Chapter 154: A Major Scandal (?) (1)
Translator: miraclerifle
It was a major scandal!
“Holy crap. What the hell is this?!”
Yoo Jaeha was tapping his foot while holding up the newspaper.
There were over ten newspapers with headlines about Ju-Heon. English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese... Many major newspapers in different countries all had this article.
Ju-Heon usually woke up every morning and read through all of them to gather information about tombs.
Minor political issues, crimes, and even things like forest fires could be related to tombs and artifacts.
But these articles clearly seemed to be fabricated...!
[Breaking news! Seo Ju-Heon, the extremely famous excavator!]
[Shocking information about the Monarch of Plunder!]
Yoo Jaeha couldn't help but drop his jaw in shock after reading those headlines and then the article.
It was because it made less sense the more he read it.
Yoo Jaeha almost screamed after reading the last newspaper.
‘Damn it, this is bad.’
There were many people who might flip out after learning about this fact.
Maybe that was the reason. Yoo Jaeha was shaking as he looked toward the room where Ju-Heon was sleeping.
He only had one thought on his mind.
‘I need to hide it.’
He would normally pile the newspapers up next to Ju-Heon, but he could not do that this time. He had to hide them.
It was at that moment.
“Mr. Jaeha, is something wrong?”
Yoo Jaeha held back a groan and clenched the newspapers after hearing Irene's voice.
‘Damn it, fuck. There’s going to be a world-wide economic crisis.’
“Mr. Jaeha?”
Irene tilted her head in confusion.
‘What is going on?’
She was wondering why he was acting like this, but she decided to drop the issue.
‘An artifact probably bit him again.’
Irene looked back toward Ju-Heon.
Ju-Heon was deep asleep as if he was sleeping beauty.
Irene caressed Ju-Heon’s face, thinking that the way he was sleeping so peacefully like a caterpillar with the blanket wrapped around him was really cute.
He was a bear that had not washed for a week, but anything Ju-Heon did would look cute in Irene’s eyes.
But at that moment...
“Groan......”
Ju-Heon groaned as he woke up.
Irene smiled brightly and jumped up from her seat after seeing him wake up.
“Mr. Ju-Heon, you're u......kyaa!”
Irene suddenly fell onto the bed.
She tried to get back up, but Ju-Heon hugged Irene tightly as if he was hugging a teddy bear and stuffed his face into her breasts.
Irene’s heart almost burst from shock.
“M, Mr. Ju-Heon!”
Irene was screaming internally as she was pressed up against Ju-Heon’s firm chest and legs.
Ju-Heon didn't seem to care as he started to fondle Irene’s perky butt.
Irene’s scent was really good because it wasn't too strong.
“How long did I sleep?”
"E, exactly one week.”
“And the artifacts?”
“None of them caused too much of an issue. I used my ability and they were dest.....no, they became calm.”
"What about Edward?”
“He said that the Herb of Eternal Youth medicine is in clinical trial while other artifacts have been invested into the industrial facilities as well.”
“That old bastard, Kwon Tae Joon?”
“Nothing special. But his future son-in-law, Yoon Shi Woo, is jumping up and down in joy because he got a Hero-Grade artifact and TKBM seems to have gathered a lot of new people?”
Ju-Heon sighed in relief after hearing all of that. He finally let go of Irene and casually asked a question.
"Good morning. How long have you been here?”
Irene started to laugh.
“Are you okay?”
Ju-Heon had been unconscious for a week because of an artifact’s risk. He did eat the Herb of Eternal Youth, but his body seemed to be in a worse condition than he had expected.
“I feel much better after getting some sleep. My face feels like a giant steamed bun though.”
“It’s still cute......”
It was at that moment.
“It’s not the time to be joking about steamed buns right now!”
“!”
Yoo Jaeha shouted as he ran in with a newspaper.
“We have major issues! You damn person! What the hell were you going around doing?!”
“......?”
Ju-Heon looked toward Jaeha wondering what bullshit he was talking about and Yoo Jaeha threw a newspaper at Ju-Heon.
“Take a look at this! And!”
He pulled Irene and pushed her out of the room.
“Irene, you stay here. Don’t turn on the TV or read mobile news or anything. Okay?”
Irene’s eyes opened as wide as a rabbit.
‘Saying that makes me want to read it even more...’
It happened at that moment.
“Fuck, what the hell is this?!”
Yoo Jaeha heard Ju-Heon swearing behind him. It was so shocking that even Ju-Heon, who did not usually shout, had raised his voice.
Yoo Jaeha flinched in fear as he walked back toward Ju-Heon.
Ju-Heon seemed angry after reading the newspaper. It was understandable.
[Seo Ju-Heon has committed many crimes including tax evasion and illegal weapon purchases.]
[Seo Ju-Heon, an extreme playboy.]
[Seo Ju-Heon has a nine-years-old child he has been hiding.]
[Exclusive interview. The mother was a German woman who had passed away. The child lived a difficult life.]
