Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 41

41. Limit Level (1)

Yumin knelt in front of Hyunwoo.

“I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”

“It’s okay if it hurts, just be careful.”

Yumin carefully approached with the syringe, her face etched with obvious tension. This was her first time conducting this experiment, and she couldn’t help but tremble.

She tentatively pressed the needle a few times, then took a deep breath and stepped back. Hyunwoo, unable to watch her hesitation any longer, spoke up.

“Should I just do it myself?”

“Ah, no. I really can do it. Really.”

“You’re making me nervous because you’re so nervous…”

“Don’t be scared, and endure with perseverance.”

He wanted to retort that she was the one who was scared. But Hyunwoo had a long-held belief, dating back to when he was five years old: never argue with someone holding a syringe. So, Hyunwoo decided to focus on something else.

‘Come to think of it, seeing Yumin wearing that gown reminds me of that time…’

When he returned from hell last time, in the bathroom.

Hyunwoo’s mind drifted to her figure, recalling her generous curves and fair skin.

Of course, Yumin would probably complain that her muscles had softened from being stuck in the lab and her skin had become pale from lack of sunlight.

Along with the image, the sensation of her skin began to resurface.

‘Ah, no.’

Hyunwoo felt a stirring in a certain part of his anatomy. Yumin, still struggling to find a suitable spot to insert the needle, tilted her head in confusion.

“Oppa, don’t move your leg…”

Yumin’s words trailed off. Hyunwoo said in a defensive tone.

“You know that it’s not a part of me that moves according to my will, right?”

Yumin glared at Hyunwoo. Hyunwoo desperately searched for a suitable excuse, inwardly singing the national anthem.

Yumin ignored Hyunwoo and tried to focus on her task. But when there was no sign of the… issue… subsiding, she sighed deeply and slapped him.

“You bad guy!”

“……?!”

Suddenly struck in a sensitive area, Hyunwoo let out a silent scream.

“I told you to concentrate! Can’t you behave yourself!”

Slap, slap, Yumin’s hand swung repeatedly, and Hyunwoo couldn’t help but speak.

“…Yumin, it’s backfiring the more you do that, please stop…”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Please… Yes.”

Hyunwoo quietly closed his eyes at Yumin’s playful smile. A moment later, Hyunwoo’s blood was plentifully drawn into the syringe with some difficulty.

Yumin put the blood into another test tube. She sealed the syringe, the alcohol swab used to wipe the blood, and even the gown in a waste bag.

“In a few days, I’ll be able to tell how much mana capacity you have left until your rank increases. The Ability Management Bureau only announces the rank, so I can find out information you can’t know.”

It was a relief. He hoped it was worth all the trouble.

“But when did you start researching ability rank increases?”

It seemed too coincidental, even though it was convenient for Hyunwoo. But Yumin’s answer exceeded his expectations.

“After I met you, Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s different from my major, but I found it interesting listening to you. There are intersections, and it seems like you weren’t an ability user before but suddenly awakened, and it looks fun? I can do this much in my spare time, so don’t worry.”

Yumin answered with a bright smile. Hyunwoo felt a chill.

‘Don’t tell me I’ve become a guinea pig without knowing it.’

“Don’t think you’ve become a guinea pig. I’m just observing. And my advisor’s recent paper was about ability rank increases. Rich people are very interested in that kind of thing. They seem to get a lot of support too.”

“But you can’t do research because you don’t have enough crystal moss?”

“The competition is fierce.”

Yumin said, taking out a thick stack of papers from her bag. It was filled with dense writing, including various foreign languages like English.

Every line was highlighted in different colors, and the corners were filled with notes, making it hard to understand.

“I brought it just in case. But it’s probably stuff you already know. Most of it is just a long explanation that being exposed to high concentrations of mana for a long time increases the possibility of rank increases.”

In the end, the only reliable way to break through the limit level is to find opportunities in hell. Hyunwoo concluded that he would stay in hell longer this time. Until now, he had been so focused on the quest objectives that he hadn’t done anything else, and he had wasted time because of dying. But this time it’s different.

‘I need to find a way to get stronger even without leveling up.’

***

【Difficulty: Hell

Entering the Star of the End.】

As soon as he entered hell, Hyunwoo felt his lungs fill with fine dust. The still-red sky, the buildings covered with purple crystal moss, and the faint, unidentifiable eerie sounds.

Everything was the same.

“Still a goddamn landscape.”

Hyunwoo smiled bitterly, but felt strangely accustomed to it. He had died here so many times that he was slowly giving up on counting.

‘Let’s see. How much time is left until the next quest?’

Hyunwoo glanced up at the sky through the window. Large letters were etched in the sky as if not to be forgotten.

[Time until next quest: 9 days 4 hours 44 minutes 21 seconds.]

