Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 25

25. The Offer (1)

Under the sunset, Lady Red Butterfly’s red hair seemed to burn even more intensely.

Her arm had returned to normal, likely healed by a recovery skill. Hyun-woo estimated his remaining mana.

It wasn’t much, but he thought he could subdue Lady Red Butterfly for a short time. However, she showed no hostility towards him.

“I apologize for what happened earlier.”

Lady Red Butterfly, who had been staring blankly, finally spoke. Hyun-woo sighed.

“It’s okay. I was just trying to do my best since I was doing it anyway, and I didn’t really have much ambition. The original purpose was for the host to focus on one person through teamwork.”

“I also failed in that regard. What happened at the end was just a coincidence.”

Lady Red Butterfly had come alone instead of with her team. If her team had attacked together, the result might have been different.

Lady Red Butterfly held out a gift box that she must have received at the awards ceremony. Hyun-woo hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

A reward for hard work is good, but a reward without any cost is even better.

Besides, strictly speaking, this was originally something that should have been in Hyun-woo’s hands.

“Hong-ryun was too eager to do well, so please forgive her.”

Hyun-woo was taken aback when Lady Red Butterfly bowed her head in apology. So, that big woman’s name was Hong-ryun. Hyun-woo had already written off and forgotten what Hong-ryun had done by nearly killing her.

But Lady Red Butterfly seemed ready to keep her head bowed until he said something.

Hyun-woo tried to say something plausible but gave up.

“Okay. Go.”

Lady Red Butterfly raised her head. It was impossible to tell what emotions were hidden beneath her expressionless face.

She seemed to have the least expressive face in the gymnasium. She bowed her head once more and quickly disappeared.

In the hallway filled with the sunset, only the rose scent resembling Lady Red Butterfly’s red hair remained.

Hyun-woo was left feeling dazed.

***

He felt that way even when he arrived at the underground parking lot where Yoo-min was waiting. Yoo-min, who had parked the car close to the entrance, opened the door when Hyun-woo appeared.

“Oppa? Did you get hit hard on the head or something?”

As Hyun-woo got in, Yoo-min looked at him with a suspicious expression.

“No, I just saw someone a little strange.”

Yoo-min put her nose to Hyun-woo’s side and sniffed. Hyun-woo stepped back in alarm, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

Her expression became subtle, but she didn’t say anything and started the car. She didn’t know when headhunters might swarm in. Yoo-min glanced at the gift box Hyun-woo was holding and asked,

“What’s that?”

Hyun-woo looked at the gift box he was holding. It was from Lady Red Butterfly.

When Hyun-woo unwrapped the gift, there was a glove and an envelope inside. It was a thin black leather glove that covered the entire hand. As expected, it was an item.

[Tenacious Grip Gloves (Rare): Strength increased, hand defense increased]

Rare items that are extremely rare or have some good effects are treated so preciously that they are prohibited from being taken overseas. But he didn’t expect them to give this kind of item as a reward to a mere rookie hunter applicant.

That meant Tae-sung had put a lot of effort into this application.

“I got it as a reward, I guess. It looks like it’ll be useful.”

The problem was that Hyun-woo was the one who got it.

Hyun-woo put on the gloves. When he clenched his fist, he definitely felt the power that made up for Hyun-woo’s lack of stats.

‘But no matter how I look at it, it seems like it was prepared for Lady Red Butterfly.’

It seemed that the organizers thought Lady Red Butterfly would win. It would be good to link it with her skills if she used it. But it wouldn’t be bad for Hyun-woo to have it either.

“Oh, and the new crystal moss I brought this time. I sold that to Park Hwi-so too. I put the proceeds into Oppa’s account, so check it out.”

“That old man? Again?”

Yoo-min grumbled and replied.

“Even if I sell it elsewhere, it seems like that guy tracks it down and collects it like a ghost. If it’s going to end up in his hands anyway, it’s better to sell it to someone who will pay more. Park Hwi-so is also subtly putting pressure on me.”

“Pressure?”

“That’s how I feel. He keeps asking me things that don’t suit him.”

Hyun-woo quietly stared ahead. He had roughly anticipated that someone would find out about him and follow him. No, he was rather waiting for it.

He was planning to delay the timing as much as possible, but he still had room to handle it.

‘Park Hwi-so.’

Hyun-woo recalled the gentle old man.

‘Can I beat him?’

Of course, considering his appearance when they met at the cafe, it was impossible right now. But he didn’t feel like it was an insurmountable wall. First, he needed to meet him.

If he sold the Hell Mountain crystal moss, someone who recognized its value would surely appear.

That person would surely be someone with a considerable distribution network, information, and organization.

What Hyun-woo was aiming for was that person. To devour them all and find a route to trade without any more loss of crystal moss.

He thought it would take two to three months at most. But the fact that he had already found the tail of Park Hwi-so was not a bad sign.

“But what’s that envelope? A letter?”

Yoo-min asked, as if she was bothered by the envelope that came with the gift box. Hyun-woo picked up the envelope. There was only one piece of paper inside. Hyun-woo took out the white paper.

“Min-ah.”

“What, what is it all of a sudden? Calling me so sweetly.”

“I got a 50 million won allowance. Let’s go eat something delicious.”

***

In an era when dungeons open and monsters appear, the position of hunters is ambiguous.

Hunters aim to be heroes who fight against powerful monsters, and they also expect a decent income.

