Chapter 170: The Pharaoh's Curse (3)
Translator: miraclerifle
Naturally, it was not a person. It was an artifact.
[It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Right? You want to die because you're so frustrated? Humans feel pain from such trivial things.]
‘Why I ought to.’
[I'll let you out of there. You just need to make a deal with me.]
Ju-Heon's eyebrows started to twitch as he heard this annoying voice.
How could they not?
“Hey. You damn worm. Shut the hell up.”
That was right. The one talking to him was the worm! It was that greedy Xu Fu's artifact that should be helping to grow the Herb of Eternal Youth.
Most importantly, this was the culprit responsible for selling his weaknesses(?) to the shitty dog! How could he not be angry?
The worm continued to blab, as if it had no idea what was going through Ju-Heon’s mind.
[I know how to open the lid to that coffin. Should I help you? Huh? Huh?]
Ju-Heon let out a sigh.
“Hey rope, are you out there?”
Ju-Heon heard some whimpering outside.
[#*#&##&!]
Yes, I'm here! I'm right here!
The rope was the only artifact working hard while the other artifacts were sitting around eating popcorn and watching what it did.
It was whimpering because it tried to break the coffin but ended up only hurting itself in the process.
Nero had tried to help as well, but... He tried to start a fire and Ju-Heon yelled at him.
‘Do you want to die?! Are you trying to turn me into roasted meat?!’
He had been somberly sitting in the corner after being yelled at.
The worm started to laugh at the rope’s futile attempts.
[Hey hey, stop wasting your energy. It wouldn’t work even if Divine-Grade artifacts were here. That’s why I said I’ll open it for you. I'm close to one of the servant ladies of this tomb.]
"What are the conditions of the deal?”
[Your entire fortune! I also want to leave your house with your artifacts! Let me move to Elisa’s house instead of staying in your dirty house! I'm going to leave your house since you don't give me any money!]
‘Who the fuck is Elisa?’
Ju-Heon's eyebrows continued to twitch as he responded.
“I'd have to be crazy to agree to such a deal.”
[Reeeeeeally? It’s fine if you don’t want to do so!]
As the worm sneered and turned around...
[The artifact of destitution is descending.]
[Half of the tomb is starting to crumble.]
[A Thunderbolt of Wrath is falling on the worm.]
Bababang!
The worm’s head caught on fire.
[Aaaaaaaaah! My head! Aigoo, my precious hair!]
He heard some familiar voices outside the tomb.
“Is that you guys, Irene and Seol-A?”
The two of them jumped in shock after hearing his voice.
“M, my goodness! Mr. Ju-Heon! Are you in there? You're in this thing?”
“Captain-nim!”
The two little girls banged on the golden coffin. He was now certain they were Irene and Seol-A.
[It’s hot, it’s hot! It’s hoooooooooooooot!]
The worm was crying as it rolled on the floor. Seol-A must have heard something from Gildal as she shouted while stepping on the worm.
“Hurry up and get the Captain-nim out of there!”
[Aigoo, Aigoo! I'm going to explode! Explode!]
The worm had no choice but to shout something which opened the coffin. The two women’s faces lit up after Ju-Heon climbed out. Both of them rushed over and hugged him as they let him know how worried they were.
“Captain-nim!”
“Mr. Ju-Heon!”
Of course, the fact that they currently looked like little girls made Ju-Heon feel as if he suddenly had two pretty daughters, but......
"What did you guys do with your pants?”
‘What are you going to do when you return to normal later?!’
But they didn't seem to care about that right now.
“I'm so relieved! There were some weird things written in the prophecy......!”
"Weird things?”
The two of them showed him the artifact book. There were many things listed inside.
[Bondage]
[Restraints play]
[Rope play]
They were all probably talking about this coffin and the mummification process.
The women were relieved after realizing this fact.
“It wasn’t much......it wasn’t the rope.”
“Huh? What about the rope?”
It was at that moment.
[What do you mean it wasn't much! There’s still one more dangerous thing!]
Ju-Heon started to frown after hearing the worm shout.
“Something dangerous?”
[I'll tell you, I’ll tell you so please take care of this fire! Please put the fire out! Aigoo, my precious hair!]
Did worms even have hair?
“Put it out.”
The rope’s eyes flashed before it tied the worm up and rubbed its head on the ground.
It looked as if it was putting out a cigarette!
Rub rub rub!
[Aaaaaaaaaaah!]
The worm continued to scream as its head was forcibly rubbed on the ground. Ju-Heon didn't care as he asked the question.
“Now tell me. What’s the danger? I’m going to grind you up and turn you into make up if you say some bullshit.”
[It’s written right there! It says be wary of a fan. That’s talking about Zhuge Kongming! You’re going to be killed by Zhuge Kongming today!]
