Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 153

153. Red Fruit (2)

“Rebellion, you say?”

Renian dangled something neatly tied up in front of Hyun-woo.

It was a rat tail. Judging by its thickness and size, it definitely belonged to a Ratman.

*Though I don’t know why it’s tied up like this.*

“While the house was empty, some of the Ratmen rebelled. With Yerdan and Kirson gone, they thought Kazat would be an easy target.”

Indeed. Yerdan and Kirson are both working under Bak Hwi-so. Yerdan is closer to being an apprentice, though.

Kazat trembled like an aspen leaf, prostrating himself before Hyun-woo.

“Great one, I am insufficient, allowing those with impure hearts to exist.”

Unlike Kirson, Kazat is not respected by the Ratmen. He merely oppresses them with fear and strict rules, borrowing Hyun-woo’s authority.

But recently, as Hyun-woo frequently left the shelter, some seemed to have other ideas.

“How many?”

“About 70?”

“Huh, quite a few. And you managed to stop them?”

Kazat is Hyun-woo’s subordinate, but his level isn’t significantly higher than the average Ratman.

If 70 Ratmen secretly plotted and ambushed him, he would likely be caught off guard without a chance to resist.

But the reason he stopped them was simple.

“Yeah. Right before, 40 of them snitched to us.”

“…….”

*What great friendship.*

“The rebellion plot was apparently quite advanced. By the way, two of the 40 who snitched were secret police. They were all watching until things got serious to increase their value. The rebels got cocky as their numbers grew and tried to pull it off.”

“So you suppressed it early?”

“No… as soon as the fact that they snitched was revealed, the remaining rebels cut off the heads of the leaders and brought them over. And they acted like they had planned this from the start, bragging about it. Do you want to see them hanging there?”

Renian said, shaking the Ratman’s tail. Hyun-woo passed Kazat and headed towards the central hall.

Five Ratman heads, covered in tar, emitted a disgusting smell. Hyun-woo’s expression twisted.

“No, seriously. Why put something so smelly where people live… No, never mind.”

Hyun-woo sighed and gestured. Kazat cautiously removed the heads.

Rebellion, huh.

It was a bit surprising, but I thought it might happen someday.

I knew the Ratmen were dissatisfied with me, and I was often away. It’s fortunate that it ended without much damage.

Hyun-woo took about 5 seconds for a brief moment of self-reflection and cleanly moved on to the next step.

“I was lacking. I guess I was still too friendly.”

Hyun-woo smiled and turned to Kazat.

“Where are the rest of the rebels?”

***

“Kkeueueueu…….”

“Gyaak, aaaaak!”

Listening to the sounds coming from beyond the hastily made room, Hyun-woo organized his items.

*I found a way to use the crystal moss, but now the problem is the rare equipment.*

Even if I arm all the Ratmen and Goblins with it, there’s still plenty left over.

I’m converting them into crystal stones whenever I have time, but everyone keeps picking them up from somewhere, and they’re piling up not only in the warehouse but also on the ground.

“Great one.”

Kazat opened the door and came out. The guy who was as black as ink was now all red, showing how passionately he had carried out his mission.

“As you commanded, after a just and fair trial, the 25 Ratmen who directly participated in the rebellion, excluding the leaders, are being modified, and the 40 Ratmen who didn’t snitch earlier had their tails and ears cut off and were sentenced to tunnel labor for the period they didn’t snitch. However, the modification work seems to be taking a bit longer….”

“It’s okay. The longer it takes, the better.”

Hyun-woo said nonchalantly.

“Yes. But….”

“Why?”

“I don’t understand why you allowed such gracious modification to the rebel group….”

Hyun-woo didn’t understand Kazat’s words for a moment. *Is that gracious?*

But thinking from a fanatic’s perspective, it might be gracious.

Of course, the remaining rebels who are screaming and being modified in that room right now probably don’t think so.

“Do I have to explain everything?”

“I, I deserve to die!”

Kazat prostrated himself and apologized.

“That’s enough. Come here.”

Kazat crawled towards him, rubbing against the ground.

*I know he wants to be as polite as possible, but he’s too slow, I wish he would just walk…* As I was thinking that, Kazat was already at my feet.

Hyun-woo handed Kazat a staff.

It was a silver staff densely engraved with unknown characters. At the top were the skulls of the Ratman leaders who had committed treason.

As Kazat accepted it, the skulls collided, making a rattling sound.

“T, this is….”

“I thought your authority was lacking while I was away. I was going to make one for you earlier, but it took a long time. I’m glad it turned out to be quite useful.”

[Nightmare of Usurper (Legendary)]

[Category: Staff]

[Physical Attack: Low, Magic Attack: High, Penetration: Low]

[Special Ability: Can engrave up to three spells and cast them instantly without chanting. Can summon the monster the wielder fears most once a day. The summoned being’s level is proportional to the wielder’s level.]

[Note: After Whispering Star, Monstrill, whispered imaginations of betrayal to King Aigea, Aigea could no longer sleep at night. Every time he fell asleep, he was murdered in his dreams by his son, wife, friends, and subordinates, and the paranoid king began a purge. Left alone, Aigea continued to engrave the names of countless people to be purged on his staff before dying of exhaustion.]

*Monstrill is someone I once received help from, but looking at the note, it seems Monstrill isn’t normal either.*

Besides, summoning the summoner’s most feared summon.

*Why are only these crazy things attracted to me?*

Hyun-woo couldn’t understand at all.

[Whispering Star, Monstrill is watching you.]

