Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 137

137. Enemy of Humanity (5)

Hyeon-woo frowned, examining the strange object dangling from his fingertip. It resembled a lump of meat, yet its texture was unlike muscle or nerve tissue.

It felt like a sticky jelly, as if designed to protect something within.

[Facility Manager Marph Yves (LV 61)]

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

‘This? Is Yves a monster?’

[I am……!]

Yves struggled, attempting to say something more. Hyeon-woo noticed remnants of the red mass still connected to the round object’s interior. He tore off the remaining strands completely.

Instantly, the facility’s power failed with a thud.

Even the subtle vibrations that permeated the facility ceased.

The corridors and rooms, previously illuminated by emergency lights, were plunged into total darkness, with only faint light filtering in from outside. Of course, the collapse and fire in the weakened areas continued unabated.

Hyeon-woo stared at the red mass in his hand.

‘Yves… Did this happen because I pulled this out?’

Then, Yves squirmed in his grasp. Disgusted, Hyeon-woo flung Yves against the wall, intending to finish it off.

At that moment, Yerdan leaped up, snatched the mass from the air, and swallowed it.

“Don’t eat just anything, you rascal!”

Yerdan licked his lips and stared blankly. Hyeon-woo realized he’d have to be more careful about what he threw from now on.

Stepping into the hallway, he saw the scarecrows, previously facing their direction, now sprawled on the floor. It seemed Yves and the facility were truly finished.

Hyeon-woo felt a mix of emotions.

He had been inclined to view the facility favorably, seeing it as a legacy from Yumin.

Furthermore, he hadn’t wanted to destroy it for practical reasons. Operating this facility would have significantly boosted the shelter’s efficiency.

But now, that was impossible. Repairing even a few parts for reuse would take considerable time.

“Ha… Damn it.”

He had won, and his skill had improved, but the ending felt unsatisfactory.

‘No, it’s not completely over yet.’

It wasn’t over until he found the return stone. Hyeon-woo held Yves’ core and prompted Yerdan to sniff it.

He reasoned that knowing Yves’ origin would simplify the search for the return stone.

Suddenly, Yerdan lowered his head and began to cough violently.

After several coughs, Yerdan spat something out.

It was the return stone. It resembled Hyeon-woo’s, but the pattern differed.

Apparently, the slimy red mass had been covering it. Yves had been controlling even the exit, or perhaps the return stone’s power was necessary for Yves to control the facility—or both.

Hyeon-woo activated Yves’ return stone, clutching Yves’ core under his arm.

***

With the familiar sensation of escaping a dungeon, Hyeon-woo found himself back in the basement’s bone room.

“Hoo…….”

Yerdan was with him. Hyeon-woo slumped down, overwhelmed by a sudden wave of emptiness.

It felt like he had embarked on a quest to solve a mystery, only to emerge with even more questions.

‘Why did Yves suddenly go crazy?’

Hyeon-woo recalled seeing the ‘Marph’ part of Yves’ name, ‘Facility Manager Marph Yves,’ somewhere. He opened the status window of ‘Battle Helper,’ a skill linked to the facility.

[Battle Helper (Legendary/Unique)]

[Special Ability: Records/controls the user’s movements to correct accuracy and predicts the enemy’s movements to aid judgment. Can create an aura that consumes mana to enhance attack power and defense. Helps to forcibly embody the abilities of the recorded target to exhibit similar combat abilities.]

[Traits: Strong Vigor, Reactive Defense, Divine Possession]

First, the trait of Divine Possession was newly added as Battle Helper rose to the Legendary/Unique rank. Hyeon-woo pondered the explanation.

‘Embodying the recorded target’s body to exhibit similar combat abilities’… What on earth does that mean?

Hyeon-woo shelved this question for later and focused on the annotations.

[Annotation: Professor Keller succeeded in implementing a legendary skill by creating a pseudo-golem called Scarecrow from the remains of Marph obtained from the Watchman’s Spire. In the end, Professor Keller did not see the results of his research, but in later generations, both the body and abilities were completed by the Scarecrow himself, who had acquired self-awareness.]

Marph. It was mentioned here.

Judging from its acquisition at the Watchman’s Spire, it seemed to be a type of dungeon, and Marph was likely a monster.

If so, Yves was originally a being constructed from a monster.

‘……Most of what that guy said has become highly unreliable.’

Many questions had arisen from the start. No matter how difficult life was, was it truly necessary for people to abandon that safe, clean facility with its maintained air quality? Was Yumin so weak-willed that he would commit suicide?

The tone was also unlike that of ordinary artificial intelligence.

It felt remarkably human.

One could dismiss it as the mysterious power of mana, but once doubt took root, everything became suspect.

Perhaps Yves had been insane from the beginning.

Monsters hate humans. From the moment he gained self-awareness, he might have been subtly driving the facility’s inhabitants to their deaths.

Just as he did to himself.

Hyeon-woo began to question and resent everything Yves had done, fueling his anger like adding firewood to a fire.

He couldn’t accept it without suspecting Yves. If he intended to kill him anyway, why wake him up instead of keeping him locked in the capsule? That suggested Yves wasn’t rational enough to make sound judgments.

Then, abruptly, Hyeon-woo slapped himself hard on the cheek.

The blow was forceful enough to make his teeth wobble, tearing his skin and drawing blood.

Hyeon-woo clenched his teeth and muttered.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

I am not the Star of the End.

I did not destroy humanity.

I am not an enemy of humanity.

But on the other hand, one assumption came to mind, and fear also sprang up.

What if Yves was telling the truth?

There is a high probability that this is a parallel world.

