Chapter 251: The Monarch’s Tomb (1)

Translator: miraclerifle

“Then did Dan's memories come back?!”

Ju-Heon nonchalantly responded to her.

“No.”

The rest of the team members were flabbergasted.

It was to be expected.

‘He can handle a S-Grade artifact even without his memories?’

They had not heard it clearly, but that was what it had sounded like. Dan had taken care of those bastards with a S-Grade artifact.

Even if Ju-Heon had given him specialized training, there was no way someone could use an S-Grade artifact in half a month.

Even Monarchs like Irene or Yoo Jaeha needed a month to freely use their artifacts.

That meant that there was no way for Dan to use General Gyebaek’s artifact unless he got his memories back.

So how?!

“Are you sure you didn't restore his memories?”

"What are you talking about? I didn’t.”

“Then how did he use an S-Grade artifact......?!”

Ju-Heon pulled out a camera instead of responding.

It was the camera artifact he had taken from the penitentiary during that interaction with Yang Chen.

“I used this to quickly teach him.”

“!”

It was the Monarch of Fate’s future camera.

Taking a picture of someone would show their future, or in their case, their past lives.

Activating the picture could allow the user to enter the picture and experience the scene.

It would feel as if they had transmigrated into a different world.

Ju-Heon had used that to test something.

He wondered if he could use it to restore Dan’s senses from the past without restoring his memories.

‘It should be faster than starting from scratch.’

Handling artifacts were all about the senses so getting a feel for it would help Dan learn faster.

Of course, he let Dan see numerous memories except for the one where he lost his daughter.

‘But to think that he was really able to handle an S-Grade artifact with just that.’

It should have taken at least a month even after using the camera.

Ju-Heon found this a bit odd but he was satisfied with the results.

‘I was originally planning on giving him my A-Grade Hwarang's sword but this is great.’

He then started to think about Hwarang's sword that was in his hand.

He had to thank it.

General Gyebaek’s sword was pretty much found thanks to Hwarang’s sword.

How? A few days ago... He had been on his way to pressure the residents of the Tower of Pride to pay their rent.

Hwarang's sword suddenly started to glow and reacted to something.

Artifacts lit up like that for only reason.

‘There’s a related artifact nearby.’

Artifacts that are related to each other would react like this.

It helped Ju-Heon realize something. He had almost missed a hidden tomb.

He debated whether to go get the others since it clearly looked like a S-Grade tomb, however...

[There are only four days until your occupation is changed.]

[Your occupation will forcibly be changed in four days.]

‘Damn it. This motherfucking crow.’

His skills might have been forcibly taken away if he waited to come back later.

That was why Ju-Heon had no choice but to enter a S-Grade tomb on his own.

It had not been as dangerous as he had expected, but the artifact he got was quite useful.

[Gyebaek's Sword (S-Grade:Legendary Hero Grade - Possession Artifact)]

A precious artifact of a General from Baekje had appeared. [1]

This general was the one who was famous for the Battle of Hwangsanbeol and for being Gim Yu-sin’s rival.

Ju-Heon had laughed while looking at Hwarang's sword that had helped him find the tomb.

‘Hwarang's sword’

That was the only thing that ever popped up in the messages.

‘I wonder if this was actually Gwanchang’s artifact.’n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Gwanchang was a young member of the Hwarang who had charged into the enemy formation on his own during the Battle of Hwangsanbeol and ended up a prisoner of Baekje.

The story goes that General Gyebaek let him go without killing him.

Ju-Heon did think this Hwarang’s sword that he swiped from the CIA had to be at least a decently famous person since it was an A-Grade artifact after all.

‘How entertaining.’

And now...

Seol-A suddenly shouted after hearing this story.

“Huh, but wait a minute!”

Seol-A’s face turned pale as if she suddenly realized something.

“Didn't General Gyebaek.........!”

General Gyebaek was famous for the battle, but he was also known for holding back his tears and killing his wife and children before heading out to the battlefield.

He supposedly did it because he knew that he was going into a battle where their kingdom would lose and feared what would happen to the civilians who were taken as prisoners of war.

This was the artifact of a person who was famous for that tale.

There was no way an artifact would not use something like that to its advantage.

“Is General Gyebaek's risk......!”

Seol-A urgently grabbed Ju-Heon's arm.

“Captain-nim, no! If Dan keeps holding onto that artifact, Soo-A!”

It was at that moment.

Ju-Heon lightly chuckled and Yoo Jaeha, who had been oddly quiet for some reason, started to clutch his stomach as he laughed.

“Hey hey hey, don’t worry. Are you stupid?”

“What?”

