Tomb Raider King

Translator: miraclerifle

< The truth will always be revealed (2) >

Richard’s face started to twitch as he looked at these people.

‘Seo Ju-Heon... Yoo Jaeha!’

There were two beautiful ladies with them, but he didn't have time to even look at them right now.

“You bastards, do you know where this is?!”

Ju-Heon started to frown as if he found Richard loathsome.

“I'm sorry, but only I am allowed to bully my subordinates. That is why I must reveal the truth.”

“What?!”

He was certain. These bastards had sent the reporters and Art Council members here.

Ju-Heon soon started to laugh.

"Alright, prove it right here if you are not a plagiarist. Only a retard would not be able to recreate his painting.”

“You......!”

"What’s wrong? You can’t do it? You old bastard.”

Richard started to grind his teeth once Yoo Jaeha chimed in as well.

It seemed as if they knew that Richard would not be able to draw the painting. Maybe that was the reason. Richard gulped while Ju-Heon triumphantly laughed.

"Alright, let’s do it since we have witnesses here. The truth game.”

Of course, this was a gamble and they did not have a 100% chance of success. They could end up in a bad situation if Richard managed to clear this danger successfully.

The Art Council professors and reporters shouted as if they liked what was going on.

“Good. Please prepare right away!”

“There’s nothing more accurate than having both of you draw the painting at the same time.”

Richard naturally opposed this.

“Are you joking? How dare you plan things on your own?!”

But the Art Council members seemed to have a lot to say as well.

“Leaving it like this will only increase the number of negative talks about you, Professor Richard.”

“......Ugh!”

“That’s right! You're just recreating an old painting! It shouldn't be difficult because you already drew it once!”

“It’s hard for anybody to mimic Professor Richard’s habits anyway. Who could imitate your magical brush touch?!”

That was true. However, the problem was that those habits were Yoo Jaeha’s habits!

These people who didn’t know what was on Richard’s mind just handed him a brush.

“Okay, professor. We trust you.”

‘These bastards!’

But Richard, who had been trying to get out of this, shouted confidently as if he had not tried to get out until now.

“Fine, I”ll do it!”

“!”

“Do you understand? If I can prove my abilities here, the two of you are done for.”

Richard then glared at Yoo Jaeha.

“Especially you, Yoo Jaeha. I’ll prove that you are an extremely persistent human trash once again!”

Yoo Jaeha couldn’t help but shake after hearing his former instructor sneering at him.

It could not be helped. It made him recall the memories of being beaten up by the others, including people he had been close with, in the past.

[You trash bastard. Why the hell are you still alive, just die.]

[Don't try to cheat your way through life like that.]

[I didn’t think you were so crazy for money, you bastard.]

[I heard he protested against the professor.]

[Wow, how shameless. A copycat bastard should just die.]

That had all been Richard’s doing. It led to Yoo Jaeha not being able to leave his house or even eat properly for a few months.

Maybe that was the reason. He wasn't showing it, but Yoo Jaeha, who was shaking more than anybody else right now, peeked toward Ju-Heon.

‘The Captain-nim said we should give it a go, but...’

This bastard was an art professor no matter how rotten he was.

Although he was on a downward trend, he had been a talented artist for a while. There was no way such an artist would not be able to imitate a painting like that.

‘That’s why doing something like this should be useless.’

In fact, Ju-Heon had said that as well.

‘It definitely is a gamble. The situation might turn on us if things go wrong.’

But he had been certain.

‘But I will guarantee you this. Richard will not be able to draw it.’

Why had Ju-Heon said that? Richard’s hand started to move at that moment.

“!”

“Ohhhh! He’s getting started!”

Richard smiled confidently as he held up the brush.

He had not painted anything in a while, but...

‘There’s no need to transform into Yoo Jaeha.’

He was a talented artist. It would be fine as long as he just perfectly copied this bastard’s painting!

He poured out some oil paint.

“Oh!”

Then came blue... And then yellow...

Richard was moving his hand confidently.

He mixed colors as he used difficult-looking strokes to draw a person's face.

The people around them could not help but be amazed.

Ju-Heon kicked Yoo Jaeha’s back at that moment.

“Hey. Why aren't you getting started?”

“B, but!”

