Tomb Raider King Chapter 389: Side Story 3

It must have been when she was sniffling and eating bread drenched in her tears from Ju-Heon's harassment.

'Huh? What is that?'

Seol-A's face stiffened after seeing something appear on Ju-Heon's back.

It was a ghost.

'Why is that there?'

Seol-A could see ghosts. This included ghosts regarding someone's lifespan.

The fact that this ghost was visible meant that death was near.

Well, it was small right now so he wasn't fated to die right away, but…

'Is it tomb syndrome?'

Maybe he was harassing her because of that. Sick people unintentionally became angry with the people around them.

She soon found out it was not the case.

“Hmm? Not at all. He does have tomb syndrome but it is not that severe. It's just at the beginning stages.”
“E, excuse me?!”
“He just doesn't want to make a team.”

That was right.

The Unsanctioned Excavation Team that had everybody's attention at TKBM was scheduled to become a team of few elites with full financial support from Chairman Kwon.

However, Ju-Heon had no desires to create a team.

Why?

“He's so damn good. He probably thinks that people will get in his way.”
“G, get in his way?”

The TKBM doctor sneered as if he found that annoying about Ju-Heon.

“He's a genius. He was actually on a different excavation team at TKBM for about a year… but they were useless to him. He was lucky if they didn't hold him back.”

There was a reason people talked about how Ju-Heon would be a Monarch if he had not joined TKBM.

It was to the point that the pompous Elite Captains of the excavation teams ended up with inferiority complexes because of him.

“I know because I am always treating the TKBM excavation teams. Ju-Heon has ended up in harm's way many times because he was with a team. That's why he said that he would do things on his own. He believed that he would be able to better handle the dangers he faces.”

Seol-A couldn't believe it.

“How is that possible?! It's crazy to go into a tomb alone!”

Tomb Excavation teams with hundreds of people could perish in a tomb. Tombs were places that nobody could guarantee their survival.

The doctor responded that it was a headache for him as well.

“I agree. That's why the Chairman-nim is going crazy too. He stuck the best of the best with Ju-Heon because it is dangerous, but he keeps ignoring them. When we ask him why he keeps rejecting them, he just says that he didn't like the people we stuck with him.”
“Our benevolent Chairman-nim then told him that he could personally gather his own subordinates.”

Apparently that was how the Unsanctioned Excavation Department came to be.

However…

“But he probably has no intentions of bringing anybody in.”

The doctor chuckled.

“Seo Ju-Heon isn't even satisfied with the SS-Grade Captains of the other departments. He said that he had a team before coming into TKBM and that he won't deal with anybody unless they are at that level.”
“……!”

Seol-A bit down on her lips.

'That's why he harassed me so much?'

Had he harassed her so that she would choose to leave on her own accord since he couldn't force her out as she was sent there by the Chairman's order?!

'Well, I accept that he is talented, but…'

She bit down harder on her lips.

'I'll be in trouble if I can't remain on this team.'

Seol-A shook while thinking about the Supreme Leader on the Chinese side, Zhen Cai Yuan.

Her family ended up with this terrible fate with the Chinese government because her father who was a diplomat sold off some important information about China to rival countries.

If she could not remain at TKBM, both she and her family would be executed.

'I can't let it continue like this no matter what.'

She needed him to approve of her.

Seol-A was skilled enough to be scouted but she must still not be good enough for Ju-Heon.

Because of that…

“Team leader Seo. I understand that I am not up to your standards. That's why you've been harassing me, isn't it?”

Ju-Heon blankly stared at Seol-A for a moment before sneering at her.

“You're not a complete idiot. Why don't you leave this department if you've noticed?”
“Yes sir, today is my last day as an intern anyway…”

Seol-A's eyes flashed.

“And? It ended like that? Your probationary period as an intern came to an end? You were kicked out by that son of a bitch Captain?”

Jaeha seemed emotionally invested in the story.

That might have been expected.

“That damn Captain really was a son of a bitch. I knew that he was a prick, but it was that bad? No, nevermind. He was extremely shitty when I first met him too.”

He started grinding his teeth.

“I thought it was like that because I had done something wrong, but he was just a total prick to start with!”

Seol-A laughed in response.

“Yes, I thought he was like that too.”

Seol-A recalled the tomb she and Ju-Heon went into on her last day as an intern.

It was probably an Grade tomb. Although Ju-Heon should have been able to clear it despite it being a large tomb, something was weird that day.

Seol-A saw that Ju-Heon seemed extremely tense unlike his usual self.

“Hey.”

The man who treated her as invisible even talked to her.

“Don't let your guard down.”

Seol-A tilted her head in confusion.

She wouldn't let her guard down in a tomb even without him warning her about it, but…

Seol-A suddenly noticed something and flinched.

“Team leader-nim!”
“!”

Boom!

They became anxious as the surroundings inside the tomb suddenly changed.

“A trap!”

The path closed before the single path they were on turned into a chilling labyrinth that split apart in large numbers like an ant cave.

Ju-Heon frowned after the surroundings completely changed.

