Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 144

Muzzle Flash (3)

A weapon that will change the era, huh? That’s a satisfying expression.

“Why do you think so?”

“There are limitations to bullets. For example, the Ratmen from the Severed Head Dungeon… they need to be hit at least two or three times to die. These bullets are more destructive in that regard, but the most important thing is that they can have ‘attributes’.”

Yohan continued his explanation with a gloomy glint in his eyes.

“Currently, attribute weapons aren’t considered very valuable. They’re just seen as rare weapons that can deal additional damage. Do you know why?”

Hyeon-woo had also considered this.

Among hunters, there’s a tendency to prioritize raw stats or abilities included in equipment over attributes.

Attributes aren’t always specified in item descriptions, but the main reason they’re not valued is simple.

“Because monsters’ attributes aren’t very prominent.”

Most of the monsters that have appeared so far are beasts or humanoid types. They don’t really have any particular attributes.

But that was a thing of the past.

“Yes, but as the difficulty increases, reports of various monsters are coming in.”

Yohan’s eyes flashed sharply.

“Even before, though rare, dungeons with greatly enhanced attributes would appear. Some dungeon monsters can’t even be destroyed with ordinary weapons. Those dungeons are usually off-limits. I experienced… no, it’s nothing.”

Hyeon-woo could tell what Yohan had almost said.

The dungeon that appeared in Syria, Al-Mzari. The place where Yohan lost all of his unit members because of Plude.

The only reason Yohan survived was that he alone could handle the attribute corresponding to that dungeon.

“Anyway, when monsters with extremely enhanced attributes appear, hunters are helpless. If they’re lucky enough to have a weapon or skill with that attribute, that’s great, but you can’t always rely on luck.”

Yohan said, lifting a bullet.

“Therefore… the biggest advantage of these bullets is that they can be used by changing attributes flexibly depending on the situation. If only one person has a skill of that attribute, everyone can use bullets of that attribute. Maybe even low-level hunters… no, even ordinary people might be able to attack high-level monsters with it.”

Not everyone can carry these bullets for rare monsters from rare dungeons.

But as the difficulty increases and the types of monsters become more diverse, you have to prepare.

“If this is commercialized, the world’s uncaptured dungeons, once considered impregnable, might soon fall.”

Uncaptured dungeons are those where even the return stone [a stone allowing escape from a dungeon], the primary goal, hasn’t been found.

Most are 4- or 5-star dungeons, but many people have high hopes because of the potential discovery of crystal moss or new materials.

To capitalists, they may look like unopened treasure chests, but to hunters, they’re like antlions’ nests [a trap where the antlion larva waits at the bottom for prey to fall in].

Hyeon-woo stared at Yohan. Yohan was explaining more actively than usual.

Was it just because he was a soldier and interested in guns? No.

He was hypothesizing.

He couldn’t help but imagine how his life would have changed if he had this.

His comrades he couldn’t protect, his destroyed life, spirit, and even his beliefs.

A person suffering from self-destructive desires also has a desire to destroy something else to an almost equal extent.

Hyeon-woo was going to push that feeling.

“Then, Priest Yohan, have you thought about what will happen in the future?”

“The future?”

“You didn’t think I’d just stop at making one pistol, did you?”

Hyeon-woo grinned.

The reason D&W only made one pistol wasn’t just about securing marketability, but also because it was difficult to use as a main weapon in the dungeon environment.

It’s consumable, and hunter equipment is much stronger.

But Hyeon-woo had solved the price and destructive power problems.

If expensive raw materials like crystal moss aren’t an issue, there’s almost no price difference between white magic bullets and regular magic bullets.

“I’m going to make more things in the future. I’m currently making submachine guns that use pistol bullets. I’m planning to develop automatic rifles, sniper rifles, and machine guns. I’m already in contact with foreign workshops for this. Within a year, the guns I make will be commonly used.”

And the enormous consumption of bullets directly leads to Hyeon-woo’s cash holdings.

White magic bullets need to be priced much higher or the supply needs to be controlled appropriately, but it doesn’t matter how many regular magic bullets are released.

But that’s secondary. The immediate benefit is that humanity’s combat power against monsters increases.

Hyeon-woo didn’t think he could stop the difficulty: Hell alone.

Of course, he plans to play the biggest role, but he also knows his limits.

But he had no intention of missing out on the honey falling from the crisis of human extinction.

The numerous tragedies and horrors that will unfold in the future are all opportunities for Hyeon-woo.

Hyeon-woo was going to seize everything he could get his hands on there without leaving anything behind.

Including Yohan, the last cradle of human survival.

“I’d like to invite Priest Yohan to our Jeonreungryeon [Hyeon-woo’s organization]. Priest Yohan is someone who will do even greater things in the future. We plan to treat you well, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by mentioning our conditions here.”

Yohan closed his mouth. It was clear what Hyeon-woo was saying. Yohan said he wouldn’t join an organization and would only help Lee Ji-tae as a friend.

Yohan is someone who can’t be moved with money. Hyeon-woo had no intention of doing that either.

Even so, Hyeon-woo was confident he could bring him in.

After a long silence, Yohan opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm, it can’t be helped.”

It was a short apology. There was no explanation, but Hyeon-woo easily understood and accepted it.

“But I’d like to maintain a friendly relationship with Priest Yohan, like Lee Ji-tae. Ah, I hope you’ll take the pistol and white magic bullets I gave you earlier as a token of friendship.”

“I feel like I’m just receiving too much…”

“No. You’re worth it.”

Hyeon-woo smiled and held out his hand. Yohan also grabbed his hand and shook it.

***

“How was it?”

