Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 6

6. The First Night in Hell (5)

Urrr.

Hyeon-woo unloaded a pile of crystal moss, wood, and stones from his inventory.

These were essential items for repairing and expanding the abandoned building. The crystal moss was there not so much out of necessity but because it had been in his inventory from the start.

However, using the ‘Craft’ skill with the crystal moss yielded unexpected results.

“Craft.”

Hyeon-woo placed planks on the window frame and used the skill. With a thud, a barricade formed, and some of the crystal moss disappeared. Tapping it, it sounded like he was hitting a steel plate rather than wood. Just using the crystal moss had imbued it with mana, strengthening it.

‘Building with crystal moss? How extravagant.’

It was something he could never have done in reality. Hyeon-woo used crystal moss in this way to create barricades and walls all around. He died several times in the process, but with each passing day, the shelter became sturdier and more comfortable.

‘Maybe I can make it until morning today.’

The wooden club he was currently holding was no ordinary item.

[Vicious Club (Rare): A sturdily made club. Durability is low, but attack power is quite strong.]

It was a rare weapon. Hyeon-woo had accidentally created it while testing his crafting skill. In reality, rare items were equipment worth at least ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD].

Hunters didn’t skimp on money if they had good equipment. Therefore, high-performance items were worth whatever you could get for them. But Hyeon-woo was using this rare weapon like a disposable item.

Whaeeeeeeeee─

At that moment, the sound of a swarm of mosquitoes covering the area began. It was the expected time.

Hyeon-woo hid inside the building, but some still smelled him and came looking. One mosquito caught Hyeon-woo’s scent. The hungry mosquito didn’t hesitate to squeeze through the barricade and fly towards Hyeon-woo.

The moment the mosquito passed through the window frame, its wings suddenly lost power. Something was on its wings. It was the venom Hyeon-woo had applied to each barricade.

The mosquito tried to fly towards Hyeon-woo with feeble wing movements. But what greeted it was a club full of nails.

Thwack. An unbelievably dull sound rang out as the mosquito was struck, and it fell completely.

“It’s not bad.”

Hyeon-woo felt relieved as he looked at the countless mosquitoes scattered on the floor. He knew he wouldn’t die even if he was bitten by the mosquito swarm because of the venom, but it still wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Just because he wouldn’t die didn’t mean he could be stabbed by those needles.

Hyeon-woo’s venom had contagious properties, so just applying it between the barricades was effective. It spread into the air within a certain range, easily infecting mosquitoes.

It wasn’t enough to kill them instantly, but it was enough to weaken their wing movements. Most of them landed on the floor, staggering, but some sturdy ones still rushed towards Hyeon-woo.

Of course, it was easy to swat a hand-sized mosquito flying weakly. Mosquitoes weren’t as resilient as cockroaches.

Hyeon-woo’s level was 6. Considering that a day passed each time he died, it was an incredibly fast increase. He had heard that it usually took ordinary people several months to reach level 10. It was faster if you took risks, but unless you had more than one life, you couldn’t do that recklessly. Perhaps the ‘Title’ was greatly helping Hyeon-woo’s growth.

[I Am Legend: Additional experience gained in proportion to survival time in Hell difficulty.]

Hyeon-woo was growing rapidly thanks to this title. Moreover, the level correction effect compared to the difficulty further enhanced the title’s effect.

‘Just hold on. Just hold on.’

Just surviving here meant getting stronger. And to survive, he had to be more diligent than ever. Before long, he heard the sound of the mosquito swarm leaving.

Hyeon-woo collected the mosquito corpses and began the next task.

Hyeon-woo placed the mosquitoes on his hand and used Dismantle. With a rustling sound, the mosquitoes fell apart piece by piece. A window like an item description appeared before his eyes.

[Hell Mosquito Needle (Common)]

[Hell Mosquito Wing (Common)]

[Hell Mosquito Blood (Rare)]

The needles and wings appeared as many as the number of mosquitoes, but the blood appeared only about a quarter of the time. Still, the drop rate of rare items being a quarter was amazing. At the current time, rare items were things that could be traded for tens of millions of won [approximately $7,500 USD].

