Tomb Raider King
chapter-29

Translator: miraclerifle

“You guys look like you’re having so much fun.”

The Oh Seung Woo group who heard that voice screamed as if they saw a ghost before kneeling down on the ground.

“Ju, Ju-Heon!”

That wasn’t it.

Even the rope who tried to tempt the Oh Seung Woo group without Ju-Heon's knowledge started to shake in fear.

[#&$#$^&#!]

What’s up with this human?! What the hell?!

It was because it felt fear from Ju-Heon’s dominance that had come out for a moment. Ju-Heon didn't care as he started to speak to the Oh Seung Woo group.

“Enough. Were you guys trying to run off with my money?”

The Oh Seung Woo group fell on their asses after seeing Ju-Heon smile viciously.

“Ju, Ju-Heon. It’s not like that!”

“W, we tried to do something terrible!”

Ju-Heon immediately started to speak without paying any attention to their excuses.

“Bind.”

The rope then shamelessly(?) started to bind the Oh Seung Woo group as if it had never tried to tempt them in the first place.

[#($#*#!]

Who told you to try to run with his money? Who told you to run?!

“Ahhh! What the hell is this?!”

“Ugh!”

“S, save us! Aaah!”

Ju-Heon then chuckled while looking at the trio who tried to run with his money.

‘Artifacts truly are great for confirming the worst in people.’

This was a method Ju-Heon had used many times in the past.

Just being around artifacts brought out the savagery and the worst in people.

But he never expected them to want to run with a mere 200 million won.

That wasn’t it...

‘The fact that the rope tried to tempt them means that they are pushovers...... No, that their Affinity levels are high.’

Of course, they still seemed to be idiots even when their savagery was pulled out.

How did he know? What could three people do by splitting 200 million won?

“You morons. You should have tried to kill me and take all 500 million won. How can you call yourself men without even having the guts to try that?”

They felt as if they were getting in trouble for not committing murder and theft but none of it mattered.

“Sorry! We were wrong! No, we were wrong, sir! We weren’t trying to do that!”

The three of them were crying as they kowtowed in front of Ju-Heon. They were sniffling and crying as they begged. It was not something guys like them who were normally putting on a tough act even as a bluff would do.

This would be impossible if the artifact was not dragging out their true intentions.

Artifacts generally pull out a person's true intentions so that they can draw out the person's violent tendencies.

However, there were many types of true intentions. Violent tendencies were not the only things hidden inside a person's true intentions.

"Sooooooooob! My mind suddenly became weird, sir! Damn it, to become greedy for your stuff, we were completely in the wrong, sir! We won’t ever do it again, sir! We committed a grave sin, sir!”

“To be honest with you, with hyung-nim and noonim behind bars, we thought we were finally free but Ju-Heon, seeing you acting like the boss made me so angry......!”

“Aigoo, Ju-Heon!”

They shared their honest feelings. Ju-Heon then laughed at their statements. It was because it was cute seeing guys like this after seeing shameless and dirty bastards for most of his past life.

These guys were simpler and more innocent than he had expected.

‘Most people would have tried to kill me and take the rest of the money as well.’

That was why Ju-Heon smacked the Oh Seung Woo group on the head as he started to speak.

"So who told you to run with the money?!!”

“Aigoo! We were wrong! We thought we might be able to open a franchise cafe at a decent place with that money......!”

"Something like Paris Baguette or Moonbucks......!”

“Then we could send some allowance to our mother as well......!”

Ju-Heon chuckled at them as they were talking about how they committed a grave sin again.

‘A stupid franchise like that?’

“If you do what I tell you to, I”ll make it so you can open hundreds of those stupid franchises.”

“W, what?”

“Then you can gift your mom a few stores instead of just sending her some allowance.”

“!”

Ju-Heon started to smile.

If their true natures that came out because of the artifacts were anything like his own, he would have killed them on the spot for the benefit of society.

‘And these bastards have high affinity levels.’

