Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 326

326. LIFE 0 (1)

The first sense to return was smell.

The acrid fine dust filled my lungs, thoroughly polluting my insides.

Feeling the contaminated air dissolve into my blood, Hyun-woo slowly straightened up.

A red sky and unidentified monsters hovering above, countless swarms of mosquitoes.

And a crossroads covered in sand and dust, now only a trace remains.

Normal Difficulty: Hell’s landscape.

“Hmm.”

The attire was the same he wore in Normal Difficulty. Meaning, it was closer to rags than clothes.

But his body was as clean as if he had never been hurt. The eyes that had been destroyed by the Teacher were also perfectly restored.

Hyun-woo recalled his last memory. The moment the Teacher tried to take Lenian from him, Lee Ji-tae stabbed the Teacher in the back with a bamboo spear.

He had no idea why he did that, or what causal relationship led to that happening.

But he remembered that it was absolutely amazing.

Immediately after seeing Lenian impaled by it and disappearing into the abyss, he was caught up in Lee Ji-tae’s attack and thrown out.

Hyun-woo, whose whole body was pierced by Ego Weapons, began to fall in a battered state.

But fortunately, Adam Fault caught him. He even remembered being brought down to the ground.

That was it. He couldn’t remember anything beyond that.

“I’m alive.”

But that was all Hyun-woo felt.

“Ah, right, Lenian.”

Hyun-woo, reminded of Lenian being pierced by Lee Ji-tae’s spear, urgently looked for Lenian.

But Lenian was nowhere to be seen.

However, he didn’t think Lenian was dead. He didn’t even know if Lenian could die in the first place…

“Butler.”

Hyun-woo was startled by the sudden voice and turned his head. Lenian was standing there with a sullen expression.

It was the first time Hyun-woo had seen Lenian looking so dejected.

“Master doesn’t seem to want to destroy the world very much.”

“…Well, usually, right?”

“Then how about Butler? If Butler wants to destroy the world, even as a substitute, I can help.”

“World destruction seems like too grand a dream for me… I prefer a more modest life.”

“Ummm, then let’s modestly enslave all children under the age of 10 and kill everyone else to use as fertilizer for the fields. Don’t teach them knowledge or language, and castrate them all to use them only as slaves for us. Then, slowly, someday Butler’s race will also be destroyed, right?”

“Let’s have a more constructive conversation about that later.”

Hyun-woo, having confirmed that Lenian was safe, looked for his Return Stone to check other things. But he couldn’t find anything.

“Huh?”

The Return Stone was gone.

Hyun-woo felt a chill run down his spine.

It felt like losing his phone, wallet, and passport all at once while traveling.

It was the Return Stone that he never took off, even when bathing or sleeping. He didn’t think he had lost it while fighting.

“Why, Butler?”

“The Return Stone is gone. Ah… could it be.”

Hyun-woo suddenly had a hunch.

When Hyun-woo achieved the ‘Promise’ and became a Star, there was an indication of ‘Remaining Resurrection Count: 1’. It seemed that Hyun-woo had been revived because of that.

He had been confident against the Teacher because he believed in that, but he didn’t expect the Return Stone itself to be destroyed.

‘But didn’t Gaul say that the Return Stone was the Star that turned its back?’

A sudden doubt flashed through Hyun-woo’s mind.

The Shattered Star, Gaul, said that the Return Stone was the Star that turned its back. The Star that turned its back was also the source of the Teacher’s Regression ability.

That meant the Teacher could no longer use the Regression ability.

The problem was that Hyun-woo couldn’t return to Normal Difficulty either.

A wind blew.

The toxic fine dust and the sharp wind that cut through leaves grazed his skin. Lenian asked with a smile full of joy.

“Then is Butler now truly a proper member of ‘Our Home’?”

For the first time in a long time, Hyun-woo felt that Normal Difficulty: Hell was terrible.

It was a place he had even grown fond of, but he had no desire to live there.

“Well, if you live here, you’ll find it’s quite nice, Butler. It’s desolate, barren, full of guys with bloodshot eyes trying to kill each other, and there’s no possibility of life being born. There’s no delicious food or clean air.”

“Which part of that list is nice?”

“Even if Butler is a positive and hopeful person, if you live in a place like this, you’ll definitely want to destroy the world someday.”

Hyun-woo didn’t want to, but he had to nod.

Living in a place like this might be better than destroying the world and hoping for the next life.

But Hyun-woo had no intention of giving up his life so easily.

“Let’s find a way first…”

Then something caught Hyun-woo’s eye.

A small camera sticking out on a sand dune.

Hyun-woo quickly ran and snatched it from the sand.

It was a crab-shaped Lower Golem [a type of artificial being].

The one the Shattered Star, Gaul, used for reconnaissance.

Hyun-woo looked straight at the camera of the guy who was violently hitting his hand and opened his mouth.

“Let’s talk. Gaul. Or should I call you Maria Keller? Anyway, let’s meet.”

