Ju-Heon's body tilted back as if he was falling down.
The world started to crumble. It felt as if time was slowing down as if he was moving in slow motion.
The noise around him started to slow down and his vision became blurry. But there was something he could still see clearly.
âCaptain-niâŠ.m!â
âCaptain!â
It was the face of his shocked team members as they looked at him. But Ju-Heon was calm.
This was a world he needed to forget anyway. He was only thrown into this world and stayed to get the Cradle.
He had some regrets but he was pretty satisfied.
These punks in their thirtiesâŠ
He was happy just to be able to see these punks he shared those memorable years in TKBM with once again.
That wasn't all. He was able to do something he had not been able to do in his past life as well.
âI really wanted to throw a letter of resignation at least once.â
Living a new life in this world would be fun in its own way now that he got rid of his worst enemies, butâŠ
âThis is not the place I really need to be.â
The apocalypse artifacts.
He needed to go back and get rid of those bastards.
âIt is a bit disappointing to just leave like this though.â
But as Ju-Heon was about to close his eyes without any regretsâŠ
âAlright, letâs all go on a trip without the stupid Captain! Kakaka! Bye~~~! See you never, you shitty Captain!â
â?!â
'What did that son of a bitch just say?!â
An angered Ju-Heon was about to get up when everything changed.
â!â
He now saw a barren wasteland that resembled a desert.
[You have returned to your original timeline.]
âI'm back?â
As Ju-Heon was about to look aroundâŠ
Boom! Boom boom!
He could hear explosions nearby. It sounded as if there was a war going on.
â!â
As the noises got closerâŠ
Ju-Heon frowned.
âHoldâŠ!â
Bang!
Ju-Heon quickly got up and rolled to the side. Explosions soon followed.
Bababababaaaaang!
âUgh!â
Ju-Heon's body was flung away because of the strength of the explosion. He could have lost a leg if he had been even a bit slower.
It was so strong that the area he had been was now scorched. The radius of the scorched area was quite large.
Ju-Heon brushed the sand off his body as he stood up.
"Where is this? Did I fall into a desert?â
Something pulled at his arm at that moment.
[$##$&!]
â!â
It was the rope. The fact that the thread had returned to its original appearance must mean that he was back, butâŠ
âHmm?â
Ju-Heon's eyes opened wide as he looked toward where the rope was pointing. That was to be expected.
âThe Statue of Liberty?â
Ju-Heon looked around and scoffed.
âWhat the hell? This is New York?â
He thought it was the Gobi Desert or something.
Of course, it wasn't that there were no buildings in the city. He almost missed them, but they were definitely there.
There were still some buildings that were not destroyed.
But at that momentâŠ
"Wait, what is that?â
Ju-Heon pulled out a pair of artifact binoculars from his pocket as if he questioned his eyes.
Ju-Heonâs jaw dropped after seeing something.
His reaction was to be expected.
âHoly shit, isn't that the Great Wall of China?â
That was right.
Asian architecture that should not be visible in New York were visible as if they had switched continents.
It looked as if the entire continent had movedâŠâŠ!
âWhat the hell? Did these sons of bitches move the continent?â
[It looks as if the apocalypse artifacts have moved land masses.]
â!â
[The apocalypse artifacts seem to be using continents to play a game of territory picking.]
âThese motherfuckers.â
Ju-Heon scoffed in disbelief and pulled out his phone.
HoweverâŠ
âTsk, itâs a useless brick now.â
Well, his phone wouldnât have worked even if it was not broken.
Why?
The current world was in a giant war that looked like a scene out of an apocalypse movie.
There were no chances of towers and base stations remaining intact.
Ju-Heon became concerned as he started walking.
âWe're not filming something like the Planet of the Apes, right?â
He hoped it wasn't some shitty situation where tens of years had passed or something while he was in the other timeline.
The rope came back with something at that moment.
[$$&!]
