Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 103

103. Approaching Threat (4)

The Orc Chieftain was utterly bewildered by the sudden, immense impact. He knew mortar shells well enough; one of the eccentric Orcs enjoyed using them.

They weren’t particularly effective at catching enemies, but they were useful for destroying buildings, so he let it be. Sometimes, burying enemies alive was more entertaining.

So, when the first mortar hit, he thought the crazy Orc had misfired. But when the second one followed, he grew suspicious.

Could someone have stolen and used the mortar? But anyone smart enough to use a mortar would also know it wasn’t that significant.

“Anyone dead?!”

“Kweeek, no one! Some crazy bastard!”

However, it was effective at destroying food and lodging. The Orcs, enraged, stormed out of their tents, ready to attack the enemy immediately.

The shelling came from somewhere in the southeast. Just as the Orc Chieftain was about to send his Orcs in that direction, he noticed something.

The mortar attack had started right after they found the werewolf’s corpse. Could there be a connection?

The Orc Chieftain’s gaze turned to the werewolf’s body. The corpse, thrown by the mortar blast, lay sprawled haphazardly.

Then, the Orc Chieftain noticed that the werewolf’s corpse was unnaturally stitched up. It had been hard to see under the fur. Something had come out of the burst area.

Shells. And something dart-shaped.

“Everyone, get down…”

The Orc Chieftain’s words were cut short. A mortar shell struck the werewolf’s corpse with incredible accuracy.

Instantly, the dozens of shells hidden inside the werewolf’s belly detonated in a chain reaction. The intense heat of the massive explosion engulfed the Orc Chieftain.

But it wasn’t the heat or the concussive force that finished him.

Hundreds of hell darts and rare weapons, hidden with the shells, tore through the Orcs in the encampment in an instant.

***

Hyeon-woo cheered as he watched the rising flames.

“This is the taste of firearms, you savages!”

The encampment was now a sea of fire, and the Orcs, struck by Hyeon-woo’s rare weapon bomb, limped out of the encampment.

The kill count continued to rise as more died.

Yerdenisk watched the scene, speechless.

“Magic… is that magic?”

“Hmm, if it’s magic, it’s the most expensive magic in the world.”

In reality, it should be called the most expensive improvised explosive.

The weapons packed into the werewolf’s corpse as shrapnel were mostly rare-grade weapons.

They were made on the spot using the ubiquitous crystal moss. Hell darts, iron nails, and even hellfire pebbles were included.

The description said they were for slingers, but as far as Hyeon-woo was concerned, anything that could be launched was fine.

“It’s a shame to waste shells like this, but I’ll find more soon enough.”

If necessary, he could get them from the modern world. It would be a difficult route, but he could make Park Hwi-soo work it out somehow. If not, he could pester Dowonkyung.

‘If parts can be procured, I might be able to bring in a tank, piece by piece.’

Though it wouldn’t be very meaningful.

Hyeon-woo abandoned the mortar and started heading down. The clanging of the chain dragged Yerdenisk by the neck.

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you think? It’s time to catch and kill those crazy bastards.”

He still needed to kill over ten more to complete the quest.

Hunting down the already insane was easy. Yerdenisk followed him, agitated.

***

[Quest Success!]

[You have succeeded in the quest ‘Approaching Threat’.]

[One ‘Silver Box’ is provided as a reward.]

[The reward is increased due to difficulty compensation relative to level.]

[One ‘Silver Box’ changes to one ‘Gold Box’.]

After killing all the Orcs and finishing up, his level was 38. He was now close to level 40.

Hyeon-woo was most proud of the fact that he had cleared the quest without dying once.

It was a shame that it stopped at a Gold Box because it was an easy quest.

He had expected a Platinum Box when he received the quest to stop the Fallen Empire, but it seemed this was the limit. Hyeon-woo opened the box without hesitation.

[Random Skill Enhancement Potion (Legendary)]

‘Skill enhancement…’

Too many different skills were unnecessary. Most situations could be covered to some extent with the skills he had and the items he possessed.

Therefore, enhancing a skill was quite appealing.

‘But why random?’

Hyeon-woo needed to balance reality and hell.

In hell, combat abilities were essential, while in reality, more utility-based abilities were needed.

No matter how much he strengthened his combat abilities in hell, it would never be enough, but he couldn’t neglect reality either.

‘There’s a limit to solving things with force alone.’

Hyeon-woo wanted Battle Helper the most.

Poison Blood was the most useful, but that was all he could use.

Currently, there was no way to develop Hyeon-woo’s physical abilities other than leveling up, so he needed an ability like Battle Helper that could increase his overall abilities.

‘Who knows? Maybe next time, something like an aimbot will come out.’

Battle Helper had an accuracy correction function, so there was no reason why an aimbot couldn’t exist.

Hyeon-woo next wanted Domination.

Domination had endless possibilities, but its power varied too much depending on the atmosphere and the target.

He especially liked that it was a skill that could subdue opponents without killing or using violence. It was the most necessary ability in reality.

Hyeon-woo fiddled with the potion before swallowing it in one gulp. The effect was immediate.

[Domination (Legendary) has been enhanced to Rule (Legendary/Unique).]

Domination was triggered. But Hyeon-woo was surprised by the new option attached to the grade.

‘Unique?’

In terms of items, was it like a genuine article?

Hyeon-woo thought that the ‘genuine’ grade meant that the item was actually used by the person described in the description and was the only one of its kind in the world.

If so, the ‘unique’ grade was likely to have a similar value.

‘I’m the only one who has the Rule skill?’

