Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 53

“You should mind your words in front of someone you’ve just met!” Shaneth scolded Henrick.

Jiang Ren-Wei let out an awkward laugh as the two started to quarrel with each other. He said with a laugh, reassuring Shaneth, “This is fine; most people are surprised to hear that. I got used to it.”

He stretched out his hand toward Kang Yoon-Soo, offering a handshake as he said, “Anyway, I will never forget this debt. I will be sure to handsomely reward you if you come to find us at our clan later. It will also be fine if you come along with us back to the city.”

Kang Yoon-Soo just stared at Jiang Ren-Wei and did not take the offered hand. Instead, he turned around and pointed toward the Winterkill Ruin, saying, “I plan to conquer the Winterkill Ruin. To do that, I need you, Jiang Ren-Wei, and your clan’s help.”

Jiang Ren-Wei let out a laugh, but he shook his head and said, “I understand your enthusiasm to conquer an unexplored ruin, but we have no plans to take on the risk and raid a ruin anytime soon. The monsters in the ruin are too strong for a mid-sized clan like ours, and we plan to report the location of the new ruin to a bigger clan and get rewards for it.”

Kang Yoon-Soo extended his right hand, but Jiang Ren-Wei, who did not have a right arm, could not respond to his handshake. Jiang Ren-Wei was flustered at the strange gesture, but Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said, “If you help us with the raid, I’ll give you a right arm.”

Jiang Ren-Wei was stunned, seemingly not understanding what the man in front of him was saying. He asked, “Are you saying you will give me a prosthetic arm if my clan helps you with the raid?”

It was not that Jiang Ren-Wei was against using a prosthetic arm, but it would be mainly for show, and a prosthetic arm often got in his way during a battle; that was why he preferred to only use his left arm.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and replied, “It’s not a prosthetic arm.” He lightly tapped Henrick’s shoulder and proceeded to take out the Body Crafting Kit from his backpack before handing it over.

Henrick glared at him before letting out a sigh, saying, “As soon as I gave you this heirloom, you planned to use it up to the last piece… Jerk…”

He pulled on his sleeve while opening and closing his left hand. He then took out the awl from the Body Crafting Kit and slashed it across his left wrist. Of course, his hand quickly separated from his arm.

“Ack! What the hell is that?!” Durman screamed in surprise at the clean yet grotesque sight. Jiang Ren-Wei could not hide his surprise as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo started to explain to Jiang Ren-Wei, “It’s a magic tool that allows one to replace a body part with that of a doll. I’ll give you a right arm if you decide to help me raid the ruin. However, I’ll be in charge of leading the raid.”

Jiang Ren-Wei pondered the offer for a moment before asking, “That left hand, may I touch it?”

“It feels weird hearing that from a guy…” Henrick grumbled as he passed his left hand over.

Jiang Ren-Wei inspected the left hand, surprised to find that the texture and muscles of the hand felt very similar to the real thing. He then asked Henrick, “What is this left hand made of?”

“I stole the bones from the graveyard, and stitched together pig muscles to recreate the muscles,” Henrick replied.

“…” Jiang Ren-Wei was speechless.

“Hey, isn’t it better than living with only one hand?” Henrick remarked, scratching his cheek.

“Well, I suppose you are right. Were there any side effects after you replaced your missing hand with the doll part?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked intently.

“It feels awkward at first, since it’s not your real hand, after all. Still, it does the job once you get used to it. The nerves are connected so you can move it as you wish, although you won’t be able to feel any pain,” Henrick replied.

Jiang Ren-Wei was now facing a huge dilemma after seeing Henrick’s left hand. He hesitantly asked, “How can I trust you people?” He was quite the cautious type. There was no way he was just going to hand over the commanding rights to the raid just like that.

“A raid does not happen just like that. We need to form a proper party with various classes, and we also need to have a leader who has excellent leadership skills. A ruin, unlike a normal monster lair, can cause numerous fatalities. If you wish to receive our support, you will have to prove your qualifications,” he added.

Jiang Ren-Wei was perfectly aware of Kang Yoon-Soo’s incredible swordsmanship, since he had seen it with his own eyes. However, a ruin raid was a completely different matter. The Winterkill Ruin was certainly going to be full of all sorts of traps, just like the hallucination magic on the nameplate and the door that could not be opened from the inside. There was definitely going to be a high risk of the whole clan being annihilated if they did not conduct a thorough investigation prior to the raid.

“I’m currently doing a legendary quest,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Did you just say a legendary quest?!” Durman exclaimed, surprised.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and pushed a button on his wrist device. The details of the quest he was currently carrying out appeared.

[Legendary Quest—Castle of the Dead]

The screen on the wrist device was not something that someone can tamper with. The man in front of them was really doing a legendary quest. A legendary quest not only gave significant rewards, but also had the potential to shift the power balance of the continent. However, in this case, it was all the proof needed to prove that Kang Yoon-Soo was an outstanding adventurer.

Jiang Ren-Wei let out a sigh and said, “Alright. I believe that you are more than qualified. However, this is not something I can decide alone. First, I need to discuss this with my clan members.”

