Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 225

225. Trial of the Stars (1)

Killing a Cursed One transfers the experience they’ve accumulated after becoming cursed to Hyun-woo.

He discovered this during a simple experiment.

He had Kirson bury paper stained with his blood in a monster-infested area to observe the Cursed One’s combat effectiveness.

Against expectations, the Cursed One fought valiantly but was eventually killed. The moment it died, a notification appeared.

Level up, it said.

He was already close to leveling up, but since Hyun-woo was hiding in the underground reservoir, the experience gained by the Cursed One must have transferred to him.

Since then, Hyun-woo started collecting blood.

It was a calculated risk.

Whether Gaul, the Shattering Star, intended this is unknown.

‘No, it’s safe to assume he did.’

Gaul initiated the trial and issued the quest.

It would be absurd for a schemer like him to make a mistake. This was likely a gift, delivered discreetly, avoiding the notice of other stars.

If Hyun-woo had feared the curse and hesitated to use it, he would never have discovered this hidden benefit.

‘…Of course, this alone won’t be enough to face an Apostle.’

He imagined rapid leveling, but the Cursed Ones weren’t dying as easily as he’d hoped.

They naturally prioritized their own survival.

There was even a risk that they might level up faster than Hyun-woo while actively fighting.

Hyun-woo acknowledged this risk and proceeded.

‘I’ve prepared, but I don’t know if he’ll succeed.’

This was the final component of his plan.

The only way to survive this near-impossible war.

He had informed Ha-hyun, but the future remained uncertain.

Just then.

Hyun-woo stopped when he saw a Ghast emerge from a sewer corner.

The Ghast crawled through the narrow sewer, searching for food.

It turned its head listlessly and met Hyun-woo’s gaze. Hyun-woo immediately rushed towards it.

With a muffled thud, Hyun-woo’s sword pierced the Ghast’s eyes.

Before it could struggle, Hyun-woo frantically stirred the black dagger he had thrust into its skull. The Ghast, its brain destroyed, twitched and collapsed.

‘Dealing with a Ghast isn’t too difficult…’

When he first encountered a Ghast, he had no idea how to fight it.

If he hadn’t been cursed with ‘Delicious,’ it would have been impossible.

But now, it was an easy opponent.

What about the Apostles who handle these Ghasts with ease?

No matter how many Cursed Ones there are, they can’t face an Apostle without using their ultimate skills.

For now, he’s just hunting mobs, reducing enemy numbers, and waiting to accumulate experience.

[Level Up!]

So, some are dying after all. The experience is instantly….

[Level Up!]

“Huh?”

His level increased twice in quick succession. Instead of being happy, Hyun-woo’s expression hardened.

The Cursed Ones were dying too quickly. It was problematic if they died too fast. It was more beneficial if they lasted longer, inflicted more damage, and died with a lot of accumulated experience.

[Level Up!]

His level increased four times in less than ten minutes.

It hadn’t even been half a day since he released the Cursed Ones, so Hyun-woo calculated that more than ten must have died in the last ten minutes to gain that much experience.

Something was wrong.

“Damn it. What the hell is going on…”

‘Hey.’

Suddenly, a thought struck Hyun-woo, and he straightened up. Monstrill was speaking to him.

‘Get down below right now. Quickly.’

Monstrill’s voice was uncharacteristically urgent.

Without asking why, Hyun-woo turned and ran.

What’s down below?

Ultimately, the enemies are after Hyun-woo himself. He is both the boss and the reward of this dungeon.

No matter how much Hyun-woo thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

‘What’s down there?’

‘The gift I gave you is about to break.’

‘Gift?’

Monstrill hadn’t given him anything. He wanted to ask when he was going to intervene, considering how much he boasted about helping.

‘Look at this, why is there nothing? I gave you a cute gift.’

At that moment, something clicked in Hyun-woo’s mind.

‘Ha-hyun?’

***

Ha-hyun was crouching in the corner of the ceiling.

Her skin was as pale as could be.

The anomaly was triggered by a piece of stone falling from the ceiling.

She had left the 3rd reservoir where Hyun-woo was and was gathering information through spiders in the 2nd underground reservoir.

But suddenly, she felt the ceiling of one side of the underground reservoir collapsing.

‘Who?’

