Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 163

As a cradle rocked back and forth in a cozy room, a baby’s cries filled the air.

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly opened his sleepy eyes and said, “I’ll go.”

“Please,” his wife replied sleepily.

Kang Yoon-Soo stretched his arms, then went over to the cradle. Then, he picked up and began slowly rocking the baby, saying in a calm, gentle voice, “It’s okay…”

He comforted the baby by calling out a name he could no longer remember. The baby soon stopped crying, and soon had a bright smile just like its mother’s. It was if the child had never cried to begin with. Perhaps the baby really liked its name. Was that why it had suddenly stopped crying?

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly wondered… Why could he not remember anything about his child? The baby’s name, appearance, and everything else related to his child was a blur to him.

Kang Yoon-Soo’s hands trembled uncontrollably, and he kissed the baby’s cheek and whispered, “I’m sorry, dear one…”

The day the Demon Lord was going to appear was fast approaching, and the world would be destroyed and he would regress…

…no matter how happy he was right now.

***

Kang Yoon-Soo opened his eyes when a droplet of water fell from a stalactite above him and splashed onto his cheek. It was still early in the morning, and he was in the basement of an abandoned building, which served as the den of a group of thieves.

“So, you’re awake.”

Kang Yoon-Soo looked up at the source of the voice and saw a tall woman was sitting on top of his stomach. He was being pinned down so tightly by the woman’s strong, sturdy legs that he found it difficult to breathe.

He looked back through his memories. How had this happened?

The woman laughed and asked, “Did you have a nightmare or something? My things are all wet because of your sweat. Damn it… I have to stay like this until they bring some rope…”

The short-haired woman, who wore a bandana over her mouth, was a bandit. She put a knife to Kang Yoon-Soo’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Anyway, it’ll be better for you to stay still if you want to keep that fancy thing between your shoulders.”

“It’s much faster to get kidnapped,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“What?” the bandit exclaimed, tilting her head in confusion.

Kang Yoon-Soo explained the situation. “It was much faster for us to get kidnapped by you and sleep through the night while you brought us to our location. Then, we’d just have to kill you after that.”

“Ha!” The bandit scoffed, putting pressure on the knife as she said threateningly, “Don’t make me laugh. Did you just say you got kidnapped by us on purpose? Is that it?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied before kicking the bandit in the head with his feet, instantly knocking her unconscious with the sudden strike.

Right as Kang Yoon-Soo got up from the ground, a large woman walked down the stairs, saying, “Mehila, I brought the rope just like you asked me to. Hihi. We should drug that guy and… Huh? What the? How did this bastard get free?”

Pukeok!

“Ack!” The large woman yelped as Kang Yoon-Soo crushed her jaw. Then, he bound the bandits up with the rope she had brought.

Kang Yoon-Soo lightly stretched his body and thought, ‘Such a waste of time. I’ll take care of this quickly.’

The Demon Lord would appear much earlier in the final life.

***

The three party members were in a precarious situation. They had woken up in the morning to find that Kang Yoon-Soo had disappeared, with only a note in his place. The message on it was quite short and precise.

[I got kidnapped. The address is on the back.]

Henrick furrowed his brow and said, “I knew he was crazy, but this is on a whole other level. Who the hell leaves behind a note saying they’ve been kidnapped and leaves an address for them to be rescued?!”

On the other hand, Shaneth was quick to adapt to the situation. She wondered, “But it’s kind of strange… Why would they only kidnap Kang Yoon-Soo and leave the rest of us behind?”

“They probably only kidnapped one because there weren’t a lot of them at the time. An experienced adventurer does fetch a hefty price on the slave market, after all,” Henrick replied.

“But wouldn’t it be better to kidnap women if they want to sell them as slaves…?” Shaneth asked.

“How should I know? Maybe the kidnappers are into guys or something. No, wait… Come to think of it, maybe they kidnapped him because he looks pretty?” Henrick muttered.

Shaneth’s face paled when she heard Henrick’s banter.

Iris looked concerned as she said, “I am worried about the kidnappers…”

“You have to be prepared to take that much risk if you want to work as a criminal, but what’s important right now is…” Henrick trailed off. His gaze turned sharp and he finished, “That bastard took all the booze and money!”

