"Are you admitting defeat already? Hahahaha!" The enemies guffawed without realizing what this really meant. 

- DavidBeckahmIsMyNigga: "Wow! The mad disrespect! This Zebra is crazy!" 

- Cheering-squad *-^_^/* : "Poor Tiger. Ganbatte, Tiger!"

It's only when Dale alone stepped forward to face them that the opponents understood what was really going on. As soon as the match started, they sandwiched the lone man. 

But not long after, their faces were showing clear shock. No matter what they did, it felt as if the man could predict their every move. At one point, they even hit each other, trying to outmaneuver him. 

They disappeared in a very sad fashion, not having landed a single hit. Well, they could only blame their bad luck for meeting a true monster. All this time, Josh had only been watching peacefully. 

"Did you see that?" Dale came swaggering back, as proud as a peacock. 

"Yep, you committed lots of mistakes. Your body language says where you will attack, still. Be sure to practice hard."

Dale sucked in a cold breath. He had been extremely confident just a second ago. Was Josh trying to keep his pride in check? No, he seemed serious, oh god! Was he that unskilled?!

He felt like a young kid being reprimanded by his dad. That sure was a peculiar feeling for a grown man to have. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. One couldn't understand Josh Malum with common sense anyway. 

[Congratulation on this hard-earned victory! How awesome!] 

"…."

"…."

- BruhMoment: "Bruh. Only one of them fought. Hard-earned?! They were going easy."

"Well, let's keep going, I guess. We have about ten fights to finish before we can get a ranking. After that, there will be the final section." Dale explained. 

"I'm fine with that. Alright, launch another 'challenging' battle whenever. I'm ready." Josh lazily answered. 

"Ready, my ass! You're just sitting there! Ah, whatever." Dale sighed.

Let's just say the fights that followed were both extremely boring and extremely entertaining. There were more and more spectators that were getting more and more hyped. 

They kept watching in rapt interest, wondering when the Zebra would finally have to make a move. There were all kinds of theories about him. 

- Master__Detective: "I bet he's the young master of a noble family. Tiger is obviously his handsome and tall butler." 

- MaidsAreBestWaifus: "Get out of here with your fantasies! Tiger is obviously a tall and gorgeous maid." 

- MartialArtist2: "What if Zebra is Tiger's master, and this is all but basic training? That would explain why he's not participating." 

- SimpForZebra: "Zebra is aloof and wondrous. Have you seen how perfect his stripes are? Have you seen how he remains calm no matter the situation?"

- OnyxRecruiter: "Team Your Daughter Calls Me Daddy Too: Onyx is recruiting! If you want to join a cool guild that—"

- MorningWood: "Talk about shameless! Team Your Daughter Calls Me Daddy Too: Morning Wood is recruiting! There are cute girls in our midst that would like nothing more than to—"

[~Any Recruitment is henceforth bannable! + There could be IRL repercussions!~] 

Then from time to time, there would be the classic BallsDeep69 showing up and getting banned. Every time, it was a different account somehow: BallsDeep69+, BallsDeep69@, BallsDeep69$, etc. 

After the obvious porn, TheMusicGuy would appear with his weird music. (Not bannable)

Josh couldn't help but chuckle at all this circus. This competition was getting extremely lively in its own way. Meanwhile, Dale kept fighting. Eventually, their current opponents fell too. 

"This is kinda crazy, all you've done is sit there, and yet you have fans. How?!" Dale couldn't help but comment. 

"Ah, it's the stripes: the classic look of white and black mixed in perfection. It combines light and darkness in one exquisite—" Josh began to bullshit playfully. 

"No, seriously?!" Dale insisted. 

"It's because you are showing your cards upfront. I, on the other hand, add mystery to it. It's more fun to talk about what is hidden rather than the obvious." Josh enlightened him.

"I guess it's like people discussing conspiracy theories. Such a waste of time." 

"You think? I' don't agree with that. See, I too believe in some conspiracy theories." Josh admitted. 

"You do?!" Dale raised his voice in surprise. 

"Yep, I believe in that one that says Classes are optional and just a shortcut to power." Josh winked at him. 

Dale could be seen pondering. It had already been proven that Josh was able to Climb solo. This alone was a crazy achievement. But he was right. Anyone else would have considered it madness. 

That is when appeared the new enemies. This time there was something different about them. One of them glared at Josh with clear hostility. This was a first. 

"You're that damn Zebra, aren't you?! Trash that only knows how to hide behind another, do you dare to fight me!" The enemy shouted. 

That's at that point that the spectators became crazy with excitement. Someone was finally challenging Zebra directly! 

There had been opponents that had heard of them, but they had made sure only to attack the Tiger. If they couldn't even defeat the guard, there was no point even attacking the other with unconfirmed strength. 

This guy had a different approach. Just looking at his taunting smile, Josh could figure out his thoughts. He was convinced that he had remained on the side because he was weak. 

What would beating Josh bring them? That much was easy to guess. They were going for fame. They seemed to be showing their real appearance too. 

Fame was mostly pointless, but it also had very tangible benefits. For instance, they would be able to get a contract with a nice guild easily. If anything, they could be a mascot. 

