Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 27

27. Nemesis on a Narrow Bridge (1)

Some time later, Difficulty: Hell.

Clang! That was the sound of the last wooden plank breaking. The splintered fragments ricocheted off the narrow alley walls.

Hyun-woo cursed, kicking at the goblin. But the goblin dodged with ease.

He had set up all sorts of traps and snares in the alley, but most of them couldn’t even trip it up.

Now that he was out of traps, Hyun-woo had to fight with every ounce of his being.

A viciously thrown dagger grazed his neck. A spurt of blood erupted. Hyun-woo clutched his neck, simultaneously spreading his hand wide to scatter the blood. Droplets of toxic blood scattered in the air.

The goblin, as if expecting it, widened its eyes and shook out the animal hide it was wearing. Hyun-woo’s toxic blood was futilely blocked.

However, as the goblin smugly removed the hide, a pair of Hell Mosquito Darts flew in. As the Hell Mosquito Darts pierced its eyes, Hyun-woo’s grip enveloped the goblin’s head.

Bang! Hyun-woo put his weight into slamming the goblin’s head straight into the ground.

The goblin dropped its dagger in shock. Not satisfied, Hyun-woo continued to pummel the inside of its eyes with the darts, throwing consecutive punches.

His hand, strengthened by the sturdy gauntlet, began to crush the goblin’s head.

“Kyak!”

But even blinded, the goblin wildly flailed its arms.

Hyun-woo, horrified, tried to dodge, but his arms and chest were instantly covered in blood. In that moment, Hyun-woo’s fist broke through the goblin’s teeth and plunged into its mouth. The goblin didn’t miss the opportunity. Steel-like teeth instantly mangled Hyun-woo’s hand.

Hyun-woo didn’t miss his chance either. Instead of pulling his hand out, he shoved his arm deeper into the goblin’s throat.

The goblin couldn’t hold out for long. It convulsed, gagging, and soon vomited black fluid from every orifice.

[Level Up!]

[The Conquering Star, Ardan, is watching you.]

Hyun-woo raised his middle finger to the sky. Or rather, he tried to.

Until he realized it had been crushed and torn off by the goblin.

Thus, Hyun-woo ended up in a pose that looked like he was clenching his fist and… well, gesturing [with what was left].

Hyun-woo, drenched in blood, let out a long roar.

[Current Difficulty: Survival Time After Entering Hell.]

[12 days, 6 hours, 17 minutes, 8 seconds.]

***

“Butler, does it hurt?”

Lenian said, watching Hyun-woo roughly bandage his mangled hand. At first, it had hurt like crazy, but it seemed like too much pain made his head go numb.

Now, it felt like he was wrapping the bandage not to protect the wound, but to prevent himself from scratching it and making it worse.

“Of course it hurts.”

“Should I lick it for you?”

Lenian said with a grin. It seemed that was what she wanted all along. Hyun-woo hesitated for a moment. If Lenian licked the blood, the bleeding would definitely stop, but the area would itch like crazy.

But no matter how used he got to it, itching was better than pain. Hyun-woo grumbled and held out his hand to Lenian.

Lenian began to lick his hand enthusiastically, like sucking on an ice cream bar.

Lenian, who had darted away as soon as the stars appeared [referring to his near-death experience], reappeared with a grin as soon as Hyun-woo returned to Hell, as if nothing had happened. She was carrying an unidentified monster bone in her hand.

At least her survival skills seemed better than Hyun-woo’s.

‘How much time is left today?’

Hyun-woo thought, watching Lenian lick his hand.

If his health dropped below 10% at any moment, his health would regenerate thanks to the ‘Last Man Standing’ title perk, and Hyun-woo was holding on with that. Even that was only once a day.

‘Still, thanks to that, I’m still alive.’

But today ended sooner than expected. It would be a while before the health regeneration perk kicked in. Hyun-woo checked his level.

Level 15.

That was the result of 12 days in Hell. There weren’t many monsters Hyun-woo could fight to level up.

Those that seemed a little low-level roamed in packs or were in places that were hard to find, and those that roamed alone were impossible to deal with.

‘I’d rather fight that old geezer Park Hwi-so than those things.’

It wasn’t a joke, it was the truth. He doubted even Park Hwi-so could withstand fighting those monsters. But Hyun-woo had to level up among those monsters in the short term.

The only monster among those that Hyun-woo could handle was the goblin.

Goblins. Friends of beginners.

That law still applied in modern times. They came out of 1-star dungeons, and the bone ornaments that goblins dropped were the most commonly handled accessories by companies.

But the goblins here were different.

