Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 336

336. The Teacher’s Grace

After Park Do-ryeong disappeared, the Four Heavenly Kings stared intently ahead, their faces tense. The corridor before them was the only path to the ward where the Teacher was held.

Screams continued to echo from beyond the corridor, the sounds of Alliance members being slaughtered as they tried to protect the Teacher within the facility.

Most of them, of course, were unaware that the Teacher was even in this facility.

The screams gradually subsided over about ten minutes, becoming sporadic before fading into silence.

“Pahad, Oscar. Focus,” Isabella murmured, her voice barely a whisper.

The red lights, powered by the emergency generator, cast an eerie glow. But the silence, the absence of screams, was even more chilling.

In the stillness, where even the sound of sweat dripping onto the floor seemed deafening, a sound finally broke the tension.

Squeak.

The Four Heavenly Kings flinched at the unexpected sound. Under the red lights, a rat with purple eyes scurried across the floor.

“Even in the ‘best future,’ there would still be mosquitoes and rats, right?” Pahad said, trying to make a joke, but his smile froze on his lips.

The red corridor was suddenly bathed in purple light.

The Four Heavenly Kings screamed involuntarily as massive rats, each the size of a child’s torso, howled ferociously and charged.

One of the Four Heavenly Kings was instantly engulfed by the swarm.

“Where did these rat bastards come from!” Pahad roared.

Flames erupted from Pahad’s body as the rats swarmed over him. His skin was quickly covered in bite marks, but the swarm was soon engulfed in a ball of fire.

Pahad grinned, pleased at how easily they burned, but his smile quickly faded.

The reason the rats burned so well was that they were soaked in tar.

And tar is, of course, a highly flammable substance.

As the fire spread through the rat swarm, the corridor was consumed by flames instead of rats.

콰콰쾅 (Kwa kwa kwang – Korean onomatopoeia for a large explosion).

The explosion, which shook the entire facility, sent Isabella and Oscar flying. Isabella gasped for breath, assessing her injuries. She seemed to have suffered burns all over her body and a few broken bones. Even the silent and stoic Oscar was groaning.

But they were the lucky ones.

Pahad, who had been at the front, surrounded by the rats, and had used his fire ability, was reduced to a few scattered, barely recognizable fragments.

“Damn it…”

The corridor was brightly lit by the raging fire, but the nightmarish rat swarm was gone.

However, Isabella sensed something even more terrifying approaching.

Thump, thump.

Emerging through the flames was a massive werewolf.

Even those who had faced countless werewolves before could tell at a glance that this one was extraordinary.

쾅 (Kwang – Korean onomatopoeia for a loud thud or crash).

As a deafening roar echoed, the flames that had covered the corridor fluttered towards them like banners.

Oscar, who was at the front, barely managed to track the werewolf’s movements.

Unfortunately, before his fist could even leave his waist, the werewolf’s claws had already snapped his neck.

Isabella, now alone, stared blankly as Oscar’s neck was broken before her eyes, his body dangling like a broken doll.

She had expected Kang Hyun-woo to be overwhelming, but they hadn’t even seen his face.

Did Kang Hyun-woo even come?

Is the one we’re fighting now really Kang Hyun-woo?

A chilling sensation suddenly ran down her neck. The tip of a scythe, radiating a bone-chilling cold, was digging into her Adam’s apple.

Just as Isabella sensed her impending death, she heard someone’s voice for the first time.

The voice she had longed for, yet also dreaded to hear.

“Wait, Kirson. Keep one alive.”

슥 (Seuk – Korean onomatopoeia for a slicing or whooshing sound). Someone emerged from the darkness, where she hadn’t sensed any presence.

It was Kang Hyun-woo, wearing a hoodie and jeans.

He didn’t seem to have taken his hands out of his pockets even once since breaking into the Alliance’s base. He was even dragging his 삼선 (samseon) slippers [common, inexpensive rubber slippers] along.

“Just asking to confirm, the Teacher is here, right?”

At those words, Isabella grinned.

“The Teacher will be resurrected with your blood, Kang Hyun-woo. I want to see your face then.”

“My blood?”

“Yes. Right now, Park Do-ryeong is injecting all of your blood into the Teacher. If the Teacher regains consciousness even for a moment and turns back time, you’ll never be able to approach the Teacher again. The Teacher can beat you even while lying in the ward.”

“There’s a method like that. Then I should run as fast as I can. You need to learn how to watch your mouth.”

