Translator: miraclerifle
Chairman Kwon was shaking while looking at the name on the phone.
He didn't pick up.
His mind was too much of a mess. He asked Yang Chen a question instead.
“Yang Chen. Tell me the truth. What the hell did I just see?”
Yang Chen clenched his eyes shut.
“I, I don't really know either, sir.
However......”
Yang Chen cautiously observed Chairman Kwon.
“Merlin, who made that artifact, said that it might be the future that is to come......”
"This is the future that is to come?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then you are saying that I am the Overlord of TKBM that is the greatest company in the world and even Seo Ju-Heon will grovel under my feet?”
“.......”
Yang Chen did not respond. It was because he knew that the scenario just described did not seem likely.
Chairman Kwon felt the same way.
Why?
The scene he just saw was a rosy and wonderful future. TKBM was an empire and he was the Overlord as well as an artifact user whose strength could not be matched by anymore.
Most importantly, that annoying piece of shit Seo Ju-Heon was his subordinate.
Why would he shake in anger while looking at such a pleasant scene?
There was no way that was the future.
That was probably the reason.
“I...need to use that artifact once more.”
He needed to confirm it again.
However, Kwon Hyuk Soo stopped Chairman Kwon because of how pale he was right now.
“Hyung-nim! Your condition seems quite serious right now. You should not overdo it......!”
Chairman Kwon didn't care and activated Merlin’s album artifact again.
And then...
Chairman Kwon saw his past life and future once again.
Sadly, these were memories that would have been better for his health had he not seen them.
Chairman Kwon’s mind was truly a mess.
‘It really is different from what I know.’
The memory artifact was showing Chairman Kwon the first time he met Ju-Heon.
The Ju-Heon in front of him was in his mid to late 20s.
“Wow, Seo Ju-Heon. Who the hell is this bastard?”
"Someone amazing just popped up.”
He could hear people praising Ju-Heon around him.
[Seo Ju-Heon clears the final Great Tomb, the Tomb of Avarice.]
[The 7 Great Tombs are a symbol of high-grade artifacts.]
[A regular person instead of a monopolizer has cleared the 7 Great Tombs for the first time.]
Ju-Heon had won in a game where the victors had already been determined. That fact was what shocked the world.
Ju-Heon was extremely skilled as well.
[Rookie Excavator Seo Ju-Heon has continued to clear important tombs that even large excavation teams have perished in after clearing one of the 7 Great Tombs.]
[Monarchs are sending passionate love calls to recruit him: “Seo Ju-Heon is so talented it is scary.”]
[Scouting War for Seo Ju-Heon.]
[Will he go serve a Monarch or go independent and become a Monarch himself?]
It was during the time when they were all fighting over tombs.
The number of excavation teams both small and large were almost too many to count and the Monarchs who had monopolized artifacts were pushing everyone around.
The Monarchs with large excavation teams were increasing their powers by gobbling up the smaller excavation teams.
All of the Monarchs who were greedy for Ju-Heon's abilities were doing everything they could to recruit Ju-Heon.
Irene had been one of them.
“I wish to take Seo Ju-Heon. I think that he would be able to use Un-known.”
It looked as if the other Monarchs would give up because of her scary power of destitution.
However...
“I will do anything you want as long as you give me a healing artifact!”
Ju-Heon chose Chairman Kwon in the end. Ju-Heon still looked handsome but he looked like a zombie.
There was a simple reason for it.
“I heard that 40% of the world population has caught the tomb syndrome.”
Ju-Heon had been unable to escape that cruel fate. Chairman Kwon's status at the time had been extremely great because he monopolized the Herb of Eternal Youth and other healing artifacts.
“I need a healing artifact.”
Ju-Heon was kneeling in front of Chairman Kwon.
However, Ju-Heon was not looking for a healing artifact for himself.
“I just need something to heal my family.”
“Family? Weren’t you an orphan?”
“There are people who I treat as my family.”
What Ju-Heon wanted was healing artifacts for Inspector Kim who had treated him as his blood-related younger brother, and Inspector Kim’s wife.
And then...
“I also need a healing artifact for my twin sister.”
Chairman Kwon smiled.
This was so easy!
He never expected to get such a talented individual so easily!
“I will give you a Divine-Grade healing artifact.”
“Do you really mean that?!”
“Trust me. I'm not the type to betray others.”
He then gathered some floaters who had been unable to settle in any other departments and created a new family for Ju-Heon.
“That girl is your first subordinate. Take good care of her.”
Ju-Heon’s first subordinate was Seol-A.
Ju-Heon had clicked his tongue and put out his cigarette after seeing Seol-A chatting away.
He then talked crap about Chairman Kwon.
"Why is he in such a rush that he’s doing this starting Christmas day?”
Julian came next, Jaeha was third and Ju-Heon seemed to gather the rest.
And then...
“Okay, Chairman-nim. I have helped you achieve everything you wanted to achieve. It’s time for you to keep your promise.”
“!”
Chairman Kwon turned around to look at Ju-Heon in shock.
Ju-Heon, who now seemed to be in his late 30s, was asking for payment for his 10 years of work pretty much as a slave. He didn't want a C-Grade artifact but the SS-Grade healing artifact he was promised.
He wanted an artifact that would really let him heal the illness rather than a low-grade artifact that could only temporarily subdue the pain and decrease the spread of the illness.
“Please give me an artifact that would let me heal my family and my subordinates’ illnesses.”
He showed Chairman Kwon their contract.
Chairman Kwon flinched while looking at Ju-Heon's firm gaze that was looking directly at him.
“Chairman-nim!”
“That......”
