Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 64

64. True Colors (2)

Grade assessments are generally supposed to be public. However, the public isn’t usually very interested.

They only use the disclosed levels or grades to casually compare who seems stronger or weaker, mostly for entertainment. Only clans or corporations use the information strategically.

But Kang Hyun-woo was different. As a ‘rookie,’ Kang Hyun-woo’s sudden rise was remarkable, so people were very curious about his grade assessment results.

So, when the Ability Management Bureau released the grade assessments, the first thing people looked for was Kang Hyun-woo.

And they were stunned by the incredible numbers.

5-Star.

The highest grade discovered worldwide was currently 4-Star. There were only 70 4-Stars in the world, and only three in Korea: Park Do-ryung, Lee Ji-tae, and Oh Dae-sung.

There were rumors that 5-Stars existed but were being hidden by various governments. Statistically, there should be at least six or more 5-Stars.

However, the Sejong Institute suddenly revealed Hyun-woo’s grade along with the announcement.

Opinions were divided on this, but Hyun-woo’s comment was simple.

“Why did they announce it as 5-Star if they can’t specify what that means?”

“They probably just assigned it that way because it’s a grade they’ve never seen before. What can you do? You have to think of it as going up one floor, from the 4th to the 5th; you can’t suddenly jump to the 8th or 9th,” Yoo-min replied matter-of-factly.

“No, what if a real 5-Star appears? Statistically, there’s still a possibility that one exists, right?”

“Then they’ll just say they made a mistake and raise it to 6-Star. Well, as long as Oppa [term of endearment used by a younger woman to refer to an older brother or male friend] is the only one with a defined form, you’ll always have the ‘top floor’ tag. Or you’ll hit the limit level.”

“That’s logical, so I have nothing to say.”

Still, officially, he was the highest grade in the world. Hyun-woo decided to be satisfied with that.

Even on TV, the reactions of disbelief continued.

[I don’t know if the 5-Star announcement is credible, but at least the grade assessments haven’t been wrong so far. Grade increases have also occurred occasionally. Of course, no one has risen above 3-Star, though.]

[Having a high grade isn’t a simple matter. As you know, each grade has a limit level. 1-Stars have a limit level of 20, and for each additional star, the level increases by 10… Theoretically, a 5-Star could reach level 60, and no one can catch up with a 10-level difference. That means even Korea’s top tiers, Lee Ji-tae, Park Do-ryung, and Oh Dae-sung, wouldn’t be a match.]

[Kang Hyun-woo’s skills are also very important, not just the limit level. The higher the grade, the more likely they are to possess rare skills. Moreover, at level 50, they may awaken a skill called ‘Ultimate.’ Who knows what benefits there might be at level 60? The same goes for items.]

[Isn’t it unconfirmed what level he is? Let’s not jump to conclusions. Lee Ji-tae is far superior in terms of achievements…]

[No, but how has such a talent been hidden until now? He only took the grade assessment test a few weeks ago?]

[Well, it’s just that there’s only a record of him being assessed in Korea; in fact, he’s been abroad…]

Hyun-woo was known as a Hunter who had gained experience in foreign countries where Hunters have relatively free access to dungeons. Moreover, he was mainly a solo raider.

A businessman who had accumulated considerable experience abroad and used independently gathered resources to create welfare projects for Hunters.

A practitioner who returned to Korea and thoroughly grasped the reality of the dungeon-related industry from the bottom up.

Naturally, the welfare projects and plans that Hyun-woo started began to spread in the media.

Even the fact that it would soon increase in scale, despite starting small.

Being known as a 5-Star Hunter and a billionaire led to talk of a second Lee Ji-tae appearing.

‘Park Hwi-so created a good cover identity.’

Park Hwi-so’s plan was assisted by Do Won-kyung, the director of the Ability Management Division, to perfectly forge Hyun-woo’s career. Now that they were in the same boat, she had no choice but to cooperate.

Only a video of Hyun-woo killing three werewolves simultaneously was edited and uploaded to YouTube. In less than a day, it had reached 6 million views.

「Is it true he fought with his bare hands?」

「Can we erase Lee Ji-tae from the top 3 Korean pride list and put him instead?」

「Why erase Lee Ji-tae, you idiot! He’s just a newbie who just appeared.」

「Where did this guy pop out from? Is he an alien?」

Most of the comments were from Koreans, but there were also foreign languages such as English, Chinese, and Spanish. These were mainly countries with a lot of interest in ability users.