At that moment, Ha-hyun felt a force seeping in from the hole. Without even thinking, she quickly hid behind a pillar on the ceiling.

Trickling down like mucus, it left a pool of blood in the dark.

It seemed quite exhausted and injured, but the Apostle’s unique aura was still present. In fact, it seemed especially fierce because it was exhausted and injured.

It wriggled after falling from the ceiling and soon took on a fixed shape. Its limbs were long and slender, but its torso was small.

“Kang Hyun-woo… I’ll kill you…”

It muttered in a voice thick with hatred.

Judging by its ability to freely change form, it seemed to be Itwal, one of the Apostles she had observed through the spiders.

Ha-hyun wondered if Kang Hyun-woo had driven the Apostle to such a state.

But upon closer inspection, the wounds were not self-inflicted. And the bloodstains all over its body…

‘Not Hyun-woo… those Cursed Ones.’

Ha-hyun wore a complicated expression. She knew that if the Cursed Ones killed Hyun-woo, they would become Hyun-woo at any time.

But to Ha-hyun, Hyun-woo was just Hyun-woo, and she couldn’t understand the concept of another being replacing the original.

‘If the Cursed Ones take Hyun-woo’s place…’

She would probably leave Hyun-woo.

He would treat her the same as before, and nothing would change, but Ha-hyun herself would find it difficult to hide her complicated feelings.

Difficulty: It would be difficult to live in the world of hell without belonging to somewhere….

“Cough, cough!”

Ha-hyun flinched at the sudden coughing sound. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about other things with an Apostle in front of her.

Itwal was spitting blood on the floor.

Its condition seemed worse than she thought. There were no serious injuries, but the wounds here and there were festering black, and even pus was flowing out.

‘In this state…’

Hyun-woo could definitely win. No, even she might be able to do something.

She wanted to avoid doing anything reckless since Sang-hyun’s cocoon [Sang-hyun is Ha-hyun’s unborn child] was nearing completion, but there was no guarantee of safety even if she eliminated the Apostle altogether.

‘No, let’s not have stupid thoughts.’

Ha-hyun quietly looked for a chance to escape. Her job was to gather information and move when the final plan was executed, not to step in now.

***

Itwal continued to search for Kang Hyun-woo, dripping blood wherever it moved.

[The Starving Star, Yogulem, is watching you.]

Then, a message that the Starving Star was watching came to Itwal.

At that moment, Itwal flinched. A star is watching her. She couldn’t remember the last time she heard that message.

“Starving Star… am I properly carrying out your will?”

The Starving Star had never watched her even once after reaching Difficulty: Hell. No quests or orders were given.

Only the proxy, or sometimes the proxy’s attendant, Kawaroe, would whisper, but it was indifferent to other Apostles, including Itwal.

This time too, the Starving Star did not answer. But Itwal was sure that he was watching her.

“I will definitely bring the toy you are looking for to your playground…”

Itwal took a deep breath and reorganized its body.

“I smell fragments… Kang Hyun-woo!”

She growled and muttered.

“No matter how many fakes you create and hide behind, it’s useless! Our Starving Star’s kin will surely find and devour the target!”

Itwal took another deep breath. Her nose twitched as she tracked the scent.

It’s certain.

Although all sorts of miscellaneous smells were mixed in, she could feel the fragments of the star inside the door beyond this reservoir.

And even a sweet smell somewhere.

Itwal raised its head sharply and turned. Her gaze turned to the dark corner of the ceiling.

Ha-hyun, who was hiding in the corner, cursing inwardly, quickly left her spot.

Bang! Itwal shot up, slamming into the wall. She ran, using her huge, long limbs like a spider, gripping the pillars and walls.

“Sweet smell? Whispering Star? What are you! Did you come to interfere too?”

She was a member of the Whispering Star, but now she was aligned with Hyun-woo, so there was no way she still carried the scent of the Whispering Star.

But what she was carrying in her belly was different.

Sang-hyun was currently growing under the blessing of the Whispering Star, Monstrill.

“Ugh, damn snake-spider-human.”

Ha-hyun muttered, watching the hand that barely brushed over her head.

It was a good thing she didn’t fight.

She was sure that she was dying just a moment ago, but Itwal was instantly stretching her arms and legs by dozens of meters, trying to swat Ha-hyun like a bug.

