Chapter 38: Emergency and Opportunity!

"Emergency?! C'mon Josh let's hurry up. This is the first time this has ever happened! Hopefully, it's nothing bad…"

Josh simply nodded before hurriedly following Lily. She seemed stressed and worrying. "Don't worry. Whatever is happening we'll deal with it.", he calmly said.

She simply rolled her eyes at him. How was he, a newbie, the one reassuring her? Before long they had reached the E district where <Draconic>'s base was located. Instead of going to the general area, they went to a private lounge.

In there were many individuals assembled, many Josh was seeing for the first time. These were the people he had interacted with in the guild chat. As soon as they entered, Ronan came forward to welcome them. "Hey, Josh! How about we bet on what this is about?"

Came a few chastising remarks in the background:

"Cheater, you already know about it!"

"Josh, don't fall for his tricks!"

"He's just a gambling addict! Don't become like him!"

With Ronan turning around to shout at them "I have no clue why we are here either!… How about it, Josh?"

Then they quickly digressed as usual.

"So that's Josh, eh. He doesn't look like Dario at all! I personally think he's too handsome to be his son…"

"That was clearly a rumor, he got summoned with Liam!"

"Oh"

"He came in with Lily, were they on a date?"

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"Think he was looking for an apartment or something…"

"Makes sense."

Josh pondered a few instants. "What are we betting on and how much?" He could see a beaming Ronan and hear whispers deploring how they had a new gambling addict in the guild.

"How about we bet on the content of the meeting? We can bet 5K or something. I'm thinking there has been an S-Rank group that disappeared in the Tower!"

In the Tower, eh? No, if the problem was simply a Floor in the Tower there wouldn't be a need for such secrecy and fuss. Dario could have simply issued a temporary ban order from Climbing.

From Josh's experience, there were a few reasons to keep a secret. The need to be physically present increased the odds of it being the core issue here. A few would be:

First, increase one's power by capitalizing on an information monopole. The guilds were in a competing relationship, but they had to work together in the grand scheme of things. Well, only those who cared about saving humanity. Dario probably wouldn't hide information that would benefit the public.

Second, for a hidden operation. To deal with either internal or external trouble. However, there was no way to organize such a thing in the Tower. What if it was something happening in the real world? There would be a need to keep a tight lid on the news. Hopefully, it wasn't a war…

Third, something that could cause the masses to panic. Except, the general populace wasn't Climbers…Could bad news in the Tower affect them? Yes, but not in the short term. There would be a short period of insecurity but it would still be manageable by the government and guilds.

What if….Josh replied, "Alright, I'll bet that the issue is actually outside the Tower!" That rendered Ronan pensive, but he didn't outright reject that possibility.

Lily approached Josh "You know if you have too many Credits you can just gift me some, right? No need to waste it gambling…" Josh simply shook his head smiling.

That is when came the sound of the door. Entered Liam, Lucas, and Dario. The latter carrying the formers like potato sacks under each arm.

As soon as they were released, they ran next to Josh with Lucas sighing "We could have walked, we simply missed the message because we were training. I blame Liam's <Mana Slash> for distracting me!"

"Lucas, like you are one to talk! What about that <Rainbow Pierce> of yours? It produces enough light to KO an epileptic instantly! You-" but after being glared at by Dario he stopped talking too.

The Dragon locked the doors and looked at everyone in the eye. "What you guys see today cannot be shared with anyone including your own families. No matter what. Is that understood?" came shocked gasps and people agreeing. "Honestly it's not that big of a deal but as it is the first incident of its kind we need to be careful."

"Here watch this." A giant screen appeared on the wall. Then played a video. One that showed a small city. "This right here is City D-23, a remote place with a population of 300 000. This footage has been taken yesterday. As you guys know, Metropolis D is our neighbor. They are in charge of that area. Now watch carefully."

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At first, everything was normal, but then the sky seemed to take on a strange red hue. This sign was apparently ignored by the residents as they were going about their day as usual. It only became worse as time passed.

