Tomb Raider King : End Line - Chapter 01

========== CHAPTER 1. TOMB RAIDER KING (1) ==========

That ruthless bastard.

That was the phrase Do-hyun had heard the most over the past two years.

“I’ve never seen a ruthless bastard like you in my life!”

Of course, he knew why.

It was all because of those damn tombs.

In 2025, mysterious tombs suddenly appeared in the world.

Myths, great figures, legends, folklore, popular novels.

They said there was power in stories that people remembered for a long time. And those stories became tombs and suddenly appeared in the modern era.

The problem was the artifacts that came out of those tombs, those damn artifacts.

Artifacts gave humans abilities and wealth, as if Prometheus had given fire to humanity, and anyone could rise in status. It was truly an era where a dragon could rise from a small stream!

But that was only for a moment.

With the launch of the Artifact Management Organization , artifact users were controlled, and as people with power and wealth became members of Pandora, all artifacts became the property of those in power.

People believed their words that they were responsible for world peace and safety. Even if they experienced unreasonable things, no one could rebel because they were afraid of the power of the artifacts.

Yes. Except for one person—

[Seo Ju-heon sweeps up Pandora’s artifacts again]

[ were not gifts from God to advance humanity]

[The purpose of the artifacts is to kill humans. They were working hand-in-hand with to kill humans]

[, actually knew but kept quiet for profit]

[, circumstances of human experimentation to obtain strong artifacts]

[Seo Ju-heon saves the world from ‘s conspiracy]

[Seo Ju-heon becomes the Majesty, the administrator who rules over artifacts]

Seo Ju-heon! The hero who saved the world. The King of Artifacts, the Majesty.

Do-hyun had seen those headlines countless times. On the news, on electronic billboards on the streets, even on TVs in bars.

To summarize, in the midst of chaos, Seo Ju-heon became the Majesty (King of Artifacts) and re-established the order of the world, but….

‘Damn Seo Ju-heon!’

Seo Ju-heon saved the world, but there were those who didn’t want that.

“Damn it, our business is ruined because of Seo Ju-heon!”

“We were making good money from the artifact trade!”

“We would have preferred it when it was lawless! What’s with designating an Artifact Law and acting like assholes!”

Those who illegally distributed artifacts and the groups that were holding hands with the monopolizers hated Seo Ju-heon.

Do-hyun was also one of those types. He had survived by backstabbing people like a madman and made money by stealing artifacts. The public called him a ruthless guy.

But that was the end of it today.

“Damn it, that fucking bastard!”

Do-hyun was dying right now.

“What a fucking dog of a guy! Using us as bait and running away?”

Giant snakes were wriggling around Do-hyun.

An unverified top-tier tomb that the team leader had found. At first, they had entered with eyes shining, calling it a jackpot, but in the end, they were in this state in front of a dangerous trap.

Realizing his death, Do-hyun laughed like a madman.

“You bastards, see if I ever trust anyone with an artifact again! I’ll become a ghost and haunt those bastards!”

Just as his scream hit the labyrinth, Do-hyun encountered an unexpected voice.

“Ah, seriously, you’re noisy as hell.”

Huh?

He lifted his head at the pleasant bass voice, and there was a tall figure. Yes, with sharp and distinct features, a man who was handsome enough to make you exclaim… what? A person? Is it a person?

‘Is he a rescuer?’

At that moment—

Thwack!!!!

He was kicked.

And the man who had kicked Do-hyun mercilessly picked at his ear as if he were annoyed.

“Hey. Why are you making such a fuss in a tomb that’s nothing special? Are you going to take responsibility if the artifact runs away?”

“????”

Wh, who is it?

Do-hyun was flustered. This was a tomb where entry was globally prohibited by Seo Ju-heon, so there shouldn’t be anyone who could enter….

“Ah, you’re in the way, so move.”

“Argh!”

Do-hyun screamed.

“Stop! I’m a casualty! Can’t you see my leg was cut off?!”

“Ah. Is that so.”

The hooded man took out an item nonchalantly.