After going back and forth a few times, he realized that the time display seemed to apply only to Hyunwoo.

The flow of time in hell and reality is different. It varies depending on how much error occurs, but the time display only flows as much as ‘the time Hyunwoo has experienced’.

In other words, whether it’s reality or hell, the quest will only proceed when Hyunwoo spends that much time.

‘Then it’s better to be in hell as much as possible.’

Focusing on self-improvement in hell can save time in reality. Come to think of it, he wondered if he would age faster, but aging isn’t important right now. He’s been hearing that he looks younger these days anyway.

Hyunwoo headed straight to the shelter without hesitation. Until now, it had been about training himself, but from now on, he needed to train the relatively lacking external aspects.

‘Skill development and item crafting.’

These were the two main points. Of course, he had tried many things while hunting goblins. But those were only temporary measures to achieve his goals, not proper items.

‘Especially crafting. The possibilities are endless.’

His activity area is still lacking, but compared to the current time, Difficulty: Hell is full of all sorts of rare materials.

If he took a bit of risk and found useful materials, the probability of creating something beyond expectations was high.

When he arrived at the shelter, all sorts of materials scattered haphazardly came into view. All were traces of struggling to catch Kirson. Among them were several weapons, but few were useful.

He didn’t have enough time to train, and even if he used them, they were weaker than his fist covered in Kanggi [a technique that enhances physical strength and defense].

Hyunwoo picked up one of the weapons.

[Ancient’s Sharp Spear (Rare)]

It was a crudely made spear with a goblin dagger tied to a long mop handle. He thought it would be useful because it had the modifier ‘Ancient,’ but in terms of durability, it was no different from a wooden stick. Only the blade had turned a bit red.

Hyunwoo scratched his head.

The biggest problem with crafting is that refining is impossible.

Most weapons are made by refining metal. But Hyunwoo doesn’t have refining skills or refining facilities.

In the end, he has to use processable materials such as accessory materials, wood, and crystal moss, but no matter how hard he tries, the rare grade is the limit.

‘Lenian was a special case.’

“Were you thinking about the fairy just now?”

Lenian appeared without a sound. Being in hell, Lenian would suddenly disappear and reappear anywhere, so he was already used to it.

“I was thinking you’re not earning your keep.”

“Keep? The fairy is looking forward to the butler’s blood and flesh after a long time!”

Lenian immediately tried to stick a straw into Hyunwoo’s neck. Hyunwoo slapped Lenian away with both hands like catching a mosquito. Lenian staggered and fell to the floor.

“I’ll give you as much blood as you want, so earn your keep.”

“Earn my keep?”

“Yeah. Like… bringing back some useful items, or, you know, the usual stuff. In cartoons, fairies have healing abilities or something.”

“But the fairy is one of the beasts promised at the end, come to devour all the creatures of the world like a swarm of locusts!”

“Cut out that creepy talk.”

“Hmm… I can stop bleeding, but I’ll try my best. The butler is weak, so the fairy has to try.”

Weak…? ‘You’re the one getting beaten by that weak me?’ he thought, but Hyunwoo couldn’t be sure if he was really stronger than Lenian.

He fails the level check every time, and it doesn’t seem like he’s ever dealt any meaningful damage. Besides, once Lenian hides, he can’t even feel her presence, let alone find her.

At least she’s definitely better at stealth than Kirson.

She’s definitely incredibly strong, but she’s not helpful in battle….

Then he saw Lenian dragging an item lying on the floor and placing it on the desk.

“…What are you doing?”

“Huh? You told me to bring useful items.”

“I meant useful items from outside… Ha.”

Hyunwoo paused. What Lenian brought was a reddish lump. Hyunwoo looked at it closely, wondering what it was, and realized it was crystal moss.

Unlike other crystal moss, it was reddish and cube-shaped, but the unique color, texture, and transparency all matched crystal moss.

‘Red crystal moss?’

It was something he didn’t remember. It was common knowledge that crystal moss was purple, so if he had mined it, he would definitely remember.

“Lenian, you said you brought a useful item from here, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Are there any other useful items?”

“No.”

Hyunwoo looked at the numerous items scattered on the floor. They were worth millions of won, or even tens of millions of won in reality. Such items were lying around like trash.

In fact, to Lenian, who was born and raised in hell, they might really be no different from trash.

But Hyunwoo couldn’t bear to treat them carelessly, only regretting it. He even used rare wooden sticks until they broke.

Hyunwoo picked up the Ancient’s Sharp Spear again. Looking at the dark red blade, Hyunwoo used his skill.

“Disassemble.”

At that moment, the Ancient’s Sharp Spear turned white. Then it shattered and scattered on the floor.

A tiny red crystal stone the size of a fingernail appeared among the many crystal moss fragments.

[Successfully mined Crystal Stone (Rare)].