Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 13

13. Friend of Beginners (2)

Swoosh, bang!

The closest scarecrow was the first to have its neck twisted by Hyun-woo’s fist. It would have been enough to break a human’s neck, but the mannequin only suffered a slight crack.

Hyun-woo didn’t stop there and repeatedly punched. He intended to finish at least one of them before the other mannequins rushed in.

The scarecrow was unilaterally beaten by Hyun-woo’s continuous punches. Hyun-woo noticed that the crack on the mannequin’s face was getting bigger than before.

‘I can break it.’

The moment Hyun-woo was convinced, he put all his strength into his last punch. With a bang, the mannequin’s face flew off.

“……What?”

No, what flew off was just the outer layer.

Inside, something made of dark steel was spinning rapidly, making busy noises. Hyun-woo recalled a familiar visual as he saw the red eyes shining within.

‘I thought it was a scarecrow, but is it a Terminator?’

“Updating opponent information. Starting sparring level 2.”

The scarecrow, which had been getting beaten so badly that its face was peeling off, suddenly threw a punch.

Bang! Hyun-woo barely managed to raise his arm to block, but he felt terrible pain in his left arm.

It was faster than before.

His left arm was paralyzed with pain and he couldn’t move it. Before he knew it, the barricade had collapsed and the scarecrows were rushing towards Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo barely dodged their attacks and escaped.

‘How am I supposed to win against this?’

He could barely handle one, but there were five. Moreover, even if the level was adjusted to Hyun-woo, their movements were definitely those of martial artists.

The Hell Darts didn’t work before, and since they weren’t living things, there was a high probability that the poison blood wouldn’t work either.

‘What kind of difficulty is this?’

At that moment, his legs wouldn’t move at all.

While he was dealing with one, a scarecrow had crawled under the barricade. When it grabbed his leg and hung on, Hyun-woo lost his balance.

“Let go!”

There was no way to deal with five scarecrows at once when he could barely handle one.

Hyun-woo slammed the head of the scarecrow holding his leg, but only the mannequin’s face peeled off, and it was still fine.

With his limbs tied up, Hyun-woo was left defenseless in front of the scarecrow. The scarecrow that Hyun-woo had been beating punched him as if taking revenge.

The shock of the blows to his head continued. It didn’t let up at all. Hyun-woo had an absurd thought even as he was being beaten.

That these were beginner scarecrows, so all the beginners must have died.

[Physical strength has increased.]

[Bleeding resistance has increased.]

The scarecrows, with the same strength as Hyun-woo, did not let their guard down and steadily beat him while restraining him. Even the sound of the beating was as regular as the ticking of a clock.

[Health has dropped below 10%. Regeneration begins with the ‘Last Man Standing’ title perk.]

[Health regeneration ability has increased.]

He felt his fading consciousness quickly returning.

“Ugh, ha!”

As soon as he regained consciousness, Hyun-woo shook off the scarecrows with force. Of course, the scarecrows didn’t budge. While his health was regenerating, his pain was reduced, so Hyun-woo was able to exert great strength.

[Pain tolerance has increased.]

With the feeling that the skin of his arm was peeling off, Hyun-woo fell over the barricade along with the scarecrows.

With a crash, several scarecrows fell off. Hyun-woo kicked the one holding his leg and barely crawled out.

His left arm was dangling and bruised all over in the shape of hands. However, the ‘Last Man Standing’ perk regeneration seemed to be still in progress, and it soon regained its shape. It was a disgusting sight, but better than a broken arm.

Now Hyun-woo was given a choice.

‘Should I run away?’

Hyun-woo looked towards the entrance he had just entered. But he hadn’t revealed all his cards yet. Hyun-woo thought it would be better to give it his all before giving up.

“Since you guys use martial arts, I should do this much to balance things out, right?”

Hyun-woo took out a weapon from his inventory.

[Vicious Wooden Stick (Rare): A sturdily made vicious wooden stick. Its durability is weak, but its attack power is quite strong.]

The wooden stick that came out of the inventory naturally fell into Hyun-woo’s hand. The wooden stick scattered a dark blue, ominous energy.

The fallen scarecrows stood up and began to prepare for battle. Hyun-woo immediately activated Battle Helper. He felt his muscles twitching under his skin.

Bang!

