Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 279

279. Whispering Star (1)

The wind that swept across her face was sharp.

Above the Cheonru [a flying city], which was just crossing from northern Kazakhstan into the Russian border region, Russian hunters were waiting.

The Cheonru, first discovered in the far north of Siberia, was controlled by hunters led by a hunter called Baba Yaga, who had seized all dungeons and subsidiary facilities.

And now, it was pulling this flying giant city and heading quickly to Moscow.

“Still no contact with Petrovich?”

“No. He’s still out of contact since the news that the second Fayroun [a type of monster or entity] appeared in St. Petersburg. He reportedly went up to the second Fayroun with a considerable number of hunters… but no one knows where he is.”

The silver-haired old woman stared expressionlessly at the rapidly passing horizon, leaning on her cane.

Although she looked frail, the hunters there knew that her appearance was completely different from reality.

Commonly known as Baba Yaga, the witch of the one-legged hut [a figure from Slavic folklore], she was one of Russia’s leading ability users.

She was originally known as a great beauty, but after experiencing the ‘Trial’ of the Wailing Star, she became this old woman. However, in return, she gained the power to control ability users throughout Russia.

Her influence extended to the Russian political and business circles, the military, and even President Petrovich.

With Petrovich out of contact, she was practically the second most powerful person in Russia.

“What should we do, Baba Yaga?”

One of the hunters who had been trying to contact Petrovich asked anxiously.

“The military is strongly advocating for a declaration of a state of emergency. Originally, if the head of state suddenly goes missing like this, the plan is to launch a preemptive nuclear strike.”

“Does this look like a sudden disappearance? Anyone can see that he recklessly stepped into a dungeon and got taken down by a hunter, a monster, or someone else. Why try to nuke innocent people?”

“But wouldn’t that be okay too?”

Baba Yaga turned to look at the hunter who had voiced the opinion. His piercing blue eyes gleamed coldly.

He was also one of the Wailing Star, Berd’s, followers.

“We were planning to lure as many hunters as possible using the Cheonru and then drop it at a suitable location anyway. If the ‘Eternal Winter’ plan had succeeded, many who worship the Wailing Star would have emerged. Wouldn’t a nuclear winter achieve the same result?”

Whatever the process, as long as they achieved the goal they wanted from the beginning.

That was what the hunter was suggesting.

It didn’t matter if a nuclear war started and the whole world was devastated, and a nuclear winter began. They were worshipers of death itself.

The ones who would stand tall alone in a world where everyone was dead would be the followers of the Wailing Star.

However, Baba Yaga could not agree with the hunter’s opinion.

“No.”

“But…”

“Death must begin as cold, not fire.”

At Baba Yaga’s firm words, the hunter fell silent.

If Baba Yaga said so, then so be it. She was the representative now.

However, there was another reason why Baba Yaga opposed it.

She was concerned about the forces that could become more powerful than them if a nuclear war broke out.

‘The Conquering Star…’

She had discovered traces of the Conquering Star’s apostle in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The ruler of the battlefield, the guardian of fire.

The flames from a nuclear war would likely greatly strengthen the forces of the Conquering Star.

Therefore, Baba Yaga was forcibly suppressing the Russian military.

“If you can’t find Petrovich, at least find the whereabouts of the Fayroun that appeared in St. Petersburg. And tell the Deputy Secretary to start the power succession process. Tell him not to be scared; even if Petrovich is alive, I’ll make sure there are no repercussions.”

“‘Don’t be scared’—should I convey it exactly as you said?”

“Yes. And…”

Static. Chzzzzzzzz.

It was then. Static began to be heard on the communication device, which was tuned to a specific frequency to find Petrovich.

If it wasn’t a satellite error, it meant that Petrovich or his group had made contact.

Baba Yaga and the hunter exchanged glances. The hunter quickly picked up the radio and tried to make contact.

“Rasputin, this is the One-Legged Hut. Is this Rasputin?”

Rasputin was the code name given to Petrovich.

However, only severe static was heard, and no proper answer was received.

