Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 164

164. The Moon Caught in a Spiderweb (8)

Clang, crunch.

The sound of bricks being broken and carried echoed monotonously. After the crystallization was broken, all that remained was desolate ruin.

But Kazat was busily directing the Ratmen and Goblins in excavation work.

“Move it, you buggers!”

The most dangerous part of the excavation was being handled by the Ratmen who had participated in the rebellion.

The Ratmen glared at Kazat with dissatisfied expressions, but none dared to speak out.

With Hyun-mu gone, the absolute ruler of the shelter was also gone, but Kazat’s staff, left behind by Hyun-mu, remained.

The Ratmen skulls hanging on Kazat’s staff rattled and shouted 정신 사납게 [roughly translates to ‘driving me crazy’].

“That’s right, you buggers!”

“Move faster!”

It was the Ratmen rebellion’s leadership, enchanted by Kazat’s distasteful tastes.

At best, they only repeated what Kazat said, but depending on how they were used, they could be quite amusing.

Of course, what the Ratmen feared wasn’t Kazat’s staff, but the summons it could bring forth.

Because the being Kazat feared most was also the being the Ratmen feared most.

Just then, someone approached Kazat. It was the Lower Moon Spider, her face gaunt.

“Find anything?”

Kazat wore a troubled expression.

The Lower Moon Spider was a far superior predator. Moreover, she had even taught Hyun-mu, so he didn’t know whether to treat her with respect or respond arrogantly.

“Not really…”

Kazat took an ambiguous stance. The Lower Moon Spider looked disappointed.

It had been a day since the building collapsed.

If Hyun-mu had died, he would have resurrected, but there was no news of his return.

That meant he was trapped under these ruins, injured and unable to move easily.

‘Where on earth is Sister…?’

Since the building had collapsed, the crystallization was clearly broken. Then, at least the Upper Moon Spider should have been able to escape. She could have divided her body into small pieces and sent a message.

“Kkyaaaak!”

It was then. Suddenly, one of the skulls on the staff screamed.

Kazat and the Lower Moon Spider were startled and looked at the staff.

“Someone bit me!”

“What?”

While the Lower Moon Spider was wondering what he meant, Kazat quickly took the skull and ran.

The skulls rattled busily, gesturing. The destination was a place where a large pillar had fallen. Kazat looked perplexed.

“How am I supposed to move this…”

“Move aside.”

The Lower Moon Spider quickly began to weave webs around the pillar.

The pillar was heavy enough that it would be difficult to lift even with chains. But when the Lower Moon Spider infused thousands of strands of web with mana all at once, the pillar instantly rose with a crack.

Traces of deeply collapsed crevices and spiderwebs were visible inside. And so were red, glowing crystal stones. The Lower Moon Spider’s eyes widened.

“A Pod!”

Kazat quickly called the Ratmen to dig.

The Lower Moon Spider also used both hands and feet to dig at the floor. Before long, the outline of a crushed Pod, like a crumpled can, was revealed.

There, someone’s arm was visible.

“Human!”

The Lower Moon Spider grabbed Hyun-mu’s arm and pulled. Hyun-mu was barely dragged out of the hole.

Hyun-mu’s condition was beyond description. Nevertheless, he was holding a rat in his mouth.

“Human! Are you okay?”

Hyun-mu spat out the rat he was holding.

“This bastard was gnawing at my shoulder.”

Kazat’s expression turned pale. But instead of questioning Kazat, Hyun-mu looked at the sky with hollow eyes.

“Did you do that?”

In the direction Hyun-mu pointed, the outer shell of the building, supported by pure white spiderwebs, was visible.

Instead of entering the building, the Lower Moon Spider had been weaving webs from the outside to support the building’s outer shell from collapsing.

Although a considerable portion had collapsed, the scale of the spiderweb was nothing short of a grand undertaking.

And thanks to that, Hyun-mu was found quickly.

The Lower Moon Spider answered with a bitter smile.

“I couldn’t do that again. I feel like I’m about to collapse from exhaustion.”

The Lower Moon Spider carefully looked inside the Pod and asked. There was no one inside.

“Sister?”

Hyun-mu kept his mouth shut. Instead, he took out a pure white, female-shaped mask.

The Lower Moon Spider immediately recognized its identity.

