Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 318

318. The Best Future (5)

Hyun-woo couldn’t give a proper answer to the Teacher’s question.

‘Because I went to Hell.’

Monstriel’s identity was revealed, and Gaul tried to kill her but failed.

Gaul relentlessly attacked Hyun-woo, pushing him to the brink of death. But Hyun-woo ascended to a strange level, awakening new characteristics of the Venomous Blood.

And after meeting Adam Fault in Difficulty: Hell, he heard the story about the owner of the Return Stone. And he coveted Adam Fault and declared that he would take her as his subordinate.

…There were too many things to consider.

‘Is it discovering that Lee Seo-yeon is Monstriel’s proxy? Or Gaul’s identity? Or the Venomous Blood awakening with the blood of a beast? Or deciding to take Adam Fault as a subordinate?’

Perhaps it’s not just one or two factors, but all of them.

How could he know how the future would flow? It’s the Teacher, not Hyun-woo, who’s meddling with the past.

Hyun-woo had no intention of taking responsibility for things he didn’t know.

“Don’t know.”

Hyun-woo could be as shameless as he wanted when it came to things he didn’t need to take responsibility for.

“How would I know, you brat? Whatever I do, I must have a good reason for doing it. But I have a rough guess.”

“You have a guess?”

The Teacher asked, his voice laced with anticipation. Hyun-woo scratched his cheek and said.

“You said I sacrificed myself heroically and died. Honestly, there’s no way I would choose such a future. Isn’t it because there was some trigger that made me not want to sacrifice myself heroically?”

The Teacher looked like he had been struck dumb.

He hadn’t even considered such an easy and simple answer. But Hyun-woo found it even stranger that the Teacher hadn’t thought of it.

The Teacher is Hyun-woo himself.

Although he’s older, his hair is white, and he feels a little less robust, the fundamentals wouldn’t have changed.

“No, wouldn’t it be the same for you? Can’t you just sacrifice yourself? Why are you passing it on to me?”

“What? This is your world. So, of course, you should sacrifice yourself. Are you refusing even though you’ll be honored as a hero and hundreds of millions of people will commemorate you?”

“Oh, geez. What does it mean to gild my tombstone? Am I going to take it to the afterlife?”

Hyun-woo glared at the Teacher with an unpleasant expression.

“And also. If you’re going to turn a blind eye because it’s someone else’s world, why are you being so nosy? Just go back to your hell—no, you said you came from Difficulty: Nightmare, right? Anyway, get out of here to that sewer.”

“Oh, come on… Are you ultimately going to give up the future where countless humans can save their lives and live peacefully for your own greed! While constantly triggering endless wars!”

“No, if you like sacrifice so much, then you sacrifice yourself. Not only external intervention, but also someone who knows the future can change the flow, right? You’d be better at it than me!”

“No…”

The Teacher and Hyun-woo bickered, glaring at each other. But their inner thoughts were the same.

*I don’t want to sacrifice myself for the world.*

*You do it.*

There would be no problem at all if they were willing to do it themselves.

The problem was that the only two people who had that possibility were two Kang Hyun-woos.

“You don’t care if your precious people live in such a miserable future?!”

“It doesn’t seem that miserable. Isn’t it just the ordinary history of Earth repeating itself?”

The Teacher stared at Hyun-woo with his mouth wide open. Hyun-woo had no idea what the problem was.

Perhaps something is fundamentally different.

The person who saw the best future and the person who just got out of the mire [a situation or state of difficulty, distress, or embarrassment from which it is hard to extricate oneself].

“Everyone just lives the way they used to. What utopia are you talking about now? What’s miserable is the sewer you came from.”

Hyun-woo looked at the Teacher with an expression as if he was looking at a cockroach crawling out of the sewer.

“Even if it’s hell, it’s ‘my’ hell. It’s not something you should covet. You disgusting pervert.”

No matter what excuse he makes, the Teacher’s words ultimately mean that he will take over that future after Hyun-woo dies.

No matter how much he packages it as being for the sake of humanity or for the greater good, he couldn’t hide his disgusting intentions.

Especially to Kang Hyun-woo, who is the person involved.

Hyun-woo spat out his last words to the Teacher, who was so stiff that he felt brittle.

“Just die cleanly, and if you go to hell, just have a mental victory saying that it’s heaven. Because that’s the only best future you can have.”

***

“You’re an unrepentant bastard.”

“You’re a bastard with no future.”

When the Teacher retorted sharply, Hyun-woo replied smoothly.

If words don’t work, there’s no need to talk for long.

The Teacher sighed deeply and moved the Abyss again. The Abyss, which had been scattered into fragments, wriggled like a liquid and was swelling up again.

