Hoarding in Hell Novel

"surrender!"

As soon as Hyunmoo split open the chunky man's chin, Ahn quickly raised his hand.

Hyunmoo was absurd at the amazingly fast pace, but Ahn Hyun-soo didn't seem willing to fight at all. Hyunmoo kicked the man who had fallen to the floor and moaned, and pulled out a metal paddle from his arms.

"If you surrender, do you think I'll look after you?"

Then Ahn Hyun-soo took out a metal plaque from his arms and quickly threw it in front of Hyunmoo. Hyunmoo fell into an even more absurd mood. It looks like real surrender.

"No, if you hand over the metal tile without fighting, what will you do?"

"There was no saying that if you don't have a metal hand, you will be disqualified. I just need to take the hand of another person or a monster. But if I fight you right now, I think I will be incapable of combat."

Hyunmoo felt that Ahn Hyun-soo already had experience as a hunter. I wondered how good he was, but suddenly I felt a presence from above.

Three people jumped off the wall. The epaulettes were engraved with the mark of the Department of Competency Management. They were the escort agents. They gave first aid to the injured man without saying a word, and then dragged him out. Ahn Hyun-soo shrugged his shoulders as he saw that.

"It's better to leave the limb intact than to be like that."

"Why don't you think that it might turn out if we do it together?"

“Just that guy was our team’s defender. But you knocked him down with one shot without using any skills. There’s no answer, well.”

Hyunmoo turned his head to look at the other two. As soon as they made eye contact with Hyunmoo, they too quickly put the metal tile down on the floor.

As expected, it was regretful to let go, but no one tried to resist even after seeing what had already been done to a large man.

Hyunmoo scratched his head. There is no resentment and there is no justification for losing even though you are surrendering, and it is not good for your heart. Hyunmoo only recovered the metal tile. Hyunsoo Ahn spoke once more.

"Hey, don't you need a team member yet? We only need one of the three revisions."

"No work."

Hyunmoo grunted in reply.

"And there, there's something creepy about it."

At Hyunmoo's words, Ahn Hyeon-soo smiled as if he was sarcastic. Hyunmoo left him behind and moved on to his steps.

***

“There are already people who are collecting tiles.”

On the ceiling of the 3rd Gymnasium, there was an audience seat overlooking the entire dungeon.

To be precise, it was the VIP seat, where political figures interested in talented people or clan headhunters who paid significant donations came in.

Lee Ji-tae and Tae Min-soo were also watching the game there.

The head hunters glanced at Lee Ji-tae, but it was her eyes of restraint rather than envy. They also did not differ much from Lee Ji-tae in her purpose.

In addition to the transparent glass window that overlooks the dungeon, red dots were moving on the screen where the structure of the dungeon was floating.

Each red dot had the bearer's name written on it. A locator built into the metal plaque was to inform the status of each test taker's possession."It's a red butterfly, after all. As soon as I started, I saw that other people's cards were taken away."

Taeminsoo said, pointing to one point. The point with Naked Butterfly's initials was that he had stolen three metal tiles as soon as he started and was chasing the remaining one.

The Red Butterfly group is usually a team of four, but they are all scattered for the sake of fairness in the test.

However, since each one of them is already quite talented, they had already expected that they would join again soon. Among them, Red Butterfly's ability was outstanding.

"Huh, it's finally the fifth. It looks like they're trying to rip it off."

It's not easy to take a metal tile right from the start, because that means you're risking 4:1. Lee Ji-tae entered the number given to Nabi on the tablet he was holding. Soon, the image of a red butterfly began to appear on the tablet.

Thousands of cameras installed inside the dungeon to watch the exams captured the test takers wherever they were.

The sight of an enemy butterfly chasing an enemy while flying his reddish-graded hair was certainly enough to attract people's attention.

Unfortunately, the red traces on her fingertips, like her mascot, were not yet active.

The enemy butterfly ran without hiding her body, and as soon as she encountered a new test taker, she dared to surprise her. The opponent did not even respond properly to the precise and quick blow.