Dario fast-forwarded this part in order to clearly show the evolution. The more time passed and the deeper the red hue became. Eventually, the ground started shaking slightly. Even then it was misunderstood as a slight tremor and ignored.

"D-23 barely had any Climber. Let's just say they weren't prepared for what happened next, at all."

At some point, the slight tremors finally stopped. Except that a few minutes later all Hell broke loose. A true earthquake began, but it wasn't all. No, red fog too started gushing out of…the sky itself?!

The red fog quickly covered the entire city, hiding it from sight. Then the camera kept rolling with nothing happening whatsoever. There was no sign of any survivor, at all.

"City D-23 is now gone. In its place is <Disaster Zone D-23>. Now, we were only informed of the situation because we are an S-Rank guild. All information about the topic has been gagged. It is the first recorded instance of such a phenomenon. That is why no information will be given to the public before we get to the bottom of this."

Serene in the back couldn't help but scoff. "Let me guess, Tower related? What happens when one goes in?"

"Upon coming in contact with the edge of the Disaster Zone there will be a Tower prompt asking if one wants to enter. The difficulty apparently changes based on the level and number of participants. There doesn't seem to be a limit to said number either. There have been a few guilds entering with all their members already."

Lily raised her hand "What happened to them, don't tell me…?!"

Dario sighed "Precisely, none came out. That's why from now on only members of S-Rank guilds are allowed in. Now, there are a few points to consider. One, this should be level-based so no amount of leveling in the Tower will help. Two, everything inside will be unknown. Most of our losses in then Tower were in the early days when we were lacking crucial knowledge. Three, in this case, soloing could actually be a viable option."

Liam shouted "I'll do it! Sounds fun!"

A wise-looking man added: "That's exactly why this youngster shouldn't be going! This is no place to have fun! As a dad, I can't-"

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Dario cut him off: "Kaar'te is right, we won't take this lightly for sure. Honestly, whether we even go remains to be seen. The primary reason why I had you all gather here today is actually to plan for the future. The fact that it happened once suggests that it could very well happen again. I'm sending you all our evacuation plan in case Metropolis C gets afflicted with the same issue."

All of their UWs beeped at once, quickly looking over it Josh noticed it was pretty standard. They were to flee to a City nearby where there would be a bunker awaiting them with means to be self-sufficient for a while so they could plan their return.

Dario then asked: "Any questions?" He was clearly expecting them to ask plenty, to be worried, excited, and all. Except he was bound to be surprised, for this is the reaction that came:

Ronan first exclaimed loudly! "Motherfucker! How the hell did you know?!" Followed by everyone but the latecomers turning around to stare at Josh suspiciously. They were all trying to figure out his secret.

That is when Kasha smiled "Josh, how about you go in?"

Lily: "Kasha that's going too far! Even if you dislike him you can't…"

Some pale-looking guy: "No, she has a point. If the difficulty changes according to the number of people…"

Some muscular guy: "Ah, he hasn't joined a party yet!"

Kasha: "Please! You think I was trying to send a guild member to his death?! Who do you think I am!"

Ronan: "Actually, why is Kasha even here, wasn't she demoted?!"

Kasha: "Screw you!"

Josh could either try his luck in the new instance or remain in Metropolis C to climb the Tower. Both options would probably increase his power in some way. Still, Josh knew about the Feat system. That was how he had received his only skill so far, the bloodline one. Chances were there would be an opportunity to accomplish one in there too.

Was it worth it compared to the danger? Josh had awesome gear and a trump card. He would probably be fine as long as he was careful.

Josh addressed the room: "You know what, I think I will. Alright, who wants to give me a lift there?"

"Hey, I want to go too!" Liam shouted in the background. Still, it was determined that Josh would be the sole representative for <Draconic>, at least for now.

Thus the emergency meeting came to an end.

Josh couldn't help but be curious about what he would soon face.

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