Hoarding in Hell Novel

Maria Keller stared at Samuel for a long time without answering.

After a while she rubbed her cigarette roughly on her desk and put it out.

Smoking her cigarette makes her head numb. She wasn't the one to deal with with a blank head.

It had been a long time since I had been drinking.

"Priests."

Samuel shook her head.

Maria felt as if her statue was moving because she felt no life at all.

She said, "Is Samuel on your side from the beginning? Or ...."

"Samuel died of a myocardial infarction three days ago."

Samuel, no, it said that she was covered in Samuel's skin.

"We took care of the body, and we borrowed it because we need his identity and face. For the time being, there are things to be done using this identity, so I'll just keep calling him Samuel instead of the priest."

Maria grinned.

"Either way, I didn't know you would have the guts to come to visit. Don't you guys always meet people inside the dungeon? That's your territory. It's dangerous outside where the game is going on."

"Is it dangerous, Keller?"

Samuel asked with an expressionless face. Maria's face contorted.

"Tell me, Keller. There are more than ten capable people in this chrome headquarters alone. You can call in Adam Fort and grind me to pieces.

Maria grinded her teeth. Samuel was mocking her at her. Her wrath was already known to her priests.

Most priests are as weak as normal humans. But their strength lies not in their bodies, but in their strange abilities.

These so-called angels, administrators, dungeon masters, or priests were known only to very few, including Maria Keller.

These, which were also the occasion for the establishment of the UN Special Inspection Department, appeared with the birth of the dungeon.

Those who identified themselves as managers of the dungeon have been in contact with the 'manager of humans' to control the operation and increase in difficulty, and to prevent it from jumping into unexpected variables.

Maria Keller was one of them.

Even so, the relationship between Maria and her priests was not simple.

"Keller, you won't forget our contract."

“… you know.”

Mary's eyes fluttered at Samuel's words. But Samuel, as if lacking, spoke again about the contract they had made.

"We decided to provide you with information about abilities and dungeons. Thanks to that, you were able to control the world of abilities without much confusion until now. We also wanted this world to be stable and strong, so these days So far, we've all been fine."

Samuel's pupilless eyes turned coldly to Keller.

"But these days, Chrome seems to be getting more and more out of control. Did we rate you too high?"

"It's all because of you guys joking around!"

Maria shouted, banging on her desk.

As Samuel said, Chrom's contract with his priests allowed him to run the world stably. However, they did not share all information.

Somewhere in the world, unexpected damage continued to occur, and disasters without prior warning struck.

Numerous end-of-human scenarios created by Maria Keller also had her priests in mind.

Ultimately, they are the enemies of mankind.

The difficulty of the dungeon gradually increases. to the extent that humankind cannot afford it.

Maria tried to extract as much information as possible from them, but, as Samuel said, the situation was out of her hands.

Maria couldn't help but have doubts in this situation.

I wonder if they are pretending to be providing information to them, but actually putting them in a difficult situation.Despite Mary's passionate reaction, Samuel's expression did not change.

"I'm suspicious. That's why he was avoiding meeting us."

Samuel shook his head. He was at an angle that, in human terms, looked like his neck had been broken.

"But I'm skeptical, but I can't do it because I'm afraid that breaking up with us will only make things worse. You wouldn't be such an indecisive person, Keller. We chose you because you were the smartest or you were capable. is not."

“……”

"Because you are a decisive person."

Samuel carefully pulled out a box the size of a ring case from his arms.

"It's a removable memory device."

"...what is it, an item?"

Maria withdrew slightly with her firm expression on her face.

Priests are the managers of the dungeon. The items they used were often beyond imagination.

"It's just an ordinary USB. Don't be so scared. There was an unexpected variable, so I put in a plan that was changed to reflect the variable. Check it and add it to running Chrome. It will be difficult for a while."

At the word variable, Maria raised her eyebrows.

"If it's a variable, maybe it's a story related to the disappearance of the Taean Dungeon before?"

The disappearance of the dungeon that occurred in Korea became an opportunity to pay attention to Korea, not only to the priests, but also to Chrome.

Up until this point, there was a phenomenon that the difficulty was adjusted, but it was the first and last time that the dungeon itself disappeared.

The dungeon was destroyed because it was impossible without the intervention of the priest.

At the time of the incident, even the priests summoned Maria Keller and asked her English.

"It may or may not be relevant, but we don't have to tell you that."

