Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 245

245. Star of Hell (12)

Northwest.

Once the West Sea, this area was now a white, dried-up expanse, known as the Salt Wasteland.

Everything was desiccated in the Salt Wasteland, yet it wasn’t entirely devoid of life.

Ironically, land beasts now ruled this wasteland that was once the sea.

“Oooooooo!”

The howl of a wolf echoed from the towering salt cliffs.

Something nestled in a cave within the cliff’s crevice quickly lashed out with its tentacles.

The approaching wolves nimbly dodged, targeting the gaps between the tentacles.

It was called the ‘Oblivion Abyss Octopus,’ but no wolf cared about such a name now.

The important thing was that it used the perfectly sized cliff cave as a nest, only wielding its tentacles without revealing its main body.

The werewolf pack had been starving for nearly forty-one days. Mana [magical energy] could prevent death from starvation, but it didn’t satisfy their hunger.

The wolves howled fiercely and charged at the tentacles.

Thwack, yelp! A particularly red tentacle struck a charging wolf in an instant.

Inside the tentacle were hundreds of sharp fangs. The tentacle gripped the wolf tightly with its fangs and dragged it inside in one swift motion.

A savage chewing sound emanated from within.

That was the third one already.

The number of the starving wolf pack dwindled, and they couldn’t help but lose heart. Red blood spread across the pure white Salt Wasteland.

No matter how they looked at it, there was no way to drag the octopus out of the cliff. They could only bark at the octopus.

That’s when it happened.

“Woo-oo-oo-oo!”

A resounding howl echoed through the salt cliff area. It was a tremendous sound that made their fur stand on end.

The movement of the tentacles faltered, and the wolves’ gazes turned upward. A strange silhouette was visible above the cliff area.

It was a werewolf with pure white fur.

The werewolves recognized that pure white fur as the mark of royal lineage, a Lycanthrope.

For a moment, the werewolves were reminded of their chieftain, but they flinched, realizing that it was much smaller than their chieftain.

The Lycanthrope with pure white fur raised his fist to the sky and then struck the cliff in one swift motion.

The ground rumbled with a sound like thunder.

The werewolves watched in bewilderment. Was he really going to do that? Was that even possible?

Even though the werewolves believed it was impossible, they barked fiercely at the Lycanthrope with an unknown sense of unease.

But the Lycanthrope paid no mind and struck the cliff again.

Soon, his pure white fur was stained with red blood.

But at some point, after more than ten punches, a massive crack suddenly began to form in the salt cliff.

As the salt cliff began to collapse with a deafening roar, the octopus hiding in the cave had no choice but to crawl out in panic.

What appeared was a head the size of a house.

The massive head crawled along, its thick lips, split into dozens of strands, flailing.

Whenever the pink lips twitched, the werewolves recoiled in disgust.

At that moment, the Lycanthrope on the cliff jumped down towards the octopus in one swift motion.

The octopus tried to ensnare the Lycanthrope with its tentacles, but the Lycanthrope pierced through its head in an instant and burrowed inside.

The octopus screamed strangely and writhed. The tentacles changed into all sorts of vibrant colors before slowly slowing down.

Then, at some point, the octopus’s head split open with a thud.

In the dark ink, the Lycanthrope slowly stood up.

The werewolves cautiously watched the opponent who had accomplished such a feat alone. One of them transformed into a half-human, half-beast form.

There was only one royal lineage with pure white fur.

The small prince who had fled to the east.

One of the werewolves who knew him carefully opened his mouth.

“Yerdansk?”

A stir spread through the werewolf pack at his question.

Yerdan gave no answer, but the silence itself was affirmation.

Yerdansk was a target for the werewolves to kill.

But now, no one dared to attack him. Yerdan was somehow very different compared to when he had fled the tribe.

His white fur even had a golden hue, and his yellow eyes were now closer to purple.

What had changed most of all was his aura.

An aura that naturally made the werewolves tuck their tails was flowing out.

The werewolf swallowed hard and opened his mouth.

“Yerdansk, descendant of the surviving royalty. Your strength is commendable. But the shape and flow of nature are things that they must adapt to, not something that can be changed at will.”

“The shape and flow of nature?”

Yerdan opened his mouth for the first time. The werewolf nodded and said.

“The way the mountains and seas fluctuate, and the ecosystem that forms the cycle of all living things. It also goes against the teachings of the Roaring Star, the king of all beasts.”

The werewolf was pointing out that Yerdan had collapsed the cliff.

At that moment, Yerdan burst into laughter.

The werewolves were on the verge of having their hearts stop at the fierce laughter.

The werewolves barked, each one rushing ahead of the other, with a strange sense of unease that they themselves did not know.

The laughter gradually subsided, and Yerdan opened his mouth with a smile on his face.