“Do you really think the Captain-nim would give something like that to Dan? He naturally took that into consideration before giving it to Dan.”

Seol-A was relieved.

“You're right, the Captain-nim is not someone who would do that.”

Seol-A then glared at Yoo Jaeha who was acting oddly pompous.

“Hold on. How do you know that?”

“W, what?”

Yoo Jaeha slowly tried to escape but there were sparks flying out of Seol-A's eyes.

“Yoo Jaeha! You knew about it! You knew about the artifact!”

“U, ugh!”

“Then that means you knew before the rest of us that the Captain-nim went into a S-Grade tomb on his own! When was it? When did you find out?!”

“Ugh, uuuuuuugh! I'm sorry, I'm soooooo...!”

Seol-A grabbed Yoo Jaeha by the collar.

“You better not tell me you knew and didn’t stop the Captain-nim from going into the S-Grade tomb!”

“Ow, no! It’s not like that! I would have stopped him if I knew! I only found out about it afterwards, ma'am. I only found out because the Captain-nim suddenly asked me to make a fake!”

“!”

Seol-A looked toward Ju-Heon in confusion.

“A fake? Captain-nim, then......!”

This was clearly different from what they had been told.

Ju-Heon had given Dan a copy of General Gyebaek's artifact, a fake created by Jaeha.

Why?

‘Dan has no memories of the past.’

That meant that unlike the other team members, Dan had no knowledge of the dangers of an artifact’s risk.

Possession-type artifacts were convenient but quite dangerous because of the risks.

General Gyebaek’s artifact's risk was no exception.

Seol-A nodded her head.

“I guess it makes sense to only give him a copy. Especially for an artifact with a risk like that...”

But Seol-A was quite disappointed because she knew the limitations of a fake.

It was at that moment.

“What do you mean for an artifact with a risk like that?”

“What?”

“Sigh, I don’t understand it at all. He even changed the risk just for Dan!”

“!”

What?

Ju-Heon had negotiated the risk with the artifact to give Dan a good artifact without the terrible risk.

How?

“Hey general. Change your risk while I'm asking nicely. Otherwise, I'm going to destroy you.”

[You bastard of a descendant......! I should have realized you were no good from the moment you destroyed my tomb!]

“Shut up general. I'll help you find Gim Yu-sin or King Uija's artifacts if you be a good boy. I'll even make sure that you are treated well. How about I help you find the true descendants of Baekje? I'll even listen to whatever you want.”

Well, it was similar to that.

Either way, the artifact was so pampered that it would be impossible to imagine Ju-Heon doing that.

Of course, Ju-Heon was not the one who pampered it.

“Haha, General-nim. I am also a distant descendant so please take good care of me! Please? I’ll even give you a massage every day sir! Please! You just have to add a few words in that risk. It’s just a few words. Pretty please?”

[Ahem.......]

“Do you know how much I like Baekje and respected its honorable history...... those damn bastards of Silla! Why I outta! They act all pompous when they only managed to unify the three kingdoms due to luck! Seriously! They just ended up crumbling in the end anyway!”

Yoo Jaeha, who had high Affinity, had been dragged by Ju-Heon and had to suck up to the artifact for multiple days.

As a result, the risk of ‘kill your wife and children’ had changed.

It was now ‘kill those who try to harm your wife and children.’

The artifact just slipped in a few words and barely changed it.

But after he struggled for days to change the risk to a buff, what did he do?

“He just made me create a fake to give to Dan! Why the hell did I need to suck up to the artifact then?! Huh?!”

Yoo Jaeha sniffled thinking that things were unfair.

“It’s a waste since I worked so hard to change the risk. Are you going to let it rot?”

“Then give it to me.”

Yoo Jaeha kicked Ilya who interjected.

“Get lost, you damn feeble fool who is only as strong as a baby chick!”

“.......”

‘This son of a bitch.’

They had now changed stations to have the Monarch of Fate proceed with a broadcast.

And then...

“I still think it is a waste.”

Yoo Jaeha peeked toward Ju-Heon.

Ju-Heon looked so cool that all of the staff at the station couldn’t help but stare at him, but.......

“Captain-nim, you and Dan are the only ones on our team who can use a warrior's artifact like that properly...... Dan is the best and even better than you. The fake can’t even compare to the real one.”

Ju-Heon sneered at Jaeha who was talking about this again.

“No. I will only give him to him after thoroughly teaching him. It’s too dangerous.”

Ilya interjected.

“Then why don’t you just give him back his memories? Let's be honest, where are you going to find someone like Dan? Even if you thoroughly taught someone they would need at least five years to be useful.”

He continued on.