Instead of dirty leather clothes and bone weapons, they wore well-tailored leather uniforms and shoes, and even refined daggers. They were reminiscent of mercenaries or soldiers.

‘Those damn bastards don’t care about using underhanded tactics…….’

If it was even a little difficult, they would run away, and if they were evenly matched, they would shoot darts or spray poison from a distance without hesitation.

They didn’t hesitate to ambush from behind. They were a race that knew nothing about fair play.

For some reason, Hyun-woo felt like he had just cursed himself for a moment, but he forgot about it.

In any case, those guys were the only low-level monsters Hyun-woo could handle. Fine dust, mosquitoes, and bugs no longer raised his level.

Hyun-woo died about 9 times before he caught his first goblin. After his level rose by about 2 levels at once, he was able to learn the method.

‘Of course, I still have to pour this much energy into catching one.’

Just one a day.

He used health regeneration to recover, then spent all day making traps and devising new strategies. That’s how he lured one in and barely killed it through a surprise attack.

The strategy was simple. Somehow shove the wounded area into the goblin’s body.

It was a method he chose because toxic blood could inflict meaningful damage.

It was a crude method, but Hyun-woo was steadily leveling up like that.

He was starting to think that his level-up was about to stall, but the fact that it kept rising seemed to be due to the ‘I Am Legend’ title perk, which added extra experience.

If there was hope, it was that the number of times his limbs were intact after hunting was increasing. In the beginning, it was hard to tell which was his body and which was the goblin’s.

“Hmm, I shouldn’t treat my body so roughly…….”

Not only would his senses go numb, but the chances of making mistakes in real combat would increase.

But the goblins were too strong.

For goblins.

Looking back, Red Butterfly was level 14 when Hyun-woo was level 7. And now Hyun-woo’s level is 15, but the goblin is level 20.

With the stat bonus from the ‘Hell’s Strongest’ perk, it was as good as 20. But fighting goblins was still a difficult task that required risking his life.

“……No, if you think about it, is it natural to fight an equal opponent?”

If so, that meant the goblins were masters of incredible martial arts. Or they had amazing physical abilities beyond that.

‘The fact that I won with all my limbs intact might be a great achievement.’

It seemed right to see the victories he had achieved so far as miracles.

Hyun-woo glared at Lenian, who was sitting next to him after licking all his wounds. Lenian, oblivious to his glare, was busy licking the blood on her fingers. His hand started to itch like crazy.

“It would be nice if this was helpful in a fight.”

“Heh? But fairies are scared of fighting.”

The blood-soaked, cannibalistic fairy, who clearly seemed to be part of this hellish ecosystem, was saying she was afraid of fighting.

Hyun-woo gauged Lenian’s combat abilities, but she didn’t seem weak at all. But the way she magically disappeared as soon as a fight started and reappeared with a grin when it was over was like a message announcing combat and peace.

‘I need to find a use for this cannibalistic monster disguised as a cute fairy so that my blood isn’t wasted on her.’

But it didn’t seem easy unless he corrected her personality. If Lenian fought the goblin, it would be a great help if she could at least interfere.

Maybe she was better than the goblin. But on the other hand, he also wondered if he would be safe when Lenian became actively involved in the fight.

Lenian didn’t discriminate when it came to food, but Hyun-woo was still her favorite.

‘……Maybe it’s better to aim for pacifism.’

He would find a use for her someday.

“But Butler fights too rough. I’m scared to get involved.”

“Don’t talk with a mouthful of goblin head.”

But Lenian was right. In his first fight with the goblin, it was basic for several parts to fall off.

It was a strategy of giving flesh and taking bones. It was a strategy that was only possible if he had multiple lives.

In fact, the strategy of giving flesh and taking bones was insane.

Anyway, people have to live even after the fight is over. It’s better to just run away than to live as a cripple just to win one battle. That’s the way smart people survive.

But Hyun-woo didn’t feel that his method was so bad. It felt good to shove the fact that if they tried to screw him over, they would get screwed over too.

“In that sense, I have to screw that bastard over…….”

The goblin with the black hand that killed Hyun-woo for the first time.

Hyun-woo had yet to meet that goblin. The other goblins didn’t have black hands, so there was no way he could mistake it.

The one with only one black hand.

Hyun-woo was expecting to meet him someday.

When his hand was able to move, Hyun-woo stood up and dragged the goblin’s corpse away.

There was a pile of goblin corpses in the corner of the alley. Goblins were both experience points and a supply depot.

They carried all sorts of useful things like they were adventurers.

Rare equipment, weapons, poisons, and even food.

There were so many rare items that it was amazing, but Hyun-woo couldn’t use any of them. Not a single one was the right size. Even if he went back to modern times, it would be awkward to sell them.

