Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 52

Durman?stopped moving and fell silent.?Jiang Ren-Wei felt that something was off, and he?walked toward Durman. Durman was standing?still as if he had been?hypnotized, with his eyes out of focus.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked, shaking?Durman’s shoulder, but Durman just remained in the same state.

Suddenly, a bright light shone out of the plate the name of the ruin was written on.?Jiang Ren-Wei covered his eyes with his left hand, nearly?blinded by the light;?suddenly, Durman?ran toward the ruin, huffing and puffing.

“Hey! Where are you going?!” Jiang Ren-Wei shouted, trying to pursue?Durman.?However,?Durman?easily?pushed open the?gigantic?door of the icy ruin, then ran into?it.

Jiang Ren-Wei hesitated for a moment, thinking,?‘Do I go in…?’?He?could not shake?off the?uneasy feeling creeping up on him, but he shook his head and made a decision.?He?entered the Winterkill Ruin, as he could not abandon his clan?member.

The interior of the ruin was white all over;?it was?filled with frost and?transparent blocks of ice, and?the air within was bitterly cold.?Jiang Ren-Wei found Durman standing dazedly?inside;?he ran toward?Durman and kicked?him.

Thankfully, Durman seemed to come back to his senses. He protested,?“Ah! Boss! Why are you suddenly kicking me? Did you feed your remaining arm to?a?monster or something?”

“Feed, my ass!?Don’t you remember what happened?” Jiang Ren-Wei?asked.

“What are you talking about? Huh? Where are we?” Durman looked around in surprise.?Jiang Ren-Wei sighed in resignation, then?turned around and walked toward the door of the ruin.

Creak…

The door suddenly?shut.?Jiang Ren-Wei banged on?it?with all his might. However,?even though it had?easily opened when Durman pushed it, the door?did not budge an inch this time. As?the light that had?entered?through the door disappeared, the ruin was?cast into such darkness that the two?had a hard time identifying what was immediately in front of them.

Durman, who had good night vision, suddenly pointed?at something?and said, “Boss! Look at that!”

Numerous pale white skeletons slowly?rose?up from the?frozen?floor. Unlike normal skeletons made of bone, they were made of ice. The Ice Skeletons?were?much stronger monsters compared to normal undead, and at?least 400 of them had risen from the ice-cold floor.

Durman?trembled, screaming in horror, “Boss! What should we do?!”

“What else can we do? Raise your weapon!”?Jiang Ren-Wei gritted his teeth as he tightly gripped?his?blunt weapon?in his left arm.

***

Iris?looked at the object?in?her hand with eyes full of curiosity. It was a clear crystal,?but it was too cold to hold. She thought,?‘What could it be?’?She fiddled?with the?object?briefly before licking it.

“Ah…”?Iris’?tongue stuck to the ice.?She?was suddenly flustered?and?did not know what to do. She tried?pulling it away, but?decided against it?as each attempt to detach the ice made her tongue hurt..

Shaneth pulled her sleeves back just?as?Iris’ eyes were about to?fill?with tears. Shaneth let out an exhausted smile as she took a water canteen?and poured some over Iris’ tongue; afterward,?Iris was able to safely remove her tongue from the ice.

Iris glared at the ice in her hand and said, “You are a naughty child. I do?not feel like tasting you anymore.”

“Oh!?What?good news to hear, that you know how to be picky with your food as well,” Henrick said, cackling.

Shaneth looked at the icy ruin in front of her eyes and exclaimed in amazement, “It’s amazing! This is the ruin the Death General Kalriven mentioned! What’s this ruin’s name? Ah, it’s written over there.”?She?was about to approach the plate in front of the ruin, but Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly blocked her path.

“Don’t go near that plate,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Why?” Shaneth asked.

“It’s enchanted with?hallucination magic,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Suddenly, various noises emerged?from the ruin;?it seemed?someone was battling inside it. A man?shouted?from within,?“Haaap!”

The voice was familiar.?Kang Yoon-Soo bit his lips as he thought, ‘It happened faster than I expected…’

It?was his first time going down this route, and he had no prior experience whatsoever; however,?his plans?were?going to go awry if Jiang Ren-Wei died. Jiang Ren-Wei was an absolute necessity to conquer the Winterkill Ruin. His plans to get stronger?quickly?and complete the legendary quest would be delayed if Jiang Ren-Wei died?just then.

“Let’s go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, hurriedly guiding?his party members into the Winterkill Ruin.

***

The Ice Skeletons were tricky opponents to deal with. Their bones?made of ice did not easily break even if?they were?hit with?strong attacks, and they would breathe out chilling air?to slow down their opponents if one got too close to them.

Jiang Ren-Wei tightly flexed his left arm, swinging?his blunt weapon.

Kwachik!

An Ice Skeleton’s head was crushed by his attack, but?a near-endless amount of Ice Skeletons?was still charging?at the?pair.

