Chapter 16: Insanity on Floor 6!
Josh could understand easily how people got addicted to climbing.
It gave power! It gave wealth! It brought excitement!
It was a given that people would look up to the Rankers. Josh wanted to become one. Ah, but he did not care one bit about fame.
His ultimate goal was to reach the top.
Josh would try to enjoy the journey itself too. Weirdly, this new world may have been exactly what he needed. Before this, he had resolved to simply await death in jail. Now after a long time, he felt motivated to do something.
Thus, he went to the sixth floor.
[Mission: Rest for a Day! You Must Be Tired After this Intense Duel!]
Josh couldn't but find this mission weird. Also, duel? It was supposed to be duels.
Observing his surroundings, Josh saw a barren field. Nothing else. The atmosphere seemed extremely gloomy. There was some fog, but it wasn't dense enough to affect one's vision.
Josh started walking.
Josh Malum: Earthling
Likes: Rip and Tear & Long Walks In the Tower.
Current Mood: Why are there no monsters?!
It is only after half an hour that something finally happened.
The soil started moving at some places. Josh observed one such disturbance.
A hand came out, grabbing his calf, a human hand, albeit completely rotten. It had yellowish long nails with skin falling off in places.
Josh finally understood what was happening. This land was full of undead. Except that they were all still buried.
The so-called rest for a day was a survival mission. If one simply waited in place, one would likely get overrun. Josh guessed that the way to win this was to run around and kill. Alternatively building a fortress could work.
Josh wasn't sure about how the second one would work. There was actually a third option. One that suited Josh perfectly.
Kite for a day!
Most people would have had trouble doing that. Josh believed he wouldn't have any issue. Staying a day up was easy physically for any level 6. However, it would be extremely harsh mentally. Many wouldn't be able to cope with the stress.
Josh had the time to think about all that yet the Zombie wasn't out yet. Talk about a slowpoke! At least its head was above ground now.
Josh was already getting bored, so he chopped the head off. *Ting* Or at least he tried.
Of course, the creature had spawn protection! The red energy was faint, but there.
That is when Josh crouched near the Zombie. He altruistically helped it get out of its hole. Only when it was fully out, did the red light disappear.
The Zombie tried biting Josh, but the latter simply cut its head off.
+1 XP! -_-
Josh was getting better at it. Before, he had to focus to extract XP. Now he did it unconsciously.
Josh looked around and noticed a few more Zombies. Rushing over, he killed them only to realize how inefficient this was. At first, this felt like the perfect mission for Josh, but he was starting to reconsider.
Josh wished there was a way to fast-forward this. It would have made this more entertaining. Josh simply stood in place and waited, like an idiot.
With the constant onslaught, he couldn't sleep either. He simply waited for the monsters to commit suicide. This gameplay felt very much like an idle game.
Wait a few seconds +1XP.
Then back to waiting for the next Zombie. Josh simply kept doing that for a long time. The more time passed the more Zombies there were.
Josh couldn't help but notice how great of an XP farming spot this floor was.
It also dropped Zombie Leather too. So, rotten human skin? Needless to say, Josh left it there. He didn't care much about materials. It all seemed like a pain to carry and didn't wield as much profit.
That continued until finally appeared something new. That took a few hours, but there it was.
<Mutated Zombie, Weak Flesh-Eater Bloodline Lv3☠️ >
There were many points to note.
First, its name was red: it was a Boss.
Second, its level was extremely low. Normal Zombies were level 6.
Third, it had a bloodline, albeit weak.
Fourth, it had a motherfucking bloodline!
Important things should be repeated twice.
Josh kept observing it while slaughtering Zombies. Except for their huge numbers, they were no threat really. That is when he finally understood the name.
Instead of coming toward him, the Boss attacked another Zombie. The victim didn't even bother resisting. It simply let itself get eaten. Cannibalism at its finest. The Boss kept eating one after the other.
Josh felt that something was bound to happen after a while. He kept looking and finally noticed an issue. The Boss was extremely sluggish. Even more so than the other Zombies. So much that it had trouble catching a single one. Then even when it caught one it would take it an eternity to chew it down.
Having realized the issue Josh did what any other normal completely insane suicidal madman would have done. He moved and started camping right next to the creature.
Then he started chopping some zombie limbs. Throwing them to the Boss. Even using his dagger to scrape the flesh of the bones. Sending it all flying right in the boss's mouth.
It took Josh a few times. He was no expert when it came to throwing food. His expertise was more toward throwing daggers or grenades.
Before long, he had a system going. He would run around the place. Waiting for the Boss to be done eating. Then he sent it food, carefully cutting it. Best customer service ever!
It now took the creature about 15 seconds to eat a Zombie. It just stayed there too. This made it so the effective devouring rate was about 40 times faster.
Josh kept a tab on the progress.
Why?
Because he had nothing else to do.
After 10 Zombies it became Lv 5. After 20 total, Lv 7. It seemed that 10 Zombies = 2 Level. But to go from Lv 14 to Lv 16 it took 120 Zombies. Then it kept doubling.
3840 Zombies eaten later, the creature finally stopped. Josh had become level 7 in the process. As soon as he had leveled up, the XP he received became negligible.
He was at 47/1000 to level up again. Josh couldn't but be proud of what he had accomplished.
<Evolved Mutated Zombie, Weak Flesh-Eater Bloodline Lv 25☠️ >
The creature had even gained the Evolved affix.
Then it slowly rose. As slow as ever. At first, Josh was happily watching. But suddenly, his instincts started sending him warning bells! He quickly side-stepped.
Looking where he was a second ago Josh could see a deep chasm. The ground where he once stood had been obliterated. The creature had charged with unbelievable speed., destroying everything in its way.
It was at this moment that Josh realized he had fucked up.