Rise Of The Hoarder

“… Disappointing… It appears I overestimated you.” I smiled, bringing my face closer to Larry.r

The moment I said this, a deep glare appeared on his face.r

As someone who had killed another before, he must have been familiar with human nature. An unmerciful person wasn’t going to bite no matter how many pleadings or deals one tries to make.r

Realizing that it was pointless to make further deals or argue with me, Larry knew he had to fight or escape.r

Larry’s glare suddenly turned into a smile, and a dim light emanated from his body. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck on his end, but his Skills were now ready for use.r

“Finally!” He beamed, covering his body in the shadowy ability that made him intangible for some time.r

‘I knew it. He was also stalling for time.’ I mused.r

Larry took this opportunity as his queue to leave. He couldn’t take the people behind him as his prize, but at least he would be alive! r

Dashing swiftly at me, his body passed through me as he ran ahead in order to escape.r

Larry activated his <Sprint> Skill too, boosting his speed.r

While I could catch up with him at my normal speed, Larry’s intangibility would make it difficult for me to capture him.r_.

‘I need to have physical contact, after all…’r

Still, I wasn’t worried. I turned in the direction of the confused and scared people. They trembled the instant our eyes met.r

“E-eeeek!!!”r

A small smile formed on my face. It was an ironic situation… I, who had once been one of those that quivered in fear, was now the one who caused it.r

‘Have I become a bully myself? A Demon…?’r

No, it didn’t matter at this point. Because in this current world, survival was the priority. And as long as I survived, nothing else was important.r

“You should all wait here. I’ll be right back.” I smirked.r

Instantly fading with the wind, I dashed away from my position, creating a small boom in my wake.r

‘Let’s go hunting!’ I smiled.r

————————————-r

“Shit! Shit! Shit!!!” Larry growled as he ran with all his might.r

His Skills would soon go into cool down mode. The system was already warning him.r

[System Alert!!!]r

~You Have 05 Seconds Left Before Your Skills <Sprint> and <Phase> Enter Cool down~r

[.]r

“Haaa… Haaa…” He gave heavy huffs, relentlessly pushing himself to find a safe place to hide, far away from his pursuer.r

‘I didn’t think things would turn out this way!’ Larry’s mind rang, turning his head in different directions in order to find a safe spot.r

Finally seeing an incomplete building, his eyes widened and he beamed in relief. It was just in time too!r

He rushed toward the building, running on fumes, and even before he got there, time had run out. Still, not seeing Jeremy within his line of sight, he used his normal speed to complete his journey into the incomplete structure.r

“Huff… Huff… that was a close one!” He said in exhaustion.r

Sweat was all over his body, as he took in the stifling air. As Larry calmed his unstable breathing down, he smiled in relief.r

“Finally shook him off…”r

Still, it was regretful that he lost 28 sources of EXP. If Larry had brought them to his group, it would have solidified his position among them even more, since he was regarded as the weakest among them.r

“Should I have just killed them on the spot and taken all the EXP? Ahh, why didn’t I think of that earlier?!” He groaned to himself.r

He couldn’t fault himself for leaving them behind though. Jeremy was a monster that was comparable to Larry’s Camp leader. He was someone Larry couldn’t face even if he wanted to. The wisest choice in such a scenario would be to escape.r

Still, it bothered Larry.r

“If Jeremy is still staying at the Camp, it’ll be difficult for us to raid them. Our Camp leader will have to deal with him directly if we are to succeed. Ah, what a mess!” Larry sighed, closing his eyes to rest.r

“Indeed… you look like a mess.” A voice echoed through the incomplete structure.r

Larry was startled by the sudden sound. He recognized the voice, it was the very thing he was trying to escape from.r

“H-how… How did he-?!” Larry burst out, opening his eyes to find Jeremy in front of him.r

The young boy’s smile, coupled with the massive aura he emitted told Larry that he was in danger. r

“Shit!”r

————————————-r

Looking at Larry’s frightened and stunned expression was so amusing, which made sneaking up on him worth it.r

It would have been easy to simply observe him from a closer range and wait until his <Phase> and <Sprint> Skills timed out. However, that wasn’t going to be any fun.r

So, by maintaining my distance, I used my enhanced vision, coupled with the binoculars in my possession to watch Larry from afar.r

I saw him when he entered the incomplete building and so proceeded to surprise him.r

From his reaction, it looked like it worked.r

“You… how did you get here so quickly? How did you track me?!”r

He was right to be a little surprised. <Phase> allowed no traces of him to remain, so if I didn’t spot him entering the building, it would have been difficult to track him down with my senses alone.r

“I was always watching you. Needless to say, you’ve run out of options.” I said, drawing close to him.r

Larry’s body was at its limit. Using two skills consecutively, twice in a row, was something that took its toll on an average Gifted.r

“Why… why are you doing this…?!” Larry asked, still confused about my motives.r

Well, it wasn’t going to be detrimental to me if I filled him in, so I decided to enlighten him a little.r

“Experimentation… that’s all there is to it.”r

His eyes bulged by the simplicity of my response.r

“E-experi… what are you… what are you planning? What do you think human life is?! All this… is for an experiment?”r

Larry’s words sounded hypocritical since he was a murderer. I wasn’t bothered about what he thought, though.r

“Information is power. My knowledge of this world and its workings is limited. I need to know more… and once my curiosity has been satiated… it will all be over!”r

No one could understand my reasoning because they hadn’t seen what I saw in the Sacred Hall.r

The events to come couldn’t be solved with just Stats and Levels alone. To be the absolute winner of this Apocalyptic world, I needed to reach a conclusive answer!r