Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 308

308. Hour of the Dog and Wolf (7)

Click.

Maria Keller’s call was abruptly cut off.

Hyun-woo and Adam stared at the phone in silence for a moment. The call had been on speakerphone, so Hyun-woo could hear the conversation as well.

After a moment, Hyun-woo looked at Adam and asked,

“Are you going to kill her?”

“I won’t.”

Adam frowned and handed the phone back to Hyun-woo. Her expression looked troubled.

She had managed to get through with difficulty, but all Adam heard was a reaffirmation of the order.

She had predicted the answer to some extent. Maria’s resolve was evident from what had already happened.

If it hadn’t been for Kang Hyun-woo, or Lee Ji-tae, Adam would have been captured or killed by the Chrome agents.

So, now that she had heard the order directly from Professor Keller, there was no reason to follow it.

“…I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”

Hyun-woo chuckled and glanced out of the building. The outside was still dark due to the eclipse.

Adam was lifting the entire building and moving it.

Thanks to being out of the storm zone, the rain had weakened, but the clouds were still swelling, covering the entire United States. It looked like it could become an unprecedentedly massive hurricane.

The area where Hyun-woo and Adam were currently located was close to the central United States.

They had moved to find an area with cell service.

Various processes were needed to steal Maria’s phone information, but Adam knew all of Maria’s security information.

Thanks to this, Hyun-woo was able to easily secure a means to contact Maria with personnel moving outside the shadows.

It’s surprising how much you can find out with just a cell phone and security information in modern society.

“So, what are you planning to do now? It seems like your plan to persuade Professor Keller to turn the situation around has failed. Do you have a next plan?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t think I could persuade Professor Keller anyway.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

At Adam’s continued questioning, Hyun-woo chuckled and replied.

“Adam, I’ll explain it to you if I think it’s necessary. What is a dog?”

“…It barks when told to bark, and bites when told to bite.”

“Paw.”

Slap.

Adam reluctantly carried out Hyun-woo’s instructions.

Looking at her expression, it occurred to him that even if he saved Professor Keller and Adam, she might be killed after the Leviathan mission was over.

Although the teacher said that Hyun-woo would die before the Leviathan mission was over.

“The current situation is going exactly as I expected, so don’t worry.”

Hyun-woo said, looking out the window.

He told Adam that, but he hadn’t really expected to persuade Professor Keller.

No, more importantly, the fact that he ‘talked to Professor Keller’ was important in itself.

The trigger has been pulled, and now the firing mechanism will activate.

All that remains is to endure until the bullet is fired.

Hyun-woo pointed out the window and said.

“More than that, a guest has arrived. Adam.”

Adam looked in the direction Hyun-woo was pointing.

Dozens of helicopters and transport planes were gathering from all directions. They were hunters from other clans who had followed the center of the moving shadow.

Adam asked.

“What’s the plan?”

“Bite.”

***

“…What the hell is going on, Professor Keller?”

After Maria Keller unilaterally cut off the call, the conference room was filled with silence. People were shocked by the content of the call.

The conversation they heard was completely opposite to what they had been reporting.

“You said you couldn’t control Adam! But now that instruction…!”

“Crazy. Everything that’s happened so far was at your direction. What the hell!”

“Contact Adam again immediately. Imprison Professor Keller, and stop Adam even if you have to take her hostage!”

At the chairman’s order, guards outside the conference room began to enter.

Some inspectors even rushed towards Maria Keller to snatch her cell phone, as if they couldn’t wait for the guards.

But before they could reach her, Maria Keller smashed the phone against her wheelchair in one swift motion.

“You fucking…”

Recovering the data was a simple task, but now was a critical time.

The guards approached and grabbed Maria’s arm, twisting it. Maria grimaced in pain, but still sneered.

“Can’t you subdue even a frail, old, disabled woman without swarming her like this?”

“Shut up, you witch! I let you get away with talking crazy, but in the end, you betrayed us like this…”

It was the moment the chairman was shouting at Maria. A sudden gunshot rang out, cutting off the chairman’s words.

The guard who had been holding Maria’s arm slowly collapsed with a hole in his forehead.

One of the inspectors had pulled out a pistol. The chairman exclaimed in shock.

“Samuel!”

Bang, bang. Gunshots rang out again. The guards who had rushed in after hearing the gunshots also had holes in their heads.

The inspectors belatedly pulled out their pistols and fired at Samuel.

The inspectors had received basic combat training as they had to deal with ability users in case of emergency. Depending on their experience, some inspectors had combat skills equivalent to special forces.

Loud gunshots rang out in succession, filling the conference room with explosions and gunfire. Samuel was instantly riddled with holes and collapsed onto the chair.

“What the hell is this…”

“He must be Maria’s follower. All the Chrome agents are crazy about her.”

The chairman muttered, grinding his teeth.

One of the inspectors approached Samuel to check his condition.

They had fired so many shots that he couldn’t possibly survive, but they wanted to make sure.

However, the inspector paused as he approached Samuel through the smoke. There was not a single drop of blood to be seen, even though so many bullets had been fired.

At that moment, a mouth opened on Samuel’s face, which was full of holes.

“Command: Instant recovery, unlimited ammunition, hit correction.”

“He’s alive…”

Bang.

A gunshot rang out again.

The inspectors fired at Samuel again, who was moving again. However, Samuel methodically hit the inspectors between the eyes one by one, even as his body was riddled with holes.

The chairman realized that the situation was unusual and tried to sound the alarm and order a retreat. But Samuel’s mouth opened first.