If so, there would probably be himself here too.

Himself, who had not obtained the return stone and was still living in poverty as a scavenger.

Then, after experiencing the increase in difficulty, he awakened his abilities through some opportunity, but… he might have become something terribly twisted.

Some people just want to see the world burn for no reason.

It’s just an assumption.

“It’s me as always. I can’t be normal wherever I go.”

Hyeon-woo muttered, as if he found it amusing.

It wasn’t funny at all.

***

Approval rating of 52.8%.

Ryu Sua was running in first place with a narrow margin.

Of course, it was lower than a few days ago. The candidate who was third in the Seoul mayoral election suddenly dropped out, and the votes began to coalesce.

It was a unification that everyone thought was difficult because the second-place candidate and the camp were similar in alignment but their opinions were running parallel.

With the support of the soaring approval ratings in line with the unification, the incumbent Seoul mayor, the second-place candidate, rapidly surged forward.

The goblin appearance incident suddenly ended. The rumors surrounding Ryu Sua also faded away.

It was fortunate for Ryu Sua. Whether she really had the ability to summon monsters or not, she shouldn’t be caught being an ability user.

The basis for her approval rating was the ‘Bewitchment’ skill.

If she hadn’t been able to persuade and gain support based on this ability, she wouldn’t be where she is now.

Conversely, the moment it was revealed that she had this skill, ‘Bewitchment’ would be as good as gone.

Everyone would treat her with suspicion and caution.

The second-place candidate was catching up, but Ryu Sua was confident of victory.

Kang Hyeon-woo’s threat further heightened her sense of crisis. Ryu Sua desperately persuaded people and went around campaigning.

It wasn’t necessary to win overwhelmingly.

It was enough to win with just the layer that had already been bewitched by her and gave her absolute support, and the people who would support her party no matter what.

Now, no matter what Kang Hyeon-woo did, she would win.

But Ryu Sua, who was watching the 8 o’clock news that day, dropped her coffee cup.

[Seoul mayoral candidate Ryu Sua… Report on ability user judgment appears.]

[Monster summoning skill, bewitchment skill causes controversy.]

[The secret of Ryu Sua’s approval rating, revealed?]

***

It had been a long time since Hyeon-woo knew that Ryu Sua had the Bewitchment skill.

When Hyeon-woo went to meet Ryu Sua in person, he had already identified the skills and abilities that Ryu Sua possessed with Admiral Ren’s monocle, and he was planning based on that ability.

The Bewitchment ability was too powerful to fight in the election. Therefore, there was no way to win using normal methods.

The method chosen by Park Hwiso was a strategy in which Ryu Sua found herself trapped in a swamp that she couldn’t escape from once she came to her senses.

“It’s really a flawless item.”

Park Hwiso said, admiring the document Yumin had given him in Yumin’s lab.

“The font, font spacing, seal, signature, and even the degradation of the ink and paper have all been manipulated, so even employees of the Sejong Research Institute [a fictional research institute] would have a hard time recognizing it. Moreover, I heard that the head of the Sejong Research Institute is missing right now, so it’s not running properly, so it’ll be even more difficult. It’ll take at least two weeks.”

The election ends in two weeks. However, the very act of publishing the ability user judgment report was already a huge issue in the political world.

In addition, rumors on YouTube and social media, which had been consumed as humor or ridicule, began to receive attention all at once and became a hot topic.

Now it was at the stage of creating new rumors by mixing facts and rumors on its own.

The internet was already a mess with mind control memes and ability user hate mixed together.

“Where did you learn this kind of skill?”

Yumin answered boastfully.

“Ah, when I was in the second year of middle school, my dream was to make counterfeit money or embezzle national funds by forging official documents… That experience helped a little.”

“……Counterfeit money, you say?”

“Don’t everyone have those dreams around that age? Is it just me? I made it as a vacation homework assignment… The teacher didn’t believe me until the end.”

Park Hwiso thought about it and thought that was the case. It was just amazing that Yumin seemed to have actually tried it.

“Anyway, will this have a big impact on Ryu Sua?”

When Yumin asked, Park Hwiso shook his head.

“No. The people Ryu Sua has bewitched will support her even if she is arrested for any crime and found guilty. It will last at least a month. And there will be those who support her no matter what, even if they are not bewitched. With that alone, Ryu Sua can already win.”

“Hmm, I know that the Bewitchment skill is quite rare, but this is the first time I’ve seen it play such a big role. I wonder if there are quite a few politicians with similar skills?”

“I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but Korea is still pretty good at managing ability users. It’s hard to be active unless it’s a multi-level scam or a preacher.”

Park Hwiso nodded and continued.

“Thanks to her allies, Ryu Sua was high enough level and the effect was strong enough to use her skills on a large scale. Her social base was also solid. That’s why she was able to rise so high.”

“Then how do we win?”

Once Ryu Sua wins, it will eventually be revealed that the report is fake. Then, by that time, you won’t be able to hold her accountable. But once you drop it, it doesn’t matter whether the report is real or fake. That’s why dirty black propaganda is rampant when elections are held.

“Well, it’s enough to lower the approval rating even a little. There may be a support base that awakens if the bewitchment is shallow. The important thing is to touch the approval rating, which Ryu Sua loves so much, and make her sensitive. And just create a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if Ryu Sua lost. We can’t win the election anyway.”

“Yes? Then what are you going to do?”

“There’s only one way.”

Park Hwiso smiled grimly.

“Election rigging.”

***

And on election day.

Ryu Sua’s election camp received the bad news that a National Election Commission transport vehicle carrying ballot boxes had overturned and all the ballots had been burned.