Chapter 204: Farming 100 Fragnts!
"This isn't going to work." Josh sighed heavily. He had just completed Floor 18 once more and had received a asly four fragnts, bringing his total to 11/100.
The only consolation was that it was easy to run, at least by his standards. Well, there was also the post-clear feast to look up to. Every ti he appeared, the crowd seed to be in heated discussions.
"It's kinda crazy how much he can eat. I guess he also has a hero's appetite haha."
"It's normal. He must be using a crazy amount of skills in there to take down the Boss repeatedly. He probably has an ability to turn food into mana like the gourts."
"Still, I can't help but be impressed. He could have easily sold information to the highest bidder and called for delivery, but instead, he's making it a fair competition. Talk about upright!"
"On the short term, he's definitely losing money, but in the long term, his words will be worth more than Credits. People will be fighting left and right to get in good graces."
"Ah, he's back. Quick, fire the grills!"
This ti Josh began walking around, looking at the food stations directly. He was akin to a general inspecting his troops. It reminded him of a cooking show on Earth. Well, people had been watching it for the innovative insults, but still.
"What is this?" Josh curiously asked.
"It's a caral soufflé, Sir!"
"These are enchiladas."
"I made pulled pork burgers!"
"Here are so all-natural organic pesticide-free free-range bananas, Sir!"
"As tempting as plain bananas sound, I'll eat the burgers along with so enchiladas!" Josh finally decided.
After a delicious al, the two lucky reporters turned to ask him their questions. The first one went:
"Sir, what was the eting in D-23 about?" All the others perked their ears in excitent. But Josh once more whispered the answer to the man's ears.
"Really?! The implications of this are huge!" The man's reaction was so exaggerated, but he didn't seem to be acting either.
The other guy seed torn but then asked sothing ballsy: "Can you bring on a Floor clear instead?" He figured that he'd be able to glimpse more information by himself this way.
Josh pondered but ultimately shook his head in denial. "I'm afraid you'll be a burden like that previous guy. But, I can summarize it for you." He approached and whispered about his general clear thod, with a nice finishing touch.
"You really learned with —?!" The man stopped just in ti not to reveal so vital information. But then he nodded his head seriously.
Josh left the crowd that was dying of curiosity behind as he returned to the Tower. He quickly dispatched the 30 golems, but he interjected when the Tower Protocol inford him of part two of the mission.
"System, you have to change this challenge! It's way too long for so few rewards. Is there any way to increase the difficulty?"
[Error…Error. The difficulty is at the maximum possible level given the mana concentration in the host's world.]
"In that case, increase the number of bosses! I know you can do it. You've done it that one ti with the white spiders!"
[Recklessly increasing numbers could result in —]
"Yeah, I don't care. Just do it! Your goal should be to test the humans, no? There is no better way to do it than to add a bright big-ass red button that spawns bosses when pushed! I guarantee it will work! It's psychology 101!" Josh happily bullshitted.
[Calculating potential impact on the Tower. Error. Incomplete Data. Establishing Experint "bright big-ass button".]
That when appeared a floating button right on the ethereal-looking system ssage screen. "If you want this to be perfect, then add the words 'Do Not Press'," Josh advised.
[Error. 'Do Not Press' would potentially lower the impact of…]
"Trust . It will help. How about you test this with two groups? One with no inscription and the other with this ssage below on it?"
[Establishing Sub-experint: 'Do Not Press' versus 'Blank'. Data will now be compiled. Enjoy your Climb!]
It was quite ironic, but sohow, the Alter-Tower that barely saw humans understood them way better than humanity's Tower Protocol. Oh well, Josh hurriedly used an ancestral technique called button-mashing!
These were skills he had practiced during his childhood with fighting gas. The art of creating unbreakable combos may be despicable, but it had worth. The trick was never to let the opponent rest! Actually, it was the sa as IRL...
With every push, a new Iron Giant began spawning. Eventually, there were 12 of them. This seed to be the limit, and the entire Realm was filled them. At this mont, he was truly glad to have entered Solo.
The combat began, and Josh quickly jumped on an arm as usual. This ti, the difference was that he had to hurry up with killing each one before the others could adapt and gang up on him.