“Command: Silence.”

At that moment, all sound disappeared as if by magic.

Even shouts, screams, and gunshots were muffled, and only the smoke and sparks from the guns were clearly visible.

“Command: Lock.”

The inspectors decided that escape was no longer possible after seeing Samuel, who simply wouldn’t die.

They realized that the door wouldn’t budge when they tried to escape out of the conference room. It was the same even when they crashed into it with their bodies and shot at it with guns.

Samuel pointed his gun at them.

There were no screams. In the quiet silence, bloodstains were etched on the walls and doors.

Numerous corpses piled up like mountains at the entrance.

A little later, the sprinklers activated belatedly due to the rising smoke. The pouring water washed away the gunfire.

But even the sound of the water could not be heard.

Samuel slowly walked through the corpses and looked around.

“Deactivate all commands except ‘Command: Immortality’.”

Whoosh.

Only now did the sound of the sprinklers burst out as if they had found their voice.

The fire alarm was also ringing. Samuel slowly headed to the center of the conference room.

There was Maria, who had been lying face down to avoid the gunfight. But she couldn’t avoid it completely, as she was bleeding from above her left chest.

“Looks like it hurts, Maria.”

“…Kill me if you’re going to kill me.”

“I can’t do that.”

Samuel stuck his fingers into Maria’s wound and took out the bullet.

He didn’t care whether Maria screamed or not.

After flicking the bullet off with his finger, Samuel grabbed Maria by the scruff of her neck, lifted her up, and sat her back in her wheelchair.

Samuel made a potion and handed it to her as she took a deep breath.

Maria’s condition quickly improved because it wasn’t a fatal wound. She looked around at the carnage and made a dark expression.

The murdered inspectors were transnational figures who had worked with her for a long time.

“Are you worried that Chrome’s function will be paralyzed? Don’t worry. I’ll buy you time to clean up even after Leviathan is over. Anyway, the world after Leviathan won’t need that much manpower.”

There was a knock on the door from outside. It seemed that people had gathered because of the fire alarm.

Samuel dragged the corpses aside and opened the door. A security officer with a blank face was standing outside.

“Done?”

“Done.”

After a brief Q&A, the security officer gestured to the back.

Security guards rushed into the conference room. They entered the conference room without much emotion, even stepping on and over the countless corpses.

Then the security officer said.

“We need to clean up the bodies.”

“What, are you telling me to clean it up with my hands like a savage?”

“The command doesn’t work on humans. You’ll have to act with their faces for the time being, right?”

The priests can only move as managers in spaces with high mana density, such as dungeons. In other spaces, they are only at the level of ordinary people.

Therefore, the priests have been maintaining meetings only in dungeons where commands work.

The Special Inspection Department headquarters was also built directly above an extremely stable sealed dungeon.

This was possible because the priests and Maria Keller were involved from the establishment process of the Special Inspection Department headquarters.

The agents grumbled and rubbed their faces, which turned white and crumbled. It was the same as when Samuel revealed his original face.

Soon they began to knead their faces and imitate the appearance of the corpse.

The sight of people who looked exactly like the corpses moving was chilling.

Maria couldn’t take her eyes off them and asked.

“Are they all priests?”

“Yes. You haven’t seen this many priests before, have you?”

As he said, Maria had only seen one or two priests at most. She could see why this commotion hadn’t been reported outside.

“How much have you infiltrated us?”

“Infiltration, do we need something like that?”

Samuel said in an unpleasant tone.

“Originally, this situation is a violation of the contract with the stars [referring to a higher power or entity]. We are only in a position to watch from a distance as managers. Even for safety.”

Considering the stars who have bad feelings towards the priests, or the situation where they cannot use commands outside the dungeon, it is not safe.

Therefore, they have been adhering to the principle of not intervening except for having collaborators within humanity for basic progress.

Samuel turned his head to the screen attached to the conference room wall. It continued to report on the questionable relationship between Adam Fault and Kang Hyun-woo.

“However, unexpected situations continue to occur, and we cannot hide behind a safe fence.”

And Maria provided that opportunity.

“…I thought you were a more secretive group. It’s a little different from what I thought.”

“Haha, Maria Keller. We’re just a group like your Chrome. It’s just that the scale is a little bigger. It’s just that our purpose and the interests of the stars align, so we can do this.”

Samuel massaged Maria’s shoulders while saying things she didn’t even ask. It felt like he was just trying to be friendly to Maria.

But rather than being friendly, it was closer to pressuring her so that she wouldn’t have other thoughts.

Samuel whispered in Maria’s ear.

“We travel around many stars and scout people we need. In fact, there are not many people from the same planet. You have shown considerable ability. If the error is safely removed through Leviathan, I may recommend you as an apprentice priest. Of course, you won’t be able to participate in the game anymore.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

Maria spat out contemptuously.

“I didn’t sacrifice Adam to become one of you. I chose the best path for humanity. Finish the job quickly. And keep your promise.”

“Don’t worry. There will be a satisfactory reward.”

Samuel said, patting her on the shoulder. He promised Maria a reward, but he didn’t forget to warn her.

“You’ll have to choose your allies carefully, even if it’s not my offer. Maria. Now is the hour of twilight. A new night is beginning.”

“Do you still think I have the will to stand up to you?”

“I don’t know. Everyone’s vision tends to be blurred at times like this. If you don’t want to die, you have to open your eyes and guess whether the shadow that appears in that sunset is a dog or a wolf.”