Their affinity levels were the opposite of his high dominance. They may be treated as pushovers by artifacts but they could still be extremely beneficial for Ju-Heon.

Why?

They could do thing that he was unable to do.

For example, they could grovel and please artifacts with terrible personalities.

‘I can't do that even if I died. No, I refuse to do that.’

That was why he might be able to use them to fill that need.

Ju-Heon also remembered their mother as well. He still remembered how she had fed him and apologized for her sons actions when he told her he was their subordinate employee even though she had no idea what her sons did for a living. Ju-Heon was a man who would not forget someone’s generous actions.

However, the Oh Seung Woo group's eyes opened wide.

“Hundreds of franchises? Really? Is that really possible?”

“Yes.”

Franchises were nothing. A person can easily become a billionaire if they gathered a bunch of artifacts.

However, they didn’t seem to believe him; Ju-Heon made it easy for them to understand as they sat there in disbelief.

“Did you already forget how I made a ton of money in Las Vegas?”

“No, we remember it clearly!”

“Then I think I showed you enough proof.”

“Mm, that is true.”

They might not know what was going on, but there were weird things happening with the tombs and Ju-Heon was a man who knew how to use them effectively.

The Oh Seung Woo group had no choice but to nod their heads as they were not stupid enough to pick up on that, and Ju-Heon continued to speak.

“Then I will set a condition for you guys.”

"A condition?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Ju-Heon chuckled as he took something out of his bag.

“Uhh...isn’t that the pumice stone you just won at the auction?”

The artifact would probably die in shock if it heard them calling it a pumice stone.

It did look like something that someone would use to scrub their foot, but this was an artifact. And this artifact was something that would allow him to put a tight collar around the Oh Seung Woo group’s necks.

[Babylonia’s Code of Hammurabi (A-Grade:Treasure-Grade/Possession Artifact)]

- Fatigue Level 70%

The artifact activated and the pumice stone turned into a black slate board and landed in Ju-Heon's hand.

Ju-Heon shouted at the same time.

“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Betrayal will be met with betrayal.”

“Aaah!”

Flash!

Small letters started to appear on the slate board. The letters appeared to be burning like magma. A bright light surrounded the Oh Seung Woo group's bodies once the letters were completely written, leaving them in confusion.

“W, what just happened?”

Ju-Heon answered as if it was nothing.

“Nothing much. Nothing will happen if you guys don't do anything to betray me.”

“W, what?”

“However, you shouldn’t test it out since having the wrong idea will break your bodies into pieces. Don’t say I didn't warn you.”

This was an artifact created from the famous phrase, ‘Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ from the Code of Hammurabi.

In simple terms, Ju-Heon would betray them as well if the Oh Seung Woo group betrayed him. The Oh Seung Woo group's bodies would be punished for their betrayal.

This was a counter-type artifact that returns the thing the other person did back to them.

Ju-Heon was relieved after testing the Code of Hammurabi like this.

‘It looks like there are no issues using it.’

He had questioned whether he could properly dominate an A-Grade artifact.

The collar was properly placed and the still confused Oh Seung Woo group asked a question.

“Uhh......we said we will do whatever you tell us to do, so what do you need us to do from now?”

Ju-Heon smiled at the question.

“First......”

“W, what is this? Ju-Heon. This...”

The Oh Seung Woo group could not help but open their eyes wide after seeing the items in front of them.

They were in a suite of one of Las Vegas's best hotels.

It was fine that he told them to show up for work at 9am. They felt small getting on the elevator of this luxurious hotel but seeing Ju-Heon using this multiple pyeong suite by himself and dropping their jaws in shock was fine as well.

‘......Dirt?’

But what they saw was quite odd. They didn't know whether Ju-Heon went to buy it or he ordered it up here, but there were fertilizers, shovels, dirt, pots and all sorts of garden supplies lying around.

Oh Seung Woo finally decided to ask about these things.

