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A large flying bus flew to the ground, eager travelers flowing out. 

"Welcome to Metropolis-D! Please be careful not to leave the city\'s premises without an escort!" A friendly U-Bot reminded them. 

Josh sighed, hearing this. He had been away for around a month. It wasn\'t too long a period in a human\'s life, but humanity\'s situation had changed. 

As he glanced around, he could notice a high number of refugees. Their heads were low, their clothes dusty, and the world\'s weight seemingly hung on their shoulders. 

The cause was evident, the news going on and on about it. As more and more Towers appeared, mana had spread worldwide, and the wildlife had grown incredibly stronger. 

This evolution was oftentimes accompanied by increased hostility. It had reached the point where something like a pigeon could devour a Non-Climber adult! 

The Climbers too had changed. Pets followed most, some even dressed in extravagant armors that were no doubt flashier than practical. 

As he made his way toward his school, he felt foreign. He had the feeling of having been sent to a parallel universe. 

On the way, he could see many squads patrolling, actively hunting. Perhaps this was the only upside of the situation. There would be no shortage of high-quality meat.

— Reached D-23! — 

He was confronted with a semi-transparent energy shield as he reached the defense perimeter. The unassuming regular forest look was long gone…what a shame. 

"Halt, who goes there! This place is restricted!! Entry is reserved strictly for members!" 

"What if I simply want to visit?" 

"Tch— Do you think this is a tourist destination?! Men, do it!" 

The many guards surrounded him, wariness in their eyes as large metallic pillars suddenly came out of the Earth. A second later, a strident sound wave erupted from them. 

— Screech! — 

It was so unpleasant! As he winced in annoyance, the men seemed slightly relieved. He could hear them murmur, "Guess he\'s not a mutant. Still, we can\'t allow him to roam free!" 

Josh could only use his secret weapon: calling the cavalry in! 

- Josh MF Malum: I\'m back. Meet me at the entrance. 

- Recruiter Frank: What?!? Holy shit!!!! 

He came running, his arms flailing all over in excitement. Going missing for a while in this world usually meant being dead! The guards watched, shellshocked as the big boss personally welcomed this stranger. 

The outside world wasn\'t the only one that had changed a lot. The school had developed a lot. It had gone from a large town to pretty much a city! 

The streets were wide/numerous enough to warrant names and signs. There were patrols in charge of public order, markets, and that one ship monastery in the background. 

It seemed the Serenity Monks had decided to stay. 

"Here, follow me." Frank gently whispered, entering a restricted building. 

<br/>Josh had barely taken a few steps inside when the door locked, trapping him inside a metal prison. — Initiating Containment Measures! — A cold AI voice sounded, lasers pointed toward him. 

"?!?" 

"Hehe, you really are a fool, aren\'t you! Do you seriously think I\'d allow you to come back? With you gone, I\'m the one calling the shots." Frank\'s voice came out of a speaker. 

"…." Was he for real?! 

— Bzzzt! — 

The Canons started buzzing, gathering enough energy to make him disappear whole. There probably wouldn\'t be any trace that he had ever existed. 

He obviously couldn\'t accept this! But even then, more than anger, he felt puzzlement. Was it about credits? Was it about power? What had happened while he was gone? 

The canon was about to fire when something happened. He felt the คՇ necklace around his neck suddenly float upward, revealing itself. 

— Analysis Complete! User Josh Malum Confirmed! — 

That\'s when Frank reappeared, eyes leaking and adorning a massive smile. 

"I-it\'s really you!" He happily jumped forward, going for a bear hug as he explained himself. 

Gene Corp was adept at manipulation and even had his DNA from when they had restrained him. The sneaky bastards were great at making fake Joshes by now! 

Luckily, the copies were short-lived and so damn expensive to produce that they hadn\'t been able to use them to slander him. 

They had apparently tried infiltrating the school and assassinating Markus using his face. Who knew if they hadn\'t also gotten their hands on a godly UW hacker now! 

"Sorry, I had to be safe…." He apologized. 

"Whatever, what did I miss? Also, where\'s everyone? Let me guess, the Orc King\'s busy with a student exchange or something?" Josh jokingly remarked. 

