Classless Ascension

Once upon a time, there was a blue canyon full of holes. In there was a man towering above a gigantic cockroach he had killed.

It had taken him a while, but Josh had finally managed to extinguish his foe's life after toying with it. In a flash of red light appeared a single piece of equipment. It was sleek, black, and had antennas on top. 

<Papa Roach Helm> 

- Part of the Papa Roach set that allows its user to charge forward with incredible momentum. 

Josh had many concerns: 

1. Would there be a cooldown? 

2. Would it add a bonus to defense?

3. Would it be possible to control the direction of the charge? 

These criteria would be the determining ones in figuring out if it was even worth farming. Either way, it was better to get it now than to miss it later.

Josh kept glancing at the air, visibly puzzled. "System, shouldn't you be announcing a feat or something? Did someone solo murder this Boss already?!" While it wasn't impossible, it seemed most unlikely. What kind of dumbass would risk his life like this? 

Sadly, Josh was bound to be disappointed as it seemed like the system had forgotten him. He reluctantly climbed the cliff, returning to the quest objective hoping for the best. As soon as it came into sight, the system finally made an apparition. 

[Mission Completed, Congratulation!] 

Looking at how relaxed Nightmare was, the two of them probably hadn't seen an enemy in a long while. The NPC headed straight to him, greeting him with a "HeL—" cut short, of course. 

But, the Tower Protocol surprisingly wasn't done:

[Mission Part 2: Run!!!!] 

[Error— Error— Error!] 

[Mission Part 2: Run!!!!] 

Josh couldn't help but be taken aback. What the heck was happening?! Wait, could it be that he hadn't been supposed to head in the canyon? Had this somehow caused a bug to happen? Was it possible that the Boss he had killed was the one that was supposed to chase them?

What now? "Hey, system! What are we supposed to be running away from?" Josh asked, annoyed as nothing at all happened. 

Unsure what was happening, he led his party back to the spawn. He figured that this probably was where they were supposed to be running to, right? They galloped there at full speed. 

As soon as they arrived, the system chimed in with another peculiar message: 

[Mission: Escort your fellow traveler toward its destination safely!] 

Wasn't this the exact same mission he had already done?! Wait, what if….without waiting, Josh ordered Nightmare to head back to the statue. As they came near it, a familiar message once more appeared. 

[Protect the allied cockroach until it is done praying!] 

Josh bolted toward the canyon. He would soon know if he was trapped here or if this was instead an incredible opportunity. As he reached the bottom, he began wandering about until finally, he found a massive creature that had conveniently just respawned. 

<Big Papa Roach Lv 36☠️> 

Oh my fucking god! How awesome was this?! Without waiting any further, Josh charged at it and began harassing it one slash at a time. Not long afterward, it was down. 

He had a way to refresh the Boss in less than an hour! How great was this? Plus, this wasn't any random Boss, but a Hellish one that dropped an armor set! Hellish really felt like its own game mode that made you face everything at once, and then it was over— except now!

Josh began exploiting the shit out of it. By rushing from point A to point B over and over, he was able to make the Boss respawn at an unprecedented rate. It was swift because he had already cleared all the regular creeps. 

The more he did it, and the more Josh noticed the enemy's attitude change. It was very subtle, and it didn't seem conscious of it itself, but it showed unwillingness to fight him. 

Every 30 minutes, he would get a new piece of equipment. He was soon the proud owner of a beautiful black roach set. He couldn't help but smile as he tried it out. This one surprisingly only had one ability. 

<Papa Roach Set (3-5-7)>

CHARGE!!!! : Dash forward with incredible power. Speed, power, and length of the charge are based on the number of pieces equipped. 

As Josh tried using it, he was delighted that he had looted it. While he could see it being useful, the main point was that it was so damn fun! It gave him the feeling of turning his body into a race car. 

He loved it so much that for a little while, his body zooming across the canyon was the only thing that could be seen. He would encounter regular cockroaches from time to time, but they would flee instantly upon sighting him. 

This had to be one of the best clears of all time! Josh returned to the surface, reset the Boss once more, and headed back to the statue. Except, this time around, he didn't skip any step and remained at the NPC's side to protect it. 

It took 15 minutes for it to end praying. Funny how much time Josh had actually spent down in the canyon: many and many hours! 

[Mission Part 2: Run!!!!] 

As the message appeared, a shrill and loud shriek resounded. 

— SHRIEK!! — 

Josh could recognize this noise anywhere by now. The Boss was on its way. Instead of running, he stood in place as the creature climbed the rocky walls, leaving the canyon. As it appeared in front of them, the NPC began trembling like never before. 

Josh had already tasked Nightmare with protection duty once more. It would await his orders and be ready to run whenever the Boss would initiate a charge. The plan was supposed to be perfect, but it all ended up as a colossal waste for one reason. 

Josh and the Boss made eye contact. Instantly the monster froze as it seemed to remember all its previous deaths suddenly. That's when it turned tail and ran as quickly as it could…with Josh right on its heels! 

"Why are you running!" He shouted from time to time. 

The chase kept going until the monster dashed right down in the abyss. Josh couldn't help but chuckle, seeing how hurried it had been. 

"Whatever, you can live this once."

Josh sounded magnanimous, but the true reason for this was that he was out of storage already. He had strapped plenty of gear on Nightmare already. Still, it wasn't like he could bring his pet into Metropolis-D. He would have been arrested soon enough otherwise. 

So yeah, he would be forced to carry all of it out. He soon reached the spawn once more. 

[Mission completed!] 

[Analysis….The enemy ran from Player?!] 

[First to instill fear into the guardian of Floor 22] 

[Calculating….Calculating….] 

[Please select a reward category: Bloodline | Equipment | Skill | Material | Special] 

Josh didn't know enough about crafting to pick material, he didn't want anyone's memories, and he had enough equipment already. What would be the best bet between Bloodline and Special? 

He already knew that bloodlines could be extremely overpowered. Still, special was quite intriguing. Perhaps it would bring about an incredibly rare opportunity. What if it was based on the Floor itself? 

Bloodline: Cockroach Bloodline? Special: Related to that statue, maybe? Ah, whatever. There was no point agonizing over this decision. 

"Give me the Bloodline one." Josh chose. 

[Reward: random bloodline box!] 

Uh…alright. In front of Josh, there was now an intricate black box that seemed to be made of chitin. Josh activated it with expectation. 

<Rank D- Bloodline Pearl of the Great Cockroach>

- Gives the user the ideal cockroach body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like. 

"….Seriously?!" 

At first, Josh had been overjoyed. A bloodline that was D-Rank, how strong would this be?! But as he kept reading, he began having reservations. Ideal cockroach body…there was no way he would want to become a damn cockroach! 

He could already picture himself reaching the top of the Tower and wishing to have her back only to look like a damn cockroach! What would be the odds that she'd assault him with a newspaper?!

All kidding aside, it would also be throwing all his advantages through the window, especially his weapon mastery. He couldn't accept this. Still, perhaps he could try and trade it for another…

Josh could only sigh as he uttered: "teleport out." 

He spawned outside the Tower, carrying a few huge bags with him. This roach set was so much fun that he had made sure to bring plenty along with him. He already had plans for it. 

As he happily went back toward the failed bodyguard's place, he was tailed as usual…