Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 34

34. One Step at a Time (3)

Although the grade assessment announcement was scheduled for two days later, I received my Hunter registration card.

For other ordinary Hunters, this would be a busy time, greeting seniors and industry officials, trying to get their names and faces known.

However, Hyeon-woo had rejected all the headhunters’ offers and advances, so there wasn’t much he could do or had to do. If it weren’t for Difficulty: Hell, he would have been lazing around, especially in Park Hwi-so’s eyes.

“A clan is not just a group of ability users.”

A quiet gym near his house.

Hyeon-woo had rented the place for the whole day and was meeting with Park Hwi-so alone.

This time, Hyeon-woo had contacted Park Hwi-so, not the other way around. Park Hwi-so, who had already entrusted his car to him, rushed over as soon as Hyeon-woo contacted him.

What Hyeon-woo proposed to him was unexpected.

Hyeon-woo asked Park Hwi-so for a sparring match.

“To support the Hunters who enter the dungeon battlefield, people in numerous fields work, including public relations, tax, housing, clothing, training, welfare, treatment, transportation, personnel, budget, and legal affairs. In fact, a decent mid-level Hunter can support 20 to 30 people.”

“That’s like a small company.”

Thwack, thwack! Hyeon-woo’s fist fiercely grazed past Park Hwi-so’s face. Each time the fist cut through the air, a sharp tearing sound echoed.

Hyeon-woo’s rapidly increased stats from leveling up and the movements enhanced by Battle Helper were enough to make Park Hwi-so’s heart chill.

But that was it; Hyeon-woo’s fist never landed a significant blow on Park Hwi-so.

“Among them, Tae-sung’s treatment is top-notch, even on a global scale. Whether you want power or money, it’s a loss not to join Tae-sung.”

Hyeon-woo grinned. Park Hwi-so still seemed unwilling to give up his desire to bring Hyeon-woo into Tae-sung.

But Hyeon-woo had no intention of doing so.

Hyeon-woo bounced forward, rushing towards Park Hwi-so. His fist, wrapped in Kanggi [a type of energy or power], aimed for Park Hwi-so’s chin.

Park Hwi-so, feeling that he couldn’t avoid it, blocked with his hand. But an unexpected impact pushed his hand away, touching his chin.

It only moved his chin slightly, but it was unpleasant and surprising.

Indeed, Hyeon-woo had grown astonishingly in the past two weeks. In terms of stats alone, almost three times. It was almost as if he had really gone from level 7 to level 20.

Hyeon-woo smiled and opened his mouth.

“I have to hurry, but I have no intention of crawling under anyone, old man. Although I *do* have the intention to climb up and devour them.”

A tiger cub, huh. Park Hwi-so chuckled. But Hyeon-woo was already ambitious towards him and had declared that he would devour him, so there was nothing to hide.

“But Lee Ji-tae is impossible. Tae-sung has a structure that cannot be dominated without Lee Ji-tae. The members are absolutely loyal only to Lee Ji-tae, and above all, the Tae-sung Group, managed by Lee Ji-tae’s father, sponsors it.”

Lee Ji-tae’s presence is too strong.

‘If I’m going to climb up and devour someone, it has to be somewhere other than Tae-sung.’

A second or third-in-command who wants to overturn the current structure where Tae-sung is the strongest would be appropriate.

This time, Park Hwi-so attacked first. Despite mainly using a staff and sword, his martial arts were also fierce. Even with Battle Helper enhancing him, evasion was impossible.

It’s not impossible for a low-level ability user to defeat a high-level ability user, but in a bare-handed fight without skills or items, the high-level ability user almost always wins.

The best Hyeon-woo could do was to minimize the damage while getting hit.

Bang! Hyeon-woo saw the fist flying towards his stomach and quickly blocked with both arms, but it was not enough.

The blow was so strong that it lifted his entire body, and Hyeon-woo staggered before barely clinging to the ring to stand. Park Hwi-so smiled as he watched.

“I wanted to see your regeneration ability again, but it doesn’t seem like anything’s broken.”

“I think I have a hairline fracture.”

Hyeon-woo said, grumbling.

Park Hwi-so seemed a little pleased. Playing tricks with the moss and acting arrogant with mediocre skills were absurd, but now he had a legitimate reason to beat him up, so he couldn’t help but be excited.

Moreover, the fact that he was only a 1-star level 20 was talking about overturning or devouring Tae-sung, so he probably thought he needed to correct his manners.