“Oppa, what are you going to do with all this attention? It seems to be exceeding what you can handle,” Yoo-min asked worriedly. Thanks to the renovation of the bunker being completed at a precarious time, Hyun-woo and Yoo-min were able to avoid the media’s attention.

Unfortunately, only the residents of the officetel [a building with both office and residential spaces] where Hyun-woo and Yoo-min used to live were suddenly bewildered by the flood of reporters.

“It seems like headhunters with quick information were the first to find this place,” Yoo-min said, looking at Hyun-woo’s phone.

Due to the excessive media attention, Hyun-woo had to get a new number. Yoo-min decided to manage the old phone and filter out only useful information.

“Headhunters? They came all the way here?”

“People named Tae-sung and Seo Tae-kyung contacted you. They said they wanted to talk again with new conditions. And there were contacts from abroad too.”

The headhunters realized that Hyun-woo was the same person who defeated Red Butterfly in the grade assessment test and contacted him persistently once again. Among them were Hunter groups boasting annual salaries in the tens of billions [of Korean won, roughly equivalent to millions of USD].

“Besides the Hunters, there were also people lining up to ask you to film just one commercial. They said they would pay whatever you asked for just a 5-minute interview. Oh, there were also people who said they would sponsor their company’s products, so just receive them and use them.”

Become famous first. Then people will give you money even if you shit.

Hyun-woo suddenly thought of that saying.

However, he had no intention of accepting any of the requests people were offering.

It wasn’t that he lacked money, nor was he going to sell his face. The goal Hyun-woo was aiming for was higher up.

Of course, money was important. But he shouldn’t show himself being swayed by money.

Blood, mana, flesh, bone, money. All were resources that Hyun-woo had to manage carefully.

“Ignore them all.”

Yoo-min turned off the phone as if she expected it. Then she lay down next to the bed where Hyun-woo was lying.

“What are you going to do now?”

“How much profit did we make from this flood?”

Yoo-min answered without even opening her phone.

“There are differences depending on the company… and it’s still declining, but we made about 30% profit by shorting.”

The decline was less than Hyun-woo had expected. A 3-Star dungeon flood had occurred in the capital of a country that was considered an economic powerhouse. That fact alone was an incident that could cause many people to go bankrupt.

But if the profit was only about 30%, it meant they had endured quite well.

‘Is it because we stopped the flood too easily?’

Of course, despite that, the stock price continued to fall. Unless the flood was cleared from inside the dungeon, it would soon burst again.

The Guillotine Dungeon, still in an unstable state, was spewing out monsters almost every day. Now, the defense network was so tightly woven that it wouldn’t be easily breached, but it was still like having an active volcano in the middle of a major city.

The flood was not over yet.

Hyun-woo now sensed that someone would start moving.

“Hmm, then… use the profit to buy stocks.”

“Where?”

“All in Taesung.”

Yoo-min’s eyes widened. There was some difference in the stock price crash, but Taesung was still among the least affected.

It must be because of Lee Ji-tae.

Yoo-min asked, puzzled.

“Is Lee Ji-tae moving? I thought he would avoid losses due to the Northern Expedition plan.”

It was something to be avoided to lose power by fighting a small game before a big game. But Hyun-woo nodded firmly.

“Lee Ji-tae will definitely move. It’s set up that way.”

***

Late at night.

Hyun-woo greeted a late-night visitor. It was Park Hwi-so.

Hyun-woo tried to bring him inside, but he shook his head.

Even though autumn was deepening, mosquitoes were busily flying around the lights.

In the shadows of the swaying mountain bugs, Park Hwi-so’s eyes were trembling. Even the air was filled with tension.

Hyun-woo noticed what he was worried about.

“Did you cause the flood?”

Hyun-woo smiled slightly. He closed the door and walked out of the bunker.

“I think you already know the answer.”

Park Hwi-so made a hissing sound.

“How on earth… No, what if a big disaster had happened!”

“We managed to stop it safely, old man. I don’t do things I can’t handle.”

Unless something he couldn’t handle came looking for him. But Hyun-woo was confident that he could control the situation sufficiently.

Even if an emergency situation occurred, he could stop all the ratmen just by releasing the mosquito swarm containing venom. But Hyun-woo didn’t even unleash 1/10th of his power there. Park Hwi-so bit his lip and stared at Hyun-woo.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking. You control monsters and even cause floods? What are you thinking? Are you trying to raise your value? Or is it for honor? Fame?”

“All of them aren’t bad.”

All those things were also things that Hyun-woo would pick up along the way. But Hyun-woo hadn’t thought deeply about the ultimate goal.