Ju-Heon tilted his head in confusion.
“Why him?”
[That...... You have a temporary contract with that Crow bastard, right? That guy will get rid of your Crow!]
“What does that......ah.”
“Captain-nim?”
Ju-Heon accepted what the worm was saying after realizing something.
‘Now that I think about it, that bastard might be able to get rid of my Crow.’
Why?
Julian was able to see an artifact's aura with his eyes and figure out the opponent’s weakness.
That was why he might be the only person who could get rid of the Crow's artifact surrounding his body.
‘That’s why I couldn't let him become an enemy...’
It would be extremely annoying if that bastard joined forces with Chairman Kwon.
‘Well, he won't be my enemy if I use the memory artifact on him.’
But the two of them didn’t get along enough for Ju-Heon to want to give him back his memories and it was obvious that Julian and his stupidly strong abilities and hero delusion will get in Ju-Heon's way in the future.
And most importantly...
“Ah......he’ll really try to kill me if I give him back his memories.”
Why?
It was simple.
“I destroyed his engagement.”
“Mr. Ju-Heon?”
That was right. Ju-Heon had destroyed Julian’s potential marriage in the past. Well, he didn’t do it on purpose, it just ended up that way. The wife-to-be ended up falling for him!
Julian's fiancee left behind a note and disappeared, and that note said...
[I can't love two men under one sky!]
His fiancee disappeared after saying something like that.
On that warm Spring day, Julian, who was 38 years old... Had instantly lost his fiancee.
But Ju-Heon actually felt wronged. He had been feeling mischievous because Julian managed to get a pretty and sweet girl and he was nice to her because she was a VIP client of TKBM, but...
‘I really feel wronged.’
Well, it was actually a political marriage Chairman Kwon had ordered. It was probably better that the two of them didn't get married, but Julian seemed to have liked the girl quite a bit.
‘It makes sense since anybody could tell that she was beautiful and lovely.’
The fact that she broke off her engagement was already sad enough, but for the reason to be Ju-Heon! And because of something he did as a joke! There was a matter of Julian’s pride, but anybody would consider Ju-Heon to be their worst enemy after something like that.
‘I understand how he feels as a fellow man.’
Anyway, their already terrible relationship became worse after that. Julian tried to pretty much rip his head off at every chance he got since that incident. In fact, Julian was super petty. He didn’t even talk to Ju-Heon for a few years.
Ju-Heon decided two could play that game and Seol-A ended up stuck between the two of them as a delivery owl repeating messages from one to the other. It had been like that even when they entered the final tomb!
This relationship was the reason Ju-Heon did not want to use the Raven’s Tears on Julian.
‘I'm certain of it. I'll be in danger for a different reason if I restore his memories.’
He would become roasted meat for sure.
‘Well, I might end up using it if it really became necessary.’
As Ju-Heon looked around and tried to walk out of the room with Irene and Seol-A...
“What do you think? Do you agree to the deal?”
Ju-Heon heard a person, whose voice was enough to make him become filled with anger.
“Hey you, be honest. You can see Seo Ju-Heon’s weaknesses, right?”
“......”
Right outside the king's room where Ju-Heon was in...
Julian started to frown while listening to Yoon Shi Woo.
‘I was wondering what he was going to ask.’
“I can’t see it.”
“No, you should be able to see it. I don’t know for sure, but I heard rumors about the fact that he has contracted a special artifact. You received this document too, right?”
Yoon Shi Woo waved a document around.
That was the request to kill Ju-Heon posted by John Smith, aka shitty dog. Yoon Shi Woo pushed up his glasses as he snickered.
“The part about weaknesses was so stupid that I threw it in the trashcan, but I thought you would be different. So? Can you see it with Zhuge Kongming’s artifact? Can you see the special artifact?”
‘Of course I can. It must be that Crow from last time.’
It was that heinous Crow's aura that was surrounding Ju-Heon as if to protect him. Julian did know. Julian knew how to get rid of that aura.
He didn’t have Zhuge Kongming’s artifact for nothing. However...
“I'm sorry, but I really don't know.”
Julian took a step back and Yoon Shi Woo snickered as he asked.
“Oh, then why are you running away?”
‘Why else? It’s because you have Liu Bei's artifact, you son of a bitch! Why did it have to be this bastard?! He hasn’t activated it but I’m certain.’
Yoon Shi Woo really had Liu Bei's artifact! It was okay right now since it wasn't activated, but it was dangerous to just be around him.
[My liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege, my liege.]
‘Damn it, I need to run away.’
“I'm sorry but I’ll be heading out first......”
It was at that moment. The TKBM Hunters surrounded him as if they expected this.
“Zhuge Kongming. Why do you think we came all the way here with you?”
