<Disaster Zone D-23> (2/2)

Bonus Chapter ^_^v

That was too close, way too close! What would have happened if Josh had recklessly charged at the Slothtrosity? He would have perished. It would have been the end right there and then.

Cold sweat trickled down his back. It was his first time encountering an enemy he felt was invincible! Actually, no. Back then, before he began training, he had seen the Triad as an impossible hurdle.

Josh knew there was bound to be a way. He was simply lacking knowledge. He would find a way to adapt, just as he had always done.

Josh quickly left the area. He didn't have time to care about the death of the two other guys. No, right now he needed to figure out how to complete the mission.

Josh walked around carefully. From time to time, the same nauseating smell permeated the air. There were more creatures like the previous one. What seemed like piles of dirt by the roadside…were probably the nightmarish monsters slumbering.

Josh simply kept to the path with the freshest air. How would the air freshener companies react upon hearing the news? Would they all jump on the opportunity haha? Most probably. One unchangeable fact of society was that no matter what if there was an opportunity to make money someone would exploit it.

No matter how far he traveled, there didn't seem to be any change to the scenery. From time to time he would find Slothtrosities sleeping in plain sight. Josh felt like these were either the strongest ones, because they dared to sleep on the surface,…or on the contrary the weakest ones. Perhaps the truly old ones would wake up less often and roam less, akin to dragons.

Josh could only guess but either way, he wouldn't test his theories. This felt like being the last man on Earth. How was Earth even doing? Josh hadn't looked into the details but there was bound to be a significant part of humanity that had transmigrated. After all, there were many Metropolis and each had received newcomers.

Eventually, Josh reached a boundary. There was some red fog similar to before. Reaching the edge a message soon appeared.

[Past This Point, Returning May be Hard!]

Beyond the fog, there was more dead forest. Nothing that was worth risking his life for. Actually, Josh felt what was on the other side. He could guess it. Beyond this line was an entirely new world. A true one instead of an instance. The game was no more. It was real, all too real!

Have you ever felt extremely tiny? Insignificant? Overwhelmed by something far greater than yourself? The is how Josh felt. The Tower was surreal but it had a clear set of rules. Go in, face challenges of your level, get out. This was the complete unknown.

Was the difficulty a sham? Perhaps it was and wasn't at the same time. The stronger the Player the harder it was? What if it wasn't based on the level itself? What if the system had been judging one's confidence levels?

The stronger one became and the more experienced one was with the Tower….the higher the chances they had to commit a mistake from overestimating themselves. After all human powerhouses would have their pride. Pride that was utterly useless here, in fact, that seemed to have caused all of their demises.

Eh, this was a colossal joke. Josh had a theory. What if the secret to victory was simply not to fight? He couldn't help but feel that he was right. Still, he had to figure out what to do next. No direct danger didn't mean that he was safe just yet.

But there was something nearby to point him in the right direction. Josh followed the barrier for a while. Before long he confirmed his suspicions, the perimeter was a perfect circle. At least from what he had seen. This was in accordance with what had happened in the real world.

From that constatation, Josh could figure out where the approximate center of this area was. He simply started casually walking toward it. He would probably find clues there. From time to time he encountered a slumbering Slothtrosity. He didn't change the cap at all.

No, Josh simply walked right next to it very calmly. Anyone normal would have run as far away as possible upon sighting one, but Josh didn't care. They slept so deeply that nothing short of a voluntary attack would wake them.

In life, over-worrying is pointless. Fear only paralyzes the senses. It prevents us from thinking rationally.

Every day we walk in the street calmly knowing full well that the car on the road could swerve into us anytime. Yet, we never pay attention to such a fact. Well, it was the same with these creatures. From time to time Josh even walked on some, his face as impassible as someone drinking tap water.

Eventually, he reached the other side completely. There was another barrier there. Knowing where each extremity was, Josh backtracked. This time he was close for sure.

He kept searching until, finally, he found it. Hidden behind some trees was a construction. One that glowed very faintly. A huge tower, one that Josh instantly recognized. This was to access the Tower. There was so much vegetation all around it that it was barely discernible.

It all seemed like something straight out of an archaeological adventure movie with some treasure hunter going inside ruins to get some long-lost treasure. It gave it a mysterious air for sure.

How ridiculous!

These overpowered Slothtrosities….the ones that considered killing A-Rankers easier than walking...Were but pawns in the game of the gods too.

Now Josh understood very well why the Tower was in such horrible condition. But it came with a frightening realization. These creatures hadn't even bothered climbing the Tower, at all. This meant that their current power was them at level 1!!!

This was insane! Completely mad! How was humanity supposed to compete with such creatures?!

The only saving grace was that perhaps they didn't evolve as fast as the humans. But even then that was being optimistic. The gods had said that the slowest races would get annihilated, right?

A species that refused to participate because they were too busy sleeping would be dead last for sure! Was this their punishment? Perhaps the losers were catapulted into a stronger race's world. Except in this case…who was the stronger race really?

With technology perhaps humanity would stand a chance, but otherwise, we would have no way to fight them! Well, it was a good thing that they were truly lazy. There simply remained to be seen if they were ever waking up to have a snack. Even then, they would probably barely move from their sleeping location.

As soon as Josh touched the Tower a message appeared.

[Congrats on Finding the Alter Tower! Wow! +10 XP Awarded!]

Talk about useless…this felt worse than not getting a reward.

[Would You Like to Enter the Alt Tower? Yes | No ]

Was there even a choice? Somehow the only Floor available was 10. It seemed to be the same as the individual's level without an option to go back. Now, was entering this considered completing a challenge?

Josh had no way to know. The Tower wouldn't simply reveal its secrets that easily. Well, the system always liked to say much, without regard to the pertinence of it.

"Here goes nothing. Enter!"

Came the usual red light to take him away. When Josh saw the Floor he had to deal with and the mission he couldn't help but laugh. Let's just say the system was trying to make it hard for him.

The system didn't know Josh Malum that well it seemed.