Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 331

331. The Devil Returns (2)

“H-How could Ginyu’s chains, which even restrained Adam Fault…”

“Huh? Oh, you mean that thing that sucks away Mana.”

Hyeon-woo scanned Albert, then reached into his pocket.

“His Mana was oversaturated. The rest is just muscle power.”

Hyeon-woo pulled Albert’s phone from his pocket. Checking the date, he was speechless to find he had been asleep for three days.

While in Difficulty: Hell, he had never slept for more than an hour, not even for a single day.

Perhaps it was the clear sky and dust-free air that had instantly relieved his tension.

“Huh. This is a problem. Wait, where am I? Hey, foreigner. Where is this place?”

Albert, the former President of the United States, was dumbfounded at being called a ‘foreigner.’ But seeing the irritation creeping onto Hyeon-woo’s face, he quickly spoke up.

“Romania. Near Bacău…”

“Romania? That’s awfully far. Ah, damn it.”

Hyeon-woo finally showed his annoyance.

Since Hyeon-woo was forcibly returned from Difficulty: Hell in the western United States, he had traveled almost a third of the Earth.

He had expected a huge margin of error since three years had passed, but he had to be thankful he hadn’t fallen into the sea.

While Hyeon-woo was contemplating how to return to Korea, Albert slowly backed away.

He hoped other Hunters would return with reinforcements, but there was no sign of that. They had all really run away.

Just as he thought he had gained enough distance and was about to turn and run, Albert felt a sharp pain in his thigh.

“Ah, now that I think about it, what were you guys doing? Why did you capture me?”

“Keuk, heok…”

He didn’t even know what had hit him.

His bone wasn’t broken, but he couldn’t put any strength into his struck thigh.

As Albert couldn’t speak due to the pain, Hyeon-woo raised his foot again. Albert hurriedly raised both hands and said.

“W-Wait a minute. I am Albert Cromford, former President of the United States. You don’t want to mess with me!”

“What? Former President of the United States?”

Hyeon-woo tried to recall Albert’s face from his hazy memory. His hairstyle was different, but he seemed to have a similar appearance.

Suddenly, Hyeon-woo’s eyes twinkled.

Hyeon-woo crouched down in front of Albert, who was clutching his thigh and groaning, and subtly asked.

“Wow, someone as important as you wouldn’t have walked all the way here, right?”

***

Hyeon-woo watched the ground grow farther away as the plane left the runway.

Across from him, Albert was staring at Hyeon-woo with a stiff expression.

He wanted to escape or quickly signal his allies at any opportunity, but Hyeon-woo didn’t give him any chance to do so.

The only fortunate thing was that Hyeon-woo didn’t seem to care about hiding his face at all.

Albert could only hope that someone would recognize Hyeon-woo and contact the Alliance.

However, Hyeon-woo was hardly paying attention to Albert. Albert was just suffering from paranoia. To Hyeon-woo, Albert was just a convenient free pass.

In fact, the status of former U.S. President allowed them to pass through even the airport without any hindrance.

“Wow, this plane is nice. There’s a living room inside. The U.S. must treat its former presidents well?”

“…This is the Alliance’s asset. Even though I’m a former president and like a grand old man of the Republican Party, I belong to the Alliance’s highest-ranking executives, even if I’m not a Player. So, if you treat me carelessly…”

“Ah, right. What did you say you were with the Alliance again?”

Hyeon-woo grinned and leaned in.

“But what happened to Teacher? Is that bastard still alive?”

“Yes. He suffered a major injury after your battle, but he is still alive. But seeing you return like this, he will soon be resurrected. Then…”

“Enough with the nonsense. So where is he now?”

“Do you think I would tell you that?”

“That’s up to you.”

The moment Albert wondered what Hyeon-woo was talking about, he found himself gripping his finger.

Before he could stop it, Hyeon-woo completely bent Albert’s pinky finger backward.

