Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 316

316. The Best Future (3)

“Scared? Me?”

Teacher retorted as if it were the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.

“An amusing notion, but I see no reason to be afraid. Bored, certainly, but afraid?”

Around that time, Park Do-ryeong’s sniping ceased. Teacher frowned, but he seemed to already know the reason.

Park Do-ryeong was likely fleeing. Hyeonmu, having pinpointed his location, must have dispatched other monsters to attack.

“If not, why aren’t you attacking?”

“I want to see you struggle a bit more.”

Teacher said, slightly lifting the corner of his mouth with a finger.

“The longer you resist, the closer this world gets to its end of peace. And the patience of your comrades, friends, and lovers will wear thin. Perhaps, in the end, you’ll end up killing the friends who are trying to kill you? I’d love to see that.”

Hyeonmu wore a disgusted expression.

He wanted to retort that Teacher’s words were just a bluff, but honestly, if he were in Teacher’s shoes, he might want to see such a scene himself.

If it were against someone he hated as much as Teacher.

Teacher seemed to peer into Hyeonmu’s inner thoughts as he asked,

“Answer me, Kang Hyeonmu. Wouldn’t you want to see that scene?”

“Do you think I’m trash like you?”

“Such a pathetic liar.”

Hyeonmu’s problem was that Teacher knew him too well. And Teacher suffered from the same problem.

It was definitely a scene he’d want to see. But that was only when he was confident in his overwhelming superiority.

‘It’s a bluff.’

Teacher was clearly superior to him. Hyeonmu was at an absolute disadvantage.

But the fact that Teacher was still watching him closely meant that Hyeonmu still had a clue to reach Teacher’s ‘future he wanted to avoid.’

The fact that Teacher kept avoiding direct combat was proof of that.

There was no more time to think.

Hyeonmu once again powerfully summoned black smoke and charged towards Teacher.

As the conversation seemed to end, Lee Ji-tae also shot forward from behind Hyeonmu.

“Don’t interfere, you bastard!”

Song Yeo-un’s whip was so slow compared to Hyeonmu’s swinging arm that it was almost laughable.

Especially to Lee Ji-tae, who had activated the Wings of Radiance.

However, the moment he lightly dodged the whip, it twisted strangely and flew towards Lee Ji-tae’s thigh.

“What?!”

Whack! The whip split the air, emitting a fierce roar.

Lee Ji-tae felt the end of the whip bite into his thigh. No, the end of the whip was a snake’s head.

Black snakes, twisted together, climbed up Lee Ji-tae’s body.

Song Yeo-un let out an unknown roar. Lee Ji-tae discovered that Song Yeo-un’s body, enveloped in black smoke, was changing.

Black skin with crystals sprouting all over.

Song Yeo-un’s entire body was transforming into a Beast of the End, like Hyeonmu.

A being who follows a star with the purest passion has their body transformed into a form suitable for serving that star.

Among them, Song Yeo-un had a combination of various factors: the shadow cast by the Leviathan mission, and the black smoke that enveloped his entire body.

But the biggest reason was the ‘blood of the beast’ that Hyeonmu had fed him.

It was causing physical mutation symptoms, going beyond simply enhancing strength.

“In the end, you’ve turned a human into a monster, Kang Hyeonmu!”

But such passionate loyalty was just a disgusting sight to Lee Ji-tae.

Lee Ji-tae quickly cut off the snake’s head and tried to knock Song Yeo-un unconscious.

But at the same time, another shadow leaped out of the black smoke and pounced on him.

It was another Jeonryeon Hunter whose body had been partially transformed.

It wasn’t as much as Song Yeo-un, but that made it feel even more inhuman.

Lee Ji-tae calmly tried to cut him down, but the opponent skillfully dodged the blade. The movement was also surprising.

“Ah, I didn’t want to go this far.”

Seo Ji-hoo’s muttering voice was heard from somewhere within the black smoke.

His appearance was not visible, but there was something cracked, a bizarreness mixed with Song Yeo-un’s roar.

“But if we’ve started a game, we have to win, right?”

Another whip. And hunters with transformed bodies leaped out from both directions.

Lee Ji-tae felt annoyed.

Each one of them was no match for him. But occasionally, they showed unexpected and bizarre movements, putting pressure on him.

Seo Ji-hoo controlled five hunters, including Song Yeo-un, and quickly pushed Lee Ji-tae back.

“Song Yeo-un team, Seo Ji-hoo team. Mid-boss Lee Ji-tae raid, start!”