The wooden stick, gripped in both hands, struck the scarecrow’s waist. Unfortunately, the attack didn’t land properly.

The scarecrow quickly lowered its arm and blocked it. However, the scarecrow’s arm broke from the impact. Even so, it was pushed back several steps.

‘It’s effective.’

Hyun-woo was surprised by the destructive power that broke even the specially treated scarecrow’s arm in one blow. But the scarecrows didn’t seem very surprised.

“Updating opponent information.”

The scarecrows all muttered in unison and adjusted their stances. At the same time, the scarecrows’ hands began to change with a clanging sound.

“Starting armed sparring mode.”

Clang, click, boom!

The scarecrows, armed with swords, hammers, maces, daggers, and spears, surrounded Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of the cold, sharp blades.

“……Damn it.”

I should have run away.

[You have died.]

[Total survival time: 05 days 08 hours 04 minutes 16 seconds.]

***

Hyun-woo immediately began to analyze the cause of his defeat after resurrecting.

First of all, he rushed in too quickly without prior information. Whether it was a scarecrow, an android, or a Terminator that had rebelled against humans, the biggest mistake was moving rashly without knowing anything.

Isn’t this difficulty level: Hell, where you have to tap a stone bridge before crossing it? [A Chinese proverb meaning to proceed with caution.]

And not creating an escape route. This may be related to the above cause of defeat.

Knowing that he would be resurrected even if he died, he thought he only had to endure a moment of pain. This inevitably led to carelessness. Carelessness dulled his skills.

Well, besides that, there were countless external factors such as lack of skill, the opponent being in the majority, and being in an unfamiliar space. But since these points were unavoidable, Hyun-woo decided to find something he could overcome himself first.

‘Would it have been different if I had brought a weapon from the beginning?’

Hyun-woo shook his head.

If he had brought a weapon from the beginning, he wouldn’t have known that the scarecrows would adjust to the opponent’s weapon level.

More than anything, he could somehow endure and fight if it was a fist fight, but if he fought with blades, the outcome would be decided in an instant. The scarecrows’ swordsmanship skills were also top-notch.

But apart from that, he thought it would be better to carry weapons in the future. It was a mistake he made because he had never met an enemy worth using weapons against.

After reflecting, Hyun-woo decided to think about what to do in the future.

“How do I take these guys down…….”

Hyun-woo thought as he looked at the five scarecrows in front of him.

The scarecrows didn’t attack first unless attacked, so they didn’t move even when Hyun-woo was in the gym.

‘Actually, there are many ways to take these guys down.’

Since they don’t move until touched, he could bury them whole or attack them after burying them. There must be a limit to the power the scarecrows can exert.

Or he could lure them in after setting up all sorts of traps in advance. He could even build a proper barricade and attack. Just tying the scarecrows’ ankles together would prevent them from moving properly.

There were many ways if he just used his head a little.

‘If the goal is just to clear the quest.’

If he cleared the quest, he would probably get a reward box like when he cleared the first quest. That alone is valuable enough.

But Hyun-woo judged that this was not just an opportunity to get a reward, but something more. In any case, the scarecrows only fight according to the opponent’s level, so there is absolutely no fear of being unilaterally killed.

It’s literally a scarecrow for beginners.

“It depends on how I do it…….”

Hyun-woo smiled bitterly.

There is nothing you can get for free here.

But even though the process may be terrible, it always gives rewards as much as you suffer. What a fair world this is!

After finishing his 고민 [Korean word for “worry” or “contemplation”], Hyun-woo got up from his seat. Then he started working with the rope he had prepared. It was a rope made by disassembling a sandbag for ability users.

Hyun-woo dragged the scarecrows, laid them down in one place, and tied them up. The scarecrows did not respond unless they acted hostile. After tying up the scarecrows separately, he tied their arms and legs together again. This would prevent them from moving because they would interfere with each other.

“Hoo…… then.”

Hyun-woo clenched his fist towards the scarecrow standing tall in the middle of the gym.

First, start with 1:1.

“Ready, set, go.”

Bang!

This time, Hyun-woo’s preemptive strike. The scarecrow’s neck was thrown back and then returned. Then it quickly regained its stance.

He heard the scarecrows behind him rattling and shaking. But none of the scarecrows untied the rope and escaped.

“Opponent recognition complete. Starting sparring level 1.”

The scarecrow’s fist cut through the air and grazed his face.

