Chapter 281B: Scouting War (5b)

“Ah, umm, that spot is a bit…”

“Just try to relax.”

“Ah, wait… ow!”

Joy clenched her eyes shut after feeling someone push down on her body.

A pair of hands roughly caressed her boobs.

The hands slid down her toned stomach and slowly headed farther and farther down. And then the moment they pressed down on her legs…

“Ow! It hurts! It hurts you idiot!”

Joy screamed in pain. She felt an unbearable pain she had never felt before.

“Sorry, did that hurt a lot?”

“I've been telling you it hurts since earlier!”

Seol-A quickly took her hands off Joy's body.

What was going on?

Joy had instantly been stripped for Seol-A to do a body search on her.

They said something about finding the Heirloom artifact that Edward was trying to take from her.

To be more specific, it was not a Heirloom but one of the evil god artifacts that had suddenly shown up.

It was at that moment.

“You still haven't found the Heirloom?”

Joy jumped in shock while Seol-A sighed after hearing the voice outside.

‘Captain-nim, he really…’

“I haven't found anything. There are no evil god artifacts either.”

They could feel Ju-Heon's rage through the door.

Is it really not there? Are you sure it’s not there? That's what the chaotic aura seemed to be saying.

It probably really wasn't there if Seol-A couldn’t find it, but……

"Seol-A, come outside. I'm going to check myself.”

Both Seol-A and the naked Joy gasped at the same time.

“Oppa, are you crazy?!”

“C, Captain-nim!”

Seol-A had been the one to scream and prevent Ju-Heon from stripping Joy in the first place.

Seol-A had said that she would do it and took Joy to the other room.

But what?

“Come out. I'm going to check myself.”

“Captain-nim! Hold……!”

The door was destroyed and Ilya and Yoo Jaeha peeked in before quickly turning their heads away.

They momentarily saw a pair of perky boobs, slim waist and her stomach…

They couldn't see a lot because she quickly covered herself with a blanket but they did see the silhouette of Joy's killer body.

But their Captain would kill them if they said that they saw it.

They heard screams from inside the other room.

“Kyaaaaaa! What the hell are you doing?! What the hell are you looking at?! Where do you think you're touching?! You pervert!”

"Shut up, you fat pig. Who cares about a fat girl like you?!”

They could hear their arguments, no, to be more specific, they could hear Joy's cries.

Ju-Heon had inspected Joy's body quite thoroughly.

Of course, he was not just doing it to find an artifact. He seemed to be looking for traces of any illnesses or tomb syndrome.

A few minutes later…

“It really isn't here.”

Ju-Heon clicked his tongue while Joy was crying in Seol-A’s arms.

How can a so-called older brother appear after 17 years to destroy her lab and her phone while stealing all of her artifacts! He even did a body search on her!

He was willing to put her through all that for a stupid artifact?!

“Just go die……! You idiot!”

‘I'm the idiot for worrying about this bastard until now!’

Joy was feeling really stupid.

“He could at least ask if I've been doing okay after not seeing each other for 17 years…… sob.”

She was actually dripping tears.

“He should just tell me if he hates me…”

Joy liked Ju-Heon. No matter what, he was her one and only family member left in this world.

They had never been affectionate but they did treat each other well when they were young so how did things end up this way because she got adopted?

‘Well, I do have some ideas about it, but……’

Seol-A patted her on the back.

“Don’t worry, the Captain-nim might be acting like this but he cherishes you a lot……”

‘How can she say that after everything he just did?!’

"She's right, even when we went into the lab earlier, he grumbled and told us to fix everything because things were old. He destroyed things on purpose after hearing that you don’t get much funding.”

“Tsk tsk, he's a radical tsundere for an older brother. He destroyed his younger sister’s equipment on purpose to turn them new…… ugh!”

Bang!

The door was destroyed again at that moment. It was the same door that Ju-Heon had destroyed earlier.

“Aaaaah! Why did you do that?!”

“We just got it fixed!”

He then nonchalantly commented while looking at Ilya and Yoo Jaeha.

“Fix it properly. It broke again. Restore it properly this time.”

“#$$!”

It was his way of threatening them to not say useless crap.

The Ilya and Yoo Jaeha restoration combination got back to restore the door again.

Seol-A smiled bitterly while looking at them before whispering to Ju-Heon.

"Captain-nim, actually, Ju-Won’s leg…”

“I know, I saw it.”

Ju-Heon started to frown.

_______________________________________________________________

Seol-A looked at Joy's leg with concern.

“I heard that evil god artifacts take something away from you and I guess it is the truth.”

The proof was on her leg where it was quite visible that the evil god artifact had entered her body. It looked as if it had tried to take Joy's leg.

The fact that it hurt when Seol-A put her hand was proof. Her lower body was slowly becoming paralyzed along with the pain.

