Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 343

Extranumeral 5.

A Special Hell for You (1)

…He slammed his iron staff into the ground, creating a massive hole. Then, he swept the giants into it.

“If there is a single good person among you, you may emerge from this hole before the next year dawns. But tell the giants, none of you will escape.”

Now, you will have no peace.

***

There was a rumor about an old hunter’s cabin, nestled deep within a dense forest, being haunted.

No one knew who built it or when, but the village at the foot of the mountain was full of legends surrounding the cabin.

And sometimes, new legends were created by curious children who dared to approach.

The children who approached the cabin claimed to hear unintelligible prayers coming from within.

Some called it a curse, others a wail. The adults would scold the children, but no one ventured up the mountain to investigate.

They simply looked up at the mountain with fearful eyes.

“…By the power of the Most High, I speak. O spirit wandering the void, O flesh, O you who exist in all places where matter is absent, in His name…”

Inside the cabin, in the basement.

The sound of incessant chanting leaked from the moldy room.

Most of it was lost in the wind whistling through the cracks in the walls, but those with keen ears could hear the whispers even from the foot of the mountain.

“…In the name of He who proves existence through absence. In the name of He who blossoms destruction in every place where blood is spilled, the master of all that is old, the mother of all that fades…”

The old man, clad in rags, paused momentarily in his ceaseless chanting.

The next words were so daunting that even he, who had meticulously prepared for this moment, hesitated to utter them.

But for the spell to take effect and create a rift in the universe, the name had to be whispered into the cosmos.

The old man whispered the name in a voice barely audible even to himself.

“In the name of the Bleeding Head, Rosamunde Amunde.”

The moment he whispered the name, the old man felt the space around him ripple and undulate.

It was not an illusion.

Space was actually dissolving, blurring the boundaries between the material and the immaterial.

Animal bones were being buried in stone, and pillars began to tilt, merging with the walls.

The old man felt dizzy and nearly collapsed, but he managed to grab hold of the wall. If he failed here, he would die a dog’s death.

The old man desperately continued.

“I who know the name can convey my voice to you, so answer! O Star that Conquers!”

At that moment, the dissolution of space ceased.

The old man felt a powerful surge of mana [magical energy] flooding into the basement.

After a long time, the mana drenched his entire body. The old man inhaled deeply, like a traveler in the desert finding an oasis.

[You’re insane to whisper that name so recklessly.]

And the old man saw the candle he had lit flare up dramatically.

The candle swelled in size in an instant. The wax melted away quickly from the heat, but the flame did not extinguish.

Unable to withstand the heat, the old man covered his face and hurriedly retreated.

“O Star that Conquers, please lower the heat.”

The flame glared at the old man mockingly, turning the basement walls red-hot.

[Ah, that half-baked world. I didn’t know there were still priests left there.]

The Star that Conquers, Ardan, did not lower the heat of the flame. The basement, which had become as hot as a sauna, soon reached a temperature that the old man could not bear.

The old man wanted to run out immediately, but he couldn’t. Ardan was his only hope.

[The game ended in a mess as the priests all died off. I gave up because there was no progress. But it was fortunate since my proxy was dead anyway. I had forgotten, but to call me out by selling the name of the Bleeding Head. What’s going on?]

Ardan seemed more curious than angry.

It was a good sign for the old man.

He might pretend to have forgotten everything, but the Star that Conquers would never easily give up an unconquered territory.

Especially if it was a territory where he had been defeated.

“O Star that Conquers, there is a way to offer this territory to you.”

Ardan momentarily flared up the flame, then lowered the heat again when the old man showed signs of distress.

The heat was lowered to a level that the old man could endure, but the smell of burning permeated the basement.

[Are you saying you want to resume the game?]

“No, O Star that Conquers. Most of the Thistle Crown Council is dead, and no one knows if anyone besides me is even alive. Furthermore, the summoning of the stars has been suspended, and mana is drying up in this land. Naturally, the dungeons are also being closed.”

It was a terrible situation for the priests, who could only exert their power in dungeons.

Once the dungeons were closed, the priests were no different from ordinary humans.

The old man was one of the priests who had escaped from the dungeon.

