Chapter 2

The Tomb Raider King (2)

Everyone believed that.

Everyone...

Except for one man.

"That bastard disappeared again?!"

Staring at Ju-heon's empty seat, Julian pressed a hand against his forehead.

"Hey! Tomb robbing?! The Majesty isn't supposed to be doing that!"

"Huh? Why not? I found it first, so it's mine."

"Hey!"

"It's public property, right? If nobody's there, I can take it."

"Th-This is the Majesty?!"

"The international conference is just around the corner! What are we supposed to do if the person in charge disappears?!"

The world had truly changed because of Seo Ju-heon.

[Seo Ju-heon establishes the 'Majester' system, completing the nationalization of relics.]

[The World Joint Relic Research Institute leads the processing and distribution of relics.]

[Tomb robbing for private ownership is now a crime. Excavation for research is encouraged.]

Yet somewhere in the world...

Someone was still raiding relics.

The very man who had drafted the treaty banning private ownership continued to be the first person to violate it.

His name was Seo Ju-heon.

The legendary Tomb Raider King.

And at this very moment...

Another tomb door had opened somewhere.

Faster than anyone else.

Before anyone else.

Because of that, Ju-heon's companions suffered endlessly.

"This time... ugh... it's another closed-off country."

Even Roe, a tanker whose combat ability rivaled a living weapon, looked exhausted.

All of them had once been betrayed by their employers and left for dead before Ju-heon saved them.

That shared experience had forged an unbreakable bond between them.

Yu Jae-ha, who was examining a map relic, sighed.

"He entered without even obtaining an official excavation permit."

"Seriously, why does he always pick countries ruled by dictatorships, censorship, and shoot-on-sight orders?"

"Hah! That's our captain for you. Truly on another level."

Illya chuckled.

Seol-ah quickly came to Ju-heon's defense.

Behind the hero who had saved the world stood the teammates who supported him.

Seol-ah, an intelligence specialist.

Julian, wielder of the relic of Zhuge Liang, Ju-heon's right-hand man who seemed to spend more time holding his head in frustration than anything else.

Illya, a former Catholic priest who somehow wielded demonic relics.

Yu Jae-ha, a restoration expert who had become Ju-heon's personal slave after trying to scam him.

And Chloe, a doctor who knocked patients unconscious almost as often as she treated them.

"Still... our tracking system picked him up, but..."

"...He just disappeared."

"...Wait, what do you mean the signal disappeared?!"

Julian's eyes nearly popped out.

"The very guy who created the Guardian System to stop illegal tomb robbing..."

"...is bypassing it to rob tombs himself?!"

"Pretty much."

"...So you're telling me the Majesty personally excavated a tomb designated as public property..."

"...and moved every single public relic into his private vault?!"

Hearing Illya's reply, Julian rubbed his temples.

No.

It was a headache...

But it would probably be fine.

Julian fumed while everyone else silently exchanged glances.

Finally he shouted,

"It's fine! He has a sense of responsibility as the Majesty."

"He'll just take a look at the relics and put them back where they were..."

"What happened to the international law prohibiting private ownership of relics?!"

At those words, Seol-ah hesitated before answering.

Julian felt genuinely dizzy.

He thought marriage might have finally made Ju-heon mature.

Apparently not.

Then something even worse happened.

"Well..."

"They're... all gone."

"...Excuse me?"

"Every."

"Single."

"One."

"Completely cleaned out."

[The Majester has completed acquisition.]

The notification arrived simultaneously on every team member's device.

Cold sweat trickled down their backs.

"'Acquisition'...?"

"What exactly did he acquire this time?"

With trembling hands, Seol-ah opened the detailed report.

"...The Number One archaeological site in the world that should never be opened..."

"Isn't that an unopened area?!"

"No!"

"It isn't merely unopened."

"It was forbidden from ever being opened in the first place!"

"That country's people worship the Emperor as a god!"

"He acquired..."

"...the God's tomb...?"

"Ah..."

"This time..."

Her lips trembled.

Yu Jae-ha grabbed his head.

"...This is bad."

"This is really bad."

"This is going to start a war!"

"There'll be an emergency international summit!"

"...Three neighboring countries were already conducting military demonstrations over that tomb..."

['The Emperor's Tomb' has been acquired.]

The team's faces turned pale.

Then Illya quietly added,

Julian practically breathed fire.

"D-Don't tell me..."

"You're talking about that Emperor's Tomb...?"

"We thought he'd finally calmed down..."

"But ever since obtaining Isis's relic..."

"...what on earth is wrong with him now?!"

Eventually, representatives from dozens of countries brought the following agenda to the international conference.

Emergency Discussion Regarding Seo Ju-heon's Private Use of Relics

"...Confirmation?"

"So he said he wanted to loot it before other researchers entered..."

"...No, no..."

"...He said he was merely checking the danger level..."

"If he passed a law banning private ownership of relics..."

"...shouldn't he also be prohibited from entering that tomb?"