“There are many things to point out.”

“Point out?”

“First, the shape of nature, come on. The world has changed to this state, where is there anything natural, and where is the ecosystem? It’s pathetic that you’re still playing along with such a charade.”

“The Roaring Star…….”

“Screw Hirumas.”

The werewolf wore a shocked expression.

Hirumas was the name of the Roaring Star.

As beings bound to the form of beasts, they could not escape the influence of the Roaring Star. But to openly call its name and insult it?

While the werewolf was unable to speak, Yerdan continued to speak.

“Second, I am not royalty. All kings will die or fall. Now I am just a wolf.”

“Not royalty? But you…….”

“Listen.”

Yerdan stomped his foot on the ground and shouted.

“All history to this point is the history of class struggle.”

***

The rumors were not only spreading in the Salt Wasteland of the Northwest.

In the West, the vassals of the Star of Conquest were hammering weapons in the smithy, whispering secretly.

The whispering voices were not heard amidst the fierce hammering of the molten iron.

They began to tell insidious and rebellious stories.

[You who are miserable, abandoned, and unchosen.]

In the East, the vassals of the Star of Starvation, filling their hungry bellies with rotting corpses, spoke of the rumors that were circulating.

Even as they shoved maggots into their mouths as if they were delicacies, they imagined a blissful banquet and uttered sweet words.

[You have been used, lost your packs, and been ignored even by those above who should have helped you.]

In the North, the dead wandering in the winter wind heard an old message in the wind.

Most of them had long forgotten their last thoughts, but some who still had a self turned their heads towards the source of the wind.

[You do not belong anywhere. Yet you were busy tearing each other apart. Poverty and weakness only went downwards, further downwards.]

In the South, in the rocky terrain of the shattered earth, an insidious schemer heard the rumors.

The schemer laughed like rocks cracking and encouraged the rumors to spread further and faster.

The rumors wedged themselves into the cracks the schemer had created, driving in an even stronger wedge.

[Was the blood of your starving kin sweet? Did you think that a life of killing one to fill another would free you from your current hardships? Hunger, wraiths, madness, nightmares, conspiracies threaten you. Do you think tomorrow will be better?]

But it was the majority of monsters who did not belong anywhere who spread and heard the most rumors.

Stars that had given up and left, or those who had lost all their agents and apostles, or those who had never been chosen by anyone in the first place.

Just trivial and powerless species who hid because they were afraid and struggling.

They, who were at the very bottom of the food chain, were whispering this strange and bizarre rumor.

A rumor that they would be given a chance.

[I will give you the chance to tear apart those who look down from the sky with such loathing.]

A rumor that they would be given the power of the stars.

[I will give all of you the power to seize the stars.]

A rumor that they would be given the power to covet those self-proclaimed great beings who had tormented them for so long.

[I will show you that even the sewers under the earth can defile the stars in the sky.]

A man who had crawled up from the very bottom, finally seizing the stars over death, was declaring that he would drag down all the stars and make those arrogant beings taste the sewage.

[Rise up. And come to me!]

And the rumors always ended like this.

[We have nothing to lose but the chains of bondage, and a world to gain! Unite!]

***

“……That’s the Communist Manifesto, isn’t it?”

Sang-hyun, who had first heard Hyun-mu’s declaration at the crossroads, said to Hyun-mu as if she was taken aback.

Ha-hyun seemed inwardly moved, but Sang-hyun was not.

She asked Hyun-mu when he was alone with a very complicated heart.

Hyun-mu answered calmly.

“I only took the first and last parts, but yeah, it is. Is there a problem? Even if there is, there’s nothing I can do. All the people who would question that are either dead or have become monsters.”

“No, that’s true, but…… you’re going to share all the power of the stars? Is that even possible?”

“Of course, I can’t give it all away.”

Hyun-mu said leisurely.

“The important thing is that I accept monsters without discrimination and scatter the power of the stars as much as possible. It’s not just the apostles and agents who monopolize it. There will be packs of monsters, so it’s enough to give it only to the leaders of the packs.”

“It still seems like it’ll be lacking.”

“It includes the fragments of stars that I will acquire in the future. Kirson told me. It’s easy to raise the low ones to the middle, but it’s difficult to raise the middle to the top. The higher you go, the more power you need.”

Hyun-mu spread out his fingers and said.

“I will give all 10 of the power that can be obtained from the fragments of the stars to everyone. I will strengthen as many vassals as possible with very little power.”

For this plan, Hyun-mu had already divided most of the power of the stars he had among Ha-hyun, Kazat, Yerdan, and Kirson.

Now, as apostles, they would spread power on behalf of Hyun-mu.

What Hyun-mu was doing was the exact opposite of what other stars were doing.