It was a newspaper. It was only a ripped part of it, but it didn't matter. The date was still visible.
âGood girl.â
Ju-Heon couldn't believe what he saw.
âHoly shit, 2120?!â
Did 100 years really pass?
Ju-Heon had to think hard about this.
âJune did say that the other world would be easier. Did that punk say this knowing what was going on here?â
As Ju-Heon frowned and was about to call out the Cradle to confirm the dateâŠ
âMr. Ju-Heon!â
â!â
He quickly turned his head after hearing a familiar voice.
This was definitely Ireneâs voice!
He noticed Irene running toward him.
âYou really are Mr. Ju-Heon, right?!â
Ju-Heon was extremely relieved. Irene looked the same as before he had left.
Irene hugged Ju-Heon as soon as she saw him. Ju-Heon was happy to see her and tightly hugged her back.
âMr. Ju-Heon, I missed you!â
As for Ju-Heon, wellâŠhe did see her on the other side as wellâŠ
ââŠMr. Ju-Heon, I was worried abâŠahhh!â
Irene let out a quiet moan. It was because Ju-Heon was groping her firm butt while hugging her.
"Wait, Mr. Ju-Heon! AhhhâŠ.!â
It wasnât as good as feeling her naked butt because she was wearing clothes, but it didnât matter.
Ju-Heon was happy to feel the supple sensation in his hand.
âYes, this is it.â
He must have been disappointed(?) that he couldn't do this to the Irene on the other side.
"W, wait, Mr. Ju-HeonâŠ!â
"Okay⊠These and these are the same as well.â
âAaah! Ahh wait, not there!â
âWhat the hell? Not that much time has passed.â
âE, excuse me?â
As Ju-Heon was âconfirming the amount of time that had passedâ using who knows what methodsâŠ
âDamn it, go die you damn Captain!â
He heard Jaehaâs voice as well.
He was huffing while walking toward Ju-Heon.
"Wow, we were worried because the apocalypse artifacts threw you out but how can you do that as soon as you wake back up⊠I'm so⊠jealous⊠I mean, do you even know what is going on right now?! Huh?! You unscrupulous bastard!â
But he was still happy to see Ju-Heon.
âAnyway, Captain-nim, I'm so relieved that you are okayâŠâ
Ju-Heon just punched Jaeha.
Pow!
â?!â
He was extremely shocked to get punched all of a sudden.
"Why?! What did I do wrong?!â
Pow! Pow! Pow!
âOw! Ow! Ow! Damn it, what the hell did I doâŠ?!â
âYou deserve to be beaten.â
âBut why?!â
âWhy don't you ask your future, no, your past bastard of a self?â
â?!â
Ju-Heon wiped his hand off without caring whether Jaeha felt wronged or not.
âAnyway, explain the current situation. Exactly what happened while I was in the otherâŠno, while I was unconscious. Actually, before thatâŠâ
Ju-Heon held out the newspaper in his hand.
âWhat is this about 2120? Has it really been 100 years?â
"Ah, donât worry about that. The time artifact did some crazy shit for a bit⊠but only three days have passed.â
âI got scared for no reason.â
Ju-Heon chucked the newspaper. Even the mighty Ju-Heon seemed to have actually been scared.
It would have been shocking for anybody.
ââŠâŠI thought at least one week would have passed.â
It was because he had been on the other side for about that long.
âI'm glad only a few days have passed.â
âWe were all looking for you because the apocalypse artifacts chucked your body, Mr. Ju-Heon.â
"Then the apocalypse artifacts started causing havoc in the worldâŠthey stuck the US and North Korea next to each other, Europe and Australia, anyway, everything is quite the mess right now!â
"And people?â
âMost of them have evacuated to the shelters you created in the past, Mr. Ju-Heon.â
Ju-Heon had created shelters around the world in order to lower the casualties from Tomb Appearances.
Ju-Heon would never take shortcuts for such things so even the apocalypse artifacts were having trouble breaking through the barriers of these shelters.