No matter how messed up the hunters were, they couldn’t sell equipment for children. At least the daggers were worth keeping as spares.

Hyun-woo found food in the goblin’s bag. It was the goblins’ emergency rations. At first, he was a little hesitant, but it was made quite plausibly.

‘It’s even better than the combat rations I brought.’

The goblin’s emergency rations, which seemed to have been cooked, were better than the cold water-soaked combat rations.

Thanks to that, Hyun-woo was having a decent time.

Hyun-woo chewed on the goblin’s emergency rations and began to plan what kind of trap to set next.

Tap.

At that moment, Hyun-woo heard footsteps behind him. He also felt Lenian quickly disappear. She should have given him a warning, damn cannibalistic fairy.

Hyun-woo reflexively drew his dagger and swung it. But it easily evaded it. Hyun-woo quickly distanced himself in preparation for the counterattack that would come soon. But the attack didn’t come.

The goblin completely ignored Hyun-woo and stared at the goblin corpses piled up in the corner of the alley. The corpses that were rotting from poison and collapsing, beginning to clump together.

“───.”

It muttered something. Hyun-woo frowned and stared at the goblin. It looked like it was in despair. Then Hyun-woo saw its hand.

The unforgettable black left hand.

The right hand, which had been cut off by Hyun-woo’s toxic blood, had a hook-shaped blade attached to it like a prosthetic.

Hyun-woo attacked the goblin without hesitation. The black-handed goblin, who had been staring blankly at the corpse, slowly turned its head.

As if someone had lit a fire in its empty eyes, anger flared up. It let out a scream that made no sense. It was a cry mixed with curses and insults.

Hyun-woo felt like he had pissed him off a lot.

“Damn it.”

[You have died.]

[Total Survival Time: 12 days 06 hours 58 minutes 04 seconds.]

***

[Quest Generated!]

[The ‘Nemesis on a Narrow Bridge’ quest has begun.]

[Defeat the goblin with the black hand.]

***

“Hah, hah!”

Hyun-woo was running like crazy around the intersection.

Behind him, the black-handed goblin was chasing him, clutching a gleaming dagger.

Since the day he was first killed by the black-handed goblin, Hyun-woo had been subjected to indiscriminate attacks every day without fail. The guy appeared and killed Hyun-woo regardless of the location, whether it was on the street, at home, or in an alley.

‘Did he go crazy for killing his own kind?’

No, when you think about it, the goblin was the one who killed and tried to kill first.

But he shouldn’t be so petty about it. But Hyun-woo could fully understand. Because it was none other than Hyun-woo.

‘Well, my dog’s life is more precious than a stranger’s.’

As a result, Hyun-woo’s survival time, which was being slaughtered, had decreased significantly compared to before.

[Speed Limit Increased.]

“You son of a bitch!”

The goblin seemed to be looking only for Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo was embarrassed because he had never faced such an active enemy.

He hadn’t thought about fighting back rather than continuing to die. But the gap between the goblin and Hyun-woo was too great.

“Damn…… it! The balance has to be right!”

The goblin was level 20. Hyun-woo was also level 15, and with stat bonuses, he was on par with it. But the black-handed goblin showed a different level of skill than the other goblins.

It looked like it was crazy for revenge, but the guy who had already fought Hyun-woo didn’t let his guard down at all.

‘101st lap.’

He was just running around a block that was about 500m in circumference. Of course, his mouth was full of breath and his legs were aching as if they were about to explode, but Hyun-woo couldn’t believe that he was running like this.

He had run almost 50km without rest. There wouldn’t be any athletes who could run a distance longer than a marathon at full speed.

‘Of course, it’s thanks to the stats.’

I don’t know if there’s a part of the stats that compensates for lung capacity. Because the stats aren’t displayed.

But it seemed like his lung capacity had increased significantly. Hyun-woo secretly thought it might be because of the fine dust. He heard the goblin shouting annoyingly from behind.

When you think about it, he had also run 101 laps at full speed, so you could say that the specs of the monsters in this world were crazy. But in this state, he could only be beaten. He had to find a solution.

Maybe the answer is to just hide right away. If the black-handed goblin didn’t have a talent for playing hide-and-seek like a ghost, he might have just done that. But Hyun-woo himself couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

Hate only begets hate. Forgiveness is the path to true victory.

If that’s the case, Hyun-woo was ready to lose at any time. He was confident that he would give that good victory to the enemy at any time.

He didn’t forget grudges, didn’t leave any aftermath, and even if he lost, he had to make sure that the person who screwed him over tasted blood.

Hyun-woo had to find a way to kill that one-armed goblin.

Before he went crazy from being so upset.