Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 10

10. Top-Grade Crystal Moss (3)

It was late afternoon when they finished shopping. Hyun-woo, arriving home by taxi, unloaded the luggage from the trunk.

He wondered if he had spent more money at the department store today than he had in his entire life. Yumin had paid for most of the clothes.

Hyun-woo paid the taxi fare and said to Yumin, who came out of the taxi,

“You really didn’t have to do this much.”

“I’m doing it because I want to, so don’t worry about it. Besides, it’s money that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you, Oppa [term of endearment used by a younger woman to an older man],”

“But has all that money already come in?”

“I paid in installments. Oh, and I’ve accumulated the points on my card, so don’t worry about it.”

Hyun-woo looked at her in disbelief at the mention of installments. Yumin smiled at Hyun-woo’s expression.

“Even if I sold all the Crystal Moss I have now, I’d get more than that. It might be a little short if I only pay with my share, but it’s manageable.”

“…Deduct it from my share.”

“Huh? Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“It’s not like it’s someone else’s stuff, and it’s money spent on buying my clothes, so how can I tell you to cover it all with your share? Come to think of it, everything sold under your name went to pay for my clothes, right? You said you’d teach me how to spend money? Then just think of it as paying for the lesson, so deduct it from my share.”

“Ah, well, that’s true, but it’s money that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you, Oppa. I have enough Crystal Moss set aside for my research, but I’m not the type to refuse a gift, so I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“But weren’t you broke? I thought you were a poor graduate student. That’s why you came to work as a gatherer because the lab didn’t give you research funds.”

“My parents are well-off. But they strictly told me never to use personal funds for research. Once you start doing that, the investors will think it’s all natural. Besides, it’s not even my lab.”

“So you’d rather work as a gatherer than do that?”

“Why not? Thanks to that, I met Hyun-woo Oppa.”

Hyun-woo shook his head. It was fine as long as Yumin wasn’t overdoing it.

“Now that we’ve bought so many clothes, what’s next? Are we going to buy cars for each collection?”

“How did you know? I’m thinking of a Mustang or a Camaro.”

“You…….”

“Just kidding. No matter how valuable this Crystal Moss is, it’s barely enough for one car with just this. Our goal is to learn how to splurge, not to squander our fortune, so we need to look for something more modest.”

“You don’t even have a license anyway.”

“I do.”

Hyun-woo stared at Yumin. *Are we going to ride together? Unless we live in the same neighborhood, sharing a car is as good as living together.* Yumin smiled.

“Why, don’t you want to ride together?”

Yumin twirled a keychain on her finger. It was the key to Yumin’s house. Two keys were on the ring.

When Hyun-woo didn’t answer, Yumin tossed the bunch of keys into the air. Hyun-woo snatched the keys before they fell. Yumin smiled playfully and stepped back slightly.

“Go in first. I’m going to buy something to drink at the convenience store.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Oh, and I’ll buy *that* too. We didn’t have enough last time.”

“That?”

“Do I have to say it? Just understand me.”

*That… is she talking about that?*

“Wait a minute. You said we didn’t have enough last time, how many more do you think I can use?”

“Anyway, see you later!”

Yumin walked away, making a tapping sound. Hyun-woo stared at her back with a dumbfounded expression, sighed, glanced at his phone for no reason, and then turned around.

He was dumbfounded, but he felt strange.

Hyun-woo had never had such a deep relationship with anyone in his life. Everyone was either passing by or in temporary relationships.

Yumin is an attractive and vibrant woman. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t excited.

‘But…….’

Hyun-woo fiddled with the Return Stone around his neck.

He looked around. No one was visible in the dark alley. Hyun-woo fiddled with the Return Stone as if praying, then suddenly clenched it tightly.

The surrounding scenery began to change drastically. Flames swept through the area in an instant, and ashes scattered in the wind.

What remained was the same scenery as when he first came to Hell. A ruined intersection.

“……Haa.”

Hyun-woo’s life in reality is changing dramatically like a dream, but this place hasn’t changed at all.

Since completing the quest, Hyun-woo has been able to enter and exit Difficulty: Hell at any time.

He could feel the toxic fine dust filling his lungs.

Hyun-woo had been to Hell a few days ago.

The fact that he went back to Hell just a few days after coming out of the terrible Hell felt strange even to Hyun-woo himself.

But he wanted to confirm whether all of that was a dream or not.

And here, in Hell, Hyun-woo felt more alive.

Living with Yumin in reality, the huge sums of money deposited into his account every day, and a day where he doesn’t have to worry about food expenses the next day even if he spends as much as he wants.

All of that felt like a dream.

Even though he had only been there for a few days, Hell, where he fiercely clashed, died, and yearned for life, felt like the place he should be.

“I’m crazy…….”

Perhaps the countless deaths have left indelible scars on his mind.

If he’s like this after only a few dozen deaths, there’s no telling how future deaths will change him.

If he lives a blessed life in reality like this, he might be able to forget. But…….

Hyun-woo raised his head and looked at the sky.

He didn’t know if it was only visible to his eyes, or if the world had really gone crazy.

However, the sky was filled with huge numbers shining in vermilion, which Hyun-woo couldn’t miss.

