Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 296

296. The Worst Person in the World (5)

The mushroom cloud that rose from the West Coast was visible even outside the shadowed area.

The explosions didn’t stop with just one.

Explosions continued dozens of times, soon becoming obscured by the smoke itself, making it impossible to see other mushroom clouds.

However, the aftershock of the destruction and the sonic booms couldn’t be stopped.

People were shocked by the incredible sight, something they’d only seen in movies. They reported it, thinking the U.S. government had finally gone crazy and was bombing the shadow’s interior.

But President Albert was just as bewildered.

“Mushroom cloud? What are you talking about? Are the Russians behind this?”

“We’ve been tracking Russian nuclear missile bases and submarines, but there’s no indication they’ve launched anything. No missile trajectories either.”

“Then a nuclear backpack? Damn it, or is there a monster that can trigger a nuclear explosion!”

Then, something flashed through President Albert’s mind. A disturbing thought.

“Wait a minute. Victor, that son of a bitch, he’s not trying to start a nuclear war, is he?”

Fortunately, someone rushed into the Oval Office at that moment.

“Mr. President, the analysis of the unidentified explosion is in. No radiation detected!”

Albert looked blank.

“No nuke? Then…”

“Mr. President! Chrome has…”

“Damn it, forget about Chrome! Those delusional lunatics are going to spout more crazy nonsense about this!”

The aide, who was about to report, looked flustered. He shouted to get Albert’s attention.

“Chrome has announced that Adam Fault is responsible for the explosion!”

***

One hour earlier.

Hair fluttered in the sea breeze.

Adam Fault neatly tied back her disheveled hair.

The salty wind was sticky, but the sea was not visible in her sight, hovering hundreds of meters in the air. Instead, only a dry salt desert was visible.

“Professor Keller, I’ve arrived at the site.”

[What’s the situation?]

A familiar voice came through the headset.

A voice as dry as the sea breeze.

The voice of a woman disappointed in her and frustrated with herself.

This was the only chance to show Maria Keller that she hadn’t made a mistake.

Adam replied calmly.

“It’s as you predicted, Professor. The situation on the West Coast is the worst. The sea is evaporating, and the Familiars [magical creatures bound to a person] and monsters are rampant. This place… is hell.”

[……]

Adam Fault sent the video to Chrome headquarters via body cam. Maria didn’t say anything for a while, even while watching the video.

Adam Fault looked up at the sky, waiting for her reply.

Since the Leviathan Mission began, the movement of the sun had become strange.

Considering the Earth’s rotation, the shadow should have passed through Japan and reached China by now, nine hours later.

But the sun’s movement was lukewarm [unenthusiastic, slow].

It had already passed the United States and moved into the Pacific Ocean, but its speed was significantly slower, and it even changed direction slightly.

Now, the shadow was moving like a snail leaving a trail, already passing the West Coast and heading towards the central Pacific.

‘No… it’s not the sun’s movement that’s strange. It’s the shadow’s movement that’s strange.’

The eclipse that cast the shadow was also different from what was normally expected.

Usually, an eclipse gradually covers the sun, creating a crescent shape before forming a ring.

However, the eclipse triggered by the Leviathan incident appeared like a dark spot growing from the center of the sun, gradually expanding.

The cosmic force that twisted the movement of celestial bodies and shook the direction of rotation was hard for Adam Fault to imagine. The problem was that it was actually happening.

But Maria Keller didn’t think it was the power of any particular person.

She saw it as a natural occurrence.

[The shadow’s reflection is not just a shadow. It’s a phenomenon where another world intersects and overlaps with our world. When this mana-filled world merges with our world, our world becomes the dungeon itself.]

This was the information Maria had heard from the priests.

The ultimate process by which a star prepares to be born as a star.

As mana [magical energy], which had been inherently scarce on this planet, flooded in like a torrent, monsters and Familiars finally gained proper authority and power.

The evaporation of the sea was also a result of this. The sea near the land was already turning into a salt desert.

However, Maria had no intention of letting that future happen.

[That future will not come, Adam.]

“Yes.”

[Erase that future.]

“Yes.”

Adam relaxed her body. Maria, whom she had to protect, and the humans she had been taught to conserve, were not in front of her.

In the place where the shadow had passed, there were only monsters, Familiars, and tiny ants.

From hundreds of meters in the air, she looked down at the ants.

It was a cold gaze, not much different from how she usually looked at humans.

“Starting the cleanup.”

The Chepesh Case [likely a reference to a powerful ability or weapon] struck the West Coast.

***

11 hours and 49 minutes after the start of the Leviathan Mission.

Adam Fault appeared alone on the West Coast and immediately devastated all the areas covered by the shadow.

She didn’t care whether there were innocent people inside or rampaging Familiars.

“One.”

Her fingertip soared into the sky. Then slammed down again.

The moment that simple action was performed, a mushroom cloud erupted with immense destruction.

A super-high-strength synthetic metal, 1 meter in diameter and 10 meters in length, protected by the power of mana and indestructible, slammed into the ground.

With that simple law of physics, chunks of American territory disappeared from the map.

“Two.”

Adam repeatedly lifted and slammed the ‘Rod of God’ [kinetic energy weapon] again and again.

One ‘Rod of God’ per finger. A total of ten ‘Rods of God’ compacted and crushed the ground.

Not only the destruction itself, but also the smoke and heat rising from it turned this place into a wasteland where life could hardly survive.

“Five, six, seven.”

But it’s okay.

Once the Familiars are gone, the land can be restored.

If they were left alone, it would only continue to be a wasteland forever.

Adam thought Maria was right.

The orders she gave were not wrong.