“Shut up and do it. Just trust the usual me.”

“......But that’s the thing I can trust the least.”

“What?!”

But he should do something since the Captain-nim had created this situation for him.

As Yoo Jaeha picked up the brush with that thought on his mind...

“Film it! Hurry up and film it!”

“It’s the painting of a master!”

Yoo Jaeha's hand stopped as the cheering for Richard started to increase.

‘Do I really need to give up?’

This was trying to break a boulder with an egg.

But at that moment...

Whisper whisper.

The cheering was changing into whispers. Something that should not happen was starting to happen.

“P, professor?”

“What the hell is that. What did he draw?”

Yoo Jaeha turned his head after hearing the whispers while Ju-Heon was the only one smiling.

‘As expected.’

Yoo Jaeha walked over toward Richard to see what was going on.

What he saw was shocking.

“What the hell is going on?!”

Forget recreating the original painting...

Terrible chicken scratches that weren't even 1% of the original was visible.

It looked like something a child would draw!

Richard was trying to recall the original brush touch or color pattern, but that made it extremely awkward to the point it was pitiful.

It was so drastically different that even someone who knew nothing about art would be able to tell. The people filming this couldn’t help but gasp.

“Umm...Professor. This is not the time to joke around......!”

“Please be serious!”

But Richard’s hand that was moving the brush was shaking.

His face was also turning pale.

Even he had not expected this situation.

How could he?

‘Damn it. I didn’t know I degenerated this much.’

Richard was not joking.

He was trying his best to draw a person, but a stick figure was coming out!

Of course, Yoo Jaeha questioned his eyes after seeing this.

‘Why is he...!’

Even if this bastard had stolen his painting, he had been known as a master for a long time.

He was not someone who sucked at drawing like this!

‘What is going on?’

The people around them started to grow frantic. They truly seemed to be shocked.

“Wow......I was wondering why he couldn’t come up with any new paintings lately, but guess he really did plagiarize...!”

“Was he really a fake?!”

Richard started to shout after hearing that.

“Please stop with the nonsense! I just got nervous because too many people are watching!”

Yoo Jaeha urgently asked Ju-Heon for an answer.

"Captain-nim, what is...”

“I told you. That bastard will never be able to draw anymore.”

“Excuse me? You did say that, but...”

‘But how?!’

At this point, Yoo Jaeha could only respect Ju-Heon. But Ju-Heon was actually cheering internally that his suspicions had been correct.

That was right. Richard’s artifact would allow him to copy other people’s abilities as much as he wanted.

However, all artifacts came with risks.

Richard lost a bit of himself every time he used the artifact. In return for becoming other people, he had lost his true self.

That meant that Richard’s original art abilities had significantly deteriorated.

‘It was just a guess since I heard he doesn't draw in front of others, but...’

It was worth taking this gamble. The people approached Richard in shock.

“Get ready to send this report out!”

Richard became desperate.

“Turn that damn camera off right now!”

Richard threw a fit and threw something at the camera.

“Damn it, I'm being framed!”

However, Ju-Heon started to chuckle.

“Shut up. You can say whatever you want in court.”

“......Ugh!”

Richard, who had been peeking around, used his last potential option.

Flash!

He had used an artifact. The people started to scream as an unknown artifact was activated.

“Kyaaaa! I, I can’t see anything!”

“My eyes!”

“I can’t see anything!”

Everybody inside the room had lost their sight. It was because of an artifact that made people go temporarily blind.

Of course, it did not last very long.

“Ah, I can see again.”

The few people who got their sight back first gasped.

“Richard has disappeared!”

“He ran away!”

Lee Seol-A and Irene became frantic after realizing that Richard had escaped.

"We need to hurry up and track......!”

It was at that moment.

"Ah, there’s no need to go outside. He didn’t run away.”

Someone flinched after hearing that.

Ju-Heon just chuckled.

“He just transformed into someone else.”

This bastard’s transformation artifact... He was planning on changing his appearance using that artifact, but...

Ju-Heon looked around the room before looking at someone.

“M, Mr. Ju-Heon?”

“I found you now, you bastard.”

Ju-Heon smiled as he reached out to grab someone.

Everybody's eyes opened wide after seeing who he grabbed.

