Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 7

7. First Night in Hell (6)

One side of the barricade on the window had fallen off. Had it come loose from the mosquitoes going in and out earlier? If they were Hell mosquitoes, it was certainly possible.

But in that instant, Hyeon-woo’s entire body began to scream warnings. His rigid body reflexively rolled away, dodging under the desk.

Then, a small, slender green finger crept in through the gap in the barricade.

Crack, snap, crackle.

The barricade, which Hyeon-woo had firmly secured with his crafting skill, was instantly smashed apart by that slender finger. It didn’t seem to care about the poison blood applied to the barricade.

Hyeon-woo decided he shouldn’t hide here but escape immediately. The shelter Hyeon-woo had painstakingly built was no defense against this strange intruder.

But before Hyeon-woo could move, the owner of the green finger revealed itself beyond the window. A green-skinned being with a small, emaciated body like a child, wearing a red cap. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it scanned the shelter.

‘A goblin?’

Hyeon-woo was taken aback by the sight of a proper monster for the first time in his life. Until now, he had only faced excessively large and ferocious insects or small animals; he had never seen a proper monster like a goblin.

All he knew about goblins was how to deal with them.

‘Throw something you have to distract it, then run, was it?’

It wasn’t much different from dealing with wild animals. Goblins were monsters with such low intelligence. But this one seemed different. The goblin made eye contact with the frozen Hyeon-woo. It tilted its head, as if not understanding, while looking at Hyeon-woo.

[The effect of the ‘Hell’s Strongest’ title increases your stats relative to your level.]

Hyeon-woo convulsively leaped out from under the desk. The appearance of this message meant that the opponent clearly had hostile intentions towards him.

The title was activated when Hyeon-woo had hostile intentions, or vice versa.

The goblin looked small and weak. Its thin limbs didn’t seem very strong either. But from his experience so far, Hyeon-woo knew that it was incomparably stronger than him.

Just looking at how it tore down the barricade, that slender arm must have held enough power to rip Hyeon-woo’s throat out.

[Redcap Goblin (LV 20)]

“…….”

The level difference was not just significant; it was overwhelming.

“Son of a bitch!”

Hyeon-woo started running immediately. The goblin watched with amusement before leisurely starting to chase after him. It seemed to be enjoying the situation, as if playing a game, even though it could have hunted him down right away.

Hyeon-woo immediately ran up the stairs to the second floor. He had set up traps at the top of the stairs in case of an emergency.

Hyeon-woo jumped over the trap, but he didn’t wait for the goblin. He didn’t expect the trap to stop the goblin.

But the goblin’s actions exceeded his imagination. It effortlessly ran up the wall, then kicked off the ceiling and jumped onto the second floor.

Hyeon-woo was dumbfounded by the sight, as if it were putting on a show. But the goblin didn’t stop there and leaped once more.

The goblin instantly blocked Hyeon-woo’s path. With a smile on its face, it twirled a dagger, scanning Hyeon-woo up and down. It looked like it was thinking about how to cook him.

Now that he looked closely, it wasn’t like the homeless goblin he had seen in documentaries. It was wearing leather clothes and studded shoes, and its unusually black left hand held a large dagger that looked ominous at first glance. Hyeon-woo suddenly noticed the purple letters engraved on the goblin’s black left hand.

‘……I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere before?’

But there was no time to worry about that. His life was on the line.

‘There’s nowhere to run.’

The goblin bounced on its feet for a moment, then vanished in an instant.

“Kuh!”

Hyeon-woo barely managed to twist his waist to avoid the dagger. The dagger narrowly grazed his Adam’s apple. He felt a stinging sensation as blood seeped out. The goblin looked surprised. But Hyeon-woo knew. He was only able to avoid it thanks to the stat boost from the title effect.

“─.”

Then, the goblin uttered something incomprehensible.

The goblin was talking.

Goblins were known to have no language system other than shouts or screams. But the goblin in front of him was attempting a systematic and clearly pronounced ‘conversation’.

When Kang Hyeon-woo couldn’t answer, the goblin made a mocking expression. Seeing that expression, Hyeon-woo secretly took out Hell Darts from his inventory.

‘The only chance is when it’s off guard.’

He didn’t know if it would work against a goblin, but it was better than dying without doing anything. Hyeon-woo quickly grabbed three Hell Darts and threw them. In that instant, the goblin’s pupils dilated.

Why-aeng! The Hell Darts flew with a deafening noise. Everything happened so fast that Hyeon-woo couldn’t perceive it. Bang, thwack, crack! After three loud noises echoed, Hyeon-woo could only see the aftermath.

Two of the Hell Darts had been neatly cut off and were lying on the floor.

The goblin’s skill in cutting down the incoming Hell Darts was astonishing, but the other one completely erased that skill from Hyeon-woo’s mind. The last one was stuck in the goblin’s wrist, which was rolling on the floor.

The goblin was growling and glaring at Hyeon-woo, clutching its severed right wrist.

Hyeon-woo couldn’t understand. Did it really cut off its wrist because a Hell Dart was stuck in its hand? Then Hyeon-woo realized that his blood was on the Hell Dart stuck in the goblin’s severed wrist.

The very poison blood that had been flowing out from the slight cut on his neck.

On the goblin’s severed wrist, strange blisters bubbled and swelled up, then burst, and black pus with a terrible smell flowed out.

‘That kind of thing was flowing inside my body?’

Not even an Alien.

