Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 50

50. Cauldron Bottom (4)

The creature was so engrossed in devouring its own kind that it didn’t even notice the mosquito landing on it.

However, the mosquito’s proboscis couldn’t pierce the Gast’s tough hide. Still, as the Xuanwu’s venomous blood touched the skin through the proboscis, its ‘acidic’ property began to dissolve the hard surface. The acidic property was more effective at dissolving hard substances than anything else.

The Gast scratched irritably at the spot where the mosquito had landed, but the mosquito barely managed to evade its touch.

Despite the mosquito’s interference, the Gast devoured its own kind as if it couldn’t stop the meal it had started.

Soon, the mosquito, engorged with blood, returned to Xuanwu. Xuanwu quietly returned to his original hiding place with the mosquito.

“Do it.”

Xuanwu squeezed his eyes shut and held out his arm. He didn’t know if this was possible, but if it wasn’t, Xuanwu wouldn’t be able to hold on. The mosquito plunged its proboscis into Xuanwu’s vein and began to inject the Gast’s blood.

The blood from another world, which had never encountered an organism from Earth, mixed with Xuanwu’s blood. Xuanwu’s blood was already hardly human, but mixing blood was different from poison.

He didn’t know what genetic system or diseases this strange creature might harbor. It was too late to worry about it now.

“Kugh… !”

Xuanwu’s veins visibly turned blue. The blood vessels bulged blue beneath his skin, creating a bizarre spectacle. At the same time, his arm visibly contracted. The sight of his arm shrinking as his blood vessels swelled was eerie. His heart was pumping blood like crazy.

The blue blood flowed through Xuanwu’s heart and up to his neck, even staining the blood vessels in his eyes blue.

It was painful, but it didn’t feel like he was going to die. There was no immune rejection, which he had feared.

Thanks to the Venomous Blood skill, most toxins couldn’t harm Xuanwu, but that was only when they were categorized as ‘poison.’

He wouldn’t consider ordinary blood as poison.

Xuanwu’s biggest concern was an unforeseen side effect.

“Keck, cough!”

Xuanwu coughed spasmodically. A moment of eeriness ran down his spine. It was similar to the sound of the Gasts coughing as they communicated.

He wanted to think it was a coincidence, but the physical changes already happening to him were hardly human.

‘Just a little blood…’

That meant their blood contained a bizarre power. Xuanwu gasped for breath, trying to calm himself.

He felt thirsty. He was strangely hungry, and his head was hot. He felt like he couldn’t calm down unless he ate something right away.

“Kireuk, Boss?”

Kirson asked, as if worried about Xuanwu’s condition. Xuanwu knew this was strange, but Kirson’s voice sounded like well-cooked chicken. Xuanwu didn’t answer and remained crouched for a while.

“Boss?”

The moment Kirson reached out to Xuanwu, Xuanwu grabbed Kirson’s hand. Xuanwu stared at Kirson’s hand and muttered with difficulty.

“Kirson.”

“Yes, Boss. Kireuk.”

“Go hide somewhere far away. Until I call you.”

He could just convey that with his will.

Kirson could feel Xuanwu’s will. Xuanwu’s will was telling him to stay here, but instead of conveying his will, Xuanwu deliberately spoke out loud.

Kirson disappeared from the spot without a word.

Xuanwu tried to neutralize the Gast’s blood in the empty space.

Xuanwu, whose hunger had reached its peak, took out the emergency rations he had stored in his inventory and began to devour them like crazy. But even those ran out in an instant.

He wasn’t full.

Since his hunger wasn’t going away, Xuanwu stuffed moss and whatever else he could find on the floor into his mouth.

And after a while, the symptoms gradually disappeared.

“Ugh.”

As soon as the symptoms disappeared, Xuanwu felt nauseous. He vomited, and unrecognizable black lumps poured out.

[The ‘Blood of the Hungry’ trait has been added to Venomous Blood.]

And he heard a new notification from the narrator. When he raised his arm, the condition of his arm was slowly returning to normal. He had endured it.

Xuanwu let his blood flow from the bleeding dagger and observed it with his monocle.

[Venomous Blood (Rare)]

[Traits: Toxicity (Medium), Contagiousness (Low), Acidity (Low), Blood of the Hungry]

[Blood of the Hungry]

[Note: Consume the Blood of the Hungry within the body to gain a 30% increase in physical abilities. It stops when all the Blood of the Hungry is consumed. During the activation time, you will suffer from tremendous hunger and rapidly absorb food in your body. However, if you are in a state of starvation, there is a risk of death because the body is consumed. It looks good for dieting, but it’s not attractive because you lose muscle mass as well.]

It meant it was a skill that temporarily strengthened him by sacrificing flesh.

‘Not only blood but also flesh.’

Wouldn’t they take my tears next time? I wish they would just suck up mana. But Xuanwu was grateful for even this. At least he had a way to replenish his blood. Xuanwu grinned.

‘Minions.’

Xuanwu called out the name, giving up on trying to think of a suitable title. And he completely changed the policy that had been moving the mosquitoes until now.

‘From now on, start the blood trade.’

A ghastly trade began, selling blood to buy blood.

***

The Yogulem’s minions were confused.

They had gladly rushed to Yogulem’s dinner invitation, confident that they would taste the ultimate delicacy.

Yogulem’s banquet hall was, as expected, beyond their expectations. They tasted the ultimate cuisine that only Yogulem could prepare.