“I didn’t know I was such an annoying guy when I was young.”

“No. Looking at it now, I’m still annoying even when I get older.”

Endless self-loathing, no, hatred collided at the same time.

However, compared to the Teacher’s Abyss, Hyun-woo’s Beast of the End was much smaller and unbalanced.

Hyun-woo felt that the black smoke, which was the basis of his power, had become much thinner. He had been feeling it since earlier.

‘That bastard is taking it away.’

The Teacher didn’t use the Beast of the End first. When Hyun-woo used it, he used that black smoke to create the Abyss.

The higher the density and volume of the Abyss, the weaker the power of the black smoke became.

‘Could it be that he can’t use the Beast of the End alone?’

Just holding and maintaining the Beast of the End that Hyun-woo created. That might be the Teacher’s limit.

If that’s true, Hyun-woo had created a weapon and handed it to the Teacher. But that fact gave Hyun-woo another possibility.

‘Could it be that the thing that scratched that bastard’s face…’

“You seem to have enough余裕 [leeway; margin; room] to fight while thinking about other things?”

The moment the Teacher suddenly whispered, the Abyss formed tentacles and wrapped around Hyun-woo’s body.

The tentacles swung Hyun-woo and slammed him into the floor as if to cut him in half.

A strong shock shook Hyun-woo’s body. Blood burst from Hyun-woo’s mouth.

“Even if you try to trick me, do you think your basic skills will go anywhere? I was already overwhelming you. Even if I can’t kill you right now, it’s the same.”

The fortunate thing was that the Teacher was hesitating to deal a finishing blow to Hyun-woo.

However, apart from not being able to finish it, the Teacher had more than enough power and skill to overwhelm Hyun-woo.

Hyun-woo’s only way to win was to desperately rack his brains.

‘Let’s try step by step for now.’

Hyun-woo summoned the Ego Weapon while using the Beast of the End. The Ego Weapon, summoned to match the size of the Beast of the End, was much larger and more bizarrely twisted.

Hyun-woo was embarrassed by the appearance that seemed more like a scythe than a spear, but he didn’t have time to think about such things, so he immediately swung it and cut off the surrounding tentacles.

The Teacher frowned as if this was annoying.

But he had no reason to worry.

The Teacher turned back time to about 3 seconds ago.

It was the moment Hyun-woo was using the Ego Weapon. The Teacher concentrated his attack on his wrist and instantly cut off the beast’s arm.

Hyun-woo was dumbfounded and dropped the Ego Weapon on the floor. The Teacher quickly snatched the Ego Weapon into the Abyss.

The murderous intent that was transmitted with a buzzing sound was enough to make his body tingle.

Hyun-woo screamed in anger.

“You son of a bitch, if we had fought fairly, I would have already won!”

“Since when have you ever fought fairly?”

“…Don’t hit me with facts in a cowardly way, let’s win with fabrication and propaganda!”

“Fabrication and propaganda are good.”

Hyun-woo rushed towards the Teacher again, but he couldn’t even take two steps.

The Abyss, at the same time as cutting off the beast’s wrist, immediately took control of the beast’s body once again through the cut surface of the wound.

Hyun-woo tried to burst the Abyss once again, but this time the intensity and volume were much thicker.

The Teacher held the Ego Weapon towards the captured Hyun-woo.

“How many times will similar situations have to be repeated before you stop, Kang Hyun-woo? Aren’t you bored?”

“I’m not bored at all.”

Hyun-woo replied, grinding his teeth.

“But you seem to have seen roughly similar situations more than a hundred times, but seeing as you haven’t succeeded even once, aren’t you the one who’s bored? At this point, won’t you give up?”

“That’s right. It’s boring. It’s extremely boring. This is the first time I’ve had such a boring fight.”

The Teacher looked at Lee Ji-tae with an annoyed expression. At the right timing, Hyun-woo’s black smoke weakened, and the power of the Omni-Alliance Hunters was also weakening.

Lee Ji-tae strongly pushed back Song Yeo-un and Seo Ji-hoo in an instant. Their injuries were not small.

However, instead of finishing them off, Lee Ji-tae rushed towards the Teacher.

Lee Ji-tae was dirty with blood and mud, but there were almost no visible injuries. He didn’t look tired either.

He looked surprised when he saw the huge scar on the Teacher’s face.

“Teacher, your face…”

“If you had killed them and come earlier, this might not have happened.”

“…Didn’t the Teacher say that the best future will come if everyone does their part in their respective positions?”

“I know. I’m just saying it because I’m disappointed.”

The Teacher knew that Lee Ji-tae would not kill them. After all, there was a separate role he expected from him.

