Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 206

206. New Orders (3)

The sudden appearance of the monster instantly overwhelmed the crowd.

Hunters rushed to attack, but when Kazat grabbed his staff and swung it, rats poured out of the black tar and ambushed them.

A hunter, his face covered in rats, screamed and writhed. The rats melted back into the black tar from his face, encircling his head.

The hunters were subdued in an instant. They slumped and lost consciousness.

In a situation where it wasn’t even clear if the hunters were dead or alive, there was no need to mention the state of the civilians.

Kazat thumped the floor, and the civilians who had been screaming and trying to escape cowered.

Monster.

Beast, monster, demon, amorphous mana-based lifeform, and so on.

There are many names, but most countries have unified under the term ‘monster.’ This is probably to distinguish between mythical creatures and those that actually threaten humanity.

However, for most people, monsters were still no different from myths or stories from faraway lands.

“I… is that a real monster?”

“Oh my god…”

Monsters can only be seen inside dungeons, and even those that occasionally leak out are stopped at the border.

It’s like using products made from animal bones or hides without ever actually seeing the animal.

Thanks to this, ordinary people who witnessed a monster for the first time were naturally overwhelmed.

Especially if it’s a powerful monster that can speak and subdue hunters in an instant.

“He who has ears, let him hear; he who has eyes, let him see!”

Kazat shouted majestically.

Although he had the appearance of a large rat, Kazat, with his ink-black fur and red eyes, looked quite menacing.

Especially with countless rats surging like waves behind him.

“I, Kazat, descendant of a forgotten name, ruler of tar and sulfur, have come before you!”

Kazat was using translation magic so that people could understand him. It was clear that he was enjoying the fearful gazes of the people.

“Kneel, revere, tremble in fear… Huh!”

Kazat, who was about to shout something else, made eye contact with Yumin and flinched.

Yumin gave a light gesture, which, to put it nicely, meant to hurry up and finish.

Although not his master, Kazat couldn’t take Yumin lightly and quickly got to the real point.

“I have come to retrieve this weapon bestowed upon us by our evil god, the Moon-faced Cat. And to send a warning to the arrogant one who dared to oppose us, Kang Hyun-woo!”

As he listened to the murmuring of the people, Yumin checked on Seo-yeon’s condition.

Despite witnessing the monster’s attack from the closest seat, Seo-yeon was surprisingly calm.

Yumin tapped Seo-yeon on the shoulder and quietly gestured, indicating an escape route.

However, Seo-yeon shook her head.

Her desire to observe the situation seemed greater than her own safety.

It seemed to be because that monster was the one who killed Lee Ji-tae.

“Although you allowed an attack due to a moment’s carelessness, your courage and skill are commendable. But you have missed an opportunity that will never come again. All that remains for you humans is death.”

Kazat shouted, baring his fangs.

“Now, I, my army, and my great master will spread like a plague throughout the world, spreading terror! You are the first infected! Those who do not want to die will be spared, so leave! Go and spread fear, and die suffocating in your rooms!”

Kazat shouted and took something out of the tar mass. People screamed.

It was a woman’s head.

The woman’s head chattered its jaw and writhed convulsively.

At the same time, the tar mass rose up and began to create a huge cluster of wraiths [ghostly apparitions]. Eventually, people who couldn’t bear the fear began to flee.

Kazat looked at the fleeing humans with a satisfied expression.

“Ms. Seo-yeon, quickly.”

Yumin tried to pull Seo-yeon away with the crowd, but Seo-yeon couldn’t move easily. She was staring intently at Kazat.

As the situation took a subtle turn, Kazat couldn’t help but look at Seo-yeon.

Even though most of the people had left, Seo-yeon was still there.

It was an unexpected situation. Kazat barely managed not to look flustered, but he looked at Yumin as if asking what to do.

“Yumin, you go first.”

“But…”

“It’s okay.”

But he couldn’t really leave Kazat and Seo-yeon alone. Yumin praised Seo-yeon’s courage while cursing her and stood next to her.

“I’m also a capable person, you know.”

***

Kazat rolled his red eyes back and forth between Yumin and Seo-yeon. From here on out, it was purely ad-lib territory.

Seo-yeon trembled but spread her arms in front of Kazat, indicating that she had no intention of attacking.

