Chapter 2: Tomb Robbing (Part 1)
“Thirteen years later, Mount Taeak, Jemyeong Kingdom”
Deep underground, where sunlight hadn’t reached for a long time, it was dark and gloomy.
The sound of water dripping echoed eerily from all directions.
Three flames flickering along the worn walls suddenly stopped.
“This time, if we get caught, the Lady Pyo will really kill us. Let’s just go back. Still, stealing? It’s too much.”
“Stealing? Well, technically, yeah. But who’s going to be in a tomb over a thousand years old? The person buried here is probably long gone, scattered like dust in the air.”
“But this place is way too creepy. I feel like ghosts might appear. Madong, do you feel like something is following us?”
As the nervous man said, a chilling energy seemed to flow through the tomb.
The large, burly man nodded in agreement.
The handsome man in front turned back with a wicked smile.
“You guys are too timid. I’m just doing this for your own good, you know?”
“Ha! For our own good? This is all for our greedy Dan-hyung, obsessed with money. He can’t resist it.”
“Hey, Noback, with your tiny salary, you’ve been struggling, haven’t you? Now, with this chance, you can finally be a proper older brother. Isn’t that great?”
Dan’s words hit Noback hard, and he slumped his head.
Dan then turned his sharp gaze to the big man.
“And Madong, didn’t you borrow from Sochun recently? If this goes well, you can pay off all your debts. This isn’t just for me. If a chance to make a lot of money without capital appears in this dangerous world, a real man should try, right?”
The two men, speechless at Dan’s smooth talk, reluctantly followed him.
The tomb’s owner must have been very important in life.
They had been inside for over an hour, but the end of the stairs was still not in sight.
Just as the air grew suffocating, they reached a dead-end.
“Madong, shine the torch on this wall for me.”
Flare.
When Madong shone the torch, strange patterns and unreadable ancient letters appeared on the wall.
After a moment’s thought, Dan pulled out a sharp dagger.
“Dan-hyung, you’re not planning to open this with that, are you? This is an ancient tomb, not some quick fortune. I regret following you.”
“Heh. Noback, this may have been a clever mechanism a thousand years ago, but technology has advanced a lot since then. This is easy for me.”
Ignoring the suspicious glances from Noback and Madong, Dan scratched the wall with the dagger.
Noback, sitting tiredly on the ground, asked bored:
“Dan-hyung, how long will this take?”
“Yes, Madong is sleepy too.”
“Ha! These guys… I’m working hard, and now it’s almost done.”
Sweat dripped from Dan’s forehead.
After some time, the heavy wall groaned and swung open.
“All done. Hehe.”
Dan shrugged and motioned for the others to get up.
Noback and Madong got up reluctantly.
“My code-breaking skills are the best. Right? Hehe.”
“Yes, yes, Dan-hyung, you’re the best. Really.”
“If I had gotten it wrong, thousands of arrows would have rained down on the spot where you were sitting.”
“Eek! What?!”
“Hahaha. Noback, you’re such a scaredy-cat.”
“Stop joking! I almost peed from fear.”
“Hehe, that explains the smell.”
“Madong smelled it too. Ew, Noback.”
Dan and Madong stood in front of the wide-open wall.
A denser set of stairs appeared before them.
“Madong, give me the torch. The stairs are narrow, so only one person can go down at a time. Don’t touch the walls, or you’ll turn into a live porcupine. I warned you.”
“I don’t want to go then.”
“Fine. Madong, let’s go.”
Dan went first, Madong followed, and Noback had no choice but to go last.
After a long descent, they reached a wide space.
The torch revealed two stone coffins and a large altar in the center.
“Eek! Ah!”
“Noback, don’t scream. Sounds echo here.”
Noback clung to Madong’s arm, trembling, pointing at the coffins.
“Dan-hyung! Look! Skeleton soldiers in armor! They must have been buried with the tomb’s owner.”
As Noback said, dozens of skeletons in rusty armor surrounded the stone coffins, as if guarding something important.
Dan, curious, ran toward the coffins.
“Dan-hyung, let’s go outside quickly. I can’t stay here. Sob sob.”
Noback’s whining was almost deafening.
Dan frowned while inspecting the scattered bones.
“What a waste of time. Let’s leave.”
Noback wiped his tears and asked curiously:
“What about the treasure? You said there’s treasure here.”
“No treasure. Madong goes first, Noback in front of me. And don’t touch the walls.”
“Ah, yes! Got it, Dan-hyung.”
“Let’s go.”
Madong and Noback slowly climbed the narrow stairs.
Dan followed, a dark shadow under his eyes.
‘The corpse looks old, but it’s not that old. Someone got here before us and made it rot. What really happened in this tomb?’
“Gwangyang Escort Agency”
Quietly.
After their exciting tomb adventure, Dan hurried back to his room like a little fox.
The alcohol and snacks he took earlier worked well.
Luckily, the patrolling guards weren’t around.
Phew, safe.
Just as Dan sighed in relief, the candle on the table flared red.
A middle-aged man with a strong presence sat with his arms crossed.
“Ah… Father.”
“You’re back.”
Dan cautiously sat and tried to explain.
“This place wasn’t dangerous. Remember the monk client last time? The monk of Daeryum Temple told me about an ancient tomb on Mount Taeak, so I just went out of curiosity. Hehe.”
“Phew. Not true. You went for free money, didn’t you? You risk your life for money every time.”
“Father, everything in this world can be bought with money. Even people. That’s why I want to earn a lot.”
Dan’s firm words made Yeomuk sigh deeply.
“Dan-ah, our agency isn’t huge, but we live fine. We’ve been through so much to get here. If you want, you could leave for a better place, away from this. You’ve stayed here too long.”
Suddenly, memories of wandering years flashed through Dan’s mind—escaping pursuers across kingdoms, never settling anywhere.
It had been only ten years since they settled in Jemyeong Kingdom.
“This place is my second home. I don’t want to leave.”
“Even if you bought and freed people with your money, how many could you really save? I don’t want to imagine you getting hurt doing that.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. Even if there are just ten or so, it’s still worth it. I want to earn a lot and save as many people as I can.”
Dan’s obsession with money wasn’t greed—it was to save people like him.
Yeomuk wanted to stop him but decided to let him go this time.
“Listen, Dan-ah. There’s a new job for our agency. You’ll take it.”
“What job?”
“Transporting war supplies. You know the Northern and Southern regions are still independent. Recently, the North’s Wol Kingdom and South’s Chae Kingdom started a war over the plains of the Hoeryeong mountains.”
Dan’s eyes widened in surprise.