A murmur spread among the headhunters. Although she had expected her performance of the enemy butterfly, it was her sign that she had not expected it to be this much.

She said, "I already have a 2-star skill.... If all of my teammates are in a 3-star dungeon, it doesn't seem to matter."

"Up to 3 stars? It's an unprecedentedly rapid growth, but..."

“Given her equipment, she will be able to play. What the enemy butterfly lacks right now is support.”

Everything was going as Lee Ji-tae expected. In addition to the red butterfly, there were a few people who started with several metal tiles. It was assumed that she was a member of the enemy butterfly group or had experience in dungeons.

"The early grades are useless anyway," she said. "She can't go solo after all."

Even if she's the enemy butterfly, she won't be reassured until she is fully joined. Unlike the early days of not knowing about each other yet, the majority will exert their power from the point of time when they gradually match.

Among them, there will be talented people who play as a team even if they have the skills. Therefore, Lee Ji-tae saw the possibility that the entire Red Butterfly group would remain until the end was low.

“Besides… if we encounter the things we put into the dungeon, even the butterfly will have no choice but to struggle.”

Lee Ji-tae nodded his head.

"They're made to warn her talented friends."

***

Hyunmoo walked through the ruins and quietly leaned against the wall. Minute vibrations and noises transmitted through the wall pierced his fingertips.

Hyunmoo, who has a sense of being sharp enough to become sensitive in hell, started to concentrate and the structure around him was drawn in his mind.

'It feels cozy compared to hell.'

It was like a peaceful garden compared to a place where you don't know what's coming out of a shady place, where the poisonous air scatters your senses, where the dense mana disturbs your presence, and the roaring sounds of insects flapping their wings pierce your brain.

The time he spent in Hell was only about a month, but he was naturally incomparable.

Among them, Hyunmoo felt a prominent presence. I felt something standing still in the right corner, two steps behind me. Since there was not much movement, the presence was weak, but Hyunmoo could clearly see it.

'It is about the size of a human, and its movements are rigid, and there is hardly any breathing. It looks like a living creature, but it's definitely not a human.'

Is this the identity of the monster released in the dungeon?

It was clear that he was the type he had never met in Hell.

Hyunmoo glanced over the corner, nervous and half-expected.

"……what?"

Hyunmoo's expectations were mercilessly shattered as soon as he caught the opponent. A grim expression appeared on his face.

It moves in the form of a mannequin while making a fine clockwork sound.

It was a scarecrow for beginners.

***

Some of the headhunters looked perplexed when they saw the monster they encountered with the red butterfly. It looks like a mannequin, and it has no seams and is covered with white skin. The expressionless face gave off a bizarre impression. One of the headhunters, who was acquainted with Lee Ji-tae, approached me and asked.

“What is that… what the hell is that?”

"It's a work made by applying the material of the mushroom monster caught in the Chernobyl dungeon to the self-learning skeletal glove developed by D&W Industries. The white flesh is actually like a mushroom, but it's tough and strong, so it's good to protect the inside. D&W Esau gave it a non-funny name, 'Mushroom Droid', but I'm just calling it Scarecrow."

“A monster material for the exoskeleton?”

"It is a cutting-edge technology. The exoskeleton learns the wearer's movements down to minute movements, so it can be used for combat, and when the spores are completely settled on the surface of the device, the durability and mana repulsion are strong. It seemed like a thought."

Lee Ji-tae muttered as if it was fun. As he is one of the strongest players in Korea and the successor to the chaebol in mana-related businesses, he had to pay attention to equipment for the powerful.

Headhunters watched the battles taking place everywhere on the screen.

Each of them tried to subdue this strange monster somehow with their own skills, but the scarecrow that had been specially treated just bounced off the mediocre skills. There were people who couldn't stand the fight and eventually gave up.

“If this happens, shouldn’t we have no choice but to go to a pure hand-to-hand battle?”

"It's not that strong yet. It's too much for practical use, and if it's a five-player joint attack, the specially treated surface can be peeled off quickly. Maybe it's a bit embarrassing for people traveling alone."

Lee Ji-tae said so and added an explanation.