“Let’s get moving!” Shaneth cried.

They passed a checkpoint and entered a middle-sized city called Birhen. The fragrant smell of food tickled their noses the moment they stepped into the city, and Henrick slowly began to be distracted by the alcohol being sold on the streets.

“It’s only dawn, but the streets are already bustling. They must be having a festival or something,” Henrick said.

Iris squirmed with a hesitant expression, then said, “This place is filled with tasty smells…”

“Our main priority is to save Kang Yoon-Soo right now!” Shaneth snapped, grabbing Iris by the shoulder and dragging her along by force.

The party followed the address and the map drawn on the back of the note, and arrived at an abandoned building.

“It’s the basement of this building,” Henrick said.

Shaneth quickly opened the door and went into the abandoned building. It was empty and run-down, but inside it was a staircase leading down to a metal door.

Clack! Clack!

“Huh? It’s locked. There should be a key somewhere,” Henrick said.

“Get out of the way!” Shaneth yelled, extending her hand. “Pyrokinesis!”

The metal door instantly melted.

“Wow, your flames are getting more powerful,” Iris said in astonishment.

“They say a fire grows hotter the more desperate it is,” Henrick joked.

However, Shaneth did not have the time or patience to respond to Henrick’s lame joke.

“Kang Yoon-Soo!” the party called out.

“What?” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He had already retrieved all of his belongings, and was leisurely sitting on an oak barrel. Sprawled across the ground were dozens of unconscious female bandits.

Henrick observed the countless stalactites and rocks in the basement and said, “It seems they retrofitted an underground cave and turned it into their hideout. It does feel like a hideout, but it’s a bust from an architectural perspective. They could have just used any other basement, but why did they build their hideout here of all places?”

Shaneth hurriedly approached Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Really? Did nothing happen? Did someone touch you or… Don’t be shy, you can tell me… Be brave…” Shaneth said, stumbling over her words.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Henrick asked. He looked around the area and added, “So this was the den of a female bandit group. I guess it makes sense now, seeing as a man would be a perfect slave in a place like this.”

“Then why did they not kidnap Henrick instead?” Iris asked innocently.

“Well, most people would prefer to eat fresh meat instead of old meat, don’t you think?” Henrick asked in response.

“I like both,” Iris said with a smile.

“Hmm… You’re too innocent for me to explain what I actually meant…” Henrick muttered.

Kang Yoon-Soo distributed the items the bandits had stolen from them, then carried the still-unconscious bandits upstairs. Afterward, the party found the local investigators and handed the bandits over to them.

A man who appeared to be in charge of the investigators expressed his gratitude. “These bandits are quite infamous for kidnapping people during the festive seasons, and they have been buying strange rocks from the black market for who-knows-what plans. In any event, thank you very much for your help.”

It was then that Iris’ eyes shot wide open and she asked, “Is this city going to have a festival soon?”

The head investigator seemed to be surprised for a moment, but politely replied, “It will be the harvest moon soon. Around this time of year, the fall season officially starts across the continent. The people of Birhen are preparing a festival to welcome the start of fall. I suggest that you join the festivities if you have the time, as it should be a memorable experience for you.”

The investigators bound up the bandits and dragged them back to the headquarters.

[You have handed 42 female bandits over to the investigators.]

[You have received a small bounty.]

[You have handed over 8 bandit groups.]

[You have obtained the right to become a Grade 8 investigator.]

Iris stared at Kang Yoon-Soo with sparkling eyes, pleading, “Kang Yoon-Soo… I want to see the festival…”

“We have something to do before that,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What is it?” Iris asked.

“Creating a spirit,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth tilted her head in confusion and said, “We currently have Sally and Acle, so there are only two kinds of spirits left. Which one are you making this time? Is it the light spirit or the sword spirit?”

There were four spirits that existed on the continent:

The Spirit of Fire, Salamander.

The Spirit of Ice, Icicle.

The Spirit of Light, Bright.

The Spirit of Swords, Sharpness.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and replied, “I’m not only going to make one this time.”