Hyeon-woo looked down at his blood-stained palm with an incredulous expression.

‘No, this isn’t the time for this.’

Hyeon-woo quickly tried to throw the Hell Darts again. If it turns out like this with just one hit, he might be able to kill it if he does well…….

“───.”

At that moment, he felt a chill on his neck. Only then did Kang Hyeon-woo realize that the goblin had disappeared from his sight.

The moment Hyeon-woo moved, the goblin had attacked with a speed that surpassed his perception. He heard the goblin’s mocking laughter from behind.

Feeling warm blood soaking his clothes, his vision went dark as if a light had been turned off.

This time, the words were clearly audible.

“Kireuk, a human is still, left. Kick.”

The moment the goblin decided to stop playing was the moment Hyeon-woo’s life ended.

From the start, it was just luck that Hyeon-woo hit him with the Hell Dart. Now, all he could do was endure the goblin’s taunts while bleeding to death.

And as Hyeon-woo expected, the goblin only mocked him as he died, without finishing him off.

Everything was as expected.

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

Hyeon-woo smiled without realizing it.

Based on his experience of seeing that message countless times, the regeneration perk restores up to 50% of health once a day. Even considering the bleeding, it was bearable.

From the start, Hyeon-woo didn’t think he could win. But he had no intention of giving up. However, considering the pattern where unfamiliar encounters led to death, he didn’t think this time would be much different either.

He was used to hundreds of defeats and dozens of deaths, but now one thing was certain.

He had lost to the goblin, but he had finally achieved his first victory against this hell.

Outside the window, behind the goblin, the sky began to brighten dimly.

[Quest Success!]

[You have succeeded in the ‘First Night in Hell’ quest.]

[One ‘Silver Box’ is provided as a reward.]

[Rewards are increased due to level-relative difficulty compensation.]

[One ‘Silver Box’ is transformed into one ‘Gold Box’.]

[The return stone is activated until the next quest.]

[Time remaining until the next quest: 14 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.]

Hyeon-woo gripped the return stone tightly.

Soon, his vision began to brighten dizzily.

***

Choaaaaaa.

The sound of pouring rain drumming on the water’s surface was loud. The dark, cloudy night sky staggered as if about to collapse, pouring down rain.

Hyeon-woo stared straight up at the sky. The land of hell that he had just seen and smelled felt like a lie.

Hyeon-woo took a deep breath.

There was no fine dust irritating his throat.

He opened his mouth and drank the rainwater.

It wasn’t poison that wrung his insides.

He knelt down and scooped up the water pooled on the ground with his hands.

There were foreign substances floating in it, but compared to the water he had to drink in hell, it was infinitely clean and pure.

He opened his eyes wide and looked around. The monsters trying to kill him, the weeds containing all sorts of poisons and traps, and even the wound on his neck that had just been cut were all gone as if they were lies. The surroundings were just an ordinary stream. The water was flowing violently due to the pouring rain, but Hyeon-woo finally felt a strange sensation.

The sensation of ‘safety’.

In that instant, Hyeon-woo’s legs gave out, and he staggered and collapsed on the spot.

Hyeon-woo looked down at his legs in disbelief, then burst into laughter. Hyeon-woo, who was laughing like a child, kicked the water flowing in the stream and wiped his body.

He was unmistakably a madman. But Hyeon-woo couldn’t believe that he could splash around so noisily.

“Hahaha!”

It felt like he had a dream.

Hyeon-woo ran around the stream like a madman, splashing water. There were plenty of foods he wanted to eat when he returned to modern times, but for some reason, none of them came to mind right now. Even the pouring rainwater was delicious right now. Even the water flowing in this stream was sweet.

“Ah, right!”

Hyeon-woo hurriedly took something out of his pocket. It was a caramel. Now that he was back in reality, he could buy as many caramels as he wanted at the supermarket, but Hyeon-woo carefully unwrapped the caramel as if it were a treasure.

Hyeon-woo put the dark brown cube into his mouth. Soon, Hyeon-woo shuddered as the sweetness spread in his mouth.

“Hehe, hehehehe…….”

Hyeon-woo clenched his fist, grinning like a winner.

He won.

Father, I overcame the *yeot* [Korean taffy, often used metaphorically for being deceived or given something difficult] you fed me and survived again like this!

Hyeon-woo gripped the return stone tightly. He felt the urge to tear it off and throw it away right away, but his hand didn’t move that way.

Hyeon-woo opened his inventory to see if he was really crazy and had a dream. The things he had taken to survive in hell, the crystal moss, everything was still there.

It was definitely reality.

It was clear that his father had fed him *yeot*, but it was sweet *yeot*. As long as you don’t eat it and die, it’s *yeot* worth enjoying.

If you think positively, it was a chance for Hyeon-woo, but what father in the world would drive his son into a hell that is good for farming?

“……Still, I should say thank you, Father.”

Hyeon-woo raised his middle finger to the sky.

“No, wait. When I think about it, there’s no way you’d be there.”

He lowered his finger back to the ground.

“I hope you rest in peace there for a long, long time.”

“……Hyeon-woo-ssi?” [Mr. Hyeon-woo]

Then, someone’s voice was heard mixed with the sound of rain. It was a small voice that could be buried in the rain, but it was heard strangely clearly.

Hyeon-woo realized that his senses were amplified to an absurd degree. Hell had sharpened his senses.

“Ah, Yumin.”

It was Yumin, the research assistant who was helping with the collection work in the industrial complex drainage ditch.