Rise Of The Hoarder

“It’s just perfect!” I beamed.

Not only had my first theory been proven right, but I also got a load of (G) Karma Points as returns. What more could I ask for?

‘With this much… I should be able to upgrade [Subspace] to Rank C!’

Doing that would provide me with more features and abilities. The mere thought of it made me throb in excitement. I could barely hide the overwhelming expectations welling up within me.

It felt strange that I felt little to no remorse for those who had died. If anyone heard of what I had done to achieve my goals, they would label me as a wicked being. After all, it may have been indirect, but I had practically sent those Gifteds to their deaths.

While the deaths of the Camp’s Subjugation team members couldn’t really be blamed on me, the deserters that I had captured using [Subspace] were forced to fight Demons by me.

I had caused their deaths!

However, was it really as simple as that? Looking at things objectively, they were bound to die eventually. Larry was taking them to their slaughter and if I had done nothing, the fools would have become nothing but EXP for ‘Evil’ Aligned Gifteds.

“In a way, I gave them a chance for survival, didn’t I?” My lips curled in a twisted smile as I tried justifying my actions.

Not only were the Hobgoblins severely weakened after my battle with them, but they had also sustained injuries that made them too slow to pose a major threat to the Gifteds if they used their head a little.

Instead, they ran away and caused their very deaths. Not only did they die, but they also left a mess for me to clear. I had to take care of that stampede thanks to their futile struggles.

‘Good grief… if they didn’t want to fight, they should have just died without causing me any trouble…’ I sighed.

Well… even if they had survived the Hobgoblins’ assaults, I was determined to keep summoning monsters until some died to prove my theory. It was only a matter of time.

I would have liked it if they leveled up more, though. That way, if they died, just as was the case of EXP, more (G) Karma Points would have probably been given to me.

In any case, I couldn’t complain. I got what I wanted, didn’t I? Still… it wasn’t enough!

“I want more (G) Karma Points!”

I hadn’t tested my second theory yet, but in the likelihood that it failed, I had a backup plan in store, which would be the Camp members.

This Subjugation was just an excuse to gather points. In a way, (G) Karma Points were more valuable than EXP for Level Ups since I could always obtain those. This was a rare chance to rack up as much as I could!

“Hehe…He-he-he…” I chuckled to myself, wondering to myself how much my mind had changed from the scared, silly one I had in the past.

I was thinking of sacrificing human lives for my goals, but I didn’t feel they weighed much. Sooner or later, they would die. I was just ensuring they died for a good cause.

Of course, I wasn’t entirely heartless. People like Ana, Lily, and Peter were among those I didn’t want to encounter any harm. Somehow, they had managed to worm their way into my heart and I somehow cherished them.

I had initially wanted to use them as a start in my experiment but changed my mind after some time. They showed me a lot of things I hadn’t experienced before, and while I still thought of their group as pretty stupid and naive… I… didn’t want them to die.

‘I wonder how they would feel… if they learned of what I have been up to…’ My thoughts trailed.

The thought alone made me skip a beat. They definitely wouldn’t approve, so I had to make sure I was extra careful.

“I’m not evil… I’m not a bad person…” I whispered as the tiny vestiges of my conscience pricked me, reminding me of the little notion of morality lurking somewhere within me.

The System itself registered my Alignment as ‘Neutral’, so I certainly wasn’t doing anything bad from an objective standpoint. It was only morality and societal standards that thought of my actions as perverse.

These were merely excuses I came up with, though. Deep within… I knew why my Alignment hadn’t turned ‘Evil’ even though it would have changed already by normal standards.

“I haven’t killed anyone yet…”

As the words escaped my lips, I clearly remembered the criteria for attaining an ‘Evil’ Alignment. People like Larry who had taken the lives of others were granted this alignment, and while I had certainly caused the deaths of quite an amount of humans… I had not done so directly!

No matter what anyone said, their blood was not on my hands. That was the only saving grace I had in this situation. By effectively using monsters to do my dirty work… I evaded the penalty of taking a life, while also reaping the rewards. It was a loophole I could only achieve because of my Gift, Skills, and high level of intelligence.

The reason I hadn’t just massacred everyone in the Camp for (G) Karma Points and EXP was due to this very same reason. Charles had taken it for weakness, but it wasn’t anything like that.

It would just be inconvenient… if I became branded with an ‘Evil’ Alignment. I had to avoid it… at all cost!

“Whew, that’s some thinking I’ve been doing!” I smiled, covering my eyes for a moment.

It was good to take a break every once in a while to consider a few things. Only then would one be able to figure out more hidden truths and decipher events to exploit the most of situations.

As inhaled and exhaled slowly, I ruminated on a bunch of things I still had to do.