***

The party went back down to the basement cave, and Kang Yoon-Soo summoned Sally and Acle simultaneously.

Sally ran excitedly toward Kang Yoon-Soo and rubbed her cheeks on his leg, exclaiming,, “Papa! Why did you call Sally?”

On the other hand, Acle acted the way he always had. “Ah… So bothersome… What is it?”

Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “I’ll make you younger siblings.”

Sally smiled brightly and cried, “Wow! New siblings! I hope they’ll be cute and nice, unlike Acle.”

“Hmph! I’m stronger than you, so why don’t you follow me instead?” Acle snapped back.

“Why won’t you call me noona?! You won’t even play with me… You’re so mean!” Sally protested.

“Hmph! You were just born earlier than me, but you’re too weak for me to recognize you as my elder sister,” Acle said.

Sally had been born much earlier than Acle, but the quality of the materials used to create her had not been as good as his. That was one of the reasons why Acle appeared older than Sally.

Sally started crying. “Waaaah! Papa! Acle is teasing me!”

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled Sally off his leg. Sally quickly turned around and ran toward Shaneth, crying, “Waaah! Mommy!”

“It’s okay, Sally, it’s okay,” Shaneth said comfortingly.

Henrick scoffed and said, “It’s already pretty noisy now, but I can’t imagine how rowdy it’s going to be if we have two more added to this bunch.”

“Our travels will be more fun with more members,” Iris said, smiling innocently.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked deeper into the basement cave, and soon reached a fancy silver engraving on the wall. It was a door sealed with powerful magic that led to where the bandits had stored all of the spoils from their criminal activity, and one needed a special password to enter it. Kang Yoon-Soo knocked on the door and whispered something to it, and it slowly opened.

Shaneth asked curiously, “What did you whisper just now?”

“Something racy and vulgar,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

“I guess it’s better for me not to know…” Shaneth muttered.

The area behind the door was much wider than they had expected, and the rocks on the other side were much larger as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo took out the Bloody Halberd of Vengeance from his backpack and gripped it in one hand. It was the weapon he had obtained from the trial, and its edge was incomparably sharp compared to that of a normal halberd. He then equipped his Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword in his other hand. The halberd and the magic sword were an odd combination to dual-wield, but his stance seemed not to be awkward at all.

“Get ready for combat,” he said.

Shaneth gripped her scythe tightly, and Henrick took out Rick from his summoning box.

“What’s up?” Rick asked.

“Be happy. It’s time to fight,” Henrick replied.

“But I want to kill people…” Rick said with a sad frown.

“Do you want me to shove you back into the box…?” Henrick grumbled.

Iris summoned her black lightning and said, “It is not yet dawn, so I can still use my magic.”

The ground started to shake as if an earthquake had begun, and the rocks in the cave shone brightly. They all began to move, clustering together and forming into something that was tall enough to hit the ceiling. They had turned into a giant golem that emitted a brilliant light from the core in its chest.
Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the two spirits who were tightly holding each other’s hands and thought, ‘Those two won’t be able to let go of each other except during special circumstances.’

That was because the materials used to create them had been mixed together. There was a way to create them separately, but he had not chosen to do that.

‘I won’t be able to meet the same spirits I had last time if I deviate…’ he thought while looking at the two. The light spirit and the sword spirit had both fought alongside him in his previous life.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at the beautiful, shining spirit and said, “You’re Light.”

“What’s that?” the light spirit asked.

“Your name,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Alright! I like it. A pleasure to meet you! Let’s get along from now on!” Light replied, smiling brightly and leaping forward to hug Kang Yoon-Soo.

The sword spirit was helplessly dragged along as a result, muttering, “Huu… I don’t like being dragged…”

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled Light off of him. Then, he pointed at the gloomy sword spirit and said, “Your name is Sharp.”

Sharp shook his head and replied, “I don’t want it… Someone like me doesn’t deserve a name…”

“You deserve it,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Really…?” Sharp asked, looking at Kang Yoon-Soo with a sad gaze.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Their status windows popped up in front of Kang Yoon-Soo after he named both of them.