[Then the game cannot continue.]

“The game is no longer necessary. The game was merely conducted for the purpose of our Thistle Crown Council. But now the organization is gone, and I am the only one left.”

The old man raised his turbid, gray eyes and shouted, gazing at the flame.

“By the power of the Bleeding Head, with the wisdom and knowledge of all the Thistle priests, I will open the way for you.”

Ardan flickered the flame without a word. The old man grew impatient and urged Ardan on.

“O Star that Conquers, conquer as you should. Burn their bountiful wheat fields with your flames. Gift these weaklings with ashes and flocks of crows.”

The old man banged his head on the floor and shouted.

“I will help your conquest manifest in this land!”

***

Kang Hyun-woo felt like he wanted to light a cigarette, but he didn’t smoke.

Because it was bad for his health.

Instead, Hyun-woo rolled a caramel around in his mouth and asked Yoo-min again.

“What did your father do?”

“Drug dealer.”

The late afternoon sunlight, stretching lazily into the living room, was soft.

The house, rebuilt after the ghost mansion was destroyed, was designed with a warmer and more comfortable atmosphere to suit Yoo-min’s taste.

In that cozy living room, the two men and women were snuggled together like lazy cats, but the conversation was not.

Hyun-woo thought Yoo-min was joking because she answered so readily.

But her expression was calm, and she didn’t seem to care much.

As she acted like it was no big deal, Hyun-woo also felt like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Did Dr. Do Won-kyung know?”

“He said he hid him from the Philippine police and that’s how they got together. My mother is a bit… of a romantic.”

Hyun-woo recalled Dr. Do Won-kyung saying that she ‘takes after her mother and is attracted to dangerous people.’

He thought he should ask about Yoo-min’s father at that time, but he never imagined he would have such a past.

No, still, a drug dealer.

“For the record, he was strict with himself and the people around him, so my mother never even touched drugs. He even put his partner in rehab for touching the merchandise.”

“You… told me… all of that.”

“I was close to my dad.”

Yoo-min smiled as if recalling a memory.

“And doesn’t everyone dream of becoming a drug lord of a giant cartel in the second year of middle school?”

“Well, yeah.”

Hyun-woo agreed.

In fact, it might be uncomfortable that his father-in-law was a criminal, but he was already dead.

Besides, when compared to Hyun-woo’s own father, it was difficult to tell which one was more trash. At least Yoo-min’s father was devoted to his family.

Besides, Kang Hyun-woo himself didn’t have the audacity to condemn someone as a criminal.

Especially Yoo-min’s father.

“He was preparing to retire, gradually reducing the scale of his operations after he got married and had me… but then something went wrong with a deal one day. He went to the Philippines and never came back. His last appearance was when he entered the dungeon… If a drug dealer went into the dungeon and didn’t come out, it’s obvious.”

The dungeon was like an extraterritorial zone.

Therefore, it was also a safe place for transactions where you could avoid the eyes of public power.

But conversely, it meant that you couldn’t receive the protection of public power no matter what happened inside.

You couldn’t know if he was attacked by a trading partner or a monster.

Of course, in normal cases.

“The Philippines.”

The Southeast Asian region is under the control of the South China Union, but Lee Seo-yeon, the power behind the South China Union, is virtually moving as Hyun-woo’s subordinate.

If Hyun-woo ordered it, she would search through decades of data and find records of the incident.

The dungeon was likely already closed, but they might be able to find out about the trading partner.

“Hmm, do you want revenge?”

“Revenge?”

Yoo-min looked at Hyun-woo in disbelief.

“Seriously, oppa [term of endearment used by a younger woman to an older man]. Dad was a serious criminal who deserved to be struck by lightning on the street. Dreaming of revenge because such a person died is shameless, no matter how much I liked my dad. I just think it was karma.”

Frank.

He also thought it was like Yoo-min.

At the same time, it reminded him of the things that he and Yoo-min were doing directly and indirectly. Then, naturally, Hyun-woo had a question.

He wondered if it was okay to ask, but his curiosity was greater.

“Yoo-min, then…”

At that moment, the phone rang. Hyun-woo was annoyed and tried to turn off the phone, but Yoo-min snatched it first.

