Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 26

26. The Offer (2)

Hyun-woo’s eyes narrowed when Park Hwi-so mentioned Taesung.

‘Could Taesung be behind this?’

Taesung is Korea’s strongest ability user clan. It is commonly said that Taesung’s size doesn’t match the Omnipotence Alliance, which ranks third, and its average level is lower than Hwan-mama, which ranks second.

However, when considering overall abilities, all domestic clans combined could not defeat Taesung.

The hunters’ abilities are significant, but Lee Ji-tae’s presence is not to be taken lightly.

Moreover, the Taesung Group, which sponsors the Taesung Clan, possesses such powerful financial influence that it is called a shadow government. It’s no surprise that they control the underworld.

“Are you curious why I rejected Taesung?”

“No. I’ve already heard it. It was a ridiculous reason.”

Park Hwi-so said calmly.

“But I won’t beat around the bush. Join hands with Taesung.”

Hyun-woo chuckled. How is that different from a threat? Park Hwi-so continued despite Hyun-woo’s laughter.

“I’ve looked into everything about you. I almost fell for the fact that your records were completely falsified. A naive person would really be fooled. I wondered if you were really an ordinary person, but I changed my mind after seeing your skills in the arena today. An ordinary person couldn’t suddenly gain such skills. I can’t even guess how you’ve hidden that level of skill.”

Kang Hyun-woo couldn’t understand what Park Hwi-so was talking about. Falsified records? But Park Hwi-so calmly continued.

“Besides, the you I saw last time certainly didn’t seem to have that level of skill. But the ability you showed against Red Butterfly was, hmm, astonishing. It’s even admirable that you didn’t completely reveal your hand. That’s why I gave up trying to gauge your abilities. It’s not something you can build up in a day or two.”

“Well…….”

That’s probably true. It’s definitely not a skill you can acquire in a short period. But if you die enough times to reach triple digits, you might think differently.

“Your long-term disguise as a gatherer also surprised me. At first, I couldn’t understand why you had to hide for so long. But seeing that the place you worked was a mana-specialized industrial complex, I could roughly guess. It was to gain enough trust to steal the technological prowess of domestic companies and understand the underworld distribution network. I don’t know which group you’re loyal to, but it’s an amazing loyalty. It showed your goal orientation, focus, and will.”

It was just a period when I was labeled a loser in life.

“And recently, you must have finally achieved your internal goals. That’s why you started receiving periodic supplies of modified moss from the organization and began moving with Yoo-min at the forefront.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, or the story will just get longer. The excuse that you prefer to work alone is no longer valid. I’m not just proposing to you. I’m proposing an alliance between your organization and Taesung.”

This is quite interesting. That was the first thought that came to Hyun-woo’s mind.

For some reason, Park Hwi-so seemed to believe that he had a powerful force behind him.

Well, otherwise, there would be no way to explain the sudden increase in skills and the supply of modified moss.

Hyun-woo, who had no intention of explaining, simply smiled. As he began to chuckle softly, an unpleasant look crossed Park Hwi-so’s face.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You just have such… keen eyes.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can accept the offer. My ‘organization’ is not that easy to deal with. Well, I doubt Taesung would be a suitable ally.”

Park Hwi-so’s expression hardened. Then he soon opened his mouth.

“There aren’t many places in Korea that can antagonize Taesung and last long. No matter how secretive you are.”

Park Hwi-so seemed to genuinely believe in the existence of an organization because of Hyun-woo’s words.

Considering the purity of the modified moss, it would be impossible for a low-level ability user to mine it, and hiding the dungeon and receiving the modified moss would naturally require a large organization.

It was a natural deduction for Park Hwi-so.

Moreover, since he couldn’t even trace the tail of that organization, he had no choice but to search for a non-existent elephant [pursue a false lead].

“What was the reason you infiltrated Korea in the first place?”

“Wait. Just a moment, Mr. Park Hwi-so.”

Hyun-woo tried to laugh it off, but he couldn’t. If he suddenly had to describe a non-existent elephant, he would only reveal flaws.

Hyun-woo thought it would be better to deny knowing anything in this part. After all, Park Hwi-so himself would fantasize about the backing.

“Actually, the organization thing is a joke. I don’t know what to do since you’re taking it so seriously. As I said, I just prefer to work alone. I don’t like being under another organization. I’d rather have Taesung under me.”

Park Hwi-so opened his mouth and stared in disbelief.

Park Hwi-so felt that there was no need to say anything more.

