Tomb Raider King

“Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“Umm, you see, that… We are unable to accept your complaint.”

“You can’t accept it?”

“Yes sir, I was told to tell you, Mr. Guinness, that you should excavate a tomb with just three people as well if you have any issues……”

‘Is he really crazy?!’

Guinness Jaeger, who was relaxing in the reception room, almost threw the coffee cup in his hand.

He had sharp facial features and an outfit that made him look like the moderator of a talk show. He also had a muscular body. His large eyes being filled with anger made his face look as if it was the face of the devil.

Guinness then bitterly smiled toward the employee.

“Pandora seems to like to joke a lot.”

“N, no, that is what I was told to tell you……”

‘What, this is real?’

Guinness could not hold back anymore and closed the book he was reading. This world famous star chef could not take it.

“Are you guys fucking crazy? Why the hell is Pandora taking Seo Ju-Heon's side?!”

“No, we are not taking his side……!”

“Then what the hell is this?!”

“T……that!”

The Monarch of Delicacies had an artifact that could gather rumors. That was why he knew a lot of the inner workings of Pandora. It made it too obvious what Pandora thought about Ju-Heon.

The Monarch of Delicacies started to shout.

"Which slacker ignored my complaint?!”

“It was Mr. George Holten.”

“George Holten?!”

‘Ah, I see. Holten. That damn Holten family was the problem. They should just stay quiet after almost being killed by the Executive Board once already.’

The Monarch of Fate had tried to kill the Holten couple with tomb syndrome. He had heard that their son had recently joined Pandora, but…

The other leaders of the excavation team who were with the Monarch of Delicacies recognized the name as well.

“Isn't George Holten that lunatic who created and spread that manual for Tomb Emergency Disasters? Edward and he are the only ones in the world who have chosen to take Seo Ju-Heon’s side……”

That was right. The Tomb Emergency Disaster Manual. That was a manual to tell people how to evacuate from tombs or handle artifacts if they got swept up.

Basically, it was a basic manual similar to evacuating from natural disasters such as fire or earthquakes and using items such as fire extinguishers.

Pandora had provided an extremely shitty manual for the most basic of things. Thanks to that, Ju-Heon had said it was shit and told George to make a new one. The information listed were all basic things, but he wanted them to put more logical and effective methods.

Of course, some of Pandora's members were foaming at the mouth as they needed people to be unable to deal with the situation in order to have them rely on Pandora more. What was important to Pandora was the benefits they could gain through the artifacts. They did not care much about the safety of the citizens at all.

‘Whether it is George Holten or Seo Ju-Heon, why are these bastards causing such issues?’

Everything would be fine as long as they got the artifacts. The damages to get to their goal were just sacrifices for the greater good.

As someone who has spent a lot of money on those people, the future Monarch of Delicacies clicked his tongue. [1]

‘Do you know how much money I've poured into Pandora?’

He thought that he had created a connection with Pandora through the Monarch of Gossip's scandals, but then all this shit had to happen!

He started to speak.

“Contact Mr. Wilson and have Pandora modify the rule. Make it say that all people who do not report their excavations will be punished.”

“Will he do as you wish?”

“Tell him to prepare for scandals to be spread if he doesn’t do it!”

There were a total of 15 people that Pandora had said would become monarchs. Currently, the Monarch of Plunder, Monarch of Conquest, Monarch of Destitution, Monarch of Gluttony, Monarch of Evangelism, Monarch of Fate, and the Monarch of Gossip were the 7 people designated as Monarchs.

There were also over 500 Expert-Grade individuals who were candidates to become Monarchs. Everybody was trying their best to become Monarchs as they were told that Monarchs would receive special artifacts.

‘I need to hurry up and get one of those positions.’

But a bastard like Seo Ju-Heon was already there!

Because of that…

‘Let’s change the rule to bring that thieving bastard down first.’

It wasn’t easy to take Ju-Heon down with strength. That was the focus of Pandora’s executive office's meeting.

“This is the next motion that has been presented to us.”

“It is related to the issue of < Banning excavations without reporting, regardless of number of people in the excavation team, with anyone who breaks the rule being severely punished >.”

The more influential Pandora members smiled internally after hearing this motion.

They all knew that this motion would not only be beneficial to Pandora, it was also a ploy to bring Seo Ju-Heon down.

The Pandora members were thinking that this motion would naturally pass. Until George Holten said the following…

“Mr. Chris. Your family is safe at home?”

“……Why are you asking such a question?”

Chris had an ominous feeling after hearing George Holten ask such a question.

They all knew that George Holten was connected with the Monarch of Plunder. Furthermore, they also knew what had happened to Chairman Kwon's vacation house because of the Monarch of Plunder!

“If, hypothetically speaking of course. Let’s say this new law was to pass.”

“……?”

George Holten smiled as he asked a question.

“Is it okay to punish everybody inside your house if your house is turned into a tomb? They would be excavators who did not report their excavation.”