“It’s Lee Ji-tae. He’s called three times now, why don’t you answer it?”

“It’s probably a useless regular report. No, why is the Chrome Tactical Team Leader reporting to me? Tell him to take care of Renian. I heard he’s sensitive these days.”

Yoo-min looked at Hyun-woo and clicked her tongue.

“Poor Lee Ji-tae. They say the saddest love in the world is unrequited love.”

“What are you talking about?”

“And stop calling Adam Fault Renian. It’s confusing. Seriously, who names a person after a dog because they weren’t allowed to raise one?”

Yoo-min answered the phone instead of Hyun-woo.

When Yoo-min said hello, Lee Ji-tae seemed momentarily flustered and didn’t answer. But soon he realized it was Yoo-min.

[It’s Yoo-min. Can you put Kang Hyun-woo on the phone?]

Yoo-min glanced at Hyun-woo, who was lying on her lap with his head on her lap. Hyun-woo was covering his ears and shaking his head.

“Can’t you tell me? I can tell him right away. No. Just tell me. I’ll put it on speakerphone.”

[It’s such a sensitive matter… No, never mind. I’ll just go and tell him in person. That would be faster.]

“Coming in person?”

Hyun-woo’s reaction was late. Because at that moment, there was already a thud outside.

With a loud landing sound, the forest shook all at once, and flocks of birds flew up.

Lee Ji-tae, holding a cell phone outside, was seen folding his wings of light.

***

“I was already visiting. I couldn’t just go to the house without contacting you, so I was walking from around the area.”

“Then it wasn’t that urgent.”

Lee Ji-tae looked at Kang Hyun-woo in disbelief.

In an era where dungeons were disappearing, Chrome was now almost acting as an international police force.

As problems caused by dungeons and monsters disappeared, the crimes of ability users began to stand out.

Originally, this was the job of the UN Special Inspection Department, but after the unexpected accident that wiped out the top management of the Special Inspection Department, Chrome took over the job.

“Does Chrome look like it has so little to do?”

“If it was really busy, you would have told me the business first without pushing and pulling. What is it?”

Lee Ji-tae sighed and opened his mouth.

“We have confirmed the Jerusalem branch of the ability user terrorist group, the Inverse Cross Order. We plan to start striking within 20 days. And we have completely eliminated the Doppelgangers leaked from Philadelphia, and we have confirmed that the 4-star dungeon in Kazakhstan completely disappeared today. It disappeared quietly without any monster leaks.”

“Damn it, it’s a regular report! Just do it yourself! Why are you reporting to me?”

“…Doesn’t it occur to you that the Kazakhstan dungeon has disappeared?”

“Why?”

Lee Ji-tae sighed once again. Then he threw a document he was holding onto the table.

Hyun-woo looked at the document and immediately realized what Lee Ji-tae wanted to say.

“It was the last 4-star dungeon left in the world.”

“That’s right. And it was the place where the surviving priest was most likely to be hiding.”

A priest.

Those who summoned the stars to this world and started the game.

And those who tried to seize the power of the world through Chrome.

Their ultimate goal was none of Hyun-woo’s business, but most of them died during the UN Special Inspection Department incident.

Hyun-woo and Yoo-min had been paying close attention to the possibility that there were surviving priests.

In fact, they had discovered a small number of priests, but as Hyun-woo lost the power of the apocalypse, there was almost no way to eliminate them.

Fortunately, the dungeon was slowly drying up, and there were thousands of ‘End’ attribute bullets that Yoo-min had made in advance.

“Did he just choose to be trapped inside and disappear with the dungeon?”

“If not, he had already escaped before we established the blockade.”

It was possible. Hyun-woo thought he knew why Lee Ji-tae had come.

“A surviving priest is wandering around… but he’s just an ordinary human. The priests’ abilities only work inside the dungeon.”

“If it was just that, I would have taken care of it myself. But some strange things are happening in that area.”

Lee Ji-tae gestured to the document Hyun-woo was holding. When Hyun-woo turned the page, he saw things like claw marks that had scorched the trees.

Hyun-woo could recognize the traces at a glance.

“Monster. It’s one of Ardan’s familiars.”