Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 40

40. What Kind of Guy Is He? (2)

Yoomin opened another bag with a blank expression. It contained a similar amount of cash.

In total, 2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD] in cash was spread across the floor.

Yoomin looked at Hyunwoo with a bewildered expression rather than an excited one.

“Oppa [older brother/term of endearment for a male], this makes us look like…”

“Like we became rich?”

“Like bank robbers.”

To be honest, Hyunwoo felt the same way.

“Seriously, who even carries cash around these days! What are we going to do with it, and how are we supposed to use it!”

“Should we send it back?”

“You really know how to ruin the mood!”

Yoomin giggled and rolled around on the piles of money. Hyunwoo joined in, scattering the stacks of cash above her. Then, Hyunwoo said with a serious expression,

“I heard money is surprisingly dirty.”

“That’s what people who haven’t rolled around on 2 billion won say.”

As long as you don’t eat it, it should be fine. Besides, if you have a pile of money, shouldn’t you experience rolling around in it at least once in your life?

The concerns about how inefficient cash was, how to organize it, and where to store it were put aside for the moment.

‘To think I earned 550,000 won [approximately $400 USD] from running a dungeon today, and then I sell a few pieces of crystal moss from hell, difficulty: Hell, and suddenly I have 2 billion won.’

Moreover, the amount of crystal moss that could be harvested from hell was almost limitless. Hyunwoo even considered increasing the amount he sold. If he expanded his sales channels, he could potentially sell it all. But he quickly stopped himself.

What creates the value of a product is scarcity, not quality.

During the Age of Exploration, trading companies that dealt with spices used to burn the spices they had cultivated diligently to prevent their scarcity from decreasing. That was how they maintained the price of spices at the price of gold.

He couldn’t increase the sales volume without knowing exactly where this top-grade crystal moss was being used.

‘No, I should probably reduce it instead.’

In a monopoly situation, once the price goes up, it will never go down.

‘Monopoly is the flower of the market.’

At that moment, Hyunwoo felt Yoomin staring at him. Hyunwoo cleared his throat, feeling like he had been caught daydreaming.

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just…”

Yoomin said playfully.

“You had an expression like an evil spirit came to visit and left crying.”

***

Sejong Ability Management Department Headquarters.

Unlike the Ability Management Bureau in Gangnam, this place treated everything related to dungeons as national resources and managed them.

The purpose of the Ability Management Department was to cultivate ability users while utilizing and distributing the acquired items appropriately.

And one of their main tasks was to discover new talents through the ability user registration system before the clans did.

“Director Dowonkyung. Something strange came up here.”

Dowonkyung, the director of the Ability Research Institute on the top floor of the Ability Management Department Headquarters, took off her glasses with a tired expression.

She hadn’t slept properly because she was writing a research report on the legendary-grade item that had been excavated from a 5-star dungeon the day before yesterday.

“Is it important?”

“We’re in the middle of grading, but something strange came up.”

Dowonkyung frowned. From the hunters’ point of view, the importance of grading could never be considered low, but in the Ability Research Institute, where the workload was enormous, it was not something that even the director needed to worry about.

“Hey, I told you not to bother me with things like grading.”

“I know. But if it was something ordinary, would I be so confident in coming to see you, Director?”

Dowonkyung glared at Researcher Lee Siwon. He certainly seemed flustered, but there was a hint of confidence that ‘the director would make the same face as him if she saw this.’

“Why, did a 5-star grade finally come out?”

“If it was that, I wouldn’t be saying anything.”

Lee Siwon placed a piece of paper on the desk. Dowonkyung narrowed her eyes and read the paper. Her gaze stopped at one place for a moment, then she took off her glasses again and looked at it, then wiped her glasses again and looked at it one more time.

Only after she was sure that she hadn’t seen it wrong did she open her mouth.

“Is the machine broken?”

“Everyone else came out normal.”

“Then did you do something wrong in the collection process? Did you take some kind of medicine?”

“I’ve also done a drug test. I’ve also contacted the public official in charge.”

“Then what the hell is this?”

“How would I know if the director doesn’t know?”

Dowonkyung held her head for a moment and then handed the paper to Lee Siwon.

“To be honest, if it was a 5-star, I would have said, ‘Oh, that’s possible. Good for them.’ Because they already have something unofficially confirmed. If it was a 6-star, I would have jumped up and said, ‘Let’s go meet this guy right now.’ If it was a 7-star, I would have said, ‘Stop talking nonsense and re-examine it.’ But, um… this is a bit of an unacceptable result.”

Dowonkyung could understand why Lee Siwon was so calm. Seeing such an absurd result made it hard to believe.

But until now, the grading system had never produced a wrong result.

“Director Dowonkyung.”

Then another researcher peeked in. Dowonkyung gestured for them to step back. But the researcher said urgently with a flustered face.

“There’s someone with strange ability evaluation results, so we’re asking for advice. It’s the Gangnam Ability Management Bureau; they’ve repeated the test results three times, but the results are similar…”

Dowonkyung’s expression twitched.

Lee Siwon snatched the document and scanned it, then handed it back to Dowonkyung with an unbelievable expression.

Dowonkyung’s expression was similar. She read and compared the documents with the absurd grading results again.

“It’s the same person?”

“It’s the same person.”

Could these grading results be real? Dowonkyung had a dumbfounded expression.

“What’s the level measured by blood mana concentration?”

“Between 7 and 9.”

When you measure abilities, you can estimate the level to some extent. But it wasn’t the numerical value that was the problem with this ability.

The Sejong Research Institute has statistics accumulated from examining countless ability users. The abilities that rise per level differ slightly for each ability user, but they maintain a certain balance.