[The motherless orphan has wowed the world with his genius artistic abilities.]
[Is he currently dating Irene Holten?]
[He also had a stealthy affair with Zhen Cai Yuan as well. Is she his mistress? Is he a player?]
[Sex toys? His sexual preferences are extremely obscene and decadent.]
[Not interested in people? Extreme artifactphile.]
[What will happen to his child?]
There were some tabloids mixed in as well.
Some showed the face of a child Ju-Heon had never seen before. Others had pictures of him wrestling with Zhen Cai Yuan.
There were even pictures of him using Byeon Kang-Soe and Ong-Nyeo’s artifacts, which were giving people the wrong idea.
Ju-Heon started to frown while looking at all of them.
‘Is it the Monarch of Gossip... No, the Monarch of Delicacies?’
He was confused as he had completely destroyed Goebbels's artifact and made it disappear from the world.
‘It’s totally like Goebbels’s artifact’s abilities. Is it just a coincidence?’
Yoo Jaeha could not hold back anymore and started to shout again about what Ju-Heon was going to do.
“The other things are fine, but what is this about a hidden child?! Since when did you have a French kid?! And the kid is nine-years-old?! How old would you have been when you knocked up......ugh!”
Yoo Jaeha ended up getting beaten up.
“See what happens if you keep running your mouth.”
“Ow ow ow, my ear! It hurts, it hurts!”
“I don't want to say this, but do you have the memory of a goldfish?”
Yoo Jaeha shouted back as if he knew what Ju-Heon was talking about.
“I know, of course I know. My goodness, our Captain-nim only recently lost his vir......ugh!”
“I told you I wasn't a virgin.”
“Ow, then what about this kid?! This is obviously your child based on the face!”
“Isn't it obvious? They’re scamming with an artifact. They must have used a transformation artifact or something.”
How could he have a kid?!
‘I've never been close to having a kid.’
He was an extreme workaholic who had never been close to getting married......but most importantly, he had been infertile in his past life. Actually, it wasn’t just him.
It had happened a little after he had turned thirty. A lot of men and women were suddenly unable to conceive around ten years after tombs and artifacts first appeared.
One of the conditions of tomb syndrome was infertility.
It was as if it was trying to dry out the human race. The world had faced a serious population decline. It had also faced a serious economic recession. Even the babies that were born were born with severe deformities or died early because they could not handle the artifacts’ venomous auras.
‘Well, I'm healthy now and the situation is different.’
Anyway, this article was a complete lie.
It was most obvious while looking at the person who was pictured as claiming to be Ju-Heon's child.
“See, it really is this bastard.”
Ju-Heon looked once more through the artifact users list that George had sent him.
[Louie Martin (9) Monarch of Fraud]
He had not noticed after just looking at the face, but he was certain after reading the name.
His name was clearly on the list that George had sent him a week ago. It was not revealed publicly, but this little kid had taken the title of < Expert Scammer > instead of Yoo Jaeha!
‘But now he's the Monarch of Fraud?’
The new list that George had sent was full of Monarchs. This was extremely different than a week ago when there were over 800 candidates but only 5 Monarchs!
‘It's too fast.’
It should have taken at least another year for all of the Monarchs to appear.
He had left it alone because there was no need to make Jaeha the Monarch of Fraud. He was thinking that it was fine as long as Jaeha became a Monarch whether it was as the Monarch of Fraud or as the Monarch of Pushoverness.
He also didn't want to give Jaeha the title of scammer again because he knew why Yoo Jaeha had to live as a scammer.
But this was a bit annoying. He didn't want to give the title of the Monarch of Fraud to such a little kid.
It oddly felt as if the kid had stolen his subordinate’s spot.
‘Anyway, did this Monarch of Fraud bastard start working together with someone who has an artifact related to the press?’
But why?
An article like this would easily be debunked.
But at that moment...
‘Hmm? Wait a minute.’
Louie Martin...... Ju-Heon quickly picked up his phone and read through the files that Edward had sent.
[Pandora's Tomb Excavation Reporting List]
[Central Asia region]
The names were there. Their names were on the Tomb Excavation Reporting list! They were trying to excavate quite a large tomb.
Ju-Heon smiled after reading through. He felt as if he could understand why they spread such a tabloid.
It was obvious. It was not just out of malicious intent or for revenge.
“I was wondering why these bastards were doing something like this......”
Yoo Jaeha looked out and started to speak again.
“Anyway, I'm sure reporters and the police will soon gather around and annoy us, you should probably quickly take care...”
And then...
Rumble!
[The power of destitution is descending.]
[The power of destitution is descending.]
“!”
The house started to shake.
The house they had temporarily rented was starting to crumble from the power of destitution.
Yoo Jaeha started to scream.
“Ahhh! She saw it! She watched the news!”
“Step aside.”
“No, I cannot let you guys through.”
The excavation teams pounded their chests in frustration.
