Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 112

Assassination (4)

Immediately after the explosion.

Before the dust cloud had even settled, Hyun-woo, who had hidden himself in Hell [a personal pocket dimension], reappeared in the dungeon.

“He uses some rather annoying tactics.”

Hyun-woo brushed off the dust and surveyed the aftermath of the blast.

The explosive attack had been a close call for Hyun-woo as well. Machines have neither murderous intent nor presence, making them difficult to detect.

However, Hyun-woo immediately noticed the anomaly when he realized that the people who should have been there were missing and discovered the unnaturally covered mound.

He grabbed the return stone almost simultaneously with the explosion.

If he had been a moment slower in retreating to Hell, his entire body could have been riddled with holes.

Hyun-woo felt his insides churning.

He didn’t yet know who his opponent was, but they were clearly professionals. Bringing explosives meant they had come prepared to deal with humans from the start.

‘I suppose that’s only natural if you’re trying to catch a Hunter [a person with superhuman abilities].’

He had been careless because this was the first time something like this had happened. But he wouldn’t make such a mistake again.

Hyun-woo looked around at the werewolves, who were frozen in place by his aura. Without even using Domination, simply displaying his aura was enough to make them cower and freeze.

The closer they were to beasts, the more obedient they were to Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo summoned Yerdan.

The white wolf rubbed his face against Hyun-woo as soon as he saw him, showing his respect.

“Go. Get ahead of them and make sure they can’t escape.”

Yerdan howled loudly once and then ran off, following the scent.

Hyun-woo calmed his breathing, which had been ragged with anger, and decided to deal with the situation decisively.

Hyun-woo headed not towards where Yerdan had gone, but towards where he presumed the return stone would be.

The hunters who had been in and out of the dungeon several times had already created a rough, unofficial map, so he knew the approximate location of the return stone.

Difficulty: Hell. Hyun-woo’s speed, already at its peak from countless escapes, allowed him to reach the return stone in an instant. It was on a wide, high rock near the valley.

The clear bloodstains suggested that there had been a boss-level monster here originally.

‘The unaffiliated hunters probably caught it.’

It didn’t seem like Kang Hyun-woo’s team had arrived yet. As soon as Hyun-woo reached the return stone, he bit his finger and drew blood.

Then, he began to carve the magic circle that Kirson had drawn long ago into the return stone.

A magic circle to lure Plude [a powerful monster].

‘Yerdan, lead all the wolves there.’

The will was clearly conveyed. The magic circle on the return stone began to burn with a blue light.

Hyun-woo looked down at the return stone with satisfaction and then headed back to where Yerdan was.

***

As Yerdan and the werewolves tracked Wei An and Aihwa to the valley, Hyun-woo arrived at about the same time.

Yerdan was driving the main force towards the entrance and suppressing the ability users who had been guarding the upper part of the valley.

Among them, he approached a man presumed to be a Chinese rogue, likely treated as an unaffiliated hunter.

The rogue was trembling, Yerdan’s teeth sunk into his neck. Hyun-woo grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up.

“How many of you are there in total?”

The rogue looked surprised at Hyun-woo’s fluent Chinese. Of course, Hyun-woo was simply forcing the meaning through his Language Comprehension skill.

“Th-thirty… thirty-seven people.”

There were more than he had expected.

Before entering the dungeon, he had only heard that there were about 14 people, including the unaffiliated hunters.

But it was easy to lie about numbers, especially in a place that was practically a lawless zone.

“How many rogues?”

“Eight…”

There was one more than he had heard before as well. Hyun-woo also learned the name and armament of the leader, a Japanese hunter named Endo.

It seemed they had come to catch Hyun-woo from the start, armed with guns and bombs.

At that moment, screams and shouts were heard from below the valley. The werewolf pack had begun to pour into the valley.

Hyun-woo left the rogue to Yerdan and looked down into the valley. The one presumed to be the leader was in the rear.

‘Let’s see, all the guys I had in mind are gathered.’

Not only the JeonNeungRyeon hunters [a hunter association] but also the core members he had been planning to eliminate one way or another were all gathered. It was no coincidence that they were all here. Kang Sung-kyu had been actively trying to recruit them. Hyun-woo smirked.

“Yerdan.”

Yerdan unleashed the Lycanthrope skill ‘King’s Roar.’

A powerful roar that could cause a heart attack in ordinary people, it was also a skill that summoned nearby wolf-type monsters and boosted morale.

The hunters, realizing that the upper part of the valley had been captured, began to move frantically.

“Go. Let’s see what you’re capable of.”

Yerdan immediately jumped down into the valley as Hyun-woo instructed.

And Yerdan began to confront the Japanese hunter, Endo, whom he had been watching closely.

But the result was utterly disappointing.

“What? I was expecting more, but he’s just someone who can be taken care of by Yerdan?”

***

The Joseonjok rogues [Korean-Chinese ethnic group] and Endo had already watched the video of Hyun-woo’s performance during the Plude incident in the Severed Head Dungeon countless times.

There was no way they could mistake his face or his voice.

Endo roughly pulled out the katana that was diagonally embedded in his face. His blood splattered around him.

“Kill him!”

The rogues finally came to their senses and quickly aimed their guns at Hyun-woo.

When North Korea collapsed, a massive amount of firearms were released into the black market. As a result, it was common for rogues to be armed with automatic rifles.

Just as the rogues were about to pull the trigger, Hyun-woo quickly jumped into the middle, causing their lines of fire to cross.

