Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 184

184. Death Will Follow (3)

The poorest thing is death.

The thing that grasps the most is death.

The final victor is also death.

Even the most greedy could not possess as much as death. To win in the end meant just that.

Seeing Hyun-woo’s determined expression, Renian whispered, sounding delighted.

“Butler, are you finally ready to rise?”

But Hyun-woo’s expression was rigid.

Hyun-woo couldn’t choose the right answer.

“Butler?”

“Damn it.”

Hyun-woo couldn’t accept that the Wailing Star, Verd, was the ultimate victor. No, no one could.

From the start, this trial was a massive trap. Who laid this trap? Verd? Yogulem? Or all three, including Ardan?

Was it a setup laid since the moment Tam was handed over?

Hyun-woo was struggling in this Difficulty: Hell to survive and win.

If Hyun-woo chose the Wailing Star, Verd, as the ultimate victor and sided with him, it wouldn’t simply end with that decision.

He couldn’t believe that when he escaped this illusion, Hyun-woo would be free from that decision.

Hyun-woo would eventually become a member of Verd’s retinue [a group of advisors or assistants accompanying an important person].

The same went for choosing Yogulem or Ardan.

It wasn’t just a psychological issue. The problem was that Hyun-woo had accepted this fact.

The moment Hyun-woo chose one of the three, it meant that one of the stars had won, and Hyun-woo had lost.

The stars were colluding, saying, ‘Hehe, you can’t get out,’ so there was no way for Hyun-woo to escape.

“You bastards!!”

Hyun-woo shouted at the empty air. Then, he swung Tam wildly at the rushing monsters.

Bones shattered, and flesh tore apart. Hyun-woo screamed, covered in blood.

“Did you have to screw me over like this! Are you that greedy for me? Then come and take me! Chop me into pieces and share me nicely! Whether you pickle me in formalin [a solution of formaldehyde in water used to preserve biological specimens] or stuff me and put me in a display case, do whatever you want! Let’s see if you bastards can really have even a part of me!”

“Butler, calm down for a second. Butler!”

Renian shouted, clinging to Hyun-woo’s neck.

“You don’t have to choose a star! Just create an undeniable outcome! Learn an ultimate skill and reverse the result!”

“How am I supposed to level up here!”

Hyun-woo’s level was 49. He had been leveling up bit by bit, but thanks to being suddenly dragged into Tam, he hadn’t reached 50.

But leveling up was completely blocked here. How was he supposed to level up by catching monsters that were nothing more than illusions?

Renian shouted something else, but Hyun-woo plunged into the horde of monsters, swinging Tam and stomping on them indiscriminately.

He bit and rammed with his teeth. The monsters shattered futilely, scattering as if mocking Hyun-woo. But monsters ravenously rushed into the empty spaces.

A fight of tearing, breaking, and biting continued. Hyun-woo charged as if the stars’ true forms were right in front of him.

‘Damn bastards.’

But Hyun-woo was inwardly angry at himself for not preparing for this situation.

He had heard for a long time that the stars were targeting him.

From the beginning, they had coveted Hyun-woo, approaching him with various sponsorships and schemes. Monstrill was even actively courting him.

Hyun-woo had been profiting from this strange tightrope walk, not choosing anyone.

He knew that the moment he chose someone, he would be antagonizing the other stars.

But he didn’t expect this moment to come so suddenly. Well, a trap wouldn’t come looking for timing, but still.

Hyun-woo roughly gasped for breath and cut down an orc that was charging at him.

‘Why am I even breathing? You don’t even need to breathe right now.’

Hyun-woo had a strange thought. That was right. His lungs were in tatters.

But Hyun-woo wasn’t thinking about why he was breathing; he was focused on the fact that he had such a thought.

His expression twisted.

‘Monstrill. She always comes when a trial descends.’

***

Monstrill chuckled at Hyun-woo’s words.

‘Well, isn’t there a saying that a friend in need is a friend indeed?’

‘Just jackals preying on corpses. What is it? Do you want to get in on this vile mess too?’

Monstrill burst into laughter.

‘Why wouldn’t I? I’ve worked so hard to have you. How do you think I’d feel if I were to be robbed by those pathetic bastards now?’

Hyun-woo didn’t answer.

Yogulem was an unspeakable pervert, and Verd was a bleak guy whose intentions couldn’t be fathomed. Ardan was someone he had never properly interacted with, but judging from his explanations and actions, he had severe anger management issues.

‘I can’t say I’m stronger than those guys. But I can promise you better treatment. At the very least, I can help you screw over those guys who trapped you.’