‘Is it thanks to the SSS-grade Luck title?’

[SSS-grade Luck: Greatly increases the probability of acquiring rare items/skills.]

Hyeon-woo recalled the options of the SSS-grade Luck title once again. The probability certainly seemed to be increasing significantly. First, he checked what the Hell Mosquito Blood was.

[Hell Mosquito Blood (Rare): A toxic substance that solidifies liquids and lowers all kinds of resistance.]

It seemed to be a consumable like a potion. If it was a consumable rare item, its performance could be expected. Hyeon-woo was about to take only the Hell Mosquito Blood when he suddenly noticed the shape of the arranged materials.

With the body removed, it looked like something. Hyeon-woo put his hand on it and tried it.

“Craft.”

Swish. Hyeon-woo’s hand instantly assembled the Hell Mosquito Needle, Wings, and Blood into one. Only one item remained under his hand.

[Hell Dart (Rare)]

“……Dart?”

Hyeon-woo was no longer delighted with the rare grade. His interest was focused on the unexpected weapon called Dart.

‘Do I hold it and throw it?’

For now, he postponed the test and repeatedly crafted Hell Darts. Perhaps because he could only craft rare items, he succeeded about once every four times. Still, to mass-produce rare items like this.

Currently, rare items are expensive items that exceed ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD]. They are not only excavated in small quantities from dungeons, but also produced in small quantities by many companies that pour huge amounts of money into showcasing them.

But Hyeon-woo, although it was only a consumable, created a rare item on the spot with just the materials.

‘This needs to be studied a bit more.’

Of course, materials were required first, but it was an encouraging result. Hyeon-woo decided to pick up as many mosquito corpses as possible. It was the first time he was so happy to see mosquito corpses. If he made items with the corpses, he could increase his crafting skill.

So Hyeon-woo gathered the mosquito corpses.

He had to be careful not to be seen by other monsters, so he couldn’t go far, but he was able to collect quite a few mosquito corpses. Before long, Hell Darts were piled up on the desk. And it was time to combine the last material.

[Great Success!]

[Successfully crafted an Unidentified Egg (Legendary).]

[Successfully crafted a Legendary item.]

[Crafting ability greatly increased.]

“What?”

Legendary item? Hyeon-woo looked incredulous and checked if what he heard was real. Several Hell Darts and a white, round egg were placed before his eyes. It was obviously bigger than a mosquito, but how could something like this come out by combining mosquito corpses? When he touched the egg, a description of the item came to mind.

[Unidentified Egg (Legendary): An egg whose contents cannot be known unless observed. There is a 50% chance that it is alive or dead. It can be hatched by meeting certain conditions or through rewards.]

“Hmm…….”

Even after reading the description, it felt a bit ambiguous for a legendary item. In reality, legendary items are treated as national treasures without exception and are strictly managed. Even individuals are never allowed to own them, and only top-class hunters occasionally possess them in the form of permanent loans.

‘Getting legendary items after rare items so easily feels strange.’

It was even a little scary. But the contents were a random box no matter how you looked at it. Even the conditions for hatching were not specified. In reality, there might be a strategy site [online guide], but here, he had to figure everything out on his own.

‘Should I hold it?’

Hyeon-woo hugged the egg tightly, thinking maybe. It was warmer than he thought, but after a while, he felt stupid.

‘Anyway, sixteen Hell Darts and one legendary item…….’

Leaving aside the legendary egg, it was encouraging enough to have sixteen rare weapons. Hyeon-woo put the unidentified egg into his inventory.

‘How strong will the Hell Darts be?’

He could roughly predict that it would be a consumable mid-range weapon with poison damage.

It was a suitable weapon for Hyeon-woo, who had neither strong strength nor the ability to engage in close combat. But the weapon itself didn’t seem to be able to expect much damage.

‘I don’t know how well I can throw darts either.’

