Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 281

281. Whispering Star (3)

“America, huh.”

Helen pondered Lee Seo-yeon’s words, lost in thought.

Lee Seo-yeon was the closest among the Famished Star’s vassals to becoming its proxy.

Though the Famished Star didn’t yet have a proxy, few doubted that Helen was the de facto representative of its vassals. She had risen to that position through a series of significant events.

“Lee Seo-yeon, you know where the Famished Star draws its power from, don’t you?”

“It draws power from an insatiable, immense desire.”

Therefore, the Famished Star was inevitably the most powerful star in modern capitalist civilization. In fact, it wielded considerable influence in various places, including South China.

“Indeed. Then, naturally, in America, the country where desire burns most intensely… our Famished Star’s vassals should be thriving.”

However, there were no established apostles of the Famished Star in America. Even if there were some vassals, they were extremely weak.

“Considering the desire and greed they possess, it’s quite surprising. Well, America may not be as much *of a hotbed* as China, though.”

It was ironic that communist China overflowed with greed.

“And as far as I know, there are very few stars besides us that have taken root in America. It’s almost as if the place has been sterilized. There was suspicion that a star conquering *the region* was appearing in Iraq, but now it’s hard to find any trace of it. But if what you say is true, there’s a high probability that something is keeping the stars in check.”

“Yes. Therefore, it is presumed to be the base of a group called the Alliance, which *competes* for the best future.”

“…Lee Seo-yeon, this is no ordinary matter.”

Helen leaned forward with a serious expression.

“You said Lee Ji-tae is a vassal of a star that is *ahead of the curve*. That star is also quite powerful. The Shattered Star cannot be underestimated either. Moreover, the Alliance members you discovered also serve different stars, whether strong or weak. Do you know what this means?”

Lee Seo-yeon nodded but did not answer.

After all, Helen wasn’t really asking. She was merely soliloquizing to organize her own thoughts.

“The Alliance’s ‘Teacher’ is making his vassals give up their own victories. They are entrusting all their future to the Teacher, even giving up their own beliefs and lives. It’s impossible. What future could be *better* than one’s own beliefs?”

“I understand that the Alliance is not a very tightly bound group.”

“That’s what makes it even stranger.”

Helen frowned as she spoke.

“Such a loose organization cannot have such strong secrecy and beliefs. I don’t know what the hell is going on. I’m missing something. Kang Hyun-moo, the Alliance, something… feels off.”

What the Alliance was doing was like eliminating the soccer ball, saying, ‘Why are we fighting? The problem is the ball. If there’s no ball, there’s no need to fight,’ in a soccer game.

This was simply absurd from the perspective of players who could only accumulate prize money or advance their careers by winning the game.

The problem was that quite a few people were being assimilated into the Teacher’s beliefs.

Professor Maria Keller of Chrome had similar ideologies.

However, she was merely preventing the game from progressing due to the powerful individual, Adam Folt. She didn’t have the power to control the vassals of the stars.

However, Adam Folt couldn’t be allowed to devour all the stars either. If that happened, Adam Folt would be the only person left in the world.

Therefore, Helen highly valued Adam Folt’s individual power but didn’t overly *fear* him.

“We must monitor America as much as possible for now. Good work, Lee Seo-yeon. Focus on increasing your own power rather than other tasks for now. I’m very interested in your growth. You might become an apostle in the shortest amount of time among our vassals. We have many vacant apostle positions anyway.”

Lee Seo-yeon concealed her innermost feelings, smiled, and bowed. Helen smiled back.

Though they spoke like this, neither truly trusted each other.

The one who survived was the one who exploited the other and backstabbed them at the most opportune moment.

Helen still saw Lee Seo-yeon as valuable and not a threat, and Lee Seo-yeon was planning to walk a tightrope between Helen and Kang Hyun-moo, maximizing her power.

“The day I become a proxy, I will definitely keep you by my side.”

“I am simply overwhelmed by this great favor.”

The two exchanged insincere greetings and promised for the future.

***

Southeastern Mongolia, highland area near Baruun-Urt.

It was a quiet and open grassland where even a breeze was hard to find, but *especially* so today.