“Kazat, was it? You can talk.”

“That’s right. Weak human, do you want to die?”

Kazat looked at Yumin as if asking for permission, but Yumin shook his head.

Seo-yeon is the vice president of Taesung Group. She was too valuable to kill right now.

Kazat glanced around.

There were no people, but there were still cameras running.

Kazat used the rat swarm to destroy the cameras, leaving the storage devices intact.

Seo-yeon understood that as permission.

“I don’t care if you’re a monster or whatever. If you can think about the consequences and talk, you can also negotiate. I have a proposal for you.”

Yumin was speechless at Seo-yeon’s audacity. Just because a monster can talk doesn’t mean you can suddenly propose a negotiation at your first meeting. It was more than just courage.

Kazat hesitated, then decided that he had to get through this situation somehow.

“Good. Human. I will listen to your proposal, which you are making at the risk of your insignificant life. But if you fail to entertain me, be prepared to die.”

“You said you had a master. That means there’s someone behind you, right? I want to hire you. Or, you can think of it as a cooperative relationship.”

“…Keep talking.”

“You have skills and abilities that only you possess, and we also have things that only we can do. There must be areas where our interests align.”

Seo-yeon continued her bold proposal.

“Do you want to fill the human world with chaos and fear? Taesung will help. However, your force needs to move more selectively and… efficiently. We will also provide corresponding benefits.”

“You’re going to plunge humans into fear yourselves?”

Kazat asked back in a dazed voice. At those words, Seo-yeon raised the corners of her mouth in a sneer.

“Humans have always enjoyed plunging each other into fear and using it to sell things. We’re just adding monsters to that. It’s arrogant of you to think that you’re the scariest beings in the world. It wouldn’t be bad for you to have allies in the human world.”

In other words, she was a traitor—no, a species traitor.

Seo-yeon was making a deal with humanity on the line.

Kazat was flustered as the scale suddenly became too much to handle.

He had said he would plunge humanity into fear and so on, but he had to follow Hyun-woo’s orders entirely.

Yumin wanted to applaud.

The fact that Seo-yeon made such a proposal as soon as she saw a ‘talking monster’ meant that she was a merchant to the bone.

She was the one who adapted to the changing world faster than anyone else.

It didn’t matter if the other party was the monster who killed her brother. No, she was the type to use even that.

“You killed my brother, Kazat. You know that, right?”

“…Um.”

Kazat only rolled his eyes. Seo-yeon seemed to think that Kazat would naturally remember Lee Ji-tae, but in fact, Kazat had never even met Lee Ji-tae.

“But I know that my brother won’t come back even if I take it out on you. Besides, my brother attacked first.”

Seo-yeon glanced at the woman’s head hanging from the staff.

“That head on the staff is Shaojie. If my brother’s remains are still left, it would help our relationship of trust if you didn’t insult them like that and returned them.”

Kazat rolled his eyes and tried not to look at Yumin. He might arouse suspicion if he gave Yumin his gaze.

At that moment, they heard the sound of soldiers and ability users who had heard the commotion outside rushing in. Seo-yeon realized that there was no time.

“It seems you don’t have the authority to decide. Good. Tell your master. Taesung wants a deal. We will be a very good cooperative relationship.”

“…I will tell him.”

Kazat swung his staff. At that moment, Seo-yeon lost consciousness and collapsed.

Kazat burst into wild laughter and tried to leave a warning message to the people before disappearing. However, Yumin was the only one left to give a plausible ending.

Kazat just quietly retreated.

***

The incident at the opening ceremony spread like wildfire in an instant.

The shock was even greater because the camera waiting to film the opening ceremony had accurately captured Kazat’s appearance.

Black carpet-like fur, an ominous staff, and bizarre magic that controlled swarms of rats, the undead, and tar.

The appearance of a ‘6-star dungeon boss’ with high intelligence that Hyun-woo had mentioned, his mysterious abilities, and Shaojie’s head hanging from the staff proved that Kazat was definitely the boss of the Pyongyang Dungeon.

It was a form of monster that humanity had never encountered before.

And the message Kazat left was also clearly conveyed.

That Kang Hyun-woo was the only one who could stand against him.