They were extremely annoyed. Julian Miller was preventing them from going in.
Yes, it was Zhuge Kongming.
This was the bastard who was famous for sweeping through tombs. He was currently public enemy number 1 among excavation teams.
He had originally been known as a scammer and the lunatic who had wasted a chance to be scouted by TKBM because of Ju-Heon.
But Julian Miller was slowly starting to make a name for himself in the world. As a result...
[Julian Miller has risen to the position of < Monarch of Strategies >.]
[The Monarch of Strategies is one of the 15 Monarchs.]
[Will he create his own excavation team as the Monarch of Strategies?]
He had already risen to the position of Monarch as Ju-Heon had expected of him.
Everybody wanted him to work with them. They didn't want Ju-Heon because he was talented but always doing detestable things and was probably the most narcissistic person under the heavens, but...
‘The Zhuge Kongming artifact is special.’
It was pretty much a hack that allowed them to see through a tomb and he also had a strong natural disaster artifact as well!
Even the leaders of different countries were personally trying to scout him.
That was why the excavation organizations throughout the world, including TKBM, which was the greatest one so far, wanted Julian to work for them.
Unfortunately, there were rumors about how he was haughty because he was rejecting all scouting offers left and right.
‘He’s definitely not the type to work under someone.’
His Pandora ranking and his Dominance level was one of the best.
But there was another rumor going around.
‘You can become a monarch if you are with the person who has the Zhuge Kongming artifact.’
It had been described as the Zhuge Kongming artifact's risk. Similar to how Zhuge Kongming had chosen Liu Bei, Julian would become a useful strategist for someone.
This was the ‘secret’ behind why the leaders of countries and organizations wanted him to work for them.
But that bastard had turned into an obstacle and appeared in front of them.
“Like we said, step aside! Get lost, Zhuge Kongming!”
“I already told you guys no. This tomb is too dangerous. You will all die if you go inside.”
Julian was blocking the entrance with his arms crossed. Nobody could get close because of the thunderbolts the bastard was using.
“Wow, this is so annoying!”
“We need to hurry up and get inside before that bastard Seo Ju-Heon gets here!”
There were 10 excavation teams that had submitted to excavate this tomb because it was expected to be where the next of the 7 Great Tombs was to appear.
One of them was TKBM's Yoon Shi Woo, who was extremely excited after gaining a Hero-Grade artifact. There were excavation teams with the other Monarch-Grade users as well.
“Damn it, we worked so hard to hinder Seo Ju-Heon from getting here.”
The Monarch of Delicacies started to frown as if this was extremely frustrating.
Next to him was a boy who was nine-years-old. This boy was Louie Martin.
This kid had risen to the position of < Monarch of Fraud > not too long ago with a Divine-Grade artifact.
Numerous Monarch-Grade users had appeared because Divine-Grade artifacts had suddenly popped up for some reason.
There had been many within the 800 Expert-Grade Monarch candidates who had been unable to become Monarchs because they lacked a Divine-Grade artifact.
This was all because of the artifacts that Zhen Cai Yuan had released.
Louie looked toward Julian and started to speak.
“Should I take care of that mister? I think I can do it.”
The reason Louie was working together with the Monarch of Delicacies was because they shared a common hatred of Ju-Heon.
‘Seo Ju-Heon, I won’t let that bastard off.’
Louie had a grudge against Ju-Heon as well. But it was undeniable that Seo Ju-Heon was a high-grade artifact user who had cleared 3 of the 7 Great Tombs.
They had tried to tie Ju-Heon down with this scandal because there was also the issue of the Monarch of Gossip's tomb being looted.
‘We need to loot this tomb before Seo Ju-Heon shows up again.’
A bastard who had looted one of the 7 Great Tombs was too strong of a rival. But the person blocking their way just had to be the Monarch of Strategies...
“So move aside, Zhuge Kongming!”
“I already told you no. It is too dangerous.”
Something happened at that moment.
“Oh, our little Kongming. Were you blocking these bastards for me?”
“!!”
The excavation teams dropped their jaws in shock after hearing this familiar voice. That wasn’t all. Julian instantly started to frown after hearing the voice.
‘Why is that shameless bastard here?’
But Ju-Heon didn't care as he nonchalantly walked toward them.
“Thanks, my good little subordinate. You did a good job holding them back as I ordered. You're so reliable.”
The excavation teams started to whisper after hearing that statement.
“What the hell?! Subordinate? You're working for him after rejecting our scouting?!”
“You acted all high and mighty but you are working for this bastard?!”
“This bastard was claiming it was dangerous, but it was actually all for Seo Ju-Heon's benefit?!”
A shocked Julian dropped his jaw as he looked toward Ju-Heon.
“Hey! Tell them the truth! When did I agree to work for you?!”
"What’s wrong? We made a deal. Did you already forget about the contract? Don’t worry, I’ll give you plenty of incentives. You’re my subordinate.”
“#$&!”
He really had no way to deal with Ju-Heon.
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