soo had returned to twenty years in the past.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the dull edges of the longsword.
He swung it with ease, audibly splitting the air apart.

Whoosh!

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Suddenly, he remembered his first life.

He was a Blacksmith.
He lived a pitiful life, always near death’s door.
A poor production class was bound to be treated poorly and looked down upon.

He had always regretted choosing his class.
When the war with Pandemonium raged, he was running around as a military mechanic.
He eventually met the Demon Lord, the absolute being who wanted to destroy the world.

He was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

He then remembered his second life.

When he opened his eyes, he was in the shabby smithy once again.
He realized that he had regressed.
Afterward, his life turned around completely from its previous pitiful state.

He outfitted himself with good equipment and recruited comrades, and established a mercenary group.
A Mercenary’s life was filled with danger, but it was still much better than a Blacksmith’s life.
Twenty years later, when the war with Pandemonium raged, he and his mercenary group fought violently on the front lines.

And then he was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

Immediately after, he remembered his third life.

Kang Yoon-Soo started to reflect on his mistakes after he returned.
He later eliminated any threats to him from the start and used his knowledge to greatly increase his skills and levels.
He also carefully thought about his class this time, and eventually chose the Enchanter class.
No one could stand against him after he maximized the enchantments on his sword and armor.

All.
But.
One.
The Demon Lord.

In the fourth life, he lived only by the sword.

He was filled with grit, as he had died three times to the Demon Lord.

With only a sword in hand, he started on a lonesome cultivation journey.
Kang Yoon-Soo went around to dangerous hunting spots and ruins all by himself.
His sword skills were at the highest level by the time he finished his arduous cultivation, and more than thirty titanic monsters had died by his sword.

Finally, he advanced, becoming an Undying Swordsman—-a class that rarely appeared even among tens of thousands of people.
The Emperor appointed him as the Captain of the 1st Knights.
As the captain, he skillfully led the war effort against Pandemonium.
However, all tactics and military strength were useless before the Demon Lord.
He was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

His fifth life was filled with hardships.

He had already gotten used to regressing, and thus decided to change his way of thinking.
He decided to mind his own business and disregarded whether the world would be destroyed or not.
He lived a quiet life—as quiet as possible.
He tried not to stick out to others, and earned only just enough to live by.

The class he chose was Runner.
It was a normal class.
When the war with Pandemonium raged, he avoided conscription and deserted, fleeing to an uninhabited island.

However, the Demon Lord came to find him.
He was again killed by the Demon Lord.

Starting from his sixth life, he felt fear.

He started training his mana as soon as he regressed.
He memorized magic spells and also learned to feel the flow of mana.
He managed to become a Sorcerer after giving it his all.
Then, he decided to invest all of his remaining time into learning cloaking and concealment magic.

When the war with Pandemonium started, he used every spell in his arsenal to hide at the ends of the world.

However… The Demon Lord eventually found him yet again.
He was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

In his seventh life, he decided that combat wasn’t the only answer.

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He tenaciously trained his speaking skills.
He trained hard to speak more effectively than anyone else, and to never lose a debate.
He trained for more than ten years under an eloquent orator, and eventually managed to change into the Negotiator class.

He convinced the Emperor to surrender to Pandemonium.
The continent was filled with the blood of innocent civilians who had become sacrificial lambs.
Only the emperor’s palace was safe, in return for the lives of the innocent.

However, the Demon Lord did not accept Kang Yoon-Soo’s surrender.
Again, he was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

Afterward, his memories were hazy, due to the despair he had felt in his eighth and ninth life.

The tenth life.

By now, he had gone half-mad.
He started killing anyone he saw as soon as he regressed.

He released the resentment pent up in his mind through murder.
It was not difficult for him to become a mass murderer by using the knowledge of oratorship, swordsmanship, magic, strategy, and enchantment he had gained from his past lives.

He became the continent’s top murderer.
After murdering his 3,000th victim, he obtained the hidden class Life Predator.
There was no one in the continent who could match his assassination and dagger skills.

The war started, and the Demon Lord appeared.
He shook uncontrollably while prostrating in front of the Demon Lord.
He pitifully begged the Demon Lord not to destroy the world and make his life repeat.
However, the Demon Lord did not listen.

Just as always, he was caught and killed by the Demon Lord.

Afterward, he asked the Demon Lord whenever they met: Why did the Demon Lord keep sending him back in time after killing him?

The Demon Lord, who would otherwise not listen or answer him, finally replied in his 98th life.

「Regres