And that sole adversary of humanity was cooking in an apron over his underwear.

Bunker, Ghost Mansion.

Hyun-woo was not surprised by what happened at the opening ceremony, of course.

But it was necessary to check the TV. He had to see if this childish production would appeal to the public, and if so, how they would react.

However, Hyun-woo heard an unexpected story from Yumin, who was watching TV.

“Seo-yeon?”

“Yes. She proposed an alliance to Kazat.”

Hyun-woo also chuckled. It is, of course, not easy to talk to a monstrous being who can kill you at any time and propose a deal.

Seo-yeon asked Yumin for silence, but in fact, Yumin was the one who heard her deal proposal.

“That girl is crazy. I thought she would just have a similar personality because she’s Lee Ji-tae’s sister.”

“Lee Ji-tae probably has a unique personality? That family has had a bad reputation since a long time ago.”

Either way, it’s clear that they don’t have ordinary personalities.

Hyun-woo approached Yumin with a troubled expression, holding the food. The news was still reporting on what happened at the opening ceremony.

Most of the reports were speculative about what kind of monster Kazat was and how much power he had.

“It doesn’t seem like they’re focusing on you as much as you thought.”

“I’ve already been talked about a lot recently. And it’s still hard to take it seriously. There are so many ability users in the world, so they probably think that I’m not the only one who can stand against him.”

“Hmm, is it that the world hasn’t tasted the heat yet? Kazat has to work hard. Wait, what is this? What did you cook? Is this the special dish of difficulty: hell?”

“It’s just stir-fried pork and chives with oyster sauce.”

“It’s not cut-up Kazat rat, is it?”

“My skills increase in steps.”

However, Yumin was not the type to reject the food made by the person she loved, even if she cursed it. Yumin picked up the food in the wok and put it in her mouth, making a subtle expression.

“It doesn’t taste as terrible as it looks… but it’s also a taste that I can’t guess the ingredients at all. Oppa [term of endearment for an older brother or boyfriend], cooking is basically chemistry. Accurate measurement, temperature, and reaction. It’s not just about smashing things together.”

“The taste is definitely smashed.”

Hyun-woo also took a bite and lost his appetite. Yumin looked into the wok and said.

“Shall I try to revive it? It might be better if I put rice in it and stir-fry it.”

“That’s like rescuing a hunter who lost his limbs in a dungeon. Even if you try to save him, his remaining life will be full of pain and regret, and he will resent you for the rest of his life. Let’s send it off as it is.”

“Pork and chives stir-fry… goodbye…”

That’s what she said, but she couldn’t throw away the precious food. As always, this food was handed over to Kirson and sent away.

Somewhere in difficulty: hell, there must be someone who can eat Hyun-woo’s food deliciously.

“But why are you suddenly cooking? Do you want to torment the goblins?”

“Do I need a special reason? I’m learning so I don’t die alone later. I can’t just boil ramen until I die.”

“Rich people don’t die alone.”

Even while the two were having such trivial conversations, the news was seriously discussing whether the current situation was a crisis for humanity and how the international situation and the position of the Korean Peninsula would be affected in the future.

[The most important thing to pay attention to right now is the response of the international community. If we make a mistake, a second Pyongyang recovery operation could take place. Do you think the Korean Peninsula will be safe then? We could all be engulfed in flames!]

[Don’t create unnecessary fear! The sea of fire only applies to North Korea, why are you dragging our country into it?]

[Don’t you know that Shaojie didn’t find all the nuclear weapons that Chrome had gathered? We must also keep in mind that the enemy may have enough intelligence to handle nuclear weapons. It’s already a weapon with a built-in detonator.]

If the opponent is human, there is still a vague belief that they will not start a nuclear war.

But what if it’s a monster with hostility towards humans?

As Kazat had proclaimed and expected, humanity was gripped by fear.

The dungeon industry, which had been an industry until now, was now turning into a matter of survival.

Hyun-woo, who was watching the discussion, opened his mouth.

“Let’s accept it.”

“Yes?”

“Seo-yeon’s proposal, let’s accept it. She’s someone we can talk to. If Taesung and we join hands, where do you think we’ll go next?”

At Hyun-woo’s words, Yumin chuckled.

“Are you finally taking over South Korea?”