Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 163

163. Moon Caught in a Spiderweb (7)

Hyun-woo, upon discovering the Widow Queen Spider, immediately understood her condition.

‘The cocoon has melted.’

It seemed she had tried to defend herself by creating a cocoon, just as the spider sisters had mentioned.

But ultimately, she failed, and her core was exposed, fused with the Fungal Palace.

The fact that her status window wasn’t appearing meant she had almost completely lost her identity as an individual. Even her current movements were likely reflexive actions.

When Hyun-woo shook off her arm, a long, melted piece of flesh stretched and fell. His head throbbed.

‘I have to break the Crystallization.’

That was more important than killing the Widow Queen Spider.

Even if he completed the quest, it would be meaningless if she was melted inside the Fungal Palace.

She might revive if she died, but what if she was neither alive nor dead?

Hyun-woo didn’t even want to imagine it.

Hyun-woo reached out his arm.

But from behind, creatures fused with the Fungal Palace persistently clung to him, grabbing and stretching him.

Hyun-woo felt like he was about to melt. He felt a weight of a thousand pounds, but he barely managed to bring his hand to the end of the Crystallization.

The blue-glowing Crystallization looked incredibly pale.

It was then.

Suddenly, the building shook violently, and the creatures fused with the Fungal Palace swayed.

As the Fungal Palace tilted, it crashed down on Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo lost his grip on the Crystallization.

Submerged in the flesh, Hyun-woo couldn’t breathe.

At the same time, the fused creatures, soaked in the fragrance of the Crystallization, were pulling at Hyun-woo’s entire body.

His whole body tingled. He had already exceeded the time Hyun-woo could endure. Parts of his body were probably melting.

‘Damn it.’

The fingers within the fused flesh scratched his skin. Blood oozed out.

His ego became increasingly vague and faint.

‘Divide your consciousness.’

Then, in his fading consciousness, Hyun-woo remembered the knowledge that the Upper Spider had taught him.

‘Even if your ego collapses, leave a consciousness in your muscles that can move your body.’

He was already doing it.

With each breath, Hyun-woo considered being consumed by the fragrance of the Crystallization, dividing his consciousness into smaller and smaller pieces, engraving the ‘actions to take when encountering the Crystallization’ into his muscles.

And his repeated learning was firmly imprinted on the Battle Helper’s trait, ‘Reaction Defense’.

‘So that even if I completely forget, my body will act on its own.’

Hyun-woo’s fingers twitched.

At that moment, a chain snapped into existence between Hyun-woo and the Crystallization.

It was a spiderweb that Hyun-woo had unknowingly attached when he first touched the Crystallization.

Instinctively, Hyun-woo grabbed the chain and pulled with all his might.

Crack.

A thin crack appeared, and then, with a clear sound, the neck of the blue Crystallization snapped.

In that instant, Hyun-woo was thrown out of the flesh.

“Kuh-ack!”

Hyun-woo felt as if every bone in his body was cracking and breaking.

His entire body was already incredibly weakened.

A significant portion of his skin had melted. But just in time, a notification sound rang.

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

Hyun-woo, who looked like a scarecrow with only flesh attached, barely regained his strength.

The Fungal Palace was in chaos.

The fused creatures spat out Hyun-woo because the Crystallization, when broken, triggered a violent rejection.

The fragrance of the Crystallization still lingered, making his head ache, but the center that bound them together was gone.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”

A lip, undulating somewhere in the Fungal Palace, let out a scream.

Such sounds erupted from everywhere, and the liquid-like bodies slowly solidified, turning into something like jelly.

At the same time, they began to split into multiple branches. Bodies that had been merged together began to separate.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”

Hyun-woo covered his ears at the sound of hundreds of grotesque creatures simultaneously uttering their death throes.

And silence came all at once.

Hyun-woo caught his breath and looked around. The fused creatures were now divided into lumps, ranging from the size of a fingernail to the size of a human torso.

Hyun-woo’s body was already moving to carry out the next objective.

‘Widow Queen Spider.’

He had to finish quickly. Hyun-woo was soon able to find the Widow Queen Spider.

A woman the size of a human torso, with distorted white hair, was wrapped in a half-peeled cocoon and lying on the floor. It was then.

Kwarurururu—!

With a roar, the building shook violently once more. Hyun-woo rolled against the wall again.

The fused creatures rolled around, scratched and torn by the crystal moss inside the Fungal Palace. Hyun-woo was no exception.

Instinctively, Hyun-woo felt that the building’s collapse was imminent.

‘Damn it.’