Some of the members flinched after hearing that question.

They all knew the meaning behind George Holten’s words.

‘We would have no way out of it if Seo Ju-Heon called forth his golden palace.’

Even if it wasn’t that, they didn’t know what Ju-Heon might do.

In the end, they could only vote one way as their minds were full of nightmares about what Ju-Heon might do.

“All 500 members have opposed the motion! This motion will not pass!”

George Holten then clicked his tongue.

“Let’s stop bringing up motions because people paid us a ton of money. How about we discuss some proper motions? Please?”

[That stupid motion has been trashed.]

Inside a warm open-air bath…

Ju-Heon was chuckling after reading the message from George Holten.

He seemed to have picked the right person to put inside Pandora.

Things were progressing properly as Ju-Heon wanted, keeping Pandora from having too much influence.

‘Do you think I would let people bribe their way into the Monarch-Grade like in the past?’

Of course, Ju-Heon felt a bit anxious as well.

‘I need to hurry up and put my people in the Monarch-Grade.’

The top people were Yoo Jaeha, Julian, and Edward.

There was a big difference between his people being there or not. Ju-Heon then looked at the Excavation Reporting form Chairman Kwon had submitted as he started to smile.

Maybe he was thinking about stealing Chairman Kwon's tomb next.

It was at that moment.

“Wow, Captain-nim, what made you decide to donate $80,000,000?”

Yoo Jaeha burst into the bathing area. Yoo Jaeha, who had peeked over the books as Seol-A was going through them, had rushed in after being shocked.

“Is it maybe the risk from an artifact?!”

Ju-Heon started to frown after hearing that.

"What's wrong with you? I do good deeds every so often…”

"Ah, it was a strategic bribe.”

‘This little punk.’

Yoo Jaeha must have felt Ju-Heon's anger as he sounded as if he had tucked his tail down.

“Aww, come on. You know I’m right, Captain-nim. It’s probably money you raised with The Slutty Secretary and the money you stole from the Pandora members, but you're not someone who would give money away like that for no reason!”

"Tsk.”

‘I guess they found out.’

Seol-A accepted that thought process.

‘That makes sense. The Captain-nim is not someone who would donate money for no reason.’

Ju-Heon was not a cheap person, but he cared about when and to whom he gave money. Ju-Heon started to speak.

“There were two reasons I donated the money. First. Maintaining my image. It was to combat the bastards who would try to come at me for the illegal excavations. That siscon needs a shield in order to cover me. It’s even better since he’ll use the money for good.”

As for the other…

“I plan on creating an artifact company from here on. That’s why…”

"Wow, is this guy planning some tax evasion……ugh!”

“It’s not that. There’s an artifact bastard that will come out if there's a ton of money gathered in something like a foundation. That artifact will be quite beneficial for the company.”

Ju-Heon chuckled. This was killing multiple birds with one stone.

On the outside, Ju-Heon looked like a benevolent person who donated money frequently! However, on the inside……

Ju-Heon laid down in the bath and smiled wickedly. Yoo Jaeha slowly walked over and entered the water as well.

"Captain-nim, Captain-nim. There’s a question I wish to ask you in secret as fellow men… With Irene… And Seol-A…”

Yoo Jaeha stopped talking at that moment.

Ju-Heon looked toward Yoo Jaeha in confusion.

“Irene and Seol-A what?”

“……”

Yoo Jaeha did not respond.

Instead, Yoo Jaeha was looking at the lower part of Ju-Heon's body.

And then, for some reason… Yoo Jaeha started to sniffle as he quickly covered a part of his body.

“You damn scammer! Why the hell do you have everything!”

He then immediately ran out.

Ju-Heon tilted his head.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

“You damn old bastard who looks for hot water every day!”

Seol-A chuckled from the outside after hearing Yoo Jaeha’s shout.

There was actually a simple reason Ju-Heon kept looking for hot springs or spas since coming back to the past. His whole body was sore after going into tombs, but it was because people couldn’t dream of having such relaxing baths in the future.

Why? It was because water became extremely polluted in the future because of the monopolizers. Only the bastards who had purification artifacts could turn that polluted water into purified water, forcing civilians to pay money to buy water to drink.

Basically, they were selling water similar to Bong-i Kim Seondal. [2]

People who did not have much money could only buy water to drink and had to wash their bodies with the polluted water.

That was similar to washing their bodies with poison, so they could not wash for more than three minutes because of the artifacts’ venomous auras. This resulted in extremely quick showers that made it hard to tell whether they even washed or not.

Ju-Heon relaxed in the warm water and started to smile.

‘I really need to quickly get the purification artifact before that Monarch of Pollution bastard gets his hands on it……’

The other option was to get rid of that bastard, who had not appeared yet, before he could pollute the water.

“Anyway, hey pushover, sort the books when you get out before you do anything else.”

“Sob, I don’t care! The winner should die! You sound like an old man!”