It was the mask hidden beneath the facial skin that the Faceless Spider used to maintain her identity as a person.

The Lower Moon Spider accepted the mask with trembling hands.

This meant that the Upper Moon Spider was no longer able to maintain her individual state.

The Lower Moon Spider hugged the mask tightly. Her fingertips trembled.

She looked at the mask and Hyun-mu with confused eyes, as if she didn’t know what to say.

Her body was wavering, distorting its shape. She looked like a glass of water shaking as if it would overflow at any moment.

“The Widow Queen Spider is dead. But your sister tried her best until the end.”

Instead of saying something comforting, Hyun-mu hugged the Lower Moon Spider tightly.

Before long, screams and sobs erupted together.

***

Hyun-mu was looking down at the ruined area from the roof of the building.

This building, woven with spiderwebs by the Lower Moon Spider, seemed to be standing in a delicate balance for a while. It would collapse when the wind blew and the spiderwebs began to break.

And excavation work was still continuing in the ruins.

It was to collect the massive amount of crystal stones that surrounded the Pod.

The amount of crystal stones was enormous, so it seemed that there would be no need to worry about materials to create legendary equipment for a while.

“Great One.”

Kazat was seen climbing up the wall.

“Where is the Lower Moon Spider?”

“She disappeared with the mask. I tried to follow her secretly, but…”

Spiders are good at hiding their presence. Besides, no matter how well the Ratmen can handle rough terrain, they can’t do better than spiders.

Hyun-mu thought that the Lower Moon Spider might not return.

It was a pity, but he had to be satisfied that he didn’t kill the Lower Moon Spider.

Hyun-mu wondered if he should have taken the Widow Queen Spider as a subordinate.

Looking at it coldly, it was an absurd idea.

The Widow Queen Spider was a being with a much higher level than Hyun-mu. Just taking her in could mean giving up most of his subordinates.

Besides, her state of being melted into the Pod would not have been helpful to Hyun-mu.

Then, how about taking the Upper Moon Spider as a subordinate?

That was also impossible. The Upper Moon Spider was not dead. She had only lost her ego due to the pheromones Hyun-mu had spread and scattered.

Even if he killed her and took her as a subordinate, she was already in a state of distrusting and hating Hyun-mu.

If he bound her with the restraints of the oath, she would listen, but the Lower Moon Spider would not accept that treatment.

Above all, the Upper Moon Spider’s abilities were demonstrated in judgment, firm ego, and mental strength. Keeping her chained up would have no meaning other than keeping her alive.

It was better for both of them to be dead.

For himself and for the Lower Moon Spider.

“But Great One, what about that arm…?”

Kazat asked, looking at Hyun-mu’s left arm. Hyun-mu’s entire left arm was charred black like charcoal, and the tips of his fingers were all sharp like spider claws.

It looked as if Oshet’s Six-Fingered Grip had been pressed tightly onto his arm.

Even though other parts had been restored to some extent by pouring potions, only his left hand remained the same.

It was the very hand that Hyun-mu had used to finish off the Widow Queen Spider.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Hyun-mu said, moving his left hand, which was pressed on like a demon’s grip.

“I don’t particularly like it, but it’s better than losing an arm.”

“But in that state, it must be difficult to move properly…”

Before Kazat could finish speaking, Hyun-mu’s left hand moved like lightning.

Kazat was looking down at the ground before he knew it.

He felt pain in his tail.

“Kazat, I wish you wouldn’t worry about unnecessary things.”

“Ugh, ugh!”

Kazat was hanging in the air with only his tail caught. Hyun-mu’s black left hand was gripping his tail.

In a situation where his tail was about to fall off and plummet, Kazat apologized with cold sweat all over his body.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t make a mistake again!”

“Okay. Get lost.”

Hyun-mu threw Kazat to the side.

Kazat almost crashed into the wall of the building, but like a Ratman, he agilely clung to it and soon disappeared.

Hyun-mu looked down at his left arm. The movement was still unfamiliar, and it moved with a clunk like a rusty machine, but there was no major problem in moving it. Rather, it felt stronger and faster.

‘I don’t understand…’

Hyun-mu recalled the memory of being under the collapsed ruins.