Hyeon-woo checked the stats first.

[Rule (Legendary)]

[Special Ability: The power of the Domination skill is greatly enhanced. When used on targets lower level than the user, it perfectly controls everything, including physical condition, until mana is exhausted. When used on higher-level targets, it instills strong suggestions.]

This was more than decent. With this, Hyeon-woo could completely manipulate the lives of lower-level ability users.

The massacre he had carried out against the monsters in the Severed Head Dungeon could also be carried out against lower-level ability users.

‘Just leveling up diligently is beneficial.’

It seemed absurd, but he didn’t feel like he could just be happy about it.

Difficulty: Hell. He knew that there were countless beings who commanded countless monsters without such skills.

And just knowing that there was another grade above Legendary made him feel like he had discovered a ceiling above the ceiling.

How much higher would it go? How much higher were the stars?

The more he tried to gauge the size of the world, the smaller he felt.

“Still, well… I’m still going up.”

“Boss, I’ve caught them all.”

At that moment, Kirson approached Hyeon-woo and reported. It was a report on the remaining Orcs who had fled.

The Orcs had come here on a scouting mission.

Although the quest was already completed, if even one of them returned and reported about Hyeon-woo, a difficult situation could arise, so Hyeon-woo had no intention of letting any of them escape.

About ten Orcs were lying face down on the ground, tied up.

No matter how strong they were, they were still creatures with joints and nerves, and they couldn’t exert any strength when lying face down with their arms and legs tied behind their backs. Especially if the muscles in their hands and feet had been severed.

“You worked hard. It must have been tough?”

“They surrendered when the werewolf came along.”

Hyeon-woo’s gaze turned to Yerdenisk. Yerdenisk looked at Hyeon-woo with heavy eyes.

His eyes were a jumble of fear, admiration, and respect. He didn’t seem to know what emotions he was feeling towards Hyeon-woo himself.

Hyeon-woo placed his foot on the head of one of the Orcs.

“Doggy, do you know what I’m about to do?”

“…….”

“I’m about to execute prisoners who have surrendered and been subdued. It’s very far from a warrior’s code. But these guys surrendered when they saw you. Maybe it’s because you guys diligently spare surrendered prisoners, right?”

The Orcs looked at Yerdenisk with terrified eyes. It seemed to be true since they didn’t answer.

Considering what he had seen of the warrior’s code, it was easy to guess that he would have released the prisoners. It was easy to show off to a subdued opponent.

But Hyeon-woo had no intention of doing that. No, Hyeon-woo didn’t think of himself as a strongman at all.

“One.”

Hyeon-woo used Rule to grab the heart of the Orc under his foot. The moment he induced a rapid heartbeat at a biologically impossible level, a dull sound echoed from inside the Orc’s body.

The Orc died, bleeding from every hole. Hyeon-woo didn’t even look at the Orc. He was only looking at Yerdenisk.

“Two.”

He placed his foot on the head of the second Orc. The Orc began to struggle wildly and shout at Yerdenisk. But it was useless. He met the same end.

“Three, four, five. Six.”

Next, he didn’t even put his foot on their heads. He simply walked forward slowly, and the Orcs’ hearts burst in time with the sound of his footsteps. The same went for seven, eight, and nine.

When the last one was left, Hyeon-woo’s foot stopped.

The Orc gasped wildly as he looked at Hyeon-woo’s foot, which had stopped right in front of him.

“Doggy, I don’t care about the warrior’s code or whatever. But I know what a dog’s code is. Don’t bite your owner, and do what your owner tells you to do.”

Hyeon-woo put his foot on the Orc’s head and ordered Yerdenisk.

The Covenant of Restraint had been completely lifted, so Yerdenisk was completely free. He was close enough to attack Hyeon-woo again if he wanted to.

But Hyeon-woo smiled broadly and said,

“Bite.”

Yerdenisk gasped roughly.

The pride, prejudice, and beliefs that had accumulated in his eyes for a long time shook and wavered. Half of his mind wanted to run away immediately, and the other half wanted to obey Hyeon-woo’s command.

But Hyeon-woo raised his finger in front of Yerdenisk’s eyes and said once more in a strong tone.

“Bite!”

The moment his finger pointed down, Yerdenisk lunged at the Orc. Unlike the other Orcs, the last Orc died with a miserable scream.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of bones breaking was also the sound of his beliefs as a warrior being shattered.

Hyeon-woo enjoyed the sound cheerfully.

Yerdenisk was a young wolf. If he had been older, Hyeon-woo would have given up and kept him bound by the Covenant of Restraint or killed him. Being young meant that he hadn’t accumulated enough prejudice yet.

“Good, good. Of course, the owner doesn’t abandon the dog. That’s not an owner, that’s, well. Hmm. Yeah. Let’s call it a bipedal piece of meat.”

To a dog, the owner is a world.

Now that this Lycanthrope had abandoned his world and come to him, Hyeon-woo was willing to create a new world for him.

A world of his own, with different values, morals, and concepts.

After a while, Yerdenisk, who had completely disassembled the Orc, found something in the scattered entrails.

Then, he transformed into a human form, held it in his mouth, crawled on all fours, and dropped it in front of Hyeon-woo.

It was the Orc’s heart.

“…What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I offer it to the leader.”

Was it a sign of obedience, or was it that the first prey after a hunt was given to the leader? Hyeon-woo looked around with a troubled expression.

Kirson was watching with a fascinated expression.

Other guys might eat an Orc’s heart with relish. Hyeon-woo had eaten worse things too. But he had no intention of eating it in his right mind.