Monstrill continued to whisper to the silent Hyun-woo.

‘Choose me. Hyun-woo. Then I can pull you out of this tedious illusion, and we can become the masters of this star together.’

Monstrill’s offer was sweet.

It always was.

In Difficulty: Hell, Monstrill’s whispers were like sweet honey.

Hyun-woo couldn’t roam this battlefield forever. But he couldn’t choose one of those who had trapped him either.

‘What happens if I never choose?’

‘The Wailing Star, Verd, will win.’

Would it just flow according to the predetermined course of history? But from the start, the victor was the Wailing Star.

Would that history change if he chose another star?

As if explaining Hyun-woo’s question, Monstrill whispered.

‘That’s right. It’s as you think. Death has the most and wins the most. Whether you choose someone or not, death will eventually win. Or you’d have to have overwhelming power and smash everything, but judging by your appearance, that’s impossible.’

‘You seem to be enjoying this.’

‘The best thing would be for you to choose another star. Then there’d be no need to continue the quest. This illusion would break, and you’d return to reality. As someone’s faithful servant.’

‘Disgusting.’

His level wouldn’t rise, and his items wouldn’t be replenished. Hyun-woo’s level would be stuck in this state forever.

In the end, he couldn’t escape unless he chose a star.

Moreover, it was set up so that the Wailing Star would naturally win over time.

‘Take my hand. Kang Hyun-woo.’

Monstrill whispered in a voice that even felt desperate.

‘You’re not someone who should suffer under those guys. You deserve to be loved and respected. I’ll put you in the closest place by my side and make you shine.’

Monstrill’s presence felt so close that he could grab her at any moment.

If he accepted her here, everything would be resolved.

The guys who laid the trap would be left chasing chickens [wasting their time on a futile endeavor], and Hyun-woo would gain new power.

Wasn’t Monstrill the one who had continued to show him goodwill?

Hyun-woo’s jaw finally opened.

“Get lost.”

There was no explanation. There was no hesitation.

In fact, there was no reason either.

Hyun-woo staggered and stabbed a ghoul in the back with his knife.

He was hit by the ghoul’s arm as it struggled, and he was thrown to the ground. After burying his face in the mud, he heard Monstrill’s voice again.

‘You always choose the painful path. If you don’t choose a star, there’s only one answer. To walk a path that is more painful and difficult than choosing a star…….’

Hyun-woo didn’t ask what Monstrill meant. There was one possibility that Hyun-woo had been stubbornly ignoring.

Monstrill’s voice completely disappeared.

There was no more temptation. There was no conflict. There was no hesitation.

Only simple struggle remained.

Hyun-woo charged at the monsters again as if this was the final battle.

***

The moment he touched the Ironclad Soldier’s hot armor, his flesh fell off with a sizzling sound.

Hyun-woo ignored the smell of burning meat and nimbly climbed onto the Ironclad Soldier’s head. When he kicked the head, the helmet fell off and rolled on the floor. Intense heat rose from inside the armor.

The Ironclad Soldier reached out to grab Hyun-woo, but Hyun-woo jumped inside the armor.

The Ironclad Soldier stopped abruptly in its place. Black smoke billowed from the inside.

With a cracking sound, the armor shattered, and a blackened Hyun-woo jumped out.

His eyes ravenously sought the next target.

In fact, Hyun-woo had almost no evidence left to prove that he was Hyun-woo.

His body was beyond battered; there was hardly any skin left. There wasn’t even a place where the flesh was properly attached.

The skeleton was relatively intact, but the scratched, broken, and fallen bones were not properly protecting the internal organs.

What was worse was that his body was decaying.

Now, there were no parts of Hyun-woo’s body that could function as a human. But Hyun-woo didn’t care much.

He had no eyes, but he could see the enemy; he had no nose, but he could smell the rotting corpses.

He had no tongue, but he could swallow blood, and his bones were strong. He could use them as weapons. The lack of pain was an advantage.

The situation on the battlefield remained unchanged.

Someone kills, someone dies, they are dragged here without knowing why, and then it repeats. The only indicator showing that time was changing was Hyun-woo himself.

Hyun-woo was about to go find an enemy when he spotted his reflection in the gleaming armor of the Ironclad Soldier.

He looked more like an undead than a human.

Death was winning.

Hyun-woo felt his humanity was wearing away.

It had been a long time since he had felt even the slightest joy as a human.

A loving touch, a delicious meal, a scent that deeply filled his lungs, a landscape where no one was killed.

Hyun-woo suddenly felt thirsty.

