Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 283

283. Whispering Star (5)

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The deafening noise that engulfed Hyun-woo didn’t end with just one blast.

Instantly plunged into darkness, Hyun-woo realized that even the faint light seeping through the gaps in the building was disappearing.

To escape, he quickly smashed the nearest thin wall.

But beyond the wall stood another wall.

Inside the Superior Golem, the chaotic noise continued to echo. The vibrations felt increasingly distant and muffled.

Crackle, crackle.

Hyun-woo heard the grating sounds and felt his ears becoming numb.

It wasn’t just the deafening noise. The Superior Golem was pressing its body so tightly that the air was being compressed.

The strange sounds seemed to be caused by the pressure.

‘It’s telling me to get lost.’

The source of the noise was likely the golem, once a giant humanoid, transforming into a new shape to trap Hyun-woo.

In this state, Hyun-woo would only face another wall no matter how much he kicked, punched, or broke through. The golem could simply reconstruct the structure with the materials Hyun-woo destroyed.

‘I need to destroy it in one go… without giving it time to recover.’

Using the Return Stone would be an easy escape, but Hyun-woo had no intention of doing so.

Instead, he gathered his strength to use his Ultimate Skill: Beast of the Apocalypse.

[No.]

Crack.

The moment Hyun-woo gathered his strength to use Ultimate Skill: Beast of the Apocalypse, a sharp headache struck him.

The sudden interruption of the skill caused Hyun-woo to stagger. The mana that was about to manifest rampaged through Hyun-woo’s body.

Hyun-woo was dumbfounded. Forcibly stopping a skill?

[That is not yours.]

‘Not mine?’

Hyun-woo couldn’t understand what Gaul was saying. But seriously paying attention to the enemy’s words in the middle of a fight was foolish.

[Go.]

The walls narrowed, completely enveloping Hyun-woo’s body. A massive structure, 120 stories high, was crushing down to imprison just one person.

Hyun-woo felt as if he were buried in the center of a planet.

Even for someone as capable as Hyun-woo, the pressure was immense; an ordinary hunter would have been crushed to a pulp long ago.

Even if it wasn’t enough to kill him, it was enough to incapacitate Hyun-woo. Moreover, the aftereffects of the forced skill interruption and the high pressure further worsened Hyun-woo’s condition.

[Go.]

Then, Hyun-woo saw a small white spider moving in the darkness.

It was a tiny spider that could crawl easily even in the tightly compressed gaps of the building. The spider crawled in front of Hyun-woo’s eyes and stopped somewhere.

[This is not a battlefield for you.]

“I decide where I fight, you son of a bitch.”

At that moment, Hyun-woo used Skill: Ego Weapon.

If Beast of the Apocalypse could be stopped by Gaul because it wasn’t ‘his,’ then Ego Weapon was ‘himself,’ which no one could refute.

As expected, this time it wasn’t interrupted, and Ego Weapon was summoned, tearing through the Superior Golem’s body.

WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!

The Ego Weapon thrashed and struggled wildly, as if unable to withstand the crushing pressure.

Hyun-woo summoned another one in his left hand. Summoning two weapons when he could barely control one was a gamble that risked his own life.

But the risk was worth it, as the Superior Golem began to crack with a snap.

BANG, BANG-BANG, BANG-BANG-BANG.

As soon as Hyun-woo had enough room to move his arms, he swung them.

“You damn bastard!”

At the same time, the Ego Weapon struck the spot where the white spider had been.

Chunks of stone collapsed and poured down on Hyun-woo. The Ego Weapon dug dozens of meters deep before stopping abruptly.

Like peeling away the shell to reveal the flesh, the Superior Golem’s core was exposed right at that spot.

However, the Ego Weapon seemed to lack the strength to continue and fell to the ground, disappearing.

The exposed core quickly began to repair its shell. But Hyun-woo had one more Ego Weapon left.

The second Ego Weapon flew, smashing through the rapidly repairing steel and stone fragments.

[Stop it.]

CLANG!

Just before the Ego Weapon struck the engine, it was deflected in mid-air with a sharp sound.

The piercing noise that made the air tremble forced Hyun-woo to cover his ears.

[Further resistance is meaningless.]

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAK.

The incessant noise was the sound of the Superior Golem’s massive body continuing to regenerate. But it wasn’t just that sound.

Even amidst that, there was a constant, discordant roar.

At some point, along with the sound of the long tunnel Hyun-woo had created collapsing, something jumped down.

“You think you’re the only one who can use familiars? You rock-headed bastard.”

