Chapter 232: What happened in the past? (4)
Translator: miraclerifle
“I'm sure you are already aware even if I don’t say anything else. This bastard......”
“Yes.”
Ju-Heon was looking at Yoo Jaeha with a cold gaze, as if he had made up his mind about something.
“He’s not a traitor.”
“That’s right, he’s not a trai......”
Julian's eyes opened wide.
‘Wait a minute. What did he just say?’
“Hey! Seo Ju-Heon! What did you just say?!”
“?”
Ju-Heon looked back at Julian with a confused look on his face.
“I said he was not a traitor.”
“Ho.”
The team members gasped.
They had never expected those words to come out of Ju-Heon's mouth.
Chloe and Seol-A were standing in shock as Julian shouted in anger.
“Seo Ju-Heon! Are you out of your damn mind?!”
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“A lot of problems! You're saying you’re going to forgive a traitor! Are you trying to protect him?!”
Seo Ju-Heon scoffed in response.
‘Protect him my ass.’
“You know how I am.”
“I do know!”
‘Everybody needs to take responsibility for their mistakes.’
That was Seo Ju-Heon’s philosophy. But knowing that was the case was making Julian even more frustrated right now!
“So what is it?! There is circumstantial evidence proving that this bastard sold us out! But you’re saying he’s not a traitor...?!”
“What? Circumstantial evidence? What circumstantial evidence?”
“What else?! He didn’t restore our artifacts, he didn't come to the tomb, and he swiped our information!”
"Ah, those things?”
Ju-Heon just laughed. Julian was confused at Ju-Heon’s laugh that seemed to be asking if that was all Julian was talking about.
"Hey...Seo Ju-Heon! You can't be like this! Huh?!”
The Captain could not be like this in consideration for the team members who had died.
But Ju-Heon nonchalantly responded back.
“You are right that our artifacts were not fully restored at that time.”
Yoo Jaeha started to shake as Ju-Heon peeked toward him.
“It's obvious he was being a jackass after arguing with us the day before, but...”
It was obvious. This bastard was petty and sly.
That was probably why he only restored their artifacts a little bit, however......
“But he didn’t do that to kill us.”
Julian could not believe it.
‘Listen to this bastard!’
“Seo Ju-Heon! You......!”
“Shut up. I'm not saying that irrationally.”
Ju-Heon started to frown.
“The durability of our artifacts didn't mean anything in that tomb anyway.”
“......!”
“I know it’s not easy to look at it rationally. But I need you to calm down and be your usual self.”
Ju-Heon recalled the situation in that tomb.
“Think about it. Did the durability of our artifacts have anything to do with what happened in that tomb?”
“......”
They didn’t.
That was obvious. Their artifacts had not even worked in that tomb.
Why?
Their artifacts had crumbled as soon as they channeled their Dominance into them.
No...
‘All of the artifacts in our possession were destroyed as if there was something that despised artifacts in there.’
It was understandable now that they knew more about the situation.
That was the tomb of the Crow that loathed artifacts. Any artifact brought into that tomb would have been destroyed by the Crow's savage aura.
‘Either that or it was a trap that was placed to make that happen.’
Regardless of the reason, they were unable to use any artifacts inside the tomb at all. All they could do was run away as even their possession-type artifacts ended up being destroyed with a single use. All that they could do in that tomb was use those S-Grade artifacts once.
It was an extremely shitty tomb.
But what about fully restoring the artifacts?
‘It was a tomb where having any artifacts with us was meaningless.’
“That's why although it was disgraceful that he did not fully restore our artifacts as a restorer, that’s all it is. Strictly speaking, it had nothing to do with our deaths. We would have died even if they were fully restored.”
“......”
Julian started to frown after hearing this accurate deduction. But he probably could not fully accept it still.
“But he didn't even come to that tomb that day.”
“A secret test of strength.”
“!”
Yoo Jaeha was shocked to hear that familiar term. Ju-Heon just laughed at that reaction.
"Why do you look so shocked? Did you really think I wouldn’t know about the rumor that was going around the company?”
“T, that......!”
Julian quickly asked a question.
“Hold on. What do you mean a secret test of strength?”
“Ah. I don’t know all the details, but I think they were trying to secretly test each team’s strength. None of the restorers would take part in the test.”
“......”
“Well, that old bastard ended up using that to get us killed it seems.”
Ju-Heon’s gaze turned vicious as he said that.
He had felt that there were things he had not known, but he had not known about Chairman Kwon’s true colors. Who would have expected to die like that?
Julian shouted in frustration after hearing what Ju-Heon had to say.
“Then what about the fact that this bastard swiped our information?! Let’s be real, if they didn’t have that information......!”
