Record of a Thousand Lives: Chapter 18

Chapter 18.  Record of a Thousand Lives

Shannette stood still, as if she was frozen.

Cold sweat traveled down her back.

 “What are you doing standing there like a dummy?  Aren’t you going to answer me?”

Lee Minchan approached close behind her.

Even before she could respond in any way, the door to her room suddenly opened.

 “Why are you not coming in?”

Kang Yoonsoo poked his head out through the door’s opening.

He was lightly dressed, and he snatched her wrist in a nonchalant manner.

After Shannette followed him into the room in her moment of confusion, he closed the door.

 “The- the boy in the hall, his name is Lee Minchan.  Is he really the serial killer?”

 “That’s right.”

The room was very dark since the lamp was turned off.

Shannette moved her hands about in order to locate the lamp, but all she could find was empty air.

 “Is that kid really the serial killer?  He did not appear to be a good person, but he looked too carefree to be someone who could rape and kill women.”

 “He was always like that.”

For some reason, Kang Yoonsoo spoke as if he had already encountered this situation in the past.

It was hard to assume that Kang Yoonsoo was telling her a lie.

Although he seemed as if he could not be fully trusted sometimes, everything he spat out had always been true.

Continuing to wave her hands through the empty air, Shannette felt something at the tips of her fingers.

It was the lamp.

She lit the wick, then turned up the flame and the room brightened.

Kang Yoonsoo already had his great sword on his back, and was sitting at the end of the bed.

 “You have to be ready for tonight, if you want to survive until dawn.”

 “In order to survive…. What do you mean?”

Kang Yoonsoo spoke as if the answer was obvious.

 “If there is a serial killer who only goes after beautiful women, who do you think his next target will be?”

************

The world exists only for me!

That was none other than Lee Minchan’s motto.

Merely a few months ago, Lee Minchan was a timid 18 year old high school student.

It was normal for him to be bullied at the back of the classroom by the popular kids. Watching anime in the corner of his room and laughing had been the only happy escape in his life.

There was nothing he wanted to do.

Nor did he have any friends.

While others were diligently working towards their dreams or on their studies, Lee Minchan used to sleep at his desk and read fantasy novels.

Lee Minchan liked fantasy novels.

When he read novels where the protagonist destroyed countless kinds of trash and scum, he felt unmatched satisfaction in his heart.

His absolute favorite was the high school bully genre, when ‘a bullied high school student would be transports to another world and become the bully himself’.

It was a time when his parents frequently sighed worriedly, concerned about his future.

Lee Minchan, for no reason at all, was transported to an unfamiliar world.

The place that he was transported to was none other than the lair of a dragon.

 “O, you who came from another world, I’ll soon enter my long hibernation.  Inherit my magic, and be prepared for the imminent dangers which will strike this world in the near future.”

The tough-scaled dragon taught Lee Minchan magic, then entered a period of hibernation.

Lee Minchan became the holder of a level 1 skill which was very difficult for anyone to master.

And he achieved that without putting in any effort.

 “Phenomenal!  This is a true high school bully!”

Lee Minchan was elated.

In the real world he was always shunned by others, and he did not have a single friend with whom he could earnestly talk.

His reality was boring, and he had nothing he wanted to do.

He was sick of his parents who were always nagging him, and his teachers who always went crazy telling him to study.

When he was transported to the other world, a phrase that said that he would be able to return to reality if he killed the demon king popped up on his device.

 “What, go back to the real world?”

His world had changed.

Lee Minchan liked this world.

Like the high school bully protagonist in his fantasy novels, he could now earnestly become the bully!

 “Good thing I did not study.  If I was destined to come here anyway, there’s no reason to study.  I would have just regretted it terribly had I listened to the adults.  Nothing good will come from listening to nagging teachers.”

The magic the dragon taught him was brainwashing.

As long as certain limitations were avoided, it was possible to completely fool people’s minds, and therefore control them.

 “Nice.  I’ll use it any way I see fit!”

Fight against the evil of the world?

Why would he use this great magic to do that?

He was always beyond frustrated whenever he read about novels’ protagonists, who touted honorable behavior and wasted their capabilities because of that.

As soon as he left the dragon’s lair, Lee Minchan hung around various nearby villages.

By using his brainwashing magic, Lee Minchan absolutely brainwashed some of the beautiful women.

 [Do you want to brainwash Lee Rina, the flower girl?]

 [When you activate the spell implanted in the target’s mind, the magic will be initiated.  Lee Rina’s activation spell is ‘is it true that her former fiancé has run off with the engagement ring?’]

