Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 11

11. Supreme Crystal Moss (4)

Yumin held up her phone to show him.

“130,700,000”

130 million. The unrealistic number was displayed.

Hyunwoo had thought Yumin was exaggerating when she was making a fuss, but the balance in the account was enormous. To be precise, it wasn’t Hyunwoo’s account but Yumin’s, but it would soon be transferred to Hyunwoo’s account.

“Unless you’re someone like Lee Ji-tae from the Taesung Clan [a powerful and influential family], no one earns this much from selling a few pieces of Crystal Moss. You can be proud. You can earn even more, Oppa [term of endearment used by a younger woman to address an older brother or male friend].”

“…130 million.”

Hyunwoo found it strange that he had omitted the 700,000 won while counting the money. It felt like only yesterday he was scavenging through sewers to earn a few tens of thousands of won.

It was the money earned from selling just 3kg of Crystal Moss. The amount Hyunwoo had earned in the past few days was far greater than what he had earned throughout his life as a gatherer.

The money he had saved up until now was just over 30 million won. With a single transaction, Hyunwoo’s blood, sweat, and tears had become 1/5 of that.

Did he feel bad? No.

“…Awesome.”

Hyunwoo couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

“Don’t you feel a sense of emptiness or unpleasantness? Like the results of your lifelong hard work have been denied in one go?”

“What are you talking about? This is also money earned with blood and sweat. And who doesn’t like money?”

Considering the hardships he had gone through to bring this Crystal Moss back to reality, it was even more so.

He had shed more blood than sweat, though.

Rather, he even felt that the harsh processes he had endured until now were for this moment.

Suddenly, Hyunwoo thought of the old gentleman who had identified himself as Park Hwi-so, more than the money. Although he didn’t show it, he was definitely a strong person. He also seemed to have a strong sense of pride in his work.

In the past, Hyunwoo wouldn’t have even dared to look at such a person, but he had politely bowed and said he hoped to meet again.

What about Yumin? He knew she had feelings for him. But Hyunwoo didn’t have the confidence to embrace her. But now it was different.

It was something that wouldn’t have been possible just a week ago.

Money and power. And the powerful strength he gained from becoming an ability user.

Hyunwoo let out a long sigh. And he made a decision. His trembling heart was telling him about his tension.

He hadn’t been able to make up his mind until he came out today, but with this meeting, Hyunwoo was able to gain confidence. The only thing that spurred him on was one thing.

Greed.

He already had a lot, but the conviction that he could seize more, something bigger, instilled a huge greed in him.

Fear was still there. But his desire, his ambition, his ideal was burning like a wildfire, like hellfire.

‘I’m going to hell.’

Hell was the bottom from which he would rise. It was a stepping stone to soar out of the water, no, into the sky.

Hyunwoo felt the desire to rise, which had been suppressed for decades, surging like an explosion.

Not just to get out of the water, but to grab the stars.

He would make hell his own training ground.

***

Park Hwi-so drove his car along the road. People’s attention was focused on the eye-catching, old-fashioned foreign car. But as he entered a sparsely populated mountain road, there were no more gazes following him.

After driving along the mountain road for a while, Park Hwi-so’s car stopped halfway up the mountain. It was a spot with a good view overlooking the city of Seoul.

There was already a young man who had arrived earlier and was enjoying the scenery.

When Park Hwi-so’s car arrived, the man naturally got into the back seat. The young man spoke first.

“Did it go well?”

“Yes. I’ve secured all the quantities that were released on the market.”

Inside the briefcase that Park Hwi-so handed over, there were other Crystal Mosses that were subtly contained, besides the Crystal Moss that Yumin sold at the cafe.

It was all the quantity that Yumin had sold in a dispersed manner. Some of them were stained with blood.

The young man took out one of the Crystal Mosses and brought it close to his eyes to look at it. Soon, a shallow exclamation came out.