âTheyâre angrily destroying cities in response.â
Jaeha showed some pictures he screenshotted before the news stations went down. There were some familiar beasts in the photos.
One showed a destroyed village, while another showed the large serpent from Norse mythology curled up in the middle of a city.
âJörmungandr.â
That bastard was not the only one. The famous evil beasts that brought Ragnarok as well as the monster from the days of Revelations in the BibleâŠ
The disaster artifacts from all myths were pretty much there in full force.
"These bastards are having the time of their lives aren't they.â
Ju-Heonâs artifacts started shaking after noticing the change in his tone. Even Jaeha and Irene were scared.
It was because the Crow's aura coming out of Ju-Heon's body was extremely chaotic.
Most importantlyâŠ
"Captain-nim, you seem a bit differentâŠâ
That was right.
Ju-Heon was giving off a stronger aura than before now that he had the Cradle.
Ju-Heon sneered and asked.
"Where are the others?â
âAh, that!â
They urgently grabbed Ju-Heon.
âWe don't have time for this right now.â
âWhat?â
âJoy!â
âFuck, it really is harder to get any closer than this!â
Somewhere in Africa⊠WellâŠit might not be right to call it Africa since Mt. Everest was visible from here now, but anywayâŠ
A suspicious palace had appeared in the middle of the desert.
This was Odinâs Valhalla where the Majestyâs Throne, Hlidskjalf was located.
The former Majesty and the apocalypse artifacts were inside.
This was currently a palace of monsters. Julian and the others had snuck in like rats into this palace where everybody was dying.
âI really donât think anybody can handle those things.â
"But we need to get past them to save JoyâŠâ
Julian frowned after hearing Dan and Seol-A's comments.
They had Joy taken from them just one day ago.
They didnât make it easy for the apocalypse artifacts.
But there had been an unexpected variable.
âThat motherfucking old batâŠ!â
That was right.
Kwon Hyuk Soo.
âWhy did that old bastard have to surrender to the apocalypse artifacts?! Does he have no pride as a human?! Heâs supposed to be one of the Four Emperors!â
The Monarchs around the world had claimed that they would capture the apocalypse artifacts when they appeared.
They thought that they could defeat Ju-Heon and become the Majesty if they had such strong artifacts.
But forget capturing themâŠ
âAaaaaaaaaah!â
Those fools who were going wild without knowing anything died horrible deaths as soon as they touched any of the apocalypse artifacts.
The apocalypse artifacts then started their human selection process in their quest to leave the minimum number of humans alive.
They seemed to mainly be selecting scholars who will record a new history about them or artifact users with Affinity to serve them.
The other talented people were all prey.
That was when Kwon Hyuk Soo had shown up.
Nobody knew whether he was scared of being murdered by the apocalypse artifacts or if he was tempted by the Majesty position now that Ju-Heon was gone.
He sucked up to the apocalypse artifacts saying that he would find Joy for them.
That was how he became the master of Valhalla. It was easy for Kwon Hyuk Soo to find Joy.
âI'm certain of it. They took the Akashic records out of the Captain's body so Kwon Hyuk Soo can turn Joy into the Majesty.â
âThe apocalypse artifacts will turn Joy into a corpse similar to the former MajestyâŠ!â
Julian, who was feeling responsible as the Vice Captain, frowned.
âWe need to save Joy before Ju-Heon gets backâŠ!â
Otherwise, Ju-Heon might kill them all once he returns.
That wasn't all.
âWhat the hell? This is all you guys were capable of? Your punishment is to be my slave forever.â
He would completely look down on them and use them as he pleased for the rest of their lives!
âThereâs no way that damn Captain would brush this offâŠâ
Part of this was for Joy's safety, butâŠâŠ
âWe must save her before Ju-Heon gets here.â
But at that momentâŠ
âOh reaaaally? But can you really do it before I get here?â