At a glance, it looked like just a red fruit. The man shoved it into Do-hyun’s mouth without mercy.

“You little shit, making such a fuss over just one leg being cut off.”

“Cough! You fucking bastard, what are you feeding… Huck?!”

Then, an amazing thing happened. His body flashed with light, and Do-hyun’s leg regenerated.

‘Regeneration of this level is absolutely impossible unless it’s a god-level artifact.’

Artifacts have grades from F-class (Antique) to SS-class (God-level), and this was at least SS-class. This man was using an item that couldn’t be obtained even for tens of billions of won as if it were nothing.

“I’ll only take 10 billion as payment.”

“W, what?!”

But there was no time to be surprised by the man’s words.

Do-hyun pointed at the giant shadows targeting them.

“Behind! Behind!”

Do-hyun remembered that this place was a den of snakes.

“My colleagues were eaten by those things!”

As the snake opened its mouth and approached, the hooded man quickly and nimbly took out an artifact.

“Is that so? Then I have to take care of it.”

However, Do-hyun despaired when he saw the weapon the man was holding. As an artifact user who had rolled and rolled himself, he knew at a glance.

“C-class? Damn, this was a total newbie! Even S-class didn’t work on that thing! No wonder my colleagues were eaten!”

“Ha, just watch.”

The man seemed to disappear in an instant, then precisely stabbed, slashed, and butchered the weak points. As if he could see the vital spots.

Crunch!

Finally, the snake collapsed.

The hooded man smiled bitterly.

“Your colleagues were eaten? Then I should get them out.”

The man climbed onto the snake’s mouth and fed it something.

The snake spat out its contents in an instant. Do-hyun’s colleagues were there too.

“G, guys!”

“L, leader!”

Do-hyun, who found his colleagues, looked at the man with teary eyes.

“Th, thank…”

“The price for saving your colleagues, 10 billion.”

“What?!”

“Whatever, just follow me.”

“Wh, what?!”

Was he going to take them to the exit? But the man who took Do-hyun smiled and pushed him into a room full of sand. Snakes poured down from the ceiling.

“?!”

Do-hyun, who barely avoided the snakes, screamed at the hooded man.

“What are you doing!”

“What do you mean what am I doing. It’s dangerous for me to cross the trap.”

“What?!”

Soon, the snakes that fell to the floor bit Do-hyun. There was no pain. There was no damage.

However—

“My bank account password is 4989…!”

At the sudden shout, the hooded man stroked his chin leisurely.

“Hmm. A trap that forces you to spill secrets. Well, that’s fine. Now that I know the password, I can just take the fee.”

The man even threw Do-hyun’s rescued colleagues into the sand swamp.

“What are you doing right now!”

The hooded man smiled nonchalantly.

“Why do you think I went through the trouble of saving your colleagues?”

What?

Just then, a voice echoed from the trap.

[If you do not speak the truth, you will die. What is your name?]

The people stuck in the swamp shouted urgently.

“Jin Jeong-hee!”

“Shin Gyeong-jae!”

“Alex Walker!”

[It is a lie.]

“Argh! It’s not a lie, why…! Gasp! Gasp!”

Then, the hooded man who had saved them said something.

“Geez, do you still trust those artifact bastards?”

“!”

“Those artifact bastards are evil. They’re bastards who lie every time they open their mouths.”

The tall man stepped on the backs or heads of the people struggling and crossed the sand swamp. And he headed toward the wall. A golden fang was stuck there.

“Good. Is this the owner of this tomb?”

There is only one way for a human to become the owner of an artifact. To break through the trials of the tomb and be recognized by the artifact.

But the way to be recognized by an artifact is just a highway to the grave. Because those artifact bastards have nasty tempers, so if you get close to them, they make humans sick.

Then what should you do?

The man grabbed the fang as if snatching it.

CRUNCH!!!!

The fang spewed out black power as if struggling. But the man’s power suppressed the artifact’s energy.

Do-hyun was shocked.

‘He’s forcing the artifact to kneel?!’

