Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 171

171. Northern Expedition (2)

Amini didn’t truly consider Korea a small, insignificant country.

It was merely a remark intended to provoke the Chinese military officer’s pride.

As expected, the Chinese officer appeared offended. However, he wasn’t foolish enough to be swayed by a fleeting emotion.

“I simply wish to exercise caution.”

More precisely, he wanted to protect his position.

Currently, China was caught between two conflicting viewpoints regarding Korea’s Northern Expedition.

One viewpoint advocated for China’s participation in Korea’s Northern Expedition to secure influence on the Korean Peninsula. The other argued that there was no need to expend valuable ability users to occupy territory teeming only with monsters.

The military was also divided into factions, and the officer had received conflicting orders simultaneously.

It wasn’t difficult to understand.

China was ultimately governed by the Party, and the Party was divided into internal factions.

Various opinions were voiced, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to delay any longer.

The unit had completed ammunition distribution and loading and was preparing to move.

However, the officer was honestly inclined to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

If they had to participate, it wouldn’t be too late to enter once the Korean army and the monsters in North Korea had weakened each other after a bloody conflict.

However, Shiba Amini, affiliated with the UN Special Monitoring Division, was requesting immediate deployment.

“As I’ve stated, Chrome will not provide assistance unless it’s right now. Without the help of our ability users, China will also suffer unnecessary losses.”

This was also a difficult offer to refuse.

Such expeditions required the assistance of ability users who were more powerful than the military. And Chrome possessed more ability users than any other group.

Rejecting Chrome’s offer would be unwise.

“Don’t scavenge for scraps like hyenas; boldly seize your prey. This opportunity won’t come again if not now.”

“Well, there’s no immediate need to enter, is there? If the Korean army’s situation becomes dire, we can enter with legitimate justification then. Both you and we will have a justifiable cause, and unnecessary conflicts will be avoided.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The Korean government and Taesung seemed confident in the Northern Expedition, but Amini couldn’t help but prepare for the worst-case scenario.

If that ‘worst-case scenario’ were to occur, wouldn’t they be able to enter without diplomatic complications?

Of course, the real intention was to buy time while keeping Chrome engaged, but this was also the best option for them.

Amini felt frustrated. She didn’t have time to argue with just one officer like this.

“Amini, why aren’t you moving? Are you just going to waste time here?”

The officer suddenly heard a voice muttering beside him. It was a woman in a shabby outfit with her hood pulled down.

She could easily be mistaken for a beggar, but the officer realized that she had approached without being stopped by the other soldiers.

“There’s a slight difference of opinion. Ms. Xiaojie, it seems we might not be departing today.”

Only then could the officer see the face of the ability user who had just arrived in detail.

Xiaojie.

She was an ability user belonging to the top ranks in China.

He had heard that she had retired with a large sum of money after reaching the limit level and had become reclusive, but he never imagined she would be affiliated with Chrome.

Judging by her unkempt appearance, it seemed the rumors that her laziness was beyond imagination were true.

“Difference of opinion?”

Xiaojie stared at the officer with dark circles under her eyes.

“You called me all the way here, and you’re saying there’s a difference of opinion? Then why did you call me?”

“I’m not sure either, Ms. Xiaojie. But in the military, it’s common for operations to be canceled right before they start. It seems that deciding whether to depart now or not is solely this officer’s authority.”

At Amini’s words, Xiaojie stared intently at the officer.

The officer cleared his throat, trying to convey, ‘Even if Xiaojie is a top ranker, she can’t manipulate the military as she pleases.’

Xiaojie’s long sleeve grabbed the officer’s chin.

The officer’s eyes widened, and with a cracking sound, his neck twisted.

It was a fleeting moment.

Even Amini was shocked. She had hoped Xiaojie would apply pressure, but she never expected her to kill the officer.

However, the moment Xiaojie released her hand, the officer’s neck began to click and return to its original position.

A gloomy, deep blue light flickered in the officer’s eyes before disappearing.

“Go and get them to depart.”