The reason Ju-Heon wanted to see his sister’s body with his own eyes was because he wanted to see how much damage the evil god artifact had done.

Ju-Heon needed to see it with his own eyes to feel relieved after losing her once.

The reason he wanted her to work for him was because that was the safest place.

Based on his experiences from the past life, Joy's Affinity was the reason tomb syndrome struck her worse than normal people.

She was okay now thanks to the medicine created from the Herb of Eternal Youth that Ju-Heon had Edward give to her.

‘It looks like she was a good girl and ate the medicine properly.’

She didn't seem to show any symptoms even with her unbelievable Affinity.

Even still…

‘I can’t believe she even dragged an evil god artifact to her.’

Affinity was an illness at this point. However, that evil god artifact was not visible right now.

Edward looked at Joy and found this to be odd.

“That’s odd. I confirmed that the artifact was in Joy's body not too long ago…… Where the hell did it go?”

“Where else would it have gone? It obviously ran away after noticing that the Captain was coming.”

Ilya sneered.

“You can tell how rushed it was from the fact that a damn parasite ran away from the host’s body.”

He was saying that it ran away without being able to even feed on Joy's body.

“I don’t know what kind of evil god it is, but it seems like quite the coward.”

Ju-Heon was probably the problem.

That was actually exactly what had happened.

‘Damn it, Seo Ju-Heon, you motherfucking bastard.’

The evil god was shaking in fear while hiding somewhere.

It had been thinking about hiding away to suck the life of its host but Seo Ju-Heon had suddenly appeared! It had dropped everything and ran away for its life after feeling that dangerous Crow's aura.

‘He shouldn’t know that I am still here.’

However…

“It’s around here somewhere. It didn't go far.”

The evil god artifact that was nearby almost screamed after hearing that.

‘D, did he notice?!’

They quickly kept talking as if they had no idea where it was.

“It’s best to find it quickly. Although it ran away for now, the contract should still be in place.”

“It might look okay to let it be but it may try to harm Joy and steal a part of her body again.

The evil god artifact smiled after hearing that.

‘There’s no way for a damn human to find me here!’

He could try his best but he would never find it.

‘I'll lay down roots in this bastard's body as well.’

The evil god artifact that had laid down roots in one of Ju-Heon’s team members after leaving Joy's body smiled wickedly.

_______________________________________________________________

While Ju-Heon was doing that, TKBM and the other Monarchs were busy recruiting Monarch level talents.

They were creating a grand alliance to go up against Seo Ju-Heon.

One of those people was Yoo Jaeha's sunbae, Julien.

Yes, the top official restorer was being recruited.

He had turned into a Monarch using an evil god artifact a long time ago.

And then…

“Your exhibition will be quite an important thing. The exhibition is when the Four Emperors who rule over the Monarchs are prophesized to appear.”

Chairman Kwon threw them a newspaper while saying that.

[Yoo Jaeha, the Monarch of Pushoverness. His first personal art exhibition.]

[Julien, top official restorer. His personal exhibition is on the same day?]

[Is he planning to suppress the Monarch of Pushoverness now that he has TKBM's backing?]

“That is why we will carry out the plan during your exhibition.”

“Yes sir.”

Julien was confident.

In addition to the evil god artifact, he also had Michelangelo’s artifact.

That artifact was Yoo Jaeha’s Leonardo da Vinci's artifact’s rival.

“As you should already know, this artifact is the da Vinci's artifact's only weakness.”

Chairman Kwon looked at a little kid standing next to Julien as he said that.

“I have high expectations for you as well. You are our newest Monarch with an evil god artifact.”

“Don’t worry, Chairman-nim. I got a good artifact.”

The former Monarch of Fraud and Yoo Jaeha’s son(?) Louie Martin smiled wickedly.

_______________________________________________________________

“Damn, look at that woman. She’s beautiful.”

Inside a New York Art Gallery…

Seol-A who was wearing a blue evening dress that came down to her knees was looking around.

Everybody was looking at her and complimenting her by saying that she was like a brightly shining fairy but she didn't care.

What she did care about was……

“Hey Jaeha, where did Louie go? He’s your assistant.”

Her question made Jaeha scream in anger.

“I don't know! Who the hell cares?! He left saying he was going to go buy some pigments and ran away! It’s already been a couple of days!”

Well, Yoo Jaeha didn’t seem to care since Louie tended to run away quite frequently.

"And that bastard isn’t the issue right noooooooow!”

Jaeha, who would usually not be seen wearing a suit like he was right now, was panicking.

“S, Seol-A, do you think that I will succeed? Will people talk shit about my art? No, I don't care if they talk shit about me but what if it makes the Captain-nim look bad?!”

Yoo Jaeha was having a mental breakdown while grabbing Seol-A.

Yes, the day was finally here.

This was the day of his private exhibition that Ju-Heon had prepared for Jaeha. There was only one hour left until the opening.

