Rise Of The Hoarder

I began moving closer to the Hobgoblin King, who, for some reason, shrunk back a bit. Perhaps it knew of its fate if I so much as grazed it.

“I’m sneaky. I cheat a lot…”

As much as it would be really cutthroat to have a death match with Hobgoblin’s staking my life on the line, I wasn’t that kind of person. Perhaps it was because I had gotten so strong that I forgot… deep down I was a coward.

“I hate being in pain, so I just use what’s most convenient for me. Even if I have to fight one monster at a time. Even if I have to use sneak attacks. Even if I have to steal all your equipment and use them for myself! It doesn’t matter, does it?”

Yes. All that mattered was survival! If I had such an ability, it was only common sense to use it to its fullest.

Using my [Subspace] ability, wasn’t it just more efficient to trap each Chief, even the Boss, and fight at my leisure. If things looked really bad, I could easily use <Recall> to catch my breath and then utilize <Summon> to bring them back out when I was good and ready.

I could keep Demons for convenient EXP banks and brutally wound them, nearly kill them, so I could get an easy Level Up once I entered a tough spot.

All injuries would be healed and I would gain additional Stat points—just for dealing the last blow on some half-dead Demons I stored up!

“Sure, it’s convenient and can cause laziness, but… that’s just the kind of stuff I like the most, you know? It’s not like I’m a hardcore fighter and all.”

I’m the end, I just wanted to survive. Whatever the easy route was… I would take it!

“You… abnormal!”

“Pfft, it feels weird being called that by someone like you. But, what can I say? I suppose I am.”

I felt an invisible barrier blocking my path, most likely a Skill from the King, but I just took care of it easily.

Next, multiple fireballs appeared, their heat so intense I felt burned up even being so far away from them.

I took those in as well.

Massive earth golems came out and tried attacking me all at once.

“Wow cool!” I beamed as I took those as well.

The Hobgoblin King grew frantic. There was no Skill effect that couldn’t be taken in by me, unless he actually—

Before I could finish my thought, the Hobgoblin King suddenly made a quick movement.

Halting in its steps, as soon as it realized there was really no way to retreat, the Boss brandished its fist and lunged at me. The pressure alone was enough to make all the hair on my skin stand and I felt like my flesh would peel off.

The Boss’ nosy was coated in intense energy, and I was certain it thought I couldn’t capture it if it was covered in such fine, destructive, coating.

Ever since I arrived at this place, I was faster than the Hobgoblin and after defeating those Hobgoblin Champions from earlier, I had gotten even faster. I could see its flustered punch nearing me.

I currently had two options.

One would be to explode its whole body by setting it ablaze in my Mana. Summoning my Mana-filled air wouldn’t be an issue at all. Plus, I could easily protect myself by using many of those invisible barrier thingies I collected.

The second option was what I decided to roll with, though.

Simply absorb the Demon energy around the monster’s body into [Subspace]. I had to test it anyway.

>WHUUUUUSH<

And what do you know? It actually worked.

The Hobgoblin King lost all the energy that ferociously shrouded its body in an instant, but it was too late for the Demon to halt its attack.

I stretched my hand to reach out to the incoming blow.

The very moment our skin touched… it was checkmate!

“G—”

The Boss couldn’t even let out a word before I collected its body into [Subspace].

“Just like that… it’s mine, uh?” I smiled amusedly.

This had been a very fine and productive evening, even as I watched the sun set. It was most likely 6:00 PM in the evening. I still had time.

‘The Demonic energy I absorbed from the Boss will be useful later on. The mere thought of mixing it into my Mana-filled air later on… oh, I can’t wait!’

Plus, I had all those pieces of equipment in my possession, along with unimaginably powerful monsters. They were all mine!

[SYSTEM ALERT!!!]

[CONNECTION LOST!?!]

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

[!!!]

My eyes widened as I saw several windows popping up on my face. They all warbled red, giving off danger signs, and their pings sounded like sirens.

‘Ah, I wasn’t supposed to take the Boss away from the designated spot, uh?’ My mind rang.

The Gate a few meters from me began flickering, showing a mix of red, blue and purple… mostly red though.

Something was definitely wrong. The balance had been upset, no doubt.

The Boss needed to be close to the Gate for it to be fully operational. The System recognized this, so it was probably glitching as a result of an unprecedented situation.

To make sure everything returned to normal, I had to return the Boss as soon as possible and kill it in the right way.

[SYSTEM ALERT!!!]

[CONNECTION LOST!?!]

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

<ERROR!>

~Boss Monster Not Found~

[!!!]

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, okay?”

Waving off the warning signals, I called upon my [Subspace] window and checked the items in stock.

Before returning the Boss to its rightful state and fighting in earnest, I needed to equip myself properly first. My body wasn’t really in a terrible state, no, it was perfect actually.

Since I Leveled Up, most of the backlash from earlier had worn off—all of them.

Still, there was something I needed to do.

“This might take a moment, so hang in there, okay, System?”

I was in no mood to take risks. Using my Skills, Gift, Stats… and lots of Gear, I would emerge the victor as easily as I could.

It was time to get OVERGEARED!