Tomb Raider King : End Line - Chapter 12

========== CHAPTER 12. MAJESTY OF ANOTHER WORLD (1) ==========

“Still, it’s a relief that the Captain-nim isn’t dead.”

“It’s fortunate that it’s Yoo Jae-ha.”

The Cup Noodle was furious at the relieved team members’ words.

[Hey, wait a minute, you guys, what did you say?! Hey! Hey! Wait, this isn’t right!]

Julian pushed up his glasses.

“If the Majesty is alive, the artifacts can be used. Even better, those bastards think the Majesty is dead. It’s perfect for a backstab.”

Then, Ilya looked at the Cup Noodle and snickered.

“…Well, the problem is that someone-ssi has become emergency rations.”

[Don’t say it like that!!!]

“Still, it’s a god-level artifact, so endure it.”

“Though I am curious what kind of god-level effect a Cup Noodle will produce.”

However, Ju-heon tapped his forearm with his fingers, waiting for the doctor, Chloe’s, diagnosis. Soon, looking at Yoo Jae-ha, whose heart had been pierced, Chloe said.

“He’s not dead even though he has no heart.”

“Right? I told you so, didn’t I?”

Ju-heon’s veins popped at Majesty Yoo Jae-ha’s words.

Well, it’s a relief that he’s alive, but…

[If I don’t have a heart, I’ll be stuck as a Cup Noodle forever!!!!]

Yoo Jae-ha screamed. Ju-heon raised an eyebrow.

“You… did you plan for this from the start?”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha shrugged.

“Yes. Because saving the Majesty is the only hope.”

Ju-heon’s veins popped.

“Because he needs to be able to use artifacts?”

“No. It’s a problem before that.”

“?”

“Among all the Majesties, you were the only one who perfectly controlled the artifacts. You even easily destroyed my test and avoided the Rulebook’s disaster with your wit.”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha raised his head.

There was no wavering in his eyes. They were cold and flashed with a madness that was irresponsibly confident.

“That’s why I chose hope. If it’s you, you can control the god-level artifacts in the space of ‘Amaterasu’.”

This crazy bastard?

Ju-heon’s forehead twitched.

“Without my permission, you touched my subordinate, and you’re going to cover everything up with just the name of hope?”

“If you had died, this place would have already been destroyed.”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha stepped closer.

“As you’ve realized by now, that Rulebook you just saw inevitably appears in any world where a Majesty is born. That cannot be avoided. But look. You defeated the disaster.”

He spread his hand and pointed to the sky.

“So, in the end, you made this world a ‘world where artifacts can be used.’ That’s huge. Because in all dimensions, the only worlds where artifacts can be used are those that have compromised with god-level artifacts.”

“!”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha continued.

“After becoming a Majesty, you have to choose. Either submit to the artifacts and use them, or let the world be destroyed. But you avoided both.”

He even avoided the disaster and received rewards.

However.

BAM!!!

Ju-heon’s fist struck Yoo Jae-ha’s side. His body flew through the air and was slammed onto the floor.

“Don’t go spouting off like you’re so smart. It’s annoying.”

The kicked Majesty Yoo Jae-ha clutched his stomach.

He vomited blood. Even so, he raised the corners of his mouth and muttered.

“You’re strong, as expected…”

Ju-heon summoned Gungnir threateningly and aimed it at Majesty Yoo Jae-ha.

“I guess you thought I’d go easy on you because you’re Yoo Jae-ha. Either way, you’re just a stranger from a ‘different worldline’.”

“That line… as expected, it’s the same as the you in my world.”

“It’s not the same at all.”

I don’t know what kind of relationship Yoo Jae-ha and Seo Ju-heon have in that world, but this guy is just an uninvited guest.

“What’s the way to turn Jae-ha back?”

“It’s simple. You just have to retrieve the heart they took.”

“!”

“The Supreme Gods of the 4 Great Civilizations collect the hearts of Majesties, right? I plan to collect them and reverse the ‘Curse of Artifact-ification’.”

Even the team members were stirred by those words.

From the Cup Noodle, crying sounds like ‘What? I’m alive? I can live?’ could be heard.

Yoo Jae-ha handed over the red Cup Noodle and said.

“For your subordinate’s heart, you just need to chase the Rulebook. And above all, your daughter. You said the 4 Great Civilizations artifacts have her, right?”

“!”