“How is it? Do you still think I’m hiding my skills?”

“You seem used to pain, so I’m not sure yet.”

Was he trying to torture him? Hyeon-woo chuckled. Park Hwi-so cracked his knuckles and approached Hyeon-woo.

“If not Tae-sung, where are you thinking of going? Howan Mama?”

Howan Mama is a secretive, eccentric group that aims for a small elite. The level of each individual is higher than the average of Tae-sung.

It was the first Hunter clan formed in Korea, and it was the best clan in Korea until Tae-sung was launched.

However, as many Hunters belonging to Howan Mama left when Tae-sung was launched, its position faltered.

Nevertheless, the core executives with strong roots still remained, so they solidified their position in second place.

“What do you think, old man?”

“Actually, they’re a bit… unknowable. They have a lot of friction with the government and smell like a secret society. Moreover, not much is known about the leader except for their name. You might get eaten trying to eat them.”

Park Hwi-so gestured for Hyeon-woo to get up. He probably knew that he had a hairline fracture, but he calmly suggested resuming the fight.

Hyeon-woo felt that this guy was determined to see his regeneration perk.

Park Hwi-so didn’t know about the title, so he didn’t know that it only worked once a day. Hyeon-woo smiled bitterly and took a stance.

“Next is the third-ranked National Ability User Federation, also known as Jeonneungryeon.”

Jeonneungryeon’s strength lies in its numbers and organization. It’s to the point where all the Hunters who couldn’t join Tae-sung and Howan Mama belong to Jeonneungryeon.

They even accepted duplicate memberships, so there were cases where people were members of both Tae-sung and Jeonneungryeon.

They were willing to protect even lower-level ability users who didn’t belong to a clan, so they even had the nickname of an ability user labor union. The overall level was low, but the representative, Oh Dae-sung, was a 4-star Hunter and was not to be underestimated.

Park Hwi-so punched Hyeon-woo in the face repeatedly and asked.

“What do you think?”

“There, ugh, cough! The reputation is, mixed, I heard! Ugh, huff. Some people say the human charm is good, and some say it’s unfair because the cronyism is too severe! Cough!”

In a situation where fists were flying at his face like this, if he misspoke, his tongue would be cut off.

Hyeon-woo, who was barely blocking the relentless punches, felt that the punches were getting stronger at some point.

The fist that had been hitting his abdomen earlier came in with a series of jabs.

Hyeon-woo’s body was pushed back to the corner of the ring, but Park Hwi-so’s punches didn’t stop at all. If it were a match, the whistle would have been blown, but there were only two people in the arena.

“Cough!”

His head was spinning, and he couldn’t think of anything. He only had the instinct that if he lowered his guard, his head would be smashed in that instant.

But amidst the pouring attacks, Hyeon-woo was feeling a kind of rhythm. Park Hwi-so’s foot movements, the rhythm buried in his breath.

Within that, Hyeon-woo caught a sliver of a gap.

‘Now.’

The moment he realized the timing, his body was already extending his fist beyond the transmission of the nervous system. Hook, Hyeon-woo’s fist cut through Park Hwi-so’s pouring attacks and squeezed in.

Thud.

The moment the fist touched Park Hwi-so’s chest, surprise appeared on Park Hwi-so’s face. Until Hyeon-woo’s fist touched him, he hadn’t even noticed the fist approaching.

But that was it.

The moment the fist touched Park Hwi-so’s chest, his arm dangled and bent in a strange direction.

“Argh! Damn it!”

Hyeon-woo cursed and looked down at his limp arm.

[Your health has dropped below 10%. Regeneration begins with the ‘Last Man Standing’ title perk.]

‘I finally made you hear this message.’

Park Hwi-so was grinning as he looked up with a look that asked if he felt relieved.

“It seems like you’re improving every time I see you. If you’re at this level in just two weeks, it’s true that I’m looking forward to the future. Maybe you’ll really devour Howan Mama or Jeonneungryeon.”

Park Hwi-so stepped back as if to end it. His entire body was glistening with sweat.

Park Hwi-so’s body was so well-honed that it was hard to believe it was an old man’s body. They were muscles trained not by exercise but by combat.

However, Park Hwi-so shook his head as he looked at Hyeon-woo’s still sitting body.

“Those are really disgusting muscles. I wonder if your girlfriend will run away when she sees them.”

“…Why are you picking on someone else’s muscles? You’re making *my* muscles feel inferior.”