The moment Chairman Kwon was about to say something...
“Fine. That healing artifact is yours as promised.”
He responded that way subconsciously.
To be more specific, the Chairman Kwon of the future he was inside right now had responded that way.
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Chairman Kwon heard himself speaking once Ju-Heon disappeared.
“It’s a waste to give a healing artifact to a shitty bastard like that. Those things are extremely precious.”
‘Kill them. Kill the dog that has no more use before it aims for its master.’
He gave that order.
It was at that moment.
“Ugh!”
Chairman Kwon was sucked out of the album artifact and returned to reality.
Kwon Hyuk Soo and Yang Chen ran over after seeing him extremely sweaty.
“Hyu, hyung-nim!”
“Chairman-nim!”
Chairman Kwon finally plopped back down.
And then...
"Seo Ju-Heon, you......!”
His eyes were extremely bloodshot with anger.
Around that same time...
“What? Yang Chen broke out of jail?! And then he went to TKBM?”
Julian gasped after hearing some unexpected news. It was to be expected. They had worked so hard to throw that bastard in jail.
“Wait, you knew that and you still let that bastard go to Chairman Kwon?”
“It's fine. I sent him with a gift.”
“A gift...you don't mean?!”
Ju-Heon started to smile. It had not been easy for Yang Chen to get out.
Where was he imprisoned?
‘Tartaros.’
He was in a special prison only for artifact users.
Crimes using artifacts were treated completely differently from violent crimes. They were inhumane and impacted the world too much.
The artifact users’ Dominance and Affinity were also an issue.
High Dominance could scare the guards while crazy Affinity could turn the guards to be on their side.
‘It is quite a headache.’
That was why Ju-Heon had Jaeha create a special prison only for artifact users. Jaeha could now easily build buildings since he had the Renaissance masters’ artifacts.
Of course, this was not a perfect Tartaros. He would need Daedalus’s artifact, the skilled craftsman who was known for creating many amazing things such as the labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur, or the actual Tartaros’s artifact to complete it.
Anyway, Ju-Heon was testing it out. He wanted to see if Yang Chen could break out.
He needed this for his future plans. Yang Chen seemed to have some skill as the former leader of a top-ranked excavation team as he did manage to break out of it.
Yoo Jaeha had despaired but Ju-Heon just snickered and sent Yang Chen a congratulatory gift.
It was Merlin’s camera artifact. He changed it to look like an album in order for Yang Chen to not get suspicious. He even pretended it was a present from the Executive Board.
Yang Chen’s course of action after that was obvious.
‘That bastard will definitely take it and go to Chairman Kwon.’
He would try to use the memory artifact to have Chairman Kwon take him back in.
That was his only way to survive.
Julian was quite shocked to hear that.
"What the hell? Does that mean Chairman Kwon will get his memories back like Yang Chen did?!”
“That’s right.”
“But why would you return Chairman Kwon's memories right now...?!”
“If this Tomb of Avarice is the same tomb I am thinking about, I need that old bastard.”
“?”
That was the tomb Ju-Heon had cleared before joining TKBM.
He must have his reasons.
"Well, even if it wasn’t because of that tomb, I planned on calling that old bastard out this time.”
“Captain-nim?”
Ju-Heon looked at his quiet phone and laughed.
He seemed quite pleased.
Chairman Kwon suddenly couldn't control his emotions and started throwing things around.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The book on the table, a plaque, all sorts of things went flying. Kwon Hyuk Soo couldn't help but be shocked.
“Hyu, hyung-nim?! Ugh!”
He was even hit by one of those books that was sent flying.
“Hyung-nim, please wait a moment!”
‘He’s being weird.’
Chairman Kwon’s reaction was quite serious.
There were many times that Chairman Kwon suffered because of that shitty bastard Seo Ju-Heon.
But his current reaction was completely different from normal.
“Seo Ju-Heon, that son of a bitch......”
Chairman Kwon’s bloodshot eyes looked as if they would explode. He had a scary glare and his face was red.
But Chairman Kwon's body was shaking as if his mind was a mess.
‘What was that......’
What Chairman Kwon saw was a very simple scene.
It was just a portion of when he was one of the Four Emperors and how he had suppressed Ju-Heon.
It was because Merlin's artifact was very different from the Raven’s Tears.
It did not give him any important information. It didn’t even give him any useful information at all.
But the anger he felt inside the scene was directly transferred to his heart.
He then realized it.
“This really isn’t the future that is to come!”
“Yes sir. I believe it is the future that should have happened.”
“!”
Yang Chen warily looked toward Chairman Kwon as he continued speaking.
"That future changed because Seo Ju-Heon got in our way. I wonder if there is such a thing as a past life.”
Chairman Kwon's pupils were shaking.
Why was he feeling extremely angry after seeing those images?
It was because he felt as if he had been bitten by a dog he was raising.
An angry Chairman Kwon quickly took out his phone.
However...
“Hyung-nim?”
Chairman Kwon then clenched his eyes shut.
Seo Ju-Heon would be the reason if the future really did change. That bastard might know about the sights he just saw.
‘But it’s not like I can just ask that bastard.’
He knew what kind of person Seo Ju-Heon was.
And for some odd reason, he was scared to call Ju-Heon.
He gulped.
‘I should try to figure out a different way......’
But at that moment...
Buuzz.
‘!’
Crash!
Chairman Kwon dropped his phone after getting another call.
His face turned pale after seeing the name on the screen.
“Chairman-nim......!”
Chairman Kwon hesitated for a bit before picking the phone back up with shaking hands.
“H, hello......”
[Hey there, stupid phone salesman.]