As for the poor Nightmare, it almost had a heart attack upon spawning. Anyone would have to be honest. Josh began guiding his pet, so it would avoid being encircled. This was the hardest part of the fight.
Then he copied the sa strategy as earlier and threw the rat, rose up in the air, and killed a Giant. But then he had to do this over and over until they were all down. He was so damn glad to have refueled before that fight.
Honestly, he was totally abusing an exploit right now. Having more giants allowed no margin for error, but their own brethren slowed them down. That was because they kept slapping each other, trying to squash Josh.
Then, it was ti for the next part: surfing. If before it had been a tumultuous stormy sea, he now had the feeling of being a leaf in a hurricane. He absolutely lost control, but he managed to survive.
In fact, he was catapulted so high in the air every ti that he had the feeling of touching the sky. He even had to use his Chungus ability to increase his body size (but not his mass) to slow down his fall when it was finally over.
What was the reward for all of his trouble? He received 46 Sapphire fragnts. He was risking his life to save ti. Anyone would have dubbed him a madman, but he had to admit this was great practice.
He felt each of his muscles ache but quickly regenerate thanks to his devouring ability. It reminded him of when he had been pushing his limits every day to get his revenge. He had been so single-minded back then that he had barely felt it.
He exited the Tower with a huge grin on his face. At this rate, he would be done after one more clear.
He quickly devoured a few dium-rare steaks and answered a question. This ti it was about the War that had happened with Gene Corp. Josh whispered so insider information that mostly confird the rumors before going right back to Climbing.
Lots of button smashing, horse stress, and 44 fragnts later, Josh was done.
[101/100 Sapphire Fragnts. Do you wish to rge them?]
"Hell yes!" Josh shouted.
He did an improvised drum roll as all the fragnts began magically flying and colliding together. With blue light, a new item ford itself in front of his eyes.
- It may look like a Sapphire, but it contains the Mana of the Iron Giant.
Josh inspected it from all angles, wondering what was up with it. It contained mana…and?! What did this concretely do? But no matter how he twisted it, he couldn't figure out anything.
He could probably take this to an appraiser or perhaps a craftsman. But that's when he noticed sothing. Was he going crazy, or was this gem slling amazing?! One had to rember that he was far from starved too.
Wait…what if it was his newest ability acting up?! This thing had Iron in its na. After having devoured a spoon and part of the Will of Iron …what if?!
Josh did sothing that anyone would have considered extrely dumb. He approached the gem and carefully bit it. It instantly lted in his mouth as if candy with an extrely rich and sweet taste! Screw food: this was even better!
He took one huge bite after the other, and soon his hands were empty with the gem completely gone. He felt full of energy but didn't notice anything else. That is when he began scrutinizing his status screen in search of any hint.
"Oh my god!" He couldn't help but exclaim blissfully.
There it was: Mana: 5900 —> 5950
This gem was a stat boost! This was the first ti he had heard of anything like that. There were plenty of ways to Buff oneself, from magical food to alchemical potions and items. But this seed like a permanent effect!
At that mont, Josh resolved to personally test how many Mana gems it took for one to overdose! Jokes asides, his gluttony bloodline would very likely protect him from any backlash.
He exited the Tower grinning. For once, he felt full and wasn't that keen on eating anymore. He had also answered enough questions to serve his agenda. Now, he would simply announce that the party was over.
But that's when he felt a malevolent gaze on him. There was an older man looking like a typical professor. He had a deep blue blazer, nice black shoes, a small bow tie, and glasses to complete his look.
He was already recording, and one could see a small banner floating behind him that read . He had a small derisive smile adorning his face as he addressed the crowd while pointing at Josh.
Ah, Josh really hadn't expected a cody show to begin! He would listen with rapt attention…
Creator's Thought
Talk about a nice opportunity! Ah, would eating mana gems be considered doping? Now that I think about it this training of mine was all about devouring stuff, wasn't it? Devouring tal, devouring food, devouring mana... Upgrading this bloodline really had to beco one of my priorities. This was in fact just the very tip of the iceberg!
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