***

Gaul’s agent, Maria Keller, surprisingly readily told Hyun-woo a location.

Hyun-woo recalled his conversation with Adam Fault in Normal Difficulty: Hell as he went there.

Maria Keller said she had contracted with the Shattered Star to create a ‘Promise’.

To create a Star that turned its back, the power of a Star with the ability of ‘Division’ was needed.

Of course, that wasn’t all that was needed, but it was an indispensable element to create a Return Stone.

The place Hyun-woo arrived at wasn’t far from the crossroads. It used to be a pretty bustling area.

This place alone remained relatively intact. Except for the fact that there were no people and crystal moss was growing like a forest in places, there were no broken places that stood out.

And in a secluded alley, he found a sign that said ‘Cafe Alpha’. Only that place had lights on, as if it was drawing electricity from somewhere.

Hyun-woo opened the cafe door and went inside.

Like the exterior, the interior was surprisingly clean, with only a little dust accumulated.

Even as the world was being destroyed, this place seemed unaffected.

There was no need to search for Maria. Maria didn’t need to call Hyun-woo either. There weren’t many people.

But there were more than he expected.

Inside the cafe, there was not only Maria Keller but also one other person.

“Welcome, Kang Hyun-woo. Meeting an unexpected person in an unexpected place, isn’t it?”

The Priest of Normal Difficulty: Hell, whom Kang Hyun-woo had met when he used the Return Stone after becoming a Star, was sitting across from Maria Keller.

The male Priest in a pure white suit smiled and vacated the seat next to him.

Hyun-woo frowned and looked at Maria Keller.

He thought Maria Keller was better than sitting next to that unpleasant Priest, but Maria’s condition wasn’t very good either.

Maria was constantly shattering like a crystal, as he had seen before.

She was constantly and frantically spewing out sharp crystals in all directions, making holes in the chair she was sitting on.

Hyun-woo hesitated for a moment and decided to just sit next to the unpleasant Priest. He didn’t want to get a hole in his side for no reason.

“Who are you? I only came to meet Maria Keller.”

The Priest smiled and continued.

“I guess I can reveal it now. My name is Isaiah Ren. You might know me as Admiral Ren.”

***

The Priest, who identified himself as Admiral Ren, tapped near his right eye.

It was the very spot where Hyun-woo had implanted the ‘Admiral Ren’s Monocle’.

Hyun-woo realized that the person in front of him was the one who wrote the ‘annotations’ on the descriptions of the items, skills, and monsters he had discovered so far.

He had been wondering who it was, since there were records up to quite recently, but he never thought it would be one of the Priests.

But it also made sense. The Priests were the ones who could observe from an objective position.

“Maria had a prior engagement with me. We’re quite close. She asked if she could call you to the same place since you wanted to meet her.”

“Close, huh… Professor Keller, I knew you had some kind of connection with the Priests. But I didn’t know you were this close.”

The information Maria knew was beyond the level of mere humans, and her intention to act as a Controller was also clearly visible. It would be strange not to suspect her if she knew of the Priests’ existence.

However, Isaiah Ren said as if making an excuse.

“Ah, but it’s not like what you think. We have a purely friendly relationship. Maria hates all the other Priests except me. Frankly speaking, I’m in the same position as Maria.”

“Is Professor Keller someone who can have friendships?”

“Well, everyone has their own story.”

Maria Keller neither affirmed nor denied it. She hadn’t said a word since entering the cafe.

“You seem quite awkward.”

“A relationship where silence isn’t awkward is a truly close relationship.”

Hyun-woo hesitated for a moment.

But the person Hyun-woo wanted to talk to was Maria, Gaul’s agent, not the Priest.

The Priest wasn’t really useful. He would only be a hindrance.

At that moment, a crystal suddenly sprouted on the table and tightly bound Hyun-woo’s hand.

An aura containing the power of the End was swirling at Hyun-woo’s fingertips.

Isaiah Ren smiled awkwardly and stepped back slightly.

“Now you know that Maria at least has goodwill towards me, right?”

“I guess so.”

Hyun-woo broke the crystal and took his hand out again.

He didn’t really intend to kill Isaiah Ren. He was just trying to threaten him.

But if Maria was protecting him, he couldn’t kill him easily.

“So when can we get to the real business? I didn’t come to the cafe to chat. Although that’s why most people come to cafes.”

“First of all, um. I think I need to explain about us Priests.”

“Is it important?”

“It might not be important, but aren’t you at least curious about why we’re running this gambling game and what we’re looking for?”

“It’s fine if it’s not important.”

It was a story that would make scenario writers shed tears of blood, but Kang Hyun-woo was someone who wasn’t interested in the background or worldview even while playing games.

He was more interested in the stats of characters or items.

On the other hand, Isaiah Ren, who seemed like someone who would travel around the world and meticulously collect settings, looked embarrassed.

[Listen.]