Dale was looking inquisitively at him while the dumbass was running his mouth. Seeing Josh hesitate, he just added: "They may not give you your victory prize if you don't fight at all…."

Josh sprung to his feet instantly. Was Dale just trying to incense him? Perhaps, but he wasn't necessarily wrong either. Maybe they would give him better customer service if he impressed them, another concrete benefit of fame. 

As Josh rose, the crowd erupted in thundering cheers, all real this time. On the other side, the opponent advanced with a sadistic grin and coldness in his eyes. 

"I am Frodo Bagging! Let us fight! I'll fuck you up so much, you leeching piece of shit!", Howled the disturbingly tall, muscular, and angry man. 

If Josh didn't have that much reason to hate the man before, he now had. This name on an angry muscle builder dude?! What a travesty! 

"You should change your name. It doesn't fit you." Josh calmly stated. 

"How dare you! I'll show you!" He growled before charging at him. 

That is how the fight started amidst the crowd's acclamations. Many were calling for an ass-kicking. It was just the target that changed. 

The man was fast and knew how to move to enhance his strength further perfectly. This was a man that had plenty of combat experience. Frodo was a name that meant wise with experience. Well, this man had some of the latter at least, but probably just against monsters. 

"Why. Can't. I. Hit. You! You're cheating!" The man grunted after every strike that kept missing Josh. 

"Idiot." Josh didn't even bother explaining. In fact, he couldn't help but wonder about how magical it was that killing intent could be felt in such a virtual world. 

That's when Josh closed his eyes. Meanwhile, the opponent kept hacking and hacking at him. The man's face was slowly becoming gloomier. 

"What the fuck is this?! How are you doing this?!" The man shouted with desperation in his voice. 

- PenguinLover: "Am I dreaming? From now on I will worship Zebras. What kind of crazy skill is this?!" 

- FactChecker: "This is all obviously fake. C'mon. They somehow rehearsed this beforehand. I mean, just look at it! A human cannot be that OP!" 

- GreatListener: "Nope. I'm a psychologist and I can assure you this is not fake. Their appearances are changed, but I can still read their emotions. Their enemies are seriously despairing right now. Even his teammate is shocked." 

- MovieLover: "I don't care if it's fake or not. I just want to know if this Zebra is a godlike warrior or if they are all godlike actors. I'm good with both! I want to see Zebra in a movie!" 

- BallsDeep6969: "Show them your might Zebra! Ah, also: Oh, oh, oh, Fuck Yeah, Daddy—"

How was that last guy always coming back? He probably was some kind of hacker with clearly too much time on his hands. What kind of efforts had he spent on this silly prank? Then there was the weird music that followed. 

That's when Josh finally opened his eyes. He looked at the man that showed no hint of being apologetic for his earlier taunts. In fact, he was even trying to kill him, seemingly having forgotten that this was just a VR match. 

"You should call yourself fodder instead, you know." Josh plainly stated. Was this overkill? The man would probably have to live with this nickname from now on. But, so what?

"I'll kill you! I'll murder you! I'll—" The man never got to finish his sentence. 

Josh lightly tripped him. It looked like the most casual attack ever. In fact, it was the first time he was going on the offensive. 

At first, people began laughing, but then they abruptly stopped. The man had fallen, but not just in any random manner. The man had fallen in a way worthy of a <Finality Destination> Movie. 

His own sword had somehow hit the floor at just the right angle. Then his heart had been impaled by it. That is how he disappeared in a flash of light, defeated by his own weapon. 

The entire area became silent. The AI cheers had long been disabled to let the real spectators comment. All of them were glued in front of their screen, looking at this 'impossible' development. 

What kind of madness was this?! He had made a single attack and caused a guy at least level 10 to kill himself in one single movement. Some feared the insane luck that had been required for this. Others were terrified that it wasn't luck. 

What kind of perfect control over the flow of battle was required to…?! For Josh, it wasn't anything special. It was normal for a man that didn't know any feint to go down that easily. He turned to the remaining enemy. 

"Your turn now?" He calmly asked. 

"I-I surrender! This is impossible, impossible…." He was shaking even as he left the arena. 

[Congratulation on this great victory!] 

That's when the crowd erupted in ovations. Many were talking about how insane this all was. Every expert had affirmed that the most fascinating fights would happen in the 25+ category. What BS! 

That's when Josh began hearing many conversations comparing him to another contestant. This other one was called The Devil's Apostle. Talk about edgy! 

That guy was not only fighting solo but was also decimating every and all opposition. Their team still had three more fights to go. Josh couldn't help but grin, thinking about possibly meeting a worthy opponent. 

That's how he got back to the side of a flabbergasted Dale. 

"Hopefully, the next fight will be more entertaining." He casually whispered under his breath. 

Dale almost choked as he heard that. That hadn't been entertaining?! What kind of absurd prowess would he show next?! Could his heart even take it?...

Creator's Thought

It was quite ironic in a way. The Climbers focused so much on pursuing power itself, that most forgot about learning how to use it. This tournament was a clear example of it. They kept attacking and attacking, but without any success whatsoever. Well, it wasn't a wrong choice in itself, they just needed to focus more on the technical aspect for a while. Crazy how much this 'distraction event' would fundamentally bring changes to society.