Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 306

306. Time of the Dog and Wolf (5)

Even though Teacher had disappeared, Hyun-woo stood still in the rain.

He thought the guy might reappear.

If he showed a defenseless appearance, he might be killed immediately. Such wariness kept Hyun-woo rooted to the spot.

Having been covered in blood and rolling in the mud, his body was already hard to distinguish from a lump of mud.

Feeling as if he was being buried in the mud, Hyun-woo replayed his confrontation with Teacher.

He could have summoned his vassals, and he could have called the Almighty Alliance Hunters.

They weren’t far away.

But would the result have been different? No. There would only have been more victims.

That’s probably why Teacher sent Lee Ji-tae somewhere else. If he was unnecessarily disturbed, who knew where the sparks would fly.

In the end, Hyun-woo was the only one who could face him. Theoretically and emotionally.

“Haha…”

Hyun-woo roughly guessed what Teacher’s identity was.

In fact, the guy didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding his identity from the start, and he blatantly revealed it.

The problem was ‘why?’

Why now?

And why on earth did Lee Ji-tae of Difficulty: Hell concede the Return Stone to that guy?

Lee Ji-tae was considered a hope for humanity.

His strength was a given, and his character was enough to entrust him with the survival of humanity.

Why would such a Lee Ji-tae hand over the Return Stone to that guy?

Probably no one would understand. It must have been Lee Ji-tae’s unilateral decision.

Did he take it by force? Or did he deceive and trick him?

Hyun-woo found it difficult to guess anything. The White Bone Records ended at the end of Difficulty: Nightmare.

Hyun-woo knew nothing about the history after Difficulty: Hell.

Then, Hyun-woo saw something wriggling in the mud.

Adam Fault, covered in mud like himself, was slowly getting up.

***

Thud, thud, thud.

Hyun-woo opened his eyes to a strange vibration. He saw a faded ceiling. It was inside an unfamiliar abandoned building.

His whole body was heavy. It seemed someone had found him and dragged him here, but his condition was a bit strange.

His clothes were soaked with rain and mud, and his wounds hadn’t received any first aid.

If he were a normal person, he would have died of hypothermia. Or he would have caught pneumonia.

Hyun-woo tried to get up but felt his vision was narrow. Only then did he realize that Ren Zedek’s monocle was embedded in one of his eyes and destroyed.

Belatedly, pain surged.

“Damn it.”

Hyun-woo carefully pulled out the fragments embedded in his eye. It didn’t seem like this could be fixed with potions.

It was hard to get a sense of distance, but it was a problem he could get used to.

Thump, thump.

A sound like finishing something echoed.

Before long, someone entered through the window in the direction of the sound. Adam wasn’t surprised to see Hyun-woo open his eyes.

“You’re awake.”

“Couldn’t you at least take off my clothes?”

“I didn’t want to save you that desperately.”

Adam replied without expression. Hyun-woo wondered if he was joking, but he quickly realized that Adam was serious.

*Well, he thought*, this is where I am. At least that paranoid stalker didn’t leave him in the rain.

Hyun-woo forcibly moved his arm, which was screaming with muscle pain and cramps, and took out a potion from his inventory.

He drank three high-grade recovery potions in a row and felt a little better.

“What was that sound?”

Hyun-woo asked Adam about the sound that had just woken him up. Adam replied without expression.

“Nuclear missile.”

“…What?”

“It was a nuclear missile fired by the United States. They can roughly estimate my location, so they seem to be planning to wipe it out.”

Adam spoke calmly, but it was no ordinary story. It meant that the United States had become so desperate that they would use nuclear weapons on their own territory.

Perhaps they had realized that they could no longer save the people inside the shadows.

“So you blew them all up?”

“I couldn’t do that. If an EMP [electromagnetic pulse] occurs, the radios will break down. I don’t know when I’ll be able to talk to Professor Keller. I removed the detonator and separated the warhead.”

“Is that… that easy to do?”

“I didn’t know before, but I learned it out of necessity.”

“Necessity?”

Adam muttered, touching his hair with a tired expression.

“That city of monsters that appeared in Pyongyang. Professor Keller was very concerned about it. I was relieved that they were surprisingly docile, but she instructed me to learn the structure of nuclear missiles in case they might use nuclear weapons. I didn’t know I would use it like this.”

Hyun-woo realized that he had ended up helping Adam Fault without even knowing it. But he couldn’t brag about it.

Adam probably doesn’t know that the owner behind that monster city is Kang Hyun-woo.

“So.”

Adam brought up the main point to Hyun-woo.

“What are you going to do now, Kang Hyun-woo?”

“About what?”

“A way to save Professor Keller, save me, and for you to do well too. The last one doesn’t really matter, but you seem like a guy who doesn’t move unless it’s in your best interest.”

*This was it.* Hyun-woo realized why Adam had saved him.

She was driven to a desperate situation where she needed Hyun-woo’s help.

Now that she had regained her senses, she couldn’t go to find Professor Keller with the shadows chasing after her, and she couldn’t just die.

Adam had no intention of sacrificing himself for Professor Keller’s ideals.

What she loved was Professor Keller, not her ideals.

“Okay. I have something in mind, but before that, tell me about you.”

“Me?”

Adam frowned and said.

“Why should I?”

“It’s a way to live together. Originally, your cooperation wouldn’t have been necessary, but as you know, a guy named Teacher has intervened.”

Adam nodded. The appearance of the Teachers was an unexpected situation for both Hyun-woo and Adam.

