Rise Of The Hoarder

I realized my childish body was too inefficient.

In so many ways, the fact that I was below average in height and build was going to impede my future plans… which is why I decided to solve the problem.

Using Lara’s Gift, now my Skill, I could shape-shift into any form I desired. However, it consumed Mana, and it also had a duration despite how much I maxed it out. Since I couldn’t maintain it for too long, the ability was useless as a permanent solution.

Scouring for a solution in the SHOP, I finally found my answer. It was a Potion known as the Perfect Growth Compound. After reading its description, I understood its function.

The potion simply elevated whoever drank it to their ideal, most perfect physical state. As a result, it could take me to the peak I could ever attain physically.

I was a little worried that I was going to remain short, but seeing as there was also a Reversal Potion being sold, I decided to take my chances.

Who would have thought… it actually worked!

I grew to the size of 6’5 ft, and got a perfectly toned body. My muscles weren’t monstrous, but they weren’t flaccid either. It was the best state I could have chosen for myself, and that seemed to be the actual effects of the Potion.

‘So, it gives me the form I desire most?’ I murmured back then.

But, when I thought of the implication of the Potion, I was a little worried. If others used it, any ugly person could turn incredibly handsome. A fat bum could attain the best shape. Was it possible for a guy to become a woman, and vice versa?_.

I gulped at the prospect.

That was also what prompted me to get the <Mind Reading> Skill.

Fortunately, the Potion would be considered pricy to many since it was 1,000 Karma Points. No one in their right mind would buy it unless they were that desperate to change themselves… making me cringe even more.

That was basically how it happened… and my mind got dragged to the present…

… The troublesome girl who had feelings for me.

‘I just need to ignore her, right? Yeah… I’ll just do that.’

Even as her gaze pierced my back, I paid her no heed and simply looked at the System Window in front of me.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Congragulations!]

<You Have Completed The Challenge Of The Seventieth Floor>

~Rewards Will Now Be Allocated~

<You Have Been Given The Skill: Undead Army Summon (Upper)>

<You Have Been Given The Skill: Incorporeal Essence>

<You Have Learned Ghost Magic: It Has Been Added To Your Grimoire>

<You Have Received The Item: Incorporeal Cloak>

<You Have Received The Item: Spirit Ring>

<You Have Been Bestowed A Return Stone>

<You Have Received Full Restorative Potion (5x)>

<You Have Received 45,000 Karma Points>

<You Have Received The Title: Undead Exterminator>

[End Of Information]

I smiled. I had gotten so many Skills from this expedition, and there were still 29 Floors to go. This was a good pace.

I looked behind and found that the members of the group seemed excited to go further. It had been a couple of hours—most likely five already—since we started our journey together. Normally, people would be feeling a bit hungry at this point, but I didn’t expect that from this bunch.

‘They are Level 50 plus Gifteds. They should be fine. Besides, they’ve not expended any energy…’

Besides, I gave them Restorative Potions when I rescued them, so they couldn’t be tired already.

“Let’s keep going.”

[System Notice]

<Would You Like To Advance To The Seventy-First Floor Of The Tower Of Death?>

[Yes]              [No]

I confirmed, and a giant gravestone appeared ominously. The purple glow of the swirling portal told me that this would be even more dangerous than the others. Of course, I wasn’t worried about a thing.

I was currently on Level 509, and that was pretty much a cheat on its own. After fighting for so long, I barely Leveled up eight times. How sick was that?

I had already started encountering Grade 2 Monsters, and the Boss of the 70th Floor was a Grade 3.

I would have considered the event noteworthy, but it wasn’t really relevant. I had already killed quite a few of them outside the Tower. My goal was what lay beyond the 99 Floors. For that, I had no choice but to keep pressing on.

The group behind me nodded and huddled behind me. It was either they couldn’t sense how ominous the gate in front of me was; they believed in my abilities, or greed simply blinded them at this point.

Well, the Tia woman seemed blinded by something else entirely.

“Let’s go.”

We moved into the Portal and arrived at our destination—a vast plain.

A purple sky stretched as far as my eyes could see, and I saw crows flying in the air. One look around was enough to tell me why the scavenger birds littered the heavens.

Dead bodies of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, were on the ground. Warhorses, several weapons, and multiple corpses littered the area.

There weren’t only humans among the fallen ones. Demons of various races were present. I saw Goblins, Kobolds, SinEaters, Griphons, Orcs, Trolls, Giants, and several other races laid waste on the vast field.

My field of vision was too narrow so I couldn’t see the end of the corpses. We were on flatlands, so the most I could manage were only a couple of miles.

“<Elevation>”

My body instantly became light as a feather as I ascended into the sky, covered by a light hue of blue. In a few moments, I had gained enough altitude to see the end of the battlefield, and my sharp eyes picked up the total number of the dead.

“Seven hundred thousand of them, uh?” My voice leaked out.

However, the multiple dead figures weren’t my major concern. I fixated my eyes on one figure in particular. It was also dead, but its mass and shape made it conspicuous among the other corpses.

“T-This is…?!”