Chapter 6
Arrogant Bastard (1)
- However, you will be required to form a contract with me.
Ju-Heon stared at the screen in disbelief.
[Medium Mode]There will be a moderate amount of danger on your way to meet me.However, I will take one of your most precious memories.
Meeting someone... has Easy, Medium, and Hard modes?
What kind of bastard is this?
[Hard Mode]You are guaranteed to die before reaching me.However, before your death, I will reveal the answer.
The attached explanations were even more absurd.
Ju-Heon stared at the window for a long time.
[Easy Mode]There is absolutely no danger on your way to meet me.
Easy meant...
A contract.
Medium meant...
A memory.
Hard meant...
Death.
So, to Ju-Heon, there was only one possible choice.
"The most dangerous option..."
"...but the one with the biggest payoff."
"All three are complete bullshit."
Just then, a countdown began.
[If no selection is made, Easy Mode will be chosen automatically.]
[10... 9... 8...]
Ju-Heon's eyebrow twitched.
To someone who valued contracts above all else, being forced into an unwanted contract was utterly unacceptable.
Medium wasn't any better.
His most precious memories would obviously be of Irene...
His teammates...
Or his child.
He wouldn't give up even the smallest fragment of those.
[Hard Mode selected.]
[Danger Warning.]
[Among all previous Majesties, the number who cleared this mode: 0.]
[Success Probability: 0%.]
[To be honest, every Majesty who selected Easy Mode survived.]
[Although they all became my slaves.]
[Hard Mode is the only path that leads to the truth.]
[However, its end has always been one of absolute destruction.]
[Even so... will you still choose Hard Mode for the sake of learning your daughter's whereabouts?]
Ju-Heon slammed his feet onto the desk.
"Zero percent?"
"Give me a break."
"If I clear it..."
"Then it's a hundred percent for me."
"You bastard."
"The first one in gets rich!"
"The later you are, the poorer you become!"
[...]
"So go ahead."
"Let's see what this so-called Hard Mode can do."
Panic spread across the world.
An emergency announcement was broadcast globally.
[Unidentified Artifact detected.]
[Its safety cannot be verified. Use is strictly prohibited.]
The beginning of Hard Mode seemed almost harmless.
Artifacts no one had ever owned suddenly appeared before all of humanity.
"...It looks like a stone. What is this? I've never received anything like it."
"It was just sitting in my pocket."
"Hey! They say this thing can make you hit the jackpot!"
"I heard it's an artifact that steals other people's luck!"
Naturally...
Nobody listened.
Like a cryptocurrency frenzy, overnight fortunes appeared—
And disappeared.
But that wasn't all.
"News articles are appearing about people who die in the future!"
"Everything's listed—from the President to..."
"...'Majesty Seo Ju-Heon. Date of death: September 18.'"
Meanwhile, Ju-Heon repeatedly smacked his own cheek in irritation.
Scattering unidentified artifacts into someone else's world...
Killing people whenever they feel like it...
He had already realized it.
Thump.
Thump. Thump.
"So this..."
"...is your Hard Mode?"
Millions of lights went out one after another like falling dominoes.
Cars screeched to a halt in the middle of roads.
People trapped inside skyscraper elevators screamed in terror.
Hospital ventilators shut down.
Patients hovering between life and death began slipping away.
Panic was the perfect breeding ground for chaos.
And every Majesty who took this route died?
"Communications are down!"
Over something this pathetic?
Government agencies across every nation collapsed simultaneously.
Military base security systems failed.
Armories unlocked on their own.
Then—
The entire world went dark.
"Why?!"
The answer arrived moments later.
"What?"
"Zeus attacked power plants around the world?"
Ju-Heon raised an eyebrow after receiving the report.
"That bastard should still be sealed inside the power plant as an artifact."
"He shouldn't even be able to get out."
"But those artifacts shouldn't have autonomous behavior..."
"...Right."
"They didn't."
Deep beneath the Colorado Plateau, 1,400 meters underground...
Zeus had been imprisoned.
A power plant had been built around his sealed body.
Core V – Zeus.
It was simultaneously...
The gods' dumping ground.
And the world's highest-security containment facility for supreme artifacts.
The only reason it had worked...
...was because Zeus had remained sealed.
If he were ever released and returned to being an actual god...
That would be disastrous.
Which was why...
The moment they entered the facility...
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Zeus.
Once hailed as the Supreme Ruler of the Heavens.
Now...
Reduced by Ju-Heon into Power Plant Fuel No. 1, supplying electricity to the entire world.
Naturally...
A deity of that magnitude couldn't simply be confined inside a tiny chamber.
Crackle—!
The control consoles melted.
Lightning roared throughout the facility.
[I... have been reduced... to this...?]
Electricity raged across Zeus's entire body.
His blazing eyes shone like bolts of lightning.
Ju-Heon smirked.
"You seem to be in pretty good condition despite not saying much, Zeus."
[MAJESTY!! WHERE ARE YOU?!]
"Aaaah! The seal's broken! Run!"
"Too late—Gahhh!"
Zeus...
The Chief God artifact Ju-Heon had once obtained through outright deception.
It had all started with a negotiation.
Back then...
He had promised to release the sealed Zeus.
Yes...
He distinctly remembered.
A deafening peal of thunder exploded.
An enormous bolt of lightning tore straight through the ceiling.
But—
"That's far enough."
"So..."