[The ‘Strongest in Hell’ title effect increases stats relative to level.]

[Human (LV 40)]

The narrator’s voice, signaling a strong warning, was heard.

In an instant, Park Hwi-so’s body moved quickly. Hyun-woo didn’t even realize he had moved until the cane touched his Adam’s apple.

The reason his throat wasn’t pierced was because of the Battle Helper, which he activated the moment he heard the narrator’s alert. The cane brushed past him by a hair’s breadth as he braced his waist to evade.

Bang, crash! At the same time, a fist wrapped in Kang-gi [mana-infused energy] grazed Park Hwi-so’s collar. The hand wrapped in Kang-gi was powerful, but it only mattered if it hit.

Park Hwi-so easily deflected all the consecutive attacks. However, Park Hwi-so seemed surprised that Hyun-woo had not only dodged but also counterattacked.

But that was it. With this, Park Hwi-so could tell that Hyun-woo’s level was far below his own.

“Such a pathetic act.”

Park Hwi-so lightly brushed off Hyun-woo’s attack and swung his cane. Since the stats were overwhelmingly different, he couldn’t inflict meaningful damage.

Hyun-woo barely dodged the cane, but he felt a throbbing headache as if his head was about to break. Mana depletion was becoming severe.

Hyun-woo temporarily deactivated the Battle Helper. Then, squeezing out the last of his mana, he cast Dominate on Park Hwi-so. However, with almost no mana left, he couldn’t inflict any meaningful effect. All it did was make Park Hwi-so flinch for a moment. But it was enough of a gap for Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo’s hand grabbed Park Hwi-so’s collar. Park Hwi-so flinched and tried to shake it off, but he was taken aback by the stronger-than-expected force.

It was because of the sturdy hand armor that Hyun-woo had returned from Red Butterfly, which was helping Hyun-woo exert strength beyond his level.

But if he had just put more strength into it, he could have shaken it off. However, Park Hwi-so swung his cane.

Splurt. Blood gushed out.

Hyun-woo’s left arm was deeply cut. As expected, there was a blade inside the cane. He had guessed it from the bloodstains scattered on the floor. Amidst the spraying blood, Hyun-woo smiled.

“Keuk?!”

Park Hwi-so tried to step back, sensing the toxic air for a moment. But he was still grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Hyun-woo. He could see the poison on the cane’s blade bubbling and emitting smoke.

For the first time, a look of bewilderment crossed Park Hwi-so’s face. At that moment, Hyun-woo struck Park Hwi-so’s face with his bloodied left hand.

Park Hwi-so belatedly realized that Hyun-woo possessed toxic blood the moment his face was covered in blood. But he never imagined that he would openly injure his own arm to fight.

Crash! Hyun-woo’s arms broke with a loud noise. At the same time, Park Hwi-so kicked Hyun-woo’s chest hard.

As soon as he broke free from the pressure of both hands, Park Hwi-so hurriedly shook off the poison from his face and took out a green bottle to spray on his face. The toxic blood that Hyun-woo had sprayed was quickly washed away. But red stains still remained.

It was then.

“That looks like good medicine.”

Park Hwi-so looked ahead with a horrified expression. Kang Hyun-woo, whose arms were broken and ribs were probably broken, was standing up and looking at him.

Of course, standing up is possible as long as the legs are intact, but the pain would be immense. But Hyun-woo didn’t seem to mind.

“If you have good medicine, let’s share it.”

Hyun-woo’s broken arms began to reattach with a creaking sound. Park Hwi-so looked at Hyun-woo with an expression as if he were looking at a grotesque monster.

In some cases, if there is a regeneration skill or a powerful recovery skill, it is possible to do that. But none of the skills Park Hwi-so had seen could recover that quickly.

[Health has fallen below 10%. Regeneration begins as a perk of the ‘Last Man Standing’ title.]

‘Fortunately, it works fine even outside of Hell.’

As health and mana were replenished, the headache was also disappearing as if washed away.

But Hyun-woo honestly felt it was a close call. If Park Hwi-so had kicked a bad spot, he could have died in one blow.

Since he didn’t know if resurrection was possible in reality outside of Hell, he had to be careful, but Hyun-woo was happy enough to have given Park Hwi-so a hard time. But at the same time, he felt a charm from him.

‘He’s tempting.’

Originally, he was just an opponent to take the distribution network from and discard. But his skills as an ability user were excellent, and his personality didn’t seem too bad. Hyun-woo was drawing his own picture of his future plans. And Park Hwi-so was a piece that fit quite well into it.