“I don’t know how something like this is circulating in the market. 5-star? No, 6-star? 6-star dungeons haven’t even been reported, so I can’t even guess. Moreover, all of these were originally one lump.”

Although it was broken into small pieces, the young man noticed in an instant that it was one lump just by looking at the cross-section of the finely broken fragments. The conclusion that could be drawn from that alone was very large. Park Hwi-so also knew that fact.

The young man asked quietly.

“What do you think, Mr. Park Hwi-so? About this Crystal Moss.”

“…As you said, it is Crystal Moss with a purity that can grow in at least a 5-star dungeon or higher. Of course, the monsters in the dungeon will be quite strong. Since he came out alive from such a dungeon, he will need a very powerful hunter. What is noteworthy is that the shape of the Crystal Moss is uniform. In other words, the hunter who entered the dungeon is only one person.”

“That’s right.”

“Yes. He must be an absurdly strong hunter. Moreover, he must have an organization with information and capital to find and hide a dungeon of 6 stars or higher. Perhaps a foreign secret society clan is reaching out to Korea.”

“I can think of about two, but I don’t know why those two would be interested in Korea at all. It might be a new organization, so it would be good to find out. What were the people Mr. Park Hwi-so met like? Is there anyone you remember?”

Park Hwi-so had someone who came to mind in an instant.

The man who was standing next to Yumin while meeting her today.

On the surface, he looked clumsy and unremarkable. But the moment he shook hands and made eye contact, he was sure.

This man would have crossed the line between life and death several times in a hellish arena.

Even in the quietly held hand, the violence that could attack Park Hwi-so at any time was wriggling. Park Hwi-so was not fooled by the mask of Kang Hyun-woo.

“There was one person I remember. But… it’s hard to be sure, so I think I can be sure after observing a little more. There are still too many parts where I haven’t figured out his intentions.”

“Indeed.”

The young man lifted the Crystal Moss and held it up to the sunlight. The Crystal Moss transparently shattered the sunlight, casting a purple shadow on the young man’s eyes.

“Anyway, with this kind of thing, I think I can definitely overcome the ordeal. I’ve been racking my brains over it for a while, but I never thought this opportunity would come. Mr. Park Hwi-so has done a great job.”

Park Hwi-so did not get carried away with the young man’s praise and humbly bowed his head.

“I have one more question. Mr. Park Hwi-so, how strong do you have to be to enter a dungeon where this much Crystal Moss grows naturally and collect it alone? Is it possible for Mr. Park Hwi-so?”

Park Hwi-so shook his head.

“I retired a long time ago. It wouldn’t be possible. At least… wouldn’t it have to be as strong as the Captain?”

The young man chuckled. Park Hwi-so didn’t enjoy making jokes. He didn’t make empty words even more.

“Then I’ll have to ask Mr. Hwi-so. Also, please investigate that research assistant named Yumin.”

Park Hwi-so nodded calmly.

“Leave it to me, Captain Lee Ji-tae.”

***

Difficulty: Hell.

Hyunwoo was engrossed in old-fashioned physical training at the same intersection as always.

“Huff, huff!”

He repeated pull-ups on a wooden bar made on the stairs. It was simple strength training.

But Hyunwoo was tasting a suffocating pain that he had never felt in reality. It had been a while.

‘189, 190!’

Finally, Hyunwoo felt like he couldn’t hold on any longer. His arms were on the verge of cramping. But Hyunwoo was determined to keep repeating until his hands let go of the bar.

At every moment when he thought it was the limit, he added one more time, and the narrator’s voice he had been waiting for rang out.

[Strength limit has increased.]

“Keup!”

With that, Hyunwoo relaxed and came down as if falling. Sweat poured down like rain.

He hadn’t done that many times. It was a number that people who exercise would laugh at.

Not to mention ability users. Hyunwoo could do it for half a day without getting tired in reality.

But in hell, the consumption of stamina was particularly fast. Instead, the results were good.

