Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 293

293. The Worst Person in the World (2)

As soon as the system message disappeared, Yumin and Hyun-woo locked eyes.

Yumin quickly spoke first.

“The location where the shadow fell in the video is a place called Silver Springs in Nevada. The speed at which the shadow expands is approximately 3 meters per second. That’s more than 10 kilometers per hour, which is faster than a person walks. Ordinary people can’t avoid it.”

Hyun-woo chimed in, agreeing.

“What exactly is ‘the worst person in the world’? I can think of a few names right away. Do we have to kill them all? Or does the guy who’s sending out these notices have separate criteria? People won’t be able to understand without a clear marker.”

Yumin nodded.

“The distance to San Francisco, the largest nearby city, is approximately 330 kilometers. In other words, assuming the shadow’s expansion speed remains constant, most of San Francisco’s population will be in the same state of chaos in about 33 hours. Next would be Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and so on, being taken over in order.”

“Maybe these guys are just trying to get us to fight each other. When about half of us are dead, they’ll say, ‘Oh, the worst person in the world just died. But what a shame, you exceeded the 72-hour limit. Too bad.’ It’s just a convenient excuse.”

“If that’s the case, the shadow’s radius will be about 720 kilometers after 72 hours, which is enough to cover almost half of the North American continent. Of course, after that, there will be no way to stop the shadow, so the entire planet will be covered, but there’s a big problem with this assumption…”

“The Earth’s rotation.”

Hyun-woo and Yumin muttered simultaneously.

It’s obvious, but the Earth rotates.

The system message said that the ‘patch’ would proceed with the eclipse.

In other words, it’s safe to assume that this shadow is caused by the eclipse and refers to the area that is changing as a result.

And the shadow has no choice but to move with the sun.

Just imagining a shadow with a radius of 720 kilometers sweeping around the Earth made the expected damage enormous.

It was even more so when considering that the changes caused by the patch could not be reversed.

“…We need to set the actual time limit shorter than 72 hours.”

“Calculating the axis of rotation, Korea will be included in the shadow’s radius after 30 hours. I don’t know if the shadow’s expansion speed is fast or slow…”

Yumin had a troubled expression.

It was natural.

The shadow’s size will only be 240km in radius for the next 24 hours, but even if it goes around the Earth once, it will pass through the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the Earth’s population is concentrated.

It’s impossible to know how many people will become servants and cause chaos.

‘No, there’s something more.’

Hyun-woo recalled the priest he saw in Difficulty: Hell.

It was clear that he, or they, were the administrators and organizers of this game.

The stars are participants in the game, and the prize is this planet.

Hyun-woo also thought that the priests might be doing this just to manipulate humanity, but if unfair rules were involved, it would inevitably incur the wrath of the stars.

A reasonable standard that even the stars can accept.

The worst person in the world.

The shadow.

Hyun-woo tried to find clues by recalling the memory of seeing the White Bone Records.

In the White Bone Records, ‘Leviathan’ proceeded similarly but differently from now.

The biggest difference was the timing.

Originally, it should have happened a year to a year and a half from now.

And the goal was also different. There, it was ‘the strongest person in the world’.

At that moment, something flashed through Hyun-woo’s mind.

In the world of Difficulty: Hell, it was China that originally defeated Leviathan. And the last place the shadow was reflected was also China.

Hyun-woo thought that the situation might not be as bad as he thought, recalling the person who defeated Leviathan there.

“The worst person in the world hasn’t been decided yet.”

The process of selecting that person will take place over the next 72 hours.

And there were other people who were quickly calculating and moving in this situation.

***

It wasn’t just the ability users who received the system message.

From the beginning, the message was sent to all of humanity, saying, ‘Now you are not irrelevant,’ so ordinary people were also included.

Ordinary people who received the system message for the first time were surprised and horrified by the movie-like events that took place somewhere in the United States.

But not everyone was panicking.

The one who moved the fastest was an agent of the U.S. National Security Agency, commonly known as the NSA.

As soon as he received the notice, the agent immediately checked if there was a manual prepared for this situation and found a document called ‘Leviathan’.

It was a document sent by Chrome.

After confirming the contents of the document, the agent immediately reported it to the director. The director checked the document and immediately passed it on to a higher organization, and it took less than 30 minutes for this document to reach the final decision-maker, U.S. President Albert Cromford.

The President also called someone as soon as he read the document.

“Lieutenant General Victor.”

Albert handed the document to the U.S. Army Lieutenant General who had rushed in after receiving the summons.

Lieutenant General Victor quickly flipped through the pages and skimmed the contents of the front part.

“It’s a title related to the current situation. Is there anything related in the contents?”

“The content is one of the human extinction scenarios that Chrome often sends. It’s a scenario where a powerful individual who has surpassed the critical point and become transcendentally strong confronts humanity, turning the entire planet into a battlefield.”

“Professor Keller writes interesting novels well. I could enjoy reading them if they weren’t in the form of a thesis.”

“I think so too. But looking at the current situation, I don’t think we can just see it as a joke.”

Lieutenant General Victor found a document clipped together with the ‘Leviathan’ document with a puzzled expression.

“This is…….”

“This was one of the plans we were secretly planning to exclude the agents of other stars. But this was found along with the Leviathan document. You probably know this plan well.”

Lieutenant General Victor looked at the title of the document and muttered.

“……Are you talking about the Hammer Plan?”

