Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 118

118. Shining Like Heaven

“Ms. Amini, if you’re feeling motion sickness, you can close the curtains.”

“No, I’m fine. I want to see the famous scenery.”

UN Special Inspector Amini smiled at the woman standing in the elevator and stepped inside. It felt strange to call it an elevator.

Not only was there no cable, but it was also standing alone in the high altitudes of the Alps, practically in the middle of nowhere.

The scenery of the Alps was beautiful, but she hadn’t come to see the scenery.

Amini glanced at the woman, wondering when they would depart. At that moment, the elevator shot into the sky.

Amini almost lost her footing due to the smooth, rapid ascent without any noise or vibration. But the woman stood quietly, as if accustomed to it.

It was silent except for the sound of the wind rushing past. Soon, the horizon began to curve.

Amini was afraid they might go all the way into space. But as if to end her worries, the destination finally came into view.

It was a cube-shaped structure, as if cut with precise machinery.

The building, made of white granite, shone with a dazzling white color under the sunlight.

At the beautiful sight, Amini unconsciously recalled the nickname given to the building.

“Chrome…….”

The ascent speed slowly decreased. As the impressive ascent ended, Amini almost collapsed in her spot. The woman steadied her, as if used to it.

The door opened. Amini had worried about a lack of air pressure, but the inside of the building, directly connected to the elevator, felt normal.

In the leisurely atmosphere of the living room, only a few people were sitting on the sofa, talking in low voices.

It was so small and quiet that it was hard to believe it was the hideout of the leader of the world’s top ability user group.

“Welcome.”

Then, Amini heard someone greeting her.

Unconsciously, she turned her head, then realized she had to lower her gaze slightly. The other person was sitting in a wheelchair.

“Welcome to Chrome, Special Inspector.”

The elderly woman with white hair reached out her hand to Amini. Amini recognized who she was and quickly straightened her posture, shaking her hand.

The founder and legend of the world’s top ability user group, Maria Keller.

“Professor Maria Keller! It’s an honor. I’m Shiba Amini.”

“Let’s move to a quiet place first. Adam, could you bring Inspector Amini a drink?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Amini was surprised to realize that the woman who had accompanied her was Adam Fault.

She had been waiting for her in the elevator for a long time, so she had only thought of her as an errand runner. Besides, the name Adam was definitely a man’s name.

Amini, who hadn’t even properly introduced herself, followed Maria without finding a chance to apologize.

Arriving at the reception room, Maria showed her gnarled hand and said.

“I can’t even properly receive you because of my body. I’m sorry, Inspector. There are cookies out, so feel free to take whatever you want.”

“No, no, Professor Keller. You’re embarrassing me. I didn’t come to be waited on.”

Maria Keller was a figure who received great respect in the political, diplomatic, and ability user circles.

Externally, she was still known as a 4-star ability user, but in reality, she was one of the seven real 5-star ability users identified by the UN Special Inspection Department. Among them, she was almost the first.

However, she couldn’t enter dungeons due to a congenital disability and instead devoted herself to academics based on her abilities.

As a result, she developed countless items and put forward numerous theories about the behavior and transformation of dungeons, and helped to find the first 5-star dungeon攻略 [capture/strategy guide].

“By the way, I was surprised that the woman from earlier was Adam Fault. Her face isn’t well known…… Is it true that Adam Fault is floating this entire structure?”

“It’s just one of the minor talents that child has. You’d be surprised if you knew how many more talents she has. She’s the one who built this building, too.”

“It’s as beautiful as heaven. Amazing.”

“Heaven?”

Maria’s expression flickered for a moment. Amini was flustered, wondering if she had made a mistake, when Adam Fault opened the door and came in.

Adam expressionlessly handed Amini a glass of water with ice.

“It’s ice frozen in the wind at an altitude of 4km. All the visitors look forward to this.”

Amini gladly drank it, as she had been anticipating it. It was so cold that her teeth hurt. Maria received a cup of tea.

“Then…… let’s get to the point, Ms. Amini. I think the reason for the Special Inspection Department’s sudden visit is probably because of that newly emerged Korean ability user.”

“Ah, yes. After all, he’s the first officially announced 5-star ability user.”

Amini straightened her posture and took the matter seriously as they entered into official business.

“Until now, Professor Maria Keller has predicted the emergence and location of all 5-star ability users, so our inspection department didn’t have any burden in managing them. We were also able to convey the cause and rules in advance before countries or organizations intervened excessively. But…… everything changed with the appearance of this Asian man. Regardless of whether he’s really a 5-star or not, we plan to officially announce all 5-star ability users within the next week. Including Professor Keller and Adam Fault.”

Maria listened without saying a word.

“Professor Keller has agreed to this part, so I don’t think there will be any objections. But…… what the higher-ups are worried about is…….”

“You’re wondering if I’ve failed to predict the birth of a 5-star ability user and that an unstoppable power inflation might begin.”

Amini wiped away the cold sweat.

Adam Fault alone has the ability to keep such a building afloat thousands of meters in the air for months.

If such ability users started appearing in numbers that were difficult to control, they couldn’t help but prepare in advance.

And Amini and the Special Inspection Department were also preparing for another possibility.

The possibility that Professor Maria Keller was hiding information.

Instead of answering, Maria placed a piece of paper with red spots on it in front of Amini.

“What is this……?”

“It’s a blood sample that arrived from that man named Kang Hyun-woo. The results confirm that he is a 5-star. At least he’s not lying.”

Maria’s heart sank. That meant Maria had really failed to predict it.

“However, that’s if it really belongs to that Kang Hyun-woo.”

“Yes? You mean it’s not?”

“It’s true that it’s a 5-star that I’ve never seen before. So it could be that I failed to predict it. But this is at least not Kang Hyun-woo’s. It seems like it was switched, or the sender deceived us.”

Maria Keller quietly continued.

“To be honest, three more 5-star ability users have emerged recently besides Kang Hyun-woo. Including Kang Hyun-woo, that makes four. All four of them emerged within six months, in an unprecedentedly short period of time. Even before the difficulty level increased.”

Amini’s face turned pale.

“Why are you telling me this now…….”

“It’s such an unusual event that I was worried my prediction might be wrong. I couldn’t even predict Kang Hyun-woo’s awakening. I felt the other 5-star ability users through sensing, not prediction. But Kang Hyun-woo was impossible to predict or sense. I couldn’t help but consider the possibility that my ability was flawed. Because if that’s the case, it would be a big concern for you.”

A broken radar is useless.

For Amini, Maria’s failure to predict was similar to the feeling of a nuclear missile already falling on her head, with no way to stop it.

“Has power inflation begun?”

Power inflation was one of the human extinction scenarios that Maria had presented a long time ago.

Dungeons are gradually getting stronger, and the number and strength of ability users are also constantly increasing, but once a singularity is passed, the upward trend cannot be stopped, eventually leading to a catastrophe.

Many ability users, including government officials, believed in this theory.

5-star ability users were treated with particular caution because those who had reached the 4-star limit level and those who were worthy of the title ‘superhuman’ had appeared.

“I don’t know. In fact, it’s not yet the stage where power inflation should occur, so…… this situation feels unusual. I even suspect that there has been intervention from an external realm.”

“An external realm?”

“To put it simply, please listen with the understanding that this is just an analogy. Our universe is a closed universe. The total amount of energy in the universe is fixed, and when all that energy is used up, all activity in the universe will stop. In this case, energy from an external realm must come in to revive it. This situation is clearly a sudden increase in energy, so…… it cannot be explained without the intervention of an external realm.”

“Oh, so you’re not trying to say that Kang Hyun-woo is an alien, are you?”

Maria burst out laughing at Amini’s words. Amini also felt awkward, wondering if she had made too much of a joke.

“An alien, it’s funny, but there’s a possibility. In the first place, the fact that dungeons and mana were created on Earth cannot be explained without the intervention of an external realm. This ridiculous game.”

Maria said, grumbling.

“Anyway, it seems difficult to give the control freaks on the ground the answer they want. There’s only one way to confirm it.”

“What is it?”

“Bring Kang Hyun-woo here directly. Then we can know for sure whether power inflation has started or not.”

Amini hesitated to answer. Kang Hyun-woo had already risen to a fairly prominent position. His level also seemed high.

She couldn’t forcibly bring him or use coercion. But she couldn’t leave him alone like this either.

Amini nodded.

The corners of Maria’s lips turned up slightly.

***

Maria watched Amini descend to the ground from the window. Adam was quietly standing guard next to her.

He had ridden with Amini when she came to know when to depart, but he didn’t necessarily have to ride with her to send her down.

Adam looked at the elevator and opened his mouth.

“Will it be alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“If the Special Inspection Department suspects that we deliberately didn’t announce the emergence of the 5-star, won’t there be pressure? We can take care of it now by disguising it as an accident.”

It was simple. All he had to do was roll a rock onto the car Amini was riding in. Or make the wheels not turn on a curve.

It was something that happened thousands of meters away, but it was easier for Adam than flipping his hand.

Maria turned to Adam. Her gaze was cold. As Maria flicked her hand, Adam bowed and closed his eyes.

Maria swung her hand with all her might and slapped Adam’s cheek. Adam’s head turned with a smack.

“It’s not your place to judge, Adam.”

“I overstepped.”

“Don’t think you can do anything in the name of helping me. You have great power. It should be used for humanity, not for me.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

But Maria knew that Adam wasn’t listening to her words.

Maria had denied it several times, but Adam was her dog.

A dog that would jump out even if dipped in boiling water, wag its tail at her, and bite the enemy.

“What we have to do now is to figure out Kang Hyun-woo’s identity as much as possible and decide whether to bring him to our side or eliminate him. To do that, we still need their power. The situation is already flowing strangely. The case of the dungeon disappearing too.”

Maria rubbed her forehead.

“Lee Ji-tae, I might need that friend’s help. That friend is also a star whisperer, so he must have received the angel’s visit like us…… I don’t know what’s going on in the Far East.”

Maria suddenly felt a pain in her lower back and bent over. Adam quickly stroked Maria’s back.

Maria’s disability and illness were at a level that could not be cured even with potions or skills. Adam picked up Maria and headed to the bedroom.

Maria muttered, grumbling.

“I want to die as soon as possible.”

“Don’t say that.”

Maria hugged Adam’s neck tightly and leaned on him. Adam’s hand holding Maria tightened.

Her heart, which was always calm, was beating fast at the fact that Maria was relying on her.

It seemed like Maria was controlling Adam, but in reality, it was the opposite.

Maria could no longer live without relying on Adam.

The reason for floating the Chrome headquarters in the sky was ostensibly to continuously supply Maria with fresh air and ensure her safety.

But in fact, it was to isolate Maria from others.

No one is allowed to meet Maria without Adam’s permission.