“Uhh, hey Ju-Heon, what are these things?”

“What are they? Things for your new job.”

Ju-Heon who didn’t seem to have slept properly was wearing a robe and yawning while making a cup of coffee as he pointed to a table.

“You see that whining almond tree over there?”

“Yes......”

They could see an almond tree, no, the Herb of Eternal Youth that was rolling around on top of dirt.

The Herb of Eternal Youth was screaming in anger.

[@(#@##*@!]

How dare you treat me like this, you damn human bastard! That was probably what it was screaming.

That noise was similar to the screaming mandragora Ju-Heon had seen in a movie.

That was why Ju-Heon covered one ear and told them to quickly take care of it.

“Anyway, your task is to grow this almond tree and propagate it.”

“What?!”

That was the case.

Qin Shi Huang's Herb of Eternal Youth was something you needed to farm, well, grow to earn its fruit. Those fruits were the healing artifacts. The seedling would continue to grow as long as you didn't accidentally kill it while growing it.

However, Qin Shi Huang's Herb of Eternal Youth scared easily, cried a lot, and was extremely sensitive.

‘It takes long to grow, you need to keep it happy, and you need to watch over it at all times.’

Basically, it required significant manual labor.

He didn't have the time nor patience to do that. It would bring in loads of money in the future for sure, but why did he have to grovel to an artifact like that?

“So take good care of it and make sure it doesn't die. Take a picture once a day to send to me to report its condition.”

Of course, it would be impossible for these punks to try to run away with the Herb of Eternal Youth. The influence of the Code of Hammurabi was one thing, but growing it and picking the fruit had two very different methods.

“That's good enough for now. Just put it in the pot to start.”

“Well, horticulture really isn't our......!”

“If you do a good job of growing it, I will give each of you 500 million won as an incentive.”

“Just tell us whatever you need us to do. Hyung-nim! We will do our best!”

Humans truly became honest in the face of money. The Oh Seung Woo group whose demeanor instantly changed started to walk toward the Herb of Eternal Youth with serious expressions.

Who cared about Park Kyung Tae and Park Kyung Joo anymore? They were drug dealing criminals.

Oh Seung Woo who had instantly become the Herb of Eternal Youth’s foster parent picked up to Herb of Eternal Youth which immediately stopped screaming as if it was a baby who was just given a bottle.

Ju-Heon who finally got his peace back sighed while looking at the Herb of Eternal Youth.

‘Their high affinity helps in situations like this.’

The Oh Seung Woo group who were starting to plant the Herb of Eternal Youth noticed something at that moment and asked.

“Uhh, doesn’t this look like a scar on the tree's body?”

They had become anxious after seeing the marks on the tree’s body that seemed to have come from a sword. They got angry thinking that the auction house's employees handled their product without care.

“Those bastard, why I ought to! They dare to sell such a thing to our hyung-nim?”

“We’ll go make a complain right now......!”

Ju-Heon stopped them at that moment.

“Ah. That’s normal so don’t do that.”

The toombglyph on the tree’s body was a tattoo of possession that it was Ju-Heon's possession.

Others would see it as weird text but it clearly said Seo Ju-Heon on it. The fruit from < Qin Shi Huang's Herb of Eternal Youth > was a consumable healing artifact, but the seedling itself was a possession artifact.

In simple terms, it was writing his name on it to claim that it was his.

‘Chairman Kwon cherished this to the point he grew it in his bedroom garden.’

It was at that moment.

Brrrrr.

Ju-Heon got a call on his cellphone.

“?”

The number that popped up was not a number he had on his contact list.

“......”

The Oh Seung Woo group looked toward Ju-Heon in confusion after seeing him ignore the call.

“Who is calling you?”

“Isn’t it a number you don't know if the name isn’t popping up?”

However, Ju-Heon was looking at it as if it was annoying.

Why?

It was because Ju-Heon remembered that number.

That was the case.

That number was Chairman Kwon’s number.