Chapter 121: Affection is thicker than blood (2)
Translator: miraclerifle
Ju-Heon"s eyes shined viciously.
‘Who do they think they’re trying to rip off?’
Ju-Heon could not hold back during this ridiculous situation any longer.
Inspector Kim seemed to have faced a shocking situation a month ago. He was preparing dinner when his 20 pyeong house suddenly turned into a low-grade tomb.
It was just a lowly level 1, < Boundary > Grade tomb. It was the lowest-grade tomb so that rather than the entire area turning into a dungeon, it only turned a wall or a portion of the floor into a tomb, making it possible to continue with everyday life.
‘Even a layperson would be able to easily clear it.’
That was how not dangerous level 1 tombs were said to be.
In simple terms, it would be as if there was a fire, but it was small enough to put out with a fire extinguisher.
However...
[In Korea, anybody without permission cannot possess or gather artifacts or enter tombs.]
Whether this was an order from Pandora or the Korean government did it on their own, civilians were not even allowed to clear tombs.
But when did things go as planned in the world?
[#&$*#!]
What a cute kid! How cute! Cry some more! Cry!
The artifact pulled at the infant’s hair and tormented(?) it, and the shocked Inspector Kim and Eun Ji-Yoon went nuts.
‘Doh Yoon!’
Inspector Kim ended up grabbing anything he could grab, which happened to be the head of napa cabbage kimchi his wife was cutting, and slapped the artifact’s face.
Then the artifact went, ‘waaah, it’s spicy! Spicy! Human food is too spicy!’
And then the tomb was cleared.
That possession-type artifact then attached itself to one of Inspector Kim’s faucets.
This artifact was one that poured out gold instead of water.
‘But a fine?’
Are they s.h.i.tting him or something?
Of course, he understood the reasoning behind it. Artifacts were a type of disaster. They were things that made the human society chaotic, regardless of whether they seemed like trivial jokes or terrible grand disasters.
‘That’s why they could make a law for people’s safety.’
The problem was that it was obvious that wasn’t the goal of this law.
Ju-Heon started to launch his attack.
"What did you just say? Illegal tomb infiltration? Illegal excavation? Failure to report? Illegal usage?”
The employee looked down at the doc.u.ment and triumphantly started to smile.
“Yes sir, anybody under Grade 5 public servant is restricted. They cannot get close to tombs or artifacts.”
“Even cops who have to protect the safety of the citizens?”
The employee fearlessly started to sneer.
“Ah, Mr. Kim Gun Woo is an inspector. It is different based on the situation for inspectors, but......”
The employee mumbled as if he wanted Mrs. Kim to hear him.
“That’s why they should have cooperated while we were being nice...”
Ju-Heon started to smirk after hearing that.
‘Just as I expected. It’s obvious he’s been marked by the people above him.’
He knew something seemed odd. That stupid hyung of his was a single-minded simpleton and seemed to have gotten on some of his superiors’ bad sides.
‘That’s the reason I like him though.’
On the other hand, the employee tapped the faucet with the doc.u.ment and started to speak.
"Anyway, if it continues like this, Mr. Kim Gun Woo will...”
But the Pandora employee who was blabbing suddenly fell down.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
It was because Ju-Heon had coolly kicked the employee’s leg.
Boom!
“Ow, what the h.e.l.l did you do that for?!”
However, it didn"t end there.
“d.a.m.n it, my arm, my arm!”
Ju-Heon had twisted the employee’s arm back as if he was suppressing a criminal.
He wasn’t even pressing very hard, but the employee who didn’t know anything about fighting felt as if he would die from the pain.
“Aaaaah! Let go of me! Who the h.e.l.l are you?! I"ll get you arrested!”
“Do whatever you want. You stupid idiot.”
“Aaaaah! “d.a.m.n it! Let go of me! It’s for the safety of the civilians. What’s your problem?!”
“Shut up. Instead of teaching people how to use the fire extinguisher, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are just plotting to gobble up the artifacts for yourselves.”
The employee flinched before he started to shout.
“Whatever, civilians should just not touch artifacts! All they have to do is shut up and report it to Pandora! You got that?! They just need to wait until the special team arrives!”
“Oh is that so? Okay.”
But as Ju-Heon easily accepted what the employee said...
Flash!
There was a spark and the employee"s clothes caught on fire.
The employee foamed at the mouth and shouted in shock.
“W, what the? What is this?! Fire? Fire! Why did a fire suddenly appear?!”
Why else?
[#$#&!]