He groped around his chest to find a caramel, but all he could feel were his ribs exposed by the peeling skin.

‘Is this what the Wailing Star wanted?’

Hyun-woo had such a thought.

The stars try to make those who resemble them their retinue.

Hyun-woo had wondered why the Wailing Star, Verd, was interested in him.

But now it seemed understandable.

He liked the cold wind blowing from the bleak, gray landscape. He liked the chilling silence.

This place resembled the sewers of the Mars Mana Industrial Complex, where Hyun-woo had spent his twenties.

A place where death lurked with only a paper’s difference, and only a bleak future awaited.

It would be a lie if he said he had never dreamed of destruction there.

‘You’ve imagined taking off your protective suit and submerging your head in sewage, haven’t you? Right?’

That’s right. He thought it wouldn’t matter if he lived like that and died…… Hyun-woo tilted his head as if puzzled.

If he thought that way, why did he try so hard to live when he came to Difficulty: Hell?

Is hell a little better than reality?

A skeleton soldier rushed towards Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo reached out, grabbed its head, and crushed it in one hand. Hyun-woo stared blankly at the white bone powder crumbling in his hand.

It was because he was someone who rebelled.

Hyun-woo was someone who rebelled more strongly the stronger the opponent he faced.

In a reality where there was no one to rebel against, Hyun-woo was a vague and weak existence.

In Difficulty: Hell, Hyun-woo finally began to burn.

‘What about now?’

Death always wins in the end.

But is it really an opponent that cannot even be confronted?

“Butler!”

It was then. Hyun-woo’s body staggered from the hand that suddenly pulled him.

Hyun-woo felt the sensation of his right arm shattering and the wind passing by.

The shockwave from the hammer swung by the Ironclad Soldier swept through his body. His body, which was nothing but bones, rolled around. Hyun-woo realized that Tam had fallen far away.

Renian slapped his cheek and scolded him.

“Wake up, Butler!”

Hyun-woo looked at Renian. Renian’s condition was terrible.

Her wings were torn off, and her whole body was covered in wounds. As Hyun-woo was pierced and torn countless times, she couldn’t have been safe either.

Hyun-woo could see that the reason he could even have intact limbs was because of Renian’s invisible assistance.

Renian hadn’t received the immortality curse either. It was a miracle that she had survived.

“Are you still not awake? Is it because you have too much blood pressure in your head? Would you feel better if I drew some blood?”

Of course, there was no blood left in his head.

Hyun-woo couldn’t stand up.

His whole body didn’t listen as if it had just broken down.

A much larger Ironclad Soldier than the others was looking down at Hyun-woo.

It was wearing a cloak of fire on its back, and flames were rising from each joint.

‘Is it like an incarnation of the Star of Conquest?’

Hyun-woo had seen this giant sweeping through the monsters from afar. This was the first time he had faced it so closely.

How strong would it be?

Stronger than the Widow Queen Spider or more?

The monster looked down at Hyun-woo as if he were a bug and raised its hammer.

Hyun-woo thought he had to avoid it, but at that moment, his legs shattered and broke. Now he had to crawl and fight.

The hammer didn’t wait for Hyun-woo. A shadow was cast along with the heat. Hyun-woo imagined himself turning to dust on the floor.

“I said wake up!”

With a fierce impact, Hyun-woo’s body bounced back again. The hammer had struck his lower body, leaving a precarious gap.

It was Renian who had deflected the hammer. The price was not small.

Hyun-woo saw Renian, whose wings and one arm were torn off, staggering to her feet.

‘Was Renian this weak?’

Renian looked at Hyun-woo with blurry eyes. She opened her mouth with an expression that she wanted something. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.

“Let’s go home, Butler.”

At that moment, a strange idea came to Hyun-woo.

A method that he had stubbornly ignored or couldn’t even bring himself to think of.

Renian is not an illusion like the other monsters.

Only she existed in this place.

He remembered what Monstrill had whispered.

‘If you don’t choose a star, there’s only one answer. To walk a path that is more painful and difficult than choosing a star…….’

But Renian realized that Hyun-woo was finally ready.

Hyun-woo grabbed Renian, who was lying on the floor. Renian didn’t run away.

She didn’t scream or struggle. She smiled brightly and stretched out her arms.

At that moment, Hyun-woo realized one thing.

To confront death, you have to overcome it.

Because he didn’t have Tam, Hyun-woo had to resort to primitive methods.

Crack.

The sound of bones breaking echoed.

***

[Level Up!]

[Acquired Ultimate Skill: Beast of the Apocalypse (Mythical)].