Maria took the USB with her nervous look and plugged it right into her computer.

The content was a short document file.

Maria's expression, who was quickly scanning the first part, was distorted at once.

"You motherfuckers! What are you doing!"

"Don't get excited. I'm just trying to speed things up a bit."

Samuel placed his finger on his lips and pushed it up slightly. Then, his statue-like face was bizarrely distorted as if forcibly smiling.

"Accept it with a smile, Keller. It's not as bad as you think. It's just a plan that reflects the variables. Even if it goes to the worst, it's less than one-hundredth of the number of casualties that should have happened when the original tower appeared. ?"

"But this!"

"It's just that the level of mankind as a whole is being upgraded. I don't know why you think it's terrible. I think a lot of people will like it more than you think. And the stars."

Samuel whispered with a distorted smile.

"So, think about how you can use this to make your plan a success."

***

"Did you suddenly go crazy?"

Yu-min was shocked to see Hyunmoo, who appeared after a few days, hugged him first.

Of course, before that, Hyunmoo had taken a shower to wash off the fine dust, brushed his teeth, and even changed his clothes. But Yumin wasn't like that.

“Wait a minute… let’s be like this.”

"No, um. Everything is fine, but now I..."

The problem was that Yu-min had been dissecting the monster for a while, and his body was covered in blood and he was wearing a protective suit, so Hyunmoo's hug was not felt at all.

In addition, the internal organs, flesh, and leather displayed everywhere were difficult to create a romantic atmosphere no matter how much you think about it.

Yu-min hugged Hyunmoo, being careful not to stab Hyunmoo with a scalpel.

“Yoo-min, what do you think would have been if I had been born a different person than I am now?”

"Yeah? What do you mean all of a sudden?"

“So, hmm… yes. Do you remember the first time we met? Let’s imagine that it was like that. Were we still seeing each other?”

"All of a sudden, it's a random, useless family. Of course, we shouldn't have met."

Hyunmoo gave a disappointed expression.

“Don’t you think we would have met through normal lip service?”

"No, that's right, oppa has become a completely different person than he was back then. Fortune, education, and things like that are the second most important thing in the back."

"...that's the second most important thing."

"Are you going to say it doesn't matter?"

"It doesn't matter."

Even if you cry on your stomach in the same way, crying on your face on a high-quality mahogany desk is different from crying on your face on a yellow cardboard floor.

“Yes, but the most important thing to me… was a sense of improvement and self-confidence.”

Yumin said as if recalling that time.

When she was still an ordinary graduate student, Hyunmoo was digging through her gutter.

“By the way, to say the least, he had a lot of inferiority complex. But when we met again… he had great abs enough to cover it up.”

"No, wait a minute. Do you usually refer to abs here?"

"Are you going to say it doesn't matter?"

“Important… is it?”

"It's important."

Yumin nodded her head and said.

"Normal men have a problem with excessive self-awareness and lack of self-confidence, but confidence with abs and confidence without abs are different."

Hyunmoo still didn't understand. However, Yumin smiled and opened the helmet part of the protective suit.

"And above all else, I'm attracted to men who look dangerous. Maybe it's my dad's fault."

Hyunmoo kissed Yu-min. After a long kiss, Hyunmoo asked what he was curious about.

“What was your father doing?”

"Ask Dr. Won-kyung Do. Because my father was my mentor when I was in my second year of middle school. It's also the reason why I can't say anything even when I'm dating my brother."

Hyunmoo had to put off his curiosity until he met Wonkyung Do. Anyway, I had to meet Do Won-kyung sooner or later.

Because she wanted to contact Maria Keller through Do Won-kyung's connections as a scholar.

The calculation was that it would be easy to be vigilant to face the powerful versus the capable, but it would be more comfortable if you put a dowon-gyeong in the middle.

"So, how's the situation these days?"

When Hyunmoo went to Difficulty: Hell, it had just risen to Difficulty: Normal.

Of course, Hyunmoo looked at the situation around Korea and cleared out major threats, but that didn't mean it was safe.

Yumin's expression darkened.

“Um… it’s not good. As the monsters communicate in earnest in the dungeon and build barriers, the attack is becoming more difficult several times. The number of deaths is also increasing. I heard that borders are being drawn in places like the Third World. Related industries are also having a hard time supplying resources, so raw material prices are running like crazy.”

“What is the status of the Almighty?”