But this was a positive sign enough. Since it was a bandwidth inaccessible to anyone other than Petrovich, it meant that someone was alive anyway.

“When we first came up to the Fayroun, the radio waves were bad. Try to strengthen the signal a bit more.”

“Yes. Rasputin, or the signalman on your side, if the VIP is alive, please cut off the signal for a moment and reconnect.”

But the signal continued without interruption.

The hunter’s expression darkened slightly. It was highly likely that Petrovich was dead. But there was also a chance that the message had not yet been delivered.

Just as the hunter was about to send another message, a faint message was suddenly heard in the static.

[Chzz, static… abandon it. The… chzzzz.]

“Yes? Rasputin, the signal is weak; I can’t hear you. Please strengthen the signal.”

[Cheonru… static, chzz… either surrender, or… chzzzz.]

Baba Yaga frowned and raised her cane, smashing the communication device in one swift motion.

The hunter stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, but at that moment, the static on the communication device miraculously disappeared.

The hunter’s face lit up, but the voice coming from the radio froze him.

[Abandon the Cheonru. And either surrender, or jump off.]

It was a man’s voice she had never heard before, but he spoke fluent Russian. But the message was incomprehensible.

First of all, they didn’t even know what a Cheonru was. They had boarded this before the international term Cheonru was even established.

Baba Yaga snatched the radio.

“Who are you? What happened to Petrovich?”

[30 seconds.]

Click.

With those words, the communication was cut off.

Baba Yaga glared at the radio with a distorted expression. The hunter tried to reestablish communication, but there was no response.

It was utterly incomprehensible.

If they surrendered within 30 seconds, who would they surrender to, and jumping off the Cheonru thousands of meters in the air was just a death sentence.

Baba Yaga said with a serious expression.

“It seems like this is no ordinary matter. We’d better hurry. How much faster can the Fayroun accelerate?”

“If we accelerate any further, the structures built on the Fayroun will be in danger…”

At that moment, a shadow suddenly fell over their heads. Flying at an altitude higher than the clouds, there should have been no reason for a shadow to fall.

Baba Yaga and the hunters looked up, but they couldn’t understand what was happening.

A giant disc was blocking the sun. And it was getting bigger and bigger.

Only when they belatedly realized that it was covering the top of the Fayroun did they all start running, scrambling over each other.

Only then did Baba Yaga understand the communication. And that the other party had no intention of accepting surrender from the start.

She screamed with a distorted face.

“You think you can do as you please!”

The moment she slammed the floor with her cane, the cane shattered. At the same time, a thick ice fog burst out.

The swelling ice fog soared to the bottom of the approaching Cheonru in an instant. Inside, the dead were mixed up like pulp and rose up.

All those who had died at Baba Yaga’s hands until now had been tightly compressed inside the cane.

“I am Baba Yaga! The strongest, the best in Russia!”

***

Hyeon-woo was watching the situation from the nearby highlands.

The St. Petersburg Cheonru, which Renian had seized, was rapidly rushing over the Siberian Cheonru.

It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the two Cheonru would collide and be destroyed in an instant.

It was then.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“What is it?”

At Yoo-min’s question, Hyeon-woo answered while watching closely with binoculars.

“Suddenly, someone on the Siberian Cheonru summoned something like a white fog… Ah, it’s nothing. It just got crushed with a splat.”

Kukukung.

Because they were quite far away, the sound of the two Cheonru colliding was heard with a slight time difference.

A tremendous amount of dust clouds could be seen rising. The dust caused by the collision was enough to cover the body of the Cheonru.

Blood poured down like rain from the tangled Cheonru.

But this was a border area, no different from a desert in the middle of Russia and Kazakhstan, so there was no need to worry about damage.

But those who were on the Cheonru would not have been safe.

No matter how powerful an ability user was, they could not survive if a giant object with a diameter of 18 kilometers covered their body.

It would be fortunate if they could find even traces like minced patties.

“Hmm, of course, the same would have been true for those who jumped off to avoid it.”

