Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 98

The Shy Doll Ruin was hidden deep within a lush, overgrown forest that twisted and turned like a maze. The road toward it did not have any rules or patterns, but it was basically a jungle path that required the adventurer to cut through numerous large tree branches to navigate it.

It was around the time that they cut through the seventh tree branch that the pair found the entrance.

“Maybe it’s because it was Rick’s workshop, but it looks beautiful, as opposed to those ruins that are crawling with monsters,” Henrick said.

Henrick had a point. The Shy Doll Ruin was bigger than the Yultika Ruin, but smaller than the Winterkill Ruin. However, what really made the Shy Doll Ruin stand out from the previous two ruins was its artistic aesthetics. The ruin’s roof had very nice eaves engraved with flowers, and the pillars were engraved with intricate designs.

‘I made something like that in my previous life when I inherited the skill of the dwarves,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. When he saw that Henrick was still admiring the ruin with his mouth wide open, he said to the other man, “Let’s go.”

Henrick, whose nose was bright red from the alcohol, shook his head and said, “Maybe it’s because I had a drink, but I don’t feel like going into the ruin.”

Ruins usually had hundreds of monsters inhabiting them, and just because the ruin had lost its owner did not mean the two of them would be able to leisurely stroll in and take whatever they wanted—of course, Kang Yoon-Soo and Shaneth had conquered a ruin with no other assistance in the past.

Creak…

An eerie chill greeted them once they opened the door and entered the ruin. The Shy Doll Ruin did not have an ounce of life in it, and the floor was littered with blood splatters and rotten organs.

“Did that bastard never even bother to clean? No wonder he got infected so quickly,” Henrick grumbled.

The two of them had already drunk the concoction of medicinal herbs Kang Yoon-Soo had made, so they were not worried about getting infected by the disease.

[You have entered the Shy Doll Ruin.]

[This place is filled with mana that makes it easier for combat dolls to move in it.]

[You will be able to move your combat dolls even without your mana threads.]

[However, a combat doll that has lost its master will rampage.]

“W-wait, what? A combat doll that’s lost its master?” Henrick exclaimed with a nervous expression. He continued, “Hey… Don’t tell me…?”

“Get ready,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, unsheathing his sword.

Just then, an army of corpse dolls started charging toward them like a tidal wave from the other end of the ruin. Some of the dolls crawled along the walls, while others walked across the floor toward them.

“The combat dolls can still move without mana threads?” Henrick exclaimed as he took out his summoning box. He then summoned all of the combat dolls he had in his possession, amounting to over five hundred dolls in total.

“Let’s do this!” Henrick shouted confidently as he crossed an arm over his chest.

Five wooden combat dolls Henrick had summoned, as large as the ruin’s pillars, walked forward and smashed the incoming corpse dolls. Kang Yoon-Soo also charged into the wave of the corpse dolls and slashed them one by one.

Sukeok!

Dark red blood splattered all over the place whenever Kang Yoon-Soo slashed a corpse doll, as the dolls had been made out of human bodies. The two men could see that blood was still flowing within the corpse dolls, and that their organs were still working.

“I knew it. It was a wise choice to have a drink before coming in here,” Henrick muttered as he observed the disgusting sight of the corpse dolls turning into mincemeat.

However, the two kept sweeping over the corpse dolls regardless of how disgusting and repulsive it was. In a way, they were killing the dead again.

“It was a good choice not to bring those two,” Henrick remarked.

“That’s right,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Anyone who had a weak stomach—or rather, anyone else, regardless of who they were—would not be able to help; rather, their mental health would suffer if they witnessed the scene of the two men slaughtering the corpse dolls. The corpse dolls collapsed one by one, lying in pools of their own blood on the floor.

Henrick frowned and dusted off a bottle of alcohol before asking, “Do you have more booze?”

“Here,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, tossing a bottle to Henrick.

“Booze has never tasted sweeter than it does today,” Henrick said after downing the whole bottle of strong alcohol. As expected, Kang Yoon-Soo did the same.

They continued heading into the ruin while leaving behind the bloody mess they had caused. They then went down a staircase leading to the lower level.

“I smell antiseptics,” Henrick said, sniffing a few times.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed to a room and said, “This is the room where he kept the corpses.”

There were coffins lined up in one corner of the room; inside them were corpses that looked like sleeping humans.

“But why do all of them have one hand missing?” Henrick asked.

“They’re all Travelers,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

David had been a serial killer who only targeted Travelers, and cutting off the hands that bore their wrist devices had long been a hobby of his.

‘Wrist devices…’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he looked around. He opened a chest in another corner; it was filled with hands that had wrist devices attached to them. The hands had been cut off and kept, since nobody could remove the wrist device from a Traveler’s arm.