Haha! Let everything burn! Human! Burn!
The thing going wild was none other than Ju-Heon"s < The first embers for mankind belonging to the h.o.m.o Erectus > artifact.
The flint shaped artifact was jumping up and down on the sink in joy. The employee who was rolling on the ground opened his eyes wide.
“T, that’s definitely an artifact!”
It seemed to be a new type of artifact, but he didn’t have time to think about that.
“Ah, it’s hot! Water, water!”
The employee urgently turned the faucet. He then poured the gold water on his body.
However...
“Aaaaaah!”
The gold water turned into oil, probably because it was used by someone other than its master.
The small fire now turned into something that covered the employee"s whole back.
“Ahhh! Please, please give me some water! Please put it out!”
Ju-Heon calmly started to speak.
“Then tell me Pandora’s phone number."
“What?!”
"What’s wrong? I thought you said civilians are not allowed to touch artifacts. I think we need to report it to Pandora and wait until the special team shows up.”
The employee wanted to swear.
‘This b.a.s.t.a.r.d!’
But Ju-Heon just ripped the doc.u.ments the employee had been holding.
Riiiiiiiip!
“!”
Ju-Heon then started to speak as if he found it all to be ridiculous.
“Now do you get it? Do you understand how s.h.i.tty the things you guys are shoving at people are?”
The employee gulped while watching Ju-Heon but urgently started to shout.
“Yes, yes sir! I understand! I completely understand! I apologize! I"m really sorry! So, please!”
At that moment... The employee"s jaw dropped the moment Ju-Heon snapped his finger.
His body that had been burning turned to normal as if it had never been burning in the first place.
It wasn’t hot and it didn’t hurt at all either.
‘Why?"
The people around him started to whisper as if to answer his question.
"Why is this person suddenly screaming?”
“He"s acting like an idiot.”
“!”
Indeed.
His body had been fine the whole time.
His senses were just dominated to think that the fire illusion the artifact made him saw was real!
The artifact he had thought was a flint turned into the shape of a Sansevieria.
‘Was it an illusion-type artifact...?!’
Ju-Heon smiled and reached his hand out toward the embarra.s.sed employee.
“Enough, now it"s time for you to hand it over. The artifact usage tax.”
The employee became shocked.
"What? Why would I?!”
"Why? You used it. You used it to have an interesting experience. So hand it over. I guess we can say 10 million won per second?”
“You son of a!”
The employee almost swore. But Ju-Heon smiled and started to speak again.
“Do you want to see a fire show again if you have a complaint?”
The employee who recalled that terrible sensation shook his head before lowering it.
“One moment please! I apologize! I"m really sorry!”
“No. Don’t apologize to me.”
“Madam, I"m truly sorry. I will do whatever I can to help out your husband"s situation...! Alright, are you happy now?!”
“No, not yet.”
“What?!”
“Hey number 1. Drag him to the police station since we’re done here.”
“Hey!”
But the employee soon started to scoff.
"Sure......! Take me to the station all you want! I"m a Pandora-affiliated public servant! The police can"t touch a Pandora employee regarding an artifact issue even if you take me to the sta...”
But Ju-Heon was laughing at him for some reason.
“What? Artifact issue? Do you even have a brain?”
“W, what?”
Ju-Heon calmly pointed to the living room the employee was standing in.
"Article 319 of the Criminal Code. Any act that disturbs the peace of the resident will be considered intrusion.”
“H, huh?”
Ju-Heon just laughed.
“You entered without the owner’s permission.”
“!!”
“That is why the first thing is trespa.s.sing.”
‘F, first thing?’
Ju-Heon"s sparkling gaze made the employee turn pale.
“...Trespa.s.sing, arson, leakage of secret military information, leakage of government secrets, impersonation of a civil servant, abuse of authority, bribery, insult, defamation, blackmail, theft, embezzlement... Even possession of p.o.r.nography?”
Yoo Jaeha gasped.
"I really shouldn’t mess with this person.’
He had this thought quite often, but he really shouldn"t mess with this person unless he wanted to be ruined.
As expected, the employee who had arrogantly come here to threaten Inspector Kim’s family ended up being charged with numerous crimes instead.
“So vicious, so totally vicious. Did you see the respectful gaze in the eyes of the lawyer old man Edward called?”
He said he never saw someone who sued someone else so viciously even in the US.
But Ju-Heon just snorted.
‘This is nothing.’
Ju-Heon then started to call someone.
“d.a.m.n it, why the h.e.l.l is Edward that old fart not picking up his phone?”
