Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 4

4. The First Night in Hell (3)

“What?”

Hyeon-woo’s eyes snapped open.

Blood Poison? He wasn’t exactly an expert on Hunter items or skills, but he knew a little. It wasn’t the skill’s name that surprised him, but the fact that it was a ‘rare skill.’

Like items, skills were generally categorized into common, rare, and the exceptionally rare legendary skills. Legendary skills were so scarce that their existence was mostly just rumored.

Even possessing a rare skill was enough to cause a stir, with clans scrambling to recruit the holder. All the prominent figures had rare skills.

In Korea, Lee Ji-tae, leader of the Taesung Clan; Park Do-ryeong, representative of the Howan Mama Clan; and Oh Dae-seong of the National Ability Association all possessed rare skills.

‘But I have a rare skill?’

He didn’t bother pinching his cheek to check if it was a dream. He’d experienced enough pain to know better. Hyeon-woo cautiously sat up. His legs felt stiff, but the agonizing pain and paralyzing helplessness were gone.

“Kkeueung…….”

Hyeon-woo groaned properly for the first time. It felt like a sign he was alive. He didn’t know how, but he’d survived the fine dust.

“……What happened?”

Hyeon-woo mumbled, but there was no reply. Obviously. Still, he could make some guesses.

‘Could it be that diligently ‘eating’ the fine dust counted as defeating it, and I developed resistance? And that resistance concentrated into Blood Poison?’

It sounded absurd, but there was no other explanation. Ability users sometimes awakened skills during extreme stress or life-threatening situations.

‘If it’s a life-threatening crisis, I’ve had plenty. No, I died completely.’

Hyeon-woo sighed. Either way, he wouldn’t die just from breathing anymore. Maybe this was what it meant to level up just by breathing.

Though he died thirty times trying to breathe properly.

‘People would laugh if I said I fought and won against fine dust.’

But Hyeon-woo couldn’t laugh. And if anyone did, he’d break their cheekbones.

He also vowed to wear a mask whenever a fine dust warning was issued.

Hyeon-woo moved, the feeling unfamiliar. Maybe it was his imagination, but his body still felt stiff and his insides twisted. He felt the return stone [a magical artifact used to transport the user back to their original world] rattling against his chest. For a moment, he wanted to rip it off and throw it away.

But since it brought him here, it might be the only way back.

Hyeon-woo was convinced this place was a parallel world, or some bizarre dungeon. If he accepted it as reality, he felt he’d lose all hope.

Hyeon-woo barely resisted grabbing the return stone.

“Damn it, where the hell is this…….”

He finally had a chance to examine his surroundings. Judging by the broken signs and faded letters on the road, it was somewhere in South Korea. The colors were faded and the writing was worn, but it felt like Seoul.

The problem was, Seoul was in ruins.

‘Did a war break out?’

Before the dungeons appeared, he might have assumed North Korea invaded. But North Korea was wiped out when the 5-star Baekdu dungeon went haywire.

There were rumors of a nuclear bomb detonating inside the dungeon, but they were dismissed.

‘If control failed and monsters poured out of the North, then it would be like North Korea invaded.’

He didn’t know how Seoul ended up like this. For now, Hyeon-woo kept moving and observing.

Once he could move freely, the first thing he noticed was the crystal moss. He knew picking it up was pointless if the country was destroyed. But as a gatherer, he couldn’t resist the crystal moss, which would be a jackpot even in small amounts.

Crystal moss usually grew in places with abundant mana [magical energy], like dungeons. Ability users used mana for skills, item creation, and enhancing their abilities.

To replenish mana, they drank potions made from crystal moss or stayed in dungeons. Judging by the size of the crystal moss here, the mana was incredibly concentrated.

Hyeon-woo broke off a piece and held it. It was firm and smooth, but felt fragile enough to break easily, and it had a subtle sweet scent.

It was real, high-purity crystal moss, not the residue he usually saw. And it was scattered on the roadside like weeds.

“I wish this was real.”

Hyeon-woo muttered. Like how your mood changes when you enter and leave the bathroom, he became greedy as he felt more alive. He started to put it in his pocket, regretfully. Then, he heard a narrator’s voice.

[Would you like to collect the crystal moss?]

“Uh…… sure.”

The moment he answered, the crystal moss vanished.

[Inventory has been activated.]

Hyeon-woo was startled by the disappearance, but then he understood ‘inventory.’

He could clearly sense the crystal moss through a strange sensation, neither tactile nor visual. He felt he could retrieve it quickly, like an item in his pocket. When he tried, the crystal moss magically appeared in his hand.

[Crystal Moss. Condition: Top. Crystal Form. Weight: 1.16kg.]

“Huh, it can do all sorts of things.”

Hyeon-woo tilted his head.

‘Do ordinary ability users have this inventory function?’