“Old man. The Guillotine Dungeon flood was going to happen anyway. I just thought that instead of leaving it unattended until it happened someday, I should adjust the timing so that I can use it appropriately at the time I want.”

Park Hwi-so’s expression hardened even more.

“You weren’t trying to prevent the victims that would be caused by the flood?”

Oops. Was that the model answer?

“I was sure that there wouldn’t be any victims. It would be good if I could stop it at the same time.”

“Wouldn’t you have stopped it if it wasn’t a high-profile situation?”

Hyun-woo stared intently at Park Hwi-so.

What was this person saying?

The reason Hyun-woo coveted Park Hwi-so was because of his useful connections, organization, and brain, not because he thought of him as a role to voice his conscience.

‘He seemed useful, but should I cut him off?’

Selling Modified Moss might be a little difficult for a while, but there are many people who want to buy Modified Moss.

Soon someone would contact Hyun-woo, and it didn’t seem too difficult to take over the organization.

Park Hwi-so suddenly felt Hyun-woo’s eyes flickering with a strange light.

His eyes were like a dark and ominous ember of darkness.

For some reason, Park Hwi-so couldn’t keep his eyes on him for long due to an unknown sense of pressure.

Park Hwi-so closed his eyes. The air became even heavier.

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

At the same time as the notification sound, Hyun-woo reflexively activated Battle Helper.

Thud. A heavy impact resonated sharply in his left hand. Park Hwi-so’s cane was blocked by Hyun-woo’s left hand.

Park Hwi-so, who had attempted a surprise attack at a speed that couldn’t even be noticed, was shocked when Hyun-woo easily defended it.

Hyun-woo was also surprised by the shock that made his entire arm tingle, even though he had wrapped his arm with Kanggi [a type of energy or protective layer].

‘I thought I had gotten quite strong.’

There was no time to think for long. The two collided again without even taking a deep breath or shouting.

Hyun-woo quickly equipped Oshet’s Six-Handed Grip and took out Tam at the same time.

[Human (LV 40)]

The opponent was Park Hwi-so. The strongest human ability user Hyun-woo had met in reality, not hell.

The level difference was twofold. There was no room for leniency.

The cane that Park Hwi-so swung flew towards Hyun-woo’s forehead. Hyun-woo twisted his body and swung Tam to block it.

With a light cracking sound, the cane part shattered, leaving only the sword inside. Park Hwi-so’s face contorted.

‘I heard that cane swords break easily, but it seems to be a kind of item since it’s intact.’

Clang, Crack.

The cane sword and Tam collided again. Park Hwi-so stepped back slightly.

Noticing the difference in the level of the weapon, Park Hwi-so aimed for the main body from the side instead of directly colliding with the weapon.

It was a wise decision. Hyun-woo still had lower stats than Park Hwi-so, and his experience was relatively less.

‘Fighting is about experience, not equipment.’

But the problem was that Hyun-woo was already used to fighting opponents who were overwhelmingly stronger than him in terms of experience.

From the moment Hyun-woo knew that Park Hwi-so was coming, he had never met him without any preparation.

Whine. Park Hwi-so flinched without realizing it at the chilling sound of wings fluttering in his ears. At that moment, he felt a stinging pain in his lungs, arms, and the back of his neck. Park Hwi-so ignored the pain and attacked Hyun-woo.

At that moment, Park Hwi-so activated the legendary equipment Hyun-woo had given him, Urhast’s Trust.

[Urhast’s Trust (Legendary): The wearer’s senses temporarily increase twofold.]

As his senses doubled, Park Hwi-so felt everything in his vision slowing down.

His nerves, which had been sharply heightened, twitched as if about to explode, chasing Hyun-woo’s movements.

He felt uneasy attacking Hyun-woo with the equipment Hyun-woo had given him, but if he couldn’t control this man now, he wouldn’t be able to stop him in the future either.

That desperation moved him.

At that moment, a fierce pain swept through his body.

“Old man.”

The sharply heightened senses disappeared as if they were a lie, and Park Hwi-so’s arm was easily twisted by Hyun-woo.

Park Hwi-so discovered that a ring that looked like a pair to the one he was wearing was shining on Hyun-woo’s finger.

Park Hwi-so couldn’t escape from Hyun-woo’s hand. His strength was gradually fading, and his consciousness was blurring. He saw his arm swelling strangely.

Mosquito.

That red mosquito that had been wandering around the lights while he was waiting for Hyun-woo.

“Cool your head.”

Hyun-woo kicked Park Hwi-so, who was struggling not to collapse, and knocked him down.