He seemed to have realized what was going on.

“This is not an Grade tomb.”

They had thought that it was an Grade tomb but it was actually a SS-Grade tomb.

Large centipedes started falling from the ceiling.

“What the hell? This wasn't Arachne's artifact's tomb?!”

The supporters who came with them foamed at the mouth as they looked at this new labyrinth.

“I'm sure of it! This is that devil's labyrinth!”
“We're fucked! Why did it have to be that labyrinth?!”

Among the many traps inside tombs, there were a few devil's traps that were said to have a 0% survival rate.

This was the Devil's Labyrinth, M-1.

The shape and movement of the tomb confirmed it.

Everything matched the reports people had sent through artifacts in the past before they died. They had gotten stuck in such a terrible trap.

The supporters panicked and swore at Ju-Heon.

“F, fuck! You said it was an Grade tomb!”
“We're all going to die because of you!”
“N, no. This sir is one of TKBM's top excavators. We should be okay!”
“Like hell he's anything special! He didn't notice the trap at all! This son of a bitch is the same as all of the others!”

The labyrinth instantly turned into pandemonium.

The ten or so supporters that the Chairman sent with them screamed as they became food for the centipedes.

Crack! Crack!

The terrible stench of blood spread throughout the tomb. Ju-Heon had tried to save them but he watched as their heads were sliced off in front of his eyes.

Ju-Heon bit down on his lips as he looked at their heads on the ground.

“This is why I said I would go into tombs alone.”
“……!”

Ju-Heon seemed to find it difficult to handle seeing his team members dying in tombs.

There was someone who was affected by this. Seol-A, who barely managed to survive, found this to be extremely odd.

“You weren't saying no to a team because you thought your subordinates would get in your way?”
“!”

Ju-Heon had said that team members get in his way and that he would excavate on his own before coming to this tomb as well.

Everybody was talking about how Ju-Heon was acting so high and mighty but that he would end up kicking the bucket sooner or later.

“People were saying that you were doing this solo play to show off your talents…”

Ju-Heon scoffed.

“Show off? Solo play? Do you think tombs are that easy?”

Ju-Heon knew about the scariness of tombs more than anybody else.

That was why Ju-Heon didn't show off whenever he successfully cleared a tomb, unlike the others.

'Thank you for letting me survive another day.'

He was someone who did not become prideful even with his top-grade talents.

Of course, he used to be extremely arrogant in the past.

“The punks on my team in the past died the same way. It was this same M-1 Labyrinth trap.”

Ju-Heon had led a guerrilla team prior to joining TKBM.

That bastard John had led them to the trap on purpose at that time, but anyway, the rest of the team died because of his bad judgment.

He couldn't help but feel responsible as the team captain.

“Well, it is true that it was starting to get difficult to excavate on my own. S-Grade tombs and higher are just too difficult.”

But Ju-Heon still did not want team members.

Even someone like him could make bad judgments. One bad judgment could mean that his entire team would perish.

But if he was alone… He would be the only one to die in the tomb as well.

Ju-Heon hated losing his people.

“Man, I became a total coward after that.”

He might have gotten a trauma from it.

Chairman Kwon might consider his subordinates to be spare lives as shields to protect him, but…

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry for dragging you to this tomb.”
“……!”

Ju-Heon quickly made Seol-A hide in a corner. He then took his jacket off and put it over Seol-A's head.

“Keep this on.”

It was a defense-type artifact.

Seol-A became anxious as people never took their defense-type artifacts off inside tombs.

"Wait, team leader-nim. What are you planning on doing…?!”
“I've experienced this trap once already. Nobody can get out once they're stuck in here. I was only able to get out because my team members sacrificed themselves.”
“Excuse me?”
“This trap is only deactivated when there is only one survivor left. As for those centipede bastards… My Archaeologist's Artifact is a SS-Grade artifact. I should be able to take care of those bastards if I make it self-destruct.”

Seol-A's face turned pale as soon as she heard that.

She understood what Ju-Heon meant by that.

"Wait… you're not…?!”

Ju-Heon was planning on doing the same thing his team members had done to save him.

“No! Team leader-nim, wait…!”

Ju-Heon covered Seol-A's mouth.

“Listen carefully. I am going to self-destruct once I get to the central region. Run and don't look back as soon as the explosion happens.”
“Mmmmmmmph!”
“I'm sorry for harassing you so much until now. I just didn't want to see another subordinate die. You are even more talented than I am. I hope you meet a good supervisor.”

Ju-Heon then rushed off toward the center of the tomb.

Seol-A's crying could barely be heard as the explosion happened.

“E, explosion? The Captain-nim really self-destructed?! He made Mammon self-destruct?!”

Jaeha's mouth opened and closed a few times in disbelief.

Their great and mighty Captain-nim had done something so rash in the past?

'That artifactphile made an artifact self-destruct…!'

“The M-1 really is dangerous. It is rare but it has a 0% survival rate. It is known as one of the most infamous traps among excavation teams.”

Chloe had walked over to listen at some point as well.