The officer bowed his head and walked up the hill.

Amini looked back and forth between the officer and Xiaojie with a bewildered expression.

“What did you do? Is that your ability?”

“Yeah.”

Xiaojie put her hands deep into her pockets and stared at Amini with gloomy eyes.

“Amini, if you’re going to get caught up in such useless things, just say so. You tend to be too bound by the system. I’m saying this because I don’t think you know who your friends are and who’s behind them.”

“But this kind of thing…….”

“Anyway, the officer would have moved within today. You would have used all your fancy words and political connections to sway the officer’s decision. Would have taken about four or five hours? Whether it’s my way or your way, the result is the same. The People’s Liberation Army is finally moving.”

The surrounding air, which had been silent, began to tremble. Countless tanks and soldiers began to cross the bridge in a line.

The bridge, which had not welcomed human footsteps for a long time, creaked and groaned.

The People’s Liberation Army began to march all at once.

Towards North Korean territory.

“I know you brought in the Chinese army because you wanted to minimize casualties. In that sense, isn’t sacrificing the life of one officer to save four or five hours a small price to pay?”

Amini didn’t answer. Xiaojie chuckled at her silence.

“Amini, you’ve probably met the most powerful people in the world. But it’s amazing that you’re still so bound by old ideas. Times are changing.”

Amini looked indignant.

“Times are changing? What are you talking about? What we’re trying to protect is that era.”

“How righteous.”

Xiaojie replied with a crooked smile. She turned around and slowly headed in the direction the unit was moving.

“See you later. I’ve worked so hard, so let me rest for today. There are other guys too.”

“Wait a minute. Ms. Xiaojie.”

Amini hurriedly stopped Xiaojie.

“You originally said you were too lazy to participate in the expedition. But today, you suddenly appeared and changed your mind. You even laid a hand on a military officer. Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

Xiaojie didn’t turn around and answered.

“I just thought I should finish what I have to do quickly and rest. A star whispered to me.”

Star.

Amini tensed up when she heard the story about the stars, which she often heard whenever she met a 5-star ability user.

She still didn’t know what the stars meant, whether they were abstract metaphors or real concepts.

If they were real concepts, did that mean those ‘stars’ were interested in this expedition?

“……Did the star tell you to participate in the war?”

“No.”

Xiaojie smiled and turned to look at Amini.

“It wanted me to watch the wonderful results you’ll create.”

Amini couldn’t understand what she meant.

Xiaojie raised her right hand from her pocket as if saying goodbye and walked away. As her sleeve slipped down, the back of her hand was revealed.

On the back of Xiaojie’s right hand, there was a complex pattern with an unknown meaning.

***

The 4-star dungeon that Hyun-woo stepped into was, as expected, a dungeon with many werewolves.

It was similar in structure to the werewolf dungeon where he had killed the 4-star hunter Endo near the demilitarized zone.

The only difference was that it was a mountainous area with valleys instead of a plain like before.

The result would be the same, though.

Since the Flood [a massive surge of monsters from a dungeon] had already occurred, the dungeon was saturated with werewolves.

A scene of carnage was already unfolding, with them killing and eating each other. This was the situation when monsters poured out so recklessly during a Flood.

“Damn it.”

Naturally, Hyun-woo, who was practically buried among the monsters, couldn’t help but become covered in blood.

Hyun-woo had no choice but to use an extreme method.

One day later.

Hyun-woo found the return stone.

Tap.

Just as he stood in front of the return stone, he heard a light footstep.

It was an intentional sound, even though it could have been avoided.

When Hyun-woo turned around, the Lesser Moon Spider, now simply named Hahyun, stood there with a frown.

[Hahyun (LV 53)]

Her level had been downgraded as she became Hyun-woo’s subordinate, but her skills were still formidable. The drop wasn’t as significant as he had expected.

She pushed aside the slimy mass on the floor and said.

“Did you do this?”

The surroundings were filled with countless werewolf corpses, all melting away into a dark, murky mess.

