Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 133

133. Enemy of Humanity (1)

Hyeon-woo carefully gathered Yoo-min’s remains into a white burial gown, but he didn’t know where to take them.

Difficulty: Hell. He even considered that it might be better to keep her in this clean, giant coffin than to bury her in the polluted air of hell.

“Is there a place to take remains?”

[There is a place. It’s on the way, so follow me.]

A door on one side of the room opened, leading in a different direction from their entrance.

Hyeon-woo followed, finding a scarecrow waiting. The scarecrow gestured for him to follow, acting as a guide.

As he silently walked, Hyeon-woo suddenly remembered a crucial question he’d forgotten.

“What year is it now?”

Difficulty: Easy. Knowing how much time he had left was vital. If the deadline was closer than he thought, he couldn’t afford to waste any time.

[It’s not accurate anymore. As mana became oversaturated, the flow of time became unstable. Time flows differently for each region, creature, or subordinate. Everything is a mess now.]

“Then tell me the time before that happened. Roughly… the time from when Difficulty: Easy began until everything went wrong.”

[At the beginning of Difficulty: Nightmare, when time could still be measured…]

Twelve years.

Hyeon-woo was stunned by Eve’s answer.

According to Eve, humanity went from Difficulty: Easy to Nightmare in about 12 years. Hyeon-woo couldn’t decide if that was a short or long period.

Difficulty: Tutorial had lasted 30 years, but Difficulty: Nightmare was only 12.

‘No, it’s enough.’

He’d reached level 40 in half a year, and he possessed experience, knowledge, and power from hell. If he prepared using these advantages, he could prevent the world from collapsing.

Hyeon-woo bit his lip.

To achieve that, he might need to become even more ruthless than he already was.

[Here.]

The scarecrow stopped, and a door opened automatically. The room beyond was filled with scarecrow parts and discarded materials.

On one side, a scarecrow was being assembled, while on the other, there was a capsule just large enough for an adult to lie down in.

The scarecrow manipulated the capsule to open it.

[Get in.]

“Is this safe?”

[I’m going to implant electrodes in your brain and inject drugs to forcibly accelerate your thinking, but statistically, it boasts a 100% success rate.]

That didn’t sound reassuring at all. But Hyeon-woo didn’t want to miss the opportunity to enhance his skills, especially Battle Helper.

Even if he died, he could just return here. Of course, he might bring some explosives with him next time.

Hyeon-woo lay down in the capsule, and the scarecrow reached out and took Yoo-min’s remains.

[I’ll take care of this.]

“How will you dispose of the body?”

[The bodies are cremated together.]

The capsule lid closed. Through the window, Hyeon-woo could see the scarecrow’s red eyes watching him.

Hyeon-woo felt uneasy, but it was too late to back out.

[Then.]

A mechanical sound echoed inside the capsule.

[This is the second time I’ve input so much data.]

“Second time? Hey! You said 100%!”

[That value excludes small-scale operations with less than 100 combat records. Large-scale data implantation of over 9,000 people is the second time. The first time was successful, so it’s not wrong to say 100%.]

“Wait, so you’ve failed before when it was less than 100 times…?”

Hyeon-woo’s words were cut off. He felt something pierce the back of his neck, and his consciousness began to fade. His vision turned white.

***

Blood splattered on the pure white snowfield.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Hyeon-woo wondered, ‘Why am I bleeding?’

The blood that fell on the ground left clear red marks instead of turning black as it usually did.

“Ugh!”

A scream. Hyeon-woo barely dodged an attack.

The attacker’s blade bounced off his body and continued to chase him as if weightless. His neck was sharply scratched, and blood splattered again. Hyeon-woo frowned and looked at the attacker.

A face he didn’t recognize. No, was it even human?

A figure of indeterminate gender, wearing a mask resembling an owl. Or rather, it looked like a real owl’s face. So, an owl-human hybrid?

Hyeon-woo took a fighting stance. But when he looked at his hands, he realized that the attacker wasn’t the only strange thing.

They were a woman’s hands, not his own. The attacker shouted something at Hyeon-woo, but he couldn’t understand the words because the attacker was out of breath and half of it was just swearing. Hyeon-woo felt disoriented, but he knew what he had to do.

Fortunately, his inventory and skills were working normally. Hyeon-woo drew Tam [his sword] and swung it at the opponent.

Clang!

The blade of Tam, crackling with purple energy, collided with the attacker’s blade. The energy-infused blade began to eat away at the opponent’s weapon as if flames were consuming it.

The attacker panicked and tried to disengage, but Hyeon-woo pressed harder. The moment the sword shattered completely, the attacker threw it away and tried to escape. But Hyeon-woo pressed down on him with Tam.

The owl’s face was crushed, splattering blood on the snowfield once more.

Hyeon-woo exhaled roughly.

Then a mechanical voice echoed in his head.

