Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 17

17. Whispers of the Stars (3)

[Stars are always looking for beings similar to themselves to expand their territory and influence. Among them, the stars gathered here whisper that they feel a great attraction to you.]

In other words, Hyun-woo was just as much of a scoundrel as the ones gathered here. Hyun-woo pointed at each one from the left, as he was introduced.

“So, you’re saying my essence is a conspiracy theorist, a psychopath, a greedy person, an attention seeker, and someone with anger management issues?”

The stars didn’t say anything to Hyun-woo’s summary, but he could sense a hint of ‘unpleasantness.’ Until now, no one had ever summarized them in such a way.

“I’m starting to think I fell into hell because I’m really a bad guy.”

The fact that he couldn’t deny it made him feel even more unpleasant.

People are complex beings, but was he really such a multi-layered piece of trash?

Hyun-woo began to reflect on his life.

It didn’t take a few seconds though.

‘Nothing comes to mind.’

Even if he wasn’t perfectly clean and innocent, he didn’t think he had lived a shameful life.

‘No, is it already ruined the moment I don’t realize I should be ashamed?’

Anyway, Hyun-woo was confident in himself. That was enough.

‘But these psychopaths here think I look pretty decent.’

Of course, he thought that talk about being the ruler of death or devouring the world was just sales talk. The point was, what could these things do for him?

If he had to sell his soul or conscience as a condition of the contract, he would have to ask if they offered installments.

“If I make a choice, will something change?”

Brilliant light began to pour out from all directions. Like spam mail, countless videos and information were mixed and poured into his head.

Even in a situation where he couldn’t understand anything, the images came through clearly.

A powerful man looking down at the ground from behind the curtains of a high-rise building. With a single gesture, his subordinates secretly move to eliminate those who get in the way. He moves on to the next conspiracy, and then the next.

A magician standing alone in a vast field. When she taps the ground with her staff, the undead in old-fashioned uniforms and guns dig up the ground and rise. A new war begins.

A predator with fangs bites the enemy’s neck. The enemy whose neck is bitten is absorbed into the man as if he were being absorbed. The predator seeks new prey with the newly acquired enemy’s power and authority.

A speaker standing on a shining stage gives a speech to tens of thousands of people. People can’t take their eyes off her and listen only to her words.

An armored warrior standing in the middle of a burning battlefield. He may look out of place in this era, but he is not defeated by any weapon. He just seeks out the next enemy to enjoy the blood and screams up close.

It was a scene full of madness and death. And power and wealth were there.

Hyun-woo could tell from the glimpses that this video was not just a hallucination, but a record of something.

Some of the images were completely unfamiliar, but some of them were people Hyun-woo seemed to have seen on TV.

In other words, they were the ones who had received the power of the stars.

It was clear that accepting just one of them would bring Hyun-woo one step closer to the power and authority he had dreamed of.

Would it have been possible if it were now? No. As far as Hyun-woo knew, he had never heard of the stars before.

They were either hiding it, or at least it was a very rare occurrence.

There was no need to hesitate.

But.

[Choose a star to follow.]

The narrator said, urging him. Hyun-woo cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“What price do I have to pay?”

Hell doesn’t give anything for free. This sadistic, perverted world harshly collected pain, blood, and tears as currency, even when giving something.

[Just serve and follow. That’s all.]

Free. What advertising phrase could be more suspicious than this?

“Really, that’s all?”

[Stars raise their subordinates, and subordinates act on the will of the stars. That’s all there is to it. Because stars only raise beings similar to themselves, they end up acting on their will just by doing what they want.]

Even this strange stroke of luck looked like an ad for a free porn site to Hyun-woo.

‘They must be confident that they can take everything from me.’

He had a rough idea of the relationship between this hell and the stars. Hyun-woo had to move carefully.

“Do I have to choose right now?”

The narrator didn’t answer. Only the stars flickered slowly, as if they were talking to each other. Before long, an answer came from the narrator.

[The stars’ choice is a rare opportunity. The more you show them that you are recognized by them and pass the trials, the faster your growth is promised.]

“So, that means you’re not giving me anything right now?”

[The stars feel unpleasantness at your arrogance.]

The answer came out as soon as Hyun-woo spoke. It was the first time they had talked about emotions, so telling him this must mean he should watch his mouth. But Hyun-woo had no intention of doing so.

“I didn’t go looking for you. You came looking for me. But I don’t know much about you, so what am I supposed to do if you tell me to choose right away? There’s no contract or anything. I wouldn’t even do a used car deal like this.”

The narrator’s answer was delayed again. But soon, the orange light flashed quickly and disappeared from its place.

[Ardan, the conquering star, has lost interest in you.]

It seemed that they didn’t like Hyun-woo’s cautious attitude. Whatever. The remaining stars were still watching Hyun-woo.

[The stars say they will give you time to think.]

Hyun-woo breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that they might force him to choose or just leave altogether. Fortunately, the stars gave Hyun-woo time to choose.

“Thank you. I’ll try not to think about it for too long.”

The stars disappeared without even listening to Hyun-woo’s answer. The darkened vision slowly began to brighten. Hyun-woo was back in the same gym where he had been deprived of all his senses.

