Rise Of The Hoarder

“It was worth it setting all this up. Now then… show me what you’ve got!” I grinned amusedly.r

[Some Moments Ago]r

After conquering my entire building and stepping foot outside, I was greeted with silence. A dreary feeling of solitude seemed to permeate my body, making my skin tingle.r

Looking around me, even with my heightened senses, I could sense no one for miles.r

“Am I the only one in the area?”r

After walking a small distance from my apartment building, I glanced around and saw similar structures, some of which were still erect while some had collapsed.r

Surprisingly, I saw or felt no monster nearby.r

Why was my apartment different, then? I had a fair idea.r

“It’s because of the Gate that spawned in that hole, and that boss monster.”r

Having made my apartment their base, they were bound by their territory, and even when they suffered the Status Condition of <Hunger>, they were not permitted to leave.r

‘I suppose there are no other Demons of that kind here…’r

Still, the chilly memory of those overwhelmingly powerful monsters made me shudder a little.r

‘I wonder… If I saw those monsters now, how would I react?’ I thought.r

The question was somewhat pointless since I had no way to measure my strength. The only references I had were from the Sacred Hall, and to be honest neither of the Demons I saw that day matched any I had seen while with God.r

“The only way to compare is by coming in contact with more Demons, and even other Gifteds… I need to know how much I’ve improved and how far I need to go…” I mumbled.r

‘Welp, why don’t I check the other buildings for anything I can use!’r

Using my speed to navigate the apartments and my senses to detect any enemy, I checked every nook and cranny of the building. It didn’t take me very long, compared to my own.r

‘How surprising… there really are no Demons here…’ I noticed as I took different supplies.r

One of my lucky finds was an excellent and functional pair of binoculars.r

“Sweet!” I beamed, glancing at the black-colored treasure in my hands.r

Not only was it cool, but it served a special purpose concerning my Gift, [Subspace].r

Since it wasn’t heavy, and appeared somewhat stylish in my opinion, I hung it on my neck, being able to access it anytime I wanted without relying on [Subspace].r

After I conquered a building, I went on to the next, enjoying my excursion as much as I could. It was a little boring that I did not encounter a single monster as I swept through the outside world, but I didn’t let that get to me.r

“I deserve a little break after all that marathon of hunting the Kobolds, don’t I?”r

Still, it bothered me that the world was not as chaotic as I imagined, or saw in the Sacred Hall. For one, too many buildings were still standing, and the fact that the whole place wasn’t crawling with monsters made me anxious.r

Even though there was fire and chaos around, it wasn’t to the point of the hell I’d witnessed back then.r

But, since I was making progress by gathering supplies and useful materials, I didn’t let it distract me too much.r

After searching three of the five other buildings nearby without rest, seeing some very interesting things, I entered the fourth.r

Looking at the place, it appeared to be a center for children, perhaps an educational institute. Having charts with different drawings, some of which labeled animal parts, learning the alphabets, numerical figures, and the likes.r

‘Like that will do any good now,’ I mused.r

Initially thinking I would hardly see anything useful in the building, I was a little hesitant to proceed with my search.r

‘I could check this one last… or should I simply go for the last one now?’r

However, since I was already here, I decided to get it over with.r

“I’ll eventually have to do it anyway, might as well get it over with now…” I grumbled, my voice echoing across the building.r

After walking across the hallway of the ground floor for a little while, my eyes caught something by the side of a door, stuck to the wall.r

In a flash, my body darted to its position.r

“Oh? This was here as well?” I mumbled, seeing a vending machine before me.r

It looked somewhat old and dusty since it hadn’t been tended to in a while in such an empty, dark building, but the contents within it still appeared good.r

‘The snacks put in vending machines are made to last long, after all…’r

They weren’t highly nutritious goods, but being rich in salt and fat, coupled with high carbohydrates made them ideal for energy conservation.r

‘Plus, they all taste so damn good!’r

Licking my lips in excitement, my hands slowly approached the machine, when I suddenly heard a sound.r

“It can’t be helped, also keep your voice down!”r

‘This is…!!!’ My head rang.r

Since I tried to use the most extreme amount of caution, I spread my senses to its limit to catch any sound or movement around, and this was the first I had gotten so far, well, except for that ‘other guy’.r

Straining my ears to pick up more of what was happening with the humans that were conversing, I closed my eyes.r

“You’re the one making noise, stupid. Take your own advice…”r

With that, I was certain!r

“Other Gifteds, and they are close!” I beamed.r

Well, close for me meant nearly a hundred meters.r

Quickly tapping the Vending machine, putting it within my Subspace, I made for the roof of the building, abandoning my earlier mission of taking everything I could find.r

“This is more important!”r

Finally, at the flat roof of the building, I used my binoculars and spotted the group of five humans walking cautiously among the rubble around. They appeared to be searching for something, and I knew what it was quite well.r

“Supplies, uh? Interesting… they just had to arrive while I was busy.” A grin formed on my face.r

Since a lot had been bothering me concerning the little differences of my surroundings compared to what I saw in the Sacred Hall, and how the other Gifteds were, this was the right opportunity to test out my theories.r

Unlike before, when I was still a desperate boy trying to learn the basics of my Gift, I had made considerable progress and even upgraded [Subspace] to a D Rank Gift.r

One of the new perks that came with that upgrade, other than additional Slots, was the removal of distance limitations.r

“Meaning, as long as I can see my target, whether they are close by or far away, I can make any item in [Subspace] appear there!”r

A sharp glint appeared in my eyes, indicating a somewhat naughty scheme formulating in my head.r

‘Yeah, let’s try that one!’r