Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 174

174. The Man in Black (1)

‘How to get stronger?’

Hyeon-woo chuckled at the almost childlike request. As expected of Red Butterfly, there was something strange about this guy.

Hyeon-woo answered immediately without much thought.

“Alright.”

Before Red Butterfly could even show a delighted expression, Hyeon-woo’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“But can you keep up?”

***

As soon as they entered the dungeon in the center of the village, they were hit with the pungent smell of smoke.

Burning embers and ashes were scattered everywhere. It was as if a massive fire had swept through.

Blackened branches on the ground snapped with a crisp sound. The trees smoldered faintly, radiating heat.

Hyeon-woo touched a nearby tree. Still hot, the tree crumbled weakly at Hyeon-woo’s touch.

Red Butterfly covered his mouth with his sleeve from the scattering ashes.

“Did a fire break out?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t see anything like a fire from the outside.”

The entrance to the dungeon was simply a forest of blackened, dried-up trees.

The fire seemed to have occurred recently.

Perhaps it was a periodic gimmick within the dungeon itself, but in [Hunters’] experience, dungeon anomalies were never welcome news.

It was then. Something suddenly appeared on the hill.

A skeleton soldier, spewing black smoke from its eyes.

The skeleton soldier, wearing armor so rusted it was falling apart like rags, shrieked and raised its sword as soon as it saw Hyeon-woo.

[Skeleton Rider (LV 45)]

A monster with a similar level to the Werewolf.

Just as Hyeon-woo was disappointed that it was only a 4-star, the Skeleton Rider began waving a flag.

At the same time, new presences began to emerge from among the ashen trees.

It was a countless number of skeleton soldiers.

[Skeleton Soldier (LV 35)]

They were all monsters equipped with armor and weapons.

The skeleton soldiers slowly narrowed the encirclement, clattering as they moved. Red Butterfly entered a battle stance with a grim expression.

It was a scene that would have made ordinary Hunters pale, but Hyeon-woo nodded.

“Seems adequate.”

“Excuse me?”

“Clear this area first. We’ll talk after that.”

Before Red Butterfly could say anything, Hyeon-woo leaped up.

In an instant, Hyeon-woo left Red Butterfly behind and disappeared over the hill. Red Butterfly was left surrounded by a horde of skeleton soldiers.

“Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo!”

Red Butterfly’s cry was in vain.

But Hyeon-woo had already disappeared, and the skeletons were closing in. Red Butterfly hardened his expression and wrapped his hands and feet in red aura.

***

Hyeon-woo watched Red Butterfly from afar, concealing his presence.

It was an environment where he couldn’t hide his skills even if he wanted to.

Hyeon-woo estimated Red Butterfly’s level to be 30. A level where it was difficult to face even one skeleton soldier.

There seemed to be no chance of her surviving.

‘In a normal situation, she would just die like a dog.’

But Hyeon-woo didn’t think Red Butterfly would go down easily.

No matter what, she was a member of the alliance, and a hotshot rookie Hunter whose level was rising so quickly.

Even if she had talent, this speed was comparable to Hyeon-woo, who frequented Difficulty: Hell.

‘Red Butterfly, you said you wanted to get stronger. Then first, you need to show me how strong you are.’

Hyeon-woo believed that Red Butterfly was definitely hiding her skills.

Soon, one of the skeleton soldiers charged at Red Butterfly. Red Butterfly nimbly struck the skeleton soldier with her hands wrapped in red aura.

A quick and powerful blow.

Red Butterfly’s attack, based on martial arts, shattered the skeleton soldier’s armor in an instant and inflicted an effective blow inside.

But that was it.

It took her almost 30 seconds to defeat one skeleton soldier.

It was amazing skill to defeat an opponent higher level than herself without any injuries, but in the meantime, the skeleton soldiers clung to Red Butterfly.

Red Butterfly fought well even against the second one, but soon blood splattered.

Pain flashed across Red Butterfly’s face.

‘Even if she wasn’t hiding anything, she came here on her own, so there’s nothing I can do.’

Red Butterfly also knew how dangerous unexplored dungeons were. She wouldn’t have come to such a place without being prepared to risk her life.

Red Butterfly defeated the second and even the third skeleton soldier. But it seemed that was the limit.

A calm anger and fighting spirit were burning in her face, but conversely, the flame of life was fading.

‘She’d better show her true skills before it’s too late.’

Soon, Red Butterfly was completely surrounded by skeleton soldiers. Hyeon-woo’s expression distorted.