He tried to scream, but his mouth didn’t open at all. His breathing became rapid, and sweat poured out.

“I don’t really like this skill. So I only use it when I’m torturing someone.”

When the third finger was bent, Albert finally opened his mouth.

“Kuek… I don’t know, damn it! No one knows where Teacher is!”

“You’re an executive of the Alliance, right?”

“Park Do-ryeong has hidden Teacher’s location as top secret. Only Park Do-ryeong himself and his closest aides, called the Four Heavenly Kings, know.”

“Four Heavenly Kings… He’s really showing his age with those names.”

Hyeon-woo didn’t doubt Albert’s words. If it was the Park Do-ryeong he knew, he wouldn’t let Teacher be exposed so easily.

Besides, Albert seemed to have been pushed far from the mainstream of the Alliance.

Anyway, Park Do-ryeong was on Hyeon-woo’s list of people to meet. So he could just ask him directly.

Hyeon-woo took out a potion from his inventory and threw it to Albert.

Albert seemed surprised for a moment but soon sprayed it on his broken finger with trembling hands. Instantly, his finger was restored as if it had never been broken.

“What kind of effect is this…”

“It’s expensive.”

Hyeon-woo grinned and beckoned Albert like calling a dog.

“So, let’s hear some other stories. Tell me what’s been happening in the last three years.”

***

Hyeon-woo learned about the world situation from Albert.

With the emergence of monsters blurring national borders, the existing national system had collapsed, and factional struggles centered on groups rather than nations had emerged.

As a result, the current world was dominated by four major factions: Chrome, Omnipotent Church, South China Federation, and the Alliance, with countries vying to align themselves with one of these factions.

And Hyeon-woo heard an unexpected name in the process.

“‘Demon King’ Kazat, you say?”

“Yes. With Kang Hyeon-woo’s disappearance, the blockade of Pyongyang weakened, and Demon King Kazat escaped from Pyongyang. He is threatening humanity with his evil subordinates, Hahyeon, Yerdan, and Kirson.”

Albert gritted his teeth and expressed his frustration.

“In fact, he is considered a formidable enemy that humanity should unite to face, but humanity is still preoccupied with antagonizing each other. We really needed Teacher…”

‘Demon King’ Kazat and three evil subordinates. Ironically, the weakest of the four was Kazat.

They seemed to be adapting to this world in their own way.

Albert continued with gritted teeth.

“I even heard that the South China Federation is willing to use nuclear weapons to counter your Omnipotent Church. Your fanatical followers and lunatics who are willing to wage nuclear war are at odds! Yet Chrome is just watching, and our only hope, Teacher, shows no signs of awakening…”

Hyeon-woo was reminded of the prophecy Teacher had made after hearing Albert’s words.

‘But at some point, the future went awry. Lee Ji-tae was no longer a star, the game was still in progress, monsters were still rampaging, and your extremist followers were creating disasters by pointing guns and swords at all of humanity.’

“Wow.”

Hyeon-woo could only say that.

In any case, Teacher’s prophecy had come true. Perhaps the future he saw was the world right now.

The only difference was that Teacher was in a vegetative state.

“But it’s not as bad as I thought?”

“…Not as bad?”

“Well, isn’t this a pretty good situation? It’s not like there’s been an actual nuclear war, just threats. You guys always see the world so negatively. You need to know what real hell is like.”

Albert gritted his teeth.

Of course, the ‘best future’ that Teacher had envisioned might have been a utopia among utopias.

That dazzling world that Teacher couldn’t give up on, even as he was constantly injured.

If Hyeon-woo had seen that world, he might have strived to achieve the ‘best future.’

But Hyeon-woo had not seen such a paradise and had no interest in a paradise he could not live in.

Hyeon-woo was now so desensitized that even hell felt lukewarm.

“Hmm. Anyway, if the situation is that urgent… it would be better to take a detour rather than going straight to Korea.”

“What?”