At that moment, Maria opened her mouth for the first time. It was a voice in which several voices overlapped and echoed.

[If you don’t listen, Ren will have no one else to tell.]

“Ah, damn it. Fine. Tell me. As short as possible.”

Hyun-woo was in a position to ask Maria for something. Listening to the story wasn’t a difficult task, so he decided to listen for now. Isaiah Ren gave an embarrassed smile.

“Before that, I need to lift the embargo.”

Kiiiiik.

A grating sound like scratching metal was heard in Hyun-woo’s ear.

He didn’t know what had changed, but he somehow felt a little clearer in the head.

“We are the Priests of the Thorn Crown Council.”

“Thorn Crown Council?”

“The name varies from branch to branch, but we are also called the Thorn Tree Priests. What we are looking for, like the other Thorn Tree Priests, is the Nine-Headed Dragon. Among them, a slightly special head.”

“Nine-Headed Dragon? Is it like a Nine-Headed Rat?”

Hyun-woo suddenly thought of the legend the Ratmen were talking about. Seeing that it also had nine heads, he wondered if there was some connection.

Isaiah Ren smiled and continued.

“Well, I think it’s the same target, even though the names are different. In fact, the ‘Dragon’ doesn’t resemble any creature in the world. The Ratmen might think the ‘Dragon’ resembles a rat. But because it doesn’t resemble anything, we gave it the name ‘Dragon’, which is a creature of imagination from the beginning.”

Isaiah Ren fiddled with the empty coffee cup and said.

“We are looking for the ‘Bleeding Head’ among the Dragon’s heads. A head that was cut off from the Nine-Headed Dragon and wanders the universe alone. The only head among the Nine-Headed Dragon that has awakened, and the one who never stops the bleeding pilgrimage throughout the universe. The head that brings destruction to every land its blood touches. Or a dismembered god called by the name of Ro■munde A■de. Please understand that I can’t tell you the full name. If you pronounce it carelessly, monsters from all over the universe might flock to you.”

“Wow, that’s some serious setting nerd stuff. Really. You’ve attached every fancy expression you can find. Do you really have to explain it all one by one? Don’t you have any consideration for the listener?”

[At least pretend to listen if you don’t want to listen. Kang Hyun-woo. Ren has the right to tell the story whether you listen or not.]

Maria Keller snapped as if annoyed by Hyun-woo’s answer. But Isaiah Ren gave a sorry look.

“I wish I could organize and give you a setting book, but the situation isn’t good. More than anything, I need to know if you were curious or not after listening, right? Aren’t you curious about why the people who made the world you lived in this way acted for what reason and for what purpose?”

Hyun-woo let out a long sigh.

“…Okay. So what are you going to do if you find it? Do you want to conquer the world or something?”

“Well. I’ve never met it, but the Bleeding Head won’t be interested in that at all. It wouldn’t listen even if we asked.”

Isaiah Ren said with a bitter expression.

“In fact, the relationship between the Dragon and the Priests is close to a tick living on a cow’s back. The tick might praise the cow, but the cow doesn’t even know the tick exists. It might even find it annoying.”

While belittling the group and purpose they belonged to, he continued to speak bitterly.

“But it might be the heart of small beings to have something that a great and powerful being intends, and to entrust themselves to that power.”

“If the Thorn Whatever Priests are such an annoying place, why are you sticking around?”

“I had no other choice. My hometown ‘ended’. There are many of those among the Priests.”

Isaiah Ren looked out the window.

I couldn’t know what it would feel like for a person who had made his world hell and then completely turned to dust and perished, to be in a group that turned another world to dust, to be looking at the scenery.

“But the Priests each have their own desires. To get their hometown back, or to take revenge on the head. There are also those who just aim to serve.”

“Wait a minute. So the game was held to find that…”

“Yes. The game was a kind of huge filter to find the Bleeding Head from the entire Star. Whether it’s the Bleeding Head itself, or its remains, if you put it on a big sieve and shake it, only the big grains will remain in the end. The Stars can also expand their territory in the process. Our purposes matched.”

“So did you find that Bleeding Head or neck, or whatever it is?”

Isaiah Ren made an awkward expression at Hyun-woo’s words.

“I saw the possibility in you, but it was a waste of time after all. There’s nothing disappointing about it. Over the past thousands of years, we’ve found the beast’s arms, claws, and even blood here, but in the end, it’s just the remains that the Bleeding Head dropped.”

Hyun-woo was tempted by the words that he saw the possibility in him, but in the end, it meant nothing.

Hyun-woo’s impression was the same as before.

“As expected, it’s a story that’s useless no matter how much you listen to it!”

“Well… that’s right. In the end, it means that what we were looking for wasn’t here.”

“What a waste of time.”

[I don’t know why you’re talking about wasting time. Kang Hyun-woo.]

Maria muttered heavily.

[You’re going to live here with us forever anyway. Continuing to live is already a huge waste of time.]