For example, if physical strength is D-grade, agility might be A-grade. As the level increases, the difference becomes more specialized and noticeable, but the total eventually reaches a similar average.

But this guy’s every stat was top-tier S.

All the stats indicate the highest level that the level can have.

No, since the highest value the tester can display is S, it may actually be higher than that.

Of course, the mental aspect cannot be measured yet. And it’s not like there aren’t similar cases.

Lee Jitae, for example, didn’t have any stats that fell below B.

But Dowonkyung was certain that this was the only person in the world with all stats at S.

It’s not attack-specialized, and it’s not defense-specialized. Someone who likes to nitpick might say it’s a mixed bag that’s neither one thing nor the other.

But in Dowonkyung’s eyes, it looked like a perfect and even beautiful number.

“Director Dowonkyung.”

When she heard someone calling again, Dowonkyung wasn’t even surprised at what was going on. The newly arrived researcher flinched at the strange atmosphere in the director’s office.

“Director Park Doryeong of Hwanma Clan urgently called. He asked for the evaluation results of a certain person. He said he would donate 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD] to the research institute if we told him before the official announcement.”

“Who…”

“Kang Hyunwoo?”

Dowonkyung cut off Lee Siwon as he was about to ask. The newly arrived researcher widened his eyes and nodded.

“How did you know? That’s right. Was there a similar request already?”

Lee Siwon and Dowonkyung exchanged glances. Dowonkyung opened her mouth heavily.

“It’s the same person again.”

Dowonkyung didn’t know how to accept this result.

The three letters written in the document, the name Kang Hyunwoo, were clearly etched in her mind. Regardless of whether the data written in the document could be believed as it was, it was clear that there was something about him.

And the clans would have sensitively noticed the appearance of that heterogeneous being.

“Ignore the clan’s request.”

“Yes? But…”

“Do you think this person’s value is only 100 million won?”

First of all, it is a priority to verify the facts of this data. But if either of the two is true, the research institute, no, Korea, has seized the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Immediately investigate everything about this person named Kang Hyunwoo! Blood ties, hometown, education, where he lives, his past, even the toothbrush he uses! Until then, all information about this is top secret! Don’t reveal anything! If a word leaks out, I’ll throw you out the window myself!”

“Yes? But the grade judgment announcement is coming soon, isn’t it? The ability users will be waiting.”

Dowonkyung glared at Lee Siwon, who had brought up the topic, with terrifying eyes. Lee Siwon almost peed his pants.

“Postpone everything until that guy, no, until Kang Hyunwoo is secured! So that it doesn’t stand out! Even if it takes a month if necessary!”

At Dowonkyung’s roar, the researchers scattered like cockroaches. Lee Siwon felt that this extraordinary situation was a very important phase.

Dowonkyung’s footprints were on every major step in Korean mana research. It was all thanks to her brilliant intuition.

But it was questionable whether Director Dowonkyung would be able to achieve what she wanted this time as well.

“Director, it’s been a long time since he took the test, will it be okay? With this kind of potential, other clans or headhunters would have noticed him too. It’s better to assume that he already belongs somewhere…”

“We’ll have to contact him as soon as possible.”

Dowonkyung muttered, biting her lip tightly. Her gaze was fixed on a photo attached to Kang Hyunwoo’s resume as if to pierce it.

“Kang Hyunwoo, Kang Hyunwoo. What are you doing, Kang Hyunwoo.”

***

Kang Hyunwoo was lying in the bathroom.

The bathroom is not a good place to lie down. Especially in your underwear. No matter how well you wipe off the water, the cold tiles are still unpleasant. But right now, there was no suitable place other than here.

Then Yoomin opened the door and came in. She asked with a nervous expression.

“Are you ready?”

“What do I have to prepare?”

Yoomin sat next to Hyunwoo. The sensual situation that had happened a while ago came to mind, but unlike Hyunwoo, Yoomin was wearing rain gear. If she had a protective suit, she would have worn it.

Fortunately, the size of the bathroom was generous enough to accommodate two people.

‘…It would be better if there was a bathtub.’

Now that he had money, there was no reason to live in Yoomin’s house anymore. Hyunwoo was already feeling the need for a decent house.

It was also awkward to be conscious of other people’s eyes every time he returned from hell, and he also needed a place to experiment with skills and items. It would be nice to have a place with few people and a large site.

‘But first, I have to solve this.’

Hyunwoo forced a smile as he looked at the thick, sharp needle looming in front of him.

What he was trying to do was simple. Blood collection.

“…Will this really make it possible to judge the grade?”

“Of course. The Ability Management Bureau only does a simple test to find out the grade because of budget issues, but if we do a precise test in our lab, we can find out more in-depth. Bone marrow collection is the best, but extracting it near the dantian [energy center in the body] is enough for now.”

While waiting for the grade judgment results that were not coming out easily, Yoomin told Hyunwoo that there was a clue about the grade increase.

Yoomin is still a graduate student who has not passed her doctoral thesis, but she still works in a mana-related research lab.

In fact, the field she is interested in is mainly about ability user awakening. Naturally, it was also connected to research on grade increases. So Yoomin said that if she collected blood from a certain part with a somewhat complicated name, she could estimate how much mana was in the body and how much was left until the grade increase.

‘The problem is that I don’t know how deadly my blood will be.’

Logically speaking, if poison flows in the blood, the body fluid itself can be considered dangerous. But Hyunwoo’s sweat, as well as the exchange of body fluids with Yoomin… let’s skip this point. Anyway, Yoomin was fine.

It’s better to see that Yoomin has immunity than that the skill ability has its own standards and distinguishes it.

‘It’s unlikely that only red blood cells have toxicity.’

So, for now, it was thought to be safe, but in preparation for any possible situation, he ended up lying naked in the bathroom like this.