[Jean Richard has been arrested.]

[He is being investigated for threats, bribery, and defamation.]

[Yoo Jaeha. He was not a copycat.]

[This painting that had received many prizes was actually created by someone else!]

[Who revealed the truth?!]

[Seo Ju-Heon found the true artist!]

[Seo Ju-Heon had listened to the story of a young man who had been buried by society and helped him to reveal the truth.]

The press was quite noisy.

Yoo Jaeha's name seemed to have been cleared while Ju-Heon became famous again for a different reason.

Yoo Jaeha was sitting in front of Richard who was being investigated for numerous things as he started to laugh.

“I think you should have a lot of things to say to me, old man.”

“You bastard......!”

“So who told you to steal my painting?”

Yoo Jaeha, who was allowed to chat with Richard for a moment thanks to the Holten family's connections, was telling Richard that he deserved all of this.

But Richard seemed arrogant until the end.

“Ho. Your painting was only a success because I brought it into the world, you retard. Do you really think a new artist like you would have received the same attention?”

Yoo Jaeha, who was more confident than before, sneered at him.

“You can keep barking in your cell.”

Richard was extremely flustered once Yoo Jaeha got up.

“You bastard, no......hold on... Yoo Jaeha! Let’s work together. If you are willing to say things as I tell you, I can give you... wait! Yoo Jaeha! Jaeha!”

And once Yoo Jaeha walked out of the police station...

“Your face looks so much better. Congratulations, you don’t need to make counterfeits anymore.”

“Captain-nim!”

“I guess I should call you artist-nim now?”

Yoo Jaeha seemed extremely embarrassed.

“No, not at all. I'm still just a baby chick even if my name has been cleared.”

“Really? Hey Seol-A. Give it to him.”

“Yes sir.”

Lee Seol-A handed an envelope to Yoo Jaeha.

“What is this?”

“What is it? A present for clearing your name.”

“?”

Yoo Jaeha quickly took the papers out of the envelope.

Yoo Jaeha's hands were shaking as he slowly looked over the content.

He then looked toward Ju-Heon in disbelief.

“C, captain-nim.”

It couldn't be helped.

“A personal exhibition? Me? In N, New York?”

“Yes. I put my name as the sponsor for now...and it is a little small, but why don’t you think about making your debut in a New York Art Gallery this winter...huh?”

Both Lee Seol-A and Ju-Heon were shocked.

It was because Yoo Jaeha started bawling while looking at the paper that discussed his personal exhibition.

“Hey number 1?”

“M, my life-long dream was to have a personal exhibition even if it was just once......!”

He started to cry in front of this crowded plaza. Ju-Heon became flustered.

“Hold on, hey!”

“S....ob. I'll never forget what you did for me! I will follow you forever! Captain... no, master!”

‘No...there's no need to call me master.’

But Yoo Jaeha didn't care and kowtowed in front of everyone.

"Thank you very much! Really, thank you very much!”

Ju-Heon clicked his tongue after seeing how thankful Jaeha was for this.

‘Tsk, I should have scheduled it with a larger art gallery if I knew he would be this happy.’

He had not expected Jaeha to be so happy for such a small thing.

But Yoo Jaeha felt as if he had the whole world.

“Mother! Please be happy! Your rotten son is going to have a personal exhibition in New York! I can properly show you filial piety now! It’s an art gallery where even artists sponsored by Chairman Kwon have made it big!”

It was at that moment.

Ju-Heon's eyebrows twitched.

‘What did he say? Who sponsored? Chairman Kwon?’

“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...”

Ju-Heon's eyebrows went up at that moment.

"Seol-A.”

“Yes sir.”

“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?”

Ju-Heon started to grind his teeth as he shouted.

“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.”

“Excuse me? Excuse me? Ah, yes sir!”

"Also, you're dead if your restoration slows down because you need to draw.”

“Uhh, o, of course! I will even work on the weekends and not take any vacation!”

“Wonderful. That’s the type of attitude I wanted to see.”

But Yoo Jaeha then looked toward Ju-Heon as he was curious about something.

“But that baldie, at the end... He tried to run away by turning into something else.”

"Ah, yeah, he did.”

“How did you manage to find him?”

Ju-Heon’s eyes opened wide as he responded.