Rise Of The Hoarder
Chapter 369 [Bonus ] Prelude To The Second Wave

[STORY SO FAR]

On Christmas Day, God summoned all humans and granted them gifts. Unfortunately, with these gifts came the evil known as Demons. Now stuck in a war known as Armageddon, these humans known as the Gifted must replace a way to survive the Seven Waves of Armageddon.

With the Tutorial and First Wave behind them, humanity has now banded together to face the remaining six calamities that threaten them. Now under the leadership of Pariah and his companion, Lilith, humanity seeks to defeat the Demons… as well as one other entity.

The being who has done nothing but bring chaos upon the world, and who serves as an even bigger threat than the Demon Scourge. He goes by many names; the Masked Hero, the Evil One… Jeremy Lewis.

Among these names, however, there is one name that resonates with everyone when they seek to conjure the image of this hated enemy of humanity.

… The Hoarder.

And now…

… The time has come for good to finally prevail!

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[SYSTEM INFORMATION]

<Second Scenario: Let The Sky Fall>

[Scenario Information]

<Week 1>

There will be a great earthquake.

<Week 2>

The sun will turn black like sackcloth made of goat hair

<Week 3>

The moon will turn blood red

<Week 4>

The stars in the sky will fall to earth as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

<Week 5>

The heavens will recede like a scroll being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

[Quest Update]

~Quests Have Been Received!~

<Quest 1>

Survive The Five Weeks Of The Second Scenario

<Quest 2>

Challenge The Five Mysteries Of The Five Miseries And Solve Them

<Quest 3>

Defeat The Boss And End The Scenario

[Rewards Such As Karma Points And Items Will Be Given For Each Quest Accomplished]

~BEST OF LUCK!~

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[COUNTDOWN TO THE SECOND WAVE…. 1D, 09H, 22M, 03S]

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"Haa…"

The barely audible breath of a human evaporated into the air.

Her amber eyes scoured left and right, taking full cognizance of her environment. Her breasts inflated and deflated as she filled her lungs with air and released it back into the atmosphere.

Tension spread across her body, and her head ached just from how much she worried and the constant amount of information she stored in her head. At every moment, without rest, she was on guard—watching, waiting, searching.

If she had been alone, perhaps she could have had the liberty of being more careless, but she wasn't.

Behind her were her teammates—nine other people who looked just as careful and nervous as her.

"I'm certain… that's the only one here." Her dark hair fluttered slightly as she whispered to them.

They were currently hiding behind debris—caused by lots of rocks flying around and settling in one spot. This debris had piled and made something similar to a mountain—allowing them to hide and watch from there.

Of course, they couldn't be as foolish as to rely on the mere covering of concrete to hide them, so these brave humans also had equipment that had special functions of camouflage. As long as they expended their MP, it would make them invisible.

They had taken all the precautions necessary, yet worry did not escape their faces.

With a total number of ten, this squad seemed like quite a crowd—considering the scale of this operation was only limited to the building that stood in front of them.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It was a single operation, with only a single target as their adversary. One would consider it overkill that the Gamma team—the third-strongest unit in the entire Gifted Alliance—would converge to eliminate a single target.

However, this was a matter of utmost urgency.

"Remember… our target is keeping a whole lot of supplies hostage. This place has been labeled a Danger Zone because of the target, but we've confirmed that it's home to a lot of resources that'll allow a lot of camps under the Alliance to gain relief."

There had been scarcity as of late, but once they eradicated this monster, they would finally have a chance to solve their problem—at least, in part.

"Remember. This is not like the others. It's highly dangerous and intelligent. While our entire Gamma force consists of fifty members, only ten of us are coming on this mission to prevent any further casualties. Please, be careful."

She felt she was nagging her team members a bit too much, but she couldn't help it. They had only a bit over one day left until the second wave. That was also one of the reasons behind them trying as much as possible to save up a lot of resources while trying to obtain more.

Their stockpile hadn't reached the level they wanted it to be, hence the scarcity.

'If the Alliance is to survive this imminent plague, we must do our best here. And we must all survive…'

"We understand, leader." A bright-looking young man smiled at her, and the rest of the team responded likewise.

'Leader' was what they called her, but her real name was Tia. In the past, she had been a low-level Thief who lost her friends to the onslaught of a certain 'monster.'

Thankfully, she was saved by the Gifted Alliance Guildmaster. She became strong thanks to him, and found her new purpose… to save humanity alongside her new allies.

"Thanks, everyone," Tia whispered to her team.

Their hushed conversation couldn't be heard thanks to one of her Skills [Zero Noise], something she gained after obtaining her Secondary Job of 'Assasin'.

With the team now on the same page, they headed out.

'We only have one shot. The lives of many people hinge on this mission…'

No one knew how dangerous this incoming wave would be, but she was sure that they would survive under the leadership of their leader. She knew he had a plan, and he was going to lead them to the prosperity of humanity.

Till then, she would keep trying her best in the hopes that one day… she would finally see the death of the very monster that caused the death of her comrades.

This monster from her dark past was different from the Grade 3 Demon they were currently going to hunt.

He was human—only in appearance, at least.

'Hoarder… your day of judgment will come!' Tia gritted her teeth and stared at the massive theater where their target currently resided.

She cleared her mind from the thoughts of Jeremy Lewis, the Hoarder, and focused on what she could do at the moment—the people she could save with her powers.

"Let's move out, everyone!"

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[A/N]

I welcome you to Arc 4 of this book. Did you all miss me? Did you miss this novel?

If so, I'd like to hear you all in the comments. I've honestly missed writing this book, as much as I've missed you all.

I wanna know if you haven't left yet, and if you want to see me continue this work. If you do… I await your words, okay?

Once I get a good amount of comments, I'll release more chapters. If not, then… well…

Cheers! This is gonna be one exciting Arc.