At that time, his whole body was weakened, and he was half-dead, buried under the collapsing debris.

His left arm was completely crushed under the debris, and he couldn’t move his body because something was broken.

In this state, he couldn’t even use the return stone.

Hyun-mu doesn’t commit suicide even if he is killed.

In the end, he had no choice but to starve to death or wait for rescue.

A boring and painful time continued.

Under the narrow and closed collapse point, soaked in the bodily fluids of the fusion life forms, and with the small spiders of the Upper Moon Spider he had just defeated crawling all over his body.

Difficulty: It was one of the most painful memories since coming to hell.

While his head was spinning from the heat and claustrophobia, Hyun-mu opened his inventory. It was to find something that could help.

Then, something caught Hyun-mu’s eye.

[Monstriel’s Gift Box]

Of course, it’s not an appropriate situation to open a reward box. But Hyun-mu thought that something helpful might come out.

Rewards usually come out that help to get through the situation.

As a result of opening the box, a platinum-colored card came out.

He didn’t remember the memories after that well.

But the only change that happened to Hyun-mu after that was his left arm.

Hyun-mu put on Ren, the Admiral’s monocle, and looked at the condition of his left arm once more.

[Restrainer Yahr (Myth)]

[Category: Glove]

[Physical Defense: Top, Magic Defense: Top, Evasion Rate: Medium]

[Special Ability: Constantly produces ‘Darkness’ attribute spiderwebs. Can draw out the abilities of the encroached body to the highest level, and the more encroached body parts, the higher the rising stats. If the spiderweb and the body are in contact, it is possible to teleport anywhere there is a spiderweb.]

[Annotation: Whispering Star, Monstriel, created Yahr, who is directly in charge of the security of the territory. His spiderwebs cover the entire Monstriel territory, listening to all whispers and watching all events. However, Yahr’s appearance in other worlds appears in the form of gradually encroaching on the body, starting from the extremities. If one arm is encroached, it becomes stronger, but each encroached part, such as the heart, mouth, eyes, and head, exerts increasingly strong abilities.]

Equipment that encroaches on the body.

It was unsettling, but it was nothing new to Hyun-mu.

How many crazy equipment are there in this world?

There are those that require you to chew on the enemy directly, those that strengthen mental contamination, and those that summon monsters that the caster fears.

He didn’t know what kind of penalty being encroached would have, but it didn’t seem to be a problem right now.

‘Above all, it’s a myth rank…’

Excluding the mask, he confirmed the existence of a rank higher than legend for the first time.

He didn’t know if it was equipment worthy of the myth rank yet, but at least the stats were as good as it gets.

It also had growth potential, and considering the movement he showed when he grabbed Kazat earlier, the amount of stat increase seemed considerable.

Besides, this wasn’t the only thing that was created.

The spiderweb spewing out from ‘Restrainer Yahr’ was also treated like a separate item.

[Shadow Spiderweb (Rare)]

[Category: Rare Material]

[Special Ability: Basically has the darkness attribute, and when used in shady places or at night, the spiderweb can allow desired people to pass through or have physical influence. The strength can be adjusted according to the caster’s ability. There is a tube inside, so it is also possible to inject venom.]

It was the perfect item for Hyun-mu.

It may be a delusion, but Hyun-mu felt the traces of the Widow Queen Spider or the Upper Moon Spider in this item called ‘Restrainer Yahr’.

Something seemed to have happened when he finished off the Widow Queen Spider and the Upper Moon Spider in a state where his whole body was melting into the fusion life form of the Pod.

And it seemed that the hand that had been crushed with them was completed by opening Monstriel’s gift box.

Hyun-mu thought, clenching and unclenching his mutated left hand.

‘This feels like it’s not mine.’

Hyun-mu spent a day mixed with the Widow Queen Spider and the Upper Moon Spider in the darkness. It wouldn’t be strange if anything happened.

As a result, Monstriel’s ordeal left Hyun-mu with dirty traces.

‘…This probably can’t even be separated.’

Maybe that’s Monstriel’s way of expressing affection.

‘Not just in the body, but also in the soul.’

Hyun-mu recalled the two names Monstriel had whispered. One was a name he didn’t know at all, but the other was someone he knew.

He never thought he would hear it here.

“Human.”

Just then, someone called from behind.