Ju-Heon started to laugh.
“Ah. The information he swiped? I'm sure that was useless.”
Even Yoo Jaeha's eyes opened wide after hearing that.
“U, useless? Why?”
“Why else? I modified it before that.”
“......!”
‘What?!’
Yoo Jaeha gave Ju-Heon a gaze that seemed to be asking him to explain and Ju-Heon glared back at him to lower his gaze.
“There were enemies all around us at that time. There were numerous hyenas trying to find out our team members’ weaknesses. Of course I modified it.”
Nobody knew about it since he didn't even tell Chloe who had created the files.
Julian was truly flabbergasted.
“T, then......”
“Our information was not given to them through this bastard.”
"Then who?!”
Ju-Heon’s gaze turned sharp.
“There’s a person. There’s a bastard among the Monarchs who could do that.”
"A Monarch? Wait a minute... then...”
"This is just a hypothesis from here, but I don’t think TKBM was the only one responsible for our deaths.”
“......!”
“Anyway, this bastard is not a traitor like Yang Chen for those reasons.”
Julian glared at Yoo Jaeha.
“How do you know that?! He could have stuck with TKBM after we died and laughed it all off as he got promoted!”
“I don’t think so.”
Ju-Heon recalled what had happened when Yoo Jaeha had gotten his memories back.
He had thrown quite a show about using a fake artifact, however... He had clearly looked as if he had gotten his memories back and he had been in pain. He had looked how everybody else had looked as well.
Their gazes were all the same as they recalled the moment of their death. He had seen the same gaze on Yoo Jaeha at that time.
Because of that...
“I think this bastard ended up dying too. After we died of course.”
“......!”
Yoo Jaeha started to shake while recalling that moment.
Chairman Kwon had destroyed his legs and prevented him from running away, saying that he was the only restorer left in the world.
Yoo Jaeha had used all sorts of excuses to lower the durability of all artifacts before doing something he considered as a rebellion.
He used a gun-type artifact he had hidden away.
Of course, Ju-Heon looked at him as if he was an idiot.
“You dumbass. You should have just stuck with Chairman Kwon and lived a good life until you died of old age.”
historical
“T, that's so mean.”
Ju-Heon was sure that TKBM would not have crumbled after that. Yoo Jaeha’s rebellion had caused meaningful results, however, it was not enough to destroy a large corporation like TKBM.
Julian shook his head in disbelief at this point.
“Seo Ju-Heon. Then you never thought that this bastard betrayed us from the beginning......”
"Are you an idiot? Why would I bring someone who really betrayed us as a team member?”
“......”
‘This bastard.’
Ju-Heon was being serious.
He would not have sought out this bastard if he thought Jaeha was a traitor. The rest of the team members glared at Yoo Jaeha.
They were feeling less suspicious after hearing their Captain say all these things, but......
“Then why did you run away?! You even threw away da Vinci's artifact!”
“.........That!”
Yoo Jaeha could not raise his head. The Monarch of Fraud had felt serious guilt facing his former team members once he got his memories back.
He had believed that his actions had led to their deaths.
He felt extremely guilty for having been alive when the rest of the team members had died. That was why he had returned da Vinci's artifact, the symbol of the Monarch of Fraud, and planned on having Ju-Heon punish him with death.
He was worried that he would subconsciously try to run away if he had the Monarch of Fraud's artifact with him.
“That...... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I’ll take any punishment you give me! You can even kill me, Captain-nim!”
He didn’t think he would be able to raise his head if they didn’t come to some kind of conclusion right now.
It was because no matter what Ju-Heon said, regardless of the fact that he didn’t know what was going to happen, even if his actions had not impacted their deaths...
It was still true that he had stolen the files and not fully restored their artifacts.
“So...... please...”
Ju-Heon just sneered at Yoo Jaeha who could not raise his head.
“Shut up.”
“!”
“Why would I do something to make you feel better?”
Ju-Heon snorted in response.
“You probably think dying is the best result, don't you?”
Ju-Heon looked at the hard case on his destroyed cellphone.
It looked like a regular cellphone case but this was the Code of Hammurabi. The names of the team members who had signed the slave contracts were clearly written on it.
“How dare you plot ways to get an easy out when you are Slave number 1. Don’t think about dying for a while. I don’t plan on letting you do that.”
“......!”
Ju-Heon continued to speak.
“You definitely have things to feel guilty about. So shut up and work without causing any issues if you really feel guilty. I'll fuck you up if you mess around like you used to when you were the Monarch of Fraud.”
Yoo Jaeha started to cry after hearing that.
The joy of meeting his team members again, the relief at the fact that they were alive... And his guilt.
Yoo Jaeha could not raise his head.