***

Hyeonmu’s black smoke instantly enveloped Teacher.

From somewhere within the black smoke, Hyeonmu sensed that the Jeonryeon Hunters were attacking Lee Ji-tae.

The monsters were chasing Park Do-ryeong, and some were waiting for Hyeonmu’s instructions.

The situation was definitely improving compared to before. That gave Hyeonmu confidence.

No matter how hard Teacher tried to choose the best option, there were limits to that best option.

In the pitch-black darkness, Teacher glared at Hyeonmu’s beastly form, frowning.

“I thought they were your cherished subordinates, but I didn’t know you cherished them so much that you’d turn them into monsters.”

It was meant to be sarcastic. Hyeonmu didn’t answer.

Even if it was a path they had chosen themselves, he couldn’t help but feel burdened.

He wasn’t even sure if physical transformation would really occur. He had hoped that it would stop at mere physical enhancement.

“Why don’t you worry about your own neck?”

“Worry?”

Teacher asked, swirling his fingers through the black smoke.

“Do you believe you’re cornering me with something so trivial?”

Hyeonmu quickly struck down at Teacher. Of course, he didn’t think Teacher would be hit, so it was just a feint to test the waters while maintaining maximum defense.

But Hyeonmu’s claws didn’t even touch Teacher.

He was bewildered as he watched his arm move with bizarre slowness.

The beast’s arm didn’t cut through the air but moved as if stirring through a fiercely dense liquid.

“Do you know what the end is?”

Teacher whispered. Hyeonmu sensed his counterattack and quickly tried to pull his arm back. But his arm didn’t move as he intended.

With a cracking sound, the beast’s arm was torn off. Hyeonmu’s arm was exposed as it was.

“Do you know the heart of someone who chooses the end over hope?”

The torn-off beast’s arm dangled limply like a specimen in embalming fluid.

Hyeonmu discovered an even darker darkness beyond the black smoke.

If Hyeonmu’s black smoke was a gas that people could breathe and walk through, the darkness lurking around Teacher was closer to a liquid.

A deep sea, a pitch-black abyss of extreme density, as if crushed by hundreds of tons of water pressure.

Teacher swayed and walked forward, as if swimming in that darkness.

“You don’t know. You wouldn’t know. Not with just borrowing the power of a beast and imitating the end.”

Hyeonmu was disgusted by Teacher’s appearance.

Black liquid flowed from Teacher’s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, engulfing the surroundings.

It was a grotesque and chilling sight.

The torn-off beast’s arm was now being held by Teacher like a club.

“Kang Hyeonmu.”

Teacher lightly swung his arm.

It was a small movement, but at that moment, the black abyss instantly engulfed Hyeonmu.

The torn-off beast’s arm instantly shattered the head of the Beast of the End that Hyeonmu had summoned.

The moment the head was shattered into fragments, Hyeonmu completely lost control of the beast.

“Kang Hyeonmu, Kang Hyeonmu, Kang Hyeonmu.”

Teacher repeatedly called Hyeonmu’s name. The black abyss now gripped Hyeonmu, who was hidden inside the beast’s body, which was no different from a corpse, and lifted him up.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d go this far.”

Teacher whispered.

“When I found out you were still alive, I felt complicated. I had completely given up on you back in the orphanage. Why wouldn’t I want to have expectations for ‘myself’? You were even small, young, and cute. Well, kids are cute anyway.”

Hyeonmu felt the black abyss slowly seeping into the beast’s skin.

Hyeonmu realized that this abyss itself was Teacher’s ‘beast.’ An abyss without a fixed form or weight, chaos, darkness itself.

An amorphous beast filled only with the malice to tear apart and devour everything.

“But you as an adult… just reminded me of my past that I wanted to forget. Honestly, I wanted to kill you on the spot. I even thought that would be a kindness to you. Do you know why?”

Teacher said, tilting his head.

“I faced a future where all of humanity’s attempts failed, without anyone showing me such kindness or a savior. The memory of collecting crystal moss scraps in the sewers of the chemical complex? That’s a rather pleasant memory for me.”

Humanity slowly perishing.

A world decaying and falling apart.

A future that only kept getting worse.

In that world, Kang Hyeonmu had endured without knowing what Difficulty: Hell was and without a return stone [a device that allows one to return to the past].

“But that’s why I wanted to give you a chance.”

It was a small deviation.