“AOOOOOOOO!”

A long howl. Yerdan, shining with golden fur, appeared inside the golem, unleashing a long roar.

Yerdan immediately began to tear apart the structure with his long claws and teeth.

The Superior Golem’s regeneration speed couldn’t keep up with the monstrous strength that chewed through stone and tore through steel. But that was only in localized areas.

“Use the tools, you savage!”

Only then did Yerdan discover the Ego Weapon rolling on the floor and pick it up.

The Ego Weapon, which had been wildly fluctuating in Hyun-woo’s hands, was as docile as a lamb in Yerdan’s grasp.

The Ego Weapon in Yerdan’s hand pierced the Superior Golem’s engine in an instant.

At that moment, a massive burst of flames erupted from the engine.

***

“Hyun-woo!”

Hyun-woo, carried on Yerdan’s back, wore a dumbfounded expression as he saw Ha-hyun sitting unharmed inside the spare shelter, waving her hand.

Compared to her shocked reaction when she saw his severed arm, her current appearance was shockingly normal.

“No, why are you okay?”

“…You’re saying that because you’re worried about me, right?”

Ha-hyun asked suspiciously.

Hyun-woo grumbled and got off Yerdan’s back. Hyun-woo was the only one caught in the explosion when the Superior Golem’s engine self-destructed.

Yerdan, who had been right in front of the explosion, only had his fur slightly singed.

It was partly because it was a simple explosion without mana, but it was also unclear how much stronger he had become since becoming an Apostle [a being empowered by a Star].

“More importantly, I’m not the problem! Sang-hyun is seriously injured!”

“Sang-hyun?”

Since his body was restored, Sang-hyun had been pretending not to have regained his memories to Ha-hyun.

After his resurrection, he had the qualifications of an Apostle, but he had far less power compared to the average Apostle.

This was due to excessive attribute growth.

Hyun-woo and Ha-hyun moved to where Sang-hyun was. Sang-hyun was lying unconscious in a corner of the basement.

The area below his left upper arm was missing, and the area below his abdomen was closer to a cocoon than a human body.

Even without examining the affected area, it was clear that his condition was serious.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t really know. I remember Sang-hyun receiving the call of the Whispering Star and going… not long after, he was found near our shelter in this state. And our shelter was soon attacked by those golems.”

Hyun-woo recalled how only her arm had been dragged out during Ha-hyun’s summoning.

“Was your arm cut off then?”

“Ah, no… the summoning was much later. It was after we moved to this shelter.”

Ha-hyun said, touching her arm.

“I tried to go over in response to your summoning, but some kind of transparent barrier pushed me away. When I tried to force my way through, it was suddenly cut off.”

When only Ha-hyun’s arm had been dragged out, the worst-case scenario he imagined was Ha-hyun’s arm being completely severed below the elbow.

But Ha-hyun’s explanation was more like a finger getting caught when a door closed improperly. In fact, losing an arm wouldn’t be a big blow to her.

The bigger problem was that there was a problem with the summoning itself.

‘It was the same when I tried to use Beast of the Apocalypse.’

Gaul had completely blocked Hyun-woo’s Ultimate Skill.

If he thought of it as stopping the summoning, it seemed plausible.

Hyun-woo recalled the explanation he had heard about Gaul long ago.

[The Shattering Star, Gaul, is a ruler who plots and laughs from behind the scenes. He rules the masses with daggers, poison, and conspiracies from behind a dark curtain, and operates through a blind secret society made of shadows.]

The explanation he had heard back then didn’t mention blocking summons. But like Priest Park, the Shattering Star had a consistent image.

A being that cracks, shatters, and creates rifts.

The one who stands behind those rifts and laughs.

If approached with the concept of ‘separating,’ the ability to prevent summoning seemed understandable.

But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t see the connection between conspiracy and golems.

‘If he’s the embodiment of conspiracy, I’d expect him to use quieter guys.’

Until now, Gaul had maintained a consistent identity in that he was untraceable and had only been quietly manipulating from behind the scenes.

In some ways, he was similar to the Whispering Star, but even more secretive.

‘So, something urgent must have happened that forced him to move directly.’

Hyun-woo’s gaze turned to Sang-hyun, who was unconscious.

It could be inferred that Sang-hyun’s injuries were also due to the Shattering Star.

Perhaps the Shattering Star’s goal wasn’t Hyun-woo or Sang-hyun themselves, but rather the Whispering Star.

[I am on your side.]

[This is not a battlefield for you. Don’t worry about it and go back.]

