Rise Of The Hoarder

[Time Remaining Until The Arrival Of The Horsemen: 3 Months, 6 Weeks, 2 Days]

“Haa… looks like I took too long while resting.”

Rising from my bed, I jumped to my feet while stretching every muscle of my body. Nothing ached, nothing was stiff… I was feeling perfectly refreshed.

“Good! LEADERBOARD.”

A System Window appeared in front of me and I observed what it displayed.

As usual, I was in first place—having a total of 71 Achievement Points.

The second position was still held by Pariah. He remained at 31 Points, thankfully. That meant he hadn’t conquered the Tower Of Conquerors yet.

With a sigh of relief, I made for the bathroom to refresh myself.

The position beneath Pariah was Lilith. He/She had 23 APs, a surprise to me. That meant they had also cleared a Tower.

‘It has to be one of the Towers that have already been conquered…’

Since there was no announcement that another Tower was cleared, I made that assumption myself.

The other positions beneath third place belonged to Tia’s team members. They each had 20 APs each—though Tia had 21. Even though they were simply extras in my Quests, the System still recognized them as one of the people who cleared a Tower—hence their Points.

Seeing their names on the list made me wonder how the group was. I remembered suggesting that we raided the Tower Of War together before the whole Pariah mess.

‘Well, I don’t really need them anymore. I can climb the Tower solo now…’

The others beneath Tia and friends were those who hadn’t even reached 10 AP, so they weren’t worth my time.

‘I should hurry up…’

***************

Tia was standing, resting her back on the wall, while waiting for her colleagues.

A troubled expression played on her face, and anyone could tell that she felt uneasy. It didn’t have anything to do with her physical well-being. No, it was purely emotional.

There was something on her mind—or, rather, someone.

“We’re all set!” A voice called out to her.

She looked in the direction of the energetic sound and saw Darwin. Beside him were Terry and Sara.

The Party members were all outfitted in gear that made it clear what they were planning to do.

“Whew! I still can’t believe three Towers have been conquered already…” Terry spoke excitedly.

Even though this was hardly news to everyone present, he said it to get rid of the silence that permeated them. Whether or not they spoke about it, Terry still felt awkward amid everyone else.

It was true that he abandoned them for his own safety—he betrayed everyone’s trust and left them to die. If not for the intervention of their savior, they would have all died—Terry included.

Still, after the whole ordeal, when they returned from the Tower, a decision had to be made concerning his betrayal.

He had expected to be kicked out of the team and branded a traitor. Surprisingly, they only requested a fine and a sincere apology—which he gladly gave.

Usually, the punishment of a traitor would have been more severe than the price he paid, so Terry was grateful—not just to them, but also to the Masked Man. It was because of the immense profits everyone raked in that made them more accommodating to Terry’s treachery.

The Party, now having Darwin as their leader, gathered up their spoils, and sold the ones they wanted to. The profits were immense, though thanks to the rewards of the Tower, Karma Points wasn’t their problem.

They were rich!

Their names were even placed high on the Leaderboard, and they had top-tier gears and items.

Even with average Levels—thanks to their equipment—they rivaled the Rankers! No, they were Rankers themselves.

It was all thanks to one man—The Masked Hero.

“Hm? Something on your mind, Tia?” Darwin asked the sulking girl.

He had a good idea of what was bothering her, but still decided to address the matter before they began their mission. It wouldn’t do well for their scout—and also the most powerful member of their team—to be in poor spirits.

“O—oh… I was just thinking about the Masked Hero… or should we call him The Hoarder…?”

The top spot on the Leaderboard was unquestionably the domain of The Hoarder. The fact that they had met the Masked Hero and experienced his greatness, who else could they attribute his identity with?

“What about him?” Darwin asked, nearly sighing.

He knew what was coming next.

“W—well… why hasn’t he reached out to us? We were supposed to raid the Towers together, right?”

Darwin didn’t know what to say to the girl.

It was true that their benefactor had told them that they should attack the Tower Of War the next day after they parted ways. However, hours after they exited the Tower, a System Announcement declared that the Tower had been conquered.

Then, two days after, the Tower Of Lack was completed as well.

Who else could have pulled off such a feat except for the Masked Hero?

“You should know by now, Tia… he already cleared those other Towers by himself. He doesn’t… need us…”

It was painful to admit, but Darwin—no, even Sara and Terry—knew it was the truth. Only Tia was in denial.

“He has done so much for us already. He saved our lives and allowed us to accompany him—gaining free rewards in return…” Darwin mumbled.

The Party was probably a burden to him, so he decided to head over to the Tower Of War and Lack by himself. Ultimately, they were only dead weight compared to The Hoarder’s powers.

“B—but… he told us to meet…” Tia still mumbled.

Darwin smiled.

He had never seen this girl as emotionally fixated on anyone or anything besides the Masked Man.

‘I suppose she’s at that age, uh…?’ The older man made a wry grin.

“That’s why we’re heading for the Tower Of Conquerors. If we’re lucky, we can meet up with him.”

Upon hearing Darwin’s words, Tia’s eyes sparkled with life and her clouded expression brightened up.

“Really?”

‘Good grief…’ The older man gave a sigh.

What could he do about this girl’s obsession with their benefactor?

“Yeah. Really!”