The lights had all disappeared, but one yellow light remained until the end. The yellow light slowly circled around Hyun-woo and then brushed past the tip of his right hand.

At that moment, Hyun-woo felt a burning pain in his right palm again. It was similar to the pain he felt when he touched the burning return stone earlier.

[Monstrill, the whispering star, awakens some of your abilities.]

[Legendary Skill: Domination has been acquired.]

‘Huh, a legendary skill?’

He didn’t know what kind of skill it was yet, but it was his second legendary skill after Battle Helper. Hyun-woo didn’t know how many legendary skill holders there were, but he thought there were at least not two.

The whispering star left a slightly smiling feeling and disappeared.

‘They’re trying to seduce me.’

It must be a kind of bribe. And if they can give away a legendary skill so easily, they can easily take it away too.

Hyun-woo thought about the stars. They had shown him that they could instantly steal Hyun-woo’s senses and decide his fate in an instant.

Just thinking about the videos the stars had shown him, it was clear that they had a significant impact on Earth.

No, not just significant, but perhaps they were the ones who created this hell in the first place.

Even with contracts with the stars, the ability users had not been able to prevent this hell from appearing on Earth.

If the stars weren’t of much help, then there was no point in making a contract after all, and if that wasn’t the case, then the stars were the ones who created this mess.

It was a natural conclusion just by thinking about the stars’ values.

They try to increase the number of beings with similar values to themselves and expand their territory.

The result of that is this place, hell.

“Haha… damn it.”

It was shocking enough to learn that the hell he thought was a land of opportunity was actually a glimpse into a ruined future, but now he was being courted by the very people who created that hell to become one of them.

The scenes of the stars and their followers creating a living hell were vivid in his mind. The disasters that would come and the failures that humanity would experience were also the future that Hyun-woo would experience.

***

It was about three days later when he returned from hell. Fortunately, he had fallen on a small mountain behind Yoo-min’s house. He had prepared clothes in his inventory in advance, so he didn’t have to walk around in rags.

Lenian had disappeared the moment the stars appeared and had not been seen since. Since he couldn’t find him, he had no choice but to hope that he could meet him again if he returned to hell. He was expensive, after all.

As soon as he got home, he put the clothes he had been wearing in hell in a bag with a biohazard mark on it, as Yoo-min had instructed.

Hyun-woo felt embarrassed as he watched the black liquid quickly fill the bathroom floor when he turned on the shower.

‘I need to buy a house.’

Hyun-woo was planning not just a house, but a bunker. A large house where he could check his abilities, test items, and have a separate sterilization room in the bathroom.

If he carelessly spread toxic blood, it could cause an epidemic, so he had to be careful. In other words, if a being who lived in Difficulty: Hell appeared in reality, it would be a disaster.

Hyun-woo suddenly wondered.

‘Come to think of it, where am I right now?’

Hyun-woo had not yet been officially registered as an ability user, and he had no experience as a hunter. Socially, he was just an unemployed, zero-star, incompetent ordinary person living in a woman’s house.

Hyun-woo looked at the back of his hand, which was calloused from hitting scarecrows in Difficulty: Hell. The back of his hand, which had become smooth like a hammer, looked like he could hammer it directly into the wall.

It was hard to believe that this change had happened in just a few days.

‘It’s not enough.’

Hyun-woo spread his right palm. The letters engraved on his palm were shining more clearly than before. On the other hand, the return stone seemed to be losing its burning momentum. As if the power of the return stone was being transferred to his palm.

Hyun-woo recalled the power that one of the stars had given him.

Overwhelming beings that Hyun-woo could not dare to oppose. When he thought of them, Hyun-woo felt himself shrinking.

They were beings he would encounter someday if he climbed up. The only option Hyun-woo could choose was to become a puppet of one of them.

Then, perhaps the way to survive was to leave himself to the flow and become a follower of one of them.

But could he do that?

Impossible. He tried to drink away the seawater when the sea came crashing down, and he tried to become stronger when hell tempered him. That’s why Hyun-woo was facing the cause of the ruin, or perhaps the bizarre beings lurking in the hellish pandemonium [a wild uproar or place of chaos].

He was smiling.

It was as if the stars had shown Hyun-woo how high he could go.

The authority the stars possessed, the abilities they granted, the followers they commanded.

‘Why do I have to choose just one?’

Hyun-woo couldn’t help but stop his lips from twitching. Everything they had shown him was what Hyun-woo wanted.

How high could he go? How much could he grab?

The stars had shown him what he shouldn’t have shown him. They said that if he made a contract with them, he could have these things. But that was like giving Hyun-woo a concrete goal.

His greed was not small.

Hyun-woo wanted to have everything they had offered, without leaving anything out.

‘Everything.’

Everything.

It might be an arrogant attitude for someone who hasn’t even grabbed anything properly yet.

But is there a need to express greed humbly?

More than anything, Hyun-woo was confident. He was confident that he would eventually grab everything.

The future of humanity? Saving the world? Hyun-woo didn’t care about that.

He just felt that the leash of humanity was now in his hands.

For that, Hyun-woo was willing to use even humanity as a tool.