‘Even if she dies here, there’s nothing I can do…….’

“Damn it.”

Park Hwi-so’s face flashed in Hyeon-woo’s mind.

The face of him worrying, saying that he didn’t need to worry about Red Butterfly.

Hyeon-woo threw a Hell Dart at the head of the Skeleton Rider, who was still diligently waving the flag.

The Skeleton Rider didn’t even know what hit it, and its head exploded the moment it touched the Hell Dart.

“Red Butterfly!”

Hyeon-woo pulled out his chain and swept it around, instantly clearing the area. All the monsters above waist height were swept away in an instant as if they were being harvested.

It was an attack that could have swept Red Butterfly away, but it didn’t seem like she was still standing on her own two feet.

Hyeon-woo kicked away the upper body of the skeleton soldier who was stabbing a sword into the fallen Red Butterfly.

Then, he took out a high-grade recovery potion for Red Butterfly, who was still gushing blood.

It was one of the potions that could be made with crystal stones.

“Keuk, cough.”

Red Butterfly opened her mouth as if to say something, but only blood came out.

Hyeon-woo shoved the potion bottle into her mouth.

Because it didn’t seem like she could swallow properly, he pulled out the sword stuck in her body and roughly shoved the mouth of the potion bottle into about three places.

Red Butterfly looked at Hyeon-woo with an indescribable expression.

Before long, most of the external wounds had healed.

There might have been some organ damage, but thanks to the unique resilience of ability users and the power of the high-grade potion, she was soon able to move.

A doctor would probably tell her to rest for a few days…….

“Did you get a glimpse of the River Styx [the river separating the world of the living from the underworld in Greek mythology]?”

Red Butterfly nodded with a tired expression. Hyeon-woo chuckled and said.

“Then you’ve experienced a trial version of the process of becoming strong ‘like me’. Do you still want to get stronger?”

“Yes.”

The answer came back without the slightest hesitation.

“You almost died just now, shouldn’t you at least look like you’re contemplating it a little?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I’m alive, so I have to try again.”

Hyeon-woo felt a feeling he couldn’t describe.

‘To be able to say these words and still be alive.’

Frankly speaking, Red Butterfly had the most ideal personality that Hyeon-woo wanted to bring into the Hunter team.

When the Omnipotent Alliance first started creating Hunter teams, he was lucky enough to find talents like Song Yeo-un and Seo Ji-hoo, but in reality, the percentage of candidates who ended up becoming team members was less than 20%.

Even that was questionable whether they would have stayed until the end if Hyeon-woo hadn’t showered them with rare items and potions.

But Red Butterfly was different.

A straightforward desire to become stronger and a personality that doesn’t fear death in the process.

‘The problem is what that motive is…….’

For Hyeon-woo, that motive was anger. But Red Butterfly was still calm.

Hyeon-woo unconsciously fiddled with the return stone under his chest.

He couldn’t help but think about the case where Red Butterfly went to Difficulty: Hell.

She was a talent who would probably have adapted like a ghost in Difficulty: Hell. Maybe her growth rate would have been even faster than his.

Hyeon-woo had tried to find such a talent among the countless ability users of the Omnipotent Alliance, but when he actually saw it, he felt a bit eerie.

Hyeon-woo stood up.

“Then what are you doing, are you going to keep lying down?”

A slightly embarrassed expression flashed across Red Butterfly’s face. But she stood up, even with a painful expression.

Most of her body was healed, although phantom pains still remained.

There was still blood left in her stomach and lungs, and she vomited and coughed as soon as she stood up.

But Hyeon-woo ignored her condition and said.

“Let’s do some intense training.”

***

Skeleton Forest. Hyeon-woo named this ashen forest Skeleton Forest. Because he had to call it something.

Hyeon-woo said he would train Red Butterfly, but what Hyeon-woo taught was very different from what she thought.

Hyeon-woo mainly taught survival methods, tips, and strategies he had obtained from Difficulty: Hell.

The reason was simple.

This dungeon itself was estimated to be 5-star, and Red Butterfly, who was only in her early level 30s, was in an environment where she could easily die like a dog.

Moreover, Red Butterfly had a steadfast, martial artist-like personality.

It was the best personality for getting stronger, but if you die, it’s useless to get stronger.

He also had to teach her a flexible way of thinking that doesn’t discriminate against means and methods to win. Red Butterfly’s method was a bit rigid.

“First, survive. We’ll talk about the next thing later.”