"The best thing about the scarecrow is that its epidermis regenerates over time. So you don't have to worry about the budget for repairs."

Lee Ji-tae brought up a screen with a red butterfly reflected on it. She seemed to be struggling a bit even with the enemy butterfly around that time. In her hand, a red trace was being created that was nothing more than a trademark.

Her skin began to peel as she attacked her scarecrow with her reddish hand. But she seemed to need time to break it completely.

Lee Ji-tae watched the scene, she said.

"Chief of the office, roughly how much do you expect the final grades to be?"

"Well... no matter how long and flying the red butterflies, even if you get used to it at that speed... if nothing happens within the three-hour time limit, then wouldn't it be around 50? ."

It was similar to what Lee Ji-tae expected. Although the Red Butterfly was that overwhelming, eventually, the control forces will also unite to check the Red Butterfly. However, Lee Ji-tae felt that the picture was somehow strange.

While 300 dots were moving dazzlingly on her screen, a strange movement was felt somewhere outside of Lee Ji-tae's expectations.

"there."

Lee Ji-tae whispered into Tae Min-soo's ear and pointed to one side of the screen. Everyone else's eyes were focused on the enemy butterfly's performance, but Lee Ji-tae paid attention to her corner of the screen. Taemin-su saw what Lee Ji-tae was pointing and widened her eyes.

“Wait, what is that…?”"It's strange."

Lee Ji-tae muttered as if it was a lot of fun.

***

"Hey, I'm putting this out for a test. He gave me a lot of fear."

Hyunmoo grumbled as he looked at the scarecrows heaped on the floor.

Unlike the scarecrows they encountered in Hell, these had no lines, and their movements were simple and uninteresting. Moreover, even the estimated ability value seemed to be lower than that of Hyunmoo. If I were to guess, it would be around level 5.

Then a scarecrow writhes and walks towards the hallway where Hyunmoo is. As soon as the scarecrow saw Hyunmoo, he ran right in.

Hyunmoo took advantage of the speed at which the scarecrow was running and hung his arm around his neck, lightly dodging without even triggering a battle helper.

The scarecrow's neck was broken with a snapping sound in an instant due to the difference in inertia, speed, and weight. As the body drooped, the leather connecting the neck and body stretched.

"Um, I didn't mean to do it like this... I'm not going to ask you to ask."

It's the fault of the guy who put out such a weak thing. Hyunmoo grunted and started rummaging through the fallen scarecrow on the floor.

A metal plaque was visible under the right rib.

Oddly enough, the metal plaques were so engraved that they protrude slightly out of the skin, so you had to completely rip the surface to get them out.

Hyunmoo's strength wasn't strong enough to rip off the specially treated skin. It didn't even have a weapon. But Hyunmoo didn't need either.

"Dismantling."

Hyunmoo activated his skill briefly, and a metal plaque appeared through the peeled skin. Hyunmoo picked up the metal plaque and put it in his pocket.

It was only 30 minutes after the game started, but it was pretty much piled up. Many of them were stolen from humans.

'Still, it would be impossible to collect them all within three hours.'

It is not only people who have metal plaques, but also scarecrows. However, as time goes on, only a few with a large number of metal tiles remain on the pitch.

It wasn't necessarily impossible. At that time, carrying a metal plate in itself seemed burdensome.

It was easier than I thought, but it was hard to get used to the fact that it was so easy.

Hyunmoo had never had an easy battle. He didn't even have an official skill, Poison Blood, to run a battle helper yet. He was able to subdue his opponents simply with physical strength.

'It's subtle that it ends so easily.'

Hyunmoo suddenly remembered the red-haired woman he had seen in the waiting room. If she were her, she somehow seemed to remain until the end.

It was then. Suddenly, a broadcast rang out from the stadium.

[Please note. As the current game time has passed 34 minutes, and the movement of metal tiles has occurred more than 30%, we will announce the player with the most metal tiles.]

[3rd place. red lotus. 7 pieces.]

[2nd place. Red Butterfly. 9.]

And last.

[1st. Kang Hyunmoo. 16.]

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