What would happen if he didn’t kill the Widow Queen Spider himself?

If he died himself? No, if the Widow Queen Spider survived even after the building collapsed?

And if the spider sisters found the Widow Queen Spider before him?

If the Widow Queen Spider fell into the hands of the spider sisters, Hyun-woo would have no choice but to turn them into enemies.

Hyun-woo gritted his teeth and crawled towards the Widow Queen Spider.

The Widow Queen Spider was muttering something, lying still. Ending it like this would be easy.

But collapses were occurring sporadically everywhere, making it difficult for Hyun-woo to even maintain his balance.

Then Hyun-woo felt a piece of stone falling above his head.

A huge concrete chunk was falling towards Hyun-woo.

‘I’m screwed.’

Hyun-woo sensed the impact, but the concrete chunk suddenly stopped in mid-air.

“Kang Hyun-woo!”

Hyun-woo turned his head. The Upper Spider was sticking her body out through a crack in the crystal moss.

Even with the fragrance of the Crystallization still lingering, and having passed through the collapsing building, she was covered in severe injuries at first glance. She reached out her hand.

“Bring the Queen and come up here!”

The Upper Spider threw away the concrete chunk tangled in spiderwebs.

She was barely holding the Fungal Palace from collapsing with her legs.

Hyun-woo alternately stared at the Upper Spider and the Widow Queen Spider with hollow eyes.

The Upper Spider desperately shouted again.

“Quickly!”

“I told you to stay put.”

Hyun-woo replied in a groaning voice.

“Is this the time to argue about that? Let’s get out first……”

Hyun-woo turned his head.

The Upper Spider didn’t understand his actions when Hyun-woo raised his hand.

But the moment his fist slammed down, the meaning became all too clear.

With a sound like an egg cracking, the Upper Spider’s scream erupted.

***

[Quest Successful!]

[The ‘Red Pulp’ quest has been successfully completed.]

[You have passed the trial.]

[One ‘Monstriel’s Gift Box’ is provided as a reward.]

[The Return Stone is activated until the next quest.]

[Time remaining until the next quest: 33 days, 6 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.]

[Curse: Spiderweb has been解除 [removed].]

The moment he heard the message that the curse: Spiderweb had been 解除 [removed], he felt a sense of clarity purifying his mind.

It was as if a long-obsessed worry had suddenly disappeared. But he didn’t feel so good.

Hyun-woo looked down at the Widow Queen Spider crushed in his hand.

Because her form was already faint, it felt more like crushing a cake than ending a life.

Then, with a cracking sound, the Fungal Palace began to collapse.

Kwack, Kwajik! Sharp spider legs ambushed him through the cracked crevices.

“Why! Why!”

Hyun-woo, whose entire body was already a mess, couldn’t properly evade the Upper Spider’s attack.

The Upper Spider’s eyes were red with blood. A terrible murderous intent assailed Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo groaned, pierced by the spider legs.

“She was already as good as dead.”

“I could have revived her!”

Surely not in that mushy state.

Hyun-woo didn’t know if the Upper Spider was saying unrealistic things because she was agitated, or if the spiders had other special methods.

‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore.’

Because the Widow Queen Spider was already dead.

Even though the Upper Spider was watching, Hyun-woo had no choice but to kill the Widow Queen Spider.

If he rescued the Widow Queen Spider, she would be under the protection of the spider sisters, and in the end, Hyun-woo would have no choice but to antagonize them to complete the quest.

In other words, the moment the Upper Spider entered the Fungal Palace, Hyun-woo had no choice but to kill her.

If he spared the Upper Spider, even the Lower Spider would get involved.

He couldn’t persuade the Upper Spider either. Hyun-woo had already broken their trust by killing the Widow Queen Spider.

Judging from the Upper Spider’s reaction, the Lower Spider would also show a formidable reaction. And these two were too strong to keep as enemies, and they knew a lot about Hyun-woo.

‘Now that it’s come to this, there’s no choice, but the living must live? That wouldn’t work, would it.’

The Upper Spider repeatedly swung her claws at Hyun-woo.

Unable to properly evade, Hyun-woo could only crouch and block. Then he heard the sound of the Upper Spider’s spider legs breaking.

The Upper Spider, who had inhaled the fragrance of the Crystallization, was also not in a normal state.

She, who had overcome the poison mist, heat, debris of the collapsing building, and the fragrance of the Crystallization, was as seriously injured as Hyun-woo.

Then, once again, the building shook violently.

Four or five of the Upper Spider’s legs, which had been holding the Fungal Palace from collapsing, broke simultaneously, and she fell inside the Fungal Palace.