That was it.

In the first place, Hyeon-woo visited this dungeon for another purpose.

He didn’t come to take care of Red Butterfly, who was three or four years younger than him.

He was interested in her personality and martial spirit, but he had no intention of being held back by such things.

Hyeon-woo often left Red Butterfly unattended. In those cases, Ha-hyun was in charge of monitoring Red Butterfly from a distance.

Focusing on checking whether she had any hidden abilities.

But he had to admit that teaching her was fun.

Unlike her rigid martial artist-like impression, Red Butterfly adapted to Hyeon-woo’s teachings quickly and flexibly like a sponge.

She did as she was told, and her skills seemed to improve rapidly every time they sparred.

In fact, there wasn’t much to teach in terms of martial arts, but her application skills were a bit lacking.

But that was because Red Butterfly was obsessed with the Aura Master skill.

It was a problem that would be solved if her equipment was strengthened and her skills increased.

Hyeon-woo was tempted to give Red Butterfly good equipment, but he didn’t do the foolish thing of strengthening the power of an opponent who might become an enemy.

“Um, Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo.”

On the fourth day.

Red Butterfly, who was catching her breath after a sparring session, opened her mouth.

“What?”

“Why are you training me?”

Hyeon-woo tilted his head at the sudden question. Red Butterfly said with an expression like she owed him something.

“I thought you originally came to this dungeon on the condition of exploring it with me in the lead, but I’m not helping with the exploration and I’m just wasting potions and food…….”

“Ah, that. You don’t have to worry about it. Your presence here is fulfilling the purpose.”

“Excuse me?”

Hyeon-woo didn’t tell her on purpose.

He didn’t want to make Red Butterfly feel uncomfortable for no reason, and he didn’t want to create a situation where she might say she had to leave.

Red Butterfly’s level was rising rapidly, and she gained one trait and one skill. She almost died, though.

The trait was to shoot aura like a shockwave in an instant, and the skill was Blink.

The Blink skill was a skill that allowed her to move a short distance in the desired direction in a quick moment, and it was a skill that even Hyeon-woo coveted.

It was good for both offense and escape, and it worked well with Red Butterfly’s martial arts.

On the sixth day.

Red Butterfly had achieved rapid growth, but the training was over.

“Kang Hyeon-woo.”

It was because Red Butterfly’s trap had run its course.

When Hyeon-woo visited Red Butterfly’s shelter, he saw a familiar person.

Lee Ji-tae was staring at Hyeon-woo with bloodshot eyes.

Red Butterfly was standing there with an expression as if she had been scolded. Hyeon-woo took his hand out of his pocket and greeted him.

“Yo, Mr. Lee Ji-tae.”

Lee Ji-tae’s eyebrows rose as he reacted as if he knew Hyeon-woo was coming.

“……Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo, were you holding Red Butterfly back?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Ji-tae seemed flustered at Hyeon-woo’s short answer. But instead of complaining unpleasantly, he decided to ask something more important.

“Are you in your right mind to arbitrarily hold onto a member of my clan like that, knowing what mission Red Butterfly was on? Do you know how worried I was? I had a feeling that Red Butterfly was about to die several times, but I couldn’t find out where she was…….”

“A feeling?”

Lee Ji-tae quickly shut his mouth as Hyeon-woo asked as if he was wondering.

Judging from the fact that he often showed a particularly disheveled appearance, he also seemed to care about Red Butterfly.

Well, it would be fun. Because there’s a taste in raising her.

“I didn’t hold her back. She asked me to teach her.”

“Even so, an adult should send her back!”

“She’s an adult too? And it’s over now. You can take her if you want. The business is over.”

“Excuse me?”

The question that came back was not from Lee Ji-tae, but from Red Butterfly.

“Mr. Kang Hyeon-woo, don’t tell me that the reason you said I could stay here was to lure Clan Leader Lee Ji-tae into the dungeon?”

Tension momentarily crept into Lee Ji-tae’s face.

The dungeon is a space only for Hunters, and at the same time, it is a space where Hunters face the most deaths.

It was no exaggeration to say that about 10% of the causes of death for Hunters were due to other Hunters. Because there is no law or police in the dungeon.

But Hyeon-woo shook his head.

“No, the one I was waiting for wasn’t Lee Ji-tae, but another guy.”

Hyeon-woo turned his head.

“You. You black bastard.”

Numerous black figures began to appear in the forest.

They were the black figures who attacked Hyeon-woo’s Ghost Mansion.