Gray-haired wolves were running quickly.

The scent of humans wafted in the direction they were chasing.

The wolves licked their lips. It had been over two days since they last drank blood.

Judging by the considerable scent, it seemed like they would feast after a long time.

Soon, they arrived at their destination, but no humans were in sight. It seemed they had moved their location not long ago.

Just as the alpha wolf was about to order the pursuit again, gunfire erupted from somewhere.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

The wolves’ gazes turned to the direction of the gunfire. In an instant, a massive explosion struck the place where they were.

The wolves’ bodies were thrown up in the explosion, but the alpha wolf was not surprised. He quickly transformed his body and let out a roar.

“It’s a human army!”

The wolves were surprised but soon wore cruel smiles.

Artillery fire was meaningless to them. Their leader was an apostle of the Roaring Star, and the wolves were monsters.

Having already defeated countless remnants of the Mongolian army, soldiers were nothing more than prey to them.

The alpha wolf howled first.

It was the signal to attack.

However, the wolves’ howling did not continue. Only then did the alpha wolf realize that the wolves directly hit by the artillery fire were unable to get up.

Soon, the shattered figures of the wolves came into view amidst the smoke and dust.

Whirr─

The sound of gunfire and shells falling was heard from afar. Soon, a clear purple warhead came into his sight.

***

The highland area, devastated by the shelling, was dyed black.

Hunters bustled about, finishing off the werewolves who were barely clinging to life.

It was hard to find werewolves in complete form. What the hunters were doing was merely finishing the job.

“I don’t know if you’ll feel the effect is sufficient.”

And Kang Hyun-moo and buyers from various countries were walking together over the ruins.

Among the buyers, the most numerous were those from the North Chinese government, who had lost a large number of ability users.

Most of them were examining the remains of the monsters with speechless expressions.

As those who had come to buy anti-monster weaponry, most were ability users or well-versed in dungeons.

They knew that Korea was leading anti-monster weapon research, but they didn’t know that they had already succeeded in developing shells.

Of course, it wasn’t an achievement made solely by Dowonkyung and Yoo Min.

It was a reverse-engineered item from the completed product Hyun-moo made in Difficulty: Hell, after acquiring and merging the item research facilities D&W Industries and Grimoire Lab.

“Approximately what star-level monsters can it handle?”

“I understand it can damage up to 4-star monsters. It can inflict fatal wounds on 3-star monsters, and it’s a one-hit kill for 1- and 2-star monsters.”

Bullets have a limited range of damage. However, artillery fire can penetrate most armor and additionally cause confusion.

The method of hunters entering and finishing off the monsters while they are in confusion was the way to minimize damage and amplify the effect.

It was traditional, but because it was traditional, its effect was guaranteed.

The buyers murmured at the higher-than-expected performance.

Werewolves were monsters that appeared from at least 3-star level. However, Hyun-moo showed them finishing them off without any damage. There was no exaggeration in the effect, but one problem remained.

“I saw the effect well, Mr. Kang Hyun-moo. But the price is a bit… burdensome. It’s more than 10 times the price of the same class of artillery support vehicles that aren’t for anti-monster use, and even the shell price is more than 50 times….”

“As you know, the difficulty level has recently increased.”

Hyun-moo cut him off and decided to encourage him a little.

“Everyone has seen the monsters that appeared in Cheonru [a location] forming groups and reaching national-level scales. Organized defense facilities are already being built inside the dungeons.”

In a battle between nations, not just tribes, a mediocre country could disappear.

Now, humanity had to see monsters not as industrial resources or experience points, but as enemies of humanity.

“At this time when even one ability user is precious, it is best to have a means to replace ability users. Would you *really* save even a little money there?”

Of course, it was just a business tactic for Hyun-moo.

The buyers had speechless expressions.

As Hyun-moo said, it wasn’t the time to save money. Since the All-Powerful Alliance monopolized all production and sales anyway, it was inevitable to spend the budget, and they decided to bargain a little more to have even one or two more.

“What is the defect rate? Since the price is so high….”

“There are no defective products.”

“Yes? But….”

It was then. Suddenly, a commotion spread among the hunters walking over the artillery zone.