Hyeon-woo grumbled and reached for the towel hanging on the ring. It was trembling, but the bones in his arm were quickly reattaching due to the health regeneration effect. He had used the health regeneration perk, so he had to be careful today.

“So, what’s the conclusion? Did you call me to chat? I felt good sweating after a long time, but you just got beat up, so I think you might feel a little different.”

“Well, it’s partly because the strongest person I know is the old man… I also wanted to see how much I’ve grown. Still, my level has increased almost three times.”

Park Hwi-so, who had suddenly become a combat power measuring device, looked at him in disbelief. But he didn’t seem too upset.

“Hmm, well. If you really reached level 20 in just two weeks and can continue to raise your grade, you’ll catch up to my level soon. It’s frustrating to face a genius, but it’s still an amazing thing. I thought it would end with Lee Ji-tae in my life, but it turns out things like this happen.”

“You should save your praise. You’ll get tired of being impressed one by one in the future.”

“It’s better to learn humility than level. The difference in stars is big.”

Stars.

Park Hwi-so snorted, probably thinking of the grades, but Hyeon-woo was reminded of something when he heard those words. Stories about stars. Hyeon-woo had to find out about that too. Hyeon-woo grabbed the ring, stood up, and asked Park Hwi-so’s back.

“Old man, do you know anything about stars?”

“Stars? Are you talking about ability user grades?”

“No. Literally stars. Like, broken stars, weeping stars, fragments, or something.”

Park Hwi-so’s expression changed subtly. It was an expression that was neither affirmative nor negative, but ambiguous itself.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just because. Never mind if you don’t know anything.”

“Hmm, well, I wouldn’t say I know, but I’ve heard bits and pieces here and there. They’re literally fragmented stories, so I never thought about them, but listening to you makes me wonder if there’s something there. If you tell me why you’re asking, I might be able to give you more valuable information.”

Park Hwi-so didn’t know much either, but he meant that he had heard something in the form of fragmented information.

Hyeon-woo was the same. In times like this, the more puzzle pieces, the better. Hyeon-woo didn’t know much either, so he decided to maintain the ambiguity.

“Well, I thought I heard stories that stars make ability users stronger or something.”

“…Make them stronger, huh. There’s definitely a common point if that’s the case.”

Park Hwi-so’s eyes lit up and approached.

“What I know about ‘stars’ is really fragmented. There are stories that only the highest-ranking Hunters tell. I’ve never heard a detailed story. It’s just… they use a lot of metaphors about stars.”

Metaphors about stars?

“…Is that all?”

“Hey, that’s not all. If a common vocabulary is found among almost all top-rankers, it means that there is something that only they know. It’s information that even a 3-star limit level achiever like me doesn’t know. Even Lee Ji-tae sometimes talked about stars.”

Hyeon-woo showed interest. If there was such a commonality, there was definitely ‘something that only they knew’.

“The Chinese top-ranker Xiao Jiejie talks about the concept of the Five Stars Assembly Hall (悟星會廊) [a fictional organization or concept related to understanding stars], which created the dungeon. The anti-ability user group Reverse Cross Star Front uses the Star of Bethlehem as its symbol. The scholar Maria Keller uses the metaphor that the power of ability users comes from the stars. Thinking about it now, there are many overlaps. That’s why you’re particularly concerned.”

Hyeon-woo wondered if mentioning the stars themselves had given away too much information. With Park Hwi-so’s ability, he would soon gather related information.

But Hyeon-woo chuckled and looked at Park Hwi-so.

“Now that it’s come to this, I have to eat the old man.”

“…I wish you would pay more attention to your expression.”

“I understand.”

“Really, it was a little creepy.”

“I get it.”

“I’m asking you.”

“Yes.”

Hyeon-woo also thought it was an expression he used without thinking too much.

‘No, but I heard the messages of the stars so much in Difficulty: Hell that it was annoying, but are there not many people here who hear them like that?’

But when you think about it, Hyeon-woo is the only human in Difficulty: Hell.

There are an enormous number of ability users here. The messages of the stars may be concentrated only on the top-rankers among them.

In fact, Hyeon-woo hasn’t heard any messages about stars since he came here.

‘Huh? Then do the stars not know that I’m going back and forth between Hell and reality?’

Hyeon-woo, who had been thinking of the stars as the strongest or final boss in the world, or the very person who made him cross timelines like this, became puzzled.

Then what on earth is making him cross even timelines like this?