His ears were ringing. He belatedly regretted not wearing gloves.

But it seemed okay to develop a sense of actual combat like this. Because he’s not trying to learn boxing.

Hyun-woo was learning the scarecrow’s movements.

‘It’s not just a robot.’

The scarecrows are not killing machines to kill humans, nor are they mannequins that have become monsters. They are literally sparring robots.

There seems to be a problem with the name scarecrow, but anyway, the robot has martial arts abilities built in.

Pow, pow-pow! The basic base for punching is boxing, but there are also foot techniques mixed in. Hyun-woo exchanged punches and kicks, trying to watch the scarecrow’s movements in detail as much as possible.

***

Four hours.

It was a fight that was enough to exhaust Hyun-woo even with the stat correction.

Hyun-woo’s face and body were covered in bruises, blood, and sweat. The worst of all was his fist. The blood that had spread over the torn skin flowed down his arm.

Hyun-woo glared at the scarecrow, panting. Of course, the scarecrow doesn’t get tired or sweat. All Hyun-woo had done was cover the scarecrow with his blood and put a slight crack in one side of its chest.

“Ah, damn it.”

It’s harder than I thought.

Fighting is a full-body workout. The whole body is filled with adrenaline, the muscles are tense with all their might, and the heart pumps blood non-stop.

For a while, you can endure with the adrenaline rush, but even if you do it for two hours, you will feel an enormous fatigue that goes beyond a full sprint.

‘I’m so glad I didn’t break anything.’

Even if Hyun-woo is panting, the scarecrow doesn’t let up. Hyun-woo gritted his teeth and looked at the scarecrow’s fist flying towards him. It seems like he’s getting used to it now.

This is a simple jab.

After dodging, the jab comes again with the same hand. Then comes a powerful straight. It’s the most common pattern that has been repeated for four hours.

Sometimes it mixes in fakes, but this time it’s the same movement. After letting it flow by a finger’s difference, he threw a punch.

He got hit, but it’s shallow. A very short flinch. That was enough.

Tap, bang! Hyun-woo’s fist hit the scarecrow’s chin accurately.

It was the first exchange of attacks and defenses in four hours.

“Hoo, ha!”

Hyun-woo finally felt that the time was ripe. The scarecrow’s movements and his own movements were understood like flowing water. This is enough.

‘Battle Helper.’

Hyun-woo opened his eyes wide and activated Battle Helper. He felt the movement of each muscle fiber in detail and spread it along his spine. At the same time, Hyun-woo’s fist accurately hit the scarecrow’s philtrum [the vertical groove between the upper lip and the nose].

It was an accurate blow that would make a human lose consciousness. Hyun-woo focused on his movements.

‘Accurate!’

The scarecrow’s trained boxing movements were reproduced in Hyun-woo’s body as they were.

Hyun-woo knew nothing about martial arts or martial arts. Because of this, he was focusing on watching and imitating the scarecrows’ movements. And Battle Helper was absorbing such actions like a sponge absorbing water. His heart was beating.

Thump, crash!

Hyun-woo began to push the scarecrow unilaterally. Even before, he could handle one scarecrow if he activated Battle Helper. But it was different now.

Battle Helper, which had learned techniques and how to strike beyond simply controlling the body, literally ‘cooked’ the scarecrow [destroyed or defeated it thoroughly].

Hyun-woo focused on attacking the fine cracks in the rib cage that he had already created. He used the flinch that came from hitting the head to not allow any counterattacks.

“Ughaaaa!”

Hyun-woo thrust his fist in with a loud shout.

Crack!

Finally, the shell of the rib cage was broken off in a circle. Something was seen spinning between the lumps of iron, making a loud noise. That must be the power source that moves the scarecrow.

The moment Hyun-woo was about to deliver the finishing blow, he heard a voice coming from the scarecrow.

“Updating opponent information. Starting sparring level 3.”

Ah, that’s right. This guy’s sparring level was low. Hyun-woo tried to finish it in an instant before it raised its response posture.

But his hand stopped abruptly. If the goal was to kill the scarecrow, he would have already done it long ago. Hyun-woo stepped back, panting.

“Okay. Let’s see what you can do. Sparring level 3.”

Hyun-woo smiled. The stronger it gets, the stronger he gets.

In the end, he will be the winner.