Translator: miraclerifle
[Where am I? In a tomb, why?]
“Ah, I see, a tomb......what?! Did you forget what day it is?! The leaders of the world are gathered here...!”
[What? Why the fuck would I care about that?]
“Why would you care?! You're going to get yourself in big trouble...”
[What? Most of them are my drinking buddies. Some of them are my lackeys. Ah, I do plan on killing some of those bastards too.]
“What?! What are you saying about the leaders of different countries...?!”
The team members slowly moved away after seeing the guards and reporters look toward them.
"Anyway, what tomb are you in right now? Huh? You just went to look, right? You didn’t go to loot another tomb, did you?”
[I came to loot it. Why? Is that not okay?]
The team members grabbed the back of their necks.
‘Does this bastard not understand that things aren't the same anymore?!’
“Hey! Are you crazy? Did you forget what Era we live in now?!”
“Even you will get shot if you do that...!”
The world was at the height of the Great Excavation Era.
However, the difference from before would be that it was focused on Archaeologists and not Excavation teams.
They were the ones in charge now.
Why?
[A new Era of Artifacts has started at the suggestion of Seo Ju-Heon, the Majesty.]
[According to him, “The new tombs that appear will have no traps and will be very useful for archeology.”]
[They will be helpful for researching the history of things that have disappeared from the world.]
[Any lies or deceits in history can be discovered in these tombs as well.]
[People are no longer allowed to excavate for personal benefit. Only people who have received proper authorizations to be < Artifact Archaeologist > are allowed to excavate.]
[Any excavated artifacts will follow the World Heritage Convention and be treated as treasures shared by all nations similar to cultural heritages.]
[In addition, any excavated artifacts will be first sent to the International Shared Artifact Laboratory to be researched on and processed to be circulated around the world.]
[Abilities gained through artifacts will be shared as open source for the joint development of the entire world.]
[The second round of processed goods and beyond will be left to the free market.]
Whether it was because of Ju-Heon's mental training(?) or because he had used the Akashic records to get rid of tomb syndrome...
Artifacts were no longer bundles of disasters for people.
Artifact ownership had turned from personal property to public property for the benefit of the human race. Well, processed artifact goods were still sold on the market.
There were some other changes as well.
[Tombs no longer have the issue of deactivating traps.]
The tombs that were originally created to harm humans became safe places to the point that they turned into laboratories or theme parks once they were excavated.
Of course, dangerous tombs still did pop up every so often.
But Ju-Heon had created a system to administer over the artifacts similar to the former Pandora System.
< Heaven’s Eye Guardian System > aka ‘Seo Ju-Heon System.’
This system would synthesize all issues related to artifacts.
He ground up Hlidskjalf that allowed him to observe the entire world, Thoth, the god of wisdom, and numerous other artifacts to create it.
There were some things such as Artifact Encyclopedias and Regional Aura Pollution Levels that anybody could use while other things could only be used by Ju-Heon with his Majesty’s Authority.
Either way, it was now an era of peaceful artifact excavation with self-interest no longer playing a role.
The problem was...
Bang bang!
[Ahh! That crazy bastard appeared again!]
[Someone looted here again!]
This bastard Seo Ju-Heon did not sit still.
“Ow, this son of a bitch did it again......!”
Julian’s hands were shaking after hearing the screams from the other side of the call.
This guy was the one who said they should restrict excavation for personal benefit but he was doing it himself!
“Ah, my head, ow.”
He had talked to Ju-Heon about being good and watching over the throne since they were making this agreement for world peace. He had talked to him about doing his duty as the person with the overall authority over artifacts for world peace.
He had talked to him about it so much!
[This place was looted too!]
[Over here too! There’s a thief!]
Ju-Heon didn’t give a shit about artifacts being public resources and went to loot artifacts for his own benefit whenever something he liked showed up.
He was probably using the Majesty’s powers to easily and quickly steal artifacts right now.
Julian grabbed the back of his neck after continuing to hear screams on the phone.
“Hey! Come on! The Majesty can’t act like this!"
Ju-Heon seemed extremely upset.