Isabella was about to blurt something else out, but Hyun-woo had already dismissed her because she had lost her value.

As Kirson’s hand moved, the Four Heavenly King, head separated from body, collapsed to the floor.

“But my blood. Hmm. Is that really helpful?”

Hyun-woo moved his feet slowly, without any sign of urgency, despite saying he would run.

***

“We need to contact Kang Hyun-woo right away!”

“Calm down, Jeok Nabi.”

Yoo-min rose from her seat and calmly soothed Jeok Nabi, but Jeok Nabi couldn’t calm down.

Kang Hyun-woo had already broken into the Teacher’s secret hideout, faster than she had expected.

She had hoped to have at least some time to persuade him, but he was moving so fast that their paths were diverging.

‘Who is it? Who told him?’

The location of the secret hideout was thoroughly concealed.

Lower-level managers had ability users who specialized in manipulating memories to obscure the location and site. Even among the highest-ranking members, only a few knew the location of the secret hideout.

‘Albert Cromford? I heard that the former president’s son turned his back, could it be?’

But that couldn’t be. Whether Albert really turned his back was secondary; he didn’t know the location of the secret hideout.

No, even that couldn’t be said for sure.

If Albert, who had easy access to other branches and base locations, could quickly find out the location of the secret hideout…

“Yoo-min, please stop Kang Hyun-woo. The Alliance wants peace.”

As Jeok Nabi urgently approached Yoo-min, Song Yeo-woon, who had appeared from seemingly nowhere, grabbed her arm.

Song Yeo-woon twisted Jeok Nabi’s arm in one swift motion and threw her to the floor. Even in her fallen state, Jeok Nabi desperately shouted.

“I have something to deliver to Kang Hyun-woo. It’s a token of peace from the Alliance. Yoo-min, the Teacher is already as good as dead. Please…”

“Song Yeo-woon, let her go.”

Song Yeo-woon obediently released Jeok Nabi as Yoo-min instructed.

Jeok Nabi hurriedly handed Yoo-min the gift package she had prepared, but it was Song Yeo-woon who received it.

“May I open it for you, Captain?”

“Go ahead.”

Jeok Nabi also nodded.

It didn’t matter who opened it. She didn’t think she could kill Kang Hyun-woo with terrorism, and more importantly, wasn’t the Teacher’s safety the most important thing?

Song Yeo-woon carefully began to unwrap the gift package. Jeok Nabi was impatient because time was of the essence, but she had no choice but to watch.

After a while, Song Yeo-woon’s expression as she opened the gift box was filled with bewilderment.

“This is…”

Yoo-min also approached and looked into the gift box. Her expression became similar to Song Yeo-woon’s.

She looked alternately at the gift and Jeok Nabi with a bewildered expression that was neither happy nor angry.

Seeing that expression, Jeok Nabi felt that something was going wrong.

“To be honest, Jeok Nabi, I don’t know what you want us to do with this.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to come and explain what this means?”

Jeok Nabi dragged her trembling legs to Yoo-min’s desk, and she saw with her own eyes the identity of the gift that Park Do-ryeong had told her to deliver to Kang Hyun-woo in secret from everyone, inside the thick wrapping paper.

Jeok Nabi’s jaw slowly dropped.

Soon, a scream-like cry burst from her.

Inside the gift box was a blood pack of Kang Hyun-woo’s blood.

No one else in that place understood the identity of the gift, but Jeok Nabi was the only one who could understand what it meant.

Park Do-ryeong had gifted Kang Hyun-woo the Teacher’s life.

***

Someone appeared in front of Hyun-woo, who was facing a huge glass wall.

A weirdo wearing a mask that he could never get used to and a modified hanbok [traditional Korean clothing].

And now, Park Do-ryeong, the de facto leader of the Alliance.

As soon as Hyun-woo saw Park Do-ryeong, he wanted to punch him in the face and start, but he didn’t.

Because he knew it was pointless.

“The main body ran away.”

“Because there’s no need to risk your life and stay?”

What Hyun-woo was seeing was Park Do-ryeong’s clone.

Park Do-ryeong’s skill in handling clones seemed to have improved a lot since the old days.

Hyun-woo walked past Park Do-ryeong’s clone and approached the glass wall, placing his hand on it. Beyond the glass wall, he could see the Teacher, who was as good as dead.

“When you first told me the Teacher’s location, I definitely thought it would be a trap.”