“He was a crazy bastard, alright,” Henrick remarked as he left the room looking disgusted.

The two walked into the heart of the ruin; they were able to reach it quite easily, since the ruin’s owner was already dead. There, they found a large box atop an altar.

“The Final Masterpiece is in that box,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, pointing toward the box.

“Really?” Henrick asked with a hint of skepticism in his voice. He continued, “Can I really take it? You’re not going to charge me for it later, are you?”

“You’re the puppeteer,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“It’s just that this is the first time I’ve ever seen you give up the reward,” Henrick remarked. He cleared his throat a few times before walking up the stairs toward the altar. He then rolled back his sleeves and opened the box.

[You have conquered the Shy Doll Ruin.]

[Conqueror: Henrick Elrickerson]

[Rank 1 Achievement: Kang Yoon-Soo]

Kang Yoon-Soo was not the conqueror of the dungeon, because Henrick was the one who had killed the ruin’s owner, David.

‘It’s only right for Henrick to take this ruin, judging from the treasure alone,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He had decided that monopolizing all of the rewards and treasures would only make things difficult and inefficient in the future. He was willing to share all the rewards as long as they could kill the Demon Lord.

Meanwhile, Henrick peeked inside the box. He then looked back at Kang Yoon-Soo with a dumbfounded expression, exclaiming, “…What the hell is this?”

“The Final Masterpiece,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Henrick looked back inside the box; a beautiful young girl was lying inside it. The girl had a slender body and a slightly revealing outfit. “Hey, it looks more like a human than a doll, no matter how I look at it,” he said as he carefully tapped the girl’s shoulder.

Then, the young girl’s eyes suddenly opened. She stared at Henrick with eyes as clear as crystal.

[Rick’s successor has surpassed the required artisanship and puppeteering skill levels.]

[You will now be able to control the Final Masterpiece.]

The black-haired young girl stared at Henrick for a moment before saying, “Hello.”

“What are you?” Henrick asked.

“Rick,” the girl replied.

“Rick?” Henrick frowned and said, “Rick was my ancestor, and he was also a psychopathic serial killer.”

“That’s me,” the beautiful young girl said.

It was difficult to tell whether she was a young girl who looked like a doll, or a doll who looked like a young girl. She stretched her arms, and her thin blouse fell slightly, revealing some of her skin.

“Did I sleep for a long time?” the girl asked.

“No, you can go sleep more,” Henrick said as he tried to close the lid. However, Rick’s hand stopped the lid from closing. The young girl looked quite slender and frail, but she was incredibly strong despite her appearance.

“Did you wake me up?” Rick asked.

“I just opened the box, that’s all,” Henrick replied.

He was instinctively wary of the young girl in front of him. She looked quite frail and beautiful at a glance, but the way she had introduced herself had a sinister air. Rick was a serial killer from the past, but the young girl or doll or whatever she was had claimed to be that same serial killer.

“What the hell is going on?” Henrick turned around and asked Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, “The Final Masterpiece is Rick himself.”

“What do you mean?” Henrick asked.

“He turned himself into a doll as his final work,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“That crazy bastard!” Henrick exclaimed.

Rick brought a long, slender finger to her lips and touched them a few times before asking, “Are you a puppeteer?”

“Yes,” Henrick replied.

The young girl’s fingers touched the hem of Henrick’s shirt. She brought her small nose closer to him and sniffed him, remarking, “You smell like booze.” Henrick seemed to be bothered by her actions, and pulled his shirt away from her.

“Use me as your doll,” Rick suddenly asked Henrick.

“I don’t want to, you punk,” Henrick replied coldly with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Rick stared at Henrick with her crystal-clear eyes and asked, “Why not?”

“Because I’m not fond of crazy bastards,” Henrick replied, his annoyance clearly audible in his tone. Rick was a psychopathic serial killer, and Henrick felt as if he had awakened that serial killer with his own hands.

“What’s your name?” Rick asked.

“Henrick Elrickerson,” Henrick replied.

“So you’re my descendant?” Rick asked. She checked Henrick out from head to toe before continuing, “You look quite fun to kill, you know.”

“I hear that a lot,” Henrick replied with a shrug.

Rick could not hide her smile and said, “I like you.”

“Do you still feel like killing me?” Henrick asked sarcastically.

“Yes, I want to strangle you to death,” Rick said with a smile.

“…This is driving me nuts,” Henrick muttered, biting his lip. He turned around and shot Kang Yoon-Soo a resentful look, exclaiming, “Hey! You punk! You knew it was going to turn out like this, which was why you passed it to me, didn’t you?!”

“Nope…” Kang Yoon-Soo lied brazenly with a straight face.