[What? Why not?]
“You’re the Majesty! You can control all artifacts in the world! When you have such amazing powers...!”
[Yeah. I should use it effectively.]
Julian wanted to bang his head.
“Wow, apparently some worlds have masters who hide their identities and do their best to maintain the balance of the world...! You were the one who said that god-like existences shouldn't appear in front of people!”
[What the hell? Which retard is that?]
“?!”
[Anybody with that kind of power should use it as they please. Got it? This is completely acceptable.]
“$#&#$!”
Seol-A anxiously shouted at that moment.
“Ah, what do we do? The Captain-nim had to go here of all places!”
They gasped after seeing the spot Seol-A was pointing at on the map.
“Hey! Get back right now! That’s a dictatorship! You’re going to cause a war!”
“Ow, why did he have to go there of all places! That's an extremely closed off country!”
Furthermore, that country was one that did not follow the rest of the world and wanted to kill Ju-Heon who was the Majesty!
The team members soon turned serious.
“Hold on, that place...isn’t that where that mysterious artifact appeared?”
“Ah! I heard that the artifact already consumed ten people... Kongming, didn’t you say that it might be an apocalypse artifact that connects this place to another world?”
“I'm not certain. Anyway, what is that damn Captain doing in that country...?!”
It was at that moment.
“What the hell? That bastard Captain went to loot another tomb?”
“Jaeha!”
The meeting must be at a break as Jaeha had gotten rid of his transformation and returned to the others.
“Ah, Jaeha. How did the meeting go?”
“Whatever. They want us to confirm that the newly selected Monarchs’ names are inputted into the system.”
The Monarchs were not being selected to fight against each other like before but to be the greatest authority among artifact users.
They looked through the document and their eyes opened wide.
“Huh? What the hell? The Captain-nim’s title is empty?”
“Ah. They said to put whatever he wants to put.”
“Umm, then we should ask the Captain-nim...”
Jaeha snorted as Seol-A turned toward the phone.
“We can just come up with a title.”
Jaeha sent someone a text.
Jaeha had sent Ju-Heon’s title and he received a response right away.
[Title has been confirmed.]
The rest of the team members looked at him as if he was crazy.
“......Are you being serious?”
Most importantly, the title that Jaeha had inputted for Ju-Heon...
“The Captain-nim will probably try to kill you once he finds out.”
“Even the Captain-nim can’t easily change it if it is inputted into the system!”
Jaeha just laughed out loud.
“It’s his fault for not being here! It’s not my fault! Kahahahahahaha!”
[The Heaven’s Eye System revealed the titles of the Monarchs around the world.]
[There are a total of 20 people who became Monarchs.
They are all people who will help the Majesty in the different areas and use their powers for world peace.]
Year 2029.
New information was being spread throughout the world after the successful completion of the Fourth Artifact Agreement.
[...... The Monarch of Art and the Monarch of Capital round out the list of Monarchs. These esteemed individuals are the ones who will help maintain World Peace...oh? Breaking news! His Majesty has decided on his Monarch title as well!]
[His title will be... huh? Tomb Raider King? Wait a minute, is this for real? Is he crazy?!]
The press all over the world did not know whether this was real.
As for the person in question, he was causing screams in a tomb located in some country.
“Aaah! What the hell was that just now?! What was it?”
Deep inside a mountain...
Deep in this country ruled by a dictator who had severe restrictions on outsiders entering...
The excavators of this Dictatorship were shaking after seeing who knows what.
"A rope, a rope......!”
"What the hell was that rope just now?!”
The archaeologists became shocked for a different reason at that moment.
“Aaah!”
A young girl suddenly appeared inside the tomb.
The girl fluttered her pretty eyes.
“W, what the hell?! Why is a kid here?”
And then...
“Aaah! Wait!”
The young girl disappeared and a damn rope grabbed their bags and disappeared.
“Hey! You can't take that with you!”
“Catch that rope!”
The rope just flashed its eyes and slithered out of the tomb.
A few hours later...
Inside a Jewelry Store in a crowded downtown street...
A young man patted the rope for bringing back the item he had lost.