“Only the Rulebook knows where those Supreme God artifacts of the 4 Great Civilizations are. And since the Rulebook is an agent for the 4 Great Civilizations’ artifacts, it will go there to report.”

In other words…

‘Chasing the Rulebook is the only way to find my subordinate and daughter.’

“But wasn’t it impossible to move without a dimension-traveling artifact?”

“I told you I’d help because I have one.”

“And you want me to become your subordinate who nags at me?”

“Well… let’s put that aside for now.”

Ju-heon looked at Majesty Yoo Jae-ha as if he were strange at that reaction of brushing back his bangs.

“Why are you helping me?”

“I also have business in the lair of the 4 Great Civilizations’ artifacts, but infiltrating alone is impossible. You want to find your daughter and subordinate, and since our destinations are the same, let’s go together.”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha smiled annoyingly and gestured with his chin.

“Anyway, you received 3 special perks, right? Check what they are first.”

“Check?”

“They should be dropped somewhere over there.”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha searched the place where the Rulebook had disappeared. And he found something and brought it back.

It was a Mini Book.

It was filled with records inside. Ju-heon frowned, saying he might need a magnifying glass.

“When am I supposed to read all this tiny text?”

At those words, the Crow spread its wings and manifested its power. Then, a surprising thing happened.

Ding!

The Crow’s status window organized the Rulebook instead.

[Worldline B-187487]

Just as a person’s life can become an artifact as a story, perhaps the events occurring in a worldline also have value as stories. The things that had happened in this world were recorded.

But the important thing is not the record.

[Perks]

Oh, as expected of the Crow. Convenient.

I don’t know what Perk 1 is yet, but I think I know 2 and 3.

‘One is that time regression is possible.’

The team members reading the perks from the Mini Book looked at each other. The rewards looked dangerous just by their names. Honestly, it’s ominous that that… Captain will be using these.

Then Ilya asked.

“More importantly, that rude book we saw earlier… what exactly is the Rulebook?”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha shrugged.

“The official name is Rulebook. It was originally an artifact of a Majesty from another world. Now it has attached itself to a Supreme God artifact.”

“Anyway, seeing how confident you are, you can track that book, right?”

“Yes. Because I can track the Rulebook’s energy. But it seems a problem has arisen.”

“What? A problem?”

Then Yoo Jae-ha sighed and pointed to the sky.

“Look at that.”

At that moment, a ‘gate’ suddenly appeared in the empty sky.

And what appeared was a massive arch-shaped structure.

The structure that appeared, piercing the sky, was exuding dignity like an Arc de Triomphe made by a god.

“……!”

Ju-heon’s eyes widened.

The metallic bell sound ringing from above the sky declared to the entire world.

“This world is in a state of having lost its Majesty.”

“Invasion conditions met.”

“Starting subjugation scenario.”

The team members were startled.

“……Invasion, wait, don’t tell me that…!”

“Yes. The problem we need to worry about right now.”

At Majesty Yoo Jae-ha’s words, Cup Noodle Yoo Jae-ha shrieked.

[What is it, what’s going on!]

“Seo Ju-heon, you… the rumor that you died in this world has spread.”

“……What?”

“The Rulebook must have spread it. And a world where the Majesty is dead becomes an ’empty world’. Then, naturally, other Majesties will come to steal the artifacts here.”

For a moment, Ju-heon’s eyes flashed.

“……Then that bastard is now!”

“Yes. Taking advantage of your absence, they’ve come to take the artifacts. Didn’t the Rulebook say earlier? The disaster has just begun. It’s the same for other worlds. They are also bastards who came to plunder artifacts from other worlds to stop the disasters in their own worlds.”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha gritted his teeth.

“This is called a ‘Plunder War between Majesties’. When a world is judged to be weak, artifact thieves swarm in like this.”

Seol-ah asked, dumbfounded.

“Majesties plunder each other? Instead of everyone protecting humanity?”

“There is no loyalty among Majesties to begin with. This is just an empty world where the king has disappeared. Their logic is that whoever picks it up first is the owner.”

“Ha!”

Ju-heon let out a dry laugh.

Majesty of another world? Empty house robbery?

What a load of bullshit.

At that moment, the Crow flew up, and behind it, Ju-heon’s eyes blazed.

“Who died? You’re the ones who are dead, you bastards!”

Crunch!

Ju-heon’s toes tore through the ground as he soared up.

(To be continued in the next chapter)