After a while, the Cheonru began to soar upwards from the tremendous dust cloud. Renian’s Cheonru was pulling the Siberian Cheonru up.

The rapidly rising Cheonru left the atmosphere and went up to a place where the realm of space was certain.

With this, it became clear that even if someone survived, it was over.

“Okay, as you wished, the Russian hunters and the Cheonru have all been taken care of. How about it, Lee Ji-tae? Are you happy?”

Lee Ji-tae stared at Hyeon-woo with a stiff expression.

“…I admit it. You’ve done it much cleaner than I planned. And this was something only you could do.”

“No, you have to be precise. It wasn’t me who did it; it was Yoo-min.”

Lee Ji-tae turned his head and looked at Yoo-min. Lee Ji-tae bowed deeply to Yoo-min, who had a triumphant expression.

“I am greatly indebted to you. The teacher will also be pleased. Thank you on behalf of everyone.”

“Hey, your attitude is completely different from when you thank me?”

Lee Ji-tae ignored Hyeon-woo and stood up.

Now the Cheonru was no longer visible, and only a tremendous amount of dust remained in the sky.

Of course, this would not be the end of it all.

The monsters that the Cheonru had scattered were enormous, and the increase in difficulty had already begun.

The impact of the Russian leadership vacuum would not end with Russia alone.

If he recalled what the teacher had told him, this was only the beginning.

But it was true that Hyeon-woo and Yoo-min had made the best possible start.

“It would have been nice if you had done this from the beginning.”

“What is that—are you whining about wanting your luggage after being rescued from drowning?”

“…”

Lee Ji-tae recalled that Kang Hyeon-woo was also within the teacher’s grand plan.

As a result, Kang Hyeon-woo successfully stopped the Cheonru, and he almost interfered with it.

Then it might be right to leave Kang Hyeon-woo alone, no matter what he does.

‘No, then the teacher wouldn’t have needed to send me here in the first place…’

Lee Ji-tae was confused.

But suddenly, Hyeon-woo’s words came to mind.

Hyeon-woo said that he no longer cared about him.

The meaning of those words must be that he was no longer stronger or above Hyeon-woo.

It would be a lie to say that his pride was not hurt.

But with those words, Lee Ji-tae realized the path he had to take.

After all, the teacher’s judgment was not wrong. All of this is an adversity.

“Now I know my future. Kang Hyeon-woo.”

“Future?”

Kang Hyeon-woo asked at the sudden words. Lee Ji-tae opened his mouth, recalling the distant past.

“I once said that when I am shining the brightest, you will be by my side. Do you remember?”

“I remember. Why?”

“Until now, I myself did not know what that meant. There was only a vague meaning. But that’s what it meant. It’s not what I wanted, but you will make me shine the brightest.”

Lee Ji-tae declared to Hyeon-woo.

“I will become an existence that you cannot help but look up to again. You will make me perfect. I will become the purpose of your life, and you will become the purpose of my life.”

That was the future that Lee Ji-tae had come up with for Hyeon-woo and himself.

A relationship that constantly reflects and bounces off each other, never able to be together, but ultimately shining each other.

Lee Ji-tae wondered if that was possible, but he believed so.

He had no choice but to believe.

“The next time you see me, you will see a completely different side of me. Kang Hyeon-woo.”

In an instant, Lee Ji-tae spread his wings of radiance and soared into the sky before he could say anything. It was as if there was no time to waste. Hyeon-woo, who was staring blankly at the spot where Lee Ji-tae had disappeared, muttered.

“What is that self-conscious overachiever saying now? Why am I the purpose of his life?”

“Um… that looks like a kind of confession, no matter how you look at it?”

Hyeon-woo was horrified at Yoo-min’s suspicion.

“No, why? Did our relationship look so estranged?”

“Well, there hasn’t been much affection lately…”

Before the two could start expressing their affection, someone cleared their throat. A person who had been behind a rock deliberately made a sound and approached.

It was Lee Seo-yeon.

“…Is Lee Ji-tae gone?”