‘As expected, in hell, the limit rises quickly even if you move a little intensely.’

He also thought about going to the gym to do physical training normally. There are also gyms exclusively for ability users.

Some might ask why you need a gym when you can raise your physical abilities with level-ups.

But what level-ups raise is only the strengthening of physical abilities or skills, and flexibility, how to properly distribute strength, and breathing methods ultimately require self-training.

Among them, Hyunwoo was rapidly overcoming his limits through training in hell. The efficiency was incomparable to that in reality.

This was because everything Hyunwoo stepped on, drank, touched, and smelled in hell was the subject of training. In addition, the fact that experience points were rising rapidly with the ‘I am Legend’ perk was another reason.

The stats are not displayed separately, but it was clear that Hyunwoo’s abilities were developing beyond his current level. The difference may be small compared to level-ups, but it was definitely helpful.

“Then…”

Hyunwoo was already drenched in sweat all over his body, but he stood up and started preparing to run. When strength is at its limit, stats increase faster. Now that it’s hard to move his arms, it’s better to do exercises that use his legs.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!”

Hyunwoo ran alone at the deserted intersection. The intersection with a light fog had an eerie atmosphere, but Hyunwoo was now used to it.

It seemed that monsters didn’t appear much in this area from the beginning.

When I think about it, even when Hyunwoo couldn’t do anything and was dying while breathing, he was never killed by other monsters.

‘Maybe encountering goblins was a special case.’

If you only pay attention to mosquito swarms, you can think of this area as a safe zone.

[Limit speed has increased.]

[Poison Blood becomes more powerful.]

The good thing about aerobic exercise was this. As Hyunwoo inhaled more fine dust, the stats of Poison Blood also became stronger.

Hyunwoo was keeping an eye on Poison Blood. It was hard to guess exactly how strong it was, but it had contained enough toxicity to cut off a goblin’s wrist before.

It was virtually the only weapon he could use to face the goblin again if it reappeared.

If I met the goblin again now, could I win?

Hyunwoo briefly recalled that moment. And soon shook his head. He is still overwhelming. He cannot be defeated unless the strategy can be drastically modified.

Hyunwoo stopped after running about 50 laps around the 1km intersection. His top was completely soaked with sweat.

After sweating in hell, a particularly foul smell wafted. Hyunwoo thought it was enough and went back to the shelter.

‘How long has it been since I entered hell?’

Hyunwoo looked up and checked the time.

[0 days 18 hours 14 minutes 58 seconds until the next quest.]

Then it seems like it’s been about three days. During that time, he focused on physical training while eating only the preserved food and caramel he had brought from reality.

It would be nice to continue staying here and training, but Hyunwoo knew that it was by no means a good idea.

‘The time in reality also flows in the state of returning as long as you are alive in hell.’

The time in reality also flows as long as Hyunwoo spends ‘alive’ in hell. Therefore, the ‘time until the next quest’ notified in hell also starts only after the same amount of time has passed in hell or reality.

The time axis is aligned based on ‘the living me’.

Certainly, it was understandable since Hyunwoo was the only one going back and forth between the present and the future. Hyunwoo clicked his tongue. Now that he knew this, he couldn’t just spend time in hell.

But it was better than not being able to predict the schedule. Anyway, the growth efficiency is still much better in hell difficulty than now.

‘Also, space errors have not been confirmed yet.’

It would be troublesome if he fell in a strange place out of the blue. It would be troublesome if he fell in the middle of the city with a lot of fine dust from hell.

It seemed that the space error was also related to the length of stay in hell, so it would be better not to stay in hell for too long if possible.

‘I should go out once today to update the error… and check that before that.’

Hyunwoo opened the status window and checked his skills.

It was the skill he had obtained by opening the gold box at Yumin’s house.

[Battle Helper (Legendary): A skill that records/controls the ability user’s movements to correct accuracy and predicts the enemy’s movements to help make judgments.]