Edward, who had probably been working, was huffing as he picked up the phone as soon as Ju-Heon said that.
[Director, what can I do...]
“Enough. Just answer my question.”
[Huh?]
“You know what bulls.h.i.t the Pandora b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are doing right now, right?”
[Bulls.h.i.t?]
“They seem to be messing around with some artifact tax or what not.”
[Ah, ah! That thing!]
Of course, there were these s.h.i.tty laws in the past as well.
But anybody a.s.sociated with Pandora or sponsoring Pandora were exempt from all these laws.
That was why it was a great situation for the monopolizers and the rich to use artifacts while the wealth gap only continued to grow based on these numerous laws.
However...
‘It’s too fast.’
It should have taken at least another 10 years for this artifact tax to come about. That was why there had been a short duration of time for Dragons to rise from the creeks. Eventually, only people who were on Pandora’s good side would end up succeeding.
‘But they’re already initiating these closed policies?’
“Tell me the details. Which b.a.s.t.a.r.d pushed this through?”
Edward must have felt the viciousness underneath Ju-Heon’s joking tone as he immediately responded.
[Multiple people... no, it is actually most of them. It seems to have come from Pandora’s executive office, and Jaeha’s former instructor, Jean Richard, seems to have been the one who was most adamant about it.]
“What? Jean Richard?”
[Yes, basically he did it to stop you. Even if it isn’t you, it was a perfect way to get rid of his compet.i.tors. He probably prepared this a long time ago with some of his close confidants.]
‘Oh really?’
Ju-Heon smiled as if he knew what was going on.
“Old man, send me the list of everyone who brought up that law and the people who agreed to it.”
He could start his. .h.i.t list with them.
[What? You want me to become a member of Pandora? Me?]
Irene’s brother, George Holten, seemed to be unable to speak to the person on the phone as he was in a state of shock.
Of course, George who had a sister-complex didn’t like Ju-Heon calling him.
But he still picked up as he was still his family"s savior.
But what the h.e.l.l did he want?
[Pandora is full right now. It has a lot of politicians and celebrities.]
“Oh, the Holten family doesn"t even have that much sway?”
[What?! We just have no interest in the devil’s items, it doesn"t mean we don"t have the power to get in it!]
He seemed to be upset about Ju-Heon’s comment. Ju-Heon smirked after hearing George Holten responding like that.
‘The Holten family and the people around them are quite good at working.’
He had investigated them through Edward. None of them had any scandals in the past or issues with falling for an artifact"s temptations based on Ju-Heon’s memories as well.
He was certain that they would do things that would actually benefit the civilians.
‘No matter what, an organization like Pandora is necessary.’
The world would end up in an End of World movie type of situation if there was no organization to protect the civilians from artifacts.
Although he accepted the need for Pandora, the people who made up Pandora were a different issue.
‘Most of Pandora"s members are people who are there for their own greed.’
Why did they only gather such terrible people? He could swear at them but there was nothing that could be done.
‘Artifacts look for humans they know will be able to torment other humans.’
It meant that they were more p.r.o.ne to stick to greedy people with power and strong influence.
Why?
They wouldn"t be able to torment humans if they attached themselves to nice people!
That was why an organization like Pandora that had the highest level of authority regarding artifacts was full of such b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.
‘They just claim to be for world peace and the civilians.’
But actually, they only cared about the monopolizers.
These trash b.a.s.t.a.r.ds ignored the civilians who were suffering from tomb syndrome as if they only cared about themselves.
Either way, what could he do since he didn"t like what these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were doing?
It wasn’t a problem.
‘I just need to get rid of all of them.’
Ju-Heon started to smile brightly.
“Anyway, big bro. There’s going to be a lot of openings coming up in Pandora in the near future. Get yourself and some other decent people into it. And then do a good job selecting the Secretary General as well.”
[W, what? Wait, hold on? There are going to be openings? What the h.e.l.l are you planning on doing? I know those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds would never quit on their own accord.]
What else would he do? Ju-Heon just smiled and showed a piece of paper to his subordinate.
Yoo Jaeha who saw that note turned pale.
‘R, really?’
That was what the gaze seemed to be saying. It was because this was what was written on the note.
[Call Irene.]
Ju-Heon started to smile viciously.
‘These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds would only come to their senses if three generations of their families are ruined and their DNA is dried out.’
There was more.
[Take out the Roman Emperor"s artifact too.]
They would start charging a fine for < Illegal Tomb Entry > as well.