“Ten.”

Crack.

Instantly, Adam twisted her head.

A headache was coming.

It was because she had been sustaining the Chepesh Case for nearly three hours. Adam felt tired and slowly stepped onto the ground.

The lukewarm asphalt floor, which had been exposed to heat and then cooled, crumbled as soon as Adam’s feet touched it.

Adam pressed her bright yellow eyes and tried to control the rampaging power.

‘No, no. Not now.’

It would be much easier if Maria were by her side, she thought.

But she also thought that Maria shouldn’t be by her side in this state.

If anyone stood by her now, their bones would be crushed.

If she got any more excited, the other person would be torn to pieces.

Only Maria Keller could calm Adam in that state.

‘Professor Keller…’

Of course, that didn’t mean Maria would be safe.

She had already suffered a severe arm fracture in St. Petersburg because of Adam.

Even with potions, there was a limit for Maria, whose natural healing power had weakened with age.

At that time, Adam injured Maria and even disappointed her.

Adam couldn’t understand why she did that, even though it was to prevent Maria from getting hurt.

There could have been a much better way. Like pushing Chun Ru aside.

Then she could have used the Chepesh Case afterward, even if it meant taking damage.

‘I can’t disappoint her this time.’

Adam wanted Maria to look only at her, and to believe that only she was a valid means.

The lion who fell in love with the trainer hoped so.

The lion can bite anything to get the trainer’s attention. Even if that object is the whole world except for the trainer.

To prove her worth, Adam raised her finger again.

***

However, the voices talking about her outside the shadow were different.

[Adam Fault appears to be acting to eliminate monsters within the shadow’s reflection. This is unrelated to Chrome’s official position.]

Chrome’s short statement and Adam Fault’s unilateral massacre shocked the world.

San Francisco and San Jose, already swept up in the shadow’s reflection, were densely populated areas.

Yet Adam Fault mercilessly turned the entire area into ruins.

The population of San Francisco alone is close to 900,000.

The estimated number of casualties when the Hiroshima atomic bomb was dropped was between 90,000 and 160,000.

Adam Fault broke that record several times over in less than 3 hours.

Of course, most of the humans inside were already Familiars or monsters, but no one had yet realized that fact.

The media simply reported that Adam Fault had carried out a unilateral massacre.

There were many opinions about whether Adam Fault was the strongest ability user in the world, but no one thought she could unilaterally ravage the United States to that extent.

“This is the worst.”

Pyongtaek U.S. Army Base.

Hyunwoo muttered, watching the live news on his phone.

He thought Adam Fault would cause trouble, but he didn’t expect her to pop up here like this.

But having already seen Difficulty: Hell, Hyunwoo didn’t think Adam Fault was necessarily doing anything wrong.

The countless numbers of Familiars and monsters that would spread like weeds inside the shadow would be more than enough to ravage the United States.

Then it might be better to nip them in the bud like that early on.

What Hyunwoo called ‘the worst’ was about Adam Fault’s reputation.

Because no one would recognize her sacrifice.

“Branch Manager, I got the key!”

At that moment, Song Yeowoon came in, twirling a uniquely shaped circular rod on her finger.

It looked like a phone accessory, but what she was holding was the activation key for the strategic nuclear weapons hidden inside the U.S. military base in Pyongtaek.

Hyunwoo decided to accept the nuclear weapons, but he would keep the key.

It was the minimum concession.

This also meant that the U.S. military in Korea was completely disarmed.

It was practically the same as attacking the United States, but Russian fighter planes were already flying overhead.

Besides, soldiers are just civil servants anyway. They could always resolve it ‘politically’ with the U.S. government in the future.

Hyunwoo took the key and looked at his phone again. Song Yeowoon’s gaze also turned to the phone.

“Wow, that person is incredibly strong. She did all that by herself?”

“Yeah. Looking at it, I think she was the one who stopped Chun Ru from falling when we went to Russia.”

“But is it okay to cause such a mess? What does Chrome say?”

“They say they don’t know anything about it. When I protested to pull her out immediately, they just made excuses. It’s obvious.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Well, either she thought she had to kill all the monsters overflowing inside… or she might have been trying to set an example for other countries. To kill anyone who acts recklessly from now on.”

Considering the plots Maria Keller had been trying to carry out so far, the latter was quite possible.

She was trying to use fear to prevent the game from progressing further.

In that respect, this scheme seemed quite successful.

Because no one would dare to act recklessly after seeing that terrifying sight.

“Hmm, but that seems like it would cause a lot of… backlash.”

“Backlash? Can you feel backlash after seeing that kind of power?”

“No, since Leviathan or whatever is supposed to end when you kill ‘the worst person in the world,’ isn’t Adam Fault just planning to commit a massacre for 72 hours instead of solving the problem? Wouldn’t people be angry?”

“That’s…”

Hyunwoo stopped talking when he tried to describe the scene of Difficulty: Hell.

Song Yeowoon was right. But would Maria Keller have done something without thinking that far ahead?

Hyunwoo’s gaze turned to the sky.

It had been 12 hours since the start of the Leviathan Mission, and Korea should have been getting sunlight by now. But the sky was still dark.

It was as if the sun was being held somewhere.

Hyunwoo quickly looked at the TV. The West Coast, where Adam was, was full of dust, but the sun was still shining.

‘Could it be.’

Only then did Hyunwoo realize the answer to who ‘the worst person in the world’ was referring to.

Hyunwoo hurriedly started running. Song Yeowoon followed him, not knowing why. The place Hyunwoo was heading to was the airport runway.

“Where are you going?!”

“To meet ‘the worst person in the world’!”