"It's making the best profit ever. Crystal moss price is pricey, and equipment is like a monopoly. Requests for imports for magic bullets are pouring in, so I'm planning to expand the factory size eight times. ."

Even when everyone is screaming and panicking, someone is bound to laugh.

It was the same during the Great Depression, and it was the same during the IMF.

It would be better for at least one to laugh than to scream all together.

Hyunmoo stood on the smiling side.

"However, there are countries that do not have the ability to pay for our goods. In those countries, we are receiving government bonds, but I wonder if we can actually get them back..."

"It's okay. Sell, sell."Selling cheaply only to such countries may lead to a story of equity.

But now, the situation is whether the country will collapse or not. Victims occur right away, and just talking about money is to be insulted, and ultimately, if this existing world collapses, it will be impossible to have the 'comfort world' that Hyunmoo wants to enjoy.

A certain amount of damage is an investment to maintain the infrastructure.

Yu-min knew that, too, and was exporting goods at some loss.

"Hmm, and in America..."

It was then. There was a sudden vibration with a squeaking sound.

Hyunmoo felt her eyes go dark in an instant. Just as I was wondering what was going on, suddenly voices came from all directions.

[Hello. Everyone. Difficulty: Welcome to Normal.]

Hyunmoo realized that this voice was identical to the voice of the system alert.

Hyunmoo turned to Yu-min. It was clear that she heard her voice the same, seeing that she also had her bewildered expression on her face.

[I know you were surprised by the sudden announcement. It's no different, but as a result of checking the recent situation, we have found an error that cannot be ignored.]

Yu-min quickly started typing the contents of the message on the PC.

System alerts are not recorded. It was best to transfer it.

[Therefore, our management team decided to implement an emergency update to clear up the existing situation a little.]

System messages were monotonously clerical and informal announcements.

[Until this time, most people had nothing to do with things like dungeons, hunters, and monsters. All this was done to ensure a gradual adaptation to the new era. The idea was to never make any radical changes. A drastic change kills too many people.]

The system alert sound was strangely frivolous and high in tension. It was different from the ones that had only delivered messages in an official manner up to this point.

[But voila, there is no such thing as absolute. It will be different from now on. We decided to implement a patch so that everyone can enjoy it equally. Everyone becomes a participant in the game. There is no such thing as someone else's business. You are the hero of this world.]

"what……."

Hyunmoo had a bad feeling. This was not in the records of the white bones, and it was different from the stories I had heard from others.

[Patch starts with eclipse. As the eclipse progresses, a shadow is cast on the world. In the area where the shadow is cast, the power of the star becomes stronger and the concentration of mana increases. It looks simple, right? However, it seems that words alone do not make sense, so I will provide a more specific example.]

A video suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. It was a typical American suburban landscape.

Seeing people listening and looking around in embarrassment, Hyunmoo realized that this was a video that was reflected in real time.

Then suddenly, slowly, round shadows began to fall over their heads.

The shadow that spread like ink quickly covered the entire suburban area.

Hyunmoo found the man cast in the shadows momentarily moving as if several images were overlapping each other. Confused, the man grabbed his face and then pulled his hand away.

His eyes were literally burning.

Similar things were happening around us. The man immediately ran towards the other man in front of him and pulled his neck out at once.

At that moment, someone pulled out a gun.

gunshots rang out.

A lot of gunshots rang out.

But the man who was shot did not budge.

The gun was dropped on the floor, and a fight began. Some grabbed the enemy with their bare hands, and some hid somewhere. Another person rushed to call and moved.

Hyunmoo noticed the situation.

A person who used to be an ordinary person quickly became a powerful person and became a family member.

Difficulty: Monsterized humans that could only be seen in Hell were rapidly appearing.

['Shadow' drives an individual's inclination to the extreme, sharply increases the concentration of mana, and at the same time increases her physical abilities. Those of you who know this isn't a bad thing, you know. but… … There may be people who do not like the patch history.]

The system message spoke kindly and kindly, as if showing great generosity.

[We want to give you an option for those who don't like this one-sided patch. Kill the 'World's Worst Man' in the next 72 hours. Then immediately stop patching and the shadows will stop reflecting. However, keep in mind that you cannot change someone who has already applied the patch.]

With absurd remarks, the system message ended happily.

[Then, let's proceed with the mission 'Leviathan' from now on. We look forward to your participation!]

Thank you for reading this story at mtlarchive.com. Your support enables us to keep the site running!