“But you came anyway.”

“I came because I thought it was a trap. Because I can show you that no matter how thoroughly you prepare, no matter how long you prepare for a long-term battle, it’s useless.”

Hyun-woo looked at Park Do-ryeong calmly.

Even though Park Do-ryeong was looking at Hyun-woo through the clone, he felt a slight chill. Hyun-woo was still standing on the extension line of the battle with the Teacher.

Three years ago, during the Leviathan mission, Kang Hyun-woo died and the Teacher survived, so he thought Kang Hyun-woo had lost.

But the reality was different. Kang Hyun-woo survived and was still continuing the fight from that time, coming all the way here to settle the score with the Teacher.

To give him defeat.

Park Do-ryeong swallowed hard and said to Hyun-woo.

“I did my best. I manipulated information to prevent the Alliance from really resurrecting the Teacher, contaminated drugs, and separated the Teacher from the hands of his helpers.”

“Thank you. But why? Is the Alliance’s assets that sweet?”

Park Do-ryeong smiled and said.

“I’m sorry that you see me as someone who would be swayed by such things. I admit that it was honestly sweet. I’ve never had so much wealth. But why do you think Lee Ji-tae hated me?”

“Because you tried to kill the president?”

“That’s because it was the best goal I could achieve within my capabilities.”

Park Do-ryeong turned his head and looked down at the Teacher.

“I hate all ruling power in the world. I’ve always believed that there must be a secret organization that dominates the world. Whether it’s the Freemasons, the Illuminati, or international Jewish capital. So can you imagine what I thought when I first encountered the organization called the Alliance?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care. Can you get out of the way?”

“To be honest, it felt like I was in an amusement park. It felt like the truth of the conspiracies that were only in my head was being revealed. And the existence of the Teacher, who turns back time and manipulates the truth. It’s amazing. I felt my anarchist blood boiling.”

Unfortunately, Park Do-ryeong continued to speak.

It didn’t matter whether Hyun-woo was interested, or whether he was angry.

Anyway, it was a clone, so what could he do even if he got angry?

Park Do-ryeong had been wanting to tell this story for a long time.

No, he had told a similar story to Lee Ji-tae. Of course, thanks to that, he was treated like a madman by Lee Ji-tae and the clan was split.

“And for the past three years, I’ve been playing the best game that a conspiracy theorist who joined a secret organization that dominates the world can play. Well, I wanted to do it for the rest of my life if I could, but I’ve done enough to be satisfied. I’m getting old enough to retire.”

“The best game?”

“Reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, which was promoted to facilitate the smooth exploitation of the ruled class, planting trees in the desert, which was neglected due to resource efficiency issues, and turning areas where conflicts were induced and civilian massacres frequently occurred into peace zones to monopolize resources. Well, those are the boring things.”

“…It certainly doesn’t seem interesting.”

“It’s really not interesting.”

Park Do-ryeong said those words and was silent for a moment.

“Really.”

Park Do-ryeong quietly stared at Hyun-woo.

His eyes were filled with complex emotions.

Hyun-woo found it amazing that he could control so many emotions in a clone.

“Kang Hyun-woo, for the past three years, I could have plunged the world into anarchy at any time. But, well. When I tried to do it, I didn’t feel like it. That’s when I realized. What I hate is ruling power, but what I like is only destroying ruling power.”

“Um… congratulations on finding out your taste?”

“Thank you. Anyway, I’ve done enough of what I wanted to do, and I’ve handed over the Teacher, so I’m leaving now. I probably won’t run into you again. But if the day comes when we meet again…”

Park Do-ryeong quietly clasped his hands and smiled.

“Maybe it’ll be the day you become the absolute power in this world.”

After leaving those words, Park Do-ryeong stabbed his clone’s neck himself.

In an instant, the clone’s form seemed to be disturbed, then it disappeared like a hazy mist.

Hyun-woo looked down at the place where Park Do-ryeong had disappeared, as if he was dumbfounded.

He didn’t know if the guy was telling the truth, joking, or if he was really crazy.

Hyun-woo turned his gaze back to the glass wall.

He took a light breath and placed his hand on the glass wall.

With a short impact sound, the entire glass wall turned white.

The glass wall, filled with pure white cracks, soon collapsed like a sandcastle.

Amid the echoing roar, Hyun-woo stepped into the ward, stepping on shards of glass.

“The teacher’s grace is like the sky.”