“……Do you also have a regeneration skill?”

Park Hwi-so asked. Hyun-woo smiled brightly.

“Who knows.”

Park Hwi-so understood Hyun-woo’s answer as a confirmation. But he didn’t know how to accept that fact.

Usually, a person with two skills is called a dual caster, and a person with three or more is called a multi-caster. That’s how rare they are.

But Hyun-woo already had regeneration in addition to the known toxic blood, and he even used a skill that implanted strange emotions and hallucinations in his head during the fight just now.

He had at least three, and he didn’t know how many more skills he had. Park Hwi-so glared at Hyun-woo before raising his cane sword.

Hyun-woo was also internally troubled. If he fought any more, he could really die.

But Park Hwi-so looked at his sword, which had been discolored by the toxic blood, sighed, and put it back into the cane.

“I didn’t come here to fight.”

“You attacked first, though.”

“I thought you would understand if I used force since you were talking nonsense. But you’re a rougher type than I thought. I didn’t expect you to resist this much. But this makes it clear. You can’t even beat me. And Taesung? If I had intended to kill you from the start, would you have even had time to resist?”

“We’ll have to see.”

“Do you have to smash an egg against a rock to know which one breaks? That’s what fools say. Even I’m like this, but Taesung has many who are worse than me. Among them, Lee Ji-tae is at the top. These tricks won’t work on Director Lee Ji-tae.”

Hyun-woo grinned.

“Lee Ji-tae can’t do anything? Taesung is just a stepping stone for me to step on. Do you think Lee Ji-tae will be an obstacle?”

Park Hwi-so seemed speechless with disbelief. He rubbed his forehead, wondering if he should abandon this absurd person now or wait and see.

But Hyun-woo didn’t give him time to worry.

“Rather, I like you more than Taesung or Lee Ji-tae. You said you joined Taesung because you had something to gain, right? How about coming under me instead of Taesung?”

One or two crazy things are fine, but it’s tiring to keep listening. Park Hwi-so knew that he should abandon Hyun-woo and turn away now.

But for some reason, his words were strangely irritating. It might be because Kang Hyun-woo felt particularly strange. Since he’s such a strange guy, maybe there really is something.

“Do you believe you have value comparable to Lee Ji-tae? Lee Ji-tae is a genius born with exceptional talent, luck, and even a martial physique. Such lucky people are rare among ability users.”

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much do I have to be to be recognized as comparable to Lee Ji-tae?”

Park Hwi-so stared in disbelief before closing his mouth at Hyun-woo’s serious face. Park Hwi-so, who had been quietly watching him, opened his mouth.

“What’s your level?”

Hyun-woo thought about raising it a little, but decided to be honest since it was meaningless.

“It’s 7.”

Park Hwi-so’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I’ve only dealt with one or two ability users? No matter how good your technique is, you can’t hide your true stats. It must be at least 10 or 11.”

Hyun-woo shrugged. If Park Hwi-so’s words were accurate, it meant that the stats increased by the title effect were about 30%.

Hyun-woo knew that his stats were increasing, but he didn’t know the specific abilities, so he was able to roughly confirm it this time.

“Okay. Let’s just say the level is what it is. What’s your grade [ranking]?”

“1-star.”

Park Hwi-so finally shook his head.

“Then the level limit is only 20? Lee Ji-tae is 4-star and level 50. He reached level 20 in less than half a year after becoming a hunter. That’s because he had Taesung and good teachers, but if he were an ordinary person, it would take at least a year…….”

“Level 20.”

Park Hwi-so looked at Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo smiled wryly at Park Hwi-so and said.

“If Lee Ji-tae was level 20 at my age, let’s see each other next time when I’m level 20. Then the story will progress a bit.”

Park Hwi-so’s face hardened. See you when you reach level 20?

It was as if he was going to the market to do some shopping.

“And when we meet again, if you think I’m comparable to Lee Ji-tae… no, I’ll make you think I’m better than Lee Ji-tae. Then you’ll come under me, old man.”

Park Hwi-so tried to ignore it as crazy talk.

But for some reason, he couldn’t laugh at those words. Park Hwi-so groaned as if in pain before reluctantly opening his mouth.

“That’s a ridiculous offer.”

But Park Hwi-so’s lips curled up.

“But I like your spirit. Okay. If you make it to level 20, I’ll think about it. Then I’ll see you in half a year…….”

“Two weeks.”

Hyun-woo said without erasing his smile.

“I’ll see you in two weeks, old man.”