“C’mon, boss! Was there ever a time we turned down a good fight? Our boys are always eager to jump into battle. Besides, we get to find you a right arm as well, so isn’t it obvious? I know you’re cautious, but sometimes you’re too cautious,” Durman said, snickering.

“Your words are always so elegant, Durman,” Jiang Ren-Wei said with a sigh. He guided Kang Yoon-Soo and the others to where the Martial Blood Clan members were, then revealed the fact that they had found the Winterkill Ruin.

“Are you saying you found a ruin?”

“Then we have to go conquer it right now before others catch wind of it!”

“Are you saying we can get the boss a right arm? This is finally my chance to repay him!”

The members of the Martial Blood Clan were all fired up, and they sounded like they were ready to draw their weapons and charge into the ruin at any minute, just as Durman had said.

Jiang Ren-Wei waved his left arm and tried to calm them down, saying, “We’ll be doing the raid, but I won’t be commanding it.”

“What?”

“If it’s not the boss, who will be commanding?”

Jiang Ren-Wei pointed at Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “He’ll be commanding the raid, and he’s currently doing a legendary quest.”

“A legendary quest?” The Martial Blood Clan members looked at Kang Yoon-Soo in surprise. It was obvious for them to be surprised by the fact that a stranger would be commanding the dangerous ruin raid, and also that he was currently doing a legendary quest.

A woman raised her hand and asked, “What’s his name?”

“Kang Yoon-Soo,” the man answered in his usual emotionless tone.

The Martial Blood Clan did not seem to have any qualms about Kang Yoon-Soo commanding the raid. However, it was not because they trusted Kang Yoon-Soo, whom they had just met that day; it was because they trusted the decisions of their boss, Jiang Ren-Wei. They firmly believed their boss would have a good reason for handing over the commanding rights to that man.

Jiang Ren-Wei guided them to a shabby shack. He said, “First, we will distribute the rewards individually, since the contribution ranking will be shown at the end of the raid. The highest contributor will get the treasures of the ruin. Most raids conduct their reward distribution in this way; do you agree?” Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in agreement.

Jiang Ren-Wei rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand and added, “I would prefer to receive the right arm after the raid, since I might have a hard time adjusting to a new body part, and I am more used to fighting with only my left arm.” His words were filled with his pride as a one-armed warrior.

“We have a lot of things to prepare to get ready for the raid,” Jiang Ren-Wei said. He continued, “The top two hundred members of our clan are all here, and their levels are within a range of Level 150 to Level 200. Our clan is mostly comprised of Swordsmen, Spearmen, and Archers. We lack support classes like Healers or Blacksmiths, so we will need to recruit them for the raid. We can exclude Sorcerers since they would cost too much.”

“We will need a massive amount of healing potions on top of that, not to mention the Blacksmiths to repair our equipment, a Thief to disarm the traps, and Runners to scout ahead. If we calculate all of that, we will need an astounding amount of money and time. We might need more people and resources depending on your commanding style too,” Jiang Ren-Wei went on.

A ruin raid promised immense riches, but the time and resources required to conquer one were immense as well. The monsters inhabiting ruins were much more dangerous than the monsters outside.

“If you don’t mind, what level are you?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked.

“I can’t reveal that.” Kang Yoon-Soo refused.

Jiang Ren-Wei nodded, showing that he would no longer push the issue, since there were numerous Travelers who were reluctant to reveal their levels. “Forgive my rudeness. I am sure you must be high-leveled, since you are currently doing a legendary quest. I just asked out of curiosity,” Jiang Ren-Wei said apologetically.

Kang Yoon-Soo would normally have no qualms about revealing that he was Level 131, but it was now different this time around. He had to give it his all even for any minor choices he made, and Jiang Ren-Wei’s confidence in him would drop if he revealed the fact that he was lower-leveled than the members of the Martial Blood Clan. There was no need to reveal the truth and cause confusion in the group.

He suddenly said, “There’s no reason for us to bring a Blacksmith, Thief, or Runner.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked, surprised.

“I can fill those roles instead,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Jiang Ren-Wei was speechless, looking confused. He asked, “Are you saying you will repair equipment, disarm traps, and even scout the area?”

“We don’t need a Healer either. I’ll prepare an adequate amount of potions to substitute for one,” Kang Yoon-Soo added.

Jiang Ren-Wei now had a look of utter disbelief in what Kang Yoon-Soo was saying. However, Henrick suddenly chimed in, “I know it’s not easy to believe it, but he really can do everything by himself.”

“Still, it doesn’t make sense. How can someone do the work of all those classes alone?” Jiang Ren-Wei replied. It was a normal reaction for anyone to have.

“I’ll prove it later, but rather than that, we need to increase our manpower,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“I agree that we are lacking people right now. Should we hire some mercenaries?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked.

It was normal to hire mercenaries whenever there was a need for more manpower during battles or hunts. Mercenaries were divided into copper, silver, or gold tiers based on their capability. The higher the mercenary’s rank was, the more expensive they were. That was why, when most people hired a lot of mercenaries at once, they usually went for copper-tiered ones.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “It would take a lot of time and money to hire mercenaries.”

“Then how do you suggest supplementing our lack of manpower?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “With undead.”