“Yes sir, yes sir... I understand. I understand...”
“Most importantly, you need to do something very important from now.”
“E, excuse me?”
Ju-Heon gently grabbed Yoo Jaeha’s shoulder as if he had not been rude this whole time.
“Jaeha. This is a very important question.”
Ju-Heon's tone was very warm. Yoo Jaeha gulped in fear.
“U, umm, Captain-nim.”
“You saw TKBM’s secrets after we died, right?”
Ju-Heon had an extremely friendly expression on his face that did not suit him at all.
"What is Un-known?”
He was quite curious.
Ju-Heon wouldn't normally care whether he knew about an artifact or not, but this was still an artifact he didn't know about. He couldn’t help but be curious.
In addition, although this risk had disappeared now, the Archaeologist's Artifact’s risk from the past...
The greed for knowledge... That was gone now but he now had a greed for artifacts.
“Speak. What kind of artifact is it?”
“Umm, umm t, that......”
Yoo Jaeha probably thought Ju-Heon's gaze was scary as he responded while shaking.
“That......umm, Un-known is basically an artifact that Pandora's Executive Board has.”
“Okay. What does it look like?”
“Um, umm that......”
“Be specific. You must know a lot about it if you were willing to make a deal with the Monarch of Fate.”
Yoo Jaeha was now sweating bullets.
“Umm, Captain-nim. There is something I wish to tell you first.”
"What is it?”
“Umm, your memory is better than most people’s right? That’s why you are able to remember the tombs and artifacts from the past? You know that isn't normal for most people even if they get their memories back? Right, sir?”
“What the hell are you trying to say?”
“S, so what I'm trying to say is that I don’t remember! I remember seeing it, but...... Ah, shit, I don’t know! Are you crazy?! How can I remember everything from the past?! You're the weird one, Captain-nim!”
The doggies were summoned as soon as he said that.
And...
“He’s a traitor. Take care of him.”
“?!”
“Don’t leave behind a corpse.”
Yoo Jaeha started to scream.
"Wow, isn't this too much?”
Yoo Jaeha started to grind his teeth.
It was because he was stuck with a pile of artifacts and had to do all sorts of chores including cleaning, laundry, and looking after the artifacts.
He could not hold it in any longer and started to shout.
“Hey, retarded ca... No, Captain-nim. Logically speaking, most of these aren’t my jobs.”
Yoo Jaeha, who was no longer a pushover, immediately started to resist. These shitty jobs... They weren’t his duty.
"Ah, whatever. I don’t care if there’s a contract or not, I can make a living doing something else. I can't work while being treated like this.”
He immediately grabbed da Vinci's artifact and was about to run.
Disappearing after leaving his team members behind... That was something he frequently did during his time as the Monarch of Fraud.
The others who saw him acting like this were starting to get headaches, thinking that they knew he would be like this.
They were getting headaches thinking about how he would smack them from the back now that the pushover got his memories back.
However...
“Jaeha, now that I think about it.”
“What is it, retarded Captain."
“We might have been able to last a little longer in that tomb if you fully restored our artifacts.”
“......”
“Right? Even though he said it was for us, it is true that he gave them our information.”
“......”
“Ah, I think the leg I lost in the tomb is starting to hurt......”
“Aaaaaaaaaak! I’ll do it! I'll do it sir! I'll do anything! I'll do anything you tell me to do, Captain-nim!”
Yoo Jaeha, who had been getting ready to run away, kneeled again.
The way he addressed Ju-Heon became respectful again.
Although he was the Monarch of Fraud, it was still difficult for him to get away from his guilty conscience.
As for Ju-Heon, this was just the birth of a talented pushover.
The other team members scoffed while looking at their interaction.
“I expected it, but it is quite rowdy.”
They clicked their tongues while looking at the articles in the newspaper.
[The Monarch of Fate, one of the world’s greatest VIPs, has gone missing.]
[Was it an abduction? Have there been no requests from the culprits?]
[The puppeteer controlling things from the shadows has disappeared.]
[The leaders throughout the world are in a state of panic.]
[Where is he headed? Nobody knows whether he is alive or dead.]
[A 100 million dollar reward for any witnesses.]
[This VIP must be found no matter what.]
[We cannot locate the Heirlooms or the remaining 7 Great Tombs without the Monarch of Fate.]
“Well, I'm sure its a shitshow since the Monarch of Fate, the person who pretty much controls the world, has disappeared.”
“Hmm, what do we do now?”
They peeked toward the restroom.
And inside......
“Hey! Fuck! Are you going to keep me like this?! What the fuck are you planning on doing with me?!”
The VIP who had been abducted by Ju-Heon was shouting in anger.