Artifacts could be handled with one of three powers: Dominance, Affinity, or Compatibility. Simply put, Affinity is the power to get along with artifacts. Compatibility is the power corresponding to talent, like an excellent musician handling an instrument artifact well. Usually, people used one of those two powers.

But that was clearly….

“It’s Dominance!”

Dominance is the power to forcibly suppress an artifact.

‘He’s using the method that artifacts hate the most?!’

Sure enough, the backlash was enormous.

[How dare you touch me, you lowly tomb raider!]

The hooded man’s eyes flashed as if he were used to it.

“Won’t you shut up? Do you want your teeth ground down?”

BOOM!!!

The fang spewed out power, but the man pressed down on the artifact mercilessly with his Dominance.

[Argh! Damn, damn…! That an artifact would submit to a human…!]

The man finally shoved the fang, which had become a knife, into his pocket.

“You talk a lot for an object.”

Then, Isis’s Poison Fang muttered as if cursing.

[The will judge your worth…!]

“12 Executors? What are you saying, do you want to be cut into 12 pieces and delivered quarterly?”

That was when it happened.

Do-hyun, who realized he had been used to clear the tomb, shouted at the hooded man.

“Who the hell are you! I’m going to report you to the Majesty!”

The man blinked.

“…To the Majesty?”

“Yes! I’m going to tell Seo Ju-heon everything! That you stole the artifact! That you threw me into a trap! If it’s Seo Ju-heon who saved the world, he won’t just let this slide!”

A moment of silence.

“……Uh, I’m that Seo Ju-heon.”

Seo Ju-heon?!

That bastard?

Do-hyun knew that day.

‘This ruthless bastard.’

Do-hyun had also lived a damn life hearing that he was ruthless, but well.

‘There was a truly ruthless bastard separately……’

Yes, someone he couldn’t even compare to….

“By the way, the tomb clearing fee is 10 billion.”

Do-hyun was dumbfounded. Clearing fee, my ass!

“You took the artifact from this tomb!”

“That’s that. This is this. Including the leg regeneration fee and the cost of saving your colleagues, it’s a total of 21 billion. Deposit it by tomorrow.”

Fuck…….

Do-hyun collapsed.

It was the era of great artifacts.

The world was in chaos, fighting and killing over the treasures called artifacts.

And it had been two years since Ju-heon survived that ruthless artifact competition era and became the King of Artifacts (Majesty).

In the meantime, all he did was catch artifacts, beat up artifacts, and make artifact laws. He thought the world was becoming a bit more livable.

‘There are still many undiscovered artifacts.’

There are many dangerous artifacts in myths. There were also artifacts that could destroy the Earth in an instant. So, he went around looking for them every time as a precaution, but they didn’t appear easily.

‘Where on earth are those guys?’

Well, he got one of them today, so he accomplished something.

‘Isis is at least SS-class, no, SSS-class.’

Ju-heon smiled at the system window floating in front of him.

‘Isis is famous for the legend of stealing the true name of the sun god Ra.’

“To fix you, I need to know your true name.”

In Egypt, whether it’s a god or a human, a ‘name’ is existence itself. In short, if your name is discovered, you lose your power.

In fact, as soon as Isis learned Ra’s true name, she stole a portion of his authority and passed it on to her son, Horus. In other words, the effect of this artifact is to cut out the target’s ‘true name’ and steal their authority.

However—

‘An artifact that kills gods?’

I’m sorry, but the Majesty, the King of Artifacts, had already been born, and the artifact war was over.

“Honestly, I wonder what I would use an artifact of this level for.”

He couldn’t just stand by and watch artifacts run wild, even for the sake of the child who would be born soon.

‘I have to leave a good world for my child.’

And I’ll become a dad who only says kind and pretty words.

But then, a strange message popped up.

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

[Due to this, Seo Ju-heon is granted qualification for the .]

[Forced human Reset will now begin♥]

[The human extinction scenario by the Artifacts will now begin♥]

……Fuck, what is this again.

(To be continued in the next episode)