***

“Why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?” Henrick asked.

“I don’t feel like it,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Henrick quietly took out his sculpting knife as he seriously contemplated stabbing the man in front of him. Only then did Kang Yoon-Soo say, “Try touching Rick’s forehead.”

Henrick brought his finger to Rick’s forehead.

[Madman Rick]

Race: Living Doll

Affinity: Undecided

Current Mental Condition: Good

“I understand what ‘race’ is, but what the hell are ‘affinity’ and ‘current mental condition’?” Henrick asked with a frown.

Kang Yoon-Soo gave him a long explanation.

Affinity meant the direction of Rick’s growth. Rick was a doll, but she could grow as well, unlike normal combat dolls. She could end up becoming anything from a combat doll to a knitting doll, depending on how she was raised.

“Think of her as your daughter,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“That thing is… my ancestor… you punk,” Henrick replied with a frown.

Rick’s current mental condition was as written. She would alternate back and forth between sanity and insanity. All of her stats would increase explosively whenever she went mad, but she would indiscriminately attack allies as well.

“In short, it’s a ticking time bomb,” Henrick said as he looked at Rick. Rick looked like a young girl no matter how he looked at her, and he was torn over whether he could really order a little girl to go into combat. He grumbled, “I really hate being in this position. How the hell am I supposed to command a little girl like that to fight?”

“It’s strong,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied simply, and that was true. Rick had the potential to become the strongest combat doll, depending on how she was nurtured.

‘Of course, it all depends on how Henrick nurtures her,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. It was not possible for him to get involved with the way the doll was going to be brought up, but their journey would become vastly easier if Henrick decided to nurture Rick properly.

‘…Although it’s a fact that it’s a double-edged sword,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. Rick’s mental condition went back and forth between normal and psycho mode, and that would also depend on how well Henrick controlled Rick.

‘This is all to make the journey to the magic tower easier,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

Henrick walked toward Rick and said, “Look here, my dear ancestor. I’ll use you. I’m a puppeteer, after all.”

“Alright,” Rick nodded obediently.

Henrick took out a small box from his pocket and asked, “Can you go into the summoning box?” The summoning box was where he normally stored his puppets.

“Let me take a walk first,” Rick said.

Fortunately, Henrick did not have to be with Rick all the time. He let out a sigh of relief before asking, “A walk?”

“I want to take a walk outside the ruin,” Rick said.

“Why? Haven’t you been outside before?” Henrick said.

“I can’t leave the ruin without a Puppeteer to command me,” Rick explained, showing Henrick a tiny hole in her body. A mana thread was supposed to be passed through the hole.

Henrick’s face crumpled as he passed a mana thread through the hole, then said, “There. Are you happy now?”

“Try controlling me,” Rick said.

Henrick lightly shook the hand his mana thread was attached to, and Rick’s body started to move as he wanted.

Rick nodded, seemingly satisfied, before saying, “You’re quite good at controlling me. Keep up the good work even when we get out of here.”

The three people, no, the two men and the doll, ascended to the upper level of the ruin. The smell of blood from the corpse dolls immediately enveloped them.

“The smell of blood… Hehe.. Hehehe… Hahaha!” Rick suddenly broke out into a sinister laugh.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said, “Let’s pick her up and get out of here.”

“This is driving me crazy!” Henrick grumbled as he grabbed Rick’s shoulder and picked her up.

Rick slowly started to return to normal once they were a distance away from the corpse dolls that were emitting the smell of blood. Her body suddenly fell down as soon as they were out of the ruin, just like a normal doll.

“Make me walk,” Rick said.

Rick had looked exactly like a human in the ruin when she could walk without the help of any mana threads, but she looked more like a doll now that she was helpless outside the ruin. Henrick slowly connected his mana threads, then made Rick slowly take a few steps before starting to walk.

“The weather is really good. How long has it been since I felt the sun?” Rick exclaimed as she continued walking barefooted. Surprisingly, her feet were fine no matter how many steps she took barefooted on the rugged terrain.

“Come to think of it, can this one not get infected by the Sudden Death Syndrome disease?” Henrick asked.

“It’s made with the best materials one can find, so it won’t get infected by any disease,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.

“So it’s an expensive body, huh,” Henrick said.

The two men followed the leisurely walking young girl as they walked all the way back to their campsite. Shaneth was already up early in the morning and was making breakfast. When she saw the two coming, she turned around and asked them, “Where did you go so early in the morning?”

Seeing Rick, she then exclaimed, “Oh?” She looked at Rick and asked with a smile, “Who might this pretty little lady be?”

Henrick replied in a completely serious tone, “Say hello to my grandmother.”

“…Have you been drinking so early in the morning?” Shaneth asked.