"Besides, the excavation hadn't even been approved for research."

The atmosphere turned icy.

Even the delegates felt embarrassed listening to themselves speak.

Julian, in particular, looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

Then Egypt's representative spoke.

"Did you know?"

"The Majesty himself officially registered the Emperor's Tomb under a new name."

He paused.

"'The Tomb Raider King's Lounge.'"

At that, Seol-ah carefully spoke up.

"No..."

"Our captain merely went there..."

"...to inspect the relics in advance."

The expressions on the faces of the delegates and Ju-heon's teammates were priceless.

But what came next was even more absurd.

[Seo Ju-heon]

A video call suddenly appeared on the conference room's main screen.

"Oh? Captain?!"

"...What kind of tomb is it?"

[No idea. I saw it first, so it's mine.]

"...Captain, we just told you that's a region in the middle of an international conflict."

[Yeah. But the moment I went in, the war suddenly stopped. Guess they chickened out.]

Seol-ah pressed the connect button.

Ju-heon's face appeared on the screen, tilting his head.

[Hey. What the hell are you all doing? Why isn't anyone answering their phones? You all have a death wish?]

"We're in the middle of the international summit, Captain..."

[Oh. Was that today? Sorry, I'm a little busy right now.]

"...What are you doing?"

[A tomb.]

[Anyway, I'm busy, so we'll talk later. Oh, while you're all in that meeting, change my title for me. 'Tomb Raider King' sounds kind of lame. How about 'Tomb Raider Emperor'?]

"...That really is you, Captain?"

[Of course. The world's greatest thief of public property, a Myth-Class escape artist, the nemesis of the ancient gods... and your captain.]

Click.

The call ended.

Representatives from every country lowered their heads simultaneously.

Breaking the silence, Julian adjusted his glasses.

Damn it... What's Death doing? Why hasn't it taken that guy already?

"...Are we really sure we made the right decision putting this man at the very top?"

Illya and Yu Jae-ha silently stared at the ceiling.

For the first time in a long while, Ju-heon came home early.

When his wife, Irene, greeted him at the front door, he was carrying a paper bag.

"We can't remove him. According to the relic system, Captain has the highest administrator authority."

"..."

"Huh? You didn't go tomb raiding today?"

"Mm."

It was a short answer.

But Irene immediately understood the moment she saw what Ju-heon took out of the bag.

They were pregnancy test kits.

Five of them.

"...Ju-heon, we already confirmed it."

"You never know."

"But... five of them?"

"I'm going to leave one in every office."

Then he gently stroked Irene's head and pulled her into a tight embrace.

She knew.

That was simply Ju-heon's way of expressing his happiness and gratitude.

That night, Ju-heon was so excited he couldn't fall asleep.

Lying beside Irene, he repeatedly took out the ultrasound photo and put it away.

He must have done it fifty times.

The only thing bothering him...

...was the crimson message that had appeared when he obtained Isis's relic.

Watching her husband behave like an excited young boy—a side of him she rarely saw—Irene couldn't help smiling.

Her heart pounded.

Later, they visited the hospital together.

"Congratulations. You're five weeks pregnant. See this? That's the gestational sac."

Yet those crimson messages continued to linger in Ju-heon's mind.

[The Administrator of this world, the 187,487th , has been registered.]

[Seo Ju-heon has been granted eligibility for the .]

[Forced Humanity Reset has begun ♥]

[The scenario in which humanity is exterminated by the Relics has commenced ♥]

Judging by the way it talks... it's definitely some kind of relic.

So be it.

After returning home, he finally tried to get some sleep.

But...

He searched everywhere he could think of, yet found nothing.

In the end, he questioned the relic that had sent him back in time and helped him become the Majesty—

The Three-Legged Crow relic.

"What do you think that warning means, now that I've already become the Majesty?"

As always, the Three-Legged Crow answered through a blue system window.

[I believe it is the prank of a relic that has not yet been discovered.]

Then another message appeared.

This one was strange.

Unlike the usual blue windows from the Three-Legged Crow, this one was...

Red.

Ju-heon frowned as he sat up.

The message said something completely unexpected.

[A proposal has arrived for the 187,487th Majesty.]

"...!"

[Please determine the policy direction of the 187,487th Majesty.]

A policy direction?

What's this?

[Massacre]Grants the Majesty the authority of [Erase].Personally erase criminals, enemies, or anyone you dislike, and build your own utopia.

Now that I've become the Majesty... is this asking me what kind of world I want to rule?

But the options themselves were disturbing.

[Submission]Register humanity as a resource belonging to the relics.Humanity will become livestock and nourishment for the relics, but your world will enjoy greater prosperity and stronger power.The Majesty and their bloodline will be guaranteed freedom and receive the eternal favor and protection of the relics.[Neglect]Maintain the current state of the world.Receive no protection whatsoever from the relics.Humanity must overcome every disaster through its own efforts.

"...What?"