There were a few Lycanthropes here and there, but they were only suffering longer due to their tenacious lifeforce.

None of them could move.

Hyun-woo shrugged.

“A narrow and oversaturated living space, an extremely unsanitary environment, and the common habit of biting and licking each other. It’s the perfect environment for a plague to spread. Don’t you think?”

All of them were monsters dying from Hyun-woo’s venomous blood.

It was enough to let a few werewolves infected with Hyun-woo’s venomous blood roam around while activating the infection and parasitism traits.

The infected werewolves increased exponentially, and Hyun-woo activated the kill switch when he thought the timing was right.

And the entire dungeon was engulfed in death.

“I was wondering why the kids were withering away and collapsing while I was cleaning up the north. I had a feeling, and it was you.”

Hahyun looked at the werewolf corpses with a reluctant expression and said.

“But…… your poison, something’s a bit strange.”

“What is it?”

“Normally, neither plagues nor poisons can have such effects. If the lethality rate is high, they usually die before they can infect, so the infectivity decreases. High infectivity also means a lower lethality rate. But you have host manipulation, strong toxicity, and infectivity all at once?”

‘Besides that, there’s also the blood of the hungry, pheromones, and acidic properties.’

Hyun-woo also knew that his venomous blood had an unusually large number of traits attached to it.

But traits only awaken in situations close to the brink of death, and Hyun-woo had experienced that brink of death, no, death itself, close to hundreds of times. So, he felt like it was rather stingy.

“Why is that strange? When has this place ever been so rational? It can happen.”

Hahyun seemed to have lost her words at Hyun-woo’s retort. But she soon retorted with a flare.

“No, it’s strange. To have that many traits, you should already belong to the constellation [a group of powerful beings or entities]. Even under the condition that you only have that one skill. Maybe the only one with that much poison is the cook of the Starving Star, Yogulem. Have you ever been favored by the Starving Star?”

Favored. If being chewed up and swallowed is affection, then he had received it.

“Maybe I was just lucky.”

Hahyun had a frustrated expression, but Hyun-woo wouldn’t know the answer either. Hyun-woo quickly changed the subject to Hahyun.

“Did you see your sister?”

Hahyun frowned. She made a complicated expression and nodded.

“That person in the exhibition hall? I only saw her from a distance, but I don’t know. I just feel like she’s someone who looks alike. Actually, my memories before being reborn as a human-faced spider are just like a dream.”

Hahyun created a few small spiders from her fingers and said.

“I am an aggregate of countless spiders. Small and simple thoughts gather to maintain a single consistent memory and ego. So, I only feel about my past self as ‘there was a time like that,’ and I don’t feel any particular emotions. I don’t want to think that I have two sisters either.”

“I see.”

It was one of the problems he was worried about, but it seemed to have gone well.

If Hahyun doesn’t show interest in Song Ji-min or Song Yeo-un and moves on like this, they will be able to move smoothly as a team.

“Then let’s get out of here. My clothes will smell if I stay here any longer.”

“Yeah. It seems already late…….”

Hahyun suddenly turned her head. At the same time, Hyun-woo was looking in the direction Hahyun was looking.

Both of them felt the same thing at the same time. There was no situation that would be a problem since they had already eliminated the boss monsters, which were the second and third targets. But a clear sense of incongruity was felt.

“That way.”

One of the Lycanthropes who had fallen to the floor and was trembling was convulsing and standing up.

Was there still a strong one left? At that moment, the flesh and skin suddenly peeled off and poured down.

Only a skeleton covered in black fluid remained, shaking.

However, as if it had become lighter only after abandoning its flesh, the skeleton stopped convulsing and stood up completely. The skeletal werewolf stared at Hyun-woo and Hahyun.

‘Was there a hidden gimmick?’

He had never heard of a skeletal werewolf appearing in a werewolf dungeon.

But Hyun-woo thought of one possibility.

[Undead Werewolf (LV 45)]

Perhaps he was about to discover the first undead monster that had never been reported before.