"This isn't going to work." Josh sighed heavily. He had just completed Floor 18 once more and had received a measly four fragments, 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 time he appeared, the crowd seemed 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 gourmets." 

"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 time 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 caramel soufflé, Sir!" 

"These are enchiladas." 

"I made pulled pork burgers!" 

"Here are some all-natural organic pesticide-free free-range bananas, Sir!" 

"As tempting as plain bananas sound, I'll eat the burgers along with some enchiladas!" Josh finally decided. 

After a delicious meal, the two lucky reporters turned to ask him their questions. The first one went: 

"Sir, what was the meeting in D-23 about?" All the others perked their ears in excitement. 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 seemed torn but then asked something ballsy: "Can you bring me 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 method, with a nice finishing touch. 

"You really learned with —?!" The man stopped just in time not to reveal some 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 informed 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 time 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 Experiment "bright big-ass button".] 

That when appeared a floating button right on the ethereal-looking system message 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 me. It will help. How about you test this with two groups? One with no inscription and the other with this message below on it?" 

[Establishing Sub-experiment: 'Do Not Press' versus 'Blank'. Data will now be compiled. Enjoy your Climb!] 

It was quite ironic, but somehow, 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 games. 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 same as IRL...

With every push, a new Iron Giant began spawning. Eventually, there were 12 of them. This seemed to be the limit, and the entire Realm was filled them. At this moment, he was truly glad to have entered Solo. 

The combat began, and Josh quickly jumped on an arm as usual. This time, 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 same 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 time 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 time 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 fragments. He was risking his life to save time. 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 medium-rare steaks and answered a question. This time it was about the War that had happened with Gene Corp. Josh whispered some insider information that mostly confirmed the rumors before going right back to Climbing.

Lots of button smashing, horse stress, and 44 fragments later, Josh was done. 

[101/100 Sapphire Fragments. Do you wish to merge them?] 

"Hell yes!" Josh shouted. 

He did an improvised drum roll as all the fragments began magically flying and colliding together. With blue light, a new item formed itself in front of his eyes. 

<Iron Tainted Mana Gem>

- 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 something. Was he going crazy, or was this gem smelling amazing?! One had to remember that he was far from starved too. 

Wait…what if it was his newest ability acting up?! This thing had Iron in its name. After having devoured a spoon and part of the Will of Iron …what if?! 

Josh did something that anyone would have considered extremely dumb. He approached the gem and carefully bit it. It instantly melted in his mouth as if candy with an extremely 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 time 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 seemed like a permanent effect! 

At that moment, 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 <Critical Thinking Class>. 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 comedy 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 metal, devouring food, devouring mana... Upgrading this bloodline really had to become one of my priorities. This was in fact just the very tip of the iceberg!