"What'll it be, Zeus?"
"Stay trapped in there?"
"Or come out..."
"...and become my slave?"
[Very well.]
[I shall accept your ridiculous proposal.]
"My proposal was this."
"If I release you..."
"You become my slave."
"If you refuse..."
"Your sons won't survive either."
[Very well.]
[I wager all of my sons.]
At Ju-Heon's icy voice, Zeus instinctively froze.
Back then, Zeus had agreed to make a contract in exchange for being released.
But—
[...?!!]
[A promise? What meaning could a promise made with a mere human possibly have?]
"What?"
[I'll enjoy my freedom for a while. Thanks for letting me out! Hahaha!]
"I distinctly remember warning you."
"If you broke the agreement..."
"...your sons wouldn't survive."
[My sons are not so weak that mere humans could kill them.]
[Though honestly, I wouldn't care even if you did.]
"I'm not so sure."
"I doubt those are your only sons."
[?]
"What happens if you lose that son too?"
"Wouldn't that be a bit of a problem for the King of the Gods?"
[?!]
"Want to find out?"
"If I rip that off like what happened to your father—or was it your grandfather—"
"...maybe we'll get a second Goddess of Beauty."
[...!!]
Trying to break the agreement had eventually led to...
[XXX from the King of the Gods' body]
(SS Divine Grade / Bound Artifact)
An absurdly powerful artifact.
And Zeus himself had ended up captured by Ju-Heon.
Sure enough...
When Ju-Heon saw Zeus again, he smiled mockingly.
"I was kind enough to remove your little problem for you."
"Was that still not enough?"
The team members turned pale.
"Captain!"
"That bastard's contract with you has been broken!"
"He's dangerous!"
Did that arrogant bastard who talked about Hard Mode release Zeus's seal?
Ju-Heon merely glanced between Zeus's legs and sneered.
"So..."
"You were happy to be free?"
"Even so..."
"Looks like you're still not much of a man."
[SHUT UUUUUUP!!]
"Forget that."
"How did you break your Artifact Seal by yourself?"
[You must have released it!]
Anyone capable of breaking the seal of a Divine-Grade Artifact...
...was no ordinary being.
And if the King of the Gods had truly regained his divinity...
Then facing him meant confronting nature itself.
Death would be inevitable.
As expected—
Zeus transformed into pure lightning.
The strike carried enough power to obliterate an entire temple.
But Ju-Heon caught it with one hand.
At the same time...
He activated his Authority of Domination.
BOOM!
Damn it.
I didn't release you, so why is this happening?
Before the spear of lightning even reached the ground...
It shattered.
Ju-Heon chuckled.
"You used to be the God of Lightning."
"Now you're just my world's electric meter."
Even as he mocked him, Ju-Heon frowned.
Strange.
My domination isn't working.
He had used enough authority to force Zeus back into artifact form.
Yet nothing happened.
[Enough tricks!]
[Bring out Odin's Gungnir if you dare!]
[Now that I've regained my true power, a mere Gungnir is nothing—]
[I'll show you which of us truly stands above the other!]
Huh?
Why would I do something that benefits you?
"What?"
With a flick of Ju-Heon's hand...
The ground trembled.
A pure white chair rose from the earth.
Like a bolt of lightning, it shot toward Zeus.
[Wh-What is this?!]
What...?
Why isn't domination working?
Has he reverted to the state before I subdued him?
Just as Ju-Heon prepared his next move...
Zeus shouted arrogantly.
Then—
Brilliant white ribbons burst from the chair.
They forcibly seated Zeus.
Bound all four of his limbs.
And completely restrained his body.
[Impossible...!]
[My divine power... it's being sealed...?!!]
"I get that you're excited to be free."
"But you really should've paid attention to the situation first."
"You idiot."
"Not even the greatest con artist with the smoothest tongue in existence could resist this."
At that moment...
Instead of a system window...
The artifact's name appeared before Ju-Heon's eyes.
From behind him, Yoo Jaeha clicked his tongue.
[Hera's Throne]
(SS Divine Grade / Bound Artifact)
"A punishment tool made specifically for swindlers..."
"No wonder Captain kept this thing locked away in storage..."
The flying artifact smacked Yoo Jaeha in the head.
[Ugh...!]
[This is... Hera's...?!!]
"That's right."
"A domestic reformation tool created by the Goddess of Marriage."
It was one of Hera's Divine Artifacts—
The Throne of Judgment, where divine vows took physical form.
"In particular..."
"If the betrayal involves marriage, family, or bonds..."
"...its restraining power increases by 1,000%."
[How dare you...! Against me...!]
"You dared betray that goddess first."
"Didn't you, Zeus?"
CRACK!
BOOOOOOM!!
More white ribbons erupted from the throne.
They sealed Zeus's mouth shut.
Then branded his chest with the mark of a marriage vow.
Something suddenly smashed into Zeus's jaw.
[Ggh... This can't...!]
[Metis's Wisdom That Topples Gods]
(SS Divine Grade / Bound Artifact)
Ju-Heon looked down at Zeus, who writhed helplessly while bound to the chair.
The object in question was none other than a gauntlet.
"This isn't the end."
[...What?]
"Now..."
"It's time for your first wife to make her entrance."
[?!]
"Who was it that you swallowed, Zeus?"
The moment Ju-Heon raised the gauntlet...
Zeus's pupils violently trembled.