“This is a dream. If it is not, today must be the day I die. That must be why such a gift has been given to me.”

“……It really holds no weight when you are the one saying that.”

Ju-Heon had prepared this exhibition to celebrate Jaeha getting rid of the copycat accusations.

It was supposed to be a small exhibition but the gallery Ju-Heon reserved had connections with Chairman Kwon, so……

‘Hold on. That old fart did exhibitions for artists in that gallery?'

‘Ah, yes sir. It’s quite a good gallery…they’ve also sold a lot of paintings. I heard it was the highest amount of sales in history…’

Those words had made Ju-Heon’s eyes flash with a competitive spirit.

‘Call over all curators and art merchants when he is doing his exhibition. Close all other art galleries in New York that day. Make sure all of this bastard’s paintings sell, no matter what. Make them sell out.’

‘……E, excuse me?’

‘Yoo Jaeha. Make sure your personal exhibition is a success. I’ll kill you if you don’t make it a success when I created this opportunity for you!’

As a result…

[Yoo Jaeha, the Monarch of Pushoverness, is going to have a fancy debut in New York? This will be his first personal exhibition.]

[Unbelievable publicity and promotion for the past four months.]

[Both experts and laymen have high expectations… Will it lead to the largest number of viewers for a personal exhibition?]

[Professors, appraisers, curators will all show up as Seo Ju-Heon is the sponsor.]

[The personal exhibition of a Monarch. Political leaders, CEOs of global corporations and royalty are all planning on attending.]

[The stage of evaluation. "What is his true abilities not as an artifact user but as an artist?”]

[“The true creator of world-renown artist Jean Richard's painting? Isn't he all talk?]

[Yoo Jaeha is just an unknown and untalented rookie.]

“Aaah! Captain-nim, why did heeeeeee!”

‘He promoted it too muuuuuuch!’

Yoo Jaeha started to cry.

He was so thankful for this opportunity that he could not thank Ju-Heon enough even if he had a hundred mouths.

He would never forget about what Ju-Heon had done for him.

But still!

“This is too biiiiiiiiiig!”

Yoo Jaeha was the Monarch of Fraud who had scammed the entire world but he was just a nameless copycat in the art world.

He feared showing his paintings to people because of those false accusations of the past.

The first exhibition would have made him anxious no matter what, however… This became such a huge ordeal now.

There was also a problem.

[Artists sponsored by Chairman Kwon and the new Monarchs will have an exhibition on the same day.]

[Which one will have the most people visit?]

[Who will receive the better evaluation?]

[A sponsor battle between Seo Ju-Heon and Chairman Kwon Tae Joon. A battle between Seo Ju-Heon's faction and its competitors.]

"What the hell is that damn Chairman Kwon thinking?!”

That was right.

It would have been fine if people talked crap about his work but now they might talk crap about Ju-Heon as well.

“I didn’t know the princesses would sponsor me too!”

They said they were thankful for him always sending them news about Ju-Heon so Ju-Heon's fan club pulled some strings as well.

[Yoo Jaeha is a raw ore.]

They also sent some extra messages as well.

[Mr. Jaeha, I look forward to your exhibition!

PS. Please make sure to take a picture of Ju-Heon-nim in a suit at the opening ceremony!?]

Returning to the present… The critics around the world were saying ‘he has no skills but is being carried by famous people.’

There were all sorts of negative comments about him.

Those people were going to come and critique his paintings.

“The critics writing terrible reviews is like throwing crap at the sponsor’s face!”

It was at that moment.

“Then you should have done a good job so that they can't do that. Right?”

“Aaaaaah!”

Yoo Jaeha started shaking while looking at Ju-Heon who was standing behind him.

“I, I need a chungshimhwan. A chungshimhwan.” 1

Seol-A patted Yoo Jaeha's back as he swallowed the chungshimhwan down.

“It’s okay, you gave it your best. You do have to be careful of a few things though.”

“What?”

“All of the Monarchs are going to show up. There’s been rumors that this exhibition is where the Four Emperors would appear.”

“T, the Four Emperors?!”

“I don’t know if enemies will appear or certain people will become the Four Emperors though. There will also be hyenas looking to cause trouble on purpose as well as old fogies trying to cut you down before you could sprout.”

"What?!”

“But the most important thing is what the Captain-nim did. He put some money down.”

“What?!”

“He made a bet with the enemies about whether your paintings or theirs would sell better. It’s a 1 billion dollar bet.”

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! 1 billion dollars?! That’s 1 trillion won! Does he have that kind of cash?!”

People started to arrive as he asked that question.

There were naturally hyenas mixed in with the crowd.

Yoo Jaeha staggered while looking but Ju-Heon was smiling brightly.

"Well, it’s fine. I won’t be angry even if you lose to their artists.”

‘Oh, I'm sure! You won’t be angry! But you'll kill me!’

1. This is some kind of medicine that helps people calm down?