No. He was sure of it. That’s why there were porters who carried loot and consumables.

Hyeon-woo wondered if the inventory was a unique skill, but he couldn’t confirm it. For now, he decided to collect crystal moss without holding back.

“I should make a fortune first.”

Hyeon-woo stuffed the crystal moss into his inventory. It was everywhere, more abundant than in any dungeon. He decided to enjoy the moment like he was playing a game.

He leveled up, collected crystal moss to his heart’s content, and even got a rare skill. He’d enjoy it until he died.

***

How much had he filled the inventory? He heard an unpleasant notification.

[Inventory is full. You have reached the weight limit.]

He checked and saw it was filled with 56kg of crystal moss. A number he’d never seen.

Even on his best day, he barely got over 300g. He couldn’t imagine 56kg. Yet his body felt light.

‘It feels strange.’

He thought he’d feel better if he brought this back to reality. Hyeon-woo roughly calculated the value of the crystal moss. Unrealistic numbers danced in his head.

‘Too many zeros.’

It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t matter now. Maybe he should look for something more useful. Hyeon-woo looked around and saw something odd.

“Huh?”

It was a small rectangular box.

He thought it was cigarettes, but it was smaller. The color was faded, but it said 「Caramel」. He couldn’t tell how far past the expiration date it was.

Hyeon-woo hesitated. Was this another trap, ‘Hell Caramel?’ Or a test of human dignity?

Hyeon-woo didn’t really like caramel. Especially not caramel that had been on the floor for years. But he felt like he hadn’t tasted real food in weeks, or centuries.

Especially something sweet.

‘What the heck.’

Hyeon-woo unwrapped one and popped it into his mouth. He died from fine dust, so expired caramel wouldn’t be surprising, but he didn’t care.

The caramel was old and hard to melt. But as it rolled around, it absorbed his saliva and released its hidden sugar.

The sweet sensation he hadn’t tasted in weeks flooded his mouth.

Hyeon-woo shuddered. It was a sweetness he’d never experienced.

‘Oh my god.’

Every cell seemed to crave sugar, rushing towards the caramel. He couldn’t even swallow, as if he couldn’t waste a drop.

He suspected the caramel had a drug-like effect in this hell.

Tears welled up.

The world he left behind seemed condensed in this caramel. Affection for that world, which had felt cruel, grew rapidly. Compared to this hell, how sweet and beautiful that place was.

‘I will definitely go back.’

Hyeon-woo made a new resolution. And he vowed to buy a box of caramel and savor each piece when he returned.

***

No matter how carefully he melted it, he couldn’t eat it forever. Hyeon-woo sadly swallowed the last of the sweetness and looked at the box. He vowed to eat one only on special occasions.

Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The clouds seemed lower. And they moved unnaturally, regardless of the wind.

“Huh? No way…….”

Then, he heard an annoying noise. Hyeon-woo paled. It was a familiar noise.

“That, that, is that what I’m thinking it is?”

[Mosquito (LV 3) has appeared.]

[Due to the effect of the ‘Strongest in Hell’ title, stats are increased relative to level.]

“No, what! Damn it!”

Thousands, no, tens of thousands of mosquitoes covered the streets like fog. Hyeon-woo didn’t have time to react.

First fine dust, now mosquitoes.

Suddenly, he felt a stinging sensation on his left arm. A red-striped mosquito the size of his palm sat there, its belly swelling with blood.

“You little bastard!”

Hyeon-woo screamed and slapped it. But it didn’t die easily.

Only after hitting it several times did blood splatter onto his arm. It felt like he’d burst a blood pack, not a mosquito.

That meant spreading the smell of blood. Hundreds of mosquitoes swarmed him. Hyeon-woo imagined becoming a mummy.

“Keuk!”

The bite swelled up, burning. Hyeon-woo didn’t know if he’d become a mummy or a swollen corpse torn apart by mosquitoes.

“No, what kind of mosquito is this!”

Hyeon-woo thrashed, rolling to keep them off. Despite his efforts, they bit him voraciously. His head spun.

Just when he could breathe, he was going to die because of mosquitoes.

But instead of giving up, Hyeon-woo crushed them one by one. He didn’t even hear the level-up message.

Fortunately, they seemed weak, so killing them wasn’t hard. But more kept landing. Soon, Hyeon-woo was swollen and red.

“Keuk, keueuk…….”

His vision darkened. He’d lost too much blood. He was anemic.

[Resistance to bleeding increases slightly.]

[Health has dropped below 10%. Regeneration begins as a perk of the ‘Last Man Standing’ title.]

Hyeon-woo collapsed. He wondered if he’d die here like he did with the fine dust. Dying from mosquitoes after the fine dust. He didn’t know how miserable he was here.

Hell is hell, after all.

[You have died.]

[Total survival time: 00 days 06 hours 18 minutes 01 seconds.]