 [The effect of brainwashing magic becomes greater on people who have agitated emotions, and those with weak minds.  On the other hand, the effect is minuscule on people who have lived for a long time, or have strong willpower.]

Lee Minchan, who was neither good looking or of great stature, made himself appear as a handsome man to the women whom he brainwashed.

However, the brainwashing magic had one strict limitation.

He could only brainwash one person at a time.

 “This is frustrating.  What dumb magic has so many limitations?  Can’t even make a harem with it.”

So, whenever he encountered a pretty woman when he went to a new village, he would swap out his female companion.

Of course, those women who were brainwashed would lose their memory, becoming lost and without a home, but Lee Minchan did not care about that at all.

 “Who cares.  I’m now the high school bully.  I’ll do anything I want to.  I’ll always be with a pretty woman.  Looks are everything to a woman.”

Lee Minchan wanted to be a munchkin. 

The one who feared nothing, the most powerful bully in the world.

So he tried monster hunting, while taking a beautiful female companion with him.

However, brainwashing was the only magic Lee Minchan had.

Brainwashing was a powerful magic, but it did not work on monsters.

He almost died the first few times, but Lee Minchan survived by not hesitating to use his female companion as a shield.

 “Aaaaack!  Help me!  Don’t abandon me!”

 “No way.  Fool.  I’m the protagonist, and you are an extra character.  So I have to live, you know!”

Lee Minchan thought that way without shame. 

He was the main character.

Had there ever been a novel where the protagonist died at the beginning of the story?

Even if it meant sacrificing others, he had to survive no matter what.

Women, well they were a dime a dozen.

Well, did they not say that, too?

Throw it away if it was no use!

As hunting wasn’t as easy as he thought, Lee Minchan changed his plan.

Instead of beautiful female companions, he thought about combining forces with other travelers that came from the same world as him.

When he first participated in the joint hunting, they had acted in an ill-mannered way.

 “Hey, Minchan.  You have to swing your sword at that time.  Standing there like a dummy will get you killed!”

 “You, bastard!  Do you really want to get killed?  If your level is low, you should just hide behind us, what the heck are you doing, stepping forward to try and kill the monster?”

 “What?  This woman doesn’t even know how to use a dagger, let alone a spear?  Well, I don’t like to say this, but her only good trait is being beautiful.  This is a hunting ground.  You have to bring along a person who can fight, not a pretty woman!”

Lee Minchan was feeling disrespected.

He was the high school bully.

How could they treat a protagonist like this?

If someone was a protagonist in a novel, shouldn’t he, at a minimum, have a loyal friend that he could consult with?

Lee Minchan was grunting with anger for the entire day, unable to even eat comfortably, after hearing the demeaning comments from those travelers.

He needed an appropriate method to release his stress.

Lee Minchan snapped his fingers after thinking about it.

 “Right, where are you?”

Lee Minchan found a horse whip.

The boy would whip his woman all night.

Initially he was hesitant, and only whipped her lightly. But, later on, her painful moans and screams began to excite him for some reason, and he began to whip her harder. 

The feeling of superiority satisfied him, reminding him that he was definitely on top.

 “It’s alright.  Because I’m the high school bully.”

The protagonist was always justified in his actions.

On top of that, people enjoyed selfish and out of control protagonists more than ones who were kind and valued life.

Therefore, he too could do anything, by any means necessary.

Cheeeeck-!

 “Aaaaack!  Help me!”

 “Why?  Why did the mighty dragon only leave me with a single brainwashing skill?  If he was going to teach me in the first place, isn’t it appropriate for him to go the whole nine yards and leave me with legendary level artifacts, like in the fantasy novels?!”

Each time he returned from hunting, Lee Minchan released all his stress on the women by striking her.

Although he went hunting often, Lee Minchan’s level did not rise easily.

He had always lacked physical capabilities, and did not have good motor skills on top of that.

It would have been better for him had he tried to increase his activity level now, but even that was too much work for Lee Minchan.

At the end of each hunt, he would discretely talk bad about other people. Therefore, people’s opinions of him began to deteriorate, especially among the travelers.

Finally, after several months had passed, no traveler groups would welcome him.

 “Why, why won’t you let me in your group?”

 “Your character is detestable, that’s why.”

Grasping his head with both hands, he grit his teeth. 

You dumb idiots.  I’m the protagonist!

On that day, overtaken by anger, he struck the woman with something other than the whip.

It was a large bat.

As he was in the middle of getting into it to release his stress, Lee Minchan realized that the woman was not breathing.

She was dead.