“The memory of his dead daughter is something for Dan to worry about. It's something that’s bearable for the benefits of the team......”

Yoo Jaeha kicked Ilya after hearing that.

“Yes. I think we need to fire you for the benefits of the team, you bastard.”

“What the hell did you just say?!”

Ju-Heon started to laugh.

“It is true that everything would be resolved if I give Dan his memories back.”

Dan’s personality was one where he would happily return as the tomb raiding team’s Hunter again, he would handle the possession-type artifact very well, and most importantly, he would have the strength he had during his prime.

‘I know about that punk's abilities better than anybody else.’

It was just too desirable.

It was to the point that even Ju-Heon was a bit greedy for it.

However, there was nothing he could do about it.

‘I can't let him experience the sorrow of losing his daughter again.’

“I won't restore his memories.”

“But Dan's position is the most dangerous on the excavation team. We can’t let him take on the monopolizers without his memories......!”

“I never said I planned on doing that. Why would I make him do something so dangerous?”

Yoo Jaeha and Ilya both seemed completely shocked to hear that.

‘Why? This makes no sense! Our Captain can be this generous?! He could actually think about other people's feelings?!’

They were jealous! They felt wronged!

“This is favoritism! You wouldn’t even care if either of us died!”

“Of course.”

Ilya and Yoo Jaeha fell down and started to pound the ground after seeing Ju-Heon's calm demeanor.

“Wow, shit, we were dragged by the collar as soon as we met him! He forced us to sign the slave contract!”

“He beat me up from the moment I met him......”

“You guys would have run away if I didn't do that.”

“Ah, that is true. But can’t you still treat us like you treat Dan?!”

Ju-Heon looked at them as if he was wondering how they could say such bullshit.

“You guys and Dan are not the same.”

They continued to lament.

“This is discrimination! I'm going to sue you for discrimination in the workplace!”

Ju-Heon usually only treated the female team members well but Ju-Heon cherished Dan as much as he cherished the female members.

Why?

Dan had saved Ju-Heon's life. Actually, he had saved Ju-Heon’s life multiple times.

‘He’s also the only one who listens to what I say without complaining.’

He didn't mind running the other bastards to the ground as long as they didn't die, but he didn't want to let Dan get hurt.

He wanted to take care of Dan now while he wasn’t fighting since he had always received so many injuries to protect the tomb raiding team in the past.

“The others were good but the two of you were not.”

Both Yoo Jaeha and Ilya started to frown at the fact that they had been lumped together.

“Captain-nim. That’s too much. I'm at least better than this guy......”

“What? I'm better than you.”

“Shut up. The two of you are the same.”

They started to sulk.

Ju-Heon then took out the Raven’s Tears and started to sigh.

He was still tempted to use the Raven’s artifact but he shook his head.

‘No. Let’s not be any greedier than I've already been.’

He would give up on Dan.

“Anyway, use that glib tongue of yours on the reporters outside.”

Ju-Heon looked toward the Monarch of Fate who was getting some rest.

Fake prophecies were soon spread throughout the world.

These prophecies would help Ju-Heon steal the Monarch’s tomb.

And at that same time...

Julian, who had instantly been fired, heard the following message when he called Ju-Heon.

‘Your number has been blocked at the recipient's request...’

His clenched fists were shaking in anger.

“......Seo Ju-Heon. Why I ought to!”

It was at that moment.

‘My goodness, Captain-nim...... He fired the Vice Captain-nim again.’

Dan had a bitter smile on his face while looking at the grumbling Julian.

It was obvious what had happened.

Soo-A came over and hugged her daddy at that moment.

“Daddy, daddy. Is it a call from Ju-Heon oppa?”

“Yes, it’s a call from Ju-Heon oppa.”

Soo-A's eyes opened wide as if she wanted to hear Ju-Heon’s voice.

Dan carefully picked up his daughter and looked at his phone.

‘There’s something I must tell the Captain...’

It was at that moment.

“Mr. Hae Jin. Can I borrow your phone? I'm sure he wouldn’t have blocked your number!”

Julian had a vicious glare on his face.

Dan handed Julian his phone as he asked a question.

“Excuse me. Could I get an application to join the excavation team?”

Julian furiously started to type as he responded.

“Ah, I can give you one but I doubt our captain would accept it. He said that you couldn’t get your mem... No, that he couldn’t let you get involved in dangerous situations, Mr. Hae Jin.”

Dan awkwardly smiled and scratched his cheek.

‘What do I do about this?’

Based on their conversations, nobody seemed to know yet.

Nobody seemed to know that his memories had been completely restored.

1. one of the old Korean kingdoms