Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 176

176. The Man in Black (3)

As a result of this attack, Lee Ji-tae came to believe that Hyun-woo had orchestrated the situation to save him.

While some aspects might still seem unnatural, once a person is convinced of something, they tend to interpret events in ways that reinforce their belief. This is known as confirmation bias.

‘It’s called confirmation bias.’

Lee Ji-tae, having been attacked by Park Do-ryeong’s doppelganger while pursuing Red Butterfly, couldn’t shake the feeling that he and Hyun-woo were caught in an assassination attempt targeting him.

Since Hyun-woo seemingly had no connection to Park Do-ryeong, it was easy for Lee Ji-tae to jump to that conclusion.

Savior types like Lee Ji-tae, who prioritize saving others at their own expense, often possess a degree of inflated ego.

They tend to believe that those they couldn’t save are their fault, and they feel compelled to rescue everyone in trouble.

“Let’s just assume that’s the case. But it seems like we don’t have time to talk anymore.”

He could hear movement again from beyond the forest. These presences felt heavy and dark, distinct from the black figures. A considerable number were approaching.

Lee Ji-tae’s expression turned grim.

“The numbers……”

“Did a Flood [a massive surge of monsters] break out or something?”

Shock registered on Lee Ji-tae’s face.

“A Flood? Seriously? This is a 5-star dungeon. If a Flood breaks out here, the Northern Expedition will……”

His face then contorted with anger.

“Park Do-ryeong, that son of a bitch, is he trying to completely bury me……?”

Lee Ji-tae seemed utterly convinced that Park Do-ryeong was trying to eliminate him.

“Can Park Do-ryeong artificially trigger a Flood?”

“……Park Do-ryeong has many unknown talents. He must have gained a lot of experience since the early days of the dungeons. Besides, the Flood breaking out as soon as the doppelgangers disappeared can’t be a coincidence. The possibility of artificially triggering a Flood has already been tested in lower-level dungeons.”

“Indeed. He’s a nasty guy.”

But Lee Ji-tae shook his head.

“It’s not certain yet whether it’s a Flood. They might have been drawn by the explosion. But we can’t ignore it and leave. If a Flood has indeed broken out, we must stop it as early as possible.”

Then Lee Ji-tae looked at Hyun-woo.

“Will you help me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

It was Hyun-woo who had triggered the Flood.

What Hyun-woo had been doing for the past week was locating the return stones within the dungeon.

He had also identified the locations and mechanics of various boss monsters.

He had Kirson stationed near the return stone, and he activated the Flood the moment he detected the black figures.

The reason was simple: to prevent anyone from leaving until he caught his target.

He wasn’t concerned about the return scroll issue. Now that his true intentions had been revealed, the person would be even more motivated to catch him before escaping the dungeon.

Whether the black figure was Park Do-ryeong or not, he would eventually be overwhelmed by the monsters unleashed by the Flood.

Now, all that remained was to snipe Park Do-ryeong, who was likely hiding somewhere in the dungeon behind these two human shields.

***

5-star dungeons often feature monsters that are ‘outside the regulations’ level. Like the Knight Golem they encountered in the Taebaek Dungeon.

Red Butterfly had only faced the outer mobs [weaker, more common monsters].

For example, the skeleton soldiers that Red Butterfly mainly fought were disposable monsters summoned by the skeleton riders.

The skeleton soldiers usually lie buried underground, waiting to be awakened and carry out orders from the moment the skeleton rider waves a flag.

With just one skeleton rider, the skeleton soldiers are endlessly resurrected. They also gather around the skeleton rider, so as time passes, they become surrounded by countless skeleton soldiers.

Although the level is lower than the Taebaek Dungeon, if early suppression fails, the danger level will be higher.

Of course, within the standards of ordinary hunters.

“Get lost, you straw men.”

Hyun-woo casually swung Tam, smashing the surrounding skeleton soldiers. The flames of ‘Hellburg’s Twisted Passion’ absorbed into Tam heated and burned the surroundings. The skeleton soldiers, vulnerable to heat, writhed and burned.

There was no need to use complicated skills or think strategically.

The level of the skeleton soldiers was no different from that of werewolves. It was enough to lightly slaughter them as he passed.

But Lee Ji-tae didn’t seem to be doing that.

