Chapter 268: Ascending the tower.

Rudra entered the first floor of the beat-the-clock challenge, where level 5 rabbits were spawned. It was as a easy as it came. 

Even then Rudra did not rush to kill them all , taking his time to kill one at a time , without using any skills or wasting any stamina. 5 minutes were awarded to clear this level , and even though Rudra strolled leisurely , he had completed the level in 30 seconds. 

Even then , he did not rush to climb , waiting for about 20 seconds before he ascended to the next floor. 

Rudra was slow in his climbing approach , which was a stark contrast to the majority of the contenders in the competition , who were already at floor five or higher. 

Rudra had absolutely no troubles killing the rudimentary monsters at floor 1-10 , as it was as easy as taking a walk , he had not even warmed up properly yet. However, on the ranking lists , he was dead last , most had completed level 15 or more while Parallax and Neatwit were on level 21. 

The feed alternated between all the participants one by one , but naturally the leaders got the most screentime. The rankings were also displayed in real time , as what players were on what floors was clearly displayed there. 

Currently over 4 Billion people were watching the VR Olympics live , and this being the first event ever, had unmatched hype and fan following. 

The stream was being recorded by all nations , as the events were a chance to analyze the players and their combat prowess , for later events and future refferance. The skills they had and the hidden cards they held , would all be displayed in the live stream. 

Currently on the livestream, Parallax was being shown with him easily wiping level 27 with his superior skills. 

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( Commentators POV ) 

Derek Ray : Oh my god Lee , what a brutal Slash by Parallax , that was a level 35 bull with high defense that lost its head clean. What power and precision, no wonder he is the leader in rankings and the leader in climbing the tower , Absolutely unmatched. 

Lee Dixon: You are right Derek , the strong will always forge ahead from the masses , up untill now , I haven't seen the guy break a sweat. Are we looking at a gold for Ireland? 

Derek Ray : Well, Lee the Irish would definitely be hoping that is the case. However the Japanese player Neatwit of the True Elites is not much behind either , at level 26 , he is hot on Parallax's tail. 

Lee Dixon : Well , the Bulgarian brute Hammerhead and the South African player Rabada are at 25 , closely followed by Takuma and Kazuma at 24. 

Derek Ray : The one climbing the slowest is shockingly Shakuni , the leader of the True Elites , and the Japanese flagbearer, being at only level 14. 

The feed cut to Rudra ' s pov who was leisurely killing monsters at a steady pace , he did not seem to be rushing it at all , and did not seem to be facing any troubles either. 

Lee Dixon : Well Derek , the man is clearly powerfull enough to maul through the monsters should he wish , I think he is just adopting a different strategy. Trying to take his time before he can climb. 

Derek Ray : Is there really a need to do useless things like that though Lee? It's level 15 not 55 ! 

Lee Dixon : Well Derek , there won't be time to rest at level 55 now will there, the tower difficulty would get tougher , once one starts to climb higher. 

Derek Ray : You do have a point there , Lee , let's wait and see if his strategy is holding any merit. Currently parallax is at level 30 , the twice of where Rudra is. 

Lee dixon : Time will tell Derek , but things are sure to get interesting once level 31 starts , monster levels would then be between level 40-50 , the average tier two players would need 2-3 hits to kill them. 

Derek Ray : Yes however , Parallax is no average tier two player Lee , he is manhandling this stage as easily as he manhandled floor one. The guy is a force of nature! 

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Meanwhile in Japan 

Ethan Grey sat in a conference room with the top officials of the country. Some analysts were jotting notes about the playstyle and pattern of other teams players , while some were intently watching the stream. 

The overall atmosphere was heavy , as noone expected Rudra to be dead last in the competition. Neatwit was doing well , however the hopes of everyone , Rudra was actually the one who was the furthest behind. 

A general clicked his tongue " What the hell is that kid doing , why is he soo slow?". 

Ethan chuckled as he could not control his laughter. 

The general felt annoyed as he asked him " Hey , is there something funny about what I said ? ". 

Ethan did not even spare the man a glance as he said " You are stupid ". 

The general immediately lost his temper as he said " Why... You? ". 

However president Shinzo Abe stopped him , as he said " The competition is not about going the fastest , it's about goint the farthest. We know Rudra is our best player , let's show some faith in his judgement and skills. The competition has only started and he has not been eliminated yet ". 

Ethan nodded , The president was indeed the leader of a nation for a reason. He was indeed smart. 

Ethan then looked At the general , a cold smile on his face " If you feel uneasy , let me play a game with you , I will give you one hundred billion dollars if Rudra does not get a gold in this event , however if he wins , you run a cross country marathon in only your underwear ..... Say do you have the balls to accept?". 

Audible gasps could be heard in the room , everyone was shocked , 100 billion dollars was not a small amount , how confident did Ethan have to be in Rudra to make such a ridiculous bet? They all looked at the general in anticipation. 

The general stuttered , he did not know what to say , but after a moment of silence he said " We are on the same side , this is unnecessary". 

Many people clicked their tongues including Ethan Grey , who muttered under his breath , inaudible to others " scaredy cat". 

As he returned his focus back to the livestream.