Hyeon-woo entered the gym. Park Hwi-so was already there, waiting.

Park Hwi-so wasn’t preparing for a match or warming up but was looking down at a pile of documents spread out on the floor.

“Park Gyu is taken care of, and Yohan… he was interesting.”

“Interesting?”

Hyeon-woo raised his hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers, and said.

“He was forcibly holding back, but he had tremors. His skin was noticeably rough, and his expression was pale as usual, but the symptoms were clear. Withdrawal symptoms.”

Only then did Park Hwi-so raise his head.

“It seems that blocking the supply of drugs is working.”

“Thanks to you, sir.”

The work to bring in Yohan had been meticulously underway for some time.

The only reason Yohan hadn’t left Korea after the Severed Head Dungeon expedition was the Northern Expedition plan underway in Taesung.

Yohan, who is friends with Lee Ji-tae, was also in charge of part of that plan. The Severed Head Dungeon Plude only brought the joining forward a little.

But that was causing unexpected changes for Lee Ji-tae.

‘I thought it was about time for the drugs to run out.’

It’s still difficult to get drugs in Korea, but not so much among hunters.

It was common to use drugs for fear of battle or to increase combat power.

Moreover, dungeons, which are virtually extraterritorial, are gathering places for all sorts of people who make necessary transactions and quickly clear only the primary goal to become exchanges.

From the moment he learned that Yohan was addicted to drugs, Hyeon-woo had been secretly working on it.

Blocking Yohan from getting drugs was part of that work. All the dealers who could supply Yohan with drugs stopped doing business or disappeared from the streets for no reason.

“Aren’t you going to cure the addiction like this?”

Hyeon-woo’s goal wasn’t to cure Yohan. No, it would be a problem if he was cured.

“Before that, I’ll distance him from Lee Ji-tae.”

If Lee Ji-tae sees Yohan having withdrawal symptoms, he’ll notice right away.

I don’t know if Lee Ji-tae doesn’t know about Yohan’s drug addiction, or if he knows and ignores it, but Yohan is trying to hide his condition as much as possible.

The reason he’s deliberately spending money to buy accessories to prevent tremors is the same reason.

“Then wouldn’t he rather leave the country?”

“It would be easier to get it if he just went to Japan. But I don’t think he will.”

Yohan is an addict, but he’s not desperate for drugs. You can see that from the fact that he’s been holding back so far.

If he can’t get drugs, he’ll just choose to suffer.

“Rather, he’ll choose to go into a dungeon in that state and come out as a corpse. Yohan prefers passive suicide. He might think it’s martyrdom to follow his comrades.”

Hyeon-woo smiled and said.

“Anyway, in that respect, Yohan is going in a very desirable direction without any worries. All we have to do is give Yohan an excuse to go into the dungeon soon.”

“I see. The investigation is also in progress.”

Park Hwi-so said, tapping the documents neatly arranged on the floor with his cane.

“These are the things we’ve investigated so far about the allies mentioned by Ryu Su-ah. You said that you don’t want to be involved with you in the future, but… I think it’s better to know who might be a threat…”

Park Hwi-so, who still wasn’t sure if he belonged to the alliance, trailed off.

His loyalty to Hyeon-woo was beyond doubt, but he didn’t want to antagonize the teacher either.

Hyeon-woo understood Park Hwi-so’s feelings. And he thought that those feelings would help him understand the teacher’s intentions, so he left them alone.

“First of all, Ryu Su-ah’s organization. One of her followers is the boss of a drug smuggling organization. It seems that he also used drugs to maximize the effect of the charm skill. He also reduced the number of security incidents in his district. Thanks to that, it was easier to tighten the sales network.”

“I don’t care about the kid who’s already left. What about the other one?”

“Shwi Bin. He’s the leader of a small hunter clan based in Shanghai, China. It’s a small but quite powerful organization, and his official ability rating is 4 stars. It seemed to be about that level when I was with him.”

Park Hwi-so glanced at Hyeon-woo’s expression here.

“However, as Ryu Su-ah’s condition has worsened recently, he seems to be grinding his teeth at you. But unless Ryu Su-ah’s condition worsens further, he won’t act rashly.”

Hyeon-woo hadn’t decided to execute Ryu Su-ah yet. It’s enough to release her from the family, but he thought it might be a weakness to hold onto Shwi Bin’s leash someday.

“He’s a loser. Who’s next?”

“Robert Lee… but this person is still under investigation. There wasn’t much information, so it might be a pseudonym. However, there was a Korean-American who is presumed to be active on the west coast of the United States. It seems that more investigation is needed.”

“Hmm, then is the only person left Ha Su-yeon? It sounds like a woman when I hear the name.”

Park Hwi-so’s expression became subtle. Hyeon-woo was puzzled by his expression. Come to think of it, there were no more documents that Park Hwi-so had investigated.

Park Hwi-so tapped the empty floor with his cane and said as if he couldn’t help it.

“Ha Su-yeon doesn’t really need to be investigated. I know her too.”

“You know her?”

“As I said before, I said that the allies I know are the teacher, Ryu Su-ah, and one other person. That one person is Ha Su-yeon… she’s planted in Taesung and is in charge of monitoring Lee Ji-tae. In fact, you don’t need to pay much attention to her. She’s weak and probably the youngest of us.”

“You’re making me more curious by saying that. Isn’t that kind of role usually super strong? You’re one of the most fatal men I’ve ever seen.”

“Fatal… ahem, Ha Su-yeon is someone you’ve met before.”

“Yes? I’ve met her?”

Park Hwi-so nodded.

“Her real name is Ha Su-yeon. She’s known to the world as Red Butterfly.”