“Lee Ji-tae repeatedly emphasized the people to whom this return stone should be given. Brave, righteous, and mentally strong people. People who were obviously worthy of being saviors. But my name wasn’t among them.”

A self-destructive desire, a desire to devour the world, and a deviation of an attention seeker who lacked even the ability to control his own madness.

“I just didn’t get the chance. In fact, I was recognized by Lee Ji-tae and even became strong enough to become the Star of the End and devour countless stars. And yet, I.”

Teacher muttered in a metallic voice.

“Why can’t I be a savior?”

So he handed over that return stone, which had driven eight people to suicide and one to madness, directly to himself. Disguised as a lie that it was his father’s keepsake.

In fact, if you look closely, it might not be a lie.

“Is there any reason why I can’t do it?”

At that moment, Teacher’s eyes sharpened.

Kwaddeudeuk! The black abyss suddenly sharpened its edge and peeled off the beast’s skin.

As the Beast of the End was being torn apart, Hyeonmu instantly felt his ultimate skill being解除 [released/cancelled].

And from within the beast, Teacher discovered the Ego Weapon that Hyeonmu was holding.

The black abyss carefully lifted the Ego Weapon. The Ego Weapon, which was shaking madly, was emitting a murderous aura that seemed to grind the flesh of both Hyeonmu and Teacher.

“That was an interesting attempt. I almost died.”

Teacher muttered, wiping the wound on his cheek. It was a wound he had never seen before.

The moment Hyeonmu saw it, he realized.

He turned back time again.

The plan to use the Ego Weapon to ambush him while Teacher was talking must have been somewhat successful. But it didn’t inflict a fatal blow.

At best, just a wound on the cheek.

But Hyeonmu had now lost all his cards.

At least, that’s how it looked in Teacher’s eyes.

***

Hyeonmu was constantly thinking, even while Teacher was talking.

The tearful story was irrelevant. Hyeonmu wasn’t very interested in other people’s misfortunes.

But he was very interested in other people’s weaknesses.

Hyeonmu focused on the wound on Teacher’s cheek.

‘If that bastard has the ability to turn back time, why is the wound on his cheek still there?’

It was a very simple and straightforward question.

And another thing, that bastard’s mask.

Hyeonmu blamed himself for missing this.

If he had the ability to turn back time and prepare, he could have just turned back time when his mask was destroyed by the Ego Weapon.

But that bastard didn’t do that.

From then on, that bastard started to act passively and defensively.

‘That bastard’s ability isn’t omnipotent.’

Hyeonmu realized the flaw in the ‘ability to turn back time.’

Teacher speaks as if he knows the future and prepares for it, but that’s not it at all.

He ‘experiences the future’ and then returns.

To use a dice analogy, it’s just re-rolling a dice that has already been rolled.

However, the time and energy spent to roll the dice again do not come back.

‘Even if all time is turned back, only that bastard’s time continues to flow.’

Injuries sustained are not healed. An old body does not become younger.

The future cannot be known unless he experiences it directly.

A way to nail down someone who can turn back time to the present.

That is to make the situation worse and worse as time goes backward.

‘But how?’

Hyeonmu was trapped in the black abyss, and his body could be torn apart at any moment. First, he had to get out of here immediately.

Teacher slowly tightened the abyss towards Hyeonmu.

“Then die here, Kang Hyeonmu. I’ve grown fond of you, so I’ll kill you in one go.”

“Wait, just one question. I’ve always been curious.”

“I’ll make up your last words appropriately. Usually, people try to listen to those things and get backstabbed. We’re the same person anyway, right?”

“Even though I saved Lee Seo-yeon’s life?”

Teacher paused for a moment.

In Difficulty: Hell, Lee Seo-yeon was in a romantic relationship with Teacher. Of course, it seems she wasn’t only in a relationship with Teacher, but there must have been some intertwined story.

Hyeonmu was sure that if he was a deeply affectionate romantic like himself, he would definitely listen.

“I should have just killed her.”

“…I guess it wasn’t as romantic as I thought. But you’ll at least listen to a question, right?”

“You’re talking too much. Go ahead and babble.”

Teacher was openly letting his guard down.

The very fact that he was preparing to listen meant that this very moment was the ‘first’ future for Teacher.

Hyeonmu prepared himself and opened his mouth.

“Tell me honestly.”

“What?”

Then, he stabbed straight into the most sensitive complex that Teacher had.

“You… you’ve never actually seen Difficulty: Hell, have you?”