Dropping the blood-soaked bat to the ground, Lee Minchan shuddered with guilt.

At that moment, a new message popped up on his device.

 [Experience gain has multiplied due to the synergistic effect of massacring a life from the same race.  It is your first murder.  Additional experience will be given.]

 [When there is a witness, crime level will rise.   If the crime level rises, you could be negatively affected when questioned by an investigator.  Level has risen twice.]

Level up!

Only then did Lee Minchan understand.

That was, his experience would rise even if he was killing a person.

In fact, the experience he gained was greater than when he killed a monster!

From that moment on, Lee Minchan looked for those travelers who humiliated him during the hunt.

He brainwashed them, one at a time, and killed them all.

Ironically, the skill that the dragon left him to use in fighting the world’s evil was perfectly suited for criminal activities.

The brainwashing skill’s level has also grown by a lot.

He was only able to brainwash weak people at the beginning, but soon he was even able to brainwash strong, mature people.

Although it was still limited to brainwasing only one person at a time.

As his crime level rose, he could no longer stay in the same place.

Lee Minchan arrived at the small city of Hiledan to hide.

Even after coming here, he brainwashed women and killed them.

He thought that there was no reason for him to feel guilty.

That was because he was the protagonist, the high school bully.

People enjoyed it more, saying it was refreshing and interesting to watch the protagonist cheat, or do bad things. 

So, what was there to prevent the protagonist from doing whatever will benefit him?

The only problem was he found it boring and simple to always kill in the same manner.

So, Lee Minchan brainwashed them and commanded.

 “Smile.  Very happily.”

When he said that, the women would smile like crazy until the moment of their deaths.

No matter how painful it was.

Killing them therefore became more enjoyable.

Lee Minchan thought that his actions were a form of consideration.

At least they weren’t killed while showing pain filled expressions.

*******

Almost a month had passed since Lee Minchan came to Hiledan.

He was around level 30.

He wanted to kill more in order to become stronger quickly, but he could not do that since he had to avoid the investigation dragnet.

Every time he reached a checkpoint he had to use the brainwashing skill to pass, otherwise he would not have been able to evade capture for so long.

It was when Lee Minchan was resting at an inn.

A strange couple entered the inn by kicking through the inn’s door.

As they have not washed for a while, they did not look that attractive.

However, the girl with the reddish brown hair was beautiful under the grime.

Although the burn mark on her left cheek was regrettable, she was still quite wonderful.

He even thought that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, even when compared to all the women that he had killed so far.

 ‘Tonight, it’s that bitch’s turn.’

Evening came.

Lee Minchan ran into a woman after he was returning from the bathroom.  As she walked towards him, he was greatly impressed.

It was the same girl who came to the inn earlier that day.

There was a pleasant scent around her.  Perhaps she had just taken a bath.

Her beautiful figure and ivory toned skin immediately attracted Lee Minchan’s attention.            

He almost did not see the burn mark on her face.

Although they exchanged a few words, she went into her room without even telling him her name.

Lee Minchan was disappointed, but he did not care.

 ‘Well, she will become mine anyway.’

Lee Minchan went into his room and inspected his tools.

She was a beautiful girl, the kind he was seeing for the first time in a long while.

He thought about not only playing with her, but also using her as his main torture subject for a while.

He was having trouble finding sufficient methods to release his stress these days, anyway.

Lee Minchan placed the whip, club, dagger, and other items into his chest pocket.

 “I will play with her for a while and when I get tired of her, I’ll kill her.’

Lee Minchan saw other people as nothing but play toys.

They were lowly things, which he played with and then threw out when he got tired of them.

All the extras were supposed to be used and then thrown away by the protagonist.

I can do anything.

I’m the high school bully.

Dawn came.

Lee Minchan walked towards the room where she was sleeping.

The door was already ajar.

Having prepared to use his brainwashing magic, Lee Minchan grabbed the door by its handle and pulled it open.

At that moment, a hand reached out from inside the room.

The hand grabbed and roughly twisted Lee Minchan’s hair.

 “Uh…..?”

Right before he could scream, Kang Yoonsoo pulled Lee Minchan’s head, and threw him against the glass window.

Chang-!

 “Aaaack-!”

Blood poured down.

The shards of glass tore up Lee Minchan’s face as they violently penetrated his skin.

 “My, my face….!”

 “Nothing happened.”

Kang Yoonsoo reduced the gravity of the moment with a single comment.

With his bare knuckles, he delivered a strong punch to Lee Minchan’s face.

Puuck-!

Lee Minchan’s nose broke, and more blood spewed out.