[Light]

Level: 258

Race: Bright

Age: Adolescent

Speed: 90

Magic: 58

Luminescence: 110

Skills: Burning Light (Lvl5), Light Clone (Lvl6)

A bright and active spirit with a personality like the sun. She is eager to get along with every single lifeform she comes across.

[Sharp]

Level: 269

Race: Sharpness

Age: Adolescent

(Failed to check stats)

Skills: Incisive Charge (Lvl3), Absorb Sword (Lvl7)

A depressed and cowardly spirit. He is quite shy and timid, so he has difficulty using all of his strength.

+Sharp’s personality might change depending on the types of sword he absorbs.

Light was a Spirit of Light specializing in long-range combat, and she would certainly be a big help to the party in the future.

Sharp had the highest level of all of Kang Yoon-Soo’s summons, but Kang Yoon-Soo had no way to check his stats, and it would be a challenge for him to be of any help in combat because of his personality.

Light asked with sparkling eyes, “What’s your name?”

“Kang Yoon-Soo,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Hmm… Hmm… I see…” Light muttered, then went to every single one of the party members and asked their names. Because of that, Sharp was helplessly dragged along everywhere against his will.

Iris smiled and patted Light on her head before saying, “You guys are cute and beautiful.”

Light smiled brightly and replied, “Unni is very very extremely pretty too!”

On the other hand, Sharp sat on the ground with his head between his legs and said, “Huuu… Lies… I’m an ugly and dirty boy…”

Henrick furrowed his brow and wondered, “Is this kid really the Spirit of Swords? I know there’s no such thing on the continent, but his personality is more befitting of a Spirit of Darkness than a sword.”

“I’m sorry… sniff… sniff…” Sharp replied while crying.

“Hey, there’s no need to cry over it…” Henrick said, taken aback by the spirit’s sudden tears.

Next, it was time for the spirits to introduce themselves to each other.

Acle looked arrogantly at the newly-born spirits and said, “I am the great Spirit of Ice, Acle. I was born earlier than you two, alright? So, you guys are beneath me. Do you understand?”

Light stared at Acle for a moment, then burst out into laughter and exclaimed, “Kyahahaha! Why are you smaller than me if you were born earlier?”

“W-What?” Acle spluttered in surprise as his face crumpled.

Light and Sharp were slightly taller than Acle due to the high-quality ingredients used to create them.

Sally snickered as she looked at Acle, remarking, “Hmph! I guess Acle knows how Sally feels now!”

“Tsk! Shut up!” Acle snapped back.

Sally completely ignored Acle, then walked toward Sharp and said, “Hi! Nice to meet you. My name is Sally. I’m your noona!”

“Hi… Nice to meet… you…” Sharp replied slowly.

Sally grabbed Sharp’s hand and called out warmly, “Sharp! Come play with Sally! Do you know how to play hide-and-seek?”

“Huu… It’s going to be no fun playing with a boy like me…” Sharp said dejectedly.

Shaneth listened to the spirits’ conversation for a while and remarked, “I guess it’s going to be noisier from now on…?”

“You can say that again,” Henrick grumbled. He observed the four spirits for a while, then suddenly asked, “But why is the eldest one the smallest?”

“It’s because she was made from poor-quality ingredients,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Waaaaah! Mommy!” Sally cried.

***

Birhen’s fall festival was neither too grand nor too modest. It did not have any grand attractions that might be worthy of a foreigner’s time, but it was a source of simple happiness for the citizens of Birhen. Songs and poems flowed from the mouths of numerous bards, flower petals were scattered throughout the city, and merchants sold a good variety of food at affordable prices. The festival was enjoyed by Continentals and Travelers alike.

“They’re selling dried figs over there!” Iris exclaimed.

“Alright! I’ll buy you one, so stop pulling!” Henrick grumbled while being dragged along by Iris. She had been dragging him around and practically holding him hostage the entire time, making him buy her whatever she wanted to eat.

“I have something to do, so I’ll head back to the inn first,” Shaneth said.

Kang Yoon-Soo was left sitting all alone on a bench while sipping alcohol. He thought, ‘The next destination is the Dragon of Destruction’s lair…’

The next destination was a very dangerous place, to the point that he usually avoided it actively despite regressing hundreds of times. If they did not prepare adequately for it, the party would surely die.

