Rise Of The Hoarder

“Are you ready?”

Paul was already done on his end.

With him was a small backpack—a special item—that allowed him to store way more than its size indicated.

His inventory was also chock-full of Items and very useful tools. In short, he was well-prepared for the travails that lay ahead.

The question he asked was directed at his partner who was already walking toward him.

One would think they were siblings since they both had crimson eyes and white hair.

She too was carrying a backpack similar to his, and her outfit indicated she was well-prepared for the trials they were about to face.

Once she reached his location, the girl nodded.

“Good, Lily…” Paul smiled at the girl and she returned the favor.

They both understood each other, and also how critical this mission was.

‘This is the first time Paul has ever taken so many items…’ Lily thought to herself.

She didn’t know much about everything else, but the girl had studied Paul to a very large extent.

In all their missions, he never utilized over fifty percent of his stockpile. Yet, he was currently donning about ninety percent of the most powerful items he had.

Of course, Lily knew the reason behind his actions.

“Jeremy will be there as well, knowing him…” The young man interrupted her thoughts, causing her to sharply bob her head to indicate that she understood.

“We need to get to the goal before he does.”

Lily bobbed her head again.

“Now, then… Let’s not waste any time. There’s also no need to panic. After all…”

Paul’s smile grew wider as he passionately locked eyes with his partner.

“… The gods are on our side.”

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

A bright light shone from under me and I could feel the space around me get distorted.

I had experienced this feeling twice already—when I entered the Tower of Death, and then the Tower of Lack.

Exiting was a different feeling, but going in made me exhilarated.

‘The Top players must be gathered at the Tower Of Conquerors since it’s the last one to be conquered…’ I reasoned.

No one in their right mind would make an already conquered Tower their priority. It was clear that those who wanted more rewards would tilt in the direction of the only Tower that still stood undefeated.

‘Annoying pests will swarm the area… jeez…’

Since I would have to begin from the Starting Point, I would be behind a lot of people, but that didn’t matter to me.

I would overtake most of them in a jiffy.

The issue was the difficulty of the Tower Of Conquerors.

Using the Information Brokers’ Manual Item I got from SHOP, I discovered that the Tower Of Conquerors had the highest level of difficulty in terms of combat.

While other Towers focused on other things—conspiracies, no items, debuffs, strategy, etc.—the Tower Of Conquerors was based on pure power.

The one with the greatest force would succeed.

That made things simple enough, and I already considered it my favorite of the four.

The bright light had already taken me to another space, and so I was already taking in the ambiance of the structure’s interior.

“Alright… let us begin.” A whisper leaked out as the light vanished.

Once I blinked and opened my eyes, a new world was spread out before me. I couldn’t believe what I saw.

‘This is… the Tower…?’

Bright white paint was spread out all over the large hall used as the entrance area, and golden chandeliers hung on the ceiling.

It was mesmerizing how the golden designs blended so well with the surreal white colors of the surrounding area.

The tiled grounds were white, and everything around was so beautiful.

This was by far the grandest entrance I had seen so far.

It was luxurious beyond imagination.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one present.

Many light beams shot out throughout the room as several people gathered.

I saw Gifteds of various nationalities gather about. Some were in Parties, while a few seemed to be Solo—or waiting for their other members to arrive.

I could see at least a few thousand humans scattered about the hall, yet it didn’t even seem to be the tiniest bit full.

At the end of the Hall, I noticed seven golden doors—each separated by large spaces in-between.

As I surmised, they were all entrances.

‘The problem is… are all of them correct choices? Or, is there only one valid option?’

Was it even worth considering?

The Tower existed to help Gifteds grow in preparation for the arrival of the Four Horsemen. There was no way Gifteds would be forced to choose out of seven choices when six would be wrong.

In the end, I had to assume that they were all correct choices. The paths would intersect at some point, or there were probably seven different routes in the Tower Of Conquerors.

‘I’m getting excited! This will be—’

“Masked Hero!!!” A voice interrupted my thoughts, making me sharply turn in the direction of the owner.

It was a familiar tone, one I had heard quite recently.

Since I hardly interacted with a lot of people, only a few individuals registered in my brain—of which this one was a part.

“Y—you…!”

My eyes widened a bit as I saw a familiar group advance toward me.

One woman, in particular, was faster than the others as she charged in my direction.

‘Tia?!’

Her body was launched in my direction and she buried herself in an embrace with me.

“I’m so happy we got to see you here!” She sobbed.

‘Seriously?! This girl? These guys…?!’

I was surprised.

Very surprised!

“U-Uh, it’s good to see you here too…”

‘What the heck are you guys doing here?’

Since I didn’t need any team members, I was planning on making my journey as fast as possible. Why did these people have to bother me now?!

“What a fortunate coincidence, sir.”

“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you again…”

“So nice of us to meet again. Please forgive the behavior of our friend, Tia.”

The other three members of their Party approached me with smiles on their faces.

I rolled my eyes behind my mask at the bunch of mobs.

‘Tch… I should get rid of them…’