He turned his head to look at Hyun-woo and handed Lee Ji-tae the Ego Weapon that Hyun-woo had summoned.

Lee Ji-tae accepted the huge scythe and looked back and forth between Hyun-woo and the Teacher with a bewildered expression.

“But you have to distinguish between the people you have to kill and the people you don’t.”

***

Lee Ji-tae took a breath.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t killed a single person until now.

While rising to the top, he had already experienced killing, whether it was a mistake, a grudge, or an unavoidable circumstance.

“Yes, but…”

“I know that your standards are strict and that you don’t wield a sword simply because someone is evil. But what about this reason? To stop an evil person who will bring hell to the world.”

Hyun-woo was completely restrained and glaring at the Teacher.

This time, the Abyss was also focusing on restraint itself rather than penetration, so there was no room for Hyun-woo to destroy it.

And Lee Ji-tae, holding the Ego Weapon that could slaughter Hyun-woo, was standing in front of him.

“Kill Kang Hyun-woo, Lee Ji-tae. You must have already made up your mind.”

Lee Ji-tae looked at Kang Hyun-woo with trembling eyes.

That’s right. He was prepared.

If he had to kill Kang Hyun-woo, he would have to do it with his own hands.

But he didn’t expect it to be like this.

To unilaterally execute a miserably captured prisoner.

Lee Ji-tae wanted to surpass Kang Hyun-woo.

He wanted to be recognized by him for his skills.

‘If this is Kang Hyun-woo’s end…’

He blankly stared at the Ego Weapon in his hand.

‘Is this really my most shining moment?’

A scene of executing a prisoner?

Then the Teacher put his hand on Lee Ji-tae’s shoulder.

“You’re not thinking of repeating the mistake of Pyongyang, are you, Lee Ji-tae?”

Lee Ji-tae clenched the Ego Weapon tightly. At that time, he trusted Hyun-woo, was betrayed, and almost killed.

If the Teacher hadn’t saved him, he would have become a corpse without this opportunity.

“I’m going to make you a star, Lee Ji-tae. You are my best future. I dream of such a beautiful world that you dream of.”

The Teacher whispered, pressing down on Lee Ji-tae’s shoulders with both hands.

As if he believed in him.

As if the coin must land on heads.

“But for that, there is definitely a line you have to cross. I would like to cross that line for you if possible…”

The Teacher glared at Hyun-woo with an annoyed expression.

“Sometimes, that’s not possible.”

“…A star?”

Lee Ji-tae said with trembling lips.

He knew what the Teacher meant.

An absolute territory filled with his ideals.

Many of those who joined the alliance dreamed of their own utopia.

Among them, the Teacher was telling Lee Ji-tae that he would give up that glorious position.

But Lee Ji-tae thought something was wrong.

In Lee Ji-tae’s own utopia, could this kind of thing happen?

At least it shouldn’t be in the form of executing Hyun-woo like this.

Lee Ji-tae made a firm decision and turned to look at the Teacher.

“Teacher, at least release Kang Hyun-woo’s restraints…”

At that moment, Lee Ji-tae saw the Teacher’s expression. He was looking at Lee Ji-tae with an expression of annoyance that had risen to the top of his head.

“How many times, how do I have to persuade you to listen?”

“Yes? How many times?”

Lee Ji-tae was wondering what the Teacher was talking about for a moment, then Hyun-woo opened his mouth.

“That bastard is a bit of a cancer. You won’t be able to persuade him with just one or two regressions [returning to a previous state]. But to regress that much, did you get pissed off and beat him to death?”

Lee Ji-tae looked at the Teacher with a dazed expression. And soon he realized that he had ‘flipped the coin.’

Until the conclusion that he would obediently kill Kang Hyun-woo came out.

But even in that attempt, which he didn’t know how many times, Lee Ji-tae didn’t kill Kang Hyun-woo.

“That’s it. You’re much weaker and more indecisive than the Lee Ji-tae I know. I don’t need you, so get out of here…”

The Teacher tried to push Lee Ji-tae away and take away the Ego Weapon.

But Hyun-woo didn’t miss the moment when the Teacher took a step forward.

Perhaps that timing that Hyun-woo had been desperately waiting for in the time that the Teacher had turned back several times.

The Abyss, which had been restraining Hyun-woo, suddenly soared like a thorny skewer. It was an attack that accurately targeted the Teacher’s heart.

The Teacher’s reaction, who had thought that Hyun-woo was completely incapacitated, was delayed.

“Keuk… !”

But there was one person who was faster than that.

In a precarious moment, Lee Ji-tae, who had read the future by a narrow margin, pushed the Teacher away.