The words the Shattering Star had urged him with came to mind.

If the Shattering Star’s words were sincere, then conversely, the Whispering Star he attacked would be Hyun-woo’s enemy.

An enemy that Hyun-woo likely couldn’t handle on his own.

Interestingly, the Whispering Star also claimed to be on Hyun-woo’s side.

He had to figure out which one was truly on his side and which one was the enemy.

‘Or treat them both as enemies.’

Hyun-woo crossed his arms and stared at Sang-hyun.

“Can you give me some privacy for a moment?”

Hyun-woo asked Ha-hyun and the other Apostles.

None of the familiars questioned Hyun-woo’s sudden request.

Once the surroundings were quiet enough, Hyun-woo approached Sang-hyun. Sang-hyun’s complexion had always been pale, but now it looked particularly wan.

“Wake up.”

Hyun-woo only said that much out loud and called her name in his mind.

‘Monstrill.’

Sang-hyun, or rather, Monstrill’s eyelids slowly opened.

***

Monstrill’s eyes widened slightly as she met Hyun-woo’s gaze.

“I can’t even fool you for five minutes.”

“Looking at the circumstances, there’s no way to deny it.”

He thought that maybe even the injuries were a lie, but it seemed that her condition was indeed bad.

Monstrill tried to get up but collapsed as if she had lost her strength. But instead of supporting her, Hyun-woo quietly asked.

“Where’s Sang-hyun?”

“Ah, don’t worry. He’s just gone down to the base consciousness. He’s skilled at handling multiple consciousnesses, so you don’t have to worry about his memories being damaged. Right now, I’m just… borrowing his body for a while.”

Hyun-woo recalled the proxies that had appeared in his shelter during the last trial.

The proxies had hijacked the Apostle’s body and used it as a medium for themselves. It seemed that Monstrill was in a similar state now.

“I heard your proxy died, so Sang-hyun became the proxy?”

“You could say it’s similar. Right now, Sang-hyun is the only medium that can carry out my will.”

“For someone like that, you look pretty pathetic.”

“I admit it.”

Monstrill said, weakly raising the corner of her mouth.

“I’m probably the weakest Star in this world except for you. The source of projecting my power into this world is almost completely blocked now.”

“Even though you went all the way up to a Star, you’re talking weakly.”

“Even a Star can’t completely project its power into this distant world. Whether it’s a proxy or an Apostle, that power is just a shadow cast by the Star.”

Monstrill struggled to lift her finger. The tiny spiders that made up her body slowly crumbled like grains of sand and then reassembled.

“Without familiars and with this little power, it’s embarrassing to even call myself a Star.”

“Why are you in such a state? Is it because of me?”

“You know it.”

Monstrill giggled and opened her mouth.

“Just kidding. It’s actually an excuse. The truth is, I should have been eliminated and fallen out of this world. Like so many other fallen Stars. I was forcibly staying.”

Monstrill clicked her tongue as if she regretted it.

“Using the Widow Queen Spider to forcibly mine Crystallization [a valuable resource], and betting everything on you, were all gambles to try to reverse the situation.”

He had thought that the Widow Queen Spider’s death from trying to forcibly mine Crystallization was just a form of entertainment, but it seemed that it was also one of Monstrill’s struggles.

But Monstrill gave up the Crystallization to Hyun-woo instead of taking it back.

That too must have been a gamble for her.

“A gamble?”

“I believed you would be a game changer.”

Hyun-woo chuckled.

“You may be a Star, but you don’t seem to have a talent for gambling. How is that any different from believing that it will definitely be the highest number and throwing the dice? Did you think that if you just gave me everything, I would fall head over heels for you?”

“You’re scolding me well, considering how much you’ve taken.”

“I have to say what I have to say.”

At Hyun-woo’s answer, Monstrill looked away and let out a long sigh. Just when he thought she was regretting it, Monstrill spoke again.

“To be honest, maybe it didn’t matter.”

“Didn’t matter?”

“The best thing would be to live with you, but if I have to die, it might be better to die because of you.”

Monstrill weakly raised a slender finger and tapped Hyun-woo’s hand. But Hyun-woo didn’t take her hand.

Monstrill’s finger drooped helplessly in the air. She whispered with a bitter smile.

“My proxy’s name is Yoo-min.”

Hyun-woo’s face twitched.

“Even though my proxy’s body may already be dead, she was still your lover. Kang Hyun-woo. I don’t want to lose pathetically. Let’s win together, or let’s fall together.”