Lee Ji-tae heavily scattered the Shattering Sky Sword, then quickly moved through the horde of skeleton soldiers with lightning speed.

The countless blades of the skeleton soldiers couldn’t even graze Lee Ji-tae.

Lee Ji-tae, engulfed in lightning, literally split through the skeleton soldier hordes like a hot knife through butter.

If the lightning trajectory pierced through, the skeleton rider would inevitably be smashed and scattered.

And Hyun-woo cleaned up the skeleton soldiers whose ranks had been broken.

With Lee Ji-tae rampaging so diligently, there was no need for Hyun-woo to step forward and waste his energy.

It was then.

Suddenly, something was seen rushing through the horde of skeleton soldiers, trampling them.

What appeared from the dust, with bone fragments scattering everywhere, was a headless knight riding a giant warhorse.

[Wraith Knight (LV 56)]

It was a monster Hyun-woo had seen while wandering the dungeon. Roughly the level of a Knight in the Taebaek Dungeon.

Weaker than that, but with much stronger durability and attack power.

The giant warhorse, almost the size of a medium truck, collided directly with Lee Ji-tae.

But Lee Ji-tae didn’t panic, dodging smoothly and swinging the Shattering Sky Sword.

The leg that was about to step on the ground instantly burned white and fell off.

The Wraith Knight tumbled to the ground, sweeping through the horde of skeleton soldiers.

It was chaos everywhere. But the Wraith Knight bravely stood up and raised a giant cavalry spear towards Lee Ji-tae.

Hyun-woo watched to assess Lee Ji-tae’s skills, but the fight ended anticlimactically.

Lightly dodging the quickly piercing spear, lightly cutting out the joints of the armor, unbalancing it, and smashing it mercilessly.

It was an absurdly quick ending.

‘Similar to me…… or slightly faster.’

Considering that Lee Ji-tae, unlike Hyun-woo, doesn’t have stat boosts due to difficulty adjustments, it meant that Lee Ji-tae’s level was still above Hyun-woo’s.

‘He’s strong.’

What makes Lee Ji-tae strong isn’t simply the difference in having a high level and strong skills.

It was because of his movements, which seemed to predict the near future.

Lee Ji-tae had already shown quick actions, knowing in advance about dangers that Hyun-woo hadn’t predicted several times.

Fortunately, it seemed that he wasn’t at a complete level yet.

‘The Lee Ji-tae I saw when upgrading the Battle Helper was much stronger.’

That was a level of movement that Hyun-woo couldn’t handle. But at this level, there was still some possibility. Hyun-woo smiled bitterly.

‘I have to admit I was arrogant.’

While Hyun-woo decided to be a little more humble, Lee Ji-tae was concerned about Red Butterfly.

To be precise, he might be concerned about Hyun-woo.

Red Butterfly was barely keeping up with Hyun-woo and Lee Ji-tae, but she was surprisingly efficient and quickly eliminating skeleton soldiers.

The speed at which she eliminated enemies and broke ranks was now comparable to the team leaders of Taesung.

‘She wasn’t this good just a week ago.’

It was hard to believe that she had achieved this in just a week.

Red Butterfly said she learned from Kang Hyun-woo.

Lee Ji-tae, who had been trying to raise Red Butterfly as the next-generation leader of the Taesung Clan, couldn’t help but feel a sense of self-doubt, wondering if his own capabilities were insufficient.

He had tried to maximize her potential, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he had been blocking her instead. He couldn’t help but think that way.

‘And, on top of that, Yohan too…….’

Looking at Red Butterfly, Lee Ji-tae couldn’t help but think of Yohan, who had already left him.

Yohan had moved to the Almighty League and was showing a brighter side, and had overcome his drug addiction, which had been almost chronic.

Kang Hyun-woo has something.

Lee Ji-tae could be sure of that.

He had the ability to draw out the hidden potential in people.

And that was an ability that Lee Ji-tae didn’t have.

Lee Ji-tae felt a surge of emotions.

His sword became rough, and he split the Wraith Knight in half in one fell swoop.

‘I knew you were special before anyone else!’

He had known that Kang Hyun-woo was special from the moment he came to the ability test.

So he tried to bring him in, and even when he refused, he wasn’t disappointed and thought he would naturally come to his side.

Because he is the best.

And because he gives the best treatment to the best people whose abilities he recognizes.