Agents ultimately use apostles and vassals to strengthen their own power. The agent’s immense power comes from all the monopolized power.

But the problem with this method is that the higher you go, the more power you need.

If one cup of water is needed to fill a vassal to rise one level, then a bucket is needed for an apostle, and a room is needed for an agent.

In other words, it can only become increasingly slow and inefficient.

But Hyun-mu was saying that he would divide and divide the power of the stars he had and give it away.

Even a single goblin could become as strong as Kirson, but it would make the star’s rank, which he had obtained with such effort, meaningless.

It was something that Sang-hyun couldn’t understand.

“……What do you get from doing that?”

“First, a massive force.”

Sang-hyun sighed at Hyun-mu’s answer.

“Do you really think monsters know about ideological struggles and agree with them? There aren’t that many monsters with high intelligence. Especially if it’s communism.”

“Sang-hyun, do you really think humans are so intelligent and smart that they were so absorbed in communism? You overestimate humans too much.”

Sang-hyun closed her mouth. Hyun-mu smiled and said.

“The content of the speech itself isn’t that difficult either. But if the difficulty was lower, I would have thought like you too. But here, in difficulty: Hell, the intelligence level of the monsters seems pretty decent.”

“I don’t know what to say…….”

“And I’m appealing to the instinctive part of living beings more than that.”

“Instinctive part?”

“I answered that the first thing was a massive force, right? That’s my second answer.”

Hyun-mu spread out two fingers and said.

“Second, their cracks. I’m touching their pitchfork instinct.”

“Pitchfork…… what?”

“People, no, any living thing wants to bring down the guy above them. Would monsters be any different? They are much more oppressed, and their desire to rise is no less. You can see that just by looking at Kirson.”

Not to mention the Star of Conquest, and of course, the Star of Starvation.

Universally, all beings have their own desires. But the stars were monopolizing all the means and power to achieve them.

Hyun-mu’s declaration could make their desires wriggle.

“The smallest and lowest will bring down the stars. That’s also their most fervent desire.”

Sang-hyun was speechless at Hyun-mu’s confidence.

But now she realized that what Hyun-mu was saying was what he had been doing and would continue to do.

He, who had been dipping his hands in the sewers, was now trying to seize the stars and bring down other stars.

What he was doing now was the very identity of the star called Hyun-mu.

“But communism failed, didn’t it?”

“Failed? Who says?”

“Isn’t it the established theory that communism failed after the collapse of the Soviet Union?”

“Communism is a powerful ideology that broke down that strong capitalism and monarchy and instantly divided the world in half? Even after that, communism changed its name to socialism and is still located all over the world? You have to say it adapted by changing its form.”

Sang-hyun frowned.

She had no idea how much Hyun-mu had prepared.

But Hyun-mu wasn’t particularly absorbed in communism.

It was just that one of his fellow miners was a learned socialist when he was working as a gatherer in the industrial complex.

At the time, he just thought it was funny nonsense, but he never thought he would use it here.

“No, so anyway, it eventually failed, right?”

“How many years did it take for that communist country to collapse?”

Hyun-mu smiled.

“We’re not trying to build a country that will last for ten thousand years. We’re just setting a fire first. Once the fire spreads, the guy left in the ashes wins. As long as we win, that’s all that matters. Once we win, the star is ours, and the result can’t be reversed. And originally, it is the people who shed blood in the revolution, but it is not the people who seize power. It’s the demagogue who incited the people.”

In other words, Hyun-mu had no interest in improving the treatment of monsters or equal rights in the first place.

No, the speech didn’t contain such content from the beginning.

He was just saying that he would break and overthrow those arrogant ones above.

He couldn’t guarantee whether he would succeed or not, but Hyun-mu was trying to devour all these shortcomings and desires and monopolize the price.

Even though Hyun-mu had the hopes of humans on his shoulders.

“Sang-hyun, I like the human world so much. That’s why I want to leave it behind. But humans have also created the worst things. And hell has humans and methods that are suitable for hell. I’m using those worst humans as role models.”

Hyun-mu was getting his motifs from the countless madness, dictatorships, and evil deeds that had existed in history.

In the communist revolution that burned with equality, in the end, the power was held by only one man, a man called the Steel Secretary.

“The hell that humans created will save humans from hell.”

Sang-hyun trembled her lips and slowly opened her mouth.

“Hyun-mu, you’re a really disgusting guy.”

“Thank you.”

“But…… it’s hard to argue who’s the worse guy in this world.”

This is already hell.

Then they would have to fight a fight worthy of hell.

“That’s right. From the beginning, this wasn’t a fight about who’s right or wrong. It was a fight about who’s left at the end.”

Nevertheless, Sang-hyun couldn’t erase her contemptuous expression.

“I think I’ve found a star name that suits you.”