*It’s perverted to appeal that you’re watching at this timing.*

“Great one, I will give my all in loyalty!”

Kazat swore allegiance to Hyun-woo again with tears welling up in his eyes.

***

I made legendary equipment to give to Kazat, but Hyun-woo’s physical condition was fairly good.

Now, I could ‘craft’ about two legendary equipment a day without straining myself.

*It might be easier to leave the crafting to Renian….*

Still, I can’t just make any legendary equipment.

Considering Renian’s tastes, bizarre things that I can’t use at all might come out. So Hyun-woo was in charge of crafting as much as possible.

But what Hyun-woo was going to do today was a little different.

[Coil of Ill Omen (Legendary)]

It was a legendary equipment taken from Ryu Sua.

I thought about bringing a snake from Mount Hell and giving it to Yumin, but the condition of having to raise it and increase rapport was burdensome.

It’s better to release a monster that I’ve taken as a subordinate.

So…….

“Disassemble.”

I smashed it to pieces.

The Coil of Ill Omen emitted a fierce light and then shattered into pieces.

At the same time, the lights gathered and created more crystal stones than rings.

*As expected.*

Hyun-woo had already disassembled legendary items several times. But only a smaller amount of crystal stones came out than crafting, and nothing of a higher level came out.

I was wondering if it was because it was an item made through ‘crafting’, so I was hoping that something obtained naturally would be okay. But the result was the same.

I was disappointed because I was secretly expecting it.

*But the level above that definitely exists.*

Hyun-woo took out a mask from his inventory. It was a strange mask that looked like heat haze forming a shape. Just looking at it made my vision scatter and made me feel dizzy.

[Mask (??)]

[Category: Helmet]

[Physical Defense: Low, Magic Defense: Low, Evasion Rate: Low]

[Special Ability: Can extremely reduce or increase presence. It is difficult to notice the presence unless it is a direct subordinate of the Star or someone who has received ‘permission’. While wearing the mask, you are exposed to rift contamination, and mana is continuously recovered.]

It was an item Hyun-woo made with ‘Celestial Ash’ that he obtained after defeating an angel in the Taean Dungeon.

I thought it was a rare material, so I thought it would be an item to make something. A huge amount of magic stones went in, but Hyun-woo’s own mana was hardly used, and there were no fancy effects. It just appeared suddenly.

*It’s the same as what I saw in the Taean Dungeon, in that black space.*

That baby angel who created monsters as if drawing a picture. I thought this mask was probably an item with similar properties to those guys.

*If you think about it, it’s a manager level….*

It’s definitely an item that destroys balance. Besides, the note was unusual.

[Note: One of the extremely rare remaining celestial relics. ■■■■■ succeeded in reproducing it. This is why ■■■■■ was able to survive even after creating so many enemies. Those who wear this are basically highly likely to be members of ■■■■■.]

It’s a note that makes me feel uncomfortable. It seems that Admiral Ren is hostile to ‘censored’. Even Admiral Ren is talking as if he is instructing someone.

*That means he’s not alone.*

But this mask was not something I could use with peace of mind.

Hyun-woo tried wearing the mask again as a test. The moment he put the mask on his face, his vision completely changed.

Countless shadows of various colors were wandering around.

Some were in the shape of humans, but there were bizarre things that I couldn’t imagine as living things, and unbalanced beings with odd numbers of limbs were running around regardless of the walls and floor.

Even though I couldn’t touch them or talk to them, the reason I thought they were ‘alive’ was because their shapes started to materialize one by one if I wore the mask for a long time. Only a part of them.

I can’t calm down when I see eyes, mouths, ears, tongues, or organs or something of unknown origin dangling around in the middle of the blurry shadows.

Even as time passed, I even felt like they were staring at me more and more.

“……Hoo.”

Hyun-woo hurriedly took off the mask before the shapes’ bodies were revealed.

The shelter was still a harmonious space where monsters, no different from slaves, were working, and joyful torture and screams were heard somewhere.

“Phew, I’m glad it’s not a terrible place like before.”

Still, I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling that something invisible might be wandering around.

At the current difficulty level: Easy, nothing happened even when I was wearing the mask.

I could see blurry shapes, but they were rare, and most of them were humans or familiar animal types. There was no case where the body was materialized.

So I was avoiding wearing this mask in Difficulty: Hell.

“Still, it would be nice if I could make items like this….”

If there’s a hint, it’s rare materials like ‘Celestial Ash’.

“Kazat!”

Hyun-woo called Kazat and had him bring a map of the area.

The area Hyun-woo was in control of was about the size of one neighborhood.

It could only be said that he had completely ‘taken control’ if he included underground passages, traps that could be used in case of emergency, armories, and more than 10 shelters.

It was difficult to send only Goblins beyond that unless Hyun-woo went there himself.

Hyun-woo scanned the map and suddenly stopped at one place. It was near the place where he had smashed the Orcs because of the quest before.

“Why is there an apple shape drawn here? Is it an orchard?”

“Hmm, I can’t trust Kirson’s drawing skills, but… I think it refers to Crystal Flower.”

“Crystal Flower?”

“It would be better to see it in person.”

*In person? Do you have it?* Hyun-woo was puzzled but followed Kazat.

The place Kazat headed to was none other than the ground. Kazat pointed to one place on the horizon.

“It’s over there, on that side.”

Numerous buildings in Seoul were lying down like corpses leaning against each other. Among them, one building stood out sharply.

It looked like a giant old tree made of crystal moss.

“You’re saying that crystal flower or whatever is there?”