‘Why I oughta… I already changed the way I speak a lot.’

As Ju-Heon started to grumble…

Riiiiiiiing.

“?”

[Director-nim, this is bad!]

He received an urgent text from Edward.

At the same time…

Seol-A, who was peeking into the bath that Ju-Heon was in, poked at Yoo Jaeha.

“Jaeha. Right now. Hurry up!”

“…You really want me to do it?”

Yoo Jaeha, who was busy sorting the books, grabbed his head. But Seol-A, who was wearing a gown, was serious.

“Hurry up and steal it. The Captain-nim's underwear!”

“………”

‘I’ve never had someone ask me to steal underwear before!’

“You, are you being serious?”

“I'm dead serious.”

She then took a small perfume bottle out of her pocket.

‘If I spray this artifact, the Captain-nim will……’

This was an artifact Seol-A had a colleague she worked with in China airlift to her.

Seol-A had asked for this to be sent as she did not want to lose to Irene who won the bidding for the fever artifact. She wouldn’t normally act so childishly like this, but if the Captain-nim fell for Irene because of that artifact…

‘This is insurance. Just for insurance.’

Of course, this artifact was not like Irene’s fever artifact.

‘But still, if I spray this……’

Seol-A's eyes were sparkling.

“Okay, hurry!”

"Damn it, do I really need to steal a man's underwear?!”

"What’s wrong? You don't want to do it?”

Seol-A then started to wave the books.

This was the Tomb raiding team’s books that Yoo Jaeha had been in charge of before Seol-A joined them.

“If you don't hurry, the issue with these books… I'm going to tell the Captain-nim.”

“Eek, please don't! Anything but that!”

Yoo Jaeha started to sniffle.

Honestly speaking, Seol-A had almost fainted the first time she saw the books as Yoo Jaeha had organized the transactions.

She was just trying to help as she had been in charge of this prior to returning to the past, but……

Something was weird.

It was not just an issue of the books not being organized.

‘The amounts don't match.’

Money was being leaked a little bit at a time.

100,000 won, 200,000 won, 1,000,000 won.

They were not very large amounts, but she could clearly tell that someone was embezzling money.

Ju-Heon would not pay attention to such small amounts, but Seol-A was different.

‘Hey Jaeha.’

‘Hmm?’

‘Did you use the Captain-nim’s credit card for this < Oppa, stay here and rest > thing?’

‘What?!’

‘And what the hell is < In the Moonlit Night >?!’

Yoo Jaeha had then started to beg.

‘I already returned the money for those things! You don’t need to worry!’

It seemed that Yoo Jaeha had made a bet with the worm during an argument while restoring artifacts.

It was just a small bet.

But in the end, Yoo Jaeha had lost. How was he supposed to know the worm would take Ju-Heon's money and not his?!

She had looked further into it and learned that the artifacts had exponentially increased the amount through betting at horse racing… And she had taken all of the money from them, but…

“Okay, the fact that your mistake made the Captain-nim lose money to artifacts. You know what would happen if the Captain-nim finds out, right?”

Jaeha would naturally be killed.

“Now then, you will go steal it. Go.”

“Damn it!”

Yoo Jaeha had no choice but to sneakily walk into the changing room where Ju-Heon had left his clothes. He had already told the person at the counter that he had lost his key and asked for a new one.

He then found Ju-Heon's worn clothes, as well as his clothes he would change into, inside the basket.

‘I found it.’

Yoo Jaeha wondered why he had to do this, but he still grabbed Ju-Heon's underwear as ordered.

But at that moment!

Grab!

Someone reached in at the same time.

A shocked Yoo Jaeha turned his head to see Irene standing there.

“!”

Irene's face that was lit up by the cellphone light was scary.

“I, Irene?”

“This is mine.”

“……?!”

It seemed as if Irene had the same thoughts as Seol-A.

The fever artifact in her hand was proof that was the case. But Yoo Jaeha could not withdraw so easily. He had a lot riding on this as well.

“I'm sorry, but…”

Irene then took out a pile of money. Yoo Jaeha received the money, handed her the underwear, and bowed toward her.

“Thank you very much. Esteemed customer-nim!”

However, at that moment…

“Kyaaaa!”

A wild beast burst out from the darkness and stole Seol-A’s perfume artifact!

“Kyaaaa!”

It also stole Irene’s fever artifact!

“!”

[#$&#!]

These are mine, MINE!

The thief was the rope!

This wild beast flashed the eyes it did not have as it started to charge toward the bath where Ju-Heon was relaxing.

It seemed to be going berserk!

1. The author uses future Monarch of Delicacies here, but George was calling him the Monarch of Delicacies, so… not sure what is going on. It may be a mistake or Pandora knows he can reach that level so they’re just going with it too, similar to how they're calling Ju-Heon the Monarch of Plunder.

2. Bong-i Kim Seondal is a bold, genius swindler who deceived the wealthy and powerful and sold a river.