The rogues panicked and stopped when they realized they were about to shoot each other.

Hyun-woo didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately grabbed the nearest rogue, using him as a shield. However, a human body couldn’t possibly stop an armor-piercing bullet from an automatic rifle.

What Hyun-woo wanted was just a slight opening and the willingness to shoot even allies.

‘Dominate.’

The moment the Dominate skill activated, the rogue at the very rear was dominated.

The Dominate skill wasn’t perfect. Ordinary people had almost no resistance, but the higher the level, the stronger the resistance, and the effect still varied depending on the atmosphere and will. Dominate only allowed for more detailed control.

That was enough.

The rogue, as if having made up his mind, sprayed bullets at his comrades with a determined expression.

It was almost the same moment Hyun-woo had jumped between them and used one rogue as a shield. The rogues, suddenly shot in the back, screamed and fell.

The rogue, belatedly realizing what he had done, was momentarily shocked. Hyun-woo made the remaining one point the gun at his own head and fire.

In an instant, four rogues were taken care of.

Only Endo remained.

[Human (LV 50)]

[The ‘Hell’s Strongest’ title increases stats relative to level.]

‘Hmm, a 4-star, huh?’

Hyun-woo was curious. It was the first time he had seen a 4-star ability user besides Lee Ji-tae, Johann, and Oh Dae-sung.

Moreover, a level-cap reached person.

He was sure he could win against Johann because Johann wasn’t combat-oriented, but he wondered about this guy.

‘But he doesn’t seem to be in a condition to fight.’

He hadn’t gone too deep, but he had just had a Japanese sword embedded in his head. It was admirable that he was even standing.

Well, if that was all after taking Yerdan’s attack head-on, it could be considered impressive.

Lycanthropes were a race that had abandoned magic and extremely enhanced their physical strength. Hyun-woo couldn’t win in a head-on fight either.

‘It would be nice if he could be a combat power meter before fighting other 5-stars… but judging from his current state, it’s impossible.’

Instead, Hyun-woo became curious about something else.

‘I heard that when you reach level 50, you awaken an ultimate skill.’

***

Endo couldn’t understand the situation.

‘Does he have the ability to control minds?’

He had never heard of such a fraudulent skill. But this situation couldn’t be explained otherwise.

Endo tried to focus and gripped his sword tightly. Caught between Hyun-woo and the Lycanthrope, Endo didn’t know which one to focus on.

“Endo-ssi! Ah, no, Kang Hyun-woo-ssi!”

A desperate cry came from the hunters blocking the werewolf at the entrance of the valley. There were too many werewolves.

The hunters, who had already entered a dungeon beyond their capabilities, were being overwhelmed and killed one by one.

It wasn’t just many. There were too many.

‘Could it be, a Plude [sudden surge of monsters]?’

Endo’s mind flashed.

After the difficulty increase, all the Pludes that had already occurred were forcibly terminated, and since then, Pludes had never occurred.

Endo had also carefully examined the state of this dungeon, just in case. He couldn’t be disturbed while trying to catch Kang Hyun-woo.

It was definitely stable.

But dungeons were unpredictable. If a Plude had occurred, the appearance of this Lycanthrope was understandable. Endo gritted his teeth.

“Kang Hyun-woo, I know you understand this situation. But it doesn’t seem like it’s the time for us to fight each other.”

“Us?”

“Yes. I know how strong you are, but this Lycanthrope is a monster. We might be able to win if we combine our strength. To survive for now, we need to put aside our conflicts and cooperate.”

Hyun-woo’s lips twitched. Endo bared his teeth.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh… no, I think it’s natural. Well, these cases wouldn’t be known yet.”

Most people had never heard of or seen humans controlling monsters.

Naturally, they would think the situation was twisted because of the monsters.

Hyun-woo instructed Yerdan to stay still with his will and opened his mouth.

“Okay. What will you give me in exchange for cooperating?”

“…Bargaining even in a life-or-death situation? Fine. I’ll cancel the request. The situation looks bad, but even like this, I can take one of you with me if I risk my life.”

Was he serious, saying that with his head split in half? But Endo’s momentum was quite serious.

He seemed confident in his own way. Or maybe he had lost too much blood.

“No, tell me the name of the guy who requested you.”

“Bargaining in this situation…”

“Or just die.”

Endo burst into a roar of anger.

Hyun-woo expected him to rush in, but he was still wary of Yerdan, so he couldn’t even point his sword at Hyun-woo.

He must cherish his life quite a bit. Endo finally opened his mouth as if he had no choice.

“The client is…”

“Forget it. There’s no need to worry about the name of a client who doesn’t exist.”

Endo’s eyes widened. Hyun-woo said with a smile.

“You’re that guy, aren’t you? The one who sent hunters after my Crystal Moss back in the day. You realized I was bigger than expected and jumped in yourself. You even used a voice actor for Kang Seong-gyu to deceive me. You put in the effort. It was all useless, though. You know, there’s nothing as fun as watching someone else’s futile efforts, right?”

“You, you, how did you know!”

“Anyway, I was going to find you eventually, but thanks for coming to me directly.”

Hyun-woo ordered Yerdan to bite Endo. Yerdan rushed in with a fierce roar. But Endo had no intention of just dying either.

Hyun-woo momentarily felt an unusual aura from Endo.

Ultimate Skill: Heavenly Flash

Endo’s blade became a huge cluster of light in an instant.

It was almost simultaneous that a fierce light burst from his sword and he swung it towards where Yerdan was. A destructive wave of light swept through the entire valley.