“In a situation where we don’t know who is an agent and who is an apostle, it’s a plan to make them pop out and hammer them down like moles.”

“I know it was scrapped because it was too radical and could cause diplomatic and social problems.”

“That’s right.”

Lieutenant General Victor couldn’t understand what President Albert was saying.

Then President Albert took out another document as if he knew that would happen.

“This is a document recorded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the changes in the diplomatic situation over the past six months. It says that even if a ‘diplomatic trouble’ occurs due to a local armed conflict, there is no country that has the capacity to stop us.”

“Hmm.”

“And this is a document calculated by the Department of Defense on ‘simultaneous short-term combat capability’. It summarizes the resources, capabilities, time, soldiers and ability users with the ability to perform, and operation bases. It’s a long document, so you don’t need to read it.”

Lieutenant General Victor was overwhelmed with surprise as he watched President Albert take out the documents.

Numerous documents were being categorized and poured out in similar categories as soon as the ‘Leviathan’ mission began.

And those documents reached the President, the highest head of the U.S. administration, almost simultaneously.

“Finally, this is a document summarizing the commander who is most suitable to execute the Hammer Plan and the hunter unit that will execute it.”

The last document President Albert presented was thin.

Lieutenant General Victor flipped through the document and checked the name at the top.

Victor A. Barques.

It was his name.

“It means that you, the commander of the ability user unit and the agent of the conquering star, are the most suitable to execute this plan.”

Lieutenant General Victor stroked his lips. It was a gesture to hide his smile.

But President Albert knew his smile. His eyes carefully turned to his eyes.

Eyes that glowed crimson like a faintly burning flame.

“I’ve looked into your activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many people say you’re dangerous, but there’s no doubt that you’re patriotic. And this amazing coincidence… No, it’s hard to call it a coincidence.”

Albert said, looking at the documents piled up on his desk.

“As soon as Leviathan started, the most suitable plan for Leviathan, the Hammer Plan that we were preparing, and the fact that all preparations were perfectly completed, poured out. This is not a coincidence. It’s a miracle given to us by God. So, on behalf of the people of the United States, I will order you.”

Lieutenant General Victor straightened his posture and waited for Albert’s order.

“Start the Hammer Plan. Beat the worst guys in the world in the name of America. Show them justice.”

Lieutenant General Victor’s smile grew bigger.

His eyes burned with a clear scarlet color. They were eyes that were excited and looking forward to the flames of war.

“I will obey the order.”

***

After confirming that Lieutenant General Victor had left the White House, President Albert leaned back in his chair.

Then the secretary came in and informed him that the next guest was waiting. The reflection of the shadow was no different from the United States being invaded, so the entire White House was in chaos.

But Albert postponed greeting the guest for about 10 minutes.

Instead, he picked up his secured cell phone and called someone.

“Yes. I ordered Lieutenant General Victor. The Hammer Plan will begin.”

The voice on the phone mumbled something, and President Albert tapped his desk and replied.

“I sent you the targets without missing any. The strike will begin within 30 minutes. We have already completed all preparations.”

The voice on the phone replied again. President Albert nodded quietly.

“Yes. There are no exceptions, even for allies.”

After hanging up, President Albert looked down at the documents on his desk.

Twenty-four perfect reports prepared to implement the Hammer Plan. Albert admired it, but also expressed his gratitude to the great being who made such smooth progress possible.

And he also looked forward to the perfect future he was drawing.

“You said that if everyone does their job in the right place, we can achieve the best future. Now I understand what you meant. Teacher.”

***

After the Leviathan mission began, no country knew what to do or how to do it.

But everyone expected it, but things that they didn’t think would happen broke out with explosions just 46 minutes after the mission started.

Kwakwakwakwang!

Libya.

A large-scale bombing poured down on the head of the president, who had been suffering from civil war for a long time, pouring biochemical bombs on his own people and not hesitating to massacre civilians.

He was a dictator who had been avoiding bombings and assassination threats for a long time, but coincidentally, the bomb fell right on his head.

He died with his head smashed before the bomb even exploded.

Syria.

There was a leader of a terrorist group who was once a member of a large anti-national organization that dominated the entire northern region, but has now been reduced to a small and medium-sized terrorist organization.

But he still carried out terrorist attacks in major cities, massacring numerous civilians, and occupied rural villages and enslaved the residents.

However, a single missile that fell soon wiped out the terrorist group and its leader along with the village.

Philippines.

There was a criminal organization that made huge amounts of money through assassination, prostitution, gambling, and smuggling.

His organization occupied an entire large building and was protected by hundreds of members and local defense forces.

However, dozens of helicopters suddenly rushed in. The helicopters, with the name of the U.S. Navy clearly written on them, mercilessly fired tens of thousands of bullets into the building.

Afterwards, there were no survivors inside the building due to the soldiers who rushed in.

And China, Japan, Serbia, Mexico, Colombia, and even somewhere inside the United States.

Simultaneous attacks by the United States poured into more than 50 regions.

The targets were world-renowned dictators, extremists, criminals, and pseudo-religious leaders.

It was a cruel and overwhelming attack that did not even consider the collateral damage of civilians being swept away.

Naturally, protests poured out against the United States, but the United States did not care.

And.

There was one more place among their targets.

A mountain range near southern Seoul, South Korea.

The U.S. military in Korea was moving towards a target called the Ghost Mansion.