“!”
“Did you really think we brought you here to get your thunderbolt to help us?”
Yoon Shi Woo put something against Julian’s neck at that moment.
“Ugh!”
It was a sword.
Julian flinched in shock after seeing the sword.
‘Liu Bei's artifact!’
Julian could not use his thunderbolt because his mind was full of that thought.
Chairman Kwon soon glared at Julian in an overbearing manner.
“I've already heard the rumors about how you can’t do anything against Liu Bei's artifact.”
“......!”
“What do you think? Do you agree to the deal?”
Julian could not believe it.
“You’re putting in so much effort to get rid of Seo Ju-Heon.”
“Seo Ju-Heon is an unexpected guest who appeared out of nowhere. Do you know how disrespectful it is that such a nobody is in the Monarch position? That was supposed to be filled with people in my network.”
“Network?”
Yoon Shi Woo added on.
“Yes. We heard that special artifacts will appear to the 15 Monarchs in a month. Just possessing these special items will supposedly give you what you want...... and we can’t let Seo Ju-Heon get such special benefits.”
Chairman Kwon started to smile viciously.
“The other Monarchs have agreed as well. We won’t take away your position as the < Monarch of Strategies > if you cooperate with us. Let’s share the benefit together.”
Julian let out a sigh.
It seemed as if Ju-Heon had gotten on all of the other Monarchs’ bad sides. That was why they all agreed to cooperate and get rid of Seo Ju-Heon from the Monarch position within the next month.
That month was actually the time the Crow had given Ju-Heon as well.
It was that time limit the Crow had given him to take away his Tomb Raider skills and force him to change occupation.
Julian responded at that moment.
“I’m sorry, but I'm not interested in that...”
Chairman Kwon's gaze turned sharp.
“You have a younger sister, don’t you?”
“!”
“Your younger sister is alive. What do you think? Aren’t you curious? You know what I'm about to say, don't you?”
“......!”
Julian’s Dominance was shaken. Chairman Kwon released a coercive amount of Dominance as if to rip apart his prey.
It was a battle of will. The person who lost this battle would lose the advantage. Chairman Kwon started to smile.
“I’ll help you find your younger sister and TKBM will sponsor you as much as needed. I also heard about some weird slave contract with Seo Ju-Heon? I should be able to get you out of that as well.”
Julian’s mind was shaken after hearing that. His pupils were shaking as he made eye contact with Chairman Kwon.
Now that he thought about it, all artifact users were wicked. He just needed to work together with the least wicked of the bunch. In Julian's point of view, Ju-Heon was the most wicked. He saw Chairman Kwon as being one of the least wicked.
In that case, wouldn't it be better to work together with Chairman Kwon?
Chairman Kwon and Yoon Shi Woo started to smile after seeing Julian's reaction.
‘We got him.’
He was caught in Chairman Kwon's artifact of conquest's ability.
His artifact of conquest had the conquering attribute as the artifact belonging to someone who had conquered Rome, but it had a special ability to gather people under him.
It had the power to gather talented individuals. That was why in the past, he was known as the < Personnel Monopolizer >.
He gathered Monarchs and numerous Expert-Grade users close to the Monarch level to become one of the Four Emperors.
And now, Julian gulped as he was being influenced by this same artifact.
TKBM. It was a large excavation team with a lot of skills. There were some negative images about them, but in some ways, those were all created by Seo Ju-Heon. That was why he was thinking that it might be good to work with Chairman Kwon and strike Seo Ju-Heon.
But at that moment...
“Hey hey. That’s not it. Put aside that thought.”
“!”
They were all shocked after hearing a familiar voice.
Seo Ju-Heon had appeared in front of them. And...
“Huh, t, that is?!”
Ju-Heon had Liu Bei’s artifact in his hand.
Yoon Shi Woo gasped after seeing a sword that looked the same as the one in his hand.
"Wait, this!”
There was a shadow slowly crawling away at that moment.
That shadow was Yoo Jaeha. In his bag were numerous artifacts that belonged to TKBM.
Yoon Shi Woo foamed at the mouth after seeing this.
"That damn counterfeiting bastard! Hey you! Get your ass over here!”
‘You really think I would come?!’ Yoo Jaeha, who had created fakes of TKBM's artifacts in this short amount of time, rushed over to Ju-Heon.
"Caaaaaaaaaaptaaaaaaaaaaaain-niiiiiiiiiim!”
Ju-Heon chuckled, thinking that Jaeha had done a good job.
"Hey Kongming. You seem to be stupidly getting fooled again. Let me get rid of your concerns at once. You're not that stupid.”
“What?”
“Ah, before that, everybody should watch out. He might really kill someone in anger.”
The Raven’s Tears artifact activated as soon as he said that.