Just as Kang Yoon-Soo threw away the empty bottle and was about to open a new one, he heard something interesting.

“Revolcon! Have you heard the news? A new empress has been crowned today.”

“Hey! Stop that nonsense. Don’t go around spouting such rumors all over the place.”

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly glanced at the two middle-aged men drinking on the bench across from where he was sitting.

“Hey, what do you mean ‘rumors’? The official decree from the royal palace has already spread all over. It’ll be the talk of the city soon. They say the new empress is the daughter of the previous emperor who died.”

“Hoo… So the seat got passed down. That’s a given, but I’m kind of worried about whether the new empress will be able to do a good job…”

“I heard that’s not the case, though. One of my cousins works at the royal palace and based on what he heard… no, nothing. It might be better not to talk about it.”

“Huh? Come on! Don’t stop halfway!”

“Hmm… Forget about it.”

Kang Yoon-Soo raised a brow and thought, ‘The crown princess ascended to the throne?’

It was strange. Someone else was supposed to ascend the throne instead of the crown princess; that was the main reason why Kang Yoon-Soo had assassinated the emperor. And yet, despite that, the princess had become the new empress. That was not supposed to happen.

‘The crown princess is supposed to be dead at this point in time,’ he thought.

The crown princess was supposed to go missing and turn up dead a few days later, but that same princess was currently alive and had even ascended to the throne. That had never happened in Kang Yoon-Soo’s previous lives.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood up and walked over to the smaller of the two men, saying, “Tell me more about that—in detail.”

“Ha? Who are you to suddenly order me around?” the man retorted.

“I’m the sword brother of Raveldi Burk of the Birhen Market, Ramel Suryan. I’m also known as the Nameless Mercenary,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The middle-aged men burst out into laughter, and the larger of the two replied, “The Nameless Mercenary? Do you even know what kind of legend he is? He’s a monster wearing a mask and a robe, and he massacred twenty large monsters in this area. Take that wrist device off first before you try to pull off a scam, you stupid Traveler. I used to twist the necks of liars like you back in my younger days… Tsk!”

“You’re the one who’s going to have his neck twisted if you say anything other than what I asked for,” Kang Yoon-Soo said threateningly.

“What did you just say?” the man replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

Kang Yoon-Soo flashed a medal at the two men.

“That is…?” one of the men muttered.

“There’s no way a resident of this city wouldn’t recognize the only symbol of the Nameless Mercenary. This is a medal I inherited from my ancestors, who were mercenaries themselves,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Ha! I’m sure it’s probably a well-made fake!” the large man retorted with a scoff.

It was then that the smaller man’s face turned pale and he exclaimed, “I-It’s real!”

“Hey, what do you mean by that?” the larger man asked.

“Anyone who works at the Mercenary Guild like I do would know. Have you heard of the legendary mercenary group? There’s no ruin that mercenary group failed to conquer in the past, and the medal that was awarded to the leader of that group looked just like that one. It would be impossible to copy that medal so accurately!” the smaller man exclaimed.

“Now that I think about it… I remember that the Nameless Mercenary emits a sinister aura whenever he squeezes his medal. Can you show us whether you are indeed the real deal?” the large man asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo squeezed the medal, and a cold aura started to flow out of it. The two middle-aged men’s faces turned ghastly pale.

“I-I’m sorry for not recognizing you!” the larger man exclaimed.

“Shut up. I’m already annoyed that I had to reveal my identity to the likes of you,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. He continued, “I was invited to this festival because of my ties to my sworn brother, but I can’t just ignore what you two have been talking about. Spill everything you know about the new empress who ascended to the throne.”

“H-Huh? Why would the great Nameless Mercenary be interested in politics…?” the larger man asked.

“Do I have to explain everything in detail? Do you want me to show you the Nameless Mercenary drawing his sword against a human instead of a monster for the first time as well?” Kang Yoon-Soo replied threateningly.

The smaller man began to stutter carefully “T-That is… Actually, one of my cousins works at the royal palace, and I just happened to get this information from him by chance.”