She was losing stamina because of Sang-hyun, and her body was heavy, making it difficult to fight.

But Itwal was blocking the only exit she could escape through.

‘Or there’s the method of going to the 3rd reservoir where Hyun-woo was making the Cursed Ones…’

That’s where Itwal was originally going to go. It would eventually chase after her, so there was no point in going.

Itwal’s purpose wasn’t her, so if she just escaped from here, it wouldn’t chase after her.

“You rat!”

Ha-hyun jumped and barely dodged the hand that flew at her again. But it was a trick.

The moment she jumped, Itwal’s arm bent once more, grabbing her ankle. Another joint was created in an instant.

Before Ha-hyun could react, Itwal slammed her to the ground.

With a thud, Ha-hyun’s upper body disappeared.

But Itwal’s face contorted at the bland sensation. All she was holding was a pure white cocoon in the shape of Ha-hyun.

In the meantime, Ha-hyun was running towards the 1st reservoir.

“Such a ridiculous magic trick!”

Crack, crack.

Itwal’s long limbs stretched out like snakes, making a sound as if they were breaking.

It was the sound of joints being created. Because of those long limbs, the spider webs were broken, and Ha-hyun couldn’t use her power.

‘If I just get out…’

At some point, Ha-hyun stared intently at the trajectory of the approaching arm and moved strangely.

The moment Itwal’s hand tried to grab her, the fingers were severed with a whoosh.

“Ha, you idiot. Did you think I’d be caught that easily?”

There were many spider webs laid out on the ground to prepare for monsters. The moment Itwal’s hand approached one of them, she poured mana into it to strengthen it.

She thought that she wouldn’t be able to grab her since she lost her fingers, but her judgment was premature.

Even with her fingers severed, Itwal didn’t stop and wrapped her arm around Ha-hyun as it was.

The cracking sound echoed dozens of times, and Itwal instantly squeezed Ha-hyun tightly. She didn’t seem to have any intention of interrogating or playing with Ha-hyun, and she was about to crush her as she was.

“You shouldn’t harass a pregnant woman.”

Itwal turned her head at the voice she heard from behind.

A sharp pain cut into her back with a whoosh. Tam’s blade [Tam is Hyun-woo’s weapon], which was dozens of meters long and divided into dozens of pieces, tore through Itwal’s back like a saw blade.

Ha-hyun didn’t miss the opportunity and escaped from Itwal’s arm.

Blood spurted everywhere. But she didn’t scream and manipulated her flesh to stop the bleeding.

As Itwal’s body contracted, her limbs, which had wrapped around the entire reservoir, quickly shrank.

Hyun-woo swung Tam once more, but this time, unlike before, it bounced off like rubber. A slight bewilderment crossed Hyun-woo’s face.

“Kang Hyun-woo.”

Itwal rolled her eyes to see if the Kang Hyun-woo in front of her was real or not.

He had the weapon ‘Tam’ that the Starving Star had gifted.

Seeing him not join the Starving Star’s kin even with that weapon, her anger rose even more.

“You’re definitely Kang Hyun-woo.”

Hyun-woo only wore a chilling smile and didn’t answer.

Ha-hyun saw other ‘Hyun-woo’s’ arriving. They were the ones who had chased after Itwal, who had run away while fighting.

There were only four or five of them, and they looked tired, but they couldn’t miss the chance since the benefits of catching an Apostle were enormous.

Or were they aiming for Kang Hyun-woo himself?

Itwal glared around warily. The situation was not good.

She was trying to catch at least Kang Hyun-woo, but he seemed stronger than she thought. Moreover, it would be troublesome if she was attacked in cooperation.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

If she just incapacitates Kang Hyun-woo, the other ‘fakes’ are likely to disappear.

The moment Itwal was about to rush towards Hyun-woo, Kang Hyun-woo suddenly opened his mouth.

“Shall we play a game? Itwal.”

She would have ignored it and rushed at him if it were any other words. But the word ‘game’ stopped her.

Being more honest with desire than anything else. That was the kin of the Starving Star.

“There doesn’t seem to be a more fun game than kicking your head around.”

“No, not something that obvious.”

Hyun-woo grinned and said.

“I will give you Apostles a ‘trial’.”