“Kuaaaa!”

“Be careful, it’s the alpha!”

Baterden, an apostle serving the Roaring Star, struggled, letting out a labored roar. An unexploded shell was lodged deep in his eye.

The hunters recoiled in horror as his massive claws wildly tore at the surrounding ground. Just as the buyers seemed flustered, Hyun-moo disappeared from the spot.

Then, he appeared in front of the alpha werewolf and kicked out the shell lodged in his eye in one swift motion. Soon, with an earth-shattering explosion, the back of the werewolf’s head shattered and disappeared.

Hyun-moo roughly wiped his foot and returned to the buyers. Then he said again.

“There are no defective products.”

“…No, just now.”

“There are none.”

The buyers signed the purchase agreement with a somewhat reluctant and uneasy feeling.

From as few as three or four to as many as a hundred units, they paid the price in various ways, including cash, bonds, real estate, and several treaties.

***

After the buyers left, Yoo Min approached Hyun-moo.

“You worked hard, Oppa [term of endearment for older brother or male friend]. It must have been hard to do direct sales.”

“The buyers like it when the CEO does direct sales like this.”

“The last part seemed more like forced sales than sales, though.”

Yoo Min said, looking around the devastated area.

“How’s the contract you received from the North Chinese government? Did they sign it willingly?”

“Well, their lives are at stake right now… They probably thought it would be better to hand over the land full of monsters to us rather than *deal with* that.”

Unlike other countries, they didn’t receive a single penny in cash from the North Chinese government.

Since they had extorted a huge amount by selling Mana Bombs during the Pyongyang recovery operation, they had no intention of extorting more. But what they received this time was a considerable amount of land in northeastern China.

Most of it, like Mongolia, was devastated by Cheonru, and North China didn’t have the power to recover it.

They were just watching it being fortified by monsters when Hyun-moo made the offer.

On the condition of supplying Mana Bombs and about a hundred artillery support vehicles, ‘Kang Hyun-moo’ personally received a permanent lease of land in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.

The use of the expression ‘permanent lease’ was China’s last bit of pride.

Rather than holding onto a vast wasteland, they also made their own judgment that it would be better to put Korea between problematic Mongolia and China.

“But if that happens, the land of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region leased to ‘Kang Hyun-moo’ alone will be much larger than South Korea. Are you going to build a country or something?”

“No, I’m going to lease it to the Korean government and other places. Being a landlord is the best. It’s one of the most common future aspirations for Koreans.”

“…This isn’t so much a landlord as something on a different scale, um….”

Yoo Min shook her head as if giving up on thinking.

“We also have to think about the Pyongyang issue. We made it seem like we were going to make ‘Demon King Kazat’ the greatest evil in the world, but we’re blocking it too… effectively, so it’s ambiguous.”

Pyongyang is currently a demon realm where no one but Kang Hyun-moo can enter.

Hyun-moo has also brought in vassals he brought from Difficulty: Hell, but basically, the fine dust of Difficulty: Hell is lurking there, so no one can enter and survive.

But apart from that, since Hyun-moo is blocking ‘Demon King Kazat,’ other governments no longer think of Pyongyang as a threat.

Since North Korea was a no-man’s land anyway, they see it as the same now as it was then.

They just feel a lingering feeling like trash pushed under the carpet.

Hyun-moo smiled at Yoo Min’s words.

“He has other plans. Kazat is busy with other things.”

Hyun-moo decided to call Ha-hyun to ask about the recent situation.

Hyun-moo was constantly checking the situation in Hell by calling out one of the vassals every day.

Conflicts were occurring in some areas, and some were invading the streets, but basically, they were busy dealing with the most threatening forces rather than Hyun-moo.

But Hyun-moo couldn’t just stand by and do nothing about the situation there.

“Ha-hyun.”

The gap in space to summon the vassal tore open. But even after time passed, Ha-hyun did not appear.

Just as Hyun-moo was wondering, suddenly a hand reached out with difficulty. Hyun-moo quickly grabbed the hand.

But there was nothing behind it.

Hyun-moo held Ha-hyun’s hand, which had nothing below the elbow, with a hardened expression.