Tomb Raider King : End Line - Chapter 04

========== CHAPTER 4. DREAM (2) ==========

[The fourth option, you say? There is no such thing….]

Then, the red window spoke as if it had just remembered something.

[Ah, are you aware of the hidden option? As expected, the Majesty of this place is different.]

The red message glowed even brighter.

[Proposing a special route visible only to the 187,487th Majesty.]

[Negotiation]

– Granting the qualification of ‘The 12 Executors’

– Take your seat as one of ‘The 12 Executors’ who manage artifacts across all worldlines.

– Negotiate with artifacts to trade wealth and value. You will no longer be attacked by artifacts and will reign under the protection of the system.

– You and your family will enjoy prosperity for generations in an eternally safe sanctuary.

This red message window was certain.

That a title is an option no human could ever refuse.

Who would hate being told they could live like a king under the protection of the system?

But Ju-heon’s lips curled up in a sardonic smirk.

‘Negotiation? The 12 Executors?’

It was a name he had heard before.

He didn’t know much, but was it the name mentioned by the artifact Isis’s Poison Fang?

[ will judge your worth…!]

Ju-heon let out a scoff, as if he found it ridiculous.

‘These bastards.’

Is this all they could come up with as a hidden option? It’s ridiculous.

‘Do I look like someone who would work as a facility manager under them?’

To Ju-heon, this proposal didn’t look like a king’s seat, but rather a recruitment notice for a system subcontractor.

So he said.

“I’ll think about it a bit more.”

[You need time, I see. Understood.]

The message window disappeared, and Ju-heon picked up his phone.

’30 minutes is enough.’

And 30 minutes later, Ju-heon was sitting in his office, fingers interlaced.

“I saw the child.”

“Yes. I see a nutjob. Seriously.”

In the end, Yoo Jae-ha, who got hit by Ju-heon, clutched his head.

Yoo Jae-ha, who had been summoned out of the blue, felt incredibly wronged.

“Nooo! You bastard, do you know what time it is? It’s 3 AM, 3 AM….”

“My child has been kidnapped.”

“What kind of kidnapping is it for a child that hasn’t even been born yet… Ack!”

As if cutting off his sentence, Ju-heon threw something at Yoo Jae-ha’s forehead.

It was a cute child’s pillow.

“What is this again!”

Then, Ju-heon’s eyes flashed.

“What do you mean, what. You’re my restorer, have you already forgotten? Did you doze off? Want me to help you wake up?”

Ugh, that temper.

“I know it’s a Greek artifact, but why are these things suddenly…….”

“There’s someone who provoked me.”

Someone dared to provoke the Team Leader?

“So I have to drag that bastard out.”

Worried about Ju-heon’s gaze, Yoo Jae-ha read the room.

“Team Leader….”

“Don’t worry so much. I’m not crazy.”

“……That’s not it, these artifacts are smashed.”

Ju-heon glared at his personal restorer, Yoo Jae-ha, with eyes that asked if that wasn’t exactly why he called him.

“Fix it. I’ll give you 1 minute.”

Yoo Jae-ha screamed.

Ju-heon didn’t even twitch an eyebrow as he spoke.

“It’s an emergency, so I’ll give you 10 won as a late-night surcharge.”

“Ha, 10 won, are you kidding me? Humanly speaking, you should give me 20 won! This is an insult to technical workers!”

The team members looked at Yoo Jae-ha as if they were dumbfounded.

‘…Is that all it takes?’

He’s become a total slave.

However, Ju-heon himself stared at the artifacts with a tense look.

‘. And .’

Morpheus, the etymological root of morphine, is the god of dreams in ancient Greek mythology.

‘In other words, if you use the pillow, you can replay the dreams you’ve had.’

And the mini book side.

This is ‘Oneirocritica,’ evaluated as the oldest existing dream interpretation book.

Modern psychologist Freud turned the academic world upside down by introducing dream interpretation methods, but its roots already existed in ancient times.

Anyway, this artifact derived from that is an artifact that can interpret dreams.