“You said this was Romania, right? Turn towards Russia. Towards Moscow. There’s someone I need to meet.”

“No, wait. This plane is for diplomats. You can’t just go wherever you want…”

“Go.”

Albert realized he had stood up against his will. And he found himself gripping his recently healed left pinky finger with his right hand.

Whether he accepted Hyeon-woo’s words or not, he would eventually do as he was told.

Albert muttered curses and headed to the cockpit.

Just then, a stewardess opened the door and entered.

The stewardess was flustered to see the former president heading to the cockpit while muttering unspeakable curses, but she calmly approached Hyeon-woo.

“Excuse me. Meals are being prepared. What menu would you like…”

“Ramen.”

Hyeon-woo interrupted the stewardess and answered without hesitation.

The stewardess looked at Hyeon-woo with a bewildered expression. She carefully opened her mouth.

“We have the finest filet mignon, French-style chicken, sea bass, and caviar prepared as in-flight meals. We also have a menu for vegetarians, so please feel free to…”

“No ramen?”

“…I’ll prepare it.”

The stewardess didn’t ask any further questions and headed straight to the kitchen.

She thought Hyeon-woo’s face looked familiar, but she didn’t think deeply about it.

The crew members working here were trained not to dwell on the identities of the passengers.

A little later, Albert returned.

He sat back in his seat across from Hyeon-woo with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

“They’re making ramen. I heard you had a greedy personality, but your taste is surprisingly simple.”

“When people are really hungry, they tend to miss the food they used to eat most often, rather than well-prepared dishes.”

After a while, the stewardess returned with well-cooked ramen.

He thought he would have to settle for Japanese or Southeast Asian ramen, but surprisingly, it was Korean-style ramen, complete with ramen and green onions.

“Huh, what’s this? Oh right, you said the Alliance’s representative is Park Do-ryeong. Then they must always have this on hand.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

Hyeon-woo slurped a mouthful of ramen. But instantly, his expression turned strange.

Hyeon-woo tilted his head for a while and then put down his chopsticks. His face was full of dissatisfaction.

Hyeon-woo silently pushed the ramen bowl aside. Albert frowned and asked.

“You seemed to want it so badly, is the chef’s skill not very good?”

“No, it’s just… it’s a bit different from what I expected. Hmm.”

Hyeon-woo tried to recall the taste of ramen from his memory. Then Hyeon-woo soon realized what the problem was.

What Hyeon-woo was looking forward to was not the ramen but the situation.

Not just ramen cooked anywhere.

It was the taste of the ramen he had cooked with Yoo-min while watching the news in Yoo-min’s officetel [a Korean studio apartment], where he had first settled down.

What Hyeon-woo had wanted for the past three years was that quiet and comfortable moment.

But he couldn’t go right away.

If he was going, he would go after making the minimum preparations.

Hyeon-woo took out Albert’s phone.

As Hyeon-woo was entering a number that was fading from his memory, he realized that Yoo-min’s number was in Albert’s phone address book.

“…Why do you have Yoo-min’s number?”

“Yoo-min? Are you talking about Unit Commander Yoo-min? She is the representative of the Omnipotent Church. Of course, I should have her number. Who else would I contact if a nuclear war broke out or tens of thousands of people were massacred by monsters?”

Unit Commander Yoo-min.

Hyeon-woo nodded. He wasn’t sure if he remembered the number correctly, but if it was entered for this reason, there was no need to worry about it being wrong.

Hyeon-woo left a message on Yoo-min’s phone.

[I’m going soon.]

***

“Unit Commander Yoo-min, a message suddenly came from former President Albert.”

“Huh? What does it say?”

“He says he’s going soon…”

“What’s he suddenly talking about?”

“Does he think he can meet the Unit Commander whenever he wants? Or is it a threat?”

“It seems the Omnipotent Church has been underestimated because we ignored him. Next time we meet, let’s give him a greeting that will leave him traumatized.”

Albert Cromford suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.