Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 28

28. Enemies Meet on a Narrow Bridge (2)

Quest progress: 7th attempt.

‘How do I catch that bastard?’

Hyeon-woo’s mind was filled with thoughts of how to catch the Black Hand Goblin.

Fortunately, it was alone, and as long as he stayed within the district, there weren’t many other monsters.

The advantage was that he only had to fight 1:1, but the disadvantage was that even in a 1:1 fight, the goblin could easily chop Hyeon-woo into pieces.

Facing it head-on was not an option.

‘No, but why is it so strong? We’re both level 20.’

There was something abnormal about its strength. Of course, what in this damn world was normal? But this guy was especially so compared to other goblins.

Hyeon-woo knew very well the reasons why someone could be abnormally strong for their level. Because Hyeon-woo was like that himself.

It was because of items and skills.

“I could reduce the gap by leveling up more, but…”

Being chased and killed every day, he didn’t know how long it would take. Hyeon-woo had already stayed here for too long to level up.

Soon, he would break his record from the first quest where he overcame the fine dust.

More than anything, at this point, the fact that the goblin itself was hindering his level-up made training through fighting impossible.

He needed to fundamentally change his strategy.

***

Hyeon-woo started tracking the Black Hand Goblin instead of running away from it.

Surprisingly, the tracker doesn’t think about being tracked. By actively searching for the Black Hand Goblin, he actually survived longer.

But even so, its senses were surprisingly sharp, and he would get caught by even the slightest mistake.

[Stealth has increased.]

But Hyeon-woo’s tracking ability was improving day by day.

Stealth wasn’t just about becoming transparent; it was the ability to turn oneself into a still life.

Reducing movement and breathing, and making emotional fluctuations or presence faint, making oneself unnoticeable. At some point, even mosquitoes ignored Hyeon-woo and passed by.

It was useless if Renian stuck a straw in his arm.

“Your guts, I will, krrk, offer to my friends’ graves.”

6th attempt.

The goblin, who had slashed Hyeon-woo’s stomach, looked at Hyeon-woo with eyes burning with hatred.

The only thing Hyeon-woo was better at than the goblin was dying better.

In other words, he could revive like a planarian [a type of flatworm known for its regenerative abilities] even after death.

The difficulty of dying even if clothes brushed against each other: the advantage of being able to revive in hell only made hell more hellish. But Hyeon-woo decided to make ‘statistics’ with this only advantage.

The fight between Hyeon-woo and the Black Hand Goblin was not a fight to win, but an experiment on how well it could kill him. Hyeon-woo meticulously recorded his repeated defeats against the goblin with the Battle Helper.

The goblin’s gait, the trajectory of its dagger, its attacking habits, breathing patterns, and eye movements were all engraved in Hyeon-woo’s mind.

It was skilled in quick hit-and-run attacks, and even the goblin’s light stab was fatal to the weak Hyeon-woo. But the more he fought, the more he dodged, and the more Hyeon-woo tried to counterattack.

And the more Hyeon-woo scratched the goblin’s body.

For the record, Hyeon-woo never fought fairly once.

He lured it into traps, set snares, used tools, indiscriminately threw Hell Darts from a distance, ambushed it in swarms of mosquitoes, or ambushed it while it was sleeping.

But the Black Hand Goblin was beyond that. That wasn’t enough.

“Kireuk, annoying, human.”

13th attempt.

The Black Hand Goblin spat out, looking at the dying Hyeon-woo with contempt.

At this point, Hyeon-woo’s martial arts skills had risen to another level.

The martial arts that Hyeon-woo had learned were techniques created by ‘ordinary humans’ with the limitations of their strength and durability.

But monsters need monster techniques.

It was similar to how Red Butterfly created a unique martial art based on her skills.

Hyeon-woo learned ‘the movements one has when one has the ability to transcend one’s racial stats’ in the fight against the goblin. Hyeon-woo felt that his fighting was becoming more three-dimensional and unpredictable.

Hyeon-woo didn’t realize it, but what he had reached was the huge wall that separated hunters who wandered in low-level dungeons for their entire lives from top-class hunters.

People who have lived their whole lives on the ground cannot easily leap into the air and fight by tearing down walls.

Without even realizing it, Hyeon-woo had acquired the movements of high-level hunters who frequented 3rd and 4th grade dungeons.

“…What, kireuk, are you, human?”

And the 32nd attempt.

The goblin looked at the dying Hyeon-woo with a disgusted expression. Had his desire for revenge for killing his comrades faded by now?

Well, if the guy he had killed 32 times appeared in front of him without a care, absurdity or boredom would be greater than hatred.

The difference in experience was significant.

The goblin’s level itself was a level, but the goblin had fought against countless monsters on this street. And it had survived.

This street didn’t have a relatively large number of monsters, but compared to Hyeon-woo, it was a senior among seniors.

Above all, it was becoming more and more skilled at killing Hyeon-woo.

Just as Hyeon-woo was getting used to the goblin’s movements, the goblin was also getting used to Hyeon-woo.

In fact, when Hyeon-woo had the best movements within the limits of his abilities, the time spent fighting the goblin was getting shorter.

The goblin also didn’t just use a knife to kill Hyeon-woo.

It also threw acidic potions that melted his face, threw a net to knock him down and then stabbed him. Or, if he was at an awkward distance, he simply killed him by throwing a knife.

In the end, it was closer to a fight of who was more cowardly.