That was why Ju-heon narrowed his eyes.

‘Surely that dream will help me find my daughter.’

It was then.

“Restoration complete!”

At those words, Ju-heon flopped onto the pillow.

Then, a silhouette of light shimmered above his head, allowing third parties to see the dream as well.

At the same time, Ju-heon handed the mini book to Julian.

“You’re the smartest, so you do the interpretation.”

At the same time, his vision twisted.

“Ugh.”

A child with Ju-heon. And-

“Daddy!”

The moment the child approached and was about to say something.

Crackle.

A scene appeared where a golden thread was being pulled from the child’s fingertips.

The only string connecting the child to the world, which seemed like it would collapse if pulled even slightly.

Finally, even the words Ju-heon hadn’t heard came through vividly.

[The artifacts…… they say I shouldn’t be born……!]

“!”

[Please remember… because I must be born to protect Daddy….]

The child’s body gradually became transparent. The end of the words faded, the face blurred-

[Interpretation Impossible: Grade Exceeded]

“Argh!”

At the same time, Crash! The Zhuge Liang glasses Julian was wearing and the pillow Ju-heon was lying on shattered and burst simultaneously. Julian gasped for air and took off the glasses.

“Are you okay?”

Julian looked at the notebook.

“Yes. But thanks to that, I found out why your child disappeared.”

“What is it?!”

“The fetus was moved because of someone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“In other words, the child cannot be born.”

“……!!!”

A shocked Irene gasped.

“Our child can’t be born because of someone?”

As the power of Bankruptcy emanated from the enraged Irene, Yoo Jae-ha screamed.

“Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law! Calm dooooown!!! I just finished restoring all the artifacts!”

Ju-heon’s eyes went wild as he looked at Julian.

“In other words, someone took away our child who hasn’t even been born yet? Who?”

At that menacing voice, Julian bit his lip and continued.

“…A god-level artifact took the two of you’s child. Because it judged that the child’s power was immense.”

“What?!”

As the power of Bankruptcy activated again, Yoo Jae-ha raised his voice.

“Hey! Stop saying useless things!”

However, even after knowing the truth, skepticism spread among the team members. It was only natural.

“God-level artifacts? The Team Leader already made all of those submit! Back then, when you became Majesty, all the artifacts in the world obeyed!”

At Ilya’s words, Ju-heon smiled coldly.

“……No.”

A moment of silence passed.

“That was only true for things like ‘Greek-type artifacts’.”

“!!”

Most of the god-level artifacts he had made submit were derived from Greek mythology.

Besides that, he had made Egypt’s Osiris, Set, Anubis, Horus, and Northern Europe’s Odin and his subordinates submit. However, there were those who hadn’t appeared in the first place.

Representative entities that should have appeared but didn’t.

‘The 4 Great Civilizations artifacts.’

They were so dangerous that he had tried to find them by mobilizing tracking artifacts, but not even their coordinates were captured. As if they didn’t exist in this world at all. That was why Ju-heon was still raiding tombs without stopping to find them.

‘As long as I haven’t completely gotten my hands on those bastards, this world is in danger.’

God-level artifacts are the worst among the self-centered artifacts.

They are bastards that arrogantly look down on humans despite being tools, and constantly try to use human violence with devilish whispers.

Sure enough, it was then.

[Are you done thinking now? Now is the time to choose!]

The red message window appeared again.

[Please choose your path.]

[Submission] [Slaughter] [Neglect] [Negotiation]

The red message now announced the final decision time.

[You were heartbroken because your child disappeared, right? But the situation that has happened so far is merely a trailer for what is to come. A greater disaster will come, and humanity will definitely perish. So, join forces with the artifacts and rule over humanity!]

Ju-heon laughed.

Ha, I even have a child now. I was going to be a dad who only says nice things and does nice things from now on, but I guess that won’t work.

‘You guys messed with the wrong person.’

Ju-heon, his eyes flashing, chose an option.

(To be continued in the next episode)