“Oh, good job, you did well.”
The rope that was a different color from before rubbed its face in the young man’s hand in joy.
The jeweler looked amazed as he brought something out.
“This is a SS-Grade artifact, right? I can't believe you managed to get your hand on something like this.”
The jeweler handed the item to a young man who was wearing a hat really low to hide his face.
The young man, Ju-Heon, smiled.
“The customization went well?”
The jeweler showed the contents inside the ring case.
There was a ring with a unique design inside. Ju-Heon nodded his head in satisfaction.
“It’s useful. This will do.”
“Right? But this is the real artifact, right? Where did you buy it? Excavation for personal gain is considered tomb raiding and anybody who gets caught doing it can be executed, so I was wondering if you could tell me where I could buy some too.”
“But I didn’t buy it.”
“What? Then what? Ah, did you exchange it for something?”
“No? I dug it out myself. Uhh, in that mountain over there.”
“.........?!”
The jeweler's eyes opened wide. It was because he knew the meaning behind those words.
The jeweler’s face instantly turned pale.
“H, hold on. Then this is...?! Wait, more importantly, how did you make it out of that tomb alive...?!”
It was at that moment.
“Freeze! This is a restricted area!”
Soldiers with guns appeared in front of the store.
“You are under arrest for illegal entry into the country, illegal entry into a tomb, damage to tombs, and theft!”
“Aaah! I knew it!”
“Don’t move! If you do......!”
Ju-Heon smiled brightly.
"What are you going to do if I move?”
“......!”
The soldiers screamed and were sent flying.
“Aaah!”
Ju-Heon threw the jeweler quite the sum of money that was much more than what the customization would have cost as he grabbed the ring case.
The thief escaped the store with the ring!
Bang!
The store was destroyed in a moment. The soldiers outside had attacked.
“He’s escaped!”
Ju-Heon might have given the jeweler a lot of money because he had expected this to happen.
Maybe it was because even the press was extremely restricted in this country, but... The people here did not know about Ju-Heon. They were just scared at this strong individual who had sent many of their fellow soldiers flying.
The soldiers cursed at Ju-Heon as he walked away.
"What the hell are you doing?! Hurry up and catch that thieving bastard!”
Ju-Heon pulled out Chi You’s mask as he moved.
His mysterious aura slowly seeped out with each step.
“Hand it over! That artifact is a great heritage of our leader!”
Ju-Heon smiled in response.
Artifacts.
Mythology, great historical figures, legends, folk tales, and popular novels.
Artifacts were born from stories that people remember for a long time.
These artifacts would continue to appear as long as humanity continued living.
There would be good artifacts and bad artifacts.
New ones would continue to appear based on the stories.
He would have to deal with teaching those bad artifacts a lesson, but...
Anyway, artifacts even he did not know of would continue to appear as stories of the past continued to be passed on.
That wasn't all.
‘Different worlds.’
The kinds of artifacts that could appear were unlimited if he included other worlds that could exist somewhere in the universe.
That was why Ju-Heon could not stop looting tombs.
He was curious.
All artifacts in the world had to go through his hands first. It was killing two birds with one stone that doing so would be helpful for humanity as well.
A message soon popped up.
[A mysterious tomb can be felt nearby.]
[It may be the tomb of an apocalypse artifact.]
Ju-Heon smiled as if he had been waiting for this.
“Okay, that one is next.”
It was at that moment.
“Huff...hey you!”
The jeweler who managed to make his way out of the debris called out to Ju-Heon. The destroyed store was one thing but there seemed to be something else on his mind.
He had an extremely serious expression on his face.
"Wait! That ring artifact!”
“!”
“It’s abilities are not normal! What the hell did you excavate to use it for? Huh?”
The soldiers chasing after him were angry as well.
“Yeah! Why are you stealing our leader’s heirloom?!”
Where was he going to use it?
Ju-Heon waved the ring in the air.
“A wedding ring!”
Tomb Raider King Seo Ju-Heon shamelessly smiled.
He smiled so brightly that all artifacts around the world would be shocked.
< The End >