The man’s story went as follows.

The emperor’s death and the subsequent vacancy of the throne caused great confusion and strife in the royal palace. The nobles squabbled endlessly to decide the rightful heir to the throne, and the disappearance of the crown princess did not help things at all.

The missing crown princess soon reappeared and proclaimed her right to the throne, but the opposing nobles did not relent at all.

However, it was a bit strange that the squabbles, confusion, and opposition in the royal palace suddenly quieted down overnight—the power struggle within the royal palace suddenly disappeared.

The crown princess seized her position as the rightful heir to the deceased emperor despite the numerous contenders to the throne, and the opposing nobles suddenly flocked to her side and supported her ascension.

Some rumors followed that this would be the start of a tyrannical reign, but Empress Kisifran instantly laid those rumors to rest. The new empress displayed remarkable leadership, and she solved various issues so well that it was hard to believe that she was a newly crowned empress.

However, she had issued one questionable decree. That was to erect a statue in each of the cities on the continent.

“A statue?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Yes, I found it strange as well, but that guy insisted it was true. In fact, a few of the cities have already erected these statues, and they say they’re going to erect these unusual-looking statues in every city from now on,” the man explained.

Kang Yoon-Soo could not understand what was going on, and he thought, ‘Erect a statue in each of the cities… I don’t understand their motive…’

It was impossible to say that such a thing was being done for public security or aesthetic purposes.

‘Someone helped the crown princess survive, and helped her ascend to the throne… That’s the only thing I can think of right now,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. That someone was causing a great change to the life he was familiar with.

He suddenly remembered the words of the goddess, ‘She said that the Demon Lord wasn’t my only enemy… She said there was someone else who knew of my regression and wished for my death…’

If the crown princess, who had always died in his previous lives, had suddenly survived, that meant there was someone who was purposely twisting the course of events in Kang Yoon-Soo’s final life. Had that someone helped enthrone the crown princess too?

Kang Yoon-Soo could only think of one person who was deeply connected to the crown princess. ‘The Royal Alchemist, Rumier Kazan.’

The Royal Alchemist was the one who had tried to seize power by creating doppelgangers of the royal princess, but he had been caught and arrested eventually. However, there were a few suspicious things that did not sit well with Kang Yoon-Soo, and one of those things was the White Shadow that resided in Iris and knew of his regressions.

‘Is that Alchemist related to the crown princess’s ascension to the throne…?’ he wondered.

Kang Yoon-Soo ended up having more questions than answers, and he wondered if all of those questions would be resolved after he grew stronger and visited the Magic Tower of the Colossi. Even though he was living his thousandth life, he could not make heads or tails out of his current situation.

***

Iris was happy, Henrick was tired, Shaneth was in the kitchen, and Kang Yoon-Soo was expressionless as always.

Iris smiled and licked her lips, saying, “Festival foods are really tasty.”

“Then you can skip dinner for today, right?” Henrick asked.

“Omo, Henrick. My stomach is always empty,” Iris replied.

“My pockets are empty as well, thanks to you,” Henrick grumbled while gulping down more alcohol.

“I’m glad you’re hungry,” Shaneth said with a smile before bringing over a covered tray. Steam poured out from the tray when she opened the lid, revealing two scrumptious-looking pies—an apple pie and a meat pie.

“I bought the ingredients and made them in the inn’s kitchen. I’ve kept my promise with this, right, unni?” Shaneth asked.

“Shaneth is a really nice person,” Iris replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

The pies on the table slowly disappeared slice by slice, but Kang Yoon-Soo did not touch them at all during the entire dinner.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Shaneth asked.

“I’m alright,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He then took a bottle of alcohol and returned to his room. He lay down on his bed, staring out the window, until it was already past midnight.

It was then that someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock…

Kang Yoon-Soo looked toward the door and called out, “It’s open, Shaneth.”

Creak…

Shaneth opened the door and asked in surprise, “How did you know it was me?”

“You always knock four times,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

He had already accurately grasped the smallest of Shaneth’s habits from his hundreds of regressions, and he was also well aware of why she had paid him a visit at such a late hour.