Hyeon-woo picked up a Hell Dart and aimed it at a pattern on the wall as a test. The Hell Dart had no weight, so he wasn’t sure if he was holding it or not. Hyeon-woo threw the dart with all his might with an unconfident expression. At that moment, an unexpected sound rang out.

Whaaaeng!

The dart flew with a fierce flapping sound like a siren that seemed to tear the ears. Even Hyeon-woo unknowingly covered his ears. Bang! A sound that was so loud that it was hard to believe it was the sound of a dart hitting.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

The dart was firmly embedded in the wall, so it was hard to believe it was a mosquito needle. Hyeon-woo stared at the dart with an absurd expression. The dart was stuck exactly where he had aimed. It not only gained speed on its own, but also had the function of finding its target. Besides, hearing this roar would make you shrink.

When he pulled out the Hell Dart stuck in the wall, the needle snapped off. It seemed that the consumable nature was inevitable.

‘Still, I think I’ll be happy to see mosquitoes coming in the future.’

Hyeon-woo filled his inventory with Hell Darts. The inventory, which was once full of crystal moss, was now full of tools for survival.

The only crystal moss was a 3kg lump that he had kept as a souvenir in case. Hyeon-woo looked into his inventory and sighed.

“Ah, I want to go home soon……. I want to go and eat caramel.”

***

Hyeon-woo checked the time. He thought it would be dawn by now. But the sky was still a burning red.

It wasn’t dark, but he couldn’t even tell what the situation was. He couldn’t even guess what was happening above those thick cloud layers.

‘Still, the sun does rise, so there must be a saying to endure the night, right?’

Still, it’s encouraging that the time he’s alive is getting longer day by day. Then Hyeon-woo discovered a newspaper article cut out and scrapped under the glass covering the counter.

Unlike most of the other papers that were torn or faded, this newspaper had clear letters, perhaps because it was protected by glass. However, there was a problem with the content.

“Ugh, it’s English.”

He didn’t go to university, but he had never been told that he was bad at studying. But he felt unfamiliar because he had put down English for a long time. Hyeon-woo tried to read even the words he could somehow recognize.

“Twin…… Twin Star, Xiao Yu…… Adam Fault…… Chrome? Is it metal? Anyway, Maria Keller, the representative there, and what is this? Stopped? Stopped? Anyway, what does this read? Ji-Tae Lee attacked Leviathan but failed…… No, no. Lee Ji-Tae? It’s Lee Ji-Tae, isn’t it?”

Hyeon-woo’s eyes widened when he saw a familiar name. But there were so many words he didn’t know that he couldn’t connect the words.

Still, he was happy to see a familiar name in this world. Suddenly, he felt connected to reality.

Then suddenly, the narrator’s voice was heard.

[Acquired Language Comprehension (Common).]

“……Again?”

Hyeon-woo rubbed his eyes. Immediately after hearing the narrator’s voice, the English newspaper, which he could hardly decipher until just now, strangely caught his eye. He couldn’t recognize completely unfamiliar and difficult words, but the things he had learned in his school days came back to him as vividly as if he had learned them yesterday.

‘Do you automatically acquire common skills just by trying?’

However, even if he understood the context to some extent, it was difficult to fully grasp it. It wasn’t just because the words were difficult. Completely unfamiliar words that he had never seen or heard before poured out.

‘What is a star? Agent? Blessing? Apostles and believers? Leviathan [a sea monster in mythology]? Cepes Case? Hammer Plan?’

These were things Hyeon-woo couldn’t understand at all. In the end, he gave up on reading. There were too many things he couldn’t know right now.

But one thing was certain. It became clear that this world was related to reality. And a huge incident happened, and the best ability users came forward, and things seemed to have gone wrong.

Also, this place now is a world after a considerable amount of time has passed since all those events happened.

Judging by the looks of it, it seemed to have failed very badly.

‘Let’s not have bad thoughts.’

Hyeon-woo tried to change his mind. The reason he is working so hard now is to return to that world someday and get on the road to success, and to buy a lot of caramel. If there is no place to return to, all efforts are meaningless.

Tuduk.

Hyeon-woo turned his head at the sound from behind.