[From now on, you will fight 9451 people while inhabiting different bodies and enter that data. The body you currently occupy is that of the person who has fought the most battles in history, making it an excellent foundation for collecting combat data. Time and victory or defeat are irrelevant. When you feel familiar enough with the movements, you may proceed to the next stage.]

“9,000? Wait, are you saying I have to do this 9,000 times?”

[Not 9,000 times, but 9,000 people. The actual number of battles may be several times that.]

Hyeon-woo gritted his teeth. Did that mean this could go on forever?

Even if he spent just one hour per person and fought them non-stop, it would take nearly 400 days. But if it wasn’t just about winning or losing, but also about learning how to fight… it could take several times longer.

In the worst-case scenario, he could waste years here.

Hyeon-woo let out a scream mixed with curses, and the mechanical voice responded again.

[Don’t worry about time. Your thinking is being accelerated with drugs. By the way, your blood… your blood is strange. I’ve maximized the concentration within the safe allowable amount. I’m also providing nutritional supplements, so it’s okay. It won’t take as long as you’re worried about.]

“How long do you expect it to take?”

[Considering your capabilities, it could be as short as 60 days. If you don’t go insane in the process.]

“That’s still too long, you bastard!”

[The procedure has already begun, so you can’t stop it. If you stop now, you may become a cripple.]

Even if he became a cripple, he might be okay if he died again. Hyeon-woo was about to demand to be taken out, not caring about the consequences, but he stopped himself.

Giving up here would be like giving up on everything, like running away. This was also a legacy left by Yoo-min.

If he didn’t do this, who would?

“You said someone succeeded before me?”

[Yes.]

“How long did it take them?”

[Two weeks.]

Crazy. Hyeon-woo wondered what that person had been doing, but at the same time, he thought, ‘Someone’s already done it, so why can’t I?’ Hyeon-woo glared and muttered.

“Can you increase the thinking acceleration even more? Just enough so I don’t die.”

[…It’s already at the limit. If I increase it further, your life may be in danger. The stimulation may be too much, and even one mental breakdown can cause irreversible brain damage. You could end up living like a fool for the rest of your life.]

“Do it. You’ll get new data too, so you have nothing to lose, right?”

Eve didn’t answer. She remained silent for a long time, then responded in a slightly excited voice.

[Okay. Since you’re willing to do that, I’ll help you. If we reduce unnecessary resource consumption, we can further increase the efficiency of thinking acceleration. If your brain doesn’t burn out, you’ll achieve an efficiency that humans have never reached. Shall we do it?]

“Do it.”

As soon as Hyeon-woo answered, the snow mountain and trees in front of him began to disappear. The dead attacker also turned into a bland polygon mass.

The whole world transformed into a polygon landscape with unclear colors and outlines. Only the basic shapes and shades were distinguishable.

[It may take some time to adapt. Learning efficiency may also decrease. Also, since I’ve doped you so heavily, it’s best not to die. Every time you die, the probability of actual death will increase dramatically.]

Hyeon-woo didn’t need to answer. Eve immediately moved him to the next stage.

The newly appeared enemy was unrecognizable due to the crude polygons.

But that didn’t matter. Hyeon-woo rushed towards the opponent without hesitation.

***

A goblin is a goblin. It doesn’t have a name yet.

The command structure that this goblin, one of Hyeon-woo’s few subordinates, follows is somewhat complicated.

Because he belongs to Hyeon-woo’s subordinates, he acts directly according to his will, but the person he actually respects and takes orders from on the spot is Kirson.

Kirson ostensibly follows Park Hwi-so’s instructions, but inwardly despises him.

Of course, this complicated relationship doesn’t hinder their mission performance.

Kirson is a professional who doesn’t show emotions during a mission, and the goblins he selects are the same.

However, they sometimes interpret the execution method a little differently.

“Do you understand? The boss isn’t like that, but that human Park Hwi-so is weak and lacks loyalty. So we have to do well. Kiruk [Goblin speech]. Even if we get our hands a little dirty, we need to understand the boss’s true intentions and maximize his profit.”

Attempts to decipher the ‘true intentions’ and compete for loyalty are inevitable in a dictatorship.

Especially in a situation where the leader holds the power of life and death.

The goblin remembered Kirson’s words well.

The goblin sharpened his sword on the rooftop, thinking.

‘It’s time to see blood.’

Until now, briefly appearing at the designated location had been sufficient.

However, as more and more hunters pursued them, their range of activity was shrinking. The ‘time to quit the mission’ that Kirson had instructed in advance was approaching.

Now, the goblin believed it was time to grasp the ‘true intentions’. How could they achieve the boss’s maximum profit?

So he went to a middle-aged man.

The goblin looked at the office on the rooftop where light still shone. An ordinary-looking middle-aged man working late into the night.

But contrary to his appearance, he was actually the candidate who ranked third in the Seoul mayoral election polls.

Currently, the support rates for the 2nd and 3rd place candidates were neck and neck. They shared similar supporters, but because the vote was split, their chances of being elected were dwindling.

In other words, the boss’s ‘true intention’ was clearly to eliminate this 3rd place candidate.