“He said that his former team died in the same trap. He probably didn't want to experience the same thing again.”

Jaeha tilted his head in confusion.

Why?

“We've never suffered because of that labyrinth-type trap. Have we?”

Seol-A chuckled.

That was right.

Even Ju-Heon had been confused after opening his eyes in the hospital.

“What the hell? Why am I still alive?”

He thought that he had died after making his artifact self-destruct.

But at that moment…

“Team leader-nim…!”
“Ugh!”

Ju-Heon couldn't help but groan after Seol-A suddenly hugged him.

Seol-A was crying.

“I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I had a totally wrong idea about the kind of person you are.”
“???”

Ju-Heon tilted his head.

Why was he still alive? More importantly, why was this girl hugging him and crying?

Ju-Heon's doctor sneered at him while he was completely baffled.

“This kid saved you from that labyrinth-type trap. You were dying but we barely saved you with a healing artifact.”

Ju-Heon was shocked.

“The trap deactivated even with two survivors?”
“No. She carried your unconscious body and escaped from the labyrinth.”

Ju-Heon gasped in disbelief.

“People can make it out of that labyrinth?! Unbelievable!”

There were no records of anybody making it through that labyrinth. Even the best map-type artifacts would not prevent the person from getting lost.

“How the hell?!”

The doctor laughed out loud.

“Did you even look at Seol-A's resume properly?”
“……No, I think I threw it away after looking at her photo.”

He had no intentions on accepting anybody into his team anyway.

The doctor explained it to him.

"Seol-A was scouted for her radar ability.”
“Radar?”
“She is able to detect aura that cannot be seen with the naked eye. She is able to detect the shape of a tomb with it as well. Basically, her specialty is as a pathfinder, you dumbass.”
“!”

Ju-Heon's jaw dropped.

“Detecting auras is not that easy… no, it's not possible for a human being to be able to do that…”

Seol-A was still crying as she responded.

“It doesn't matter because it wasn't a person who did it.”

Ghosts suddenly started appearing inside the hospital.

Even Ju-Heon couldn't help but scream after seeing ghosts for the first time.

The doctor calmly explained.

"Seol-A seems to be able to use a ghost artifact.”
“……#$&$#?!”

Ju-Heon froze as he had never heard about something like that.

The truth was that Seol-A had just been hiding it because people were uncomfortable with ghosts.

Well, it didn't matter.

Seol-A tightly grabbed Ju-Heon's hand.

“Team leader-nim, I will be your five senses from here on.”
“What?”
“You don't need to worry about your team members dying because of a bad judgment anymore. Even if we end up in the wrong path or get stuck in a trap, I will find a way out for us. What I'm saying is…”

Seol-A continued in a sympathetic tone.

“Please don't go into tombs alone ever again. Please accept new team members one more time.”

Ju-Heon was at a loss for words.

He had never expected to hear something like this.

After being at a loss for words for a while…

Ju-Heon finally stopped being quiet and responded, almost as if he was sighing.

“Okay. I get it so please let go of my hand.”

Ju-Heon's face turned red as he slowly pulled his hand out of Seol-A's hand.

He seemed embarrassed.

Jaeha's jaw dropped in shock.

“Wow, then the tomb raiding team might not have even been created if that had not happened? He had no intentions of choosing team members…!”

Julian, who had been listening as well, nonchalantly asked a question.

“So that's when you started having a crush on him?”
“Vice Captain-nim!”
“What the hell? Since when had he been listening?”

Julian seemed full of doubt.

“Plus, you said his former team members? There's no way that the Captain rejected you for such a pure and kind-hearted reason. He's a terrible bastard.”
“Excuse me?”

Jaeha sneered at Julian.

“Man, stop being so jealous of the Captain-nim. Why are you such a….”
“Hey Monarch of Fraud. Should you really be speaking so casually to me right now?”

Jaeha seemed to be feeling guilty at Julian's gaze as he whimpered.

“U, umm, hyung-nim… you see…”
“Shut the hell up! Why the hell am I your hyung-nim?!”

Thunderbolts soon crackled inside the workroom. Seol-A chuckled as Jaeha screamed.

'Well, there are more reasons I fell for him.'

Ju-Heon had helped her a lot with her family issues after that.

It was at that moment.

“What the hell? What are you guys talking about?”

Jaeha laughed after hearing Ju-Heon's voice.

“That was completely unexpected. I never expected that you would have not accepted Seol-A as a subordinate because you didn't want to lose people again.”

Ju-Heon tilted his head in confusion for a moment before responding as if he knew what they were talking about.

“Ah, back then?”

Ju-Heon laughed out loud.

“That was a part of the reason, but I did reject Seol-A because she was the first one.”
“?!”

Seol-A's eyes opened wide as if she had been punched.

Seol-A seemed to have never heard about this either.

"C, Captain-nim, what do you mean…?!”
“Well, no need to talk about that. Let's go eat. I'm hungry.”

'Your hunger isn't the problem right now!'

“What are you talking about? Please tell meeeeeeee!”

Seol-A's eyes flashed.

Chapter end