However, powerful monsters only lurk in dungeons, and the ones that come out of dungeons are mostly weaklings.

Unless there is an unusual phenomenon like a Flood [a large-scale monster outbreak], humanity doesn’t even need to feel threatened.

Therefore, from the perspective of civilians, hunters are at best psychics, and at worst, bombs that could explode at any time. People had more favorable impressions of those working in the military or police.

“So, Lee Ji-tae is special.”

Yoo-min said to Hyun-woo, who was sitting in the passenger seat, as she drove late at night.

“No, maybe it’s because it’s Lee Ji-tae that he can do that. People are bound to chase money to make a living. Hunters have power and easy ways to make money, so there’s no need to manage their image. But Lee Ji-tae has a lot of money from the start, so he can act more noble.”

“Hunters make a lot of money too, right?”

“Where does that money all come from? It comes from the civilians. Civilians can’t get crystal moss or items without hunters, but that doesn’t mean it’s not unsightly. Hunters, on the other hand, become more arrogant or extravagant because of a lack of recognition.”

Hyun-woo chuckled at Yoo-min’s words.

“So, you’re going to teach me how to spend money?”

“I’m going to teach you how to be a cool hunter.”

Hyun-woo didn’t ask how well she knew. Yoo-min had more knowledge in strange areas than Hyun-woo thought.

She didn’t feel like a simple research graduate student. Yoo-min started parking the car in the underground parking lot.

“Let’s say you raise me like that. So, what are you going to do?”

“Well, of course, I’m going to use Oppa as a guinea pig for our lab…”

Hyun-woo cut off Yoo-min’s words. Yoo-min flinched and quickly took out the self-defense baton hidden under the door handle. When she pressed the button, there was a crackling sound of electricity.

“Lock the car door and wait here for a moment.”

“Is someone there?”

Hyun-woo nodded. His survival instinct was warning him, though weakly. He opened the car door and got out, and the cold night air brushed against his nose.

He could smell a faint scent of blood. Hyun-woo quietly took the stairs to Yoo-min’s apartment.

It was dark and the pattern on the floor was mixed, so it wasn’t very noticeable, but it wasn’t enough to escape Hyun-woo’s eyes.

The scattered drops of blood explained the traces of a secret battle that had taken place here. But the situation seemed to be over.

Hyun-woo soon reached Yoo-min’s apartment. There were no more drops of blood. No presence was felt inside the apartment either.

But Hyun-woo didn’t stop there, and looked up at the stairs one level higher.

There was a black shadow standing there.

“Nice to meet you, Kang Hyun-woo.”

“I can’t say I’m happy to see you, Park Hwi-so.”

Hyun-woo looked up at Park Hwi-so, who was standing with a blood-soaked cane. He was going to find him anyway.

But now that he had come to Yoo-min and his apartment, scattering blood, he couldn’t let it go.

“I don’t want to fight.”

Instead of answering, Hyun-woo glanced at something next to him. He could feel a faint breath, as if he wasn’t dead yet. Park Hwi-so tapped the fallen man with his cane and said.

“I was trying to finish this before you guys finished your date, but I guess I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“What’s going on?”

Hyun-woo’s tone naturally became stiff.

“These guys are members of a Japanese Yakuza organization [Japanese organized crime syndicate]. I don’t know if you expected it, but the crystal moss you put on the market could have a bigger impact than you think. Top-ranked hunters are now looking for high-grade crystal moss with their eyes wide open.”

“Crystal moss?”

“There’s a reason for that. Anyway, fortunately, I was the first to recognize the true value of this crystal moss, so I was able to clean it up before the rumors spread further.”

Park Hwi-so sighed here.

“But one of the black market dealers seems to have passed on information to Japan that there was such a thing. So, they dispatched hunters, but I had already recovered the goods. So, they were tracking down the seller, Yoo-min.”

Hyun-woo bit his lip tightly. He thought of the crystal moss as bait and the black marketeers who flocked to it as carp that he would catch. But the aftermath was bigger than he thought.

So much so that they came from a neighboring country.

Because of that, Yoo-min was almost in danger.

“I should thank you for protecting Yoo-min, Park Hwi-so.”

Park Hwi-so didn’t answer and calmly looked at Hyun-woo. He had confirmed that Hyun-woo’s fighting spirit had not subsided.

“But I think you should also explain how you knew about this apartment and were watching it.”

In the end, whether it’s overseas or domestic, it doesn’t change much. In Hyun-woo’s eyes, Park Hwi-so was just another fish that came for the bait.

The fact that Yoo-min’s apartment was being watched was reason enough to antagonize Park Hwi-so.

“If these guys are Japanese black market dealers targeting me, then you’re the head of the Korean black market, aren’t you?”

Hyun-woo was saying that Park Hwi-so was none other than the head of the domestic crystal moss black market sales route that he had been planning to devour once he found out his identity.

Hyun-woo quietly stared at the predator he had encountered earlier than expected. Park Hwi-so, who had been meeting his eyes, soon let out a hollow laugh.

“I won’t deny it. There’s a misunderstanding in the expression ‘head’, but it’s impossible to trade in Korea without my knowledge.”

Park Hwi-so slowly began to walk down the stairs. The sound of his cane tapping the stairs echoed.

“I was going to talk about it after a while, but since it’s come to this, I think I should talk directly.”

Park Hwi-so paused for a moment and then spoke with a question as if he couldn’t understand.

“Kang Hyun-woo, I heard you turned down Tae-sung.”