While?busily swinging his sword,?Durman?gritted his teeth and?exclaimed, “Boss, I think this is as far as we go! Thank you for everything!”

“Swing your weapon one more time if you have time to spew bullshit like that!” Jiang Ren-Wei retorted.

Even if they wanted to escape, the door of the ruin was closed. The two men fought with all their strength as they tried to secure a path to retreat through; however, they?were almost immediately surrounded by the Ice Skeletons.?The skeletons clacked their jaws as if they were hungry for blood.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Jiang Ren-Wei glared at the skeletons. No hint of despair could be found in?his eyes?even though he was now?cornered;?rather, his?gaze was?now filled with grit and determination.

“Relentless Survival!” Jiang Ren-Wei used his?unique class?skill.

His class was Indomitable Warrior. It was a rare class he had obtained?by?training with one arm and never giving up.?As he got fully worked up, bulging veins emerged all over his body; the frost that covered him?broke apart in an instant. Relentless Survival was a skill that consumed his life force to maximize his combat power.

Jiang Ren-Wei lifted his blunt weapon and?let out a deafening shout.?“Haaaaaa!”

He had never given?up even after his right arm was eaten by a monster. He was definitely going to survive this!

Just as?he was about to charge into the skeletons after letting out a?battle cry…

Creak…

The?previously locked door?suddenly opened, and a man charged into the dungeon even before the sunlight could fully?enter?it. The man?quickly?swung his sword.

Clang!

The sword landed a critical strike through?a skeleton’s eye socket, causing it to retreat?at the sudden damage it took. The attack was meant to deter the skeleton rather than outright kill it.

The Ice Skeletons charged at the new intruder,?but?the man was surprisingly calm as he used?a?skill, “Dance of Death.”?He?started to fiercely swing the black longsword in his hand;?his swordsmanship was both reckless and dazzling.

Four of the Ice Skeletons that surrounded the man were instantly blown away; however, he?seemed to?be focusing?on blowing away the skeletons rather than outright killing them.

‘What?’?Jiang Ren-Wei was surprised at the calm demeanor of the man, who acted?as if he?were?used to facing multiple enemies at once. However, what surprised Jiang Ren-Wei more was the?man’s cold, expressionless face that resembled that of a doll.

The man looked toward the door of the ruin and said, “Shaneth.”

“Yes!” a brunette beauty answered, suddenly running?toward Jiang Ren-Wei and Durman.?Numerous Ice Skeletons aimed their weapons toward her neck with the sole intention to crush it.?However, the beauty?unslung?the large scythe on her back and shouted, “Pyrokinesis!”

The scythe was suddenly enveloped in flames that?spread around the?surrounding area; a wall of flames that seemed out of place in an icy ruin rose. The Ice Skeletons hesitated,?as the intensely burning fire wall?separated them from the adventurers.

Fire and ice were polar opposites; as such, ice attribute monsters like the Ice Skeleton absolutely?loathed?fire.

A middle-aged man suddenly shouted from the?entrance?of the ruin, “Hey! What are you doing! Come over here if you want?to?live!”

“We’re saved!” Durman exclaimed, shedding?tears of joy.?Jiang Ren-Wei?holstered?his blunt weapon on his waist and?ran toward the exit of the ruin;?the expressionless man followed behind them.

The door of the Winterkill Ruin was designed to be?easy to open?from the outside, but impossible to?open?from the inside.

“Close it,” the man said?as they exited.

Iris pushed the ruin door?shut. Jiang Ren-Wei was impressed that a girl?so?young possessed such an immense amount of strength. It seemed?the girl had invested quite a bit of her stat points into strength.

In any event, they?had survived.?The recoil from?Jiang Ren-Wei’s?skill was still there, but?he?bowed his head as he showed his gratitude to the strangers, saying,?“Thank you. We survived because of you. I?am?the leader of the Martial Blood Clan, Jiang Ren-Wei.”

“Aigooo!?I’m a mercenary under the Martial Blood Clan.?My name is Durman Barra. Thank you so much for saving us. If I may ask you, what?are?your?names, oh saviors?” Durman?asked.

The man who had saved them?answered in a dry emotionless voice, “Kang Yoon-Soo.”

“I see you are from a different country. I am from Tianjin, China. You must be Korean, I presume?” Jiang Ren-Wei asked.?Kang Yoon-Soo nodded.

More than just Koreans had been transported to this world; people of?many other nationalities had been?transported. They were able to communicate with each other thanks to the wrist devices they wore.

The others introduced themselves one by one.

However, Henrick looked at Jiang Ren-Wei and?exclaimed in surprise, “You’re a clan leader, but you only have one arm? Wow, that’s amazing!”

“Henrick ahjussi!” Shaneth hit him in the chest with her elbow.

Henrick’s face suddenly turned pale?as he choked for a moment. He exclaimed,?“You punk! What the hell?!”