Rise Of The Hoarder

Lily drowned in a world of black.

Her entire senses entered a lull state as she completely succumbed to the allure of sleep… no, it wasn’t really sleep.

She was simply unconscious.

Surprisingly, her entire self seemed to be perfectly awake. She realized the world she was currently in, a vast, empty space filled with nothing but darkness.

Finally, the black curtain hanging around her slowly began to lift and instead of the absolute blindness that enveloped her, the area turned grey.

Black and white colors glittered around Lily as she opened her eyes.

Looking around her, she could somewhat tell what kind of plane she was in. The girl wasn’t in the realm of reality, at least not yet. This was simply a dream—a lucid one.

The way her thoughts trailed as she observed her surrounding made her completely recognize the scene.

It was a hospital ward.

A girl was laid on the bed, a life support machine by her side. The constant beeps of the device kept ringing in the room—having intervals between the sound it made.

Doctors were there, and then two people—her parents—hung above the sleeping figure. Lily knew this scene well, even though she shouldn’t have been able to.

The girl who was in a coma was none other than Lily, and she had been in this condition for some time.

A year? Two years? She didn’t properly recall.

Her memory of the time she first entered that deep sleep was still hazy to her. That was probably why the image of the girl on the bed was blurry.

She didn’t know what she looked like, or even how her parents or the doctor did. In her comatose state, she had been in a semi-conscious state where she heard the conversation of those around her.

She felt their presence, could detect a bit of their movement… but the wall that blocked her from interacting with the living was too high to cross.

She tried to open her mouth, but this forced sleep suppressed any attempt to speak or move.

She was a living corpse!

At least, that was how it went on until something bizarre occurred.

Lily closed her eyes and by the time she opened them… a new sight had unfolded.

A pure white room, the complete opposite of the darkness around her before.

This was the first thing Lily had seen in years ever since she first entered a coma.

Her eyes should have squinted in response to the sharp sensation assailing her, but the girl seemed fine. No, she felt more than fine!

It was as if she was no longer in her sickly body! Well, she was half right!

“Welcome to the Sacred Hall.” A voice greeted her.

Startled by the sound, the innocent, young girl sharply turned in the direction of whoever spoke.

It was none other than the Supreme Being known as God.

The stranger introduced himself accordingly, explaining the cause for her appearance in his domain. Perhaps she wouldn’t have believed him if she was older, or more mature, but Lily still had the mindset of a kid—since she had been in a coma for years.

“W-wow?!” She could only mutter, listening to the white man’s every word.

Once he was fine explaining, he handed over her Gift—[Great Sight]—and also briefly explained the rudimentary knowledge concerning the Divine System she now had.

All her Stats were represented with numbers, and the girl seemed to be surging with more power than normal.

“When you return, you should be awake.” God, at least that was what she could only see him as, assured the young girl.

‘I’ll be able to see… my family… again?!’

Those wonderful thoughts rang with happiness as she glowed brightly. It appeared she had forgotten all about the warnings the Supreme Being had given her concerning Demons.

All that mattered to her was going home!

Perhaps he was making some sort of expression on his face, but the white being didn’t seem to display any qualms with her line of reasoning. He didn’t even attempt to correct her.

“Now, then… you should be returning now.” He muttered, interrupting her jubilant thoughts.

Lily nodded that she understood and stood upright—though that wasn’t really necessary.

“Well, good luck. I hope for your survival.”

The white person’s voice didn’t particularly contain any emotion that indicated that he meant those words, but Lily accepted them wholeheartedly while nodding.

In a beam of white light, Lily’s line of vision changed once again. She had already left the Sacred Hall!

The older Lily who watched this dream, invisible in all the events, was already tense at this moment.

Her previous expressions were that of nostalgia and a bit of pain, but now… the only thing showing in her eyes was fear.

Terror assailed the older girl!

It seemed she had completely forgotten that this was only just a dream, but her widened eyes and outstretched arms were focused on the younger self who just woke up from sleep.

‘Run! Run! No!!!’ Her mind rang as she watched the girl remove the Life Support machine’s probes from her body.

In excitement, younger Lily hopped off the bed and ran to the exit—well, it could most accurately be described as the entrance.

Immediately she did so, the wish of just staying in bed washed over the young girl. Why?

That was because of the sight that unfolded next.

People were running!

Doctors, nurses, everyone in the building, or at least on that floor. It was so overwhelming that Lily was stunned and unable to move an inch.

‘Why are they running?’ Played on her mind.

Well, she soon saw the answer to her inquiry.

Turning her head in the direction of a pungent smile—to the exact place where everyone was running away from— the girl was met with the most grotesque sight ever!

If the white being she had seen earlier represented God, then this was absolutely the devil! It was too horrific to be labeled anything less.

The monster—a Demon—was walking while chewing on the head of a human. Blood dripped on the ground, forming a trail, as the monster casually walked down the hall.

This wasn’t the world she wanted to see!