Rise Of The Hoarder

Undead are creatures of false life.

After losing their souls in death, they become mere puppets of death and act only to satiate the bottomless hunger and hatred they have for the living.

As a result, effects of death have no real consequence on them. On the contrary, actually. Since they are creatures of death and corruption, any effect placed upon them with those qualities will only amplify their abilities.

Yet, I made such a foolish move!

I went to use a Skill variant that guaranteed exactly that.

[System Information]

~Skill <The Devil (Upright)> In Progress~

<The Devil: Upright Variant>

The Devil expresses the realm of the taboo — the culturally rejected wildness and undigested shadow side that each of us carries in our subconscious. This shadow is actually at the core of our being, which we cannot get rid of and will never succeed in taming. The Devil evokes the church-fueled fear that a person could “lose their soul” to wild and passionate forces.

~ Card Effect: All ‘Demons’ (Those Who Possess Evil Alignments) Within A Specified Range Will Lose Their Souls And Fall.

(Skill Duration: Instant)_.

[Note: Effects Apply Currently To Only Demons Of Grade 1 and Evil Aligned Person’s 50 Levels Lower Than The User.]

[End Of Information]

As a result of my usually useful ability, the Demons of death only grew more formidable.

“Gah! I messed up..” I quickly controlled my tone so those behind me wouldn’t notice my slip-up.

It would be pretty dumb if the omnipotent persona I had built in front of these guys was shattered thanks to this encounter. They would surely think I was unreliable, even if I had great powers.

‘It’s not my fault, though… it’s a Random Effect…’ I argued internally.

The Skill <Parlor Tricks> gave me Arcanas to choose from in the form of a roulette. I couldn’t decide on the outcome, but I could decide on whether or not I wanted to use them or not.

“I still have two more turns with it. Should I use them now?”

Initially, I could only use this Skill once per day, but over time, it increased to three.

‘Na. I’ll just take care of them the usual way…’

I somehow wanted to show off a little bit in front of the simpletons watching, but I should have just gone with a simpler approach.

‘Purified Air it is…’

I opened [Subspace] and looked at the seemingly infinite items I had in the storage. My eyes trailed to one in particular; <Air>.

Yeah, it was simply Air.

However, thanks to my ability to augment the items I had in [Subspace], it was about to become something extremely deadly.

I had a Skill called <Purify> which was useful in situations like this. I could infuse it with my items using the <Hoarder> Skill.

It wasn’t very complicated anymore, especially because I had been experimenting on several occasions.

[System Notification]

<Edit Is Done>

[Item <Air> has now become <Purified Air>]

[End Of Information]

I smiled and released the sweet, fresh breeze all around the area by using the <Summon> Skill.

The undead that had grown confident from taking in essences of death instantly began to shrink and shriek the moment Purified Air swept through the area.

“GARRRKKKKKKK!!!”

Screams and piles of smoke ascended to the air.

My Purification ability was lethal to Undead, but the range was too small. However, once I mixed it with Air, could allow its effects to travel as far as possible, acting as poison to the enemies.

‘The effects are a bit watered-down, but it should suffice for Undead of this caliber…’

The only thing they had going for them was their number, after all.

“GUAAAAaaaarrkkkk….!!!”

Soon, the shrieks subsided and the Demons began falling in true death. With their bodies turning into nothing but dust, they left nothing in their wake.

‘This is my problem with the Tower… no drops!’

It was to be expected, though. If they gave drops to every single group that arrived, how much resources could the creator have to maintain things? The Tower was only to groom Gifteds for strength, after all. Or so it would seem…

“Whew. Looks like it’s done.” I smiled with a bit of satisfaction showing on my face.

The fresh breeze also made me feel refreshed, Purified Air was even better than the best breeze a person could receive before the Apocalypse. That was how good it felt!

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Congragulations!]

<You Have Completed The Challenge Of The Thirtieth Floor>

~Rewards Will Now Be Allocated~

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

<You Have Been Bestowed A Return Stone>

<You Have Received 5,000 Karma Points>

<You Have Received The Title: Undead Cleanser>

[End Of Information]

The rewards were decent, so I simply shrugged and accepted them.

The best thing about System Skill Rewards was that they didn’t take up space in any existing Slot. Instead, I would be given a new Slot. I was glad to receive any Skill if that were the case. Of course, the one I had was to summon fodder undead, but it could still be considered very powerful currently.

After all, it was an army… not just a few dozen!

‘I heard someone got a Necromancer Scroll and an Undead Summoning Ring. But, they can’t be compared to this…’

As a collector myself, I would have loved to get my hands on those items, but once I rationally thought of it, it would mostly be a trash item at best. The Scroll could allow him to make contracts with dead beings and raise them as undead. Storing the undead was also an ability of the Necromancer Scroll.

The Undead Summoning Ring basically allowed the wielder to summon a set amount of undead. It had a Cooldown rate, and the undead who appeared disappeared after a period of time.

Both could be considered very powerful by normal standards, but I wasn’t too worried. Thanks to my knowledge, I could make a long list of better items. All I had to do was simply be patient.

“Looks like they also got their reward…” I turned and looked at the team behind me.

They had System windows in front of them, and I calculated that they would receive about a thousand Karma Points each… just for being fill-ins. It sounded ridiculous, but I simply shrugged.

More Karma Points for them meant more motivation on their part.

“It’s a win-win situation.”