Chapter 44: Hidden Mission!

The deadly paw of the Slothtrosity magnified right in front of Josh's face! Run away? That would work for now, but what about the next time?

No, Josh had to fight! He barely evaded the deadly claw. That is when the monster tried opening its mouth wide to yawn. Hell no! Josh had already been in the process of kicking it.

He managed to hit the creature's maw heavily. Damage done? None. But that didn't matter, this time the creature was truly enraged. It charged at Josh who simply teleported in the <Alter Tower>

[Welcome back! It won't be so easy this time!]

[Mission: Kill 5 Humans!]

That is the exact moment another message appeared.

[Completed Feat! Hidden Mission Accomplished: Motivate A Sloth! Reward Upon Exiting <Alter Tower>!]

[Ah! Who are you?! This is my Tower!]

But, the system Josh was used to spoke no more. It simply vanished.

"This seems to be the system from where I'm from. Don't worry about it."

[But …this is my Tower….]

For some reason, Josh felt like it was pouting haha. Now, what was different this time around? Josh simply wandered the mall. Quickly repeating the same process as earlier, Josh soon figured out the change. The guard wasn't coming out to warn him anymore.

Heading to the control room it was now a bunker too, one he wouldn't be able to breach no matter what. If he couldn't go to them he simply had to have them come to him instead. The only issue was that anything drastic would probably have them sounding the alarm.

It probably wouldn't be the end of the world, but Josh wanted to outsmart the system. Why? Because it was fun haha. Josh quickly looked at the mall plan and found the perfect place to start his plan.

Josh simply headed to a bar. Why was he coming there? Well, for alcohol obviously! Then Josh did something that no ranker with any self-respect would have done.

"Hello everyone, my name is Josh! I've had a really bad day, lost my girlfriend, lost my job, got my wallet stolen! Now, I need to find a friend and get really drunk! Anyone willing to help with any of the two?!"

Before long a few sympathetic customers were pushing beers his way and sharing their wisdom. Josh couldn't help but marvel at the system's improvements. Had he not seen the earlier iterations he wouldn't have doubted their true human nature for a second.

Soon enough a drunk-looking Josh exited the bar while smelling of alcohol. Then started a fun treasure hunt. Josh had seen the new cameras they had added recently. Many were hidden in various objects at ground level.

Very clumsily, he started dragging his heavy body away. From time to time he would lose his balance. It just so happened that he would collide with a hidden camera by chance every time.

Now it was up to the security guards. If this didn't work Josh could always simply go on a rampage or explore the place some more. There was bound to be lots of stuff he had missed.

Josh barely had to wait that a security guard came running. When he saw for himself how much Josh smelled of booze he instantly lowered his guard.

On one hand, they couldn't really let Josh go because of how much damage he had already caused to their cameras, often stepping on them once they fell to the ground.

On the other hand, it wasn't really Josh's fault either. All he had done was to be very unsteady on his feet. How was he supposed to avoid hidden cameras?! They were called hidden for a reason.

It was just their bad luck that this unfortunate coincidence had happened…many times in succession. The security guard quickly brought Josh to the control room. In there was a small holding cell in a corner. This too was new.

Josh started screaming in a drunken haze! "No this is so small! So small! I don't want to go in there! I'll behave! I'll behave!"

The security guards didn't have the heart to lock him up and simply watched him with vigilant eyes. They called their superior to deal with the situation. The man on the phone said he was on his way to see the damage himself.

Seeing as Josh was half asleep on the floor, they slowly started ignoring his presence. Until at one point none of the four were watching.

That is when Josh struck. Four Cracks later it was over. Josh simply remained on the chair waiting for the boss to show up. Before long he could hear footsteps, then the heavy metal door opened and….Crack!

The eyes of the man had barely opened in shock that he was already down.

[Mission Accomplished…..Truly devious!]

[Reward-]

"Wait, can you give me an outfit or something?"

[S-sure…]

[Reward: <Grey suit>!]

<Grey Suit>

-A stylish and classy outfit. Perfect to go with a Grey Fedora.

Josh had to admit that it wasn't that bad. At least now he would have clothes to wear after a hard fight. This way he wouldn't be naked in the city, at least.

A point to note was the accessories seemed to have their own inventory slot which was understandable since they gave no power whatsoever. Maybe it was even possible to get some that were actually useful later on too?

"Right, a Slothtrosity entered Floor 1, how is it doing?"

[Ah, These things are called Slothtrosities?! I didn't know the name before! It is very different from you. It is not trying to do the mission at all. It simply rolled itself on the ground and started sleeping! This is annoying!]

"Don't worry. I'm ready to bet many will visit soon. People from my world, I mean."

[Really?!]

"Indeed. I'm about to head off. I managed to accomplish a mission out there."

[What?! You are leaving?!]

Why did it almost sound disappointed? Josh figured out that his presence there gave the system a way to improve itself. Josh was akin to a beta tester to it.

"I'll probably come back later if I feel like getting new clothes or something."

[Perfect!]

As Josh teleported out he couldn't help but think about how easy the whole Climb would be if every system was that friendly. Still, he couldn't simply clear this place over and over, it wasn't worth it.

As soon as he came outside…

[Reward: Pick one!]

-Memory Fragment Sleeping One

-(U) Dimensional Belt

-Pet: Sleeping one

Oh god. This was a tough choice. The memory fragment could be excluded on principle. Josh didn't want the memory of some lazy bastard at all. Actually, Josh could pick it up to trade but it would add an extra hassle.

Both the Dimensional Belt and the Pet seemed extremely promising. The Dimensional part seemed pretty neat. Josh had never seen how a pet worked, but if he could manage to get a fully-fledged adult Slothtrosity he would pretty much be unstoppable.

Now there was one issue with the pet. How long would it take to reach its full potential and even then would it follow Josh's orders? The Slothtrosity currently in the Tower wasn't even bothering to do anything other than to sleep….

Josh decided to play it safe and pick the belt. Instantly a broken bronze belt appeared in his hands. What the hell?!

<(U) Dimensional Belt>

-Special Ability (Daily, One Day in Instance Minimum): Dimensional Escape

-Visit other Dimensions to upgrade it. Next upgrade 5/1000

Wow! Never mind! This was amazing! This was the type of ability that wouldn't directly increase his power but would allow him to farm instance dungeon way more easily.

This was akin to always adding the optional mission to survive a day to the instances. Options were always good. Plus this was only the basic belt, it could be upgraded!

Josh then teleported out. The first thing he noticed upon coming out was a tall man that rushed toward him.

"You! Where are they! Two men! A mountain of metal and a mage! Have you seen them?!"

"*Sigh* Dead." Josh declared somberly. Then many did the same, trying to find people they knew.

"Don't bother people, all are dead."

Some became red with fury. They started aggressively shouting at Josh. Some were even releasing their aura. Such a party trick wouldn't phase Josh.

"Then why are you alive?!" They interrogated.

"Because I ran away is all." Josh then simply walked toward the waiting Kasha. These Climbers hadn't expected Josh to be that candid. For some reason, he didn't seem ashamed in the least either.

As he hopped in Kasha's flying car she turned toward him. "The situation this time is serious. No one other than you managed to survive. We are going to meet Dario back at the guild. We need to figure out how we answer the others…"

Of course. Politics…*Sigh*