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Chapter 46: Wrapping Things Up

"That is your final report?" Dario inquired. They were in his personal office discussing the events of the <Disaster Zone D-23>.

Josh simply nodded. At that moment they had a tacit understanding. The official story would be that the creatures inhabiting the area were extremely deadly and could somehow paralyze their victims with some special AoE magical ability.

Josh had seen it all from far away. Luckily he hadn\'t been in the attack range or he would have clearly perished.

Josh had then simply run around aimlessly and stumbled upon the Alter Tower by chance.

Being the first one to explore it, he had accomplished a hidden mission. That was how he had come back. The Alter Tower rewards were also worthless at first glance, all cosmetic.

This new land was one fraught with danger, that was worthless to explore and that didn\'t seem to present any danger for humanity in the short term. The outlook was to leave it the fuck alone!

"Hehe, this is a nice story. What about the real one?"

"Let me see. It seems each world has its own Tower ruled by a <Tower Protocol>, a system that evolves as people unlock Floors. Other than that, it\'s possible to resist the Slothtrosities\' special attacks with willpower but it\'s extremely hard. If I\'m not mistaken the reason they are invading our world is that their own is facing destruction for refusing to Climb. That\'s about it."

"Hahaha. That will shut the guild\'s investors up real good haha. Let\'s just say they weren\'t too keen on that contract we signed. You should have seen their faces when we had that one meeting!" said Dario while chuckling.

"How did you convince them then?"

"Simple. Remember the aura I showed you before? That\'s a pretty strong skill called <Dragon\'s Presence>. Not only does it boost allies morale, aka their resistance to mind attacks, but it also drastically weakens the enemies."

"So you intimidated them?"

"What do you mean intimidated? I was simply making the logical argument that if they couldn\'t even resist such a simple aura that they should shut the fuck up and let me deal with it. Most of them are Climbers too so at least they have some self-awareness."

"Should I pay them a visit later when I\'m stronger?"

"Hahaha! I like the way you think! Anyway, I\'ll bring this to the MTA, they are the ones that are going to deal with the aftermath. The public information release, the regulations for the instance, and all that bullshit."

"How does it even work? This could potentially affect the whole world after all. Also, who will control the instance, Metropolis D or C?"

"Not sure yet. Every Metropolis has its own MTA or the equivalent. They\'ll figure it out. Let\'s just say many will be doing overtime thanks to this single event. I suggest you don\'t go out too much in public in the upcoming days. Ah, you have a few hours to prepare but that\'s about it."

"Alright, I\'ll get going then…Ah, I need a new weapon. E-Rank if possible. A sloth ate mine."

"Actually, I may just have the thing for you." That\'s when Dario left for a few minutes before coming back with a long black stick, throwing it at Josh: "Here try this!"

<E-Rank Morphing Weapon>

-F Transform

-Sturdy

"What\'s up with this?"

"This, my friend, is the newest blacksmithing technology. It is hard to produce, useless for the veterans, but great for newcomers. It is a result of mixing D-Rank materials obtained from the Slimes on Floor 43 and the Steel Snakes on Floor 28. Try using your will to shape it."

Josh concentrated and after a few minutes managed to somehow turn the stick into a sword. While it was nice, it clearly took too long to morph.

"Eh, you\'ll get used to it. It\'s just like controlling mana. Anyway, I\'m off take care."

Just like controlling mana, eh… Josh didn\'t know how to do that in the first place! Still, for now, he would forget the whole disaster zone. It was time for something that was clearly needed! Goddamn Food! Josh was so hungry!

Josh made his way to the <Unstoppable Dinner>, evading many curious guild members on the way telling them to ask Dario.

As soon as he entered the restaurant, Josh was assaulted by the smell of spices, meat, and rice. Quickly ordering, he waited. A few minutes later the cook appeared along with his order, slamming it on the table.

"Dumbass! Why the Hell are you here again? Also where the Hell have you been all these days? I was convinced you were gone for good!" Somehow Josh could feel a hint of concern in the angry tone.

"Hehe, don\'t worry old man. I\'ll be back to annoy you until I reach the top of the Tower." Answered Josh in between bites of his curry, the meal of the day.

"Big words! What Floor are you even at now?"

"Eh, about to go for the 10th one."

"What about your party? Is it reliable?"

"Party? What party?"

"Don\'t tell me you planned to raid it alone! This is crazy! The boss there has many tentacles. How do you plan on getting close to it without anyone to do diversion?!"

"I\'ll figure out something, don\'t worry haha." Then Josh pointed at his empty plate. "Can I get about 50 more like that? I\'m very hungry."

"You\'re kidding, right?!" he seemed panicked.

"Nope."

Then it was a repeat of the eating competition he had been to. Next to Josh was a towering pile of plates. Before long other customers were looking at Josh akin to a monster. They were nudging their companions their mouths opened fully, some even forgetting that they were even eating themselves.

Josh finally left heading toward the Tower. As he approached it he could see people with signs seemingly protesting while screaming loudly. They were peaceful but clearly annoying.

Some of the sign read:

-Say no to the Tower!"

-Climbing? More like dying!

-Bring back our youths!

-Shame! Shame!

-Boycott the Climber industry!

-Recruiting party members for Floor 24!

Every good manifestation needed at least one Troll haha. Josh simply bypassed them. That\'s when a woman shouted at him.

"Did you know that the number one mortality cause for the youngsters is the Tower?! They enter it with hopes and dreams and get themselves killed! This is all society\'s fault for promoting Climbers like some sort of heroes!"

Josh turned toward them. "Oh? That seems like a problem for sure. But, don\'t you think the issue of the Fallen should be addressed first?" As far as Josh was concerned this was the biggest tragedy within the Tower.

"What? No! People in our world are doing all the dirty work of saving their asses! They don\'t have a Tower to Climb, it\'s only fair that we call some of them to help! No, the real issue is…"

Josh simply left the bitch behind. Only fair? Protecting the youths was important but only the ones of this world, eh?

What about all the kids that had died in the short Tutorial? The ones that had literally been thrown to the dogs! No! They only cared about the dumb ones that had voluntarily entered it looking for power, fame, or wealth. How two-faced it was of them!

Josh had always profoundly disliked such people. They would hide behind a veil of justice and a good cause to push their own agenda. He couldn\'t help but grin thinking of how they would soon react to the news. How silly they would appear once the news came out of monsters out in the real world haha.

Anyway, it was time for Floor 10!

[Mission: Hunt the Ancient Vine Beetle!]

This would be Josh\'s first official mandatory Boss Floor! Well, he already had been hunting every Boss so far….ah, except the steal apple one. Actually, was there even one then?!