Hyeon-woo tried to disassemble and make all sorts of items to try to attack in any way possible. But at his current level, none of them worked.

There was only one thing Hyeon-woo felt.

There was no way to win against this bastard.

As long as it didn’t get tired of chasing him and was obsessed with catching and killing him, no method would work.

Someday, if it got tired of killing him and gave up, it might be possible to level up and attack, but he didn’t know how long it would take. It was stubbornly interfering with Hyeon-woo’s leveling up.

Abnormal ability, and abnormal obsession.

It didn’t seem to have a strong desire for revenge against Hyeon-woo anymore.

But how should he explain this obsession? Hyeon-woo was no match for the Black Hand Goblin. But it was clearly recognizing him as a threat.

In addition, there was a gap that he could not overcome no matter how much he trained.

Hell Darts, they don’t work. It blocks or cuts them all out.

Toxic Blood, it doesn’t even touch him. It already knows him well.

Battle Helper, even if he activates it throughout the battle, he is overwhelmed by it.

Seize, it only works for a very short time. It’s even becoming more resistant.

In addition, he tried dozens of other methods he could do.

Hyeon-woo had to admit it. He could never win in a normal way.

But Hyeon-woo rushed in, burning with anger as if he was dying for the first time every time.

And by the 34th attempt, Hyeon-woo finally found what he wanted.

The time had finally come.

***

Subway terminal entrance.

Which station it was could not be seen as it was erased by the wind. Hyeon-woo was observing the subway entrance from the rooftop of a nearby building.

A goblin looked around and opened the door covering the subway entrance and slipped inside. He had been checking the number of goblins coming and going for several days.

He didn’t know the exact number, but there were quite a few who went in and didn’t come out.

He couldn’t even beat one Black Hand Goblin, but a village? But Hyeon-woo had no intention of fighting fairly anyway.

It had been quite a while since he discovered and observed the village. Hyeon-woo’s deaths while fighting the Black Hand Goblin were not in vain. He was creating a kind of map.

‘If you think about its movements and the time zones it appears in, you can see that it is guarding something.’

The Black Hand Goblin was patrolling in a circle around this village.

Then, the Black Hand Goblin was seen coming out of the subway exit.

He could recognize it even from a distance of 100m. Hyeon-woo held his breath and watched it. The Black Hand Goblin didn’t seem to notice Hyeon-woo at all.

It had been a while since he could completely hide his presence from the Black Hand Goblin. He would get caught right away if he got close, though.

Weeing, he heard the sound of wings flapping. He turned his head and Renian was already by his side.

“Butler, I’ve looked around.”

“How is it?”

“Before that, can you let me have a drink?”

Hyeon-woo frowned and revealed the inside of his arm. Renian stuck a straw into Hyeon-woo’s arm with a delighted expression. He was constantly eating something at other times, but he wondered how it all fit into that small body.

“Tell me.”

“Um, the inside of the subway feels like a village made by remodeling a shelter. It’s crude, but the sections and designs are well done, and there are kids, but they live quietly, so it feels like they’re hiding. And they filled the subway tracks with water and were raising fish. Maybe it’s a source of drinking water and a fish farm?”

“What about the ventilation shaft?”

“There’s a gap next to that big building, but it looks a little difficult for Butler to get in. It seems like the goblins blocked it. But it has to serve as a ventilation shaft, so maybe fairies can get in and out?”

“What about the upper reaches of the water source?”

“It seems like the subway itself was flooded and flowed all the way down. Ah, but there is a part where the subway collapsed and was exposed. But are you going to enter through the upper reaches? If you’re really going to swim through the dark subway tracks where you don’t even know what’s under the water, the fairy will stay out.”

“What about the emergency escape route?”

“One over there. The rest seem to be flooded or collapsed.”

Hyeon-woo nodded. That was enough. Honestly, he was a little doubtful, but he remembered well what to pay attention to and what to find. He did better than he thought.

“But what are you going to do? You’re going to die horribly if you go alone anyway.”

“Who said I was going in? It’s enough to know that those guys put a lot of effort into this village. Guys with a lot of things can’t give it up easily.”

At that moment, the Black Hand Goblin appeared. Hyeon-woo immediately stopped breathing. Thanks to his well-trained stealth, he didn’t have to worry about being caught at this distance.

But that’s only when he’s focusing all his energy on stealth; if he’s not paying attention, he’ll be caught and killed in an instant.

Hyeon-woo checked the time. A watch was essential in hell, where it was difficult to distinguish between night and day.

It was exactly the time he expected it to go out. Only the Black Hand Goblin and two other goblins were going on patrol.

‘I killed those patrolmen.’

When you think about it, he annihilated his subordinates, so he must be angry. It must have been a goblin who was considered a strongman in this village.

But Hyeon-woo didn’t care.

The moment the Black Hand Goblin came out of the stairs, something popped out from inside the subway entrance.

Hyeon-woo paused when he saw it.

It was a small goblin. It was wearing a mask. The baby goblin playfully hugged the Black Hand Goblin’s leg.

“Looks like his kid.”

Renian whispered next to him. Hyeon-woo didn’t answer.

The Black Hand Goblin looked around in embarrassment. Then, he scolded the baby goblin and sent it back inside the subway entrance.

It carefully looked around again as if it was paying attention to something.

Hyeon-woo thought about the baby goblin and the Black Hand Goblin for a moment. But as soon as the Black Hand Goblin disappeared from his sight, he started moving.

‘I’ve waited long enough.’