The Upper Spider trembled and tried to stand up. But her weakened spider legs didn’t listen.

Hyun-woo also tried to stand up, but his legs didn’t listen. He seemed to have stabbed too deeply with Tham.

Hyun-woo crawled towards the Upper Spider.

He had to finish her off before she could move.

“Human.”

The Upper Spider also barely supported herself with both arms and tried to stand up.

“I trusted you!”

“You should have trusted me until the end.”

Kwajijijik.

The Fungal Palace slowly began to collapse, crushed by the weight of the building.

Hyun-woo’s body fell and overlapped with the Upper Spider’s body.

The Upper Spider tried to attack Hyun-woo by swinging her remaining arm, and Hyun-woo also swung his fist.

It was a pathetic fistfight without any techniques or skills.

But the two, who were so weakened, were already struggling to endure.

Nevertheless, the one who completely subdued the other in the end was the Upper Spider, who was in a slightly better condition.

The Upper Spider, riding on top of Hyun-woo, aimed her last remaining spider leg at his neck.

But she didn’t stab her claws in.

She was just trembling slightly, looking down at Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I didn’t want any of you to die.”

“From the beginning, you intended to kill the Queen?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Monstriel ordered it. It was a quest. I was cursed by her, and I had to kill the Widow Queen Spider to escape from the Crystallization.”

When Monstriel’s name was mentioned, the Upper Spider let out a small breath. But she didn’t seem very surprised.

Hyun-woo thought that they might already know his master well.

“So from the beginning, you were deceiving and using us.”

“Yes.”

The spiders were also using Hyun-woo, but from the beginning, it wasn’t a relationship where transaction conditions were established.

The Upper Spider swung her claws greatly. The claws repeatedly scratched Hyun-woo’s face. But there were no fatal wounds.

“The Queen…… was more than our mother to us.”

The Upper Spider whispered.

“It’s impossible to forgive you. Human. But even if I kill you, you’ll come back, right?”

“Yes.”

“Even if my sister and I keep killing you, there will come a day when you win, right?”

“Yes. Just leave far away. I won’t chase you.”

It was an unconventional offer for Hyun-woo.

To send away a monster with threatening abilities, who might antagonize him.

Leaving aside whether he could trust the other party, it was an action that was hard to believe even for himself. The Upper Spider quietly looked at Hyun-woo.

“Impossible. If my sister finds out she’s been betrayed, she’ll be more persistent than me.”

“Then don’t tell her. If you don’t tell her, no one will know. Your sister listens to you anyway.”

“I can’t just let you do as you please after killing someone who was like our mother!”

Hyun-woo closed his mouth. As the Upper Spider said, from now on, it was not an area that could be resolved with reason and logic.

Such an ending was already determined from the moment the Upper Spider entered the Fungal Palace.

It was Hyun-woo who was being illogical.

In the end, Hyun-woo had no choice but to make the only decision. A Black Hand Dagger popped out of his hand.

Before the Upper Spider could react, Hyun-woo stabbed her in the lungs.

The Upper Spider gasped.

He couldn’t kill her with just one dagger. But what Hyun-woo intended was something else.

The Upper Spider’s body began to crumble into countless small spiders. Something was 묻어있었다 [묻어있었다 (mudeo isseotda) – smeared] on the Black Hand Dagger.

“This is…… pheromone?”

Hyun-woo looked at the Upper Spider with heavy eyes.

Pheromones don’t work on the female Upper Spider. But she had said that she had to quickly create and attract more small spiders to restore the body she had lost due to the Crystallization.

Even male spiders.

The terrible pheromones that Hyun-woo sprayed inside the Upper Spider’s body were enough to confuse the Upper Spider’s body, which had been weakened by the fragrance of the Crystallization. The Upper Spider soon found it difficult to even maintain a prone position.

Hyun-woo swung his arm and knocked her to the side. The Upper Spider collapsed to the floor as if collapsing.

“You said that if you lose more form than you have now, it would be difficult to maintain your intellect as an individual.”

There weren’t many male spiders.

But it was just enough to barely exceed the number of spiders needed to recognize the Upper Spider as a single individual.

With the pheromones, that number had already exceeded the threshold.

The moment the density weakened, the Upper Spider had no choice but to collapse like a sandcastle.

The Upper Spider opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Hu, man……”

“I won’t kill your sister.”

The Upper Spider moved her lips. But her voice didn’t reach him.

The Upper Spider felt her vision splitting into hundreds of branches and her consciousness fading.

Her ego was scattering to the point where integration was impossible.