"…." Frank\'s eyes showed sorrow as he sighed. The loud and friendly Orc had never come out of the Tower in the first place, gone with him. 

Without even saying a word, Josh rushed out. The guards couldn\'t help but jump in shock as they saw him bolt all the way from D-23 to the D Tower!

"Enter Floor 27!" 

[Sorry, This Floor Is Currently Unavailable!] 

[Please Select Another Floor!] 

"Bullshit! Let me in, you useless piece of junk!" 

[You have gained too many benefits from this Floor!] 

[Would You Like to Launch Floor 28?] 

Too many benefits?! He had almost freaking died to one Ethereal Succubus Queen who had come out of absolutely nowhere! 

The bystanders exchanged uncomfortable, annoyed, or even laughing gazes as they witnessed the puny human hammering at the Tower.

"Let him out, then! Why is he still in there when I\'m out! This doesn\'t make any sense. He\'s mine!!!" He screamed at the lifeless Tower. 

[Items/Monsters Cannot Be Remotely Taken out!] 

His distress prompted many murmurs: 

"Another crazy fool trying to reason with the Tower." 

"Have a heart, will you. He obviously lost his boyfriend in there, poor thing." 

"Poor thing? How many have lost their loved ones to the Tower?! That\'s even worse with the normal difficulty disappearing from the higher Floors!" 

An MTA patrol stopped near him, sighing. "Young man, I can understand your pain, but—" The soldier attempted to comfort him, only for Josh to bolt away again. 

Wallow in despair? —> Not his style! 

For all he knew, the Orc could be waiting for him on 27 Hellish. He\'d take the time to bring him back for sure! Think, think, freaking think! 

The Orc was a monster. While not a pet, he was linked to him. This meant that he should be able to bring him back with summoning, right?! He spotted Frank running toward him. 

"You, I need a summoning teacher ASAP!" Josh\'s tone was urgent, and he wouldn\'t take no for an answer. 

"Teacher?! There are many in our school with a summoning-related Class. I guess we can ask one to help with….actually…" 

"What is it?!" 

"Do you remember when we first met, I was talking about an idol group visiting Metropolis-C? One of the girls is amazing: if it exists, she can summon it." 

"Could she teach me?!" 

"I can arrange for them to perform at D-23. With our renown, it should be easy. Perhaps just watching their show would give you insights, and if that doesn\'t work we—"

"DO IT! I don\'t care how much it costs. You\'re getting them here ASAP! Kidnap her if you need, make capturing her a school mission even! 

"I\'ll do it right away." Frank couldn\'t help but give a wry smile as he messaged the group. It just so happened that he had their number on speed dial— for reasons... 

Somewhere in Metropolis-C, a gorgeous girl suddenly jumped up, screaming in shock, her colleagues raising an inquiring brow. 

"What\'s up with you?! Is there another strange Tower opening somewhere? I\'m telling you we\'ll be staying here either way. The outside world is far too dangerous!" One warned. 

"T-that\'s not it! I-it\'s…." 

"Tch— Hurry up and spill it. What are you getting flustered for?" 

"W-we… we\'ll be performing for D.L. right at their school!" She cried out, her heart already beating incredibly fast. Just being allowed inside D-23 was hard nowadays!! 

"W-what?! Are you pulling my leg? When?!" They all glanced at their leader with expectation, their mouth open. She wouldn\'t lie about something so huge, right?! 

"T-tomorrow." She nervously spat out. 

"What?! Isn\'t that way too fast?!" They exclaimed, stunned. 

"T-that\'s not all. Their leader will be there! Can you believe it?!" 

"Frank? Don\'t you have his number already?" 

"Frank? No, not Frank. I mean Josh, Josh MF Malum!" 

"The dead one?!" 

For them, this was the opportunity of a lifetime! None realized how big of a news this was, nor the chaos it could bring to the CDE region. One even happily and recklessly posted on SnapCat. 

"Hehe, guess who we\'ll be singing for...." 🤩

Their cheerful bubbly selves couldn\'t even fathom the disaster they were about to unleash on the world...Â