But Kang Hyun-woo wasn’t like that.

Rather, he was catching up in an instant without his help.

The speed at which he was rising was terrifying.

Lee Ji-tae was trying to grab the top and not let go, but Kang Hyun-woo seemed like he would ignore Lee Ji-tae and just pass him by and go up.

To the point where the stars are within reach.

‘Why.’

He was the first to reach out to Kang Hyun-woo.

But the people he was holding on to and accompanying were only those around him.

‘Why not to me.’

Lee Ji-tae felt nauseous.

For the first time, he felt dizzy at the height of the summit, where he was located.

He felt like he would be left alone in this place while Kang Hyun-woo took everyone and went ahead.

‘Why don’t you reach out to me, Kang Hyun-woo?’

***

Boom.

As they were quickly heading towards the return stone, the three heard a loud noise.

They could see flames turning the sky red far beyond the forest. Something was clearly happening.

If Hyun-woo’s prediction was correct, it was where Park Do-ryeong would be heading.

‘As expected.’

Hyun-woo’s lips curled up.

Park Do-ryeong would have been looking for the best ambush location. But Hyun-woo had already prepared arrangements in that location.

They had encountered countless monsters while wandering the dungeon, but none of them had been an obstacle to Hyun-woo.

Except for one.

‘It’s going to be quite difficult.’

Hyun-woo pointed in the direction of the sound and said.

“Looks like there’s something there, let’s go.”

“……Okay.”

Lee Ji-tae’s expression looked particularly tired.

Hyun-woo was concerned about his complexion, but he thought it was natural since he had been rampaging so much.

Hyun-woo took out a mana potion from his pocket and threw it to him. Lee Ji-tae seemed momentarily flustered.

“Drink it all. It’s better than what you carry around.”

But Lee Ji-tae only looked at Hyun-woo, fiddling with the potion.

‘Is he suspicious?’

Hyun-woo wondered if he had done anything that could be caught, and took out a potion from his inventory and threw it to Red Butterfly as well.

Red Butterfly drank the potion Hyun-woo gave her without hesitation.

Hyun-woo also drank a potion. If he still suspects after all this, there’s nothing he can do.

But Lee Ji-tae eventually put the potion in his pocket instead of drinking it.

‘I didn’t think he was like that, he’s got a narrow-minded side.’

Still, he wouldn’t hold him back, he hoped. He was Lee Ji-tae, the best hunter in Korea, after all.

The three soon headed into the flames.

They arrived at a large valley.

The valley was already burning in places.

Lee Ji-tae carefully examined the deeply gouged marks on the ground.

“It looks like…… the traces of something like a burning giant chariot passing through.”

Hyun-woo could tell that the burnt trees he had seen when he first entered the dungeon were caused by this being.

Something heavy, huge, ferocious, and burning.

Thump, boom.

At that moment, a huge explosion and vibration that shook the valley were felt. Part of the valley was collapsing.

“There!”

Red Butterfly shouted, pointing to the inside of the valley.

“The valley…… is moving?”

Lee Ji-tae said as if doubting his own eyes. But soon he realized that he had seen wrong. It wasn’t the valley that was moving.

It was a siege tank as huge as the depth of the valley.

On the siege tank, which was piled up high like a tower, countless undead hordes were embedded like an undead cluster, writhing. The siege tank was full of torches, as if it were burning.

Cannons and burning oil barrels were lined up in the gunports that were pierced everywhere.

The siege tank was being pulled by the Wraith Warhorses that the Wraith Knights rode.

It was more like a mobile fortress than a siege tank.

[Siege Tank of the Subjugated (LV 65)]

It was level 65, not much different from the Red Serpent, but if you include the undead hordes attached to it, it could be said to far exceed that level.

Because there were dozens of skeleton riders, snipers, knights, and even a fortified force.

Then the tank suddenly spewed out dozens of streams of fire.

Boom.

One side of the valley was completely blown away with the explosion. A massive amount of earth and sand poured down.

Hyun-woo could see Lee Ji-tae clenching the Shattering Sky Sword tightly. Hyun-woo was soon able to discover what Lee Ji-tae had seen.

In the midst of the countless pouring earth and sand, a man in black clothes was running quickly.

“Park Do-ryeong…….”

Lee Ji-tae murmured like a groan.