Moreover, since he was targeting Adam and hostile to Hyun-woo at the same time, cooperation was necessary.

“I can’t handle that guy alone. But if you actively cooperate with me, it’ll be different.”

But Adam looked at Hyun-woo coldly and said.

“That doesn’t seem like a reason to tell you everything. I don’t necessarily have to insist on you. The guy named Teacher is suspicious, but he’s stronger than you.”

“Don’t suddenly say something right. It hurts my stomach.”

“With his power, he might be able to save me and Professor Keller and resolve this situation.”

“But, Adam.”

Hyun-woo said with a grin.

“You’re not going to do that, are you? That’s why you didn’t go to find Teacher, but brought me here. You already know that guy is a suspicious opponent.”

“…”

Adam didn’t answer. Hyun-woo felt that Adam was a little discouraged and judged that the time was ripe.

For her, who has great power, this situation must be a somewhat difficult situation. And she was driven to the limit.

Adam was silent and looked somewhere.

There was nothing there. But she reached out her hand to that place and pretended to grab something.

Hyun-woo recalled Yoo-min’s ‘Adam Hallucination Theory’ from her appearance.

Hyun-woo had to point this out clearly.

The upcoming schedule was very important. Hyun-woo couldn’t bring a madman there. He had to make Adam aware of her symptoms.

“Adam. But why do you keep touching the air?”

“I’m touching the air?”

Only then did Adam flinch as if she realized the position of her hand.

“Is the child still there?”

“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Yes, it happened that way. I should have left it behind when I met you, but I brought it with me. Somehow, it’s become ambiguous to leave it behind now.”

‘Somehow’ doesn’t explain it.

But hallucinations usually create their own logic and plausibility like dreams.

Something that those around you can never understand.

Because of that, Hyun-woo was convinced that Adam was suffering from hallucinations.

“That child you’re talking about… I can’t see it.”

“What?”

Hyun-woo was worried about what Adam would think.

What should he do if the person who might be the most powerful in the world is suffering from madness?

Hyun-woo carefully told her about Yoo-min’s hypothesis. He didn’t know if this was an effective psychological treatment method, but it was important to make her aware of her symptoms.

“So this child is… a hallucination created to protect the ego of ‘me who is loved by Professor Keller’?”

“Good summary.”

Adam didn’t get angry or afraid.

She looked at the direction where the ‘child’ was for a moment, then smiled and accepted the situation in a different way.

“Indeed, then this child is a child between me and Professor Keller.”

“You’re really a pervert.”

***

Hyun-woo failed to cure Adam’s symptoms, but at least he succeeded in making her aware of them.

It was clear that Adam had been unable to understand the situation where the child kept following her during numerous battles.

Hyun-woo’s words must have been a reasonably convincing answer.

“Okay. Anyway, I don’t see any other alternatives besides you. The guy named Teacher is suspicious, and I can’t contact Professor Keller. What do you want to ask?”

Finally, this grumpy cat began to take an interest in the leash.

Hyun-woo smiled.

“First, let’s find out about your strengths and weaknesses. You seemed particularly weak when fighting Helen, the apostle of the Starving Star, why is that? Couldn’t you push her away or crush her with your abilities?”

“My ability is… not just telekinesis.”

Adam frowned and said.

“It’s a kind of moving an invisible giant. With hundreds of arms and legs. Of course, it’s impossible to move all those arms at once with a sane mind. The more arms you move, the more you lose your reason. Because the arms have joints, nerves, and muscles.”

“Hmm, so Helen’s ability touched that giant?”

“That’s right. Originally, you shouldn’t touch other objects except when exerting physical force, but Helen’s ability cut off the giant’s arm regardless. There are often such abilities. You can deal with it by using other tools, but the situation wasn’t favorable at the time.”

For example, if you crushed her with something like the Staff of God, Helen would have no way to deal with it. But Hyun-woo was puzzled by Adam’s answer.

“Don’t you have any other skills?”

“No.”

Adam answered confidently.

“I only have this one passive skill, ‘Beast’s Arm’. I don’t even have an ultimate skill.”

Beast’s Arm.

Apart from Adam’s brazen answer, Hyun-woo paused for a moment at the name. He was only surprised enough that Adam didn’t notice.

When he fought Gaul, Hyun-woo’s ‘Poison Blood’ skill evolved into ‘Beast’s Blood’. He wondered if this was a coincidence or if there was a strange connection.

“Is that all you’re curious about?”

“No, no. There’s still a long way to go.”

Hyun-woo said, looking at his watch. There was still time. He had to find out everything about Adam by then.

“Tell me everything about you. From the moment you first met Professor Keller to today.”

“I don’t have much to say.”

“Tell me as you remember.”

Adam started talking.

And after about 30 minutes, Hyun-woo stopped Adam.

“Is it a real story that you’re still explaining about the day you first met Professor Keller for 30 minutes now? How on earth do you remember what Professor Keller was wearing at that time?”

“I just remembered it while talking. So at that time, I said to Professor Keller…”

Hyun-woo changed his mind about thinking that Adam had a taciturn personality.

It was just that she hadn’t had anyone to talk to or any topics she wanted to talk about until now.

Hyun-woo came to the conclusion that even 72 hours wouldn’t be enough to hear all of Adam’s stories.

“No, that’s enough. Just tell me what happened in the last 3 days. Before the Leviathan mission started.”

“Aren’t you curious about Professor Keller’s story anymore?”

“I think the world will end and be taken over by the stars if I listen to all of that.”