9 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes, and 17 seconds until the next quest.

Hyun-woo will eventually return here.

Hyun-woo was still struggling to come to terms with how to accept this.

***

“I told you, you don’t have to come with me, Oppa.”

“I’m preparing for the worst, just in case.”

It was a quiet neighborhood. It was morning, and it was hard to find anyone other than grandmothers out for a stroll or cats, but Hyun-woo didn’t let his guard down. Yumin looked at Hyun-woo as if he was being ridiculous.

“What do you know about Crystal Moss transactions, Oppa? You must be worried after watching dramas or movies, but it’s not like that.”

Hyun-woo had to admit that Yumin was somewhat right. But Hyun-woo also knew something about Crystal Moss black market transactions. To be exact, it was about Crystal Moss residue transactions.

The only people who would buy Crystal Moss residue who weren’t factory workers were those who had fallen to the bottom of society or illegal ability users.

When Yumin had sold about 1/3 of the Crystal Moss in separate transactions, she suddenly received a call. They wanted to buy all of the remaining amount with a 30% premium.

*Wasn’t that a suspicious offer to anyone?* Hyun-woo followed Yumin, just in case.

But when Hyun-woo arrived at the meeting place with Yumin, he realized that the situation was a little different from what he had imagined.

Yumin had gone to a cafe with a pleasant atmosphere located on a main street.

There weren’t many people. Yumin looked around and found an old gentleman reading a book with a cane next to him and approached him.

Yumin sat across from him as if it was nothing, and the old gentleman glanced at Hyun-woo. Yumin waved her hand and shook her head.

“He’s my partner.”

But the old gentleman, who didn’t take his eyes off Hyun-woo, stood up and bowed politely.

Yumin seemed a little embarrassed by the old gentleman’s actions. Hyun-woo hesitated and bowed back, and he even reached out to shake hands.

“I’m Park Hwi-so.”

“……I’m Kang Hyun-woo.”

Hyun-woo could feel it the moment he took Park Hwi-so’s hand.

*He is a strong person.*

*I think I know why this person came alone. If this person attacks me? Can I win?*

The moment Hyun-woo thought of that situation, the narrator’s voice suddenly rang in his ear.

[The effect of the ‘Strongest in Hell’ title increases stats relative to level.]

‘No, no!’

He only thought about it, but the effect was activated right away.

Hyun-woo tried not to show any signs of agitation. But for a moment, a strange light flashed in Park Hwi-so’s eyes. Hyun-woo quickly let go of his hand.

Yumin looked back and forth between the two with anxious eyes. In her experience, this was unusual.

The old gentleman, who identified himself as Park Hwi-so, calmly sat down and took out a small tablet PC from his briefcase.

Yumin, relieved that the situation was returning to normal, placed a small bag of Crystal Moss on the tablet PC.

The weight of the Crystal Moss was displayed on the tablet PC. It was all of the Crystal Moss left over for Yumin’s share.

Park Hwi-so took out a piece of Crystal Moss from the bag and looked at it from side to side with a monocle. It was hard to find any change in his expression.

Park Hwi-so put the bag of Crystal Moss in his briefcase and stood up. Then he opened his mouth for the first time.

“Can I deposit the money in the usual place?”

“Yes.”

Park Hwi-so seemed to be doing something on his phone, and soon an alarm rang on Yumin’s phone as well. Yumin checked the deposit details and nodded.

“Then.”

Park Hwi-so got up from his seat.

Yumin thought he would leave like this, but he did something unexpected again. He approached Hyun-woo and bowed politely again.

Yumin, who had never received such a greeting while dealing with Park Hwi-so, was confused as to why he was acting so politely towards Hyun-woo.

“I hope we can meet again, Mr. Kang Hyun-woo.”

“……Yes.”

Hyun-woo intuitively judged that this old gentleman named Park Hwi-so seemed to have noticed that he was the one who had mined the Crystal Moss.

He didn’t know how he found out, but his business-like politeness came from that.

After greeting him, Park Hwi-so got into a classic foreign car parked next to the cafe and disappeared. It was a classic foreign car that Hyun-woo had never even seen before.

That was it. Hyun-woo had a dumbfounded expression at the moment of the black market transaction that ended in an instant. Yumin smiled at Hyun-woo.

“What, did you think a black market dealer would trade in a dark abandoned building or alley? Even drugs aren’t sold like that. They deal in clean, bright places like McDonald’s. Especially if it’s something where you don’t know where you’ll get stabbed.”

“Am I watching too many movies?”

“That’s not entirely wrong. It’s not like there aren’t shady black market dealers like the ones you imagine. But that guy is a broker. Besides, he’s an ability user. He’s the kind of guy you only see when you’re doing big deals, so I guess our stuff is famous. He used to be a pretty famous hunter, and before that, he was a mercenary somewhere. But I don’t know why he’s like that today.”

Hyun-woo suddenly came to his senses at those words.

“Wait, then can we be tracked?”

“He’s someone you can trust that much. He probably checked around, so he doesn’t know about us, just like we don’t know who the actual dealer is. More than that, how do you feel?”

“About what?”

“How does it feel to have 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD] deposited into your account at once?”