But at the same time, his cuisine was like a drug that made them hungry no matter how much they ate. Because of this, they had never eaten to their satisfaction.

But this place was different.

Everywhere was a banquet.

“Kal, Kellock! Hellock!”

Blood and flesh were rampant everywhere. The scent of Xuanwu’s blood, cursed to be ‘delicious,’ wafted everywhere, and Yogulem’s minions willingly tore at their own kind. That was the rule of the world they lived in.

Eating their comrades to satisfy their hunger. Just repeating the chain of eating and being eaten.

Of course, they could only be satisfied with the first bite.

After tearing at something that smelled like Yogulem’s cuisine and savoring the ultimate taste, all that was left was terrible flesh. But once the minions tasted blood, they didn’t hesitate to sink their teeth in again.

Such things were happening everywhere.

The mosquitoes were also involved in the blood feast. The mosquitoes, which surrounded the streets like a red mist, sometimes landed on the wrong thing and sucked blood while trying to chase the ‘delicious’ cuisine.

In it, Xuanwu’s mosquitoes flew busily. The mosquitoes also smelled strongly of Xuanwu’s blood, but it was not easy to distinguish only the mosquitoes that smelled ‘delicious’ in the countless swarms of mosquitoes.

Some were sacrificed, but twenty mosquitoes busily carried and poured out blood, then carried blood again and headed somewhere.

Into the sewer.

Xuanwu replenished his blood by sending blood to one side and receiving blood from the hungry on the other.

His whole body was tinged with blue, but he was forcibly suppressing the activation of the blood of the hungry. Thanks to the Venomous Blood, the blood of the hungry was slowly accumulating instead of being activated.

‘How long can I last?’

He had fainted and woken up three times from fatigue and tension. He couldn’t guess how much time had passed, but it seemed like quite a while.

The chaos above his head was lasting longer than he thought. Maybe he could last more than 48 hours like this.

Gurgle.

As the tension subsided, he felt hungry. He wanted to eat something, but he had already eaten everything he could when the first blood of the hungry was activated. He regretted it, but it wasn’t a state where he could endure it by holding back.

‘It’s going to be hard to use recklessly.’

You can’t fight while eating. It seemed like he should just focus on replenishing his blood.

‘Should I ask Kirson to get something to eat and bring it?’

But he should avoid having anyone enter or exit the sewer if possible. Xuanwu opened his inventory with a sense of regret. Then Xuanwu found an item that he had never seen before. It was a high-calorie chocolate bar. Difficulty: In hell, you can’t pick up things by chance.

‘I kept it in the shelter, but how?’

At that moment, Xuanwu thought of Renian. Renian could share his inventory with him. He was hiding somewhere out of sight now, but he was still watching him.

He could almost hear the sound of someone laughing, ‘The butler can’t do anything without a fairy.’

Xuanwu smiled bitterly and shoved the chocolate bar into his mouth. He felt a little better as the calories came in.

‘Now, if I can just hold on like this…’

Clatter.

Xuanwu stood up.

His body was tense and ready to jump out. He heard something stepping on gravel in the darkness of the sewer.

Because he had set up spiderwebs, he couldn’t not know if something was approaching. He hadn’t felt any signs until now.

Of course, he might have misheard, but it’s better to believe it’s there if you suspect it is.

Then Xuanwu’s left hand twitched.

Thud, thud.

He could feel the spiderwebs he had set up at the entrance breaking all at once. Those who had not been deceived by the blood of the mosquitoes released on the ground were rushing into the sewer all at once.

Then, a pair of gloomy green eyes emerged from the darkness.

Xuanwu cursed and ran towards the emergency exit.

“Catch him!”

Xuanwu’s shoulders twitched at the sound from behind. It was different from the Gast’s coughing voice or the zombies’ meaningless groans that he had heard until now.

It was clearly human language, Korean at that. But before Xuanwu could think, the monsters screamed and rushed towards Xuanwu.

“What the hell…”

Xuanwu immediately kicked up the manhole cover, the emergency exit, as if to break it. Fragments of the building materials covered for camouflage scattered in all directions. Something grabbed Xuanwu’s ankle as he hurriedly climbed up.

[Hungry One (LV 22)]

[The effect of the title ‘Strongest in Hell’ increases stats compared to level.]

At the moment when he thought he would fall back in due to the tremendous strength, Xuanwu stabbed the bleeding dagger into the creature’s forehead.

Xuanwu’s blood was injected into the creature’s head. The ghoul was about to bite Xuanwu’s leg when another ghoul bit its neck.

While the ghouls were eating each other, Xuanwu was able to escape in a hurry. But the image of the ghoul that had been revealed outside the manhole remained vivid in Xuanwu’s mind.

They were all wearing the same military uniform.

Of course, he had seen zombies and ghouls several times. All of them were rotten or in such a mess that it was hard to recognize their human days.

Xuanwu didn’t feel much guilt or welcome. But the ones in this sewer were different. They spoke, and their clothes were relatively clean. Like an army being commanded.

He was confused because they looked similar, but the narrator called them Hungry Ones instead of marking them as ghouls. It meant they were a different kind from ghouls.

Xuanwu could only come to one conclusion.

‘If they’re not ghouls… they’re humans.’

In this world that had reached hell, Xuanwu had discovered what had happened to the remaining humanity.