Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 123

123. The Blaze (2)

“Park Hwi-so…”

Hyeon-woo finally remembered Park Hwi-so.

He had killed him with his own hands, so he had to revive him. Only then did he understand why the police were surrounding him.

There was more than one person who saw him jam his hand into Park Hwi-so’s neck, not even knowing if he was dead or alive. Of course, someone would have reported it.

The old detective who had spoken to Hyeon-woo earlier approached him.

“Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo.”

Time was of the essence, and getting caught by the police would be troublesome.

Just as Hyeon-woo was about to use a skill to escape, he saw the detective put away the gun he had drawn.

“You look tired.”

The old detective didn’t seem to want to arrest Hyeon-woo.

“Our police and citizens are grateful for Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo’s hard work. Thanks to you, we were able to prevent a lot of civilian casualties. If you have time later, we would appreciate it if you could come to the station and testify.”

Everyone present had witnessed Hyeon-woo’s actions.

It was clear that he had prevented countless civilian casualties, but there had been no confirmation of the report that Kang Hyeon-woo had committed murder.

It might be beyond his authority, but the detective decided that it was right to let him leave out of respect.

“…I understand.”

The hunters who had been watching the situation breathed a sigh of relief and made way for him.

Hyeon-woo was nothing short of a hero to them. Even if there was a story behind it, they didn’t want to see him in handcuffs.

The path opened, and Hyeon-woo got into Yoo-min’s car.

***

When the monster attack occurred on the Gangbyeonbuk-ro [a major riverside expressway in Seoul], many hunters flocked to the scene, including a significant number from the Jeonneungryeon [likely a Hunter’s association or organization].

One of the hunters who intervened under the guise of cleaning up the scene received Hyeon-woo’s instructions and smuggled out Park Hwi-so’s body. The body was taken directly to Hyeon-woo’s bunker.

However, Hyeon-woo couldn’t revive Park Hwi-so right away.

“Revive him in this state? Does revival also have the ability to heal wounds?”

It was as restorative as drinking a top-grade potion. But it was uncertain whether he could survive in this state, having been burned nearly to a crisp.

“And you shouldn’t get close to Park Hwi-so right now. It’s absurd to touch a patient with such contaminated hands.”

That was true. Even if Park Hwi-so was revived, he would certainly be in a very vulnerable state.

Thanks to this, while Hyeon-woo showered, Yoo-min decided to make all the preparations she could.

Hyeon-woo headed straight to the lab after showering.

As soon as he entered the lab, he was hit with a pungent smell of burning.

The smell of burnt human flesh was utterly disgusting, but Yoo-min didn’t show any sign of it.

She was wearing surgical gloves and carefully cutting away the pieces of clothing stuck to Park Hwi-so’s skin with scissors.

“Have you ever done surgery before?”

“I’ve done a lot of dissections, though.”

Even if she thought disassembly was the reverse of assembly, it was questionable whether Yoo-min had that much expertise. Still, she was prepared to do something.

“What are you going to do?”

“You said you could revive Park Hwi-so, so I have to make sure he’s not in a state where he’ll die right away after being revived.”

Hyeon-woo’s Difficulty: Hell ‘Restart’ completely restores all body parts and reappears.

The previous body completely disappears. But revival through the minion skill is different.

It only grants life again through the medium of the corpse, and only heals the wounds to some extent, not perfectly.

It was roughly the same level as when Hyeon-woo’s body was regenerated with the ‘Last Man Standing’ perk.

“If the area of the skin damaged by burns exceeds 30%, you die. At least that much has to be restored…”

Park Hwi-so’s body was so burned that it was safe to say that nearly 90% or more of his body was burned.

Hyeon-woo felt that they couldn’t handle this situation with their own knowledge.

He could ask Dowonkyung for help, but more inhumane methods were needed.

Methods that would only be used in hell.

“Yoo-min, don’t be surprised.”

Hyeon-woo summoned Kazat and Kirson in front of Yoo-min. Yoo-min’s eyes widened, but she didn’t seem afraid. Rather, she seemed intensely curious.

But she knew how to distinguish between time and place.

“Boss, what’s going on?”

“Great one, this one is…”

Kazat immediately recognized Park Hwi-so, who had become a charcoal briquette. Because he was the same minion.

“I need to revive this person now, but he’s sure to die again. Kazat, Kirson. Is there a way?”

Kazat and Kirson looked at each other.

These two were monsters who were symbols of baseness and filth, but at least they knew more about the ways of hell than Hyeon-woo did.

Kazat quickly grasped the situation and began to move.

“It is an honor to be able to solve this homework given by the great one with my own hands.”

Kazat skillfully grabbed the scalpel and began to move, as if he already had experience with surgery and dissection. Following his fingertips, the burned areas of Park Hwi-so’s body were gradually cut away.

Kirson made a dissatisfied noise at the sight.

“Boss, I know what that rat bastard is trying to do, but the old geezer might get a little annoyed when he comes back to life. Is that okay?”

“I don’t care.”

Just knowing there was a way was enough.

Yoo-min, who had been cautiously keeping her distance from Kazat, seemed to realize that she could follow his movements and carefully came closer to help.

Kazat’s gaze briefly sharpened, but he must have clearly felt Hyeon-woo’s will, as he received the help without saying a word.

“Then there must be some materials needed. Boss, please send me back to the original world [Difficulty: Hell]. I need to bring the materials that rat bastard needs. I think the wolf should go with me since we need to get things that aren’t in the warehouse right now.”

“Miyoung Hellhound’s back skin, the eyes of the hungry, dead eye grass seeds!”

Kazat shouted without even looking at Kirson.

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, Boss, you stay here. No matter how much we trust them, can we really leave our boss’s partner alone with monsters like us?”

Kazat shot a nervous look at Kirson’s words.

He didn’t think Kazat would go against Hyeon-woo’s will and do something like that, but Kirson’s words weren’t wrong either.

Yoo-min had only seen Kirson and Kazat for the first time today.

Kirson was sent back to Difficulty: Hell.

“Is all I can do is watch?”

Kazat tilted his head as if asking what he was talking about at Hyeon-woo’s question.

“The great one’s role is the most important. While I fix this minion to be useful, please cast the revival at the timing I ask. We need to leave as many usable parts as possible.”

“Revive him? Isn’t it painful?”

“Of course, it will be terribly painful. Enough to make you want to commit suicide.”

Kazat grinned, baring his teeth.

“But great one, no matter how much the world changes, one of the unchanging truths is that it’s better to live in this world, even if you’re rolling in dog poop.”

***

“What? What did Kang Hyeon-woo do?”

[He’s said to have killed someone.]

Park Gyu, the Chief of Staff of the Blue House [the South Korean presidential office], was shocked by the news of the monsters that appeared on Gangbyeonbuk-ro, then shocked again that the person who stopped them was Kang Hyeon-woo, and finally shocked once more by the news that came in through intelligence within the police.

“Killed someone? Not accidentally getting caught up in it while stopping the monsters?”

[I’ll send you the video.]

Park Gyu watched the scene of Kang Hyeon-woo pulling a person out of a burning car and then stabbing them in the neck, and he clutched his head.

Judging by the state of the person, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the person was already dead, but delivering the final blow was a completely different matter.

“I didn’t see this on the news, who took it?”

[A civilian took it. We confiscated the video and controlled it so that other broadcasting station reporters couldn’t take it. But it seems that word is already spreading to the media.]

“Who is this person anyway? And why did Kang Hyeon-woo do that?”

[After checking the vehicle, it’s a man named Park Hwi-so, a gangster. I know that he controls the black market that smuggles Modified Moss and items. Kang Hyeon-woo used to drive that car, so maybe they had a falling out or something. We need to find out more details.]

Park Gyu fell into 고민 [Korean word meaning ‘worry’ or ‘contemplation’] about how to handle this situation.

He was just starting to give Kang Hyeon-woo’s work a boost, and suddenly there was a public murder?

Park Gyu hated the situation where ability users were causing trouble the most.

“First, focus on reporting that Kang Hyeon-woo stopped the monsters. The public opinion is all focused on that right now, so let’s hope it gets glossed over. Handle the situation so that it doesn’t get too noisy if possible. It’s fortunate that the person named Park Hwi-so was a criminal.”

Park Gyu was giving instructions when he suddenly realized that the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t listening.

He frowned and was about to speak again when he heard a hurried voice from the other end.

[K, Kang Hyeon-woo.]

“What? What did Kang Hyeon-woo do again?”

[Kang Hyeon-woo just showed up at the police station!]

***

Seoul Mapo Police Station.

Even cases that occur in dungeons or involving ability users are investigated and handled at ordinary police stations.

There are police officers who specialize in related cases, but basically, they are not much different from general violent crimes.

Just as police officers, when you take away their police badge, are mostly ordinary householders or common citizens, the reasons and thoughts behind ability users committing crimes are not much different from those of ordinary people.

But even veterans who were skilled at handling ability users were flustered by the appearance of an unexpected big shot.

“Oh, Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo. We haven’t sent you a summons yet.”

“It’s okay, let’s start right away. I don’t want to go back and forth.”

Hyeon-woo replied in a sharply tense voice.

Kang Hyeon-woo came to the Mapo Police Station, the police station in charge of the area where the incident occurred, just one day after the incident on Gangbyeonbuk-ro.

Saying that he wanted to finish the investigation as soon as possible.

It was a difficult situation for the police. They hadn’t even grasped the situation yet, so there wasn’t much to ask even if they investigated.

“Um, well… it won’t take long. There were a few reports. There are so many witnesses…”

The detective was also a level 20 ability user who had reached the 1-star limit level.

He had retired from his life as a hunter and was hired into the ability world in recognition of his experience, but every time he heard Kang Hyeon-woo’s voice, he felt like his legs were giving way.

It felt like a monster was growling in front of him.

“Then, could you explain the situation at that time in detail?”

Hyeon-woo explained the situation at the time plainly and without emotion.

From meeting and parting with Park Hwi-so, to the explosion that occurred afterward, to pulling Park Hwi-so out of the fire, to detecting and tracking the ability user immediately afterward, to the fierce battle that took place when the monster appeared in the middle.

The detective had a complicated expression after hearing the second half of the story.

“Um, first of all, I would like to thank you for your hard work, Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo. It could have been a big disaster, but thanks to you, we were able to suppress the monster early and minimize the damage. The only person who died was the person who was in the car when the first car explosion occurred…”

Hyeon-woo stared at the detective with a fierce look. The detective tried to avoid his gaze as much as possible and opened his mouth.

“There are many witnesses to the scene where Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo pulled a person out of the burning car. At that time, everyone thought that Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo was acting heroically… The name of the person who was burned in the fire is Park Hwi-so, right? The registration is under his name.”

“That’s right.”

“I heard that you attacked Mr. Park Hwi-so after taking him out of the fire.”

There was a video of this, so it was impossible to deny.

“That’s right.”

The detective swallowed hard.

“Was the other person alive at that point?”

Hyeon-woo’s charges would be different depending on this.

Was it corpse desecration or murder?

If it was corpse desecration, the reason was incomprehensible, and if it was murder, there might be suspicion that he had exploded the car